[138] This story is a sequel to the last.
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[139] The surnames would in this case be different, and no obstacle could be offered on that score. See No. XV., [note 109].
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[140] The [dénouement] of the Yü-chiao-li, a small novel which was translated into French by Rémusat, and again by Julien under the title of Les Deux Cousines, is effected by the hero of the tale marrying both the heroines.
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[141] The sexes do not dine together. On the occasion of a dinner-party, private or official, the ladies give a separate entertainment to the wives of the various guests in the “inner” or women’s apartments, as an adjunct to which a theatrical troupe is often engaged, precisely as in the case of the opposite sex. Singing-girls are, however, present at and share in the banquets of the roués of China.
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[142] This occurs on the 5th of the 5th moon, and is commonly known as the Dragon-Boat Festival, from a practice of racing on that day in long, narrow boats. It is said to have been instituted in memory of a patriotic statesman, whose identity, however, is not settled, some writers giving Wu Yun (see The Middle Kingdom, Vol. II., p. 82), others Ch‘ü Yüan (see The Chinese Reader’s Manual, p. 107), as the hero of the day.
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[143] A hare or rabbit is believed to sit at the foot of the cassia-tree in the moon, pounding the drugs out of which is concocted the elixir of immortality. An allusion to this occurs in the poems of Tu Fu, one of the celebrated bards of the T‘ang dynasty:—
“The frog is not drowned in the river;
The medicine hare lives for ever.”
[144] By which he would become eligible for Government employ. The sale of degrees has been extensively carried on under the present dynasty, as a means of replenishing an empty Treasury.
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