Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-11-14
Chinese Customs.

In China the left hand is the seat of
honor, and Chinese guest in Euro
pean's house may often be observed to
be uneasy at finding himself, as he
imagines, sighted by being placed on
TIL TIL ea ss a ssss! EEhhfJ ai Of
seating hosts and guests. To a Euro
pesn it is most irksome to have to go
through the pantomime of bows and
grimaces which always precedes the
disposition Of guests and host jim a
Chinese reception room, and il not un.
frequently ends in the impetuous
Aryan's assuming the seat closest to
hand. irrespective of all ceremonial
rules, whilst the Turanian sits down in
despair and disgust at having to enter
tain 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-7aud mot un.
frequently disp1ay-the breaches. 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 he consid-
ers himself. A necklace of beads
sforWs,sn indispensable adjunct to tho
FULL of every synandafin, end, q fan
is rarely out of his hand either when at
home or abroad.
On entering room orr receiving q
visitor, q Chinaman's first care is to
put on his hat, not to take it off; and
where q 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
q host begs his guests to take'e seat,
and suits theword BY Rittipgdow him
self. 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 others hand
by way Of gfeetingl whereas a China.
man rlaspsi his own hands together and
shakes them at his visitors. '"'
In the matter OF visiting cards the
same eccentricity. of purpose is OBJ
servable. A Chinaman uses only q
small card only when on. familiar terms
with thepersdn visited, and then it is
from Ave to six times larger than what
the Europeans are in the habit of EN-.
ploying, When little more ceremony
is requisite, the card is treble in size;
and on very formal occasions it grows
into a perfect pamphlet of several
sheets. which. by the way, it is eonsid-
cred correct to return to the guest. At
banquets or formal dinners the guest
brings his card OF invitation with him
(also a mapy-leayed pamphlet), and
restores it with . solemn bow, to the
host before assuming his seat at the
table. Scarlet ID the usual color for all
visiting cards, save during mourning,
when purple Of lavender gray paper is
nsed according TO- the extent of the loss
deplored; but the entire card is colored
not, ~ with, US. the edge alone. Here
We ore reminded Of another instance Of
the antagonism Of Chinese and western
ideas, plain white being regarded as
the color de rsaheut TOR mourning cos
tune, not black. A man mourning for
his parent or grand-parent, or wom$h
lamenting the loss of her husband-in
both of which cases the code prescribes
the deepest mourning-is expected to
heISlad in Witt fE9n heed e T. iPot; ard
fan and everything about the person,
even down to the end of silk cord
EAioi is plafedipte thsj apepe, shall
be Of the prescribed color.
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