The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1872-08-06
CuriOsities Of the Chinese.

1t is difficult for us to conceive that
mankind, like the various orders of Gre
alton, is constructed on the principle of
infinite diversity, natures constant effort
to avoid repeating herself, whether il be in
race or individuals. A letter from the Rev.
DIR. Prime to the New York O6seruer re-
calls some remarkable contrasts between
Chinese civilization and ours. The marin
er's compass is made to point South, in
stead of North, by putting the index on
the opposite end of the needle; a rider
mounts horse from the off side; instead
of backing shoes, they whiten them with
chalk; the old men fly the kites, while the
boys look on.
An American, as an act of hospitality,
treats you to glass of wine A Chinaman
introduces you to his dead grandmother,
in her coffin. He shows you his own coffin
with ASHLAND profuseness as a Frenchman
would show his picture or an Englishman
his dog. To express his pleasure at meet
ing you, he does not shake your hand, but
his own, moving up and down as if he were
pumping out his feelings, and the gush was
slow. In cases of small pox and itch, this
mode of salutation has the highest hy-
gienc qualities. Instead of taking of his
hat, on coming into your presence, he takes
off his shoes. AS mark of special honor
at feast, he seats you at the left hand,
not on his right, and sends your ladies into
an interior room, to eat by themselves so
that you can get as drunk as you please
without gratifying their curiosity.
Unmarried woman are regarded as of
very little account, but mothers always
rule their children and their grandchildren,
to whatever age they may attain. Here,
on the contrary, pretty young girls COM
mand all who approach them, and the rule
Of children over their parents is only less
perfect than their sway over their grand
parents. Here you ask father how many
children he has, and he answers, perhaps,
three. In China he would answer, cone
child and two girls" Chinese men wear
frocks and carry fans, and the women
wear pantaloons and smoke. In these re-
spects, however, the two countries are not
very unlike. When a man marries, his
mother acquires the right to "boss' his
wife as well as himself, which is very
consoling to both parties The mother-in-
law is consoled by having one more to boss.
The husband is consoled by the feeling that
his labor is divided. The daughter-in-law
is consoled by knowing that she'll do the
same when she becomes a mother-in-law.
In China your dressmaker is man, if
you are woman, but the person who con-
structs your hat for you is woman. The
men wear their hair, braided and never
cut it, esteeming it, as st. Paul says, "an
ornament" The woman do theirs up very
close, or shingle it short, feeling, as the
Apostle remarks, that tits a shame to them
to wear long hair A book is read from the
left Of the page to the right from the bot
tom to the top, and beginning with the
last page and ending with the first. The
written language is not spoken, and the
spoken language is not written, SO that
two persons may be able to understa nd
each other perfectly by writing when
neither can comprehend what the other
may say. The detectives sound tom tom
as they go through the streets, to warn
rogues and thieves that they are coming.