[10] Poetical term for Purgatory.
[11] Hereditary titles in China usually descend in a diminishing scale.
[12] He was the father of that Marquis Tseng who, as Minister to England (1878), lived to be credited by the British press with literary abilities which he did not possess and liberal opinions which he did not share. His grandsons, educated partly in England, have lately been distinguished for that quality of patriotic Conservatism which prides itself on having no intercourse with foreigners.
[13] A short biographical note on Tso Tsung-t’ang, the hero of the Mahomedan rebellion who gained distinction under Tseng against the Taipings, is given in the [appendix].
[14] So called because they declined to plait the queue, as a sign that they rejected Manchu rule.
[15] His younger brother, subsequently made an earl and Viceroy of Nanking for many years.
[16] This is merely figurative, referring to an ancient and obsolete custom.
[17] So named because, before becoming a eunuch at the age of sixteen, he was apprenticed to a cobbler at his native place, Ho-Chien fu, in Chihli, from which district most of the eunuchs come.
[18] This form of argument, under similar conditions, obtains all over the Empire. “How could I possibly squeeze my master?” says the servant.
[19] Quotation from the Book of Changes, implying a sense of impending danger.