Tonquin

Sources from old books

1694. The present state of the universe by John Beaumont.

TONQUIN. (Book Tonquin)

I. THE present King of Tonquin is about fifty five years of Age.

II. He is a Pagan; and when a King is there newly elected, the number of Beasts, sent to be Sacrifis'd in the Temples of their false Gods is said to be one hundred thousand.

III. The Capital City is Checo. Tonquin is judg'd almost in equal extent with France. The Tonquineses say that the whole Kingdom contains above twenty thousand Cities and Towns; and many more there would be, but that many of the people choose rather to live on the Water, than on the Land, so that the greatest part of their Rivers is cover'd with Boats, which serve them instead of Houses.

IV. The chief Riches of Tonquin, which yield a great Revenue to the King, consists in the great quantities of Silks, which are there worn by Rich and Poor; and in their Musk and Lignum Aloes, of which there is some worth one thousand Crowns the pound, according to its goodness and oiliness, tho there is some not worth above 3 l. it being dry.

The Names and Ages of some other East-India Princes.

THE old Sultan of Bantam, nam'd Abdul Fete, if now living, is about sixty years of Age. His Son, Sultan, Annum-Cassar, Abdull-Massar is aged thirty seven years.

Sasnum, Emperour of Java, vulgarly call'd the Mandarin, is aged about forty years.

Sultan, Annum-Abdull-Negara, King of Jambee is aged about forty five years.

Sultan, Rutterro, King of Cherriboam, aged about thirty nine years.

Sultan, Adisbull-Abdull-Isphew, King of Macasser, aged about forty four years.

Raja Pallacca, King of the Buggesses, the High Land of Macasser, aged about fifty seven years.

The King of Ceilon, now about eighty six years of Age.

1694. The great historical, geographical and poetical dictionary by Louis Moreri.

Tonquin in former Times depended of China, but these six hundred Years last past it has been govern'd by its particular Kings. The first King, called Din, a great Robber, having gathered a number of Vagabonds and Malecontents together, became so famous for his Valour, and by the many Victories he won, that he establish'd himself upon the Throne: His two Sons succeeded him one after the other; but dying without Issue, the Kingdom became divided by Civil Wars; and the weakest Party having called the Chinois to their Assistance, soon became the powerfullest, and put a Manderin on the Throne, of the Family of Lelequel, who built the sumptuous Palace of Tonquin. This King left only a Daughter, who married one of the greatest Mandarins of the Family of Tran; but his Reign was troubled by the Rebellion of his Subjects, who having seized his Person put him to Death. After ten Years Disorders the Chinois made themselves Masters of the Kingdom, and established Governours in it; but a valiant Commander beat these Usurpers out, and possessed himself of the Crown, which was kept 80 Years in that Family. After this time a great Lord of the Family of Mar usurped the Throne, but was soon dispossessed by a Manderin of the Family of Trin, who put him to Death at the Head of his Army. Though this Victorious Prince could, if he were willing, settle himself on the Throne, yet he would not take the Title of King, but of General of the Troops; and published over all the Provinces of the Kingdom, that if there was any Prince of the Family of Lé, he would put him in Possession of the Crown. There happened to be one on the Frontiers, who served as simple Soldier, without making himself known. Though this was declared King, yet the General reserved the absolute Command of the Army to himself, with the best part of the Revenues of the Kingdom: so that since that time it may well be said there are two Kings, whereof the first called Bue has the Name, and makes all the Shew; and the second called Choua has all the Authority. The King keeps generally within his Palace, goes abroad but on certain Days, and then in a Palanquin too, with Elephants, led Horses, and some Officers a Horse-back before it, Musicianers, Trumpeters, and Soldiers of the Guard coming after. The King has generally 2000 Soldiers for his Guard, and keeps about 20000 upon the Frontiers, with 50 Elephants trained up for War, and has above 100 great Galleys, with a great number of small Galliots, on all the Rivers which the Enemy can invade his Country by: The Water-men, when they Row, stand with their Face towards the Head of the Vessels, quite contrary to our Rowers. The King gives publick Audiences dayly, but the Edicts to be of Force must be signed by the Choua. The eldest Son does not always succeed; for the Choua or Constable, with the Counsellors of State, have thought it better to leave the Prince the Liberty of naming to the Crown which Child he pleased: And assoon as he has named his Successor, the chief Officers of the Army, the Counsellors of State, and Eunuchs, come to salute him, and take an Oath to seat him on the Throne after the Father's Death. The other Brothers remain confin'd in the Palace, whence they are not permitted to come forth but four times a Year, and have but six Days each time for their Recreation, the Choua's Officers attending them wherever they go.

...

The Kingdom of Tonquin is divided into eight great Provinces, whereof each has its Governour and Magistrates, from whose Judgments they can appeal to Court, where there are 100 Counsellors of State to examine all the Appeals of the Kingdom, besides the 32 Counsellors of the Royal Council which attend the King in his publick Audiences. The King has no Coin, either Silver or Gold; the Tonquinois making use, in Commerce, of Cakes of Gold, whereof some are worth 100 Crowns of our Mony, and others 200: They also have Silver Bars, which for lesser Payments they cut, according to the Sum they are to pay, having each a pair of Scales in his hand that resemble our Roman Weights, or they pay in foreign Coin, for the most part in Reals of Spain. They have this Gold and Silver from China and Japan for their Silks, Musk, and Wood of Aloes. The Queens of Tonquin have none but Women and Maids to wait on them in their Palaces, no other being permitted there, not the very Eunuchs themselves. When the Queen goes out of her Palace she is carried in a Palanquin, with six Elephants before it, two abreast, and several armed Officers. Her Ladies of Honour walk behind them, and after them eight Ladies of Quality which draw a Chariot into which the Queen is taken when she comes out of her Palanquin; and then the Officers and Eunuchs withdraw out of her Sight; for it's a great Crime even so much as to look upon her.

For the Common People, they are naturally good humour'd, admire the Works of other Countries beyond their own, yet are not curious to Travel, saying they will live at home to honour their Ancestors. Their Complexion is somewhat Olive-colour'd, yet they are better made, and have not the Nose nor Visage so flat as the Chinois. They wear their Hair as long as it can grow, the common sort curl and wind it up at top of their Head; but the Gentry, Men of Robe, and Soldiers, have theirs round their Necks to hinder it from coming on their F•ce, and look upon black Teeth to be the most beautiful. They let their Nails grow, holding the longest to be the finest. Their Habit is grave and modest being a Gown that hangs to their Heels tied round with a Silken Girdle, or mixed with Silver and Gold Thread, but the Soldiers wear theirs but to the Knee, and never have any Shoes or Stockins. The Common People, even the Burgesses of Checo the chief Town of the Kingdom, are Slaves a part of the Year, being all obliged to work three Months for the King's House, two other Moons for the Manderins and great Lords; the rest of the time is their own, and then they work for those that pay them. This Service they call in their Language Viecquan, that is, Condition of Slave. They take great Delight to live on Water, which in their Country breeds no Crocodiles nor other dangerous Creatures, though there are great Numbers in the Ganges. Their Marriages cannot be concluded without the Consent of the Governour or Judge of the Place. The next Day after this Ceremony the Husband calls the Wife Sister, and she him Brother. The Laws of the Kingdom allow the Man to put his Wife away, but the Women are not allow'd the same Privilege. They punish Adultery with Death. They often visit, and always with a Train becoming their Condition. The Princes and Manderins ride on Elephants, or are carried in a kind of Chair or Brancar bore by six Men; their ordinary Retinue is of 50 or 60 Men, a Number they are not suffered to exceed; private Gentlemen and Officers of Court can have at most but seven Servants. They hold it a great Dishonor to be bare-headed, none but Criminals, who are shaved as soon as taken, being so among them. They sit cross-leg'd, as our Taylors when at work. Great Lords where they receive Visits have a kind of Bench of Earth covered with a very fine Mat of Rushes as fine and small as any Thred, which they prefer to the best Tapestries of either Persia or the Indies, because they are dearer and fresher in great Heats, being besides as soft as any Silk, and of that nature, that neither Bugs nor Punaises, which are very troublesome all over the East, breed nor lodge in them. The Princes and Manderins sit upon these Mats, and the rest of the Nobility that wait on 'em are seated round the Chamber upon Cushions, with others to their Backs. They neither have Knife nor Fork at Table, all that is served up being cut small before it's brought to the Dining Room; and these small Morsels they take with the top of a Gilt Stick. The common sort content themselves with Rice boiled in Water, Fish dryed in the Air, or salted Eggs, and eat but little Flesh, unless it be at their Feasts. They delight much in Comedies, and are very good at representing Seas, Rivers, and Battels on Water. The Actors and Actresses are very richly clad, the Womens Head-Dress being a kind of Mitre or Tiara, which becomes them extraordinary well. The only way to come to any Honour or Dignity in Tonquin, is Learning; but what they value most is not the Knowledge of Languages, nor the Philosophy of Aristotle, but the Study of their Laws, Mathematicks, &c. To become Gentlemen the Youth must pass through three Degrees, viz. that of Sinde, that of Doucum, and the Tansi: for the first, they must study eight Years in what belongs to a Clerk, Attorney, and Counsellor; if they be found capable of these upon Examination, then they study five Years in Astrology, Musick, Poetry, and in learning to make Mathematical Instruments. After this they must employ four Years more to learn to Read and Write the Chinois Character, with the Laws and Customs of that Nation. The last Examen is made with much Solemnity in Presence of the King, Manderins, and other Tansi. The Aspirers that have answered well, after the King has given his Consent, have a Violet Sattin Gown given 'em with the Name of Tansi, and are put in the number of the Nobility, and have Places allotted them for their Revenues, and then are carried in Triumph to Court to be instructed in the Affairs of the Kingdom, and fit themselves for the Quality of Manderin. All the Embassadors sent to China and other neighbouring States are drawn out of the number of these Tansi's. Their Physicians study nothing so much as the Nature of Plants, which they apply according to the different Kinds of Distempers: They have incomparable Remedies for the Falling-Sickness, Purples, and other Distempers that are thought incurable in Europe: They do not use Bleeding, but often prescribe Thé for the Head-ach, Gravel, &c. This Herb is brought them from China and Japan, but that of Japan is best. They judge of Sicknesses by the beating of the Pulse, which they feel in three several Places and on both sides, pretending, that by the Artery of the Left Wrists they can tell the Condition of the Heart; by that of the Arm, the Temper of the Liver; by the Temple Artery the Disposition of the Reins.

The Ceremony of the Coronation is magnificent, the new King's Liberalities very great, and the Number of his Victims to the False Gods almost incredible; besides which, he gives to the Value of a Million in Cakes of Gold, and Silver Bars, Pieces of Silk for the Ornament of Idols, and other things designed for the use of the Pagodes or Temples. Being seated on a very magnificent Throne, he receives the Oaths of Allegiance from the Lords and Officers of his Court, to whom he makes great Presents. After these and other Ceremonies he expects the Beginning of the New Moon to retire with the Bronzes or Doctors of the Laws, with whom he lives very frugally for a time, visits Hospitals, and pitches upon a Place to build a Pagode, which he Consecrates to some Idol. After this, and his Diversion by the Water, where Sea Fights, Artificial Fires, (wherein the Tonquinois excel) and other Sights are represented, he comes to the Palace of Checo, and visits the Princesses, being accompanied with none but his Eunuchs, &c. Nor is their Funeral Pomp less magnificent; for when the King is dead his embalmed Body is laid in a Bed of State, and there serv'd for 65 Days as if alive, all the Meat during that time being distributed to the Bonzes and Poor. All the Manderins of Arms and Justice go in Mourning commonly for three Years, the Royal Family nine Moons or Months, the Gentry six, and the common sort three: During these three Years all Diversions cease besides those that are performed at the Coronation of the new King; after which the young Prince cuts his Hair off, and wears a Straw Cap, as do also the Princes and forty Manderins Counsellors of State, until the King is buried. The Body is carried to the Deserts beyond the Town of Bodego, which is about two Days Journey from Checo Capital of the Kingdom. But because the new King and the whole Court perform this Journey a-foot, it takes them up fifteen or sixteen Days. All the Way is covered with a Violet-coloured Linnen Cloth, and at every Quarter of a League are Huts or Tents with Refreshments. There is nothing can be imagined more sumptuous than this Funeral Pomp and March, which is begun by two of the Kings Bed-Chamber, carrying each a Mace, and crying out the Name of the deceased King. After these walk twelve Officers of the Galleys, drawing the Mausole in form of a square Tower with the King's Name written thereon. Then twelve Elephants follow, whereof the foremost four are rid by Officers that carry each the King's Standard. After these come the Gentlemen of the Horse attended by two Pages, and twelve led Horses with extraordinary rich Harness, the most part of the Furniture, as well as the Bit, being of pure Gold. Then follows the Chariot that bears the magnificent Mausole, where the King's Body lies. This Chariot is drawn by eight Deers brought up for this use. The King, clad in White Sattin, walks a-foot after this Chariot with his Brothers if he has any, attended with a great number of Musicianers. Next come four Princes drest in White Sattin, followed by two Ladies of Honour clad in Violet, and accompanied with Ho-boys and other Musick; these carry Meat and Drink for the Dead. Next follow the Princes of the Blood clad in Violet Sattin with Straw Caps, then the Officers of the Crown, the Manderins and Governours of the four principal Provinces of the Kingdom having each a Stick upon their Shoulder with a Bag full of Gold and different Perfumes, which is the Present of their respective Provinces. And then at last come two Chariots, each drawn by eight Horses, with great Chests full of Cakes and Ingots of Gold, and Silver Bars, rich Stuffs and other Wealth. And the March is brought up by the Officers of Court add other considerable Persons, who come some a Foot and some a Horse-back, according to the difference of their Offices and Qualities. The King's Body being come to Bodego, is put into a Galley to be carried to the Deserts and there secretly buried, for there are but the six chief Eunuchs of Court that know precisely where it is laid, and these swear never to reveal it to any one. This Ceremony is perhaps observed for some Motive of Religion, or that none may go to dig up what they bury along with it, according to the Superstition of Chacabout, who persuaded them that the Souls of such as did not exactly observe the Law should pass into other Bodies for 3000 Years, in which they suffer many Inconveniencies, as Hunger, Cold, and Poverty; for which Reason they bury several things with the King in his Tomb for his Use in the other World: there they leave also the Meat and Drink the Princesses brought to Bodego, the Presents of the four Provinces, and the two Chariot Loads spoken of in the Funeral Pomp; and what is yet more strange, several Lords and Ladies of Court have buried themselves alive near him, that they might be at hand to wait on him wherever he goes. The ordinary Funerals are more or less pompous according to the Quality of the Persons deceased. They have in Funerals a great many Fire-Works, as in their publick Rejoycings, and put a great Quantity of Meat and Comfitures upon the Tomb, thinking the Dead will make use of them; an Error which their Priests amuse them with, and contrive their Business so, that there is nothing left the next Morning. Tavern. Relat. of Tonquin.