The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1845-12-05


world-their language the root of al
others-their sacred books the ex
elusive record of the history of Asia
Accordingly we talk fameliarly, il
all our histories, of the first voy
ages to the East Indias as discove
ries an if the teeming millions o
India and China were hid, or did no
exist, until wandering Italian mer
chant or Portuguese navigator haC
found his way out ofthe darkness o
Europe into the comparative eflul
gent light of Asia.-But in fact
nearly all our modern arts had theii
day in China centuries since. Hel
civilization, arts, literature, anc
language are of the highest antiqui-
ty and longest duration. From hel
we have derived, to say nothing Of
tea, gunpowdcr, the marinors' com
pass, silk, porcelain, paper, printing,
| { both with blocks and movable
types newspapers, blank notes and
paper money. All these things are
of modern use with us-not so with
them. The language of CONTIGUOUS,
the contemporary of Herodotus, is
yet the vernacular tongue of the
Chincse-and, in short, do not
know of any thing now possessed by
us, except the steam engine, which
they did not possess anterior to his
tory. While our fathers were skin
clad barbarians, rowing in the woods
of Britain, Germany, and Norway,
thousands Of years ago, China was a
populous empire Of polished men,
clad in silk, living in cities, having
colleges, frequenting crowded thea
tres, drinking from porcelain, pub
fishing books, and engrossing all the
chief arts of civilization, just as it
now is in Europe and America. Our
word China is Portuguese, and like
the Latin Sina, it is unknown in the
country itselfas designation of the
land, it is supposed to be derived
from the Tsin dynasty, a family
which once reigned in the empire,
but is of comparatively modern use,
since, in the 18th century the name
was Cathary, as we learn from CO.
lumbus and others. Their own
names are three in number:
ENTHUSIASTICALLY trasn-
lated "Great Pure"
2-Chung-kwoh-" CentralLand."
3-Chung-hwa-"Ccntral Flow
cry"
These are sometimes combined
into
4-Ta-tsing Chung-kwoh--"Cen-
trail Land Of the Great Pure"
This last is the true political des-
ignation of China, while Nos. and
3 are the literary and No. 2 the pop
ular names. The error of transla-
ting these expectations gives them
an air of strangeneSS. The Chinese
in a primitive language, and of
course all the words are significant;
these are proper names and should
be used as such-to translate them
is as if an Englishman should speak
of Sir Mark Vetch, Lord Mayor of
Strength, instead of Marcus Cicero,
Consol of Rome. The Chinese En-
pire as Europe has known it for
nearly five hundred years, consists
of two great masses of men, viz -
the Chinese, who inhabit eighteen
provinces of China proper-and the
Tartars, divided into Manchus,
Mongols, Mohamedan, and other
Tartars, inhabiting a vast interior
country, Iii. Add to these, lst,
Tibet, under the protection of Chi
ma, and End, Tributary regions infu-
enced more or less by the Chinese
government-such as Corea, Coch-
in, China, Siam, &c. The popula-
ton, exclusive of merely tributary
states, by the census of the Chinese
is put down at 100000, 000-but
this is disputed simply because it is
large, and the amount is reduced,
conjecturally, to 250,000,000 byI
most OF foreigners. Yet this is with
out good reason, as we may under
stand by view Of the circumstan-
ces of the case, and comparison of
the territory, manners and customs
of the Chinese with those of other
nations. The immense throngs of
people everywhere pressing them
selves to the eye are all extremely |
industrious, making the country APP
pear one vast beehive or ant-nest.
Let us consider-that two crops per
annum are produced in the populous
regions of China proper, whereas
here and in Europe, but one is rails
ed We consequently must produce
food for twelve months in six. be-
sides the provision for our cattle in
winter, and occupy much of our
space in its storage till it is wanted
for consumption. 1t is not so with
them. That there are no beasts of
hur1o nj, ., Son4ho,, nh,,. a. -