318 TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF HONGKONG, SHANGHAI, ETC.
the Chinese Ambassador at Berlin sent a memorial to the Imperial Government requesting that members of the Chinese Embassy should be permitted to adopt European costume, so that they might not be conspicuous, but suggesting that the queue be allowed to remain "as a mark of respect to the Emperor."
Under former dynasties the mode of wearing the hair was similar to that until recently common in Japan, and still more recently in Korea. It may be added that under the old Manchu edict ladies were left free to dress their hair and attire themselves as they chose, and permission was granted for the dead to be arrayed by their friends in the costume of the former dynasty.
The practice of allowing the finger-nails to remain uncut originated in Hunan some two hundred years ago amongst Chinese ladies, from whom it was copied later by the literati, who sought in this way to show that they were not engaged in any manual occupation. The custom is now dying out, although it obtains still among the leisured classes in the interior.
It was the wife of the Emperor Li Hou Tsu, of the Tang dynasty, who first set the fashion of binding the feet, some twelve hundred years ago. The practice is rapidly falling into disfavour, and an imperial decree has, as has been stated previously, been issued within the last few years urging its discontinuance.
JUSTICE.
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In conclusion, a brief mention must be made of the laws of China and their administration. The penal code now in force, known as the Tai Ching Lut Lee, was compiled at the beginning of the present dynasty, and comprises (at least in one edition) some twenty-four volumes. It has been added to, altered, confirmed, or modified from time to time, by the rescripts or edicts of successive emperors, the emperor being, both in theory and practice, the lawgiver.
Four, or sometimes five, ministers of his own choosing act as his advisers. They are usually venerable officers of high standing, and hold office during their lifetime, or until disability or the imperial pleasure dictates their retirement. The administration of the penal code is left to magistrates appointed by the Viceroys of the several provinces. During the hearing of criminal cases not only the defendant but also the complainant and the witnesses are liable to be punished if suspected of suppressing the truth — caning, bambooing, and torture being inflicted at the discretion of the magistrate.
Until quite recently these methods of "truth-compelling" were permitted in civil cases, and though they have now been formally abolished by imperial edict they are still commonly employed in a great number of places. The tortures, which have so frequently been described that they need not here be detailed, are fiendish in their ingenuity, and are certainly effectual in securing to justice a victim, even though an innocent one, for every crime committed. The punishments meted out by the court in criminal cases include fines, imprisonment, and death by the cord, by the sword, or by torture.
MR. TSO SEEN WAN, the author of the foregoing article, went to England upon the completion of his Chinese education at the age of eighteen, and entered Cheltenham College. He subsequently qualified as a solicitor in England, and has been in practice in Hongkong for nearly twelve years.
