China and the Manchus

From the opening

It is impossible to give here a complete key to the pronunciation of Chinese words. For those who wish to pronounce with approximate correctness the proper names in this volume, the following may be a rough guide:--

a as in alms. ê as u in fun. i as ie in thief. o as aw in saw. u as oo in soon. ü as u in French, or ü in German. [)u] as e in her. ai as aye (yes). ao as ow in cow. ei as ey in prey. ow as o (not as ow in cow). ch as ch in church. chih as chu in church. hs as sh (hsiu = sheeoo). j as in French. ua and uo as wa and wo.

The insertion of a rough breathing ' calls for a strong aspirate.

The Manchus are descended from a branch of certain wild Tungusic nomads, who were known in the ninth century as the Nü-chêns, a name which has been said to mean "west of the sea." The cradle of their race lay at the base of the Ever-White Mountains, due north of Korea, and was fertilised by the head waters of the Yalu River.

In an illustrated Chinese work of the fourteenth century, of which the Cambridge University Library possesses the only known copy, we read that they reached this spot, originally the home of the Su-shên tribe, as fugitives from Korea; further, that careless of death and prizing valour only, they carried naked knives about their persons, never parting from them by day or night, and that they were as "poisonous" as wolves or tigers. They also tattooed their faces, and at marriage their mouths.

A short sample. Read the whole book

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