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Original Text:
DANSE CHINOISE.
On se trompe grandement quand on croit le peuple Chinois léger, joyeux et ami du plaisir: il est au contraire grave et morose, car son plus grand divertissement consiste dans une sorte de promenade lugubre où les hommes et les femmes marchent l'un devant l'autre, ou l'un à côté de l'autre, et semblent se dire: frère il faut mourir! Aussi pour marquer l'intention philosophique de cette cérémonie, l'antipode de la danse, l'appellent-ils: Contredanse.

Translation:
CHINESE DANCE.
It's a mistake to believe that the Chinese are a happy, joyful people. On the contrary, they are serious and morose, because their greatest diversion consists of a mournful promenade in which the man and the woman are marching one in front of the other or besides each other, and they seem to say to each other: Brother, we all have to die one day. Underlining the philosophical intention, the counterpart can be found in their dances, which they call : Quadrille.