[642] See No. CXXXI., [note 607].
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[643] See No. LXXV., [note 426].
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[644] Literally, “golden oranges.” These are skilfully preserved by the Cantonese, and form a delicious sweetmeat for dessert.
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[645] A.D. 1573–1620, the epoch of the most celebrated “blue china.”
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[646] A satirical remark of Mencius (Book I.), used by the sage when combating the visionary projects of a monarch of antiquity.
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[647] This disgusting process is too frequently performed by native butchers at the present day, in order to give their meat a more tempting appearance. Water is also blown in through a tube, to make it heavier; and inexperienced housekeepers are often astonished to find how light ducks and geese become after being cooked, not knowing that the fraudulent poulterer had previously stuffed their throats as full as possible of sand.
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[648] This was the man whose destiny it was really to die just then, and appear before the Ruler of Purgatory.
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[649] The city of Canton boasts several “cat and dog” restaurants; but the consumption of this kind of food is much less universal than is generally supposed.
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[650] Not in our sense of the term. It was not death, but decapitation, or even mutilation, from which the trader begged to be spared. See No. LXXII., [note 414].
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[651] The Chinese dog is usually an ill-fed, barking cur, without one redeeming trait in its character. Valued as a guardian of house and property, this animal does not hold the same social position as with us; its very name is a by-word of reproach; and the people of Tonquin explain their filthy custom of blackening the teeth on the ground that a dog’s teeth are white.
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