Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/315

 FOOCHOW Canton, and 375 m. S. S. W. of Shanghai ; pop. variously estimated from 600,000 to 1,250,000. It stands on a plain about 2 m. from the N". bank of the Min and 25 m. from its mouth, surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills about 4 m. distant, and defended by a wall 7 m. in circuit, 20 to 25 ft. high, and 12 to 20 ft. thick. The city has seven gates, over which are high towers. Outside of each gate are large suburbs. The most extensive are those on the south, known by the name of Nanti, which extend for 4 m. southward, and along both sides of the river. They communicate by two bridges resting on a small densely popu- lated island called Chungchow (Middle island). The northern bridge, called the bridge of 10,000 ages, or big bridge, said to be 800 years old, is about a quarter of a mile long and sup- ported by nearly 40 piers placed at unequal distances. Across these piers are immense stones, 3 ft. square and about 45 ft. long, and over these a granite platform. The ' sides are lined with shops. The city proper is regular- ly built, but the streets, though paved with granite and in many instances planted with trees, are exceedingly filthy, narrow, and in- fested with beggars whose squalid and loath- some appearance is beyond description. The houses are usually of wood, one story high, with tiled roofs. A semi-transparent shell in- geniously arranged in rows is sometimes used for windows. Great numbers of the inhabi- tants live in boats on the river. There are some handsome buildings, among which are the residences of the civil and military offi- cials of the province. The temples are nu- merous, the largest being that known as the Ching-hwang-miau ; the most popular deities are the god of war and the goddess of mercy. The numerous shops are stocked with a profu- sion of goods of rather poor quality. They are quite open, and, with the full display of their contents, the jostling and noise of the huck- sters, and the crowded state of the streets, give the thoroughfares much the appearance of a market place. One of the most singular fea- tures of Foochow is the great number of towers erected in all parts of the city, on the walls, over the streets, and even on the housetops, some of them covered with grotesque ornaments. The town has three principal hills within its walls, two in its southern and one in its north- ern quarter. A part of the E. and S. quarters of the city is inhabited by the Mantchoo Tartars, who number between 10,000 and 15,000 souls. They are of larger build and finer form than the Chinese, and their women do not compress their feet. The men professedly belong to the army, though the number receiving pay and rations does not exceed 1,000. The entrance to the river is marked by bold peaks and high- lands. Foreign pilots take charge of vessels as far as the mouth, whence native pilots navigate them up to the pagoda anchorage, where the Chinese have an immense arsenal and dock- yard, built in foreign style by officers of the FOOL 307 French navy. Above this place the water is too shallow for large vessels to proceed safely. The foreign settlement and consulates are about 3 m. from the city down the river. Foo- chow is a city of the first class (foo and is the seat of a viceroy or governor general, whose jurisdiction extends over Fokien and Chekiang, its adjacent northern province ; of a governor, a Tartar general of the same rank as the vice- roy ; of the provincial criminal judge, two dis- trict magistrates, the provincial treasurer, com- missioner of the salt and provision department for the whole province, and the literary chan- cellor. A board of trade, consisting of three members, for the arrangement of affairs arising out of intercourse with foreigners, was estab- lished here after the treaty of Tientsin. Foo- chow is a great literary centre. Numerous gentry who have retired from office in other parts of the empire, and men of high literary attainments, reside here. There is a large pro- vincial examination hall, which contains about 10,000 cells, where the literary graduates of the first degree who desire to compete assemble. The examinations take place twice every five years. There are several cotton, paper, and hardware manufactories, also several hundred furnaces for making porcelain, and factories of blue cloth, screens, combs, &c. There are lead mines near by, and a great tea-growing district lies within 70 m. The commerce of the city is chiefly with Japan and the maritime provinces of China. The principal exports are black teas, which can be purchased cheaper than at Can- ton, timber, bamboo, fruits, orange peel, to- bacco, potash, spices, grain, copper, and lead. The imports are opium (sometimes to the value of $5,000,000 per annum), salt, sugar, and European manufactures. The port is much frequented, the channel of the river and a sheet of water called Li-hu, or West lake, on the W. side of the city, being crowded with all kinds of vessels and floating habitations. FOOD. See ALIMENT, COBPULENCE, and DIETETICS. FOOL, or Jester, a character in medieval courts and noble families, whose business it was to entertain the household by amusing sal- lies. Somewhat similar were the parasites of antiquity, who were wont to pay for their din- ners by jests and flatteries. Court fools do not appear distinctly and officially till after the crusades. They were at first either misshapen, half-imbecile dwarfs, who were themselves ridiculous objects, and whose senseless replies were welcomed with laughter ; or quick-witted, half-mad fellows; or poor and merry poets. Among the insignia of the office were the fool's cap, party-colored, adorned with three asses' ears and a cock's comb, and worn on a shorn head; the variously shaped fool's sceptre or b'auble ; the bells, which decorated the cap and most other parts of the costume ; and a wide collar. Besides the ordinary fools, there was a more refined class, called merry counsellors, who had higher privileges and considerable