Laoutze was a contemplative enthusiast, who taught the cultivation of reason, abstraction from the world, self-denial, &c.; and then wandered into the absurdities of magic arts and demoniac possessions. Nevertheless, he is said to have had some glimmerings of a future state. His followers are in the present day called the sect of Taou.
The Budhism of China probably differs little from that of India; the daily prayers are repeated in a language of which the priests do not understand a syllable. In the temple are the three huge Budhas—the Past, the Present, and the Future; with a Goddess of Mercy, a God of War, a God of Wealth, and others. There is, in front of the altar, a large bronze cauldron, for burning gilt paper; and a huge drum and a bell, to awaken the especial attention of the god. Such are the temples of Pooto.
In cases of extreme emergency, as during the prevalence of great drought and threatened famine, the Emperor orders prayers to be offered up in the temples of all the three sects, for a cessation of the evil. But the Confucian is the system of religion to which the Emperor and his court adhere.
[CHAPTER XXXIII.]
At the commencement of the month of May, 1842, it became generally understood, that a movement was very soon to be made upon Chapoo, which was to be followed by the advance of the whole expedition up the great Yangtze river. Ningpo, however, is deserving of one or two further observations, for it is one of the most important trading cities in China; and, from its position, and its vicinity to several large and wealthy cities, such as Hang-chow-foo, Soo-chow-foo, and others which border upon the Imperial Canal, there is every reason to believe, that an extensive trade will soon be opened there.
Ningpo lies at the distance of only fifty miles from the trading town of Chapoo, which possesses a monopoly of the whole trade with Japan and Corea. Hence there is reason to believe, that our manufactures will soon find their way into these latter countries, (which have hitherto excluded the foreigner, more pertinaciously even than the Chinese,) indirectly by way of Ningpo; and, that, in a few years, many articles expressly adapted for the Japan market, will be ordered to be manufactured in this country, and sent to Chinese merchants at Ningpo. This city is famous for its silks, which are very beautiful of their kind; and the shops are elegant, and well supplied with all kinds of Chinese manufactures. It is a wealthier and much handsomer town than Amoy, and is much superior in commercial importance, to Foo-chow-foo, another of the newly-opened ports. Large junks are even built on the Ningpo river, and the people have always shewn a great disposition to trade with foreigners. Indeed, this is the case in every part of China where the people have not been held back by their mandarins.
Mr. Gutzlaff, in one of his early voyages, obtained a list of all the foreign ships which had formerly visited Ningpo, and found their number to be considerable; and it was stated to him that some of the very old people still retained a faint recollection of the foreigners. The Portuguese traded at this place in the sixteenth century, and the English had a factory there as late as the middle of the last century. It was finally pulled down in 1759, and all foreign trade was then absolutely prohibited, by express orders from Pekin.
The principal objection made by the government at that time to permit trade at Ningpo, was simply "the loss of the imperial revenue, accruing from the overland carriage of tea and other goods, to and from Canton." Add to this, the great extortions of the local officers, who here, as well as at Chusan, demanded such exorbitant fees and bribes, that it was found impossible to carry on trade with any chance of profit.