Encyclopaedia Britannica [6, 4 ed.]

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O R R S PUBLISHED BY

ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO. EDINBURGH, AND SOLD BY

JOHN MURRAY, 32. FLEET-STREET, LONDON.

I. npHE FARMER’S MAGAZINE, a Periodical Work, -IL excluilvely devoted to Agricultural aad Rural Affairs, 1800, 1 Sox, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805. 6 Vol. boards. 2I. 14s.; or, iu Numbers, price 2I. 11s. Publiffied Quarterly. gj* The defign of the Farmer’s Magazine is to colle£t and difleminate ingenious Theories, important and well-authenticated Fadts, and accurate Experiments, which relate to the different branches of rural economy. It is well known to thol'e acquainted with the different parts of the United Kingdom, that difcoveries and improvements in Agriculture travel very flowly. To remedy this, the Farmer’s Magazine was firft projected; ahd if the Proprietors may judge from the almofl unprecedented fale of more than 4000 copies of each Number, the objedt of this publication is in a great degree anfwered. The Work con fids of—I. Mifcellaneous Communications of the mod important practical nature.—2. The Review of Agricultural Publications.—3. Agricultural Intelligence from every diflridt in Scotland and England. The importance of this branch mud he evident to every practical Farmer, who, at the moderate price of Two Shillings and Sixpence a quarter, may learn the date of the crops, and the price of grain, cattle, &c. in the different parts of the kingdom, befkles being enabled to compare his own practice with that in other didridts, and thus to corredt what is improper or deficient.

Rant increafe of the demand, that, to feenre the patronage of the Public, it is only ncceffary to deferve it by a diligent and confeientious difeharge of their duty. To every Number is annexed a complete Lid of all the new Publications in the preceding quarter. 1 his Catalogue will contain by far the earlieit and mod comprehenfive account of modem Litcratuio that has yet been prefented to the Public.

in. EDINBURGH MEDICAL and SURGICAL JOURNAL, No. I. II. III. & IV. for the year 1805. Exhibiting a concife View of the lateft and moil important Difcovcries in Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy. Publiffied quarterly. Handfomely printed in 8vo. Price 12s. 6d. boards, or 12s. m Numbers. Volume Firft. sp” The objeft of the

EDINBURGH MEDICAL and SURGICAL Joukis the improvement of Medicine, by collefting the Scattered hints, and regidering the important fa Third Edition. Price 3s. bound. 8. The ENGLISH READER;. OT Pieces in Profe and Poetry, felefled from the beft Writers. Fifth Edition, price 4s. bound. 9. SEQUEL to the ENGLISH READER ; or, Elegant Selections in Profe and Poetry., Second Edition,, price 4s. bound: 10. LECTEUR FRANCOIS ; ou Recueil de Pieces, en Profe et en Vers, tires des meilleurs Ecrivains., 12mo. Price 4s. bound; 11. The POWER of’RELIGION on the MIND, in Retirement, Affliction, and at- the Approach of Death, TenthEdition, iznio. price 3s. 6d. bound,. 12. The Same in French, izmo. Price 4s. 6d. bound. L1X,

LX. VOCABULARY, intended as an Introduction to the Study of the Synonymes of the Latin Language. By JOHKHILL, LL.D. Price 2s.'. bounds LXL The SELF-INTERPRETING BIBLEcontaining the Old and New Teftaments To which are Annexed, an Extentlive Introduction ; Marginal References and Illuftrations; an. ExaCl Summary of. the Several Books; a Paraphrafe on the molt Obfcure or, Important parts ;. an Analyfis of the Contents of each Chapter; Explanatory Notes, Evangelical Re-fledtions, &c. &c.. By the late Rev. JOHN BROWN, Minilter of the Gofpel at Haddington.. 2 vol. 410. Price 3I. 8s. bound in Calf. A few Copies are Printed on Royal Paper. Price 5 k bound: in Calf.. EXIT. COMMENTARIES on the MUNICIPAL and MERCANTILE LAW of SCOTLAND, Confidered in Relation to the SubjeCt of Bankruptcy. By GEO. JOSEPH BELL,. Efq., Advocate. Two Vol, Royal 8vo. Price iL 173. boards. Vol, Second, may be had feparately, price 1.8s. boards. LXIIL A TREATISE on LE ASES, Explaining the Nature and EffeCt of the Contract of Leafe, and Pointing out the Legal' Rights enjoyed by the Parties, By ROBERT BELL, LeCturer. on Conveyancing, appointed by the Society of Writers to theSignet. The Second Edition, Improved and Enlarged. One Very Large Volume 8vo„ 15s. boards. This Work explains not only the form of Leafe, but the rightsarifing from it both to landlord and tenant, as well as the rights held by them refpe&ively at common law ; with reference to the authorities and decifians by which thefe have been fixed. In general, the decifions arcgiven fo fully, as to render any reference to the original divifion unneceffary, and of courfe fupplying to the country praftitioner, the place of an extenfive library on this head.—-The Publifhers can therefore recommend this publication to the man of bufinefs in the country, as containing a: great body of Law on that department of his profeffion, certainly thsmofl important to him, and of the moft frequent occurrence ; and to the country gentleman and farmer, as affording information to them on a fubjefi in which their interefls, or the interefts of their families, are more, materially concerned, than in any other, within the whole compafs of the law. The prefent edition has been confiderably improved by introdu&ion of all the late cafes, and by a table of contents and index, which muff give the reader a complete view, and ready and eafy accefs to. the whole, fubjffts treated.of.

LX1V. The BEAUTIES of SCOTLAND, containing a clear and full. Account of the Agriculture, Commerce, Mines andManufa&ures ; of the Population, Cities, Towns, Villages, &e. of each County, llluilrated with Engravings. Vol. I., II., and Part Firft of Vol. III. Price 7s. 6d. each Part. A few are Printed on Large-Paper. Price 10s. 6d. each. A Part, or Half Volume, of the above Work, will, in future, be regularly Puhliffled every Three Months. A COMPENDIOUS DICTIONARY of the LATIN Edinburgh,. 12. March. 1806. TONGUE ; for the Ufe of Public Seminaries, and of Private Students. By ALEXANDER ADAM, LL.D., Re&or of | j?. Wttlim, PrinUr, Edlnbur^\ the High School of Edinburgh. 8vo. Price 12.S. hound.

ENCYCLOPEDIA

BRITANNICA.

€ntj>clopet>ta

!kutanm«; I

OR, A

DICTIONARY

OF

ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS

LITERATURE;

ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.

THE FOURTH EDITION.

UJUustrateO imtl) neatlg sir IiunDreD cDngcaDtngsi,

VOL. VI.

INDOCTI DISCANT ; AMENT MEMINISSE PERITI*

EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Belly the Proprietory FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND FOR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LONDON. 1810.

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA

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China. HINA, a country of Afia,fituated on themofteafterv—^\ly part of that continent. It is bounded on the i north by Tartary •, from which it is divided, partly by Boundaries, a prodigious wall of 1500 miles in length, and partly extent, Sec. ^ craggy, and inacceflible mountains. On the eaft, it is bounded by the ocepn ; on the weft, by part of the Mogul’s empire, and India beyond the Ganges, from which it is parted by other ridges of high mountains and Tandy deferts j on the fouth, it is bounded partly by the kingdoms of Lao, Tonquin, Ava, and Cochin-China, and partly by the fouthern or Indian fea, which flows between it and the Philippine iflands. There are feveral ways of computing its length and breadth. According to fome of thefe, it is reckoned 1269, 1600, or 1800 miles in length, and as much in breadth : however, by the beft and lateft accounts, this vaft country is fomewhat of an oval form, the breadth being lefs than the length by little more Divifion in- than a fourth part. It contains 15 provinces, excluto provin- five of that of Lyau-tong, which is fituated without the ces. great wall, though under the fame dominion. Their names are, 1. Shenfi, 2. Shanfi, 3. Pecheli, which are fituated on the north fide, along the wall m, 4. Shantong, 5. Kyan-nang, 6. Che-kyang, 7. Fo kyen, which are fituated along theeaftern ocean ; 8. Quangtong, 9. Quang-fi, 10. Yu-nan, 11. Se-chuen, which ftretch themfelves towards the fouth and fouth-weft ; and, 12. Honan, 13. Hu-quand, 14. Quey-chew, 15. Kyang-fi ; which take up the middle part. For a particular defeription of all thefe, fee their proper articles. Chinefe Lhe origin of all nations is involved in obfeurity pretentions and fable : but that of the Chinefe much more fo than to antiqui- any other. Every nation is inclined to affume too Hgh an antiquity to itfelf, but the Chinefe carry theirs beyond all bounds. Indeed, though no people on earth are more exadft in keeping records of every memorable tranfa&ion, yet fuch is the genius of the Chinefe for fuperftition and fable, that the firft part of their hiftory is defervedly contemned by every ratio4 nal perfon. What contributes more to the uncertainWhy their ty 0f Chinefe hiftory is, that neither we, nor they fo^uncci-5 tain.

themfelves, have any thing but fragments of their ancient hiftorical books; for about 213 years before Chrift, the reigning emperor Si-whang-ti caufed all the books in the empire to be burned, except thofe written by lawyers and phyficians. Nay, the more effeflually to deftroy the memory of every thing conVox.. VI. Part I.

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tained in them, he commanded a great number of China, learned men to be buried alive, left, from their me-' mories, they fliould commit to writing fomething of the true memoirs of the empire. The inaccuracy of the Chinefe annals is complained of even by their moft refpedled author Confucius himfelf; who alfo affirms, that before his time many of the oldeft materials for writing fuch annals had been deftroyed. 5 According to the Chinefe hiftories, the firft monarch Fabulous of the whole univerfe (that is, of China), was called hl^ory 0l~ Puon-ku, or Puen-cu. This, according to fome, wasCluna* the firft man ; but according to Bayer and Menzelius, two of the greateft critics in Chinefe literature that have hitherto appeared, the word fignifies the highef} antiquity. Puon-ku was fucceeded by Pienehoang, which fignifies the emperor of heaven. They call him alfo the intelligent heaven, the fupreme king of the middle heaven, &c. According to fome of their hiftorians, he was the inventor of letters, and of the cyclic ebaraftets by w-hich they determine the place of the year, &c. Tiene-hoang w’as fucceeded by Ti-hoang (the emperor of the earth), who divided the day and night, appointing 30 days to make one moon, and fixed the winter folftice to the 1 ith moon. Ti hoang was fucceeded by Gine-hoang (fovereign of men), who with his nine brothers fhared the government among them. They built cities, and furrounded them wi th wTalls ; made a dirtinddion between the fovereign and fubjedfts; inftituted marriage, &e. The reigns of thefe four emperors make up one of what the Chinefe called hi, “ ages,” or “ periods,” of which there were nine before Fo-hi, whom their moft fenfible people acknowledge as the founder of their empire. The hiftory of the fecond hi contradidls almoft every thing faid of the firft ; for though we have but juft now been told that Gine-hoang and his brethren built cities furrounded with walls; yet, in the fucceeding age, the people dwelt in caves, or perched upon trees as it were in nefts. Of the third hi we hear nothing ; and in the fourth, it feems matters had been ftill worfe, as we are told that men were then oidy taught to retire into the hollows of rocks. Of the fifth and fixth uTe have no accounts. Thefe fix periods, according to fome writers, contained 90,000 years; according to others, 1,100,750. In the feventh and eighth hi, they tell us over again what they had faid of the firft ; namely, that men beA gan

China.

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Fabulous hiftory explained.

. 7

Reign of Fo-hi.

CHI [ gari to leave their caves and dwell in houfes, and were J taught to prepare clothes, &.c. Tchine-fang, the firft iponarch of the eighth hi, taught his fubjefts to take oft' the hair from fkins with rollers of wood, and cover themfelves with the fkirls fo prepared. He taught them alfo to make a kind of web of their hair, to ferve as a covering to their heads againft rain. They .obeyed his orders with joy, and he called his fubje&s/>£>