In China they use a great quantity of copper money, like that named falus by the Arabians, which is the only sort of small money, and is current all over the country, and is indeed the only current coin. Yet their emperor has treasures like other kings, containing abundance of gold and silver, with jewels, pearls, silk, and vast quantities of rich stuffs of all kinds, which are only considered as moveables or merchandize; and from foreign commerce they derive ivory, frankincense, copper in bars, tortoise shell, and unicorns horns, with which they adorn their girdles. Of animals they have abundance, particularly of beasts of burden; such as oxen, horses, asses, and camels; but they have no Arabian horses. They have an excellent kind of earth, of which they make a species of ware equal in fineness to glass, and almost equally transparent. When merchants arrive at Canfu, the Chinese seize their cargoes, which they convey to warehouses, where the goods are detained six months, until the last merchant ship of the season has arrived; they then detain three parts in ten of every species of commodity, or thirty per cent as duty, and return the rest to the merchants. Besides which, if the emperor has a mind for any particular article, his officers have a right of taking it in preference to any other person, paying for it, however, to the utmost value; and they dispatch this business with great expedition, and without the least injustice. They commonly take the whole importation of camphor, on the account of the emperor, and pay for it at the rate of fifty fakuges per man, each fakuge being worth a thousand falus, or pieces of copper coin. When it happens that the emperor does not take the camphor, it sells for half as much again.
The Chinese do not bury their dead till the day twelve months after their decease; but keep them all this time in coffins in some part of their houses, having previously dried them by means of quicklime. The bodies of their kings are embalmed with aloes and camphor. They mourn during three whole years, and whoever transgresses this law is punished with the bamboo, a chastisement to which both men and women are subjected, and are at the same time reproached for not shewing concern for the death of their parents. They bury their dead in deep pits, much like those in use among the Arabs. During all the time that the dead body is preserved in the house, meat and drink are regularly set before it every evening; and if they find these gone in the morning, they imagine that the dead have consumed all; and all this time they cease not from bewailing their loss, insomuch, that their expences upon these occasions, in paying the last duties to their deceased relations, are exorbitant, and often consume their wealth and estates, to the utter ruin of the living. In former times, they buried very rich apparel, and those expensive girdles already mentioned, with the bodies of their kings, and others of the blood royal; but this custom is now discontinued, because it has happened that the bodies have been dug up from their graves by thieves, for the sake of what was buried with them. The whole nation, great and small, rich and poor, are taught to read and write. The titles of their viceroys or governors, are varied according to the dignity and rank of the cities under their government. Those of the smaller cities are called Tusing, which signifies the governor of a town. Those of the greater cities, such as Canfu, are stiled Difu, and the eunuch or lieutenant is stiled Tukam. These lieutenants are selected from among the inhabitants of the cities. There is also a supreme judge called Lakshima-makvan, and they have other names for other officers, which we do not know how properly to express.
A person is never raised to the dignity of a prince, or governor of a city, until he has attained to his fortieth year; for then they say he has acquired experience. When one of these princes or viceroys holds his court, in the city of his residence, he is seated on a tribunal, in great state, and receives the petitions or complaints of the people; having an officer called Lieu, who stands behind the tribunal, and indorses an answer upon the petition, according to the order of the viceroy; for they null no applications but what are in writing, and give all their decisions in the same manner. Before parties can present their petitions to the viceroy, they must be submitted to the proper officer for examination, who sends them back if he discovers any error; and no person may draw up any of those writings which are to be presented to the viceroy, except a clerk versant in business, who must mark at the bottom that it is written by such a man, the son of such a man: And if the clerk is guilty of any error or mistake, he is punished with the bamboo. The viceroy never seats himself on his tribunal until he has eaten and drank, lest he should be mistaken in some things; and he receives his subsistence from the public treasury of the city over which he presides. The emperor, who is above all these princes or petty kings, never appears in public but once in ten months, under the idea that the people would lose their veneration for him if he shewed himself oftener; for they hold it as a maxim, that government can only subsist by means of force, as the people are ignorant of the principles of justice, and that constraint and violence are necessary to maintain among them the majesty of empire.
There are no taxes imposed upon the lands, but all the men of the country are subject to a poll-tax in proportion to their substance. When any failure of crops makes necessaries dear, the king opens his store-houses to the people, and soils all sorts of necessaries at much cheaper rates than they can be had in the markets; by which means famine is prevented, and no dearth is of any long continuance. The sums that are gathered by this capitation tax are laid up in the public treasury, and I believe, that from this tax, fifty thousand dinars are paid every day into the null of Canfu alone, although that city is not one of the largest. The emperor reserves to himself the revenues which arise from the salt mines, and those which are derived from impositions upon a certain herb called Tcha, which they drink with hot water, and of which vast quantities are sold in all the cities in China. This is produced from a shrub more bushy than the pomegranate tree, and of a more pleasant smell, but having a kind of a bitterish taste. The way of using this herb is to pour boiling water upon the leaves, and the infusion cures all diseases. Whatever sums come into the public treasury arise from the capitation tax, the duties upon salt, and the tax upon this leaf.
In every city there is a small bell hung to the wall, immediately over the head of the viceroy or governor, which may be rung by a string which reaches about three miles, and crosses the high way, on purpose that all the people may have access to it; und whenever the string is pulled, and the bell strikes, the person who thus demands justice is immediately commanded to be brought into the presence, where he sets forth his case in person. If any person inclines to travel from one part of the country to another, he must have two passes along with him, one from the governor, and the other from the lieutenant. The governor's pass permits him to set out on his journey, and specifies the name of the traveller, and of all that are in his company, with their names and ages; for every person in China, whether native, Arab, or other foreigner, is obliged to make a full declaration of every thing he knows about himself. The lieutenant's pass specifies the exact quantities of goods and money which the traveller and his company take along with them, and this is done for the information of the frontier places, where both passes are regularly examined; for whenever a person arrives at any of these places, it is entered in the register that such a one, the son of such a one, of such a family, passed through the place, in such a month, day, and year, and in such company. By this means they prevent any one from carrying off the money or effects of others, or the loss of their own goods in case of accident; so that if any thing has been taken away unjustly, or if the traveller should die on the road, it may be immediately known where the things are to be found, that they may be restored to the claimants, or to the heirs of the deceased.
The Chinese administer justice with great strictness, in all their tribunals. When any person commences a suit against another, he sets down his claim in writing, and the defendant writes down his defence, which he signs, and holds between his fingers. These two writings are delivered in at the same time; and being examined, sentence is pronounced in writing, each of the parties having his papers returned to him, the defendant having his delivered first. When one party denies what the other affirms, he is ordered to return his writing; and if the defendant thinks he may do it safely, and delivers in his papers a second time, those of the plaintiff are likewise called for; and he who denies the affirmation of the other, is warned, that if he does not make out what he denies, he shall undergo twenty strokes of the bamboo on his buttocks, and shall pay a fine of twenty fakuges, which amount to about two hundred dinars. And the punishment of the bamboo is so severe, that the criminal can hardly survive, and no person in all China is permitted to inflict it upon another by his own authority, on pain of death, and confiscation of his goods; so that no one is ever so hardy as to expose himself to such certain danger, by which means justice is well administered to all. No witnesses are required, neither do they put the parties upon oath.
When any person becomes bankrupt, he is immediately committed to prison in the governor's palace, and is called upon for a declaration of his effects. After he has remained a month in prison, he is liberated by the governor's order, and a proclamation is made, that such a person, the son of such a one, has consumed the goods of such a one, and that if any person possesses any effects, whatever belonging to the bankrupt, a full discovery must be made within one month. If any discovery is made of effects belonging to the bankrupt, which he had omitted to declare, he suffers the punishment of the bamboo, and is upbraided with having remained a month in prison, eating and drinking, although he has wherewithal to satisfy his creditors. He is reproached for having fraudulently procured and embezzled the property of others, and is chastised for stripping other people of their substance. But if, after every inquiry, the debtor does not appear to have been guilty of any fraud, and if it is proved to the satisfaction of the magistrate, that he has nothing in the world, the creditors are called in, and receive a part of their claims from the treasury of the Bagbun. This is the ordinary title of the emperor of China, and signifies the Son of Heaven, which we ordinarily pronounce Magbun. After this, it is publickly forbidden to buy of or sell to the bankrupt, that he may not again have an opportunity of defrauding his creditors, by concealing their money or effects. If it be discovered that the bankrupt has any money or effects in the hands of another, and that person makes no disclosure within the time limited, the person guilty of this concealment is bambooed to death, and the value discovered is divided among the creditors; but the debtor or bankrupt must never more concern himself with trade.
Upon a stone ten cubits high, erected in the public squares of all the cities, the names of all sorts of medicines, with the exact prices of each, are engraven; and when the poor stand in need of relief from physic, they receive, at the treasury, the price that each medicine is rated at. In China there is no tax upon land, but every male subject pays a rateable capitation in proportion to his wealth and possessions. When a male child is born, his name is immediately entered in a public register, and when he has attained his eighteenth year he begins to pay the poll-tax; but when once a man has reached his eightieth year, he not only ceases to contribute, but even receives a pension from the treasury, as a provision for old age, and in acknowledgment of what he paid during his youth. There are schools, maintained at the public charge, in every town, where the children of the poor are taught to read and write. The women wear nothing on their heads besides their hair, but the men are covered. In China there is a certain town called Tayu, having a castle, advantageously situated on a hill, and all the fortresses in the kingdom are called by the same name. The Chinese are generally handsome, of comely stature, and of fair complexions, and by no means addicted to excess in wine. Their hair is blacker than that of any other nation in the world, and the Chinese women wear it curled.
In the Indies, when one man accuses another of a capital crime, it is usual to ask the accused if he is willing to undergo the trial by fire, and if he consents, the ceremony is conducted in the following manner: A piece of iron is heated red hot, and the accused is desired to stretch out his hand, on which they put seven leaves of a certain tree, and above these the red hot iron is placed. In this condition he walks backwards and forwards for some time, and then throws off the iron. Immediately after this his hand is covered with a leathern bag, which is sealed with the prince's signet; and if at the end of three days he appears and declares that he has suffered no hurt, they order him to take out his hand, and if no sign of fire is visible, he is declared innocent of the crime laid to his charge, and the accuser is condemned to pay a fine of a man of gold to the prince. Sometimes they boil water in a caldron, till it is so hot that no one can touch it; they then throw in an iron ring, and the accused is commanded to thrust down his hand to bring up the ring. I saw one who did this and received no manner of harm. In this case, likewise, if the accused remain unhurt, the accuser pays a fine of a man of gold.
When a king dies in the island of Serendib, which is the last of the islands of the Indies, his body is laid in an open chariot, in such a posture, that his head hangs backward, almost touching the ground, with his hair trailing on the earth; and the chariot is followed by a woman, who sweeps the dust on the face of the deceased, while she proclaims with a loud voice: "O man! behold your king! He was yesterday your master, but now the dominion which he exercised over you is at an end. He is reduced to the state you now see, having left the world; and the arbiter of life and death hath withdrawn his soul. Count not, therefore, O man! upon the uncertain hopes of this life." This or a similar proclamation is continued for three days; after which the body is embalmed with sandal wood, camphor, and saffron, and is then burned, and the ashes are scattered to the winds. When they burn the body of a king, it is usual for his wives to jump into the fire and burn along with him; but this they are not constrained to do. The same custom of burning the bodies of the dead prevails over all the Indies.