Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Note on the Illustrations
- Introduction
- CHAP. I A VILLAGE DISTRICT IN LIGHT AND SHADE
- CHAP. II RURAL SCENES AND SOUNDS
- CHAP. III THE MANDARIN IN EMBRYO
- CHAP. IV RED LETTER DAYS
- CHAP. V COMPENSATIONS
- CHAP. VI RECORDS OF AN ANCIENT CITY
- CHAP. VII CAN ANY PATHOS COME OUT OF CHINA?
- CHAP. VIII AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE
- CHAP. IX PROBLEMS DOMESTIC AND NATIONAL
- CHAP. X GODS MANY AND LORDS MANY
- CHAP. XI A TAIPING CAMP
- CHAP. XII THE LONGHAIRED HAVE COME
- CHAP. XIII SUFFERING BY DEPUTY
- CHAP. XIV AN OLD, OLD STORY IN A NEW EDITION
- CHAP. XV IMPERIAL POP-GUNS
- CHAP. XVI THE MART OF CENTRAL CHINA
- CHAP. XVII FOUR MILES OF FLAME
- CHAP. XVIII IMPERIALISTS TO THE FRONT
- CHAP. XIX ART AND ARTISTS
- CHAP. XX HOW TO BECOME A DEMIGOD
- CHAP. XXI CHANGING SCENES
- CHAP. XXII FATHER AND DAUGHTER
- CHAP. XXIII RESURRECTION
- CHAP. XXIV FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE
- Appendix
- Plate section
CHAP. III - THE MANDARIN IN EMBRYO
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Note on the Illustrations
- Introduction
- CHAP. I A VILLAGE DISTRICT IN LIGHT AND SHADE
- CHAP. II RURAL SCENES AND SOUNDS
- CHAP. III THE MANDARIN IN EMBRYO
- CHAP. IV RED LETTER DAYS
- CHAP. V COMPENSATIONS
- CHAP. VI RECORDS OF AN ANCIENT CITY
- CHAP. VII CAN ANY PATHOS COME OUT OF CHINA?
- CHAP. VIII AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE
- CHAP. IX PROBLEMS DOMESTIC AND NATIONAL
- CHAP. X GODS MANY AND LORDS MANY
- CHAP. XI A TAIPING CAMP
- CHAP. XII THE LONGHAIRED HAVE COME
- CHAP. XIII SUFFERING BY DEPUTY
- CHAP. XIV AN OLD, OLD STORY IN A NEW EDITION
- CHAP. XV IMPERIAL POP-GUNS
- CHAP. XVI THE MART OF CENTRAL CHINA
- CHAP. XVII FOUR MILES OF FLAME
- CHAP. XVIII IMPERIALISTS TO THE FRONT
- CHAP. XIX ART AND ARTISTS
- CHAP. XX HOW TO BECOME A DEMIGOD
- CHAP. XXI CHANGING SCENES
- CHAP. XXII FATHER AND DAUGHTER
- CHAP. XXIII RESURRECTION
- CHAP. XXIV FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE
- Appendix
- Plate section
Summary
“Nine mouths are found in me,
The ‘Hundred Surnames’ see;
Give him who guesses the answer complete
A bottle of wine and a catty of meat.”
—A Chinese Riddle.The answer not being very obvious to the Chinese, it is hardly to be expected that the Westerner, whose education (in the contents of the book in question) has been so sadly neglected, will have any chance of success, and its accompanying feast. Happily, as fat Chinese pork and, especially, Chinese gin afford little attraction to us, we may be content to give it up. The answer to the obscure conundrum, however, gives us the surname of the school teacher, as will be presently explained.
The Origin of Chinese Characters.
Every Chinese character takes us back to the blue distances where all seems heavenly, and where fancy, aided by tradition-telescopes, sees a wondrous sage some forty-six centuries away, “laying bare the permutations of nature, and devising a system of written records.” Having succeeded so far as to oust the earlier system of knotted cords, “heaven caused showers of grain to descend from on high; the disembodied spirits wept in the darkness; and the dragons withdrew themselves from human gaze.” The demigod Ts'ang Hieh it was who thus caused some very signal “permutations of nature.” His portrait is given herewith. The four eyes are probably meant to indicate his extraordinary power of insight.
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- A String of Chinese Peach-Stones , pp. 47 - 74Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1895