Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1851-05-05
Military Display in China.

! CORRESPONDENCE OF THE SOUTHERN CHRIS.
TIAN ADVOCATE
r SHANGHAI, September IL, 1850.
A Chinese Military Review is not one
of the least singular sights in this singular
country. You have not now to be inform
ed, for the frs, time, Of the extremely uwk.
ward and ludcrious appearance Of a Chi.
nese soldier. To begin with his head--he
wears upoL it cap or ha:, whatever YOU
please to call it, of conical shape, having
turf of horse hair dyed red, fastened on the
top and hanging down its sides. In full
dress uniform he wears a clumsy quilted
garment, wadded with cotton. 1t extends
below the knees, and on the back is large
round patch of white, which has inscribed
upon it, in flaming red, the character signi-
flying bravery This, Of course, is best
seen by the enemy when he runs, and they
have never failed 10 display it oy turning
their backs in every engagement with fore
ign troops. IL they argue from the maxim
that discretion is the better part of valor'
they are right, for run they certainly do.
You would suppose, by the amount oi noise
they produce, ,htt they relied upon the
hideous din of their gongs and horns to
frighten their foes to death. A man who
had very delicate sense Of the concord of
sweet sounds would be very likely TO
dread their music more than their bullets.
went this morning to see one Of these
martial displays; carrying with me, how.
ever supply Of messengers Of peace IN the
form Of tracts. The parade ground is
large open space without the city walls, on
the south, about two miles from my resi-
dence. When reached the spot, the
arcllers-for one department of the militia.
ry use bows and arrows-had finished their
exercise, and two or three mandarins pres.
ent were exhibiting their strength and skill
to the admiring crowd by shooting a: a tar.
get with bows ond arrows of their own
Had you seen the dexterity of these officers
on this occasion you would agree with me
in the opinion that the safest course for enc
to take who wished to avoid being hit,
would be to go and stand by the mark
Just as one had discharged his three arrows,
he discovered me among the multitude, by
my foreign dress, and beckoning me toward
him, took me by the hand and seated me by
his side near small table. was admir-.
ing the workmanship Of bow standing
against the table, and the mandarin to whom
it belonged requested me 10 try it.
begged him to excuse me, saying that |
had never used one Of that kind; but as he
still insisted, / took an arrow, placed it Oh
the string, land sent it away whizzing toward
the mark, which it missed of course, but
went so far beyond it as to elicit shout OF
appreciation from the people crowded
around. They exclaimed, The foreigners
strength is greater than the mandrin's;' for
most Of their arrows had fallen short ofthe
mark. My courteous friend seemed little
mortified, and he FASTENED to unstring his
bow, while the people said, Let the foreign
er shoot again: Let the foreigner shoot
again. He then ordered a cup of tea for
me, and, taking his pipe, filled it with fine.
ly Gu, tobacco, lighted it by drawing a puff
or two himself, and then wiped ,he mouth
piece with his hand, gave it to me with a
graceful bow. This was designed as a
compliment, and no, liking to be consid-
cred rude by declining it so publicly, took
the pipe and smoked it for few seconds,
but being too dull to appreciate the virtues
Of the divine weed unless it be the 'divin.
ity that strs within u.s. 10 the unseltling of
one's breakfast, soon returned it to him,
when he used it with much gusto. i
The place where we sat was elevated
two steps above the level Of the ground and
covered with a roof. Our position COM
manded view of the whole fel9, and the
mandarin's attendants kept the space imme-
dia,ely around US open by whaeking away
at the eager multitude with large whips.
The soldiers bearing firearms we're drawn
up in readiness for an exercise few rods
distant Two large yellow flags with SER
rated edges we're planted at either extremi.
ty of the line, and five small ones Of the
same description Mt equal distances apart
between the first, and little in the rear.
T. a. IL