Weekly national intelligencer., 1851-11-01
CHINESE GEOGRAPHY.

N
raox kIw FORK 5oUHSAL coNHER0E.
The war Of England with China has produced results Of
great magnitude and Importance in wide extension Of Tho
field both Of commercial Intercourse apd Christian bsnevo
lence But the results already realized small 10 compaIi
with those which may be expected to accrue from the
impetus given by that the Chinese mind Inquiry
and investigation make slow and silent progress the search
for truth and time longest in maturing those fruits Of
knowledge and wisdom which constitute her choicest gifts
mnrta Maps Of the World procuable at this day in Canton
bookstores exhibit the "Middle Kingdom" with
eighteen times that Of the other countries inserted therein
the Great Wall excludes from the sparse population Of the
Siberian regions the North in the that washes the
wes England France, Holland, Portugal, Cos, Persia
and India dsneaed from north SOUTH various dis
beowth other, and in the southwestern corner
Siam, Burmah, and Spain 10 The eastern and southern
waters, Japan, Jaws and Sumatra inerspersed with the
other islands best known the Chinese But the erroneous
views impaired by such publications beginning to be dis
cadcd by the better informed Of the population and Chi
nese Of distinction, His Excellency Su KIu Of Wuta in
Sbans, the present Lieutenant Governor of Fuhhe has
written and published Universal Geography well adapted
to destroy the concsi and dsspate the ignorance of the
rulers and scholars Of China by proving them the existence
and showing them the position and Of numerous
other great and powerful nations.
The author Acknowledges with candor and gratitude the
aid be received in the preparation Of his work from the Anne
rcan missionary, Mr.. ABExL. While Annoy on public
duties in ls43. be caused part of collection of maps
longing the American DO copied and translated and
subsequently, having become interested in their study he
made collection of all the works procursbe on the subject.
and CLEANED from them all be thought worth retaining The
information thus seduous obtained be corrected or corobo
rated BY conversation with foreigners from the West The
selections verified he arranged with bis notes into chspers
which gradually expanded to the size Of volumes In this
way, he says shave done from l843 till now for FIVE
years. winter and summer in the intervals Of official duties
making this pursuit my relaxation and amusemen and hard
y emitting single day in which did not do something at
IT," His friends and eowofcers formed the highest opi-
ion OF the performance, called it the Yng Hoa CAi-oh
General Survey the Circuit Of the Seas and persuaded
hlm TO get printed -Four Of them, and amongst these H.
e Llu Yunko, the then Governor General of Fuhken and
Chehkapg wrote peace all Of which are published with
ne work Tney commend the authors minute research
and thorough collation. Of his materials ]" and declare that
bis fitness for accomplishing such task is not seen in his
for the wonderful but in his description Of what is pro-
per- Still they by no means nsensi5e TO the extent
md novelty Of his developments and dwell with delight on
ne mnuteness ucidy and comprehensiveness of his de-
crpioas One leisure day, says the Treasurer of Fuh-
lien he showed it 10 me- and looking over only once
perceived that desert wds and remote corners and
'y-places, well the gdoms of the world were all
described as plain the lines the palm Of the hand it
vas like lighting lamp in dark room.". ya.
Gov Su describes the gobuar shape of the earh and de-
ares that the water than OF it's sur
ace To the general survey Of the world and divisions
devotes only the brief Of eight pages On inspect
ng the maps drawn by Occidenals" he struck with
urpse at seeing South Frozen Ocean delineated Men
generally Of the Northern Frozen Ocean, but
we're ignorant of Southern Frozen Ocean, = - and
Dcapd hera hntto
be South Pole, the stones cracked and the gold melted"
The contrary doctrine he attributed to ignorance or error
but, inqurng Of the American Abeel, he told that
here doubt Of its being So" The auhor ams his
wn confdence in Mr. Abeeis representation, but quite
that he will not be believed in this by his readers" His
mind has become expanded by his sudes and by inter-
curse with enlightened foreigners freely to admit the
--sA. and ,hc..sL ->--,- r-e;,,--
ices not entirely discarded, is obvious from the
uoaton above, in which he speaks of his counymen as
onsitung the whole human race, and also from the fact
hat he invariably calls foreign potenates kings ords re-
ervng the title of emperor exclusively for his own sovereign
ct he mentions other nations always in terms of respect and
applies to their inhabitants those oontempuous epihes
nd degrading appeaons which till lately were always used
y the Chinese in speaking Of foreigners. a 81
The several divisions Of the world described as to
npess the mind previously unnfomed with tolerably ac
urate views Of their extent and importance. general
ummay Of the history of each its several countries with
outline of their political institutions given their pre-
ent condition and relative pretty accurately
mated their social institutions manners and cus-
have formed the subject of curious investigation to the
uhor and his account of them presents ludicrous mixture
truth and error. He says that in England " the men
onstanty listen to the commands Of the women the whole
ouny follows this !; and that the skirts rof Eng
sh women] long and sweep the ground there are ve
six ofhem fastened to the waist above the other Both
love cleanliness, and daily bahe themselves in tubs"
his about the skirts is emphscaly of New York Ia
les; and though may to be in contradiction Of the
irtue ascrbsd to them, in with men, in the FIRST
lause Of the next sentence, ii quite reconciabe with the
esdue Of it. and would render the practice indics
d therein an indispensable consequence Ill st8 e r
curious in the following paragraph append
to, in the main very description Of Rhode Is
and 1t will be seen that in the location Of the Colossus,
be author confounds Rhodes with Rhode Island: a
Nan Hwa jim, "a Jesuit in his account Of the Seven
Wonders of the World Gays In Rhode Island 10 hazen
900 cubs high, who holds lamp in his hand his two
stand two hills and ships pass under his legs In
ids is circular stairs from which could reach the right
and 10 light the lantern to guide vesse Tbiss the island
mentioned. To build tower for lighthouse COM
thing, but Hwai has made bundering story here
{ the bsIen man, and said II 800 cubs high cam
how this brszen could bsve been cast nor even
low be could have been set uP and the whole story must
% set down extremely nonsen,icsl"s 4tiea 3 ~
Governor So introduces his description the Uned satee
shh history Of the settlement Of the country and the sub
equen revolutionary Of Independence The character
f WAsaIssroS commands his unqualified admiration. He