CHINA.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 42, 23 December 1842, Page 4

CHINA.

ORIGIN OF TUB WAR. (Continued from No. 40 J The servility and homage rendered to the Emperor is that of the most uncivilized nations. Every individual introduced to the Emperor’s presence must perform the Kou-tow, which is to prostrate himself nine times, each time striking the head against the ground. The failure of Lord Amherst’s embassy arose from his Lordship’s refusing to perform the Kou-tow. The imperial kindred are distinguished by the colour of their sashes ; those nearly related wear yellow sashes, and those more distant a red colour; these persons are by law confined within the city of Pekin, and if they are found without its limits they are confined for life, or exiled to Mantelioo Tartary. When a prince ascends the throne, he adopts seme name expressive of his qualities or his intentions. The reigning Emperor calls himself Taou Kwang, “ The Light of Reason.’’ The Princes of the blood are maintained in great state in the Imperial city, although the practice of polygamy has taken away from their dignity, and notwithstanding the succession is nominally hereditary, the reigning Emperor nominates his successor. Next to the Princes of the Blood Royal are Fou- tche-yuen, or censors, they are required to point out his faults to the Emperor, and the law makes them responsible for every bad action he commits, without a remonstrance on their part. There are nine ranks or degrees of persons. Ministers of State are generally of the first rank, Governors of Provinces the second, Magistrates the third. The machinery of Government is carried on by six Boards or Pous. 1. The Ly-pou, or Board for the examination of all mandarins, candidates for official situations in the provinces, and controlling and degrading those already in office.—2. The Ho-pou, or Finance Board, for the receipt and expenditure of the public revenue.—3. Li-pou, or Board of Rites, who regulate the public worship, the arts and sciences, titles of honour, dresses to be worn by the officers of state, the furnishing of the imperial table, and who prevent innovation on the present usages. —4. Ping-pou, having the superintendence of the fortresses and armies, and everything connected with the military service.—s The Hongpou, or Board of Justice, who take cognizance of all offences.—6. The Kong-pou, or Board of internal communication ; their office is to keep in repair all the bridges, roads, palaces, and public buildings throughout the empire ; and they also have the charge of all the canals, bridges, and navy of the empire. The college of lian-lin superintend the literature of the country, and instruct the children of the Emperor. They compile and direct the printing of the books that are printed at the Imperial press. The government of the provinces is delegated to Viceroys, who rule with absolute power over districts as large as European kingdoms ; the subordinate parts are filled by the officers whom we call mandarins. The term mandarin is not known in China; it is of Portuguese origin ; The Chinese call their officers Kwang-foo, and they are distinguished by a knob or button on their caps, which is about the size of a shilling and made of gold, chrystal, precious stones or coral; besides these marks the civil officers wear a tunic with a bird embroidered on their back or breast, and the military officers have a tiger embroidered on their dress. The Hong merchants, and other rich people, are permitted to purchase rank and wear a button, for which they pay large sums to the Emperor. Governors of provinces who have acquired great wealth during their administration are punished by being appointed conservators of the Yellow River, and their duty is to repair all damage caused by its inundations at their private cost. Refractory nobles are degraded and sent as slaves amongst the Tartars, or exiled to one of the islands in the Chusan Archipelago. The Kwang-foo or Mandarins have the power to inflict corporal punishment; and being chiefly of Tartar extraction, they treat the Chinese as a conquered people: it is this arrogant class who have been for more than half a century fattening on the plunder and the bribes they have received from the trade in opium; it is they who,/on all occasions, have treated the European voyager with tyranny and contempt. The Chinese people evince, on all occasions, every disposition to trade with Europeans, but , x , they fear detection from the Tartars, and they express, by a significant motion, that the punishment of decollation will follow the discovery of any connection with the fan-qui,* or foreigner. If protected by a sufficient force the Chinese will be too happy to trade. In the V 'present expedition Great Britain will find no 4- difficulty in procuring supplies for her fleet from the people along the coast. The Chinese groan under an intolerable oppression—their tearing, their arts, are buried beneath the weight of Tartar tyranny, and the establishment of a powerful station in the vicinity of the Chinese coasts, and a communication with the

natives of our power and influence, to great changes in the internal government and external administration of the pire. The officers of Government prevent |He circulation of any information relating to British power; as they call all the heads of the surrounding nations Kings (the Governor of Singapore they call ** King”), they affect to treat the British Sovereign as one of these dependent Princes. But the trade with Singapore, and the establishment of an hospital at Macao for the cure of native Chinese, thousands of whom are annually cured and sent to speak our praises throughout the different provinces of the empire, has created a vivid sensation in our favour, especially in the provinces of Kwangtong and Fuli-ken, and a warlike demonstration upon our part will not be without sympathetic feeling by large masses of Chinese. And if it should be our fate, as Sir Robert Peel has said, to be the governors of “ two-thirds of the human race,” we shall know that in the mission of nations it is our distinguished task to be the promulgators of the Christian faith, and that every nation who owns our sway throughout Asia has exchanged capricious tyranny for comparative liberty and happiness. Army. —The standing army, including the Tartar forces, is 600,000 men, of which nearly 100,000 are occupied in watching the eastern frontier, for the Chinese Government, jealous of the approach of the British to the Birman territory, have greatly increased their garrisons. —(See Wyld’s Map of China). On the Assamese frontier, and in the province of Sze-chuen 65,000 men are stationed. Although this amount appears to be very formidable, the Chinese are very inefficient soldiers; and as they are occupied for three-quarters of the year in labours of the field, the discipline is not very strict; they are armed with matchlocks and a short scymitar, and some regiments with bows and arrows. The artillery is very badly conducted, and except on the eastern frontier the fortresses throughout the empire are dilapidated and untenable against Europeans. In all the mountainous districts parties of barbarians exist upon the hills, who require the continued watching of troops to prevent predatory excursions into the plains; and it not unfrequently happens, in the conflicts with these mountaineers, that the regular troops are worsted. Mr. Barrow states that 20,000 European soldiers might march from Canton to Pekin.

Navy. —The navy is hardly worthy of the name. It consists 1,810 small tribute junks, of 200 tons, each manned by twelve natives, and about 60 war junks, from 1,000 to 1,500 tons burden, carrying from one to three hundred men, and mounting from twelve to fifty guns. The Chinese are very indifferent sailors and hundreds of their sailing junks are wrecked each year. Revenue. —According to Sir George Staunton the revenue is 66,000,000/. sterling, chiefly derived from a rent paid for the use of the land, (for the Emperor is sole proprietor, and is paid one-twelfth of the produce, and also from the monopoly of salt,) and from the customs and duties, 48,000,000/. is expended in the provinces wherein the revenue is raised, for the expenses of the local governments, and 12,000,000/. is remitted to Pekin for the expenses of the general government. As a very large portion of the revenue is paid in kind, the collection and transit of the duties is very costly, for the tiansmission of the revenue to Pekin the Imperial or Treasury Canal was constructed. Formerly a capitation tax was levied, but this is now abandoned. Commerce. —China has an immense internal tiade, cut off by the policy of her conquerers from any dependence upon external commerce; her people have learnt, by the experience of ages, how to supply all their wants; a few luxuries to be consumed by the wealthy were all they wished to obtain from the foreign trader; the industry of her people, and the variety of soil and climate, amply supplied all her real wants, and left a large superflux, which she exported to the surrounding nations. Now and then bad harvests, or severe - droughts, have compelled the importation of rice and grain ; this excepted, the Chinese must be considered as an exporting nation ; her principal exports are tea, raw and manufactured silk; sugar, cotton, spices porcelain, and alum. The English, Americans, French, and Danes, are the principal exporters, and their shipping is confined to the port' of Canton. The Spaniards have the exclusive right to the trade of the port of Amoy, and the Russians are prohibited from trading by the sea, and restricted to the towns of Kiatcha on the Russian, and Mamaitchan on the Chinese frontiers. The following table will show the European and American trade with China for the year 1834: ’

British flag . . . . 233 American 43 Spanish 28 Portuguese 11 French 7 Danish 2 Other European nations, flags unknown 22 The bulk of the cargoes exported was teas and silk. Tea is grown in all the southern provinces of China, in like manner; wine is produced throughout France and Rhenish Germany ; but good tea, like fine wines, is grown only in a few places. The Black Tea exported by Europeans is grown in the provinces of Fub-Iveen and Quantung; and the Green Teas in Tche-Kiang and Ngan-Hoe. There are thirty-six kinds of Tea, but of these thirteen varieties alone are exported by Europeans, viz.:— black teas. Pekoe J Orange Pekoe . . > First Picking. Caper J Ankoi Souchong.. S° ucho . n S > Second Picking. Campoi j Congo J Bohea Third Picking. GREEN TEAS. g“ der .:::: } F - tMn eYou fg Hyson.. .. Second Picking. &y kin .::::} ThirdPickin sThe leaves are plucked from the shrubs and trees three times a-year—in April, July, and September. The finest Tea is the first picking; and these buds are sometimes mixed with the blossoms of the sweet olive, which impart to them a delightful fragrance, and the Tea is then called Flowery Pekoe. The later gatherings are of a coarser and darker leaf. The average amount exported for British consumption is 30,000,000 of pounds, and the total consumption of England and her dependencies is 58,000,000 of pounds. The annual income derived from Tea is 3,300,000/., during the last twenty years, 80,000,000/. has been paid into the British Exchequer as duties upon Tea. The following table shows the amount of tea exported from China for the use of the world:— Great Britain 30,000,000 pounds. British Dependencies 28,000,000 Tartary & the States I 01 nnn nnn f Chiefly of Central Asia. . / “ i,UUU,UUU \ Black Tea. United States ofl B>ooo>ooo America J Russia 5,000,000 East India Islands .. 3,000,000 Holland and Belgium 2,700,000 France 500,000 Denmark 130,000 Naples 3,500 Germany 2,000 Austria 1,500 Italy 1,000 Nearly all the tea imported into the continent of Europe is for the consumption of British residents—indeed a cup of tea is as necessary to the Englishman as his fireside. If such be the case, it might be said—How, if we make enemies of the Chinese, are we to be supplied with this necessary to British comfort ? To this we reply—That the monopoly of the East India Company and the restrictions upon Eastern Commerce have prevented the proper development of English enterprise and energy in the East; the trade with the large island of Japan, abounding in tea as good, if not superior, to any of the teas grown in China, has never been properly cultivated. The country around Sincapore abounds in teatrees, and thousands of Chinese emigrants annually arrive at the British settlements, who are capable and willing, to cultivate the tea plant; millions of acres in the country of the Kariayn are covered with indigenious tea trees, and the Palaungs, a native tribe, are from their infancy, employed in the cultivation of the plant. This country might be easily obtained; it is .within the Burmese territory, 150 miles from Ahmurapoora, at the scources of some of the streams that run into the Irrawaddy ; and there is water way down the Mouttama to the British settlements of Martaban and Moulmeyn, a route very little longer than that by which the teas are sent to Canton, besides saving nearly one month’s voyage, and the danger of typhoons, &c., and last, but not least, the territory of Assam, which, if properly cultivated by Hindoos, (not Chinese—this is a fatal error) is capable of supplying all our wants. The tea tree, like the vine, grows to most advantage in stony and rocky districts (districts but little valuable for cultivation)and in high .latitudes of our Indian empire many districts m?y be found capable of producing thi§ valuable plant; but to make these available the directors of tiff; policy of the English empire must treat our Indian possessions as their importance and benefit to the Imperial state demand, and. not as it has hitherto been, sacrifice tfie interests of the East to the prejudices of the West. (To be continued J

* Fan-qui is literally White Devil.

Imports.. Exports. England 2,600,000 . . 6,000,000 America 827,000 . . 2,427,000 Dutch. 933,000 . . 1,173,000 Spanish .. 1,433,000 French ...... . . 136,000 Danes' .. 100,000 Number of ships which arrived at China during the year 1834 : —.