China and the West

Johnson, Samuel. Essay on the Description of China [ID D27043].
As the vast Empire of China has for a long Time been in Europe the Subject of Enquiry and Admiration, it cannot be doubted but the Publick will set a high Value on a Book that will satisfy that Curiosity which the Relations hitherto exhibited have only raised.
Father du Halde has spared no Labour by which any Information or Enterainment might be procured to his Readers, having examined, compared, and digested the Observations of near thirty Missionaries, of whom many had Opportunities of Observation and Enquiry, which were perhaps never enjoyed by any Travellers before, having been employed by the Emperor in making Maps of the Provinces after a Survey more exact than has been ever executed in Europe.
What may not be expected from the United Labours of Travellers like these, Men not intent, like Merchants, only on the Acts of Commerce, the Value of Commodities, and the Probabilities of Gain, nor engaged, like Military Officers, in the Care of subsisting Armies, securing Passes, obviating Stratagems, and defeating Opposition, but vacant to every Object of Curiosity, and at Leisure for the most minute Remarks, supported in their Progress by the Authority of the Emperor, and intitled to demand from the Governors of every Place, Information and Assistance.
The Want of Veracity in Travellers has been for a long Time generally complained of among the learned, and perhaps there are few of the Oriental Countries of which Relations have not been received widely different from each other, though all written by Men whose Rank and Learning, and Probity would set them above the Suspicion of Falshood in common Occasions, and of whom it would not easily be imagined that any Temptation of Profit or of Vanity would prevail upon them to abandon Truth.
When, therefore Accounts are produced of equal Authority with Regard to the Reputation of the Writers, yet manifestly contradictory, and which therefore cannot both be true, are we to conclude that either of the Relaters drew up his Narrative with a fixed Intention of deceiving Mankind ? Or must we determine in general, that no Man will regard Truth, when he imagines himself free from the Danger of Confutation ?
If we consider the Nature of the Contradictions discovered in Descriptions of remote Countries, we find them generally such as could not be produced by any apparent Influence, they do not often serve to confirm my Opinion favoured by the Authors, they can neither gratify a Party, nor promote any particular Views and therefore must be reasonably considered, rather as Errors than Falshoods.
Nor can such Errors be censured as the Effects of either Credulity or Negligence, if we consider the general Condition of Travellers, who are, for the greatest Part, Strangers to the Language of the Nations which they describe, suscpected and insuked by the People, excluded from the View of those Places which most excite their Curiosity, and afraid of appearing too attentive and inquisitive, left they should be seized as Spies, and tortured into Discoveries of their Designs.
If it be considered for one Moment, what imperfect Accounts the most diligent and sagacious Traveller, thus intimidated and embarrassed, would be able to collect, with what difficulty he would obtain any Knowledge of the History, Government, or Religion of a People without Skill in their Language ; how unlikely it must be that he should find any Means in a cursory Ramble throughout a Country, of conversing with those who might best inform him, and how rarely the most learned in those jealous and half civilized Nations, can be supposed to be communicative and sincere, and it will not be wondered that the Industry of Students is not rewarded with more certain Instruction, and that Writers, however honest and diligent, often deceive them.
This Apology for Travellers, however just, is not made necessary in this Place by any Defects in the Account of China, but has on the contrary, been introduced, to shew how much it is to be credited above any other Relations of the same Kind. The Authors of this Book are almost the only Travellers who do not require some Indulgence, and who may not be supposed to have written more from the Relations of others, than personal Knowledge.
For the Fathers of the Mission, are obliged by the Nature of their Undertaking, to make the Language of the Nation in which they reside their first Study, to cultivate a Familiarity with the Natives, to conform to their Customs, observe their Inclinations, and omit nothing that may produce Influence, Intimacy, or Esteem.
How well the Fathers, whose Lot it was to be employed in the Conversion of the Chinese practiced all the Arts of Address, appears from the Authority which they gained, and the Employments in which they were engaged by the Emperors, and which necessity enabled them to examine every Thing with their own Eyes, and exempted them from the Necessity of trusting to uncertain Informations.
Their Familiarity with the Emperor, and their Respect which in absolute Monarchies every Man certainly obtains who enjoys the Favour of the Prince, made it easy for them to acquaint themselves with the State of the Empire in its whole Extent, to trace the Government thro' all its Subordinations, to learn the various Opinions by which the several religious Sects among the Chinese Nation are divided, to know the Limits of every Jurisdiction, and the Original of every Tenet.
Of the State of Learning among the Chinese, they must be allowed sufficiently able to inform us, as they obtained all their Influence and Privileges by improving it. Their Skill in the mathematical Sciences being the chief Reason for which they were, on many Occasions, preferr'd by the Chinese Monarchs to the learned Men of their own Country.
To the Travels of the Missionaries we are indebted for the geographical Description of the Empire of China, exhibited in the first Part of this Collection, in which the Situation and Extent of every Province is accurately laid, the Cities are enumerated and described, the different Manufactures and Commodities mention'd, and the various Products and Qualities of the Soil minutely specified.
The Cities of China (Vol. 1, p. 64) resemble one another so nearly, that by the Sight of one it is easy to form an Idea of the Rest ; they are for the most Part square, encompassed with high Walls, and defended by Towers at convenient Distances. There are within the Walls other Towers either Hexagonal or Octagonal of eight or nine Stories. In the Streets are triumphal Arches, Temples of Idols tolerably handsome, or Monuments erected in Honour of their Heroes, or those who have done some important Service to the State, and some publick Buildings, of which the Extent is more remarkable than their Magnificence.
There are in most Cities many large Squares, and long Street of different Breadths, with Houses on each Side containing only a Ground Floor, or at most one upper Story ; here are Shops adorned with China Ware, Silks, or japan'd Goods, before the Door of each is a Pedestal supporting a Board, either painted or gilded, on which are written three Characters, such as the Shopkeeper chuses for his Sign, on others are the Names of the Goods fold there, to which is sometimes added that of the Keeper, with these Words, Pu hu, he will not cheat you. These Pedestals placed on each Side at equal Distances, form a colonnade, and produce an agreeable Prospect.
The History of China, extracted from the most antient Books, and laid down according to the Chronology generally established in that Country, is very particularly related, out of which it may not be improper to select some Passages remarkable either for the Events, of which they contain an Account, or for discovering the Customs or Opinions of the Chinese.
The first Emperor of China was Fo hi, who is said to have began his Reign near three thousand Years before the Christian Aera. He was born in the Province of Shen si and was chosen by his Countrymen as the Person best qualified for Supreme Power, being called on account of his extraordinary Qualifications, 'Tjentse' [Tianzi], or the 'Son of Heaven'.
In these Times Men lived like Beasts, they knew their Mothers but not their Fathers, eat only when pressed by Hunger, and when satisfied threw away that which remained ; they drank the Blood of Animals, and cloathed themselves with their Skins.
Fo hi taught them how to weave Nets for Fish and set Snares for Birds, and to breed domestick Animals for Ford and Sacrifice. He introduced Distinctions in the Habits of the Sexes, which had lived together without Shame or Restraint, and enacted Laws for the Regulation of Marriages, by which it was ordained, that no Man should take a Wife of the same Name, a Custom still continued, even when the original Reason, the Danger of mingling the same Blood cannot be apprehended ; for no Man at this Day marries a Wife of the same Name, though the Family be different.
He invented the eight 'Qua', or Symbols, which represent certain general Things, or original Causes, and to procure them the Veneration of the People, declared that they were first discovered by him, written on the Back of a Dragon Horse, which rose out of a Lake.
To soften the Fierceness and Turbu'ence of his Subjects, he invented musical Harmony, and played upon an Instrument of which the upper Part was convex, to represent the Heavens, and the lower Part flat to resemble the Earth ; but this Harmony, which he is said to have received from Heaven is confessed by the Chinese to have been long lost.
In comparing this Account with the original of other Nations very distant from China, it is not without Wonder to be observed what Conformity there is between them. Whether the Desire of astonishing Mankind with strange Relations, has produced the same Fictions in almost every Country ; or, as it is more credible, that these are just and natural Representations of the early Condition of every People.
The next Emperor was Shin Nong, or the 'Heavenly Husbandman', so called from having endeavoured to promote the Happiness of the People, he teaching them to cultivate the Ground, and inventing the Instruments of Agriculture.
Wang ti, the third Emperor, is said to have invented the Compass, to have established Measures, discovered the Art of dying with Colours, to have contrived Instruments for dressing Food, to have made the firs Bows and Arrows, built the first Bridges, and contrived the first Ships. He likewise drew the first Models of Houses, and was the original Inventor of Wheel Carriages.
He it was that introduced the Study of Anatomy and Physic, to restore to Mankind that Health which was continually impaired by the Elements without, and by their Passions within ; and his Empress by his order, taught the People how to breed Silk-worms, and to manufacture Silk. The Virtues of this Prince, say the Chinese, equal Heaven and Earth ; his Government was admirable, his Laws firm, and his Conduct unchangeable ; he scattered his Benefits all over the Earth, and we still feel the Effects of his Liberality, so that though he be dead, he may be said to be yet living.
Thus it is observable, that the Heroes of China, like the Deities of the old Pagans, are those who first taught the Means of securing the Necessaries of Life.
After a great Number of Emperors, about three hundred thirty seven Years before our Aera rose, Shi Wang Ti, in whose Reign Japan was first discovered and peopled by the Chinese, one of whose Admirals having touched upon that Country, gave the Emperor such an Account of it as induc'd him to send a Colony into it, telling him, that amongst other wonderful Productions it afforded an universal Remedy, by which it was practicable to escape Death. This was a sufficient Incitement to an Emperor whose Prosperity made him, perhaps, more than commonly fond of Life ; he therefore sent back the Admiral with 300 young Couples to plant a Colony. But the Admiral having built a City, and establish'd a Government, declared himself Sovereign and independent on the Empire of China.
This Emperor observing the Northern Provinces to be exposed to the Inroads of the Tartars, form'd a Resolution of building, for their Security, the stupendous Wall which is now standing, on which he employed a third Part of the Men of his Empire, that were not above or under a certain Age, and promoted the Work with such Diligence that it was finish'd in five Years.
To this Wall there is no Work equal in the known World, for it is extended from a Mole raised in the Sea, thro' three large Provinces, carried on in Places which seem inaccessible, and at proper Intervals fortified with Towers, Ships laden with Iron are said to have been sunk in the Sea to secure the Foundation, and the Architect is reported to have been obliged on Pain of Death, to cement the Stones in such a Manner that is should not be possible to drive a Nail between them.
The Solidity of this Work is apparent from its Duration, which the Missionaries, who often climbed to the Top of it in their Survey of the Provinces, had Opportunities of remarking. They found it always well paved from 20 to 25 Feet in Height, and so broad that six Horsemen might ride upon it in a Rank.
With Regard to the Materials of this Wall the Narration is not very clear, and perhaps the Architects, in different Places, might make Use of different Materials, as they could most conveniently be procured. The Wall is said in general to be caied with Brick, and well terrass'd which is a Description not sufficiently clear ; the Towers in some Places are described as built of Brick on a Foundation of Stone, and in others the Wall is said to be only of Earth unplaistered ; but as it is not to be imagined that a Wall of Earth could have resisted the Rain and Wind for near 20 Centuries, it must be probably a modern Fortification, and no Part of the Work of Shi Wang Ti.
The Emperor having heightened his Reputation by this Structure, was desirous of preserving it from being eclipsed by a Comparison with any of his Predecessors, and form'd a Scheme for obliging all future Ages to begin their Historical Accounts from his Reign, by destroying all Records of former Times.
He therefore publish'd an Edict, that all Books relating to History and Government, or any Kind of Learning, except Architecture and Medicine, should be brought to the Governors of the Provinces, and burnt. This destructive Law, which is still lamented in China, was so rigorously executed, that many of the learned Men were put to Death for concealing their Books, which contained in the Emperor's Opinion, Doctrines of Disobedience and Principles of Sedition. The Order of a Prince, said he, must vary according to the Exigences of his Affairs, and yet, when any Edict is publish'd which the Doctors find contrary to the ancient Laws, they incite the People to Discontent. The Observation of the Chinese Monarch, may, perhaps, shew that absolute Princes may reasonably desire to abolish Literature, but will equally prove that it is the Interest of every Man to promote and protect it.
Some Copies of the most valuable of these Books were, however, preserved in Caverns and Tombs, and other private Places, and produced about fifty Years afterwards in the Reign of Ven Ti.
Ven Ti restored the Empire to its ancient Splendour, by encouraging Learning, restraining Luxury, remitting Taxes, and encouraging Manufactures. He maintained the aged Poor out of his own Revenue, encouraged his Subjects to Agriculture, by cultivating the Earth with his own Hands, and to Manufactures by commanding the Empress and her Ladies to employ themselves in Needle-Work.
In his Time the Art of grinding Bambues to Paper, and of making Ink, was invented, the Chinese having till then written only with an Iron Pencil on Bark or Leaves.
This Prince had the Weakness, with all his Virtues and Understanding, to give Credit to a Man who pretended, that by drinking a certain Liquor, he should become immortal.
This Kind of Credulity was not extinguished by the frequent Disappointments which it could not fail to produce, but after the Death of this Emperor, so far infatuated Wu ti, one of the most illustrious of his Successors, that he encouraged all the Pretenders to this immortalizing Liquor : One of his Ministers endeavour'd to disenchant him from his Credulity by an Expedient which deserves to be related. When the Chymist had placed the precious Vial before him, the Minister on a sudden snatch'd it and drank, for which, when the Emperor threaten'd him with immediate Death, he return'd this calm Answer, 'If this Liquor has made me immortal, to what Purpose do you threaten me ? If you can yet take away my Life, what Injury have you received ?'
The same Emperor suffered himself to be deceived by an Impostor who pretended that he would call one of his dead Wives down from the Moon, but the Cheat was discovered, and the Magician put to Death.
We shall conclude our Extracts from the Chinese History with remarking that by the Inactivity or Misconduct of some Princes, and the Infancy of others, China was brought under the Dominion of a Race of Tartar Princes, in 1264, after a decisive Battle in which more than an hundred thousand Chinese are said to have been destroyed.
The Government of the Chinese Empire which through so long a Succession of Princes of various Dispositions by Nature, and exalted to the Throne by various Accidents, has continued nearly the same, is founded on the same Principles with that of a private Family ; the Emperor is the Father of the whole Nation the Governour, of his particular Province ; and the Mandarin, of the City in which he presides.
The Mandarines have been always divided into 9 Orders, the first of which contains the Ministers of State, Presidents of the Supreme Courts, and chief Officers of the Army. A place in this Rank is the highest Honour of the Men of Letters.
Those of the second Order are Assistants to the first, and out of them are chosen Vice-roys of Provinces, and Presidents of lower Tribunals.
The third Order consists of Secretaries, who take care that all Subjects of Deliberation are reduced to writing. These three Orders compose the Privy Council.
There are in Peking, besides the Privy Council, six Soverign Courts, of which the Authority extends to the whole Empire, but they are restrain'd by several Regulations from any exorbirant Exercise of Power, partly by the necessity of the Concurrence of several Courts in the Ratification of each Sentence, and partly by an Officer who is appointed to oversee their Proceedings without any right to Suffrage, and to bring to Court an Account of every Transaction.
It is not consistent with our Design to mark out the Limits of every Jurisdiction, or to show the particular Duties of each Order of Mandarins, it may be sufficient to observe in general that if the Duration of a Government be a Proof of the Excellence of its Institution, none can be compared with that of the Chinese.

The Authors of the Description of China, after an Account of the Customs and Ceremonies of the Chinese, treat of their Trade and Manufactures ; among which the Porcelain or Earthenware, peculiar to this Country, seems to deserve particular Attention. The Materials, and the whole Process of the Workmanship of these elegant Vessels, are very accurately described by P. Dentricolles who had a Church in King te ching in the Province of Kyang si, at which Town only China-ware is made ; several of his Converts were Manufacturers, and therefore both able and desirous to give him Information ; but not being entirely satisfy'd with that Intelligence, he read the most authentic Treatise on that Subject, and took Opportunities of seeing with his own Eyes the greatest Part of the Operations.
The Materials of China-ware, says he, are 'Pe tun tse', a Species of Stone cut out of the Rock, and 'Kau lin', a Kind of Earth found in Mines at a considerable Depth, of which the Use is to make the Stony Particles glutinous and cohesive, by being mixed with them.
The Stone is Mortars with Iron Pestles, to an impalpable Powder, of which they separate the finer from the coarser Part, by throwing it into large Jars of Water, and stirring it about, by which the gross Particles fall to the Bottom, and those which are ground to a sufficient Lightness float on the Top, from which they are scumm'd and set aside for Use, and the Sediment is thrown again into the Mortar.
The Varnish, with which they give to their Ware the bright Gloss which distinguishes it from other Earthen Vessels, is made by pounding another Stone in the same Manner, and mixing it with the Ashes of Fern and with Quicklime.
The first Operation in making China-ware is that of mixing the Earth and Stone together in just Proportions, according to the Nature of the Ware designed, of which the finest consists of Earth and Stone in equal Quantities, and the coarser has more Stone than Earth.
The Clay thus compounded is kneaded diligently together, and is then carried to those that work with the Wheel, by which all the smooth and round Vessels are made, or to the Moulds, in which they form the irregular and uneven Figures. It is said that every Piece of Porcelain passes through the Hands of seventy Workmen.
When the Form of the Vessel is completed, they carry it to the Oven or Kiln, were it is baked ; after which the Colours are laid on, of which it is not necessary to describe the Composition. It is then baked a second Time, and taken out finished.
The next Manufacture which they have thought worthy of a particular Description is the Chinese Silk, to which, as the Art of Breeding and managing Silkworms is necessary, they have inserted an Extract of an old Chinese Author who has written with great Exactness on that Subject.
They afterwards treat of the Manufactures which have Relation to Literature, and explain the Marner of making Ink and Paper in China, and then proceed to shew how they are used.
The Chinese in Writing make Use of Pencils made of Rabbits Hair, or any other equally soft, and when they write dip their Ink, which is a black Substance work'd into small Rolls, in Water, and rub it upon a small Square of Marble which lies on their Table, pressing with greater Weight as they would have their Ink blacker, on this Marble they smear their Pencil, and then trace the Characters upon the Paper. The Pencil, Paper, Ink, and little Marble, they call 'Se Pau', or the four precious things.
The Manner of Printing, which has been many Ages in Use among the Chinese, is different from our common Method, but very nearly resembles that by which it is customary to embellish Volumes of small Price in Europe with Pictures carved upon Wood. When they have procured an elegant Transcript of the Work which they intend to print, they paste very Page upon a Board of a close Grain, and trace the Characters by cutting away the intermediate Spaces, as it is usual among us. These Boards, when they are finished, they smear with a Brush, gently upon them, with so much Quickness that a single Workman will print near ten thousand Pages in a Day.
Thus they have it in their Power to multiply the Copies of their Books at Pleasure, and therefore do not print more at once than they are sure to sell.
After this Account of the mechanical of instrumental Part of Study, they proceed to the Chinese Literature, and explain the Process of Education follow'd in that Nation, where Letters are the only Means of Riches and Preferment.
The Chinese Children begin at the Age of five or six Years to learn the Characters, the Knowledge of which in the chief Science among them, the Chinese language not arising like those of Europe from Combinations of a certain Number of Letters, but exhibiting every particular Word, under a particular Character ; so that there are in that Language as many Letters as Words.
The Children are initiated in this tedious Study by a Collection of about an hundred Characters, representing the most common Objects in Nature, and consequently most frequently occurring in Books, after which the Sentences consist each of only three Characters, and which relates to the Duty of a Child. They have then a Book put into their Hands of Sentences containing four Characters, of which Kind the Missionaries have composed a Catechism for the Christian Children. Of these Characters they are required to learn five or six each Day, according to their Capacity or Proficiency, and art taught at the same Time to form them, by having Pages printed with red Characters, which they trace with a black Pencil.
It is observable, that they are obliged to learn to repeat the four Books which contain the Doctrine of Confucius and Menzius, a Practice which it is astonishing to see little followed by Protestants, with Respect to those Books from which the Way to eternal Happiness is to be learned.
The Art of Writing beautifully, and tracing their Characters with Exactness, is a Qualification so much esteemed among them, that in their Examinations for their Degrees, they commonly reject those who have not attained to it ; and it is reported, that one of the Candidates was dismissed with Ridicule for an improper Abreviation of the Character which signifies a Horse.
The Authors then proceed to give an Account of the Degrees or Honours conferred upon the Learned in China, and afterwards treat of the Sciences by which they are obtain'd ; or the Canonical Books of the first Order or earliest Antiquity ; and these of the second Rank, which were composed by Kong fu tse, or Confucius, of whose Life, since he is considered by the Chinese as the great Doctor of Morality, it cannot be improper to give an Account.
Confucius was born 551 Years before Christ, his Father, was of an illustrious Family, and enjoy'd the highest Offices of the Kingdom, but dying while he was only three Years old ; left him without any Inheritance.
He was in his Childhood eminently serious and thoughtful, negligent of Trifles, and without any Regard to the common Amusements of that Age ; at fifteen he applied himself to the Study of the ancient Books, and to the Collection of such Maxims and Principles as might most contribute to the Establishment and Propagation of Virtue, an Employment which was very little interrupted by Domestick Cares, tho' he married at the Age of nineteen.
At this Time the several Provinces of China, were Kingdoms govern'd by their own Monarchs, with absolute Authority, tho' with at least a nominal Subordination to the Emperors, whom they all acknowledged as chief Governor, but those Commands they frequently rejected, and whose Authority they reverenc'd only when they were in no Condition to resist it ; so that the Desire of Independency on one Part, and a Resolution of maintaining Superiority on the other, gave Occasion to perpetual Contests and daily Disorders. It is related that the Courts of all these inferior Sovereigns were Seminaries of Corruption and Licentiousness ; whether the particular Laws of those Countries were not well adapted to the Regulation of Manners, or whether the King was obliged to overlook the Faults of his Subjects, that they might give no Information of his Conduct or Designs to the Emperor of China.
These Irregularities it was the Design of Confucius to redress, and to establish Temperance, Integrity, and Purity of Manners, which he therefore incessantly promoted both by his Precepts and Example, and became in a short Time so eminent by his exemplary Behaviour, that the highest Employments were offered him in the Kingdom where he lived and accepted by him as Means of facilitating the Progress of Virtue, by making it more awful and illustrious, and therefore quitted them afterwards without Reluctance, when he found them no longer useful to the End which he proposed.
In his 55th Year he engaged in one of the chief Offices of the Kingdom of Lu, now the Province of Shan tong, his Native Country, which he had not possessed more than three Months, without a visible Reformation of the whole People, and Improvement of the general State of the Kingdom ; the Laws were no longer broken, or the Breach of them was regularly punished, Property was secure from Invasion, and was therefore by every Man diligently increased.
The Prosperity and Affluence produced in this Kingdom by the Maxims of Confucius, soon excited the Envy of the neighbouring Princes, by whom it was imagined that they were in Danger from a Nieghbour, whom, as he grew every Day more powerful, they should not long be able to resist.
The King of Tsi being more disturbed than any other, at this imaginary Danger, consulted with his Ministers upon the most probable Method of interrupting that Prosperity which he locked upon as the certain Parent of Ambition, and which therefore ought to be obstructed, and determined to make use of Means which have seldom failed of Success, and by which the greatest Monarchs have been destroyed, when neither Policy could circumvent, nor Armies oppose them.
A magnificent Embassy was in pursuance of this Consultation dispatched to the King of Lu, with a fatal Present of a great Number of young Maidens of exquisite Beauty, and finished Accomplishments, skilful in every Art of attracting the Eye, and alluring the Mind, of awakening the Affections, and lulling Reason. These Girls soon gained the Attention of their new Master, and his Counsellors, by their Airs, their Dances, and their Songs. Business and Politicks, Learning and Morality were banished from the Court, where nothing was now regarded, but Feasts, Revelry, and Diversions, Scenes of Pleasure, and Assemblies of Gaiety, and where the Amusement of these lovely Strangers was preferr'd to the Care of the Publick.
It is no small Addition to the Honour of Confucius, that he remained uninfected amidst so fatal a Contagion, a Contagion against which the Preservatives of Philosophy have been often found of very little Effect. He endeavoured not only to escape, but to stop the Infection, and animated the King with all the Force of his Eloquence and Reason, to resume his Dignity, and re-establish the Authority of the Laws ; but finding his Persuasions unregarded, and his Arguments over-born by sensual Gratifications, he laid down his Employments, and retired in Search of Men less immersed in Luxury, and less hardn'd to habitual Vice.
With this View he travelled over several Kingdoms, where the Superiority of his Virtue and Abilities procured him more Enemies than Admirers, and the Ministers, instead of introducing to the Princes of Man capable of promoting the Publick. Happiness, endeavoured to suppress his Reputation, left his Abilities should be brought into Comparison with their own.
Confucius therefore, after having visited several Princes, and offered his Instructions in Policy to the Magistrates and Kings, and his Precepts of Morality to Persons of every Condition, was so far from finding a Reception agreeable to the Merit of his Conduct, or the Benevolence of his Intentions, that he was reduced to the lowest State of Poverty, in which he was far from losing any Part of his Philosophical Dignity, and which he never endeavoured to relieve by any mean Action.
It was probably on this Occasion that he said what is recorded of him in one of the Classical Books ; "I am reduced to extreme Indigence, having nothing to live upon but a little Rice and Water, with which, however I am content, because I look upon Dignity or Wealth unjustly acquired, as upon Clouds driven by the Winds." This Constancy cannot raise our Admiration after his former Conquest of himself ; for how easily may he support Pain, who has been able to resist Pleasure.
The several Passages of his Life are not related in Order of Time, or connected with any Circumstances which may contribute to fix their Dates, it is therefore impossible to discover when the following Adventure happened, which yet deserves to be related.
Confucius being once abandoned by the People, and without the Protection of the Prince, was in the Hands of a Mandarin of War, remarkably savage and licentious, and therefore implacably exasperated by a Man whose Lectures were continual Satires upon his Conduct. He therefore no longer saw Confucius in his Power, but he accused him of some pretended Offence, and commanded him to be executed. Some of the Spectators, who saw the Injustice of the Mandarin, and the Illegality of the Proceeding, advised him to retire, after the Example of most of his Followers, whom the first Appearance of Danger had driven from him ; but Confucius, though he saw the Sword drawn for his Destruction, remaining calm and unconcerned, answered without any Hesitation, "If we are protected by Heaven (Tyen) what have we to fear from this Man, though he be President of the Tribunal of the Army".
We are not informed whether he escaped this Danger by the Veneration which his Intrepidity produced in the Officer, or by the Interposition of others, who had Courage to oppose the Execution of an unjust Sentence, and Regard for his Virtue sufficient to engage them in his Cause¸ or whether the Mandarin designed in reality only to try whether his Principles were sufficient to support him under immediate Danger, and whether he would not forseit that Reputation, which was so much envied, by abandoning his Doctrines at the Sight of Death ; That this was his Intention seems probable, because it appears from the Relation, that when he threatened him most nearly, he still left him an Opportunity of escaping, which he was doubtless desirous that he should have used, for the Flight of Confucius would have gratified his Malice more than the Death.
That he did escape is certain, for in his seventy fifth Year he died of a Lethargy, occasioned, as it was imagined, by a Dejection of Spirits, at the Sight of the disordered State of the Empire ; for a few Days before his last Sickness he told his Followers, that "The Mountain was fallen, the high Machine was destroyed, and the Sages were no more to be seen". After which he began to loose his Strength, and the seventh Day before his Death, turning to his Scholars, "The Kings", said he, "Refuse to observe my Maxims, and it is fit I should leave the World in which I am no longer useful". After those Words he fell into a Slumber, in which he continued seven Days, and then expired.
He was tall and well-proportioned, with broad Shoulders and Breast, an Olive Complection, large Eyes, a Beard long and black, and a Nose somewhat flat, his Air was grave and Majestick, and his Voice strong and piercing. On the Middle of his Forehead grew a Wen, which somewhat disfigured him.
Confucius, say his Disciple, had three Contrarieties in his Character, which scarcely any other Men has known how to reconcile. He had all the Grace of Politeness with all the Awefulness of Gravity ; uncommon Severity of Countenance, with great Benignity of Temper ; and the most exalted Dignity, with the most engaging Modesty in his Air.
He left behind him three Books, of which the first is called the Grand Science [Da xue] ; the second the Immutable Medium [Zhong yong], a Title correspondent to the Metron ariston of Cleobulus and to the common Maxim, Virtus cum stet in medio ; and the third, Moral and concise Discourses [Lun yu] ; to which is added a Fourth, of almost equal Authority, written by his Scholar Mencius.
In the first Book he endeavours to shew, that the sovereign Good consists in a Conformity of all our Actions with right Reason, and that all the Science requisite for Princes consists in the Improvement of that reasonable Nature which they have received from Heaven, to which End it is necessary to enquire diligently into the Nature of Good and Evil, that Love and Hatred may be directed towards their proper Objects ; and when a Man has thus restored himself to his original Purity, it will be easy, says he, to reform the Corruption of others.
How this Doctrine was received by the Chinese Princes, it is not related ; but if it be true, that the same Condition has a Tendency to produce the same Manners and Dispositions, we may judge from the Conduct of European Monarchs, that his Rules have never yet been reduced to Practice.
In his Second Book he teaches that every Man ought to adhere to the Mean, in which he affirms Virtue to consist, and beginning with a Definition of human Nature and Passions, introduces Examples of Piety, Fortitude, Prudence, Filial Reverence, and other Virtues, and shews that they all arise from the Observation of the Mean, which, he says, is easy to practice, though it be a difficult Subject of Speculation. He gives Examples of several Princes who have confined their Conduct to the happy Mean, and lays down Rules by which Kings may make themselves and their Subjects happy.
The Third Book is a Collection of Sentences utter'd by Confucius, either on Occasion of particular Events, or in his casual Conversation with his Scholars, and contains a great Number of Reflections and Precepts very affecting and important. One of his Observations is, that he never found any Man, however good, so ardent in the Pursuit of Virtue, as the Voluptuous in quest of Pleasure. A Remark not less striking by its Truth, than by its Severity.
One of his Scholars once asked him by what means he should die well, but was answered by him, 'You have not yet learned to live well, and yet think it necessary to enquire after Death ; a Reply, in which the way to die well is very emphatically taught.
Life and Death, says Confucius, depend on the Law of Heaven [Tyen] which no Man can alter ; Poverty and Riches are dispensed by Heaven, whose Providence is not subject to Compulsion. From a submissive Reverence of these Laws and Dispensations the wise Man derives his Tranquility and Happiness.
There are other Maxims relating to Oeconomy, or the Conduct of a Private Life ; others to the Administration of publick Affairs ; and others which contain Rules of general Conduct. Three sorts of Friends says Confucius, are useful ; those that are Virtuous, those that are Open, and those that are Learned. He that is of an inconstant Temper, says he, will never increase the Number of the Sages. He that easily promises will often deceive.
His whole Doctrine tends to the Propagation of Virtue, and the Restitution of Human Nature to its original Perfection, and it is related that his Precepts always received Illustration from his Example, and that in all Conditions of Life, he took Care to prove by his Conduct, that he required no more from others, than he thought it his own Duty to perform.
[The third part contains the titles of the chapters of Du Halde's Description].