An Explanatory Discourse By Tan Chet-qua Of Quang-chew-fu, Gent Part 2

_Man lup jao kai_ _Tai kup tao ba._

There is reason to believe, from various hints which have been dropped by Gentlemen here present, that the veracity of Chet-qua's description is doubted; nay, that the Gardens described, are supposed to have no existence but in Chet-qua's brain: be it so, my friends; I shall not seek to refute what you seem so strongly disposed to believe; it is not at present material: for the end of all that I have said, was rather as an Artist, to set before you a new style of Gardening; than as a Traveller, to relate what I have really seen: and, notwithstanding your strictures, you all seemed satisfied, even entertained with the description: there is no doubt, but the reality, like all other realities, would affect you still more strongly than the picture. I have endeavoured to shew, how that may be obtained: the rest is left to those it most concerns; the ingenious, the wealthy, and the great; who have power and inclinations to execute what I attempt to plan: my part is done, as far as I am able to do it; theirs may begin when they think fit.

And although they may at first be embarra.s.sed in the execution of a system so much more complicated and dependant on genius, on skill, and on nice judgement, than that which has. .h.i.therto been pursued; yet there is no doubt, but practice and perseverance will, by degrees, dispel every difficulty: it is at least glorious to hazard arduous attempts; and more honourable even to fail in manly pursuits, than to succeed in trifling, childish enterprizes. Let the timid or the feeble meanly creep upon the earth, with uniform, sluggard pace; but the towering spirit must attempt a n.o.bler flight, and climb the paths that lead to fame: now gayly sporting on the slippery surface, as doth the gentle, graceful lizard; now thundering up the precipice, with the tremendous dragon's stride; now soaring to the top, stately and splendid as the imperial bird;[30] when, with his glittering crest and twelve irradiant wings, he comes upon the morning's light, while myriads of the warbling tribes, at awful distance, crowd the vaulted air, adore their King, and, with loud songs of frantick joy, shake the firm earth, and all yon starry heaven.

From the whole tenour of this Discourse, and indeed from the substance of the first Dissertation, it is evident, Gentlemen, that your servant Chet-qua has no aversion to natural Gardening; but is, on the contrary, a zealous advocate in its favour, wherever there is room to expand, and work upon a great scale, or where it can conveniently, and with propriety be introduced. The style which in England has been adopted, preferable to others, is not what appears to him reprehensible; but he laments the little use you have made of your adoption, and apprehends your partiality is too excessive, while you obstinately refuse the a.s.sistance of almost every extraneous embellishment, and persist in an indiscriminate application of the same manner, upon all occasions, however opposite, or ill adapted; and often where no probability of success appears. Natural Gardening, when treated upon an extensive plan, when employed with judgement, and conducted with art, is perhaps as superior to all other sorts of culture, as heroick verse is to every other species of writing; but there are many occasions, where neither the one nor the other can, with the least propriety, be employed; where they would only serve to give a ridicule to the whole composition; and where different or less elevated modes of expression are, on all accounts, preferable. Artists of other professions, vary their manners of applying to the human affections; suiting them to the circ.u.mstances or nature of the subjects before them; and they are oftenest indebted to these variations for their success; why then should Gardeners always confine themselves to the same tract, and torture all dispositions to adapt them to the same method, like that tyrant of old, who stretched or mutilated every guest, till he fitted a particular bed? Can they hope to succeed by means, which others have found ineffectual; or is it reasonable to suppose, that Nature will change her course to please their fancy? Variety is a powerful agent, without the a.s.sistance of which, little can be effected; it captivates even with trifles; and, when united to perfection, has charms which nothing can resist: the most exquisite pictures of nature, receive additional beauties from a judicious opposition of art; and the confined, uniform, tasteless walk of imitation, which you have unfortunately fallen into, must have many helps to make it even tolerable; a thousand enlivening additions, to animate its native dulness.

Thus I have considered every part of my first Discourse, and offered in its vindication, what immediately occurs to me: perhaps, with more leisure, I might have contrived a better Speech, and a stronger Defence; but the hurry of Face-making[31] is such, that there is scarcely time to eat rice, or drink brandy,[32] much less to think: I never frequent my wives but by night; I have only heard one of them scold, and seen the others by twilight, these six months: judge then, what can be expected from Chet-qua; the little knowledge he has, or thinks he has, is freely communicated to his neighbours; he wishes it were more and better; yet such as it is, he flatters himself it will be kindly received; and that his neighbours will use what may be useful, without kicking too violently at the rest.

FINIS.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] _Quang-chew-fu_--Canton. _For she was a virago, and had large feet_--Both which are accounted great defects in China. _Nine whiskers, &c._--All beaus wear whiskers in China; and all gentlemen long nails, to shew that they are idle. _Kyang-ning, or_ Nang-king--Capital of Kyang-nang. _Shun-tien-fu_--Peking.

[21] _Tan lou ty tchan yue, &c._--The motto which Chet-qua has made choice of, is part of a poem written by Kien-long, reigning emperor of China, in praise of drinking tea: and published, by his imperial edict, bearing date the twelfth day, of the ninth moon, of the thirteenth year of his reign; in thirty-two different types, or characters; under the inspection of Yun-lou, and Houng-yen, princes, by the t.i.tle of Tsin-ouang; Fouheng, grandee, by the t.i.tle of Taypao; Count, by the t.i.tle of Valiant; and first president of almost all the great tribunals of the empire: whose deputies were Akdoun and Tsing-pou, grandees, by the t.i.tle of Tay-tsee Chaopao; and these were again a.s.sisted by Isan, Fouki, Elguingue, Tetchi, Mingte, Tsoungmin, Tchangyu, Tounmin, and about a dozen other mandarines of rank and reputation; so that there is no doubt but the work is perfectly correct. Here follows the exact copy of it, with an English translation, for the entertainment and instruction of the curious in poetry. There is a French translation of the same work, by Father Amiot, published at Paris, in 1770, from which the present Publication is in a great measure taken; the Editor having found it easier to translate from the French copy, than from the Chinese original.

Mei-hoa che pou yao Fo-cheou hiang tsie kie, Soung-che ouei fang ny; San pin tchou tsing kue; Pong y tche kio tang, Ou tche tcheng koang hiue Houo heou pien yu hie, Ting yen y cheng mie.

Yue ngueou po sien jou, Tan lou ty tchan yue, Ou yun king tai pan Ko ou, pou ko choue.

Fou fou teou lo ty Ho ho yun kiang tche Ou-tsuen y ko tsan Lin-fou chang che pie.

Lan ku Tchao-tcheou ngan Po siao Yu-tchouan kiu Han siao ting sing leou Kou yue kan hiuen tsue, Joan pao tchen ki yu Tsiao king sing ou kie, Kien-long ping-yn Siao, tchun yu ty.

TRANSLATION

The colours of the Mei hoa are never brilliant, yet is the flower always pleasing: in fragrance or neatness the fo-cheou has no equal: the fruit of the pine is aromatick, its odour inviting. In gratifying at once the sight, the smell and the taste, nothing exceeds these three things: and if, at the same time, you put, upon a gentle fire, an old pot, with three legs, grown black and battered with length of service, after having first filled it with the limpid water of melted snow; and if, when the water is heated to a degree that will boil a fish, or redden a lobster, you pour it directly into a cup made of the earth of yue, upon the tender leaves of superfine tea; and if you let it rest there, till the vapours which rises at first in great abundance, forming thick clouds, dissipate by degrees, and at last appear merely as a slight mist upon the surface; and if then you gently sip this delicious beverage, it is labouring effectually to remove the five causes of discontent which usually disturb our quiet: you may feel, you may taste, but it is impossible to describe the sweet tranquillity which a liquor, thus prepared, procures.

Retired, for some s.p.a.ce of time, from the tumults of business, I sit alone in my tent, at liberty to enjoy myself unmolested: in one hand holding a fo-cheou, which I bring nearer to my nose, or put it farther off, at pleasure; in the other hand holding my dish of tea, upon which some pretty curling vapours still appear: I taste, by intervals the liquor; by intervals, I consider the mei-hoa--I give a fillip to my imagination, and my thoughts are naturally turned towards the sages of antiquity.--I figure to myself the famous Ou-tsuen, whose only nourishment was the fruit of the pine; he enjoyed himself in quiet, amidst this rigid frugality! I envy, and wish to imitate him.--I put a few of the kernels into my mouth; I find them delicious.

Sometimes, methinks, I see the virtuous Lin-fou, bending into form, with his own hands, the branches of the mei-hoa-chou. It was thus, say I to myself, that he relieved his mind, after the fatigues of profound meditation, on the most interesting subjects. Then I take a look at my shrub, and it seems as if I were a.s.sisting Lin-fou, in bending its branches into a new form.--I skip from Lin-fou to Tchao-tcheon, or to Yu-tchouan; and see the first in the middle of a vast many tea-cups, filled with all kinds of tea, of which he sometimes tastes one, sometimes another; thus varying incessantly his potation: while the second drinks, with the profoundest indifference, the best tea, and scarcely distinguishes it from the vilest stuff.--My taste is not their's; why should I attempt to imitate them?----

But I hear the sound of the evening bell; the freshness of the night is augmented; already the rays of the moon strike through the windows of my tent, and with their l.u.s.tre brighten the few moveables with which it is adorned. I find myself neither uneasy nor fatigued; my stomach is empty, and I may, without fear, go to rest.----It is thus that, with my poor abilities, I have made these verses, in the little spring of the tenth moon of the year Ping-yn, of my reign Kien-long.

[22] _Fo-hii_, _s.h.i.+ng-tong_, or _Whoang-tii_--Some of the first emperors of China; who invented the eight qua's, together with the kay-tse, and created colsus.

[23] _An eminence in the center_--Meaning Windsor, probably.

[24] _Tse-hiu and Chang-lin_--Two celebrated parks, which belonged to the emperors of the Ty.

[25] _Yven-ming-yven, and Tchang-tchun-yven_--Are Gardens near Pe-king, belonging to the present Emperors of China.

[26] _Joss_--A corruption of Dios, G.o.d.

[27] _Miao kao, etc._--Muttering expressions from Hoang-fou-tse, or Confucius.

[28] _For though pure wine, etc._--It is remarkable, that our Orator draws most of his similes and allusions either from the kitchen or the cellar; whether this particularity proceeded from any skill of his in the culenary art, from his affection for good living, or from any other hidden motive; or whether it was merely accidental, the Editor never could learn with any degree of certainty.

[29] In China they have an innumerable mult.i.tude of connoisseurs and criticks; who, with a very superficial knowledge, a few general maxims, and some hard words, boldly decide on subjects they do not understand: hence the whole fraternity is fallen into disrepute. They have, indeed, like us, some real connoisseurs amongst them; but these are very rare in China.

[30] _The imperial bird_, or foung hoang, is a fabulous being, of the nature of the ph[oe]nix, by the Chinese poets, accounted the emperor of birds, as the dragon is of all the scaly tribe: he is said never to appear, but in great pomp, attended by a numerous train of all the most brilliant and extraordinary of the volatile race.

[31] _Hurry of face-making_--The Chinese call portrait painting, or modelling portraits in coloured clay, which was Chet-qua's particular profession, face-making.

[32] _Eat rice or drink brandy_--The Chinese call dining, eating rice; and their common liquors, at meals, are spirits, of various sorts.