China, Vol. 1 : In a Series of Views, Displaying the Scenery, Architecture, and Social Habits, of That Ancient Empire; Drawn, from Original and Authentic Sketches (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from China, Vol. 1: In a Series of Views, Displaying the Scenery, Architecture, and Social Habits, of That Ancient Empire; Drawn, From Original and Authentic Sketches

The histories of all other nations disclose successive revolutions in government, in morals, and in civilization, - the prostration of thrones, and the dissipation of tribes while that of the vast Empire of China, extending over ten millions of square miles, and sustaining three hundred and sixty millions of inhabitants, has enjoyed an uninterrupted perpetuity of political existence for upwards of four thousand years. This nation has been stationary. While all others have received an impulse, either advancing towards civilization, or sinking in the ou-rolling tide of time.

Wrapt in the dark mantle of idolatry, a population, one-third of the whole amount that animates the surface of our globe, has remained from the first unit of recorded duration, the abject, beaten slaves of arbitrary rule. Each subject is an automatic piece of imperial mechanism, to which the director assigns its specific duty; and by the performance, such excellence is attained, that Chinese industrial productions have reached the climax of human perfection.

Amongst the celebrated monuments of Cathay, those that have excited the highest astonish ment, are its Royal Roads, numerous Canals, immense single-arched Bridges, and pyramidal Towers but, above all, the Great Wall, styled, in the exaggerated manner of the East, van-li Tching (the Wall of Ten Thousand Li). Although it only extends half that length, or about miles, traversing in its course the highest mountains, crossing the deepest valleys, and spanning the broadest rivers.

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