Miscellanea Curiosa, Vol. 3 · Royal Society
ΛΟΥΚΙΟΥ ΑΥΡΗ[ΛΙ]ΟΥ ..... ΗΛΙΟΔΩΡΟΥ ΤΟΥ.
During more than 600 Miles, which we had passed in going and returning (for we did not return by the same Road) he caused to be made a great High-way cross the Mountains and the Vallies, for the Queen Mother, who went in a Chariot; he caused also an infinite number of Bridges to be made over the Torrents, as also the Rocks to be cut, and the Points of the Mountains, with incredible Pains and Expences: Father _Grimaldi_ shall describe the other particulars in his Letters. As to the benefit which the Religion may draw from our Journey, I have spoken elsewhere; it sufficeth to say that the Emperor, to whose Will we cannot make the least resistance, without exposing all this Mission to a manifest Danger, has order'd us to follow him. I ceased not however to speak twice to that Lord of the Court, who is our particular Friend, to excuse us for the time to come from these long Journeys, and especially me, _who am not of an Age fit for it_: I tried to obtain at least that they would be contented to take only one of us; the Letters of our Fathers were daily brought us during the Journey, and I had the convenience of writing to them, by means of the Couriers which continually went to and came from the Royal City: I write all this in haste, that I may continue to give you an account of our Affairs.
_An Explanation, necessary to justify the _Geography_ supposed in these Letters._ It may seem wonderful, that the Author of these Letters makes mention in his former, of a kind of War between the _Oriental Tartars_ and the _Muscovites_, notwithstanding the extream distance these People appear to be from one another in our Geographical Charts; but those who know how much the _Muscovites_ have extended the Bounds of the Empire along the _Tartarian_ Sea, will judge the thing less difficult, besides those who have seen these Countries, have made Discoveries much differing from those which our Geographers have informed us of hitherto. Very lately _Monsieur D'Arcy_, who commands one of the King's Ships, in the Fleet of _Monsieur Le Marescal d'Estrees_, informed us, that having served in _Poland_, and having been made Governor of a Place towards _Moscovy_, the _Moscovite_ Ambassadors in their return having pass'd by him, and being by him treated in such a manner as put them into a very good Humour; one of them shewed him a Chart of the Countries between _Moscovy_ and _China_: and told him, that from three Cities which he shewed him, whose Names were _Lopsla_, _Abasinko_, _Nerginsko_, all three under the Government of the great Dukes, tho' situated in the great _Tartary_, there was a way to _Pekin_, which was not more than 25 or 30 Days Journey. This Map it seems must be kept very secret in _Moscovy_: For the next Day the _Moscovite_ was in despair, for having given it, saying that if it should be known, he should come to great Damage. The Officer being come back since into _France_, has given a Copy to the King, and another to _Monsieur Le Marquis de Signelay_. To confirm this, it may be added, what a _French_ Man has writ from _Moscovy_ within this two Months, that they are actually raising Troops to go to War with the _Chinese_.
_Some Observations and Conjectures concerning the _Chinese_ Characters. Made by _R. H._ R. S. S._ Whether there ever were any Language natural, I dispute not: But that there have been, are, and may be, artificial Languages 'tis not difficult to prove. The _Chinese_ Court Language is said to be of this kind, invented and spoken by the _Literati_ and _Mandarines_ throughout the whole Empire of _China_, differing from all the other Languages spoken in it, and I conjecture it to be nothing else but the Names of the Character by which they write and express their meaning, arbitrarily imposed by them, as we in _Europe_ set names to Arithmetical Figures, not as we pronounce Words written with a litteral Character. This I Judge by comparing the Characters with the Names, Monosyllables or Words they pronounce and read them with. Nor do they ascend above a Monosyllabical Name, tho' the Character be composed of many single Characters, each of which hath its proper Sense, and Monosyllabical Name, and though the meaning of each Character, be an ingredient in the Notion of that compounded Character. I might give an Instance also in the Artificial Language Invented by the Late Reverend Bishop of _Chester_ Dr. _Wilkins_, which in all the accomplishments of Language doth excel any one yet extant; to which is also annexed a real Character, Legible into that or any other Language Spoken. By which Language the Character and every additional Mark is effable, and yet the Character is not Literal but Real, which is more curious and useful than the _Chinese_ way. Great pity it is that Discourse is not published in Latin, that the Learned of _Europe_, may think of further Improving it, and bringing it to Use.
But whatever we may judge of Language, 'tis past dispute that Writing was ever Artificial, how Antiently so ever it were in Use, and was the Invention of some thinking and Studious Men. 'Tis also evident that there have been various ways thought of for Expressing Significancy, according to the several _Genii_ of the Persons that were the Inventors. As may be guessed by the _Ægyptian_ Hieroglyphicks, the _Chinese_ Characters, the _Mexican_ Chronology, and the Literal Characters of several Nations, each of which seem to proceed upon differing methods, and from differing thoughts of Invention. Which of these ways is the most Antient, is hard to prove. The _Ægyptian Mummies_ and _Obelesks_ prove a great Antiquity of the Hieroglyphicks, but yet the _Chinese_ Chronology (if to be credited) outstrips the _Ægyptian_ in pretence to Antiquity. For the _Chinese_ make _Fohi_, the first King of _China_, to be the inventer of their Character: And account him to have lived 2950 Years before the time of Christ, during all which time they pretend to have a certain and written Account in their Books: But their Account of the times preceding, they esteem more Hypothetical and Fabulous; depending chiefly upon Fiction and Oral Tradition: As you will easily believe, when you understand how many Years they make it since the Creation of the World to the present Year 1686. which by the Account thereof in Mr. _Graves_'s Translation of _Vulg. Beig._ will be found to be no less than eighty eight millions six hundred and forty thousand one hundred and two Solar Years, there having been run out since the Creation 8864 _Ven._ of Years (every _Ven._ containing ten thousand such Years) and of the present _Ven._ this Year 1686. is the 102d. Which Account is abundantly more extravagant than the _Ægyptian_: But this need not invalidate their History since _Fohi_; by which it appears that their Character was invented before the time of _Moses_ about 1400 Years, and even before _Menes_ the first King of _Ægypt_ about 500 Years. So that the _Chinese_ Invention of Writing or Characters, seems to be the most ancient of that kind. And the Book _Yekim_ said to be written by _Fohi_, the most antient Book.
These Accounts made me the more desirous to understand somewhat of the Reality and Truth, of what is related concerning the Knowledge of Literature and manual Arts, which these People of _China_ are said to have possessed so long a time in so great Perfection, and without Alteration from the primitive Institution, especially upon the Account of their Art of Printing, which gave a hint to the Inventors of that admirable and most useful of all Inventions (for the Common Wealth of Learning) the way of Printing here in _Europe_. For _Paulus Jovius_ affirms that the first occasion of that Invention in _Germany_, was a _German_ Merchant, who returning out of _China_ into his own Country, related what he had observed concerning the Practice of it as used in that Country. And tho' the _Chinese_ way be wholly differing as to the method of composing, from what was invented and perfected here: Yet such an intimation was enough to an ingenious Artist to improve the first Contrivance, and make it more accomodate to the literal way of Writing with us: And as our way may possibly be now brought to the greatest Perfection for exactness and expedition, so without doubt must be their way of Printing any thing just as it is written, since I find, that they can engrave their Stamps for a Sheet, as soon as one of our Compositers can set and correct a Sheet of our literal Character, and when so done, one Man alone will print off 1500 Sheets in one Day. And though 'tis generally believed to be much the same with our Wooden Cuts for Printing, yet from some Observations I have made, I believe it to be much another way; of which I shall hereafter say more when I describe their other Arts of Pottery, Staining, Varnishing, _&c._
By a _Chinese_ Manuscript, out of which I transcribed the Lord's Prayer in the Year 1666 (when it was lost) I found that the Pronunciations had no affinity with the stroaks of the Character. Whence I conceived it was either a numeral Character consisting of Numbers, or else a real Character, but not a literal, unless it were a literal Character of some other Language than that by which it was pronounced, whose pronunciation is lost though the significancy be retained, as if one should read what is written in _Hebrew_ בראשיהברא into the _Latin_ or _Roman_ Language, _In Principio Cræavit_ instead of _Brasit bra_, or _Beresith Bara_ according to the _Masorethæ_. Since that time I procured from _China_, a Dictionary of the Court Language, (as I found it written upon by the Person that sent it me from thence) but this whole Book (which I found was Printed) consisted only of the _Chinese_ Characters without any Interpretation, or Pronunciation; however by the help of the Pictures of that, and a _Chinese_ Almanack, I quickly found out their Characters for Numbers, and their way of Numeration, together with the Figure and Use of their _Abacus_ or counting Board, for performing the Operations of _Arithmetick_, which I find pretty near to agree with that of the antient _Romans_ (a Description and Picture of which is given by _Ursinus_, _Pignorius_ and _Velserus_) save only, that, instead of Pins and sliding Groves of the _Roman_, the _Chinese Abacus_ hath Strings or Wires and Beads, to slide upon them; and that, instead of four Pins for Digits or Units, the _Chinese_ hath five Beads: So that it may seem to argue that the _Chinese Abacus_ was designed for a _Duodecimal_ Progression: Whereas that of the _Romans_ was design'd for the _Decimal_.
One thing is remarkable in the _Chinese_, that I find the _Abacus_ to lie Horizontal, and their first place to be that next the left Hand, which I judge was also the first in their old way of reading, much the same with ours, though their other Characters are erected (as I shall by and by shew) from the posture of Writing and Reading, which I conjecture they did at first make use of; and what does yet further agree with this conjecture, is remarkable in the newly mentioned Treatise of _Vulg. Beig._ That whereas the way of Writing and Reading used by the _Arabs_, was from the right to the left, the first place or the place of Units in their Numeration, was that next the right Hand; and so came first to be read: As did that of _China_, who as I conceive read the contrary way, from the left to the right. It appears therefore by this Remark that we received this way of expressing Numbers from the _Arabians_, for that we keep the same posture or position of places with them, tho' our progression in Writing and Reading be the contrary way. And though we now read them also in the order they are set, twenty one, twenty two, thirty six, forty eight, _&c._ yet we retain also the other way of Pronouncing, _viz._ one and twenty, two and twenty, six and thirty, eight and forty, _&c._
Now as the _Chinese_ and _Roman Abacus_ do much agree save only that they proceed contrary ways, so doth their way of expressing Numbers by Letters or Marks, one stroke or line signifying one; two lines two; three lines three; a cross ten; two crosses twenty; three crosses thirty; and so onwards to a hundred, which they expressed by a square Mark, and a cross with a stroak added for a thousand, as will appear by the Table annexed. And though the Characters are not all the same; yet the order and method of one agrees very near with that of the other, especially if I may be allowed my supposition, that the primitive way of Writing and Reading with the _Chinese_ was Horizontal, and like the _Greek_ and _Latin_ or _European_ way. Now that these are properly numeral Figures, or Characters, is manifest from this, that they have also word Characters for every Number, and they can (in the same manner as the _Romans_ could) express a Number by their numeral characters or Marks, and by their literal or word Characters; for as one single stroak signifies one or the first, so does the Character (_in the Plate marked with E_) signify the same thing, that is one or the first. Having thus discovered their Characters for Numbers, and their way of Numeration, I was next desirous to understand something concerning their Language and Character.
Upon perusing all the Accounts I could meet with in Books, I found very little satisfaction as to what I principally inquired after, which was first concerning the method of the Character, whether it consisted of a certain number of Marks methodically disposed like Letters in a literal, or like Numbers in a Numeral, or like Radicals in composite and decomposite Derivations? 'Tis said to be legible into a great many Languages considerably different one from another, but how this is effected is not related, only 'tis said that the Marks are of the nature of our Arithmetical Figures, (which are become almost Universal at least to us here in _Europe_,) and 2dly, concerning the number of these Characters? to which I found as little satisfaction; for, by some Relations I found that there were 120000, by others 80000, and by others 60000. And that a Man must be able to remember to Write and Read at least 8000, or 10000, before he will be able to express his meaning thereby, and that it is the business of a Man's whole Life to be throughly understanding in the whole Character; seeming to intimate that the Characters are immethodical, and there are as many primitive Characters as Words.
Others tell us of various kinds of Characters which have been in use in several Ages. The first they say were _Hieroglyphical_ like the _Ægyptian_ or _Mexican_, consisting of the Pictures of Animals and Vegetables. But that the last are made up of Lines and Points, that they have no such thing as Letters or Syllables, but every distinct Word and Notion has a distinct Character, and that all are primitive or in composite, so that if _Calepines_ Dictionary were to be translated into the _Chinese_, 'twere necessary to have as many distinct radical Characters as there are Words therein to be found, which accounts do seem to insinuate that this Character is the most difficult, and the most perplexed piece of Learning in the World, and depends wholly upon the strength of the Memory, in retaining the form and signification of a perplexed scrawl. But whether they who gave us these Accounts did do it knowingly, is much to be doubted, my own Observations, at least, make me think otherwise.
I have not yet been able to procure sufficient helps to inform my self of the whole Art of Writing and Reading the _Chinese_ Character, and I fear the Relations I have hitherto met with concerning it, were written by such as did not well understand it, however from such helps as I had, what I collected or do conjecture, I shall here relate. The best help I had, was the perusal of some Books Printed in _China_, with the pronunciation and signification of the Character in Latin Letters. By these Books then I observed, first, that every one of their Characters, whether consisting of more or fewer strokes or marks, were comprised within a certain square space, which is proportion'd according to the bigness of the size or manner of Writing, they design there to make use of, not that the whole Square is filled with every Character, but that no part of that Character does exceed the limits of that Square, so that tho' the Character have but one stroak, it takes as much room in the line as another that hath 20 or 30 several Marks, so that their Characters are most exactly ranged in Rank and File, not unlike our Numbers in Arithmetick.
Notwithstanding which I find they do vary the bigness of the Character upon several Occasions, as in the Titles of Books, in the Titles of the Chapters or Sections, in the Comments, Explications or Notes, and upon several other occasions of variety, which they do at Pleasure with their Pencil, as we use variety of Letters in the Printing of a Book. The Titles of Books are generally in very large Characters, 6 or 8 times as big as those of the Book, the explication Notes ½ of the bigness, the Contents usually twice as big, and the like variety on several other occasions. I have met with also three several kinds of Characters, the most usual is the fixed or set square form. The second sort is the running Hand, in which the orders of the Courts are written by their Secretaries, of which I have seen 3 or 4 kinds, in which the Pencil is never taken off, till the whole Character be finished, and sometimes two or three are all written without break. The third seems to be somewhat like the flourishing great Letters, used by Scriveners at the beginning of Deeds, and by the _Germans_ in the beginning of Chapters and Sections.
They are compounded of the same strokes as the set Character, but modulated and shaped a little otherwise to make them appear the more beautiful and regular. A Specimen of each of these three are in the Plate. This third is made use of for Epitaphs, and other Inscriptions on Buildings or Monuments. These three sorts I may call the three general kinds of Writing, but there is to be found an almost infinite variety of forms which Men use. This will be the more easie to be believed, when we consider that the Printed Characters are exactly the same with the Written, insomuch that every variety in each stroke, line or point, that is or can be made with the Pencil, is perfectly expressed in the Impression, and the Form, Mode, or Hand, as we call it, of every Writer is exhibited so curiously, that I think it hardly possible to be performed after the way of wooden Cuts, as Authors affirm it is, but must be done after the method of our Copper Cuts, Printed by a Roll-press, which the way of expressing the Running or Court-Hand, does, I conceive, most evidently demonstrate, and from divers circumstances, I could evidently make appear from the Book it self, which I cannot so well express in Writing.
Their Paper is generally very thin and fine, and very transparent, but brown, so that whatever is Written or Printed on it, is almost as legible on the back, as on the foreside, which is of great use in the cutting of their Stamps. And thence they never Write or Print on both sides of the same Leaf, but only on one, and to make the Leaf appear Printed on both sides, they double the Sheet with the Printed sides outwards, and putting the folded part forward, they Sew, Bind, or Stitch together, all these Sheets with the cut Edges, and upon whole Sheets instead of single Leaves; just in the same manner as the Plate annexed to this Discourse is Printed. They begin the Book on the top of the right Hand side of the Page that is next the right Hand, and they read downwards to the bottom, then begin the next Line towards the left Hand at the top, and so read to the bottom, and so proceed to the end of the Book. But this I suppose not to be the primitive or first way of Writing or Reading. The Title of the Book is set first upon a whole Leaf, usually of a thicker Paper, and some Title is likewise Written upon the folding or edge of every Sheet, where is set also the Number of the Book, and the Number of the Sheet, half of which appears on one side, and half on the other side of the fold.
As to the Character it self, (I find by all the Books and Writings I have yet met with of that kind) that each of them is made up of a certain number of Strokes, Lines or Marks, which are very distinct from each other in their shape and position, and by reason that these are single Strokes, and as I conceive uncompounded, I think they may be called the Letters, Elements or Particles, out of which the more compounded Characters are constructed or contexed. These are the first kind of which there are but a very few, and I think those I have described in the thirteenth Line of the Plate are all. Two, three, four, or more of these joined together in a certain order and contexture (in the doing of which there is a great Regularity and Order observed, which is not varied from, and all within the regular square Space) I conceive do make Syllables or primitive radical Characters, each of which have a primitive, single or distinct Notion or Signification as well as Sound, which is made much use of in the more compounded Characters or Words. Of this kind I take the Figures of the Numbers to be: If at least they are not single Letters like the way of expressing Numbers in the _Hebrew_, _Greek_, _Arabick_, &c. Languages, for though there may be two or three of the single strokes joyned together into a compound Character, it hinders not, but that it may still signify a Letter, as in the _Greek_ ΛΑ.Δ.Ι.Γ.Π.Γ. In the Runick; where every Letter hath one upright Line and some other additional Marks: In the _Roman_ I.L.F.E.O.Q.V.Y: Or it may signify a Syllable as in the _Æthiopick_, and in the _Hanscret_, and _Sunscrit_ Languages and Characters: The first of which being the _Brackmans_ Character we find in _P. Kircher_'s _China Illustrata_, described by _P. Roth_ who studied it seven Years; and the second (being a literal Character used over all _India_ by the Merchants) I have seen in a Transcript, brought lately out of _India_ by a very Worthy Gentleman who lived there many Years, and had the Curiosity to cause to be Transcribed and Translated also into English, a Dictionary of their Language in their own Character: who did me the favour to let me peruse it.
In which Characters or ways of Writing a Vowel is always join'd with a Consonant into one compound Character to make it effable. And then the single Strokes may be taken for single ineffable Letters as are the Consonants, and the composition of two or three (of which one at least may be a Vowel) will make Syllables. Of this kind, there are not so many in the whole _Chinese_ Character, but that it will be easie enough to assign each a proper Monosyllable which shall only have 1 or 2 Consonants, and one or two Vowels; that is, the Consonants together, and not separate, either both behind the Vowel or Vowels, if it be a Diphthong or both after it or them. Of this kind, I understand there are about 500, probably 8×8×8, or 512. I could enumerate a great many, and give you also the Name or Words by which they are pronounced as also their signification, but (as I said before) first, I conceive the present _Chinese_ Language to have no affinity at all with the Character, the true primitive, or first Language, or Pronunciation of it, having been lost. And secondly, I want some further help to make a full and compleat Discovery: What I have learn'd from the Book of _Fohi_ I shall give the next opportunity; which will explain the reason of the multiplication of 8. and the order and method of places in the Letter or Word square.
Ideas discussed in this chapter
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.