Trip up the Shu-Kiang river--My fellow-passengers and their costumes--A damaged bell--Female peasants on the river-banks--I am caught up and carried off by a laughing virago--Arrival at Canton--Early trading between China and Ceylon and Africa, etc.--The Empress Lui-Tseu teaching the people to rear silk-worms--The treaties of Nanking and Tien-tsin--Bombardment of Canton--Murder of a French sailor and terrible revenge--M. Vaucher and I explore Canton--The _fétes_ in honour of the Divinity of the North and of the Queen of Heaven--General appearance of Canton--An emperor's recipe for making tea--How tea is grown in China--The Fatim garden--A dutiful son--Scene of the murder of the Tai-Ping rebels--The Temple of the five hundred Genii--Suicide of a young engineer--Return of his spirit in the form of a snake 33 CHAPTER III General Tcheng-Ki-Tong and his book on China--The monuments of China--Those the Chinese delight to honour--A Chinese heroine--Ingredients of the "Cup of Immortality"--Avenues of colossal statues and monsters in cemeteries--Imperial edict in honour of K'wo-Fan--Proclamation of the eighteenth century--The Emperor takes his people's sins upon himself--Reasons for Chinese indifference to matters of faith--Lao-Tsze, or the old philosopher--His early life--His book, the _Tao-Teh-King_--His theory of the creation--Affinity of his doctrine with Christianity--Quotations from his book 57 CHAPTER IV Lao-Tsze and Confucius compared--The appearance of Kilin, the fabulous dragon, to the father of Confucius--Early life of the Philosopher--The death and funeral of his mother--His views on funeral ceremonies--His visit to the King of Lu and discourse on the nature of man--Confucius advocates gymnasium exercises--His love of music--His summary of the whole duty of woman--He describes the life of a widow--He gives a list of the classes of men to be avoided in marriage--The seven legitimate reasons for the divorce of a wife--The three exceptions rendering divorce illegal--The missionary Gutzlaff's opinion of Confucius' view of woman's position--The Philosopher meets a man about to commit suicide--He rescues him from despair--He loses thirteen of his own followers 73 CHAPTER V