TABLE OF CONTENTS. The Old Testament and Assyrian History. By Richard Cull, F.S.A. Street Flowers in London. By the Author of "Keane Malcombe's Pupil." Sonnet. By A. W. W. Dale ... ... Warrenne's Trust. By Wade Robinson ... Reports on the Progress of Science :- Physics. By Prof. W. F. Barrett, F.R.S.E. ... PAGE 6, 349 ... 17 21 22, 81 By J. R. S. 32, 93, 161, 291 39, 101, 168, 229, 300, 355 ... Technology. By Charles W. Vincent, F.R.S.E., F.C.S. Biology. By Prof. W. R. McNab, M.D. ... Astronomy. By the Rev. T. W. Webb, M.A., F.R.A.S. 63, 128, 190, 255, 319, 382 Chinese Schools and Education. By the Rev. E. R. Barrett, B.A.... Correspondence: The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria A Visit to the Puy de Dome. By Miss Gladstone Spelling Reform, School Boards, and Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. The Argonaut. AMUSEMENTS OF THE CHINESE. BY THE REV. E. R. BARRETT, B.A. HE amusements of a nation always repay attention. They are invariably suggestive, and often reveal some of the leading characteristics of a people. Dr. Johnson (quoted in Dr. Williams' " Middle Kingdom") says: "No man is a hypocrite in his amusements;" and with a people so perversely deceitful and lying as the Chinese are, this fact in itself is a great inducement to learn what are their favourite pastimes. And yet there is very little to say on the subject, for it would seem that the Chinese are too self-occupied, too sublime, one might say too celestial, to be fond of playing. Of one amusement, however, the Chinese, like other nations, are passionately fond, viz. the Theatre. As a rule, there are no buildings specially constructed for the purpose, and theatrical exhibitions take place in rude structures hastily erected, or in chambers connected with the temples and guilds appropriated to this use. In many of the cities no public performances are allowed, and actors are forbidden to perform within several miles of the town. Even in the strictest case, however, relaxation is afforded on great festivals, when bands of strolling actors are engaged to give a series of performances at the temples; and, occasionally, private entertainments are given by rich persons to their friends, while the various guilds provide dramatic amusements for their members. The poorer people will walk for miles, and sacrifice the best part of a day's work, to be present at a neighbouring exhibition; yet, notwithstanding their universal love for B the drama, the Chinese, with their usual inconsistency, consider the actor's profession so disgraceful, that they form a separate class, and their children are forbidden to enter the public examinations. The accessories of a stage are for the most part very simple, and there is little machinery or device employed, but the dresses of the actors are generally gorgeous, and correspond to the period of time represented in the play. There is no definite discrimination between comedy and tragedy, and while many of the standard plays are not wanting in interest, the Chinese drama may be said to be in a very undeveloped and infant state. As a rule, the pieces are historical, and opportunity is given—and, if report be true, freely used—for pandering to the worst passions of the people. Occasionally an attempt is made to restore the purity of the stage by introducing some of the classical pieces of Chinese drama; but invariably with a result similar to that which has usually followed efforts to revive the Shaksperian drama at Drury Lane. In China, women are not allowed on the stage, their part being taken by youths; and it may fairly be doubted whether the influence of the theatre in China is worse than it has hitherto, for the most part, been in England. Allied to the drama is music, of which the Chinese are also very fond, although their ideas regarding it, as in almost everything else, are the reverse of ours. Noise and discord form the principal features of musical entertainments; brass cymbals, gongs, the trumpet, shrill pipes, and a drum made of a hard wood and beaten rapidly so as to produce a loud reverberating sound, form the leading instruments of their bands. There are also a few stringed instruments with a very high pitch, and usually played with the finger instead of a bow. Concerts, according to our use of the word, are unknown, though "sing song" abound, in which the vocal music is pitched in a high falsetto key. The Chinese are in the habit of calling in musicians on every festive occasion-at marriage feasts, theatrical entertainments, on public holidays, or at the new year, when opening a new shop, or receiving public officers. The instruments are not tuned on the same key, nor have the performers any idea of time or harmony of parts, so that the sounds are deafening and discordant to a foreign ear. The Chinese are not, however, destitute of an ear for music, but their chromatic scale is different from ours, there being no semitones and widely different intervals, which would seem to suggest that the |