[114] The couches of the north of China are brick beds, heated by a stove underneath, and covered with a mat. Upon one of these is generally a dwarf table and a couple of pillows; and here it is that the Chinaman loves to recline, his wine-kettle, opium-pipe, or teapot within reach, and a friend at his side, with whom he may converse far into the night.
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[115] See No. LXXIII., [note 63]. Chang Fei was the bosom-friend of the last, and was his associate-commander in the wars of the Three Kingdoms. Chou Kung was the first Emperor of the Chou dynasty, and a pattern of wisdom and virtue. He is said by the Chinese to have invented the mariner’s compass; but the legend will not bear investigation.
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[116] Mr. Li had, doubtless, taken a “drop too much” before he started on his mountain walk.
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[117] Of whom I can learn nothing.
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[118] The following extract from a long and otherwise tedious story tells its own tale. Wang is the modest man, and the young man from Yü-hang the braggart. Sung is merely a friend of Wang’s.
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[119] This is one of our author’s favourite shafts—a sneer at examiners in general, and those who rejected him in particular.
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[120] This would be regarded as a very meritorious act by the Chinese.
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[121] The Byron of China.
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[122] Chinese wine—or, more correctly, spirits—is always taken hot; hence the term wine-kettle, which frequently occurs in these pages.
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[123] The Magistrate; who is supposed to be towards the people what a father is to his children.
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