Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-03-21
Chinese Customs.

In China the left hand is the seat NJ
honor, and Chinese guest in Euro
peans house may often be observed to
be uneasy at finding himself. as he Inn.
AGNES, sighted by being placed on the
right hand of the host. They are pain.
fully scrupulous about this matter of
seating hosts and guests. To O Euro.
pean it is most irksome to have to 90
through the pantomime of bows and
grimaces which always preeedes the
disposition of guests and host in q Chi.
nese reception.room. and it not un-
frequently ends in the impetuous Ar
vans assuming the seat closest to hand,
irrespective of all ceremonial rules.
whilst the Turanian sits down in de.
spair and disgust at having to entertain
such hopeless savage. Then, in the
matter of costume, a Chinaman, as is
we'll known, is notable for the length
and capacity of his skirts, whilst his
wife and daughters wear-and not I'M
frequently display-the breeches. Silk
and satin are his favorite materials for
clothes, and the handsomer the pattern,
and more heavy and snowy the en-
broidery, the better dressed ne con-
siders himself. A necklace Ct beads
forms an indispensable adjunct to the
full dress of every mandarin, and fan
is rarely out of his hand either when
at home or abroad. On entering a
room or receiving a visitor, u China
mans first care is to put on his hat, not
to take it off; and where friend in
Europe might say, Keep on your hat,
pray" in China the entreaty would be,
"Oblige me by dispensing with your
hat" In Europe a host begs his guest
to take seat, and suits the action to
the word by sitting down himself. In
China it would be regarded as the
height of rudeness to sit down before
every guest is we'll seated. In Europe
friends grasp each other by the hand
by way of greeting, whereas Chinese
clasps his own hands together and shakes
them at his visitor. In the matter Of
visiting cards the same excentricity Of
purpose is observable. A Chinaman
uses small card only when on familiar
terms with the person visited, and then
it is from five to six times larger than
what Europeans are in the habit of en-
ploying. When little more ceremony
is requisite, the card is trebled in size
ahu oh NCi ioi hhl oSShoioho ~ EAoWo
into q perfect pamphlet of several
sheets, which, blythe way, it is con-
sidered correct 10 return to the guest.
At banquets or formal dinners the guest
brings his card of invitation with him
(also q many-leaved pamphlet), and
restores it, with solemn bow, to the
host before assuming his seat at the
table. Scarlet is the usual color for all
visiting cards, save during mourning,
when purple or lavender-gray paper is
used according to the extent of the loss
deplored but the entire card is colored
not, as with us. the edge alone. Here
we are reminded of another instance of
the antagonism of Chinese and Western
ideas, plain white being regarded as
the color de rigueur for mourning cos
tune, not black. A man mourning for
his parent or grandparent, or a woman
lamenting the loss of her husband-in
both of which cases the code prescribes
the deepest mourning-is expected to
be clad in white from head to foot
and custom demands that the hat,
boots, fan, and everything about the
person, even down to the end of silk
cord which is plated into the queue,
shall be the prescribed color.