CHINESE SIGNS AND SIGNIFICATIONS. 177 used in common transactions; and the Sung-te, or regular form used in printing. In Chinese the sign for a huntsman is a tiger and a torch, for the Chinese hunt the tiger by torch-light. The sign for friendship is two pearls of the same size and purity. The sign for eloquence is mouth and gold. The sign for rice is mouth and joy, because they say rice is the joy of a Chinaman's mouth. The sign for singing is bird and mouth; so that, you see, there is in these cases a clear connexion between the sign and the thing signified. Some say it is easy to acquire the Chinese language; others say it is altogether impossible; truth lies between the two. It is easy to learn a little Chinese; it is not hard to obtain such a knowledge of it that will be useful; but to thoroughly understand the language, is very difficult indeed. N CHAPTER XIX. BOOKS AND LITERATURE. The Chinese a Reading People.-Chinese Books.-Yih-king. -Shoo-king. She-king.-Le-ki.-Chun-chew.-Taheo.— Choong-yoong.-Lun-yu.-Book of Mencius.-The Reason why the Chinese undervalue Europeans.-Chinese styles of Composition. Chinese Literature. Chinese Poetry.— Chinese Maxims. An odd thing it is that the Chinese, who have been so long a reading people, should remain so far behind Europeans in learning and practical knowledge. They seem in their studies like a squirrel climbing in a revolving cage, always busy, without making progress. They imitate those who have gone before them, but do not endeavour to surpass them. One century finds them pretty much as another century left them. In dress, in manners, in customs, in arts, in sciences, in philosophy, and religion, they are, there is reason to believe, much as they were five hundred years ago. Books in China are not bound as ours are; their leaves are simply stitched together, and then kept CELEBRATED CHINESE BOOKS. 179 in stiff cases of pasteboard, highly ornamented. The leaves are made of a soft, yellow paper, and are double, not being cut at the edges like European books. They are read, as I have already described, from right to left, beginning at the right hand of what we call the last page, and proceeding down the columns. This appears very odd at first, but the oddity soon wears away. Among the most celebrated books of China, the names of which are spelt very differently by different writers, are the Yih-king; the Shoo-king, a history of China down to 1120 B. c.; the She-king, a volume of odes; Leki, records of customs; and the Chunchew, which gives an account of the life and times of Confucius: these five books are called the classics; and there are four other books of the Ta-heo, the Choong-yoong, the Lun-yu, and the book of Mencius, containing the maxims of Confucius, which rank but little below them. If you learn Chinese, these books must be read by you. The Chinese are fond of books, and much esteem learning no wonder, then, that they should value or undervalue foreigners according to their estimate of their knowledge or ignorance. Not knowing the European languages, they judge the foreigners who have intercourse with them by the vulgar jargon they speak, and thus greatly undervalue them. Only let Englishmen attain such a knowledge of Chinese as to be able to express themselves in cre |