Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey through the Country from Pekin to CantonBarrow, John, Sir
History
Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey through the Country from Pekin to Canton
Barrow, John, Sir
China -- Description and travel
That the Chinese do not owe their origin to the same stock, their
physical character is of itself a sufficient proof. The small eye,
rounded at the extremity next the nose, instead of being angular, as is
the case in that of Europeans, its oblique instead of horizontal
position, and the flat and broad root of the nose, are features or
characters entirely distinct from the Hindu, the Greek, or the Roman;
and belong more properly to the natives of that vast extent of country,
which was known to the ancients by the name of Scythia, and, in modern
times, by that of Tartary. There is scarcely in nature two of the human
species that differ more widely than a Chinese and a Hindu, setting
aside the difference of colour, which however modern enquiries have
determined to have little or no relation to climate, but rather to some
original formation of the different species. The Mantchoo, and indeed
all the other Tartar tribes bordering upon China, are scarcely
distinguishable from the Chinese. The same colour, except in a few
instances as I have elsewhere observed, the same eyes, and general turn
of the countenance prevail, on the continent of Asia, from the tropic of
Cancer to the Frozen Ocean[36]. The peninsula of Malacca, and the vast
multitude of islands spread over the eastern seas, and inhabited by the
Malays, as well as those of Japan and Lieou-kieou, have clearly been
peopled from the same common stock. The first race of people to the
northward of Hindostan, that possess the Tartar countenance, so
different from that of the Hindus, are the inhabitants of Bootan. "The
_Booteeas_," says Captain Turner, "have invariably black hair, which it
is their fashion to cut short to the head. The eye is a very remarkable
feature of the face; small, black, with long pointed corners[37], as
though stretched and extended by artificial means. Their eye-lashes are
so thin as to be scarcely perceptible, and the eye-brow is but slightly
shaded. Below the eyes is the broadest part of the face, which is rather
flat, and narrows from the cheek-bones to the chin; a character of
countenance appearing first to take its rise among the Tartar tribes,
but is by far more strongly marked in the Chinese."
[36] It is sufficiently remarkable, that the Emperor _Kaung-shee_, in
giving, by public edict, some account to his subjects of the different
nations of Asia and Europe, should make the following observation. "To
the southward of the _Cossack_ country a horde of _Hoo-tse_ (Turks) is
established, who are descended from the same stock with _Yuen-tay-tse_,
formerly Emperors of China."
[37] The _exterior_ angles are here meant which, in the Chinese also,
are extended in the same or a greater proportion than the _interior_
ones are rounded off.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account