CHAPTER VII.

REIGN OF SHUN-CHE, FIRST EMPEROR OF THE MANTCHOW DYNASTY.

AMA VAN, regent of the empire, and uncle of the youthful emperor, engaged excellent tutors for his royal nephew, who not only instructed him in the literature of the country, but instilled into his mind such principles as were likely to fit him for the government of the conquered nation. Under the care of these able monitors, he learned to be just and moderate toward the people over whom the fortune of war had placed him; and being naturally well inclined, he attained to manhood with just such principles as were best calculated to reconcile the Chinese to foreign dominion.

While Shun-che was pursuing his studies, the regent and his generals were engaged in reducing the southern part of the country to subjection; and all the finest provinces were devastated by the long and fearful contest. Many of the great cities were laid in ruins; for wherever the Tartars met with resistance they set fire to the houses, and demolished all the public buildings except the Budhist temples, which, being regarded by them as sacred edifices, they thought it would be sinful to destroy.

The traces of this war are still visible in China, where many an empty space is bounded by a dilapidated wall, that once surrounded a populous town, but now encloses only a few market gardens; and some of the chief cities are not much more than half their original size, as may be seen by the extent of their walls, which at present encompass large spaces of ground where no houses are remaining, and which are usually devoted to the culture of vegetables for food. A great part of Nanking, with the imperial palace, was destroyed at this time; and there are now within its walls orchards, fields, garden-grounds, and scattered farmhouses; not above one third of the area being occupied by the present city.

One of the most formidable opponents of the Tartars was a maritime chief, or pirate, known by the name of Koshinga, a noted character in the history of these times, not only for his loyalty to the Chinese royal race, but also for his exploits against the Dutch, who had by this time considerably increased their Indian trade, and had formed a settlement in the island of Formosa.

Ching-che-loong, the father of Koshinga, one of the richest merchants in China, had, in the early part of the war, fitted out a fleet at his own expense to support the native princes; but, after the accession of Shun-che, he accepted the offer of a high post at court, leaving the command of his fleet to his son Koshinga, who, instead of following the example of his father, remained faithful to the cause of the legitimate princes. This chief was the

terror of the Indian seas, where no foreign vessels dared to appear during the wars, so that all trade was for a long time suspended. At length the Tartars, having taken Nanking, laid siege to Canton, which, by the aid of Koshinga's fleet, was enabled to hold out for eight months, but was at the end of that time obliged to surrender, and the last prince of the Ming family fled to the court of the king of Pegu, where he was received with the greatest hospitality.

Every place of importance having now submitted to the conquerors, the new government was acknowledged throughout the empire; and shortly afterward-on the death of the regent, Shun-che-although only fourteen years of age, took the government into his own hands, A. D. 1652. The young sovereign, who no doubt acted by the advice of prudent and experienced ministers, suffered the Chinese to retain all the rights and immunities they had enjoyed under their native rulers; but as he found it necessary to satisfy his Tartar subjects also, by admitting them to a share of the honors and emoluments of the empire, he doubled the number of officers of state and members of councils, making one half Chinese and the other half Tartars—a regulation which continues to this day.

The Chinese, however, were required to submit to one mark of subjection that was far more obnoxious, and spread more general discontent among them, than any changes that could have been introduced into the form of government: this was, that they should divest themselves of the thick raven locks, which they had been accustomed to cherish with peculiar care, and adopt in their stead the frightful Tartar fashion of wearing a long, plaited tail, hanging from the crown of a bald head. The hair is an ornament,

Chinese Head, shaved.

highly prized by most people; and as nature had been especially bountiful to the Chinese in that particular, they were extremely reluctant to part with it; and it is asserted that many chose to submit their heads to the executioner, rather than to the barber, for that was the cruel alternative, as it was found impossible to enforce the decree by any gentler means than treating disobedience as rebellion, and punishing the offender accordingly. The

tails were thus fully established, and have been worn ever since, to the great satisfaction, no doubt, of the barbers of China, whose services are in constant requisition among all classes of people, since the poorest mechanic must have his head shaved and his tail plaited, as well as the most wealthy mandarin.

There were some few alterations made also in the national costume, but they were not very striking or important, nor indeed would it be very easy to describe them. With regard to the laws, the religion, and the system of government, the conquest produced no change, for the Tartar sovereigns governed like their Chinese predecessors, according to the rules laid down in the ancient books; so that, although the emperor of China is absolute lord of the lands and the people, he is in some degree restrained by the laws as well as his subjects.

As soon as the Tartar prince was firmly seated on the throne, the Russian emperor Alexius, the father of Peter the Great, sent an embassy to China, with a view to establish a commercial treaty between the two empires; but the attempt failed from a rather curious circumstance, and one that has since been a cause of dispute with the British government. It was a custom of the Tartar sovereigns to exact from all those over whom they claimed supremacy an act of submission, called the kotou, which consists in making nine prostrations, touching the ground each time with the forehead. This ceremony is equivalent to an acknowledgment of vassalage; therefore, the Russian embassador very properly refused to perform it, as it would not have become him thus to compromise the dignity of his master, who was an independent as well as a powerful prince. The refusal of the envoy gave great offence to Shun-che, who, in consequence, declined receiving the embassy. But this was not the only point of disagreement between the two monarchs; for the Russians had taken possession of some territories in Siberia, which were considered as a part of Mantchow-Tartary; and as they would not give them up, but on the contrary erected a fort there for the purpose of defending them, the Tartars commenced a war for their recovery, which was continued for a long time, the Russians still approaching nearer and nearer to China by new conquests, until, at length, the dominions of the emperor of Russia actually joined the territories of China.

Not long after the failure of the Russian embassy, the Dutch, who were very anxious to open a trade with Canton, and establish a factory there, sent embassadors to the emperor with a petition to that effect. They were very courteously received by the viceroy of Canton, who accepted the presents they carried to him, according to the custom of the East, where a request to a great man is invariably accompanied by a present; nor would any foreign embassador be admitted to the presence of the Chinese sovereign unless prepared with some costly gift to lay at his feet.

The viceroy of Canton was a handsome young Tartar, of prepossessing manners, who invited the Dutch envoys to dine with him, and entertained

them in a very sumptuous style. They were received in the great hall of the palace, by his mother, who had just arrived from Tartary, and, according to the habits of the Tartar ladies, made no scruple of appearing before strangers of the opposite sex. The dinner was served in the Chinese fashion, on a number of small tables, not covered with cloths, but ornamented with painting and gilding, at each of which two guests were seated. The meats were served in silver dishes, and the wine in golden cups; and during the banquet a party of actors, splendidly habited in the ancient costume of the country, performed a play at one end of the hall for the amusement of the company.

The Dutchmen were not a little surprised at the magnificence displayed by the Tartar governor, and departed highly gratified with the reception they had met with, and from which they augured favorably for their mission; but in this they were mistaken, for when they arrived at Peking they were scarcely treated with common civility by the authorities there, who provided them with a miserable lodging, and very scanty entertainment, until the time was appointed for their andience.

The sovereigns of the East usually hold their levees at break of day; consequently the embassadors, to their great annoyance, were conducted to the palace over night, and obliged to sit up in their state dresses that they might be ready at the moment their attendance was required. Seated on the floor in an outer apartment, which was quite destitute of furniture, they had leisure to contemplate, by the light of a few lamps, a motley group of beings in the same uncomfortable situation as themselves, all waiting also for the honor of being admitted to the presence of the emperor. In one corner of the room was a barbarian envoy from a prince of the southern Tartars, dressed in a long coat of sheepskin, dyed crimson, with large boots, bare arms, and a horse's tail dangling from his cap. Contrasted with this roughlooking personage was the embassador of a Mogul khan, who wore a blue silk dress, so richly embroidered that it looked like beaten gold; and very different from either of these, was the representative of the grand lama, who was attired in a yellow robe, with a broad hat, like that worn by a cardinal, and a string of large beads round his neck. There were many other figures, all equally novel to the eyes of the Europeans, who were no less objects of curiosity to the strangers.

At length the welcome dawn appeared, when, on a given signal, all started up, and shaking off the weariness that had oppressed them, followed the official persons whose business it was to conduct them to the hall of audience. This hall is of white marble, the entrance to which is by five flights of steps, the middle flight being reserved exclusively for the emperor, and never profaned by the foot of any other person. Here a scene of extraordinary pomp and splendor exhibited itself to the astonished eyes of the plain and homely Dutchmen. The glittering dresses of the attendants; the gorgeous banners displayed by the soldiers ranged on each side of the

hall; the superb throne, around which were held on high, figures of the sun, made of gold, and silver circles representing the moon; with the crowd of officers and mandarins in their state robes, produced a most imposing effect.

The emperor had not yet made his appearance, but all the embassadors were directed to prostrate themselves three times before the empty throne, and at each time of kneeling to bow down their heads to the ground three times till their foreheads touched the marble flooring. This was the very ceremony the Russian envoy had refused to perform; but as the Hollanders. were extremely anxious for the success of their embassy, they did not think it prudent to make any scruple about the matter, and went through the kotou with a good grace. The sound of bells soon announced the approach of Shun-che, and all present fell on their knees as he ascended the steps, every eye being bent toward the earth, as if none were worthy to look upon him. He walked up the hall with a stately air, and seated himself on the throne, when the whole assembly arose, and the different envoys were led forward to do him homage by a repetition of the nine prostrations; but not a single word, nor even the slightest mark of notice, did the haughty Tartar vouchsafe to the disappointed Europeans, who withdrew with no very kindly feelings toward a prince before whom they had humbled themselves to so little purpose. Both the Tartars and Chinese had, in fact, a great contempt for the Dutch people, in consequence of having learned that there was no emperor or king of Holland; for they did not understand the nature of a republic, but thought the Dutch must be a very poor and mean nation that could not afford to maintain a king. However, before the embassadors quitted Peking, they were officially informed that they might come to China once in eight years, to bring presents, but not to trade.

The presents brought by embassadors were received as a kind of tribute, and acknowledgment of vassalage; and thus the Chinese have imbibed the absurd notion that all the countries of Europe, from which embassies have been sent to the emperor of China, are subject to him, and they are only now beginning to discover their mistake. It is scarcely possible to believe that the emperors themselves could have been under the same impression, although it was their policy to keep up the delusion among their subjects, who were taught to look upon them as absolute monarchs of the whole earth. Shun-che, especially, must have been better informed, since he had placed himself under the tuition of a German Jesuit, named Adam Schaal, for whom he entertained so great a respect that he raised him to the dignity of chief minister of state, and consulted him on every affair of importance; so that, however strange it may appear, the empire of China was for a time governed in reality by a Christian missionary. The emperor was so much attached to this excellent man, that he would often spend the whole day with him at his own house, in order to profit by his profound learning; and although he himself never became a convert to Christianity, he did not pro