Notions entertained by foreigners upon Chinese customs, 724; Architecture of the Chinese, 726; Building materials and private houses, 728; Their public and ornamental structures, 730; Arrangement of country houses and gardens, 731; Chinese cities: shops and streets, 736; Temples, club-houses, and taverns, 739; Street scenes in Canton and Peking, 740; Pagodas, their origin and construction, 744; Modes of travelling, 747; Various kinds of boats, 749; Living on the water in China, 750; _Chop-boats_ and junks, 752; Bridges, ornamental and practical, 754; Honorary Portals, or _Pai-lau_, 757; Construction of forts and batteries, 758; Permanence of fashion in Chinese dress, 759; Arrangement of hair, the Queue, 761; Imperial and official costumes, 763; Dress of Chinese women, 764; Compressed feet: origin and results of the fashion, 766; Toilet practices of men and women, 770; Food of the Chinese, mostly vegetable, 772; Kinds and preparation of their meats, 776; Method of hatching and rearing ducks’ eggs, 778; Enormous consumption of fish, 779; The art of cooking in China, 781. CHAPTER XIV. SOCIAL LIFE AMONG THE CHINESE, 782-836 Features and professions in Chinese society, 782; Social relations between the sexes, 784; Customs of betrothment and marriage, 785; Laws regulating marriages, 792; General condition of females in China, 794; Personal names of the Chinese, 797; Familiar and ceremonial intercourse: The _Kotow_, 800; Forms and etiquette of visiting, 802; A Chinese banquet, 807; Temperance of the Chinese, 808; Festivals; Absence of a Sabbath in China, 809; Customs and ceremonies attending New-Year’s Day, 811; The dragon-boat festival and feast of lanterns, 816; Brilliance and popularity of processions in China, 819; Play-houses and theatrical shows, 820; Amusements and sports: Gambling, chess, 825; Contrarieties in Chinese and Western usage, 831; Strength and weakness of Chinese character, 833; Their mendacity and deceit, 834. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME I. PAGE WORSHIP OF THE EMPEROR AT THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN, _Frontispiece_ TITLE-PAGE, REPRESENTING AN HONORARY PORTAL, OR _PAI-LAU_. (The two characters, _Shing chí_, upon the top, indicate that the structure has been erected by imperial command. In the panel upon the lintel the four characters, _Chung Kwoh Tsung-lun_, ‘A General Account of the Middle Kingdom,’ express in Chinese the title of this work. On the right the inscription reads, _Jin ché ngai jin yu tsin kih so_, ‘He who is benevolent loves those near, and then those who are remote;’ the other side contains an expression attributed to Confucius, ‘_Sí fang chí jin yu shing ché yé_,’ ‘The people of the West have their sages.’)--Compare p. 757.