The great national and universal amusement of the Chinese is theatricals. Whatever other methods of recreation there may be that are used to divert! the leisure hours of the people, there is none that for a moment can be compared with these. They are the ideal form of enjoyment, and rich and poor, the most learned scholar as well as the most illiterate rustic, all look upon the stage as the supreme place of joy, where men's thoughts are diverted, and where for a time at least the sorrows of the heart are banished.
It is at the foot of the stage that the commonest people can revel in scene where royal personages appear, and where statesmen whose names are household words come forth out of the mystery of the past, and, for once in the hearing of the crowds. make their famous speeches that have rendered them immortal. Ancient dynasties that have long since passed away live again before the eyes of the men of this generation, and warriors and emperors, in the regal habits and in the armour of times in which they lived, once more "nact, some of the famous scenes that the pen of the historian, or the song of the poet, has handed down to posterity.
This mode of enjoyment is in profound harmony with the antique character of the Chinese mind, which revels in all that belongs to the far-off past. Men revere the classics very largely because they were written in the early dowa of Chinese history. The worthies and sages that are the models for everything that is perfect in life, would lose much of their power could they be transformed into men of the present day. Antiquity has cast an aureole around their brows that transfigares them, and helps to make them the recognized "teachers of a thousand generations." An old carving or ancient bowl, in fact anything that has the stamp of age upon it, is a thing to be looked upon with hushed reverence, and so these historical plays are gazed upon with a mixture of awe, because they bring back the buried past and reproduce figures that have long since vanished from The occasions on which the plays are performed are numerous, A rich man's birthday comes round. This must be celebrated by a feast and a play. Nothing in the whole round of the imagination of the Chinese could surpass these for the pure and unalloyed happiness they would give. A feast alone would be divine, but the addition of a play would add a zest to it that none of the guests would ever forget. A play accordingly is arranged for, and the finest actors that money can procure are engaged, and the rich man and his family with their guests are sent into raptures of delight, whilst the great, public share in the rejoicings of the day, and heartily wish that " rich man's birth—day would only come round every day in the year.
The most fruitful source, however, of theatricals is the idols. The Chinese have endowed all these with decidedly human passions. They are exceedingly fond of money, and like the men that worship them, they are believed to be ready to perform any service, if only they are properly fed. They have an abstract preference for good, but if the bribe is heavy enough, they are prepared to desert the right and in the most. anblashing manner confer their blessing on the villain. Their pleasures run, too, in the same line as that of their worshippers, and there is nothing that will put an idol on such good terms with everybody as a rousing play, where there are lots of fun and noise and screeching music and clang of cymbals and beat of drum and hilarious amusement.
Thebirthday, for example.of the public idol in a popaler temple comes round. Tt is a god with reputation, It has sent blessings into many a home, the people say, and men speak with feeling of the remarkable answers that have been i i Out of eye to the future, special preparations ade to do honour to it. There that if this is not done, the revenge itself on society by pet the community into mourning. sending some great calamity that will
iis danger must not on any account be risked. The god must be put into a good humour, and so arrangements are made for making its birthday a pleasant one; so pleasant indeed that whea the worshippers come by and by with their endless requests it will remember the happy day they gave him and will lavish its gifts pon them. One of the main factors in this elaborate preparation is a play. The Chinese are an exceedingly practical people and like many of English endeavour to combine religion and business. The killing of two birds with one stone, especially when it brings grist to the act that puts a twinkle into.his eye, and " sweet and child-like smile into his yellow, sphinx-like face, It is very extraordinary fact that though the nation has this profound love for theatricals, actors are looked down upon with contempt by every class of society. profession is considered to be so disreputable, that their children are not allowed to enter the public examinations for any of the four literary degrees. They consequently can never become recognined scholars, or take any position under the Government. Whatever may be the causes, there is no question but that play-seting lis decidedly bad moral effect upon the men who get their living by it. They are generally opiam smokers, gamblers, and prodigals of the lowest type. A look at their faces is enough to convince one that they are men who. have-no character to lose, for they have a missi ipated reit, that) has settled permanent-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.