Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1849-09-12
The Chinese.

The following extract is from the forthcom-
ing work of o. Tiffany, Esq, and is part of Il
longer extract that has appeared in the Boston
Advertiser:
A great point in Chinese happiness is the
number of children the fortunate man may
boast of. The principle they 90 on is, in the
words of Shakespeare, THE world must be
peopled."
A man with half a dozen sons is wealthy,
but with the same number of daughters, his
poverty is a general subject of pity. In speak
ING of his offspring one will sometimes say.
that he has three children, and if you ask if any
are daughters, he will answer yes, four, meaning
seven in all, though he does not consider the
girls worth mentioning.
Should his wife prove childless, he eagerly
seizes the opportunity of putting her aside and
marrying again.
The manners of the Chinese. taose of the
middling and upper classes, are very pleasing to
a stranger. The low laborers are british
enough, but among the better bred a g"entility
of manner is strlkingly apparent.
When you meet a Chinese gentleman, he
folds his hands and shaks them at YOU, saying,
Chin chin, words of the Canton-C hinese-Anglo
jargon signifying welcome, or thank you, or
1ife well according 10 lHe OCCASION.
If your visit is one of ceremony, he is careful
to keep his hat on while You uncover, and seats
you, Of course, on his left hand.
He is so courtier-like, that he will not touch
the chair a moment before you, and if he per-
ceives that he is doing so he instantly rises a
little. Then, perhaps, he treats you to sweet
meats and tea. The tea is always DELICIOUS
1t is not contaminated by cream and sugar, lie
u-on1I pnt onOIaS0ap1 tn Sr,ah harhnrInp or1c
tom. There are no saucers for the cups to
stand upon, but you will see that they are on the
top of the cup, to keep in the aroma of the clear
amber-colored beverage.
Ands so in China you will see a hundred re-
verses to European customs.
| have spoken Of the practice of keeping
precocious youths in subsection, the Celestials
fully approaching the wisdom of Solomon, if
no other portion of Holy Writ.
A man dresses like a woman, and uses a fan
even more; he carries his watch on the right
side, and instead of leaving his knife and chop
sticks on the table, he puts them into a little
case and bears them about with him; he unco-
vers his head in simmer time; he begins to read
a book at it's natural end, he never cuts the
leaves of it; he writes perpendicularly; he
eats fruit first, and soup last, at teasts of cere-
mOny.
He whitens the soles of his shoes instead of
backing them; he puts on boots, and discards
shoes when he wishes to be extremely elegant
in company; and old men play like little boys,
and little boys look as dignified as judges.
On one occasion | saw an instance of Chi
nese contrariety that certainly put to flight any
of the recreations of old men in my own coun-
try; for as some of us were warming ourselves
in a cool November afternoon with a primitive
and healthful sport Of leap frog, much to the
delight of herds of Chinese, to our inexpres-
sable surprise, we saw three grave citizens,
whose united ages were certainly over a centu-
ry and a half, become so carried away by the
spirit of the game, that they must join in it
themselves. They were men of responsibility;
they were dressed in fine silk, and their boards
and moustaches were combed precisely; and in
a moment two of them stood at the prescribed
distance from each other, and placed their
hands upon their knees, while the third "a gen.
tleman near threescore years. INDUCED in the
flying run, and would have cleared his COM
panion's head in gallant style, only his long
gown took such firm hold of the others back
that both came to the ground, like horse and
rider in a steeple chase.
Not at all disheartencd, they continued the
game for half an hour or so, and though falling
at full length five times out of six, expressed
themselves as highly pleased with such novel
and invigorating exercise.
In the meantime several urchins looked on
without either daring to laugh or join in the
pastime.