[1] Supposed to have been stamped pieces of linen, used as a circulating medium before the invention of coins.
[2]Chung means “middle,” and Yung means “course,” the former being defined by the Chinese as “that which is without deflection or bias,” the latter as “that which never varies in its direction.”
[4] The name Lao Tan occurs in four passages in the Book of Rites, but we are expressly told that by it is not meant the philosopher Lao Tzu.
[5] “To the minnow, every cranny and pebble and quality and accident of its little native creek may have become familiar; but does the minnow understand the ocean tides and periodic currents, the trade-winds, and monsoons, and moon’s eclipses...?”—Sartor Resartus, Natural Supernaturalism.
[6] An account of the mausoleum built to receive his remains will be found in Chapter iii. of this Book.
[7] A famous Minister of Crime in the mythical ages.
[8] Contrary to what was actually the case in the Golden Age.
[9] The folding fan, invented by the Japanese, was not known in China until the eleventh century A.D., when it was introduced through Korea.
[14] Graves are placed by preference on some hillside.
[15] Referring to a famous beauty of the Han dynasty, one glance from whom would overthrow a city, two glances an empire.
[16] Referring to A-chiao, one of the consorts of an Emperor of the Han dynasty. “Ah,” said the latter when a boy, “if I could only get A-chiao, I would have a golden house to keep her in.”
[17] A fancy name for the women’s apartments in the palace.
[18] The mandarin duck and drake are emblems of conjugal fidelity. The allusion is to ornaments on the roof.
[19] Each bird having only one wing, must always fly with a mate.
[20] Such a tree was believed to exist, and has often been figured by the Chinese.
[32] This remains, while all other things pass away.
[33] On the 23rd June 1900, almost while these words were being written, the Han-lin College was burnt to the ground. The writer’s youngest son, Mr. Lancelot Giles, who went through the siege of Peking, writes as follows:—“An attempt was made to save the famous Yung Lo Ta Tien, but heaps of volumes had been destroyed, so the attempt was given up. I secured vol. 13,345 for myself.”
[34] Chinese note-paper is ornamented with all kinds of pictures, which sometimes cover the whole sheet.
[35] Said of the bogies of the hills, in allusion to their clothes. Here quoted with reference to the official classes, in ridicule of the title under which they hold posts which, from a literary point of view, they are totally unfit to occupy.
[36] A poet of the T’ang dynasty, whose eyebrows met, whose nails were very long, and who could write very fast.
[37] This is another hit at the ruling classes. Hsi K’ang, the celebrated poet, musician, and alchemist (A.D. 223-262), was sitting one night alone, playing upon his lute, when suddenly a man with a tiny face walked in, and began to stare hard at him, the stranger’s face enlarging all the time. “I’m not going to match myself against a devil!” cried the musician after a few moments, and instantly blew out the light.
[38] When Liu ChÜan, Governor of Wu-ling, determined to relieve his poverty by trade, he saw a devil standing by his side, laughing and rubbing its hands for glee. “Poverty and wealth are matters of destiny,” said Liu ChÜan, “but to be laughed at by a devil—,” and accordingly he desisted from his intention.
[39] A writer who flourished in the early part of the fourth century, and composed a work in thirty books, entitled “Supernatural Researches.”
[40] The birth of a boy was formerly signalled by hanging a bow at the door; that of a girl, by displaying a small towel—indicative of the parts that each would hereafter play in the drama of life.
[41] Alluding to the priest Dharma-nandi, who came from India to China, and tried to convert the Emperor Wu Ting of the Liang dynasty; but failing in his attempt, he retired full of mortification to a temple at Sung-shan, where he sat for nine years before a rock, until his own image was imprinted thereon.
[42] The six gÂti or conditions of existence, viz., angels, men, demons, hungry devils, brute beasts, and tortured sinners.
[43] The work of a well-known writer, named Lin I-ch’ing, who flourished during the Sung dynasty.
[44] The great poet Tu Fu dreamt that his greater predecessor, Li T’ai-po, appeared to him, “coming when the maple-grove was in darkness, and returning while the frontier pass was still obscured,”—that is, at night, when no one could see him; the meaning being that he never came at all, and that those “who know me (P’u Sung-ling)” are equally non-existent.
