Transcriber's Note: Clicking on the map on page 15 will link to a larger version for better readability.

A STREET SHOWMAN.

PEEPS INTO CHINA;

OR,

The Missionary's Children.

BY

E. C. PHILLIPS,

AUTHOR OF "TROPICAL READING-BOOKS," "THE ORPHANS," "BUNCHY,"
"HILDA AND HER DOLL," ETC.

CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited:
LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK & MELBOURNE.
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]

To
MY DEAR PARENTS,
IN
LOVING MEMORY.

"Can I forget thy cares, from helpless years
Thy tenderness for me?"

CHAPTER I.

THE COUNTRY RECTORY.

OT really; you can't mean it really!"

"As true as possible. Mother told me her very own self," was the emphatic reply.

Two children, brother and sister, the boy aged ten, the girl three years older, were carrying on this conversation in the garden of a country rectory.

"But really and truly, on your word of honour," repeated Leonard, as though he could not believe what his sister had just related to him.

"I hope my word is always a word of honour; I thought everybody's word ought to be that," Sybil Graham replied a little proudly, for when she had run quickly to bring such important news to her brother, she could not help feeling hurt that he should refuse to believe what she said.

"And we are really going there, and shall actually see the 'pig-tails' in their own country, and the splendid kites they fly, and all the wonderful things that father used to tell us about? Oh! it seems too good to be true."

"But it is true," Sybil repeated with emphasis. "And I dare say we might even see tea growing, as it does grow there, you know, and I suppose we shall be carried about in sedan-chairs ourselves." She was really as happy as her brother, only not so excitable.

At this moment their mother joined them. "Oh, mother!" the boy then exclaimed, "how beautiful! Sybil has just told me, but I could not believe her."

"I thought the news would delight you both very much," Mrs. Graham answered. "Your father and I have been thinking about going to China for some time, but we would not tell you anything about it until matters were quite settled, and now everything seems to be satisfactorily arranged for us to start in three months' time."

"That will be in August, then," they both said at once.

"Oh, how very beautiful!" Sybil exclaimed. "I like my father to be a missionary very much. He must be glad too; isn't he, mother?"

"Very glad indeed, although the joy will entail some sadness also. I expect your father will grieve a good deal to leave this dear little country parish of ours, and the duties he has so loved to perform here, but a wider field of usefulness having opened out for him, he is very thankful to obey the call."

THE CHURCH.

"And father will do it so well, mother," answered Sybil. "I wonder whether I shall be able to do anything to help him there?"

"I think you have long since found out, Sybil," was her mother's loving answer, "that you can always be doing something to help us."

Sybil and Leonard had as yet only learnt a part of the story. They had still to learn the rest. This going to China would not be all beautiful, all joy for them, especially for Sybil, with her very affectionate nature and dread of saying "Good-byes," for she and Leonard were only to be taken out on a trip—a pleasure tour—to see something of China, and to return to England to go on with their education at the end of six months.

Mr. Graham then calling his wife, the children were again left alone.

It was no easy matter to go as a missionary to China. This Mr. Graham well knew, for his father, although only for a short time, had been one over there before him, and had discovered—what so many other later brother missionaries have found out also—that to obtain even a hearing on the subject of religion from a Chinaman, who has been trained and brought up to be a superstitious idolater, very vain of his wisdom and antiquity as a nation, and to look upon Europeans as barbarians, is often a most difficult matter.

Eighteen years before Mr. Graham the elder went out to Peking as one of the first missionaries to China, and his only son, who had then just qualified for the medical profession, accompanied him. A year later, the father dying, his son returned at once to England, but with a changed mind, determined now to seek holy orders and enter the ministry, instead of following his profession, so as by thus doing to add one more to the number of earnest clergy that his short stay in China had shown him were so much needed. To carry out his resolution, he went to Oxford to prepare, and soon after his ordination he married, and settled down, in the little country village, where we find him, surrounded by his little family.

Often since then had he contemplated leaving England for missionary work, but until now he had been prevented from carrying his wishes into effect.

His knowledge of medicine had not been lost to him, for many a sufferer in the little, yet wide-spreading country parish, who lived at too great a distance to send for the doctor for a slight ailment, had been very thankful, when the clergyman came in to read and pray with him, to learn from him what his slight ailment was, and how he could prevent its becoming a great one.

And this knowledge would be most helpful and invaluable in China, where Mr. Graham knew that the science of medicine was held in veneration by the inhabitants, and gained a ready admission to those who were glad to be cured of bodily ailments, but knew not how sick their souls were.

The missionary's slight acquaintance with the Chinese dialect, which, when time permitted, he had endeavoured to keep up, would also be of service to him when he arrived in China; for although the dialects of the south, where he was going, were very different from those of the north, the Mandarin, or Court language, spoken by the officials, was understood in every part.

"That's why father's been reading all those books lately with the pig-tail pictures in, and wonderful kites, and why he has been studying the language without an alphabet," Leonard said, when he and his sister were again alone. "If I hadn't been at school so much, I expect I should have found out what was going to happen."

"I don't believe we should ever find out anything that father did not wish us to know, however much we wanted to do so," answered Sybil. "But isn't it splendid?—all but one thing, and that is having to leave everybody, and my best friend Lily Keith. I shan't like doing that at all."

"And I shall miss my friends too, of course," said Leonard; "but then I expect we shall make some new ones; and I thought you were so fond of writing letters. Why, you could write splendid ones from China, and tell Lily what we see, and perhaps mother would draw you some pictures for them, for she can draw anything, you know."

Sybil was comforted, for she was very fond of writing letters, and her friend, she knew, would be very glad to have some from China.

Directly after the six o'clock dinner was the children's hour with father, who, being a very busy man, had to regulate all his time; but this one hour a day belonged entirely to his family, and unless anything unforeseen happened, they had and claimed every moment of it.

Sybil came down-stairs first, and going up to her father, who was sitting by a large bow window, gazing out of it, with a very serious look on his face, she said with surprise as she kissed him: "You look sad, dear father. Aren't you glad to go to China?"

He drew her on to his knee.

"Very glad, my darling," was the answer; "but I was just picturing to myself some farewells that will have to be taken. I shall be very sorry, too, to say 'Good-bye' here, where our lives have been so blessed and our prayers so abundantly answered. We cannot help feeling sorry to leave our old friends, can we?"

"But you don't look, father," she continued, "as if that were all that you had been thinking."

"I dare say it was also about the work in which I am so soon to engage, for that, Sybil, is full of grave responsibility; but now I think it is my turn to ask what your thoughts are," he went on, for at that moment Sybil was looking quite as grave as, just before, her father could have looked.

"I was remembering two verses of a piece of poetry that I learnt last term at school, which I think must have been written for missionaries," she replied.

Her father then asking her to repeat them to him, Sybil said:—

"Sow ye beside all waters,
Where the dew of heaven may fall;
Ye shall reap, if ye be not weary,
For the Spirit breathes o'er all.
Sow, though the thorns may wound thee;
One wore the thorns for thee;
And, though the cold world scorn thee,
Patient and hopeful be.
Sow ye beside all waters,
With a blessing and a prayer,
Name Him whose hand upholds thee,
And sow thou everywhere.
"Work! in the wild waste places,
Though none thy love may own;
God guides the down of the thistle
The wandering wind hath sown.
Will Jesus chide thy weakness,
Or call thy labour vain?
The Word that for Him thou bearest
Shall return to Him again.
On!—with thine heart in heaven,
Thy strength—thy Master's might,
Till the wild waste places blossom
In the warmth of a Saviour's light."

"Thank you, Sybil," said her father. "I am sure you will make a capital little missionary's daughter some day."

"To what part of China are we going, father?" she then asked; "to the same place where you were before?"

"No; quite in another direction. You know when I was last in China I was at Peking, in the north, and now I am to be in Hong-Kong, an island in the south; but we shall not go there direct, as I wish to take you to see several places before finally landing."

"Wait a minute, please, father," Sybil then exclaimed, "while I just fetch my map to look them out as you tell them to me." And as she spoke she ran off, to return the next minute with an atlas, in which she found these places as her father mentioned them: Shanghai, Amoy, the Island of Formosa, Swatow, Hong-Kong, Macao, and Canton.

"I wish, father, you would tell us some day all you can remember about Peking," then said Leonard, as he ran in and joined his father and sister, having till now been very busy, first coaxing his good friend the gardener to help him cut and put up some roosts in the fowl-house, and then showing his handiwork to his mother. "You know what I mean: something like what you used to tell us."

LEONARD IN THE GARDEN.

"I will try to arouse up my memory, and tell you what I can on board ship, when we shall have, I suppose, seven or eight weeks with very little to do, and when you will, no doubt, be glad of some true stories to while away the time."

"I wish we were going to start to-morrow," rejoined Leonard, who was, I am afraid, a boy without a particle of that virtue which we call "patience." He wanted his mother now to go into the poultry-yard with him to see the roosts he had, and as she liked to enter into all his pleasures and useful occupations, she was very pleased to go.

Before either of them came in again, Sybil had heard "the rest" from her father; that she and Leonard were, after a six months' long holiday in China, to return to England to continue their education. It was a terrible blow to her, to whom a long separation from her parents seemed almost like an impossibility. Her bright eyes filled with tears.

"Oh, father!" she said; "and leave you and mother?"

"It must be for a time, my darling, till your education is completed, as your mother and I both wish you to remain at the school where you are, but when school-days are over, about four years hence, I hope to be able to have you out with us. It will be longer for poor old Leonard, won't it?"

"I don't think I care to go to China now, father," Sybil then said.

"Oh yes you do, Sybil," was the answer; "you like your father to be a missionary very much, you know, do you not?" Her mother had repeated this saying. "And, my child," he continued, "you know that it must be a dreadful trial for so very good and loving a mother as yours to part from her children; but now that a call has come to me to do my Master's work in a foreign land, and she is helping me to obey it, you would not make her trial greater, would you, by letting her see you sad? Oh no! I know you would not; but you would help us to do our duty more bravely. Is it not so, my child?"

Sybil buried her face on her father's shoulder, and sobbed, but on seeing her mother coming up the garden towards them, she quickly wiped her tears away, and tried to look cheerful. Her father had gone wisely to work in giving her such a reason for trying to overcome her sorrow, and he knew that now she would set herself bravely to work to help, and not to hinder, her parents' undertaking.

And they were not to be parted for nearly another year, she said to herself, and meanwhile they were to have all sorts of enjoyments with their parents.

Mrs. Graham brought a message from Leonard for Sybil to go and see his roosts, which she at once obeyed, affectionately kissing her mother as she passed her. That was to say that she knew, and a great deal more.

Another piece of news Sybil now conveyed to Leonard, and as she told it, even he could not tell that it made her very unhappy. I wonder if he believed at once this time!

CHAPTER II.

THE FIRST PEEP.

HE missionary's family party had set sail, and the steamship, in which they were passengers, was now fairly out at sea.

As far as money was concerned, Mr. Graham had no anxieties, for being the only son of a very wealthy man, who had lost his wife some time before he died himself, Mr. Graham had, at his father's death, inherited the whole of his large fortune.

"Now, father, don't you think it's high time you began to tell us about old Peking?" Leonard said, a few days after they had sailed. "I did not ask you at first, because we had plenty to do to look about us, but now that there's nothing in the world but water to see anywhere, we should so like to hear some stories; so please begin, if it won't trouble you too much."

And sitting on deck, with Sybil on his right and Leonard on his left, Mr. Graham did as he was requested, and gave his children what they considered a very interesting description of a portion of that vast empire which they were so soon to visit. "The Chinese," he began, "are a very ancient race, so ancient, indeed, that the origin of their monarchy is not known."

"Do you mind waiting one minute, father, just to tell me a thing I have forgotten, and you told me once?" Leonard asked. "What does the word China mean?"

"The ancient name for China, Tien-sha, means 'inferior only to heaven.' Chinese history begins with the fabulous ages, two or three million years ago, when the Chinese say that no land but theirs was inhabited, and gods reigned upon the earth, which was made for them. After the gods, they tell us, came mythical kings, who were giants, had the power of working miracles, and lived for thousands of years; but it is really supposed that the first people who passed beyond the deserts of Central Asia settled in the province of Shen-si, which borders on Tartary, and here laid the foundation of the present monarchy of China.

"Some Chinese historians think that their first mortal Emperor was Fuh-hi, whose date of coming to the throne is fixed as early as 2,852 years b.c. He is described as possessing great virtues, and was called by his subjects the 'Son of heaven'—a title which is still given to Emperors of China, who are foolishly supposed, by some of their subjects, to be of celestial origin. He is said to have taught them how to keep laws and to live peaceably, also to have invented the arts of music and numbers. Certainly the Chinese have understood music from very early ages, and class it among the chief of the sciences.

MUSICIANS.

"They have at least fifty different kinds of wind and string musical instruments, made of wood, stone, or metal, and they play a great deal, but especially upon their fiddle instruments. They do not like our music at all.

"But now we must go back to a little more Chinese history. There is nothing to prove that the Chinese existed as a nation before the time of Yu the Great, whose date of accession is said to be 2,285 years b.c., and he is also included in the Legendary Period to which Fuh-hi belongs. After the Legendary Period came the Semi-Historical Period in Chinese history; the really Historical Period dating from the early part of the eighth century before Christ.

"Different dynasties succeeded each other, till from the years 500 to 200 b.c. many petty kings, reigning over various provinces, waged war against one another. At length a fierce warrior, named Ching-wang, went to war with, and conquered, all of them, and made himself master of the whole empire, about 200 years b.c., his government comprising about the northern half of modern China. He was the first monarch of the dynasty called Tsin, or Chin. Next he turned his arms against the Tartars, who were a portion of those people whom we read of in history by the name of Huns, and who were now making constant inroads into China. They were capital soldiers—I believe every Tartar has now to be a soldier—and as the Chinese dreaded them very much, the Emperor thought out a way to keep them off. He erected a great wall along the whole extent of the northern frontier of China, of very great height, thickness, and strength, made of two walls of brick many feet apart, the space between them being, for half the length of the wall, filled up with earth, and the other half with gravel and rubbish. On it were square towers, which were erected at about a hundred yards' distance from one another. Some say this wall extended 1,500 miles from the sea to the most western provinces of Shen-si; McCulloch says it is 1,250 miles in length. It was carried over mountains and across rivers. Six horsemen could ride abreast upon it. But there was great cruelty practised in its construction, for the Emperor obliged every third labouring man in the kingdom to work at this wall without payment.

GREAT WALL OF CHINA, GULF OF PE-CHI-LI.

"It took five years to finish, and has now existed for more than two thousand years. It is called Wan-li-chang, or Myriad-mile Wall."

"And did it keep out the Tartars?" Leonard asked.

"No; the little Emperor Tsai-tien, born in 1871, and now on the throne, is, I believe, a descendant of theirs. He is called Kwang-su, which means 'Continuation of glory.'"

"Does the Emperor's eldest son always reign?"

"No; the ablest or best son is generally chosen. Ching-wang seemed to think that he was master of the whole universe, and called himself Che-Hwang-ti, or First Emperor; and then to try to show that he was the founder of the monarchy, he had, as he thought, all the historical documents burnt that could prove otherwise, but did not succeed, for some that had been hidden behind the walls of houses were found after his death."

"What a quantity of stuff it must have taken to build the wall!" said Leonard.

"Yes; the material in the Great Wall, including the earth in the middle of it, is said to be more than enough to surround the circumference of the earth, on two of its great circles, with two walls of six feet high and two feet thick. Guards are stationed in the strong towers by which the wall is fortified; every important pass having a strong fortress."

"And what is the height of the wall, father?" asked Leonard.

"About twenty feet; and there are steps of brick and stone for men on foot to ascend, and slanting places for the cavalry."

"I shall like to see Chinese soldiers," Leonard said. "Did you ever see them at drill, father?"

CHINESE ARTILLERY-MEN, PEKING.

"I remember very well seeing a regiment of artillery at gun-drill one day, but I believe there has been a new armament of Chinese artillery since my time. I suppose you know, children," then said Mr. Graham, "that Peking ranks——"

"For the number of its inhabitants," Sybil said quickly, "as the second city in the world, only London having more inhabitants, Paris about the same number."

"Yes; and it has——"

"About two million inhabitants."

"Yes; and as Peking was built many centuries before the Christian era, it is a very old city. The name Peking means Court of the North. After the conquest by the Tartars of the kingdom of Yen, of which Peking was the capital, it became only a provincial town, when, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, it was again made the capital of China. The Chinese sovereigns used to live at Nanking, but when the Tartars had so often invaded the country, they removed to the northern province, to enable them the more easily to keep out the invaders."

"On our Chinese umbrella that we had in the dining-room fireplace at home," said Sybil, "there was, I remember, a picture of Peking, and some water was close by it, but I cannot remember what river Peking is on."

"It is situated in a large sandy plain on the Tunghui, a small tributary of the Peiho. This city is again divided into the Chinese and Tartar cities, the Imperial city, in which live the Emperor and his retainers, and another in which the court officials have their residence.

"Like all other Chinese cities, they are surrounded by high walls. At the north, south, east, and west sides of towns are large folding-gates, which are often further secured by three inner gates. The one in the south is that of honour, through which the Emperor passes, but which is usually kept closed at other times.

CIEAN-MUN, OR CHEAN-GATE AT PEKING.

"The wall of Peking, which is sixteen miles round, has two gates on three sides and three on the other, of which the principal is Chean-Mun, at the south of the Tartar city. Over the gate is a building occupied by soldiers, who are there for purposes of defence.

CHINESE SOLDIER.

STREET OF HATA-MÈNE -TA-KIE, PEKING.

"The streets in Peking are very broad; we shall find them much narrower in the south of China. They are raised in the centre, and covered with a kind of stone, to form a smooth, hard surface. In summer they are often, I remember, very dusty, and during the rainy seasons very dirty. At the end of each street is a wooden barrier, which is guarded day and night by soldiers. The barrier is closed at nine o'clock at night, after which time the Chinese are only allowed to pass through if they have a very good reason to give for being out so late.

"Order is well kept in the streets of Peking by the soldiers and police, who may use their whips on troublesome customers whenever they think it necessary to do so.

"The principal streets, or main thoroughfares, extending from one end of the city to the other, are its only outlets. Trees grow in several of these streets. Houses, in which the inhabitants live, are in smaller streets or lanes, the houses themselves being often shut in by walls.

"Pagodas (which, you know, are temples to heathen gods, built in the form of towers), monasteries, and churchyards, are all outside the walls, and the city itself is principally kept for purposes of commerce."

"We know what pagodas are like," Leonard said, "because we had two at home for ornaments. I think we know many things through being so fortunate as to have a father who has travelled."

CHINESE BARBER.

"There is a great noise in some of the streets," Mr. Graham went on: "for instance, in the Hata-mène-ta-kie, where many people are to be seen bustling about and talking very loudly to one another. Tents are here put up in which rice, fruit, and other things are sold, and any one wishing for a pretty substantial meal can be supplied with it in the Hata-mène-ta-kie, for before stoves stand the vendors of such meals, who have cooked them ready for purchasers. Other tradesmen carry hampers, slung across their shoulders, in which they keep their goods, whilst they call out, from time to time, to let people know what these hampers contain. Carts, horses, mules, wheel-barrows, and sedan-chairs pass along, the whole place seeming to be alive with buyers and sellers. The cobbler is sure to be somewhere close at hand in his movable workshop, and first here and then there, as may best suit himself and employers, the blacksmith pitches his tent, which sometimes consists of a large umbrella; whilst, again, people can refresh themselves, if they do not care for a heavier meal, with some soup or a patty at a soup stall.

"And the barber does not forget that he is a very useful person. There, in the open streets, he communicates, by the tinkling of a little bell, the fact that he is ready to shave the heads and arrange the cues or pig-tails of those who may require his services; and as one man after another takes the seat that has been put ready for him, the barber not only shaves and plaits, but also frequently paints his customer's eyebrows and gives his clothes a brush."

"Father, why do Chinamen wear pig-tails?" here broke in Leonard, who, with Sybil, was very much interested in what he heard.

"After they were conquered by the Tartars they were obliged to wear them, to show that they were in subjection to their conquerors; but now the pig-tail is held in honour, and the longer it will grow the better pleased is the Chinese gentleman who wears it. Some very bad criminals have their tails cut off as a great punishment and disgrace.

"Well, what should you like to hear now?" Mr. Graham asked, after a little pause.

"What Chinese shops are like, I think," said Sybil.

A SHOP IN PEKING.

SIGN-BOARD OF A CUSHION AND MATTING MANUFACTORY.

"Most of those in China are quite open in front; where we are going I suppose we shall see very few, if any, shop-windows at all, but in Peking many of the shops have glass windows. In China there are certain streets for certain shops, where the different branches of trade have generally their own sides of the road. A shop is called a hong. Sometimes the master sits outside, waiting for his customers to arrive.

"At the door of each hong are sign-boards, upon which are painted in gold, or coloured letters, a motto instead of a name, and what the shop offers for sale.

"I do not think," Mr. Graham then said, drawing, as he spoke, a little representation of a sign-board out of his pocket-book, "that I ever showed you this."

"Oh no!" both the children answered. "And what do those characters mean?"

On another piece of paper Mr. Graham pointed out to them the following interpretation:

"The three first large characters, which form the motto, may be taken to signify that 'Heaven favours the prudent.' The other smaller characters designate the nature of the business, a cushion and matting manufactory; the last character, without which no sign-board is complete, meaning shop or factory."

"I shall like to see these sign-boards very much when we get to China," Sybil said. "I should think they must make the streets look very pretty."

A TWO-WHEELED CART.

Mr. Graham had illustrated several things which he had told the children by some pictures which he had brought on board with him.

A YOUNG FARMER AND HIS PARENTS.

Leonard was now looking again at that of Chean Mun, or Chean Gate, for Mun means gate.

"I have been noticing, father," he then said, "that all the carts in this picture have only two wheels."

"I never saw any in China with more," was the answer. "Both shut and open carts (the latter being used as carriages) have all two wheels. Those in common use are made of wood, the body of the cart resting on an axle-tree, supported by the wheels. Horses and mules are very little used in China, except for travelling and for conveying luggage long distances. I remember also noticing that horses and ponies require very little guiding in China. Sometimes they go without reins, when their masters will perhaps walk beside them, carrying a whip. I have also seen very polite drivers, who, whenever they met a friend, jumped off their carts and walked on foot to pass one another.

A CHINESE JUNK.

FLYING KITES.

"Government servants generally use ponies, but as China is so densely populated—having, it has been estimated, about four hundred million inhabitants, and people find it so hard to obtain enough to support themselves and families—they keep as few beasts of burden as possible. The farmer employs the bullock a great deal, and in the north of China the camel is also much used.

"Much trade is carried on by boats, and where there is no water, and farmers are without other conveyances, they will sometimes push their wives along the roads in wheel-barrows, sons giving their parents similar drives. There are but few carriage-roads in many parts of China."

"I wonder the Chinese do not make more, then," said Leonard.

"They cannot afford to do so, because to make them bread-producing land would have to be done away with."

"What a number of rivers and bays there are in China!" said Sybil, who was again examining her map. "And I see the Great Wall crosses the Hwang-ho."

"And that's the fifth largest river in the world," Leonard answered. "Only the Amazon, Mississippi, Nile, and Yantze-kiang are larger; and the Grand Canal in China is the very largest canal in the world."

"I learnt once, too, that Hwang-ho meant 'Chinese sorrow.' Why is it called that?"

"Because it has altered its course, which has caused great loss and inconvenience to the Chinese."

"And what does 'Yantze-kiang' mean?"

"The son that spreads; this is their favourite river."

Geography was one of Leonard's favourite studies.

"Why do so many Chinese rivers end in ho and kiang?" he then asked, looking over Sybil's map.

"Both words mean river—the Yantze and the Hwang rivers. And the Chinese have all kinds of boats for use on their rivers. Here, my boy, is a picture of a Chinese junk. Look at it well, and see if you can discover anything peculiar about it."

Leonard looked for some time. "It has sails," he answered, "like butterflies' wings."

"Yes; that is how the Chinese make many of their sails."

"But the kites are what I want to see so much," said Leonard, as though the sails had reminded him of them again. "What are the most peculiar of them like?"

"Like birds, insects, animals, clusters of birds, gods on clouds: all kinds of things, in fact, are represented by these kites, which the Chinese are most clever in making, and also in flying. I have seen old men, of about seventy years of age, thoroughly enjoying flying their kites. The Chinese do not care much for your, and my, favourite games, Leonard: cricket and football."

"What games do they like?"

"They are very fond of battledore and shuttlecock, but instead of using a battledore they hit the shuttlecock with their heads, elbows, or feet. Seven or eight children play together, and nearly always aim the shuttlecock rightly. Girls play at this game too, in spite of their small feet. Tops, balls, see-saws, and quoits are also favourite toys and games amongst the Chinese."

"I remember," Sybil said, "a girl at school having a Chinese shuttlecock, and that was like a bird."

"Well, father, go on, please. What other amusements have they?" asked Leonard.

"Puppet-shows for one thing I remember, which they exhibit in the streets, as we do 'Punch and Judy.' The pictures in these shows are exhibited by means of strings, which are either worked from behind or from above the stand, and as the people look through a glass, the views are displayed to them. A man standing at the side calls out loudly, and beats a little gong to summon people to attend the show. And now I think, as I am rather tired for to-day, I shall beat a little gong to dismiss you from the show," Mr. Graham said, smiling, as he turned towards his children, who never seemed to grow tired of listening.

"Very well, father; we will go now, and let you rest," Sybil replied, standing up. "Thank you so much. To-morrow, you know, we shall come to the show again, so please remember to sound the gong in good time." And off they bounded, leaving Mr. Graham at liberty to go and seek his wife, who was then lying down in her cabin.

CHAPTER III.

THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA.

LI-HUNG.

ILL you please tell us to-day, father, something about the religion of the Chinese? I know they worship idols, but how do they believe in them?" Sybil asked, as soon as their "Peep-show," as the children continued to call their father's stories, began the next afternoon. During the morning she had sat and read to her mother, who still felt the motion of the vessel very much, and had therefore to lie down part of the day.

"I will try to do so," was the answer; "but I think what you hear may puzzle you a good deal, for they have very strange creeds."

"Did grandfather make many converts?"

"Very few indeed; but then he was one of our very first missionaries to Peking, so was most thankful for the very little which he was enabled to do.

A CITIZEN OF TIENT-SIN.

"I remember two men for whose conversion from Buddhism he often gave thanks. One was a citizen of Tientsin, where we landed on our way to the capital.

"This good fellow, who was then a very questionable character, was smoking his pipe in a most indifferent manner, when my father, through his teacher, first addressed him. Missionaries in China, you know, have teachers of the dialects."

"Shall you have one?"

"Of course. Well, this man would not listen at all at first, and was very angry at my father's interference; but after a while we met him again at Peking, and in time both he and his wife learnt to believe, and to long for Christian baptism, before receiving which they not only left off worshipping their family idols, but even destroyed them. A short time ago I heard that this man had become a native lay teacher, and was a great help to the mission, as he could, of course, always make himself understood to his own countrymen, who were also not unlikely to be won by his example."

"What was his name?" asked Leonard.

"Tung-Sean."

"And that of the other convert?"

"Li-Hung. He was a much older man, and was sitting, I remember, the day we first saw him, in a field, resting from his work, and as he caught sight of my father he began to call him all sorts of names, amongst which was to be heard very often that of 'foreign devil.' I believe he even looked for stones to throw at us. Your grandfather—always a very quiet, self-possessed man—just dropped some tracts at his side, translated into Chinese. We often saw Li-Hung again, and though he gave us much trouble, a month before my father died he had the happiness also of witnessing this man's conversion to the true faith."

"Grandfather must have been very pleased," Sybil said.

"He was; but I think now I have something rather interesting to tell you of our journey from Tientsin to Peking. We went in carts drawn by two mules, one in front of the other, and at night we slept at inns, where, I think, you would like to hear about our sleeping accommodation. It was winter, and as the Peking winter is cold, people there, to make themselves warm at night, sleep on kangs. As these were different at both inns to which we went, I will tell you about both.

A KANG.

"In one the kang consisted of a platform built of brick, so much larger than a bed that several people could sleep on it at once. A kind of tunnel passed through the platform, which had a chimney at one end, whilst at the other end, a little while before bed-time, a small quantity of dry fuel was set on fire, when the flame passed through the tunnel and out of the chimney. In this way the kang was warmed, when felt matting was put upon it. Here we lay down, and were covered over with a kind of cotton-wool counterpane.

BOATS ON THE RIVER PEI-HO AT TIENT-SIN.

"The kang in the other inn was warmed by a little stove from underneath, which also served in the day-time for cooking purposes, when the bed-clothes were removed from the kang, on which mats, and even little tables, were also sometimes put, until it became a sofa; so it was very useful."

The children laughed.

"We are not hearing about the religion yet, though," Sybil said.

"Oh, do let us hear just a little more about Peking and Tientsin first," Leonard answered. "How far is Tientsin from the capital?"

"Eighty miles. And do you know what river it is on?"

Leonard considered. "It must be an important one, I should think, as it carries things, doesn't it, from the sea-coast to near to Peking?"

"It is only a river of secondary importance, but the principal one of the province of Pe-chili. Now for its name." Sybil referred to her map.

"The Pei-ho, of course," they exclaimed together. "And I suppose there is ever so much traffic on it?" Leonard said; "with no end of ships to be seen?"

"Yes, a good many may be seen there. I have a picture of boats on the River Pei-ho."

"What sort of flags do Chinese boats have, father? I do not see any hoisted here."

"The Imperial Navy is divided into river and sea-going vessels, the former consisting of 1,900 ships, the latter of 918; and there are 188,000 sailors. Ships in the Imperial Navy generally fly a flag at the main, on which red lines are drawn, or sometimes a tri-colour is hoisted there instead. Red would, I suppose, be for safety, as this is the 'lucky' colour of the Chinese. At the stern of the vessel I remember seeing the name of the official who directs and superintends the ship."

"Isn't Tientsin noted for something?" Sybil then asked.

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

"Yes; for the treaty of June 26th, 1858, between the Chinese and British, some of the terms of which were that the Christian religion should be protected by Chinese authorities, that British subjects should be allowed to travel in the country for pleasure or business, under passports issued by their consul, and that the Queen might acquire a building site at Peking."

"But now the religion, please, father," she said again.

"Very well; but you must pay great attention to what I say, or you will not understand. Most of the Chinese are either Confucianists, Buddhists, or Taouists, although there are also Jews and Mahometans amongst them. At one time it is supposed that the people of China had really a knowledge of the true God, and that when they worshipped, in much the same sort of manner as did the patriarchs, Him whom they call Wang-teen, or Shang-ti, which means Supreme Ruler, they worshipped God.

"But mixing with this an idolatrous worship of departed ancestors, they nearly lost sight of the Supreme Ruler, the jealous God, Who, we know, claims all our worship.

"About the latter half of the sixth century before Christ, Confucius, a great and clever philosopher of China, who was born 551 b.c., wrote and put together books that held very moral and good maxims, afterwards called 'The Classics.'

"He taught that men must always be obedient to those to whom they are in subjection: people to prince, child to parent, filial piety being enforced before every other duty. He was very anxious to improve the manners of the people; but women he ranked very low. Confucianism is—but perhaps you will not understand this—more a philosophy than a religion. Its followers have no particular form of worship, and no priesthood. The Pearly Emperor, Supreme Ruler, is their deity, but worship is seldom offered to him, and then only by a few.

"Although Confucius disapproved very much of idols, after he was dead many of his followers worshipped him.

A MANDARIN.

"Confucianists do not believe in a future state of rewards and punishments, but think that their good and bad deeds will be rewarded here by riches or poverty, long or short life, good or bad health. Conscience is to lead people aright, and tell them when they do wrong.

"The high mandarins and literary people are generally Confucianists; school-boys also worship an idol or tablet of the sage, in which his spirit is supposed to dwell.

"There is a temple to the honour of 'The Great Teacher' in every large town; and on great occasions, and always in spring-time and autumn, sacrifices are here offered, the Emperor himself, as high priest, presiding at these two ceremonies in Peking, the chief mandarins of his court giving him assistance. In temples of Confucius idols are very seldom to be seen.

"The Confucianists are taught that man was originally good, his nature being given by heaven, and that sin came through union of the soul with matter."

"What are mandarins, please, father?" asked Leonard.

"Chinese officials, of which there are many grades, and many in each grade, all of whom are paid by Government. To every province there is a viceroy, to every city a governor, and to the village a mandarin, who is elected to rule over it for three years; and all these, again, have many officers under them. There are also a great many military mandarins. A great mark of imperial favour is to allow mandarins, civil or military, to wear a peacock's feather in their caps, which hangs down over the back, and the ball placed on the top shows, by its colour and material, the rank of the wearer. Soldiers fighting very bravely are often buoyed up with the hope of receiving one of these feathers.

"Mandarins, who stand in a sort of fatherly relationship towards their people, although they do not always behave like fathers towards them, look for implicit obedience from them."

"Can a mandarin be punished when he does wrong?" Leonard asked. "And what sort of dress does he wear?"

A MANDARIN WITH PEACOCK'S FEATHER.

"He can be punished when he does wrong; and as well as I can remember, those mandarins that I saw, who were in high office, wore a long, loose robe of blue silk, embroidered with gold threads. This reached to their ankles, being fastened round their waists with a belt. Over this was a violet tunic, coming just below the knees, which had very wide, long sleeves, usually worn turned back, but if not, hanging over the hands."

"Will you please go on about the religion now, father?" Sybil then said. "You had just told us that the Confucianists were taught that man was made good."

"Yes; and their worship is paid almost entirely to their ancestors, which worship they look upon as a continuation of the reverence they had been taught to show them while on earth. I will tell you more about ancestral worship presently.

"Many people, as you can well understand, were not satisfied with Confucianism as a religion, as it could not satisfy their spiritual wants, especially as the Pearly Emperor, or Supreme Ruler, generally looked upon as the highest divinity worshipped by the Chinese, might only be approached by the Emperor and his court; so another sect sprang up, having a philosopher named La-outze, who was born 604 b.c., for its founder. He thought that to grow perfect he must seclude himself from other people, and in his retirement was always looking for the Taou-le, the meaning of which you will hardly understand—the cause or the end of all things. His followers are called Taouists. This philosopher says in his book that 'it is by stillness, and contemplation, and union with Taou, that virtue is to be achieved'—Taou here meaning a principle and a way. He said that virtue consisted in losing sight of oneself, and that man should love even his enemies, and go through life as if none of his possessions belonged to himself. The Taouists say that 'Taou is without substance, and eternal, and the universe coming from him exists in the silent presence of Taou everywhere,' and that only those who become very virtuous are happy.

"La-outze is now worshipped by the Taouists as the third of a trinity of persons, called 'The Three Pure Ones.'

"He is said, when born, to have had long white hair, and is therefore represented as an old man, and called 'old boy.' The Chinese assert that his mother was fed with food from heaven, and that when he was born he jumped up into the air, and said, as he pointed with his left hand to heaven and his right hand to the earth, 'Heaven above, earth beneath: only Taou is honourable.' The Taouist trinity are supposed to live in the highest heaven; and Taouists used to spend a great deal of time in seeking for a drink that they thought would make them live for ever. Subduing evil is by some of them supposed to secure immortality to the soul.

"Their priests are often very ignorant men, but they are believed in by the people, and are employed by them to perform superstitious rites."

"Oh, father! Isn't it a dreadful pity that they should believe so many things like Christians, even in a trinity, and the duty of loving one's enemies, and only be heathens after all?"

"It is indeed; but the more we see of heathens, Sybil, the more we shall notice how they cannot help feeling after truth and grasping some parts of it, which seem as though they were a very necessity to religion. These Taouist priests are often called in by the people to exorcise, or drive away, evil spirits, to cure sick people and commune with the dead."

"Oh, father! I do so like this Peep-show. Please tell us now about the people of the other sect."

A BUDDHIST PRIEST.

"They are the Buddhists, who also worship a trinity; indeed, Taouists are thought to have taken that idea from them. As early as 250 b.c. Buddhist missionaries came over from India to China, but the religion did not really take root until an emperor named Hing, of the Han dynasty, introduced it, in the first century of the Christian era, about 66 a.d. This emperor is said to have seen in a dream, in the year of our Lord 61, an image of a foreign god coming into his palace, and in consequence he was advised to adopt the religion of Buddha, when he sent to India for an idol and some priests. Towards the end of the thirteenth century there were more than 4,200 Buddhist temples in China, and more than 213,000 monks. The Buddhist trinity is called Pihte, or the Three Precious Ones: Buddha Past, Buddha Present, and Buddha Future, and dreadfully ugly idols they are. The Buddhist's idea of heaven is Nirvâna, or rest, or more properly speaking, extinction. The Chinese Buddhist thinks that a man possesses three souls or spirits, one of which accompanies the body to the grave, another passes into his ancestral tablet to be worshipped, and the third enters into one, or all, of the ten kingdoms of the Buddhistic hell, into which people pass after death, there to receive punishments according to the lives they have led upon earth. From the tenth kingdom they pass back to earth, to inhabit the form of a man, beast, bird, or insect, as they may have deserved, unless during life a man has attained to a certain state of perfection, when he mounts to the highest heaven, and perhaps becomes a god or buddha. But even from the Western Paradise a spirit has sometimes to return to earth. Should a man have been good in all the various lives that he has lived, he is supposed to attain, I believe, to this Nirvâna, or extinction."

"What a wonderful belief!" Sybil said. "So they cannot believe at all in the immortality of the soul?"

"No, they do not."

"I should like to see a Buddhist priest very much," Leonard said.

ENTRANCE TO A BUDDHIST MONASTERY.

"I dare say you will see a good many when you get to China. They live together in monasteries, sometimes in great numbers, and these monasteries are prettily situated, surrounded by lakes and gardens. They consist of a number of small buildings, to the principal of which is a large entrance, that has inscriptions on either side of the gateway."

A MONASTERY.

"Are the priests very good men?" asked Leonard.

A GONG.

"Very often, I am afraid, just the reverse; but this is not to be wondered at, for criminals in China, to escape from justice, will sometimes shave their heads, and seek refuge by becoming Buddhist priests. When they take their vows—some taking nine, some twelve—for each one a cut is made in their arms to help them to remember it. Some of the vows resemble the commandments setting forth our duty towards our neighbour. A Buddhist priest, in China, wears a wide turn-over collar; when he officiates he often dresses in a yellow robe made of silk or cotton, but he is only allowed to wear silk when he does officiate. At other times his garments are of white or ash colour, or he wears a long, grey cowl with flowing sleeves. Buddhist priests shave all their hair two or three times a month. They think it is of great use to repeat their classics very often to the gods, and keep an account of the number of times they say them on their beads. I fancy they use brooms wherewith to sprinkle holy water. There are four special commandments for Buddhists, both priests and people: not to destroy animal life, not to steal, not to speak falsely, and not to drink wine. In monasteries the refectories of the priests are very large, and they have all to sit at dinner, so that the abbot, who is at their head, can see their faces. They are called to breakfast and dinner by a gong, where they have to appear in their cowls. Gongs are very much used in China, and are to be seen at all the temples. When the priest, who presides, comes in, they all rise, and putting their hands together, say grace. After the food has been so blessed, some is put outside as an offering to the fowls of the air. During dinner the priests may not speak, and on the walls of the refectory are boards, on which are written warnings, such as not to eat too quickly; also the rules of the monastery."

"That would not have done for you, Leonard, when you thought you would be late for school, and gobbled your dinner anyhow," said Sybil.

"How many gods have the Chinese?" asked Leonard.

WORSHIP IN A LAMASARY, BUDDHIST TEMPLE.

"So many that it would be impossible to say, and the Celestials (as the Chinese are often called, from naming their country the Celestial Land) are not particular how they worship them; Taouists, for instance, worshipping those who are peculiarly Buddhist divinities, and Buddhists invoking, in return, their gods. Indeed, the three religions have so borrowed from one another, and people have believed so much as they liked, that the Chinese themselves often do not know to which religion they belong, and are either all or none, pretty well as they choose. The Buddhism of China is not at all the pure Buddhism, and has been much corrupted by its professors."

"Who was the founder of Buddhism?"

"An Indian prince, of beautiful character, born 620 b.c., and called Shâkyamuni Buddha, who left wealth and luxury to go about relieving suffering wherever he found it. After he died his followers believed that he was transformed into a god, having three different forms."

"Tell us some of the gods, please."

"A god of rain; a god of wind; a god of thunder; a god of wealth, the latter worshipped very much by tradesmen; a god of thieves; a goddess of thunder; a guardian goddess of women and little children, called Kum-fa, whose ten attendants watch over children, helping them to eat, and teaching them to smile and walk; a god of wine; a god of fire; a goddess of mercy; a goddess of sailors; a goddess of children, called 'Mother'; a god of the kitchen; a god of measles, a god of small-pox. Then the Confucianists worship two stars, who are supposed to look after literature and drawing, the former called the god of literature. And besides household gods belonging to every family, there are a god of the passing year, and numerous others. Many of the gods are deified persons who once lived on earth."

TEMPLE OF THE MOON, PEKING.

"What a number!" Sybil said. "But who, then, is the great Lama? You have not told us anything about him yet, and I heard you speaking about him the other day."

"There is another form of Buddhism, called Lamaism, and this, though it prevails principally in Thibet and Mongolia, has also its followers in Peking. The Great Lama, or Living Buddha, is the head of this."

"And he is a living man?"

"Yes; but his soul is said never to die; therefore, when he dies it is supposed to pass into an infant whom the priests select by a likeness that they trace to the late Lama. I one day saw worship going on in a Lama temple."

"Have you a picture of it, father?" Leonard asked, who was getting a little tired of these descriptions, which Sybil liked so much.

"Yes, and I think it a very good one. In the centre, facing the worshippers, is a very large idol indeed of Buddha. To the right and left of the temple are smaller idols. Some gods in temples do not receive worship, but guard the doors. Incense is burning in front; the high priest, to the right, is lifting up his hands in adoration, whilst the people offer scented rods and tapers to Buddha. As they light their offerings they kow-tow, or hit their heads upon the floor. This is the Chinese way of reverent, respectful salutation. The devotees are grouped in squares.