When, many years ago, a vessel was wrecked on the coast of Formosa, the crew and passengers were at once seized, and confined for some time in a building, where traces of their inscriptions could be seen up to quite a recent date.

At length, they were all taken out for execution; but before the ghastly order was carried out, one of the number so amused everybody by cutting capers and turning head over heels, that the presiding mandarin said he was a funny fellow, and positively allowed him to escape.
With regard to the farce itself, it is not so much the actual wit of the dialogue which carries away the audience as the refined skill of the actor, who has to pass through many trials before he is considered to be fit for the stage.

Beginning as quite a boy, in addition to committing to memory a large number of plays--not merely his own part, but the whole play--he has to undergo a severe physical training, part of which consists in standing for an hour every day with his mouth wide open, to inhale the morning air.

He is taught to sing, to walk, to strut, and to perform a variety of gymnastic exercises, such as standing on his head, or turning somersaults.

His first classification is as male or female actor, no women having been allowed to perform since the days of the Emperor Ch'ien Lung (A.D.