[327] To which sounds the languages of the west have been more than once likened by the Chinese. It is only fair, however, to the lettered classes to state that they have a similar contempt for their own local dialects; regarding Mandarin as the only form of speech worthy to be employed by men.
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[328] The occasional analogies to the story of the Cyclops must be evident to all readers.
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[329] The animal here mentioned is the plain brown deer, or Rusa Swinhoii, of Formosa, in which island I should prefer to believe, but for the great distance from Hué, that the scenes here narrated took place.
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[330] About one sixth of an acre. On old title-deeds of landed property in China may still be seen measurements calculated according to the amount of grain that could be sown thereon.
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[331] The king here uses the words “ku-t‘u-tzŭ,” which are probably intended by the author to be an imitation of a term in the savage tongue.
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[332] Fondness for children is specially a trait of Chinese character; and a single baby would do far more to ensure the safety of a foreign traveller in China than all the usual paraphernalia of pocket-pistols and revolvers.
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[333] Literally, “a million of taels,” the word used being the Buddhist term chao.
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[334] Here again we have 100 chün, one chün being equal to about 40 lbs. Chinese weights, measures, distances, numbers, &c., are often very loosely employed; and it is probable that not more than 100 catties, say 133 lbs., is here meant.
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[335] That is, until the change of the monsoon from S.W. to N.E.
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[336] See No. XLI., [note 237].
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