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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52346	An embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperor of China deliver'd by their excellencies, Peter de Goyer and Jacob de Keyzer, at his imperial city of Peking : wherein the cities, towns, villages, ports, rivers, &c. in their passages from Canton to Peking are ingeniously describ'd / by Mr. John Nieuhoff ... ; also an epistle of Father John Adams their antagonist, concerning the whole negotiation ; with an appendix of several remarks taken out of Father Athanasius Kircher ; English'd, and set forth with their several sculptures, by John Ogilby Esq. ...; Gezantschap der Neerlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, den tegenwoordigen keizer van China. English	Nieuhof, Johannes, 1618-1672.; Goyer, Pieter de.; Keizer, Jacob de.; Kircher, Athanasius, 1602-1680. China monumentis. Selections. English.; Ogilby, John, 1600-1676.; Schall von Bell, Johann Adam, 1592?-1666.; Nederlandsche Oost-Indische Compagnie.	1673 (1673)	Wing N1153; ESTC R3880	438,428	416

a sort of wild People that live among the Rocks and Mountains they began the mischief and open'd the Flood-gate of Rebellion by subtilly opposing the Authority that was over them Their first Work was to fall a Plundering or in plain English Stealing without any exception of Persons whatsoever they could meet with In which their rebellious and unlawful Undertaking being successful they at last resolv'd to make an open war and to that end laid Siege to Chingtu the Chief City of the Province which they had without doubt taken had not the above-mention'd Amazon opportunely come to its Rescue for these insolent and now commanding Thieves having heard of the Fame of her extraordinary Courage were struck with such a terror that upon the first inkling of her approach they immediately rais'd the Siege and left the City with great loss But this though for a while it diverted them yet it did not so deter them as to make them cease from any farther Attempt for returning toward the Mountains they presently rallied again and recruited their Forces with some fresh Supplies wherewith they continu'd to forage and spoil the Country To heighten and encourage the Insolence of these Villains it hapned that in the Province of Queicheu there had pass'd an unjust Sentence in a certain Cause between two great Men by reason whereof he against whom the Cause went endeavor'd the same revers'd but notwithstanding all his Endeavors as well by himself as Friends and Alliance there was no good to be done therein The Robbers after the raising of the Siege kept themselves in great numbers upon the Mountains without making any further Disturbance but they sent to this injur'd Person to let him know that if he pleas'd to accept of their Power they would stand by him with their Lives to help him to redress his Wrong provided he would become their General and be assistant to them in the carrying on of their Designs This Great Person possess'd yet with fury and a desire of Revenge for the Injury done him was not long in consulting but presently accepted of their Offer looking upon the same as the best and most likely means not only to repair his Damages but to revenge himself also Upon knowledge of this Acceptance these Robbers submitt with extraordinary alacrity to his Command and Authority wherein he was no sooner Invested but first of all they fall upon the Iudge that gave the Sentence whom they immediately kill'd Then they fell upon the Army of the Tutang or Vice-Roy which they quickly routed and put to slight but he rallying his Forces turn'd back again upon them with such fury that he forc'd them to flie into the Mountains with a very great slaughter notwithstanding all which they recruited again but kept in their Holds till they had an opportunity to shew themselves again as they did in a short time after Those Depredations together with the infinite number of Grashoppers which had destroy'd all the Grass and Fruits of the Field in the seven Northern Provinces of China causing a scarcity of Provision and consequently a great dearness gave a very great occasion to the rising and encreasing of the number of these Thieves which hapned chiefly in the Provinces of Xensi and Xantung Another Provocation or Instigation was That the Emperor Zungchinius being of a covetous and miserable Nature would have notwithstanding the Dear●h the usual yearly Taxes paid him as in a fruitful Year which Exaction set the Inhabitants of those Provinces upon Plotting against him and at length to joyn with the Robbers by whose assistance in a short time they brought eight strong Armies into the Field appointing for their Generals such as they counted the most valiant Men among them These Robbers and Mutineers having now thus strengthned themselves with Forces and got great store of Wealth by Preying and Stealing resolv'd not to rest here but driving higher Designs in their Heads and aiming at greater Matters they began to consult about reducing the whole Empire under their Subjection and Dethroning the Emperor For the accomplishing whereof and advancing himself every one of the eight Generals thought himself of sufficient Strength to get that Morsel and fancied himself capable and fit to bear so weighty a Burthen With which ambitious thoughts puffed up each of them began to make War upon the other every one being in hopes to be Conqueror and to encircle his Head with the Royal Diadem and enoble his Posterities Blood by the possession of the Empire This War continu'd till six of the eight Generals were slain and only the two stoutest Licungzus and Changhienchungus left alive to dispute the Quarrel For the more easie bringing this to pass each endeavor'd to win to his Party the Forces of the other slain Generals to strengthen themselves for to such a heighth was their Ambition grown that there was no thoughts of dividing the Stakes between them each resolving to be aut Caesar aut nihil so strangely were they lifted up with the thoughts of Soveraignty Fill'd with these aspiring thoughts these two Generals took several ways to advance their Interests and Designs Licungzus with his Forces falling into the Provinces of Xensi and Honan but the other imagining to get the best Booty in those of Suchue and Huquang march'd thither so that now they no longer fought one against another as formerly but seeking Wealth and Booty were remov'd to a great distance In these Transactions the Emperors Concerns began to look with a had Countenance as if the Government it self were suddenly to undergo some fatal Alteration for the Tartars who were not ignorant of these Proceedings had in their former Wars made such havock of brave Commanders that there were hardly any left whose knowledge in Military Discipline capacitated them for Conduct of the Forces which were marching to subdue these rebellious Plunderers under the two Generals Licungzus in the Year 1641. march'd with his Army out of the Province of Xensi after he had wholly plunder'd and destroy'd its chiefest Cities into the plentiful Province of Honan directly to the famous City Caifung which he presently begirt and block'd up so close that there was no going in nor coming out but the Place being well fortifi'd and provided with a good Garrison and Provisions the Siege was soon rais'd and the Besiegers constrain'd to retire into the Mountains not without very great loss of Men But they had no sooner recruited themselves but they return'd to the Siege again with an intention to have surpriz'd the same on a sudden but the Citizens having privately receiv'd Intelligence thereof and standing upon their Guards hinder'd them from effecting their Design The Enemy being thus twice frustrated in his hopes and seeing no likelihood of taking the City by force resolv'd to compel them to a Surrender by a long and close Siege And though it were a Place at least three Miles in circumference yet they surrounded the same in such a manner that no

one I say who rightly understandeth what I have above related concerning the Voyages of St. Thomas the Apostle which is at large handled by Osorius Bishop of Sylva who hath elegantly compil'd the Indian History Whence from these Regions even now declar'd viz. from Cabul Caphurstan Tibet and Mogul he might easily by the Bishops his Successors propagate the Sacred Gospel of Christ into the remotest Provinces and Kingdoms to the utmost Bounds of Tartary This Ortelius openly confirmeth who saith That the Kingdom of Archon situate in the utmost Angle or Corner of the North was Converted unto the Christian Faith by St. Thomas you must understand it of of his Successors so that by this Account there is no Part or Corner of the World which hath not been fill'd with the Light of the Gospel by his Care and Diligence Nicephorus also relateth in his second Book Chap. 39. That St. Philip Preach'd the Gospel in the upper Asia now the upper Asia is nothing else but that vast Space of Asia Minor which the Ancients call'd by the Name of Scythia on this side and beyond Imaus and they are all those Regions which are comprehended in the extreme Limits of the Eastern Sea and about the Caspian Sea as Georgia Iberia Albanior Micrelia Armenia and part of the Transmarine Asiatick Tartary from whence in course of Time the Gospel of our Saviour by a farther sprouting was transplanted into all the circumjacent Kingdoms as Thebet Indostan Tanchut and the like Chrysostome saith That St. Bartholomew instructed the People of the greater Armenia in the Christian Faith Sophrinus saith that he taught the Albanians and Origen that he Preach'd to the hithermost Indians Panthenus a Christian Philosopher saith That when he travell'd to the Indians he found Christianity yet flourishing by the Preaching of St. Bartholomew He that is curious to know more concerning this let him have recourse unto the History of the Armenians which they call Giarrentir that is A Book of Relations which Clemens Galanus a Canon Regular who spent many years in Armenia Georgia and the other Regions of Colchis to propagate the Christian Faith here publish'd at Rome First of all therefore the Christian Faith was introduc'd into the foremention'd Kingdoms by the Apostles Thomas Philip and Bartholomew which afterwards in course of Time being Propagated and Cultivated by their Successors very Holy Men and illuminated with the Holy Spirit diffus'd and spread the Light of the Divine Law throughout the whole East unto the great advantage of Souls until by the want of Laborers the People following a more dissolute and ill mode of Life degenerated from the Rectitude of Faith 〈◊〉 and also blemish'd and bespotted with the Rites of the Gentiles altogether fell off from the True Way for Anno 400. when by the instigation of Satan the cursed Arrius Nestorius Dioscurus and other Hereticks but especially the Nestorians had every where spread their damnable Opinions and in an horrid manner weakned the Orthodox Faith of Christ above all other Parts it infected with the Venom of its pestiferous Doctrine Colchis Armenia Persia Turchestan and the utmost Bounds of the Asiatick Tartary so that as Marcus Paulus and Haython relate there is no Place of the aforesaid Regions which it hath not defil'd Add unto this that in the Year 632. or thereabouts was the cursed rise of the Incendiary of the World Mahomet who swelling and breaking in like an Inundation over a great portion of the Earth subjected the same to his most unjust Laws whence it came to pass that the faithful Christians and more especially Persons of the Priestly Order being exil'd their Native Country by degrees forsook the Provinces of the more inward Part of of Asia either for fear of Persecution or by a voluntary Exile those that were arm'd with a zeal and desire to the House of God being inflam'd with a fervour to propagate the ancient Religion of the Orthodox Faith fled or retir'd into China it self where how much they labor'd to the advantage of the Christian Faith is plainly shew'd by the Syro-Chenesian Monument I have expounded above Now as nothing is firm and solid in Humane Affairs so also the Faith introduc'd into the foremention'd Regions now fading either through the want of Apostolical Men or the extreme degeneration of Christians tended or deflected first to Idolatry then to Mahumetanism anon to the Religion of the Nestorian Hereticks according as the lust of each Persons Genius led or drew them and this Vicissitude or Alteration of the Orthodox Faith sometimes receiv'd and sometimes being rejected continu'd more especially in the Eastern Tartary unto the Year 1252. in which as Haython the Armenian relateth who was of the Blood-Royal Haython King of Armenia his Brother Reigned until he could no longer endure the Turkish Spoilers of his Kingdom wherefore by a Divine Instinct taking a new Counsel and going in his own Person unto the Great Cham Emperor of Tartary whom Paulus Venetus calleth Cublai Cingischan who Rul'd in Tartaria and Cathay both to make a League against the Saracens and to gain the Favor of that most Potent Prince for the confirming of the Christian Commonwealth in a peaceable Estate and Condition after a tedious Voyage he arriv'd at Almalech that is Cambalu the Court of the Great Cham. The Great Cham or Cublai being much joy'd at his coming receiv'd him with great Honor and Respect as he deserv'd bestow'd on him great Presents and advis'd his Nobles to follow his Example and do the same Therefore when King Haython had rested himself some Weeks after the toil of his continual Travels he address'd himself to the Emperor and with much strength and weight of Rational Arguments open'd the Cause of his so far undertaken Voyage The Emperor having duly ponder'd the just Reasons of his Petition and greatly admiring both the Condescension of the King's Person in exposing himself to so great Labors and Danger and also considering that the Quiet of his Kingdom and the Advantage or Interest of the Christian Common-wealth was very much concern'd out of his Clemency promis'd to grant him whatsoever he should demand Haython accepting of the obsequiousness of so free an Offer Presented him in Writing several Points of his Petition which were as followeth 1. That the Great Cham would vouchsafe to embrace the Christian Faith 2. That a perpetual League of Friendship might be confirm'd between the Christians and the Tartars 3. That all the Christians both Ecclesiasticks and Laicks with their Churches might be free from all Persecution and enjoy the Immunities and Priviledges in all the Kingdoms which the Tartars had subjected to the Empire 4. That he should raise an Army to free the Holy Sepulchre of Christ from the Turkish Tyranny and also restore the Holy Land possess'd by the Saracens into the Hands of the Christians 5. That he should joyn his Forces with his to root out the most potent Caliph of Baldach 6. That he

treats of the same Subject with those other five And these nine Books are all that are to be found in China amongst the Booksellers out of which all others are compos'd And certainly therein are contain'd most excellent Rules and Directions for the well ordering of all Civil Affairs and such as have proved to the very great advantage of the Empire of China For which cause a Law was made by the ancient Kings That whosoever would be a Learned Man or so reputed must extract the principal Ground-work of his Learning from these Books Nor is it enough to understand the true meaning and sense of the same but he must likewise get them by heart and be able to repeat a considerable part thereof if he will be thought to have arriv'd at an eminent pitch of Learning There are no Publick Schools in all China though some Writers have erroneously told us the contrary but every Person chuses his own Master by whom he is taught in his House at his own Charge And in regard of the great difficulty in Teaching the Chinese Characters in respect of their vast number and variety it is impossible for one to teach many several Persons and therefore every Master of a Family takes an Instructer into his House for his Children of whom if there be two or three to learn they are as many as one Tutor can well teach All such as are found upon Examination to have made good Progress in Philosophy arise to Promotions by three Degrees of Learning The first is call'd Sieucai the second Kiugin the third Cinfu The first Degree of Learning call'd Sieucai is given in every City by a certain Eminent Learned Person appointed by the Emperor for that purpose and according to his Office bears the Name of Tihio This Tihio goes a Circuit through all the Towns of his Province on purpose to Promote Learned Men to this Degree As soon as he is come into any City he makes known his arrival whereupon all such as stand for this Preferment address themselves unto him to be examined and if he find them qualified he immediately prefers them to this first Step of Learning and that their Worth may be taken notice of for a particular Badge of their Dignity they wear a Gown Bonnet and Boots in which Habit none are permitted to go but such as are in this manner become Graduates They enjoy likewise several Honorable Privileges and Immunities and are preferr'd to considerable Employments in the Government The second Degree of Honor to which the Learned Chineses are preferr'd is call'd Kiugin which is given with much more State than the former and is conferr'd only upon such as they judge to be most deserving and this Promotion is made but once in three years and perform'd after this manner In each Capital City is a great and well-built Palace encompass'd with high Walls and set apart only for the Examination of the Scholars In this Place are several Apartments and Mansions for the use of Examiners when they come to Supervise the Scholars Works Beside these Apartments there are at least a thousand Cells in the middle of the Palace but so small that they will only contain only one Person a little Table and a Bench In these no one can speak to his Neighbor nor be seen by him When the King's Examiners are arriv'd in the City they are lock'd up apart in this Palace and not suffer'd to Discourse with any whatsoever while they are there When the time of Examination is come to which are appointed three whole days namely the ninth twelfth and fifteenth Days of the eighth Month then are the Writings of the Scholars with great Iudgment narrowly Examin'd and several Questions propounded to be resolv'd by them The third Degree is call'd Cinsu and is equal with that of Doctor of Divinity Law or Physick in Europe and this is conferr'd likewise every third year and to them only in the Imperial City of Peking To this Honor can only three hundred out of the whole Empire arrive and the Examination of them before they are chosen is perform'd by the King's Examiners in the same Method and State as the former And such as attain to this heighth of Honor by their Learning are preferr'd to the highest Places of Dignity in the Empire and are had in great Esteem and Reputation by the People CHAP. III. Of several Chinese Handicraft-Trades Comedians Iuglers and Beggers THe Chineses are not altogether without some Experience and Skill in Architecture although for neatness and polite Curiosity their Building is not to be compar'd with that in Europe neither are their Edifices so costly or durable in regard they proportion their Houses to the shortness of Life building as they say for themselves not for others And this surely is one reason why the Chineses cannot comprehend nor imagine the costly and Princely Palaces which are in Europe and when they have been told that some of the said Edifices have stood for many Ages they seem as it were amazed thereat But if they consider'd the true Reasons of such continuance they would rather applaud and imitate than wonder for that which makes our Building last so long is because we make deep Foundations whereas in China they dig no Foundations at all but lay the Stones even with the surface of the Ground upon which they build high and heavy Towers and by this means they soon decay and require daily Reparations Neither is this all for the Houses in China are for the most part built of Wood or rest upon woodden Pillars yet they are cover'd with Tyles as in Europe and are contriv'd commodiously within though not beautiful to the Eye without however by the curiosity of the People they are kept very clean and neat Their Temples are most curiously built some whereof in solitary places near the High-ways to the great accommodation of Travellers They are hung full of Images and heavy Lamps which burn continually in memory of one or other that liv'd well and died happily These People have made no small progress in several Sciences by their early being acquainted with the Art of Printing for though those of Europe do therein exceed the Chineses having reduc'd the same to more exactness and certain Method yet says Trigautius in the fourth Chapter of his first Book The use of the Printing-Press was much sooner in China than in Europe for it is most certain that the same has been in use amongst the Chineses for five Ages past nay some stick not to affirm that they us'd Printing before the Birth of Christ. Mercator in his great Atlas writes That the Printing-Press and the use of Cannon are of so great Antiquity in China that it is not known who was the Inventor of them All which if it were taken for granted yet nevertheless they are too large in saying That That Printing has been us'd by them ever since their Country hath been call'd the Empire or Kingdom of China

Carrion either of a Horse Mule Ass Dog or any other Creature They are likewise greatly delighted with dried Sweet-meats which they know very well how to order The Mandorins have always Comedians to Act and Musick to Play whilst they are at Dinner to excite them to chearfulness Their ordinary Drink is Hot Water wherein Thea has been steep'd which as they do all other Liquors they sip off warm But the best of their Liquors is that which they call Cia and is made after this manner They take half a handful of the Herb Cha and boil it in Spring-water when it is well boil'd they put to it four times as much New Milk with a little Salt This Liquor drunk warm as they generally believe has more vertue than the Philosophers Stone As to the rest of their Civilities Manners and Fashions they consist chiefly in the Honor Duty and Obedience which is shewn to the Emperor and that is extraordinary for he is Obey'd Honor'd and Serv'd more than any Spiritual or Temporal Prince in the whole World beside No Person of what Condition or Quality soever may speak to him but only the Gelubden who wait upon him in his Chamber in the Palace and his nearest Kinred as his Sons and Daughters that live with him in the same Palace All the Magistrates without the Palace for the Gelubden have their Degrees of Orders and Preferment are only to speak to the King in Writing in the manner of a Petition wherein their Desires are set forth with the most humble Expressions imaginable When it is the new Year which always begins with the new Moon before or after the ninth Month of October at which time also they begin their Lent an Ambassador is sent from every general Province to Salute the King This Duty is perform'd every third year with greater State and such humble Submission that it seems in a manner a servile Obedience So upon the first day of the new Moon the Magistrates every one in his own City meet and bow to the Royal Throne which is adorn'd with Pictures and Images then with exalted Voices pray That the King may live ten thousand years and this is loudly seconded by the redoubled Echoes of the People purposely met together The same Honor is done to the Emperor upon his Birth-day through the whole Empire and upon the same day the Magistrates of Peking and the Ambassadors which are sent from other Provinces as also the Emperors nearest and chiefest Friends come into the Emperor's Presence to let him know what Day it is and to confirm their good Wishes for his long Life by the greatness of the Presents which they then bring unto him All such as are preferr'd by the King to any Place of Magistracy or other Office are summon'd to appear early in the Morning before the King's Throne to return Thanks for the favor shewn At which time they are Cloth'd in red Sattin with Silver-gilt Turbants upon their Heads in both Hands they hold an Ebony Board four Fingers broad and a Foot long which they put before their Mouths as often as they speak before the Emperor or his Throne When formerly the Emperor intended to appear upon his Throne he shew'd himself first out of a large Window in the highest Room of the House holding an Ebony Board in his Hand before his Face and another over his Head both which Boards were beset with so many Precious Stones and of that bigness that they cover'd his Face and hindred any one from having a perfect sight of him But how the Tartar Cham appears in this Age we have already related It is only lawful for the Emperor to be array'd in Yellow that Colour being forbidden to all others his Raiment is chiefly Embroider'd with Dragons and not only are these Dragons upon his Garments but likewise Engraven upon the Vessels of Gold and other Plate belonging to the Palace as also upon all the other Furniture thereof insomuch that the very Tyling of the Palace is of a yellow Colour figur'd with the shapes of Dragons which has given occasion for some to believe that the Roof of the Palace was either of Gold or Copper whereas in truth it is only cover'd with Tyles colour'd yellow in the Baking and fastned with Nails whose Heads are gilded that so every thing outwardly seen may resemble the Emperor's Apparel And if any Person should be so audaciously presumptuous as to venture to wear this Colour or the Dragons unless he be of the Royal Blood it would endanger the loss of his Head such an Offence being esteem'd criminal as Treason and the Offender would suffer as a Traitor The Royal Palace has four Gates toward the four Quarters of the World All that pass by these Gates are oblig'd to alight whether on Horseback or in a Chair and to go on foot till they are beyond them This is done by all the Chineses in general but much more orderly and with greater Reverence by the Grandees for they perform this Ceremony while they are yet at a good distance from the Court and this is duely observ'd not only at Peking the present Imperial Residence but also at Nanking the ancient Seat of the Emperors though of late years deserted by the Court. The Emperor oftentimes for some certain Reasons and Causes best known to himself doth confer Titles of Honor upon the Ancestors of the chiefest Magistrates by a certain Writing formally drawn up by his Majesties Philosophers They put a high value upon such a Writing and think nothing too much to give or do to purchase the same which once obtain'd they lay up carefully for their Posterity as a Holy or Sacred thing They likewise set a very high value and esteem upon other Titles which are express'd with two or three Characters and are granted by the Emperor to Widows that in their old Age subject themselves again to Matrimony or to any other extraordinary ancient People These Marks of Honor they hang over their Doors to be as a Testimonial for them and when any Magistrates have done their Country good Services Statues of Marble are erected in their Honor at the Charge of the Publick Whatsoever through the whole Empire is rare of costly is sent to the Emperor at Peking the Magistrates whereof appear with far less State and Magnificence abroad in the Streets than those of other Places for unless it be some of the chiefest and more noble the rest must only ride on Horseback and not be carried in Chairs and whosoever is permitted to keep a Chair must use no more than four Chait-men to carry him Without the Imperial City the Magistrates thereof may appear abroad in a more glorious Grandeur but their lowly Demeanor at Peking is done in submission to their Sovereign there resident Every fourth year at four distinct times all the Emperor's Council assemble at the Tombs of the ancient Kings and Queens and there offer up rich and costly Presents with great Humility

and Pomegranates But in that of Huquang only one sort which the Chineses call The Winter-Gold-Apple because they are ripe in the Winter and are sweet of taste There is in Fokien the best sort of them which differ not much in bigness from the Apples in Europe but are like unto the Muscate Grape for taste and smell This Fruit dry'd and confected in Sugar will keep a whole year and is a very delicate Sweet-meat In the Province of Chekiang drops from the Trees a certain fatness whereof they make very white Candles much better than those of Tallow for they neither foul the Fingers when put out nor are of an ill smell The Tree is very large and in its Leaves and shape is not unlike the Pear-tree in Europe It has white Blossoms as the Cherry-tree after the Blossom follows a round Berry as big as a Cherry but with a brown and thin Skin under which lies a white Substance which when the Fruit is ripe and the Skin bursts is seen and then they gather the Berries and boil them in Water which when hot smell like Flesh but when cold it feels like Tallow The Leaves of this Tree are very fat on which the Sheep and Cows feed and therewith become fat in a short time In the Province of Xantung grows the Apple call'd Sucu which dry'd as we do Figs in Europe will keep good a whole year together and is as a Delicate sold in all Parts of China It is bigger than the ordinary Apple in this Country and of a deep red colour the Kernels do not lie in the middle but stand upright on one side being uncertain in the number for in some there are found ten fifteen or more according as they are in largeness while in others there are none at all It is red within and pleasant of taste when ripe Here also are some Apples green of Skin and hard and are eaten after the manner as the Apples in England This last sort of Fruit grows no where but in China In the Province of Suchue grows the Fruit Lichi which being ripe as a Rarity is brought to the Emperor's Court. The greatest quantity thereof is found in the Southern Parts of Fokien The Portuguese at Macao call it Lichas. It grows upon very high Trees whose Leaves are like those of the Laurel Upon the tops of the Branches grows the Fruit in Clusters as Grapes but is very like for fashion unto a small Heart and about the bigness of an Acorn with a rough Shell as the lesser Pine-Apple but not so thick being easily pull'd off with the Finger It s Kernel is full of Iuice white of colour pleasant of taste and smells like a Rose and being ripe receives a purple Colour It is a very pleasant sight to view the Trees then shewing as if they hung full of small Hearts so that with great reason may this be call'd The King of Fruits being both so pleasant to behold and taste Through the whole Empire of China there grow no Pine-Apples but only in this Province There is also another sort of round Fruit call'd Kungyen that is Dragons-Eye not much unlike the former only it is somewhat smaller and rounder being for the bigness much like our Cherries in Europe but harder of Skin This Fruit is dry'd and sold every where in Markets but it is much better eaten fresh from the Tree Here also grows the Fruit Muiginli that is The Plum of the fair Woman being round and exceeding the Damas Pruine for bigness and goodness In this Country grows likewise in several Places a certain Fruit call'd Duriones which though of an ill taste are yet very wholesom It is dry in Operation causes Sweating and is good against the Wind and Dropsie provided it be eaten moderately for otherwise it will over-heat the Liver Most Men at first fancy this Fruit to smell like rotten Egs but after they have once eaten of it they change opinion esteeming it to be the sweetest that ever they did eat of The Grandees make account of this Fruit as a great Delicacy and think they can never have enough of it The Leaf or the Herb Betel which we spoke of before to be so chew'd by them has so great an aversion to this Fruit that it spoils and rots the same if it lie near unto it insomuch that if at any time any Person eat too much of that the Betel is a present Remedy against the same In Quantung is a certain Fruit call'd Musa The Tree whereon it grows is very delightful as well for height as its large spreading Arms and call'd by some The Indian Fig-Tree The Leaves are nine handfuls long and two and a half broad the one side of a brown Colour and the other Green It shoots forth several Branches upon which hang the Figs which are of several kinds for some are yellow long pleasant of taste and well scented others green long and well tasted but both hard of digestion nevertheless it breeds good Blood and cures the Cough And the Bark of the Tree is good against Agues and other Distempers CHAP. XVI Of Animals AS kind Nature hath abundantly provided and bless'd China with all manner of Trees Bushes Herbs and Fruits so it has made the same no less fruitful in the product of all sorts of irrational Creatures as Beasts Fishes Fowls c. Of Four-footed Creatures THe Sheep in China are like those of Persia and Tartary having long and thick Tails which they drag after them weighing forty or fifty Pound their Flesh is very sweet Near the Garrison of Tieki is great store of Cows having very long thick and curl'd Tails which the Chinese Soldiers wear for Ornament in their Caps in stead of Feathers Near to the Cities of Cingcheu and Tengcheu there is found in the Maw of a Cow a Stone call'd Nienhoang which signifies The Yellow of the Cow by reason of its Colour It is of several sizes and sometimes as big as a Goose Egg And although it be not altogether so firm and close as the Bezoar Stone and consequently lighter yet is it by the Chineses valued and esteemed much before it It seems outwardly to be Chalk and is much commended for several uses In the Province of Quantung is a Creature which the Chineses call The Swift Cow for it is so nimble of foot that it can run more than three hundred Miles in a day In Cincheu is a certain Beast very like a Cow having Horns much whiter than Ivory which is an exceeding great lover of Salt and therefore when at any time the Huntsmen go abroad to take any of them they carry Bags of Salt with them which they lay as a Bait and on this they will feed with such greediness that they rather suffer themselves to be kill'd than leave off their so dearly beloved Prey In the Province of Kiangsi and especially in the City of Nanchang the Inhabitants feed their Hogs as well within the City as

China is often call'd in their Language Cunghoa signifying The Middle Empire believing themselves to be situate in the midst and Navel of the World and sometimes Cungque A Garden in the midst or A Florid Garden by reason of the affluence of all things necessary for Humane Life for the whole Empire is so much enrich'd from the defusion of Lakes and Rivers breaking out every where from the Mountains of the West and from the Mediterranean Parts of the continu'd Mountains that there is scarcely a Field that is not water'd with almost no City but may hold a Correspondency with others by Shipping that Sail through Rivers and Trenches to the great convenience of Merchants and Travellers the most perspicuous Rivers are Kiang for its largeness term'd The Son of the Sea and Hoang so call'd from his Saffron Colour These water all China and rising from the bordering Indian Mountains by a divided Dominion separate the whole Empire and at length disembogue themselves into the Eastern Ocean And this is also most worthy of admiration in the Chinesian World and which hapneth unto no other Monarchy that at this day the Empire is so situate from the South towards the North that not content with the proper Munificences of the Temperate Zone it hath moreover subjected both the Torrid and Frigid unto its Iurisdiction beginning from the 18. Degree of the Torrid Zone and proceeding in a straight Line through the Temperate it is extended almost unto the 70. Degree of the Altitude of the Frozen Tartarian Ocean within the Frigid Zone in all 32 Degrees which if divided into 15. make 780 Astronomical Miles of which 15 make one Degree and 3120 Italian Miles 60. of which Miles make one Degree From whence it followeth that all sorts of Fruits Aromaticks Trees and Animals are so common unto this Empire as they are each of them proper to their peculiar Climate and therefore what is scatter'd in sundry Parts is here collected with abundant Increase What Monarch ever had the happiness every Day to have his Table furnish'd with the seasonable and proper Fruits of the Indies brought from the Burning Zone and to be delighted with the variety and abundance of all Fruits peculiar to the Temperate Zone and whatever else serves for Food Raiment or Pleasure For what this vast Empire hath either rare delicate or admirable is all serv'd up for the Emperor's use The Supreame MONARCH of the CHINA TARTARIAN Empire CHAP. II. Of the Political Government of the Chineses SEeing in the former Chapters we have treated at large of the Political Empire of the Chineses here I thought good to adjoin some things worthy of greater consideration The Emperor of China is absolute Lord of the whole Monarchy and the Empire is so Govern'd by him that no Person may undertake any Business of importance without his Assent The Monarchy descendeth successively from the Father to the Sons and where the Direct Line fails it runs Collateral all the rest whether they be Brethren or Nephews or otherways join'd in Consanguinity are honor'd with the Title of Kings each of them having a Province assign'd him which they Rule but yet with such a limitation of Authority that having certain Revenues assign'd them all the rest is transferr'd into the Emperor's Treasury There are six Tribunals or Courts of Iustice which determine all Causes and Controversies of the whole Empire The first for chusing of Magistrates The second the Exchequer of his Imperial Majesties Revenues The third for Emergencies in Ecclesiastical Affairs The fourth for the Militia The fifth orders Publick Edifices and such like Buildings The sixth spreads it self into several Courts concerning Criminal Causes And by these six with their subordinate Officers all Business is dispatch'd The Emperor hath Lords of his Privy-Council which they call Colaos who as they are Persons excellently vers'd in the knowledge of State Affairs so also they are had in estimation next to himself he hath likewise his Governors or Lords Lieutenants of divers Degrees which are term'd Mandorins and accomplish'd in variety of Learning and Knowledge so that the whole Kingdom is in a manner Rul'd as Plato's Commonwealth only by Learned Men and that Kingdom cannot but arrive to 〈◊〉 greatest heighth of Felicity in which either the Prince acts like a Philosopher or a Philosopher Reigneth This is manifest by the innumerable multi●●des of the Inhabitants which the Emperor Governeth with as much facility as the Master of a Family doth his House it is also clear from the Magnitude Splendor and incredible Magnificence of the Cities and the frequency of ●ridges the Structure of which whether you have respect to their Length or 〈◊〉 Rules of Architecture hath amaz'd such as beheld them Add unto this the convenience of Publick Passages the afflux of Shipping from all Parts resorting to the Metropolitan Cities the indefatigable Labor and Industry of the Husbandmen in Cultivating their Lands the great Vigilancy and unwearied Guard of the Soldiery the extraordinary Rigor and Severity of the Iudges in punishing Malefactors all which cannot have their original in so great an Empire without the supposition of excellent Laws establish'd for the confirmation of the Peace and Tranquility thereof As for the Emperor 's annual Revenues although they are not always fix'd and certain by reason of the vicissitude and alteration of Times yet for the most part in Peace they easily amount to 150000000 Tayes according to their Exchequer Rolls in which as Father Martinius avoucheth they have not only the number of the Inhabitants in every Province and City but also a Compute of each Years Revenue most exactly Registred In the Regency of the Emperor Vanly the number of the Inhabitants throughout the whole Empire amounted to about two hundred Millions not accounting the Emperor's Servants Eunuchs Women and Children and the Revenue was estimated at 1500000. of Gold after our Rate but now under the Regency of this Emperor the Revenues of his Kingdoms being also in the Audit it far exceeds and for better satisfaction I have here annex'd a Table of the annual Incomes of each of the fifteen Provinces of the Empire of China paid into the Exchequer together with the number of the Inhabitants contain'd in every one of them in the time of the Emperor Vanly which Table I have extracted out of Martinius his Atlas A Catalogue of the Families Fightmen-Men not reckoning the Emperor's Retinue together with the Tributes yearly paid throughout the whole Empire excepting Tolls and Customs taken from the Book of the Compute of the Chineses in the Year that the Empire flourish'd according to Father Martine Martinius and others   Families Fighting-Men Sacks of Rice Pounds of Silk Trusses of Hay Pounds of Salt of 24 ounces 1. Pechinck Peckali or Cambalu the Metropolis and a hundred and thirty five Cities under it 418989 3452254 2274022 45135 8737284 180870 2. The Kingdom of Xansi hath five Chief Cities unto which are subject ninety two less