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and that people recommend each other in spring and autumn to return early, lest they should be bewildered in the fog, &c. As this is the first attempt by a Chinese to give his countrymen any information respecting England, we have thought that our readers would not be displeased with a short specimen of the mode in which it is conveyed.

That the Chinese have something better than those exhibitions described by travellers, the Orphan of Tchao,' translated by Premare, and the Laou-sing-urh,' both of which are taken from the same collection of one hundred dramas, abundantly testify; and we think there is also proof that these plays, and others of a similar description, are those which are generally represented before Chinese audiences, though it is not a little remarkable, as the Editor has observed, that those representations appear to descend into lowness and vulgarity, in the inverse ratio of the rank and situation in life of the parties for whose amusement they are exhibited.' The theatrical entertainments exhibited before the emperor and his court, for the amusement of every ambassador, from Ysbrandt Ives to Titsingh and Van Braam, were more puerile, absurd and mean, than those to which they were invited in the provinces. Thus we find in Lord Macartney's entertaining Journal, a ludicrous detail of the entertainments given at Gohol, which lasted five hours, the account of which his lordship thus concludes: Thus then have I seen King Solomon in all his glory. I use this expression, as the scene recalled perfectly to my memory a puppet- show of that name, which I recollect to have seen in my childhood, and which made so strong an impression on my mind, that I then thought it a true representation of the highest pitch of human greatness and felicity.' But at Tien-sing his lordship speaks of the actors having exhibited during the day several different pantomimes and historical dramas." One of these,' Sir George Staunton observes, attracted particular attention.' Scanty as their knowledge was of the language, many of the gentlemen of the embassy perceived, or thought they perceived, the resemblance of the action to one of Shakspeare's historical plays. A rebel general, who has slain his sovereign, pays his addresses to the captive empress; and, whilst she is tearing her hair, and rending the skies with her complaints, the conqueror enters, approaches her with respect, addresses her in a gentle tone, soothes her sorrows with his compassion, talks of love and adoration, and, like Richard the Third with Lady Anne, prevails, in less than half an hour, on the Chinese princess, to dry up her tears, to forget her deceased consort, and yield to a consoling wooer."

It would be idle to conjecture, in the present state of our imperfect knowledge of China, whence this unfavourable difference

in the court amusements arises; but it would be quite consistent with the character of this mean and insolent government, to suppose that these exhibitions were got up for the occasion, as being, in their opinion, best suited to the taste and understanding of foreign barbarians, who, according to their notions, come from afar to offer them tribute and to seek their protection.

But the vulgar and childish exhibitions of the Chinese stage form not the most serious charge against the taste and judgment of this nation of sages; it appears, from the Brief View,' that they frequently offend against all decency and morality. Not satisfied with the mere relation of a criminal act or a filthy story, the Chinese require something more-the eye must be gratified by a sight of every process of the transaction. The following instance will suffice as a specimen of their taste in this respect.

The history of husbands deceived by their mistresses, says M. de Guignes," being frequently the subject of their comedies, there occur therein sometimes situations so free, and in which the actor exhibits so much truth, that the scene becomes extremely indecent,”—and he mentions an instance of which he was an eye-witness, where the heroine of the piece "devint grosse et accoucha sur le théâtre d'un enfant." The piece was called the See-hou Pagoda, being the history of the destruction of the Pagoda now in ruins, on that famous lake described by Mr. Barrow under the name of Lui-fung-ta,-the Temple of the Thundering Winds. Several genii, mounted upon serpents, and marching along the margin of the lake, opened the scene; a neighbouring bonze shortly after made love to one of these goddesses, who, in spite of the remonstrances of her sister, listened to the young man, married him, became pregnant, and was delivered of a child upon the stage, who very soon found itself in a condition to walk about. Enraged at this scandalous adventure, the genii drove away the bonze, and finished by striking the pagoda with lightning, and reducing it to the ruined condition in which it now appears.' (Brief View, p. 29.)

The translation of the Laou-sing-urh puts an end to all dispute with regard to the nature of the Chinese drama, if any doubt could have been entertained with regard to the authenticity and the fidelity of the translation of the 'Orphan of Tchao.' The latter is abused by Voltaire, though he made it the ground-work of one of his best tragedies; he admits, indeed, that, in spite of the innumerable crowd of events, they are all exhibited in the most clear and distinct manner; but he quarrels with it, because unity of time and action, sentiment, character, eloquence, passion, all, by his account, are wanting-a grave list of defects, truly-but Voltaire probably was not aware that Premare's translation is the skeleton only of the Chinese play, and that those parts which have been compared with the Greek chorus, and in which sentiment and

passion, if not eloquence, are expressed, were omitted by the translator. The editor observes,

Our countryman, Doctor Hurd, in his "Discourse on Practical Imitation," formed a very different opinion of this tragedy from that of Voltaire. He conceived that it embraces the two essentials of dramatic poetry, unity and integrity of action-and a close connexion of the incidents of the story; for, "first," he observes, "the action is strictly one; the destruction of the house of Chao is the single event on which our attention turns from the beginning; we see it gradually prepared and brought on; and with its completion, the tragedy finishes. Secondly, the action proceeds with as much rapidity, as Aristotle himself demands." And having noticed its resemblance in many points to the Electra of Sophocles le me add," says he, an intermixture of songs in passionate parts, heightened into sublime poetry, and somewhat resembling the character of the ancient chorus." Had Premare translated more of these lyrics, he would probably have found the resemblance still more complete.' (Brief View, p. 34.)

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The Heir in his Old Age' is liable to none of the objections brought by Voltaire against the Orphan of Chao,' except the want of unity of place and time, a defect of which we in England, at least, are not warranted to complain. This drama is wanting neither in sentiment, passion, nor character-of its eloquence none can judge correctly, but those who feel the force of the association of ideas suggested by the compounded symbols of the Chinese language, whose most striking beauties, as a Chinese has observed, 'pass through the eye immediately to the heart,' and whose sound, striking upon the car, brings the recollection of the picture to the eye.' These combinations of symbols, the frequent use of metaphors, and of allusions to ancient history and popular stories, especially in the lyrical parts, which are sung or chanted with music,' must render the translation of them a difficult task to an European; and after all, the best translation can only be an approximation to the original, wanting the strength, and beauty, and expression conveyed by the latter to the eye of a Chinese. Mr. Davis, we think, has done wonders; he found, he says, the lyrical parts very obscure, but where doubtful passages occurred, 'the opinion of two or more natives was asked, and that sense adopted which appeared to be most consistent with the idiom of the language, and with the scope of the original.'

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The comedy of An Heir in his old Age' is the representation of a simple story in domestic life, the dramatis persone being composed entirely of the members of a family in the mercantile, or trading profession, which in China we may consider as constituting the middle class of society. The moral meant to be conveyed is an illustration of the happiness or the misery of having

or wanting a son to honour his aged parents, and to pay an annual visit to their tombs when dead; filial piety being, in the estimation of this singular people, the first of moral virtues, and the lack of it the worst of moral offences; it is, in fact, the grand basis on which all the religious, moral, and civil institutions of the empire are founded: hence the want of an heir to perpetuate the family name, and to perform the posthumous ceremonies, is a source of misery in a man's life-time, and a reproach to his memory when dead. To obviate this misfortune, as far as human means will admit, custom, which is here stronger than law, allows a man to take an inferior, or second wife, whom he generally purchases from poor relations; in this character she has no rights, and if she bear children, they are considered as the children of the first or legitimate wife, and enjoy the same privileges as if born in lawful wedlock.

The characters in the Heir in his Old Age' are an old man, his wife, his second wife, his daughter, his son-in-law, and his nephew. The outline of the fable is briefly this :-The old man, having amassed considerable wealth by trade, and being without a son to perform the duties which filial piety demands, both to the living and the dead, had taken a second wife, whose pregnancy is announced at the opening of the play. To atone for some little irregularities in his trading concerns, and incline heaven to be favourable to his wishes, he makes a sacrifice of his book debts, by burning them in the presence of his family. He then bequeaths his property to his wife and married daughter; and having got rid of a nephew, who is hated by his old wife, by giving him a hundred pieces of silver, he sets out for his house in the country, to await the congratulations of his family on the wished-for birth of his son.

He is scarcely departed, however, before the disappointment of the son-in-law, on the pregnancy of the second wife, vents itself in invectives; and he plainly tells the daughter, (his wife,) that he only married her for the sake of the old man's wealth. The daughter soothes him by hinting how easy it will be to get rid of the pregnant wife, and to frame a plausible story to deceive her father; and from what follows, the husband, as well as the audience, is left to conclude that she has contrived to despatch the unfortunate woman. In the mean time, the old gentleman is waiting in great anxiety for the result; his family appear in succession to communicate the doleful tidings of the disappearance of his second wife, which he conceives to be a trick, and is at length reluctantly brought to believe it true. In the bitterness of his disappointment, he bursts into tears, and expresses his suspicions of foul play. Attributing at length his misfortunes to some little peculations of which he has been guilty, he resolves to bestow alms at a neighbouring temple, and to fast for seven days, in the hope that the

objects of his charity may in some measure, however imperfectly, supply the place of a son. We have now a scene at the temple in which the beggars of China, like the beggars in all other countries, exhibit their talent at fraud and imposture; here also the nephew appears, in the most hopeless state of poverty; he is insulted by the son-in-law, and reproached by the old wife: the uncle, how ever, dismisses him with a trifle of money to supply his immediate wants, and earnestly recommends him to be punctual in visiting the tombs of his family at the approaching season, giving him the strongest assurances that a due attention to the duties of filial pi ety must ultimately lead to prosperity.

The nephew accordingly visits the tombs, makes the best ob lations that his poverty will allow, invokes the shades of bis ancestors to commiserate his distress, and to grant him their protec tion: he then goes away, and the old man and his wife make their appearance, observe the vestiges of a recent oblation, conclude from the meanness of the offerings that it must have been their ne phew, and express great indignation that their own daughter and son-in-law should be so tardy in fulfilling their duty. The old man takes this opportunity of convincing his wife of her injustice to this nephew, who is not only more worthy, but nearer in blood than their son-in-law; she relents, and expresses a desire to make reparation; he enters, a reconciliation takes place, and he is again received into the family.

Soon after, the son-in-law and daughter appear with a great noise and a procession of village officers, to perform the ceremo nies; but they are received by their parents with bitter reproaches for their ingratitude and tardy piety, and ordered never more to enter the doors of their parents. On the old man's birth-day, however, they approach his house and entreat to pay their re spects, when to the utter astonishment and joy of the old man, his daughter presents him with his second wife, leading a son in her hand about three years of age, both of whom, it now appears, had been secreted by the daughter, and supported by her, out of af fection to her father, unknown to her husband, who had all along supposed both mother and child to have been otherwise disposed of. The daughter is now separated from her worthless husband, and taken into her father's house; a new arrangement is made of his property; and the piece concludes with the joy and gratitude of the old gentleman, for being so unexpectedly made happy by 'an heir in his old age.'

This simple story is worked up with considerable ingenuity; the unity and integrity of the action are closely adhered to, the incidents are all connected with the main design, and the character of each of the dramatis persona well preserved throughout, especially that

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