blish the Great Pure dynasty.

One of the first cares to the authorities of a newly-established dynasty
in China is to provide the country with a properly authorized Penal
Code, and this has usually been accomplished by accepting as basis the
code of the preceding rulers, and making such changes or modifications
as may be demanded by the spirit of the times. It is generally
understood that such was the method adopted under the first Manchu
Emperor. The code of the Mings was carefully examined, its severities
were softened, and various additions and alterations were made; the
result being a legal instrument which has received almost unqualified
admiration from eminent Western lawyers. It has, however, been stated
that the true source of the Manchu code must be looked for in the code
of the T`ang dynasty (A.D. 618-905); possibly both codes were used.
Within the compass of historical times, the country has never been
without one, the first code having been drawn up by a distinguished
statesman so far back as 525 B.C. In any case, at the beginning of
the reign of Shun Chih a code was issued, which contained only certain
fundamental and unalterable laws for the empire, with an Imperial
preface, nominally from the hand of the Emperor himself. The next step
was to supply any necessary additions and modifications; and as time
went on these were further amended or enlarged by Imperial decrees,
founded upon current events,--a process which has been going on down to
the present day. The code therefore consists of two parts: (1) immutable
laws more or less embodying great principles beyond the reach of
revisions, and (2) a body of case-law which, since 1746, has been
subject to revision every five years. With the publication of the Penal
Code, the legal responsibilities of the new Emperor began and ended.
There is not, and never has been, anything in China of the nature of
civil law, beyond local custom and the application of common sense.

Towards the close of this reign, intercourse with China brought about an
economic revolution in the West, especially in England, the importance
of which it is difficult to realize sufficiently at this distant date.
A new drink was put on the breakfast-table, destined to displace
completely the quart of ale with which even Lady Jane Grey is said to
have washed down her morning bacon. It is mentioned by Pepys, under the
year 1660, as "tee (a China drink)," which he says he had never tasted
before