Page:The costume of China, illustrated in forty-eight coloured engravings.pdf/155



house of a Mandarin is generally distinguished by two large poles erected before the gate; in the day-time flags are displayed on these poles as ensigns of his dignity, and during the night painted lanthorns are suspended on them.

The superior Chinese choose to live in great privacy, their habitations therefore are generally surrounded by a wall; their houses seldom exceed one story in height, though there are some few exceptions, as in the residence of the Embassy at Pekin, where one of the many edifices of that palace had apartments above the ground floor, and was occupied by the Secretary of Embassy.

The several rooms of a Chinese house are without ceilings, so that the timbers supporting the roof are exposed. The common articles of furniture are, frames covered with silk of various colours, adorned with moral sentences, written in characters of gold, which are hung in the compartments; on their tables are displayed curious dwarf trees, branches of agate, or gold and silver fish, all which are placed in handsome vessels of porcelain.