The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-03-17 00:00:00

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from four to five 'feet high, resembling our myrtle, with
flowers like white roses, but smaller, and bearing a small
oily fruit. Only two species are known to our botanists, but
the Chinese, its almost sole cultivators, count at least two
hundred—probably by a stretch of their hyperbolic genius.
It grows, according to Gutzlaff, (in accordance with several
other writers,) on the most sterile ground, on the sunny
ridges of hills, principally between 25 degrees and 30
degrees of latitude, in the provinces of Fok-een, Che-
keaneg, and Keang-soo ; but almost all over the empire.
The tender leaf, gathered in the spring, has a superior flavour
to the older leaves. "To produce a luxurient foliage, (says
our author) the shrub is regularly and carefully pruned, the
leaves are gathered when it is about three years old, but old
shrubs beyond the age of seven or eight years are good for
nothing. The trunk is cut, and the sprouts shoot out a-new,
to supply the place of the old stem. There are three gather-
ings of the leaves,--the first early in the spring: the second
at the end; and the third at the commencement of summer.
They are carefully manipulated, dried in various ways, and
' then packed. In foreign trade, two different kinds—the
Weo-e, or black tea. and the Sung-10, or green tea, are prin-
cipally in demand." The same writer states that the black
tea derives its name from the Woe-e hill, a romantic spot in
Fokien, and the green tea from a hill in Keang-nan, in lati-
tude 30 degrees. To the Tartars the Chinese sell the coarsest
leaves, which are beaten into cakes, and go under the name of
Kaiel Cha, or brick tea ; and with this commodity a trade is
carried on extending all over Central Asia. A imall quan-
tity of this, pulverised, and thrown into hot water, makes
good tea. We may add to this portion of our sketch that a
trial is now being prosecuted at Assam, in British India,
which will, ere long, solve the question .whether this plant,
which has failed in Java and the Brazils, may not be grown
extensively in our own territories, and thus supersede the
necessity of a total dependence upon the Chinese. Those
employed upon the plantation in the cultivation of the shrub
are principally Chinese labourers, and the small samples al-
ready sent home have been much approved by London bro-
kers. A further experiment is, however, requisite, before
extensive speculations in the culture of the plant can be pru-
dently pursued.
The silk fabrics of China, of which, amongst the higher
classes in that country the consumption is considerable, have
long been in much esteem in Europe and America ; but have,
of late years been rarely if ever imported into this country,—
the
duty being excessive, and the dye being considered gaudy,
our own manufactures have superseded them. Russia and
the eastern states of Europe have, however, drawn large sup-
plies from that country, while our principal and almost sole
article of purchase has been tea.
Of the customs, manners, and pursuits of the Chinese,
little need here be said, save by way of reminiscence to the
historical reader. The government is essentially despotic,
but necessarily mild in its sway ; the people, from long
habitude, and example handed down from generation to
generation, being throughout the whole of the " civilised"
and densely inhabited part of the country of one mind—
neither thirsting for foreign conquest, nor having a wish to
depart from the settled and beaten track of their forefathers.
The celestial monarch arrogates to himself the supremacy of
all the powers on earth, whether Christian or Pagan. He
styles his own " the middle kingdom," all others being
deemed and designated " barbarians"—whom. however, he
does not trouble himself either to " instruct" or molest !
Separated by natural barriers, and the impracticability of the
profitable invasion of a country so peculiarly and densely
peopled, and so extensively cultivated, China has been
enabled to maintain an integrity, and a sort of exclusive but
advantageous commercial intercourse with the more potent
states, altogether unparalleled in the history of nations. The
hive might he assailed, and the bees possibly dispersed by a
combination of European powers ; but the question is, would
the experiment be worth the cost, were it even justifiable,
(which we deny,) and would conquest secure a larger quan-
tity of the honey ! We think not. Let the Chinese—beyond
an occasional check, when they overstep the limits of com-
mercial forbearance—be left to pursue their industrious
avocation as agriculturists, and the mutual intercourse with
Europeans and others, will be mutually more advantageous,
and finally, perhaps, wear out the jealousy and prejudices
that now pervades that people, and place them in a position
to advantage themselves by the mechanical, scientific, and
general improvements of the western world.
The officers of state, in,imitation of their imperial master,
assume exceeding consequence in their edicts and proclama-
tions, the language of which is not only egotistically assump-
tive, but frequently, (as we shall shew with reference to the
present dispute), bombastic and ludicrous. By far the greater
portion of the inhabitants are farmers or rather cottagers,
who devote their whole attention to the cultivation of the
soil. The empire is divided into plots of one or two acres,
separated by ditches which serve as drains, or by narrow
ridges of earth, which are used as footpaths. These arc in
most cases. cultivated by the owners themselves, who raise
simply what supplies their own wants, without regard to pro-
ducing anything for the use of others, and for their own
profit. This system is not, of course, pursued in the neigh-
bourhood of large towns; but it is general, so that the mass
of people may be said merely to vegetate in their respective
little gardens, in which, with the exception of a few flowers,
nothing is cultivated if we except tea, in the districts where
it is grown, but what is immediately useful as food. In case
of failure of crops in one locality, no assistance can therefore
be derived from another, and hence partial famines are not
uncommon. They have but few cattle, or domestic animals
—and prefer living on vegetable diet, chiefly rice, (which they
season with onions or barbs,) or, if they can procure it, a
small quantity of pork. Their implements of agriculture are
rude, but they manage them with ingenuity, and are skilful
in manuring and irrigating their land. Their cottages are
generally built of bamboo. The peasantry are considered
morally superior to the inhabitants of towns, the former
being an artless race, the latter given to indulgence and licen-
tiousness. We now come to notice the two principal cities.