A CHINESE STUDIO . 141
with him, he inwardly consented to the match, though he was afraid that perhaps his would-be son-in-law might not be as hberal as he would Uke. Hsiang-ju soon per- ceived what Mr. Wei's feelings were, and emptied his piirse on the table, at which Mr. Wei was deUghted, and begged a neighbour to allow the marriage contract to be drawn up in his house. ^ Hsiang-ju then went in to pay his respects to Mrs. Wei, whom he found in a small, miserable room, with Miss Wei hiding behind her. Still he was pleased to see that, in spite of her homely toilette, the young lady herself was very nice-looking ; and, while he was being entertained in the neighbour's house, the old lady said, " It will not be necessary for you. Sir, to come and fetch our daughter. As soon as we have made up a small trousseau for her, we will send her along to you." ^ Hsiang-ju then agreed with them upon a day for the wedding, and went home and informed his father, pretending that the Wei family only asked for respect- abiUty, and did not care about money. His father was overjoyed to hear this ; and when the day came, the young lady herself arrived. She proved to be a thrifty housekeeper and an obedient wife, so that she and her husband got along capitally together. In two years she had a son, who was called Fu-erh. And once, on the occasion of the great spring festival, she was on her way to the family tombs, with her boy in her arms, when she chanced to meet a man named Sung, who was one of the gentry of the neighbourhood. This Mr. Sung had been a Censor,* but had purchased his retirement, and was now
- One important preliminary consists in the exchange of the four
pairs of characters which denote the year, month, day, and hour of the births of the contracting parties. It remains for a geomancer to determine whether these are in harmony or not ; and a very simple expedient for backing out of a proposed alliance is to bribe him to declare that the nativities of the young couple could not be happily brought together.
■ The bridegroom invariably fetches the bride from her father's house, convejdng her to his home in a handsomely-gilt red sedan- chair, closed in on all sides, and accompanied by a band of music.
- The Censorate is a body of fifty-six officials, whose duty it is to
. bring matters to the notice of the Emperor which might otherwise
have escaped attention ; to take exception to any acts, including those of his Majesty himself, calculated to interfere with the welfare of the people ; and to impeach, as occasion may require, the high provincial authorities, whose position, but for this whole-
