The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1880-08-06
Chinese GrOtesdueneSs.

Undoubtedly the first and most lasting
impression which China and the Chinese
convey to the mind of the foreigner Is
that of grotesqueness. All instinctively
realize the truth of this, yet few know
the reason of it. To Europeans China
appears grotesque simply and solely be-
cause the customs and manners OF the
people are SO opposite to our own.
Socially, no less than physically, they
are our antipodes. Their habits are as
opposite to ours as the direction OF their
bodies. In getting on n horse the Chi
nese mount on the right side. The left
hand seat at the table is the seat OF
honor, and to retain your hat during
call is esteemed mark OF respect. Nis-
iting cards are painted bright vermil-
ion color, and are not unfrequently three
feet long. A married woman, while
young and pretty, is slave, but when
She becomes old and withered is fire.
quently the most powerful and respected
person in the family
When Chinaman furnishes his house,
instead of buying a rosewood piano or
carved chiffonnier, as his European
brother would do, he invests III hand
some camphor-wood coffin, which he
carefully keeps in the best place in his
house. No wonder, with such an object
perpetually reminding him of his latter
end that we find the average Chinaman
a somber and somewhat melancholy per-
sonage.
Their indoor, social life, strange as it
may seem to us, is, if possible, less re-
markable than their outdoor industrial
habits. Their military customs and cos
tunes are especially peculiar. Their
soldiers, instead of casing themselves in
helmet, cuirass and gamashes, wear
quilted petticoats, satin boots and bead
necklaces, carry comparatively harmless
weapons, and rush to n night attack with
lanterns i'll their hands, being apparently
more afraid of the dark than of the at
tack of the enemy. Ladies ride about
in wheelborows, while COWS are driven
III carriages. On the road to the great
wall between Pekin and the Nankow
Pass, [ sketched characteristic group,
which consisted of a stout, intelligent
looking cody wheeling a barrow that
contained n buxum young woman, whose
feet dangled from one side of the wheel,
while Il large, and not over savory-smell-
ing pig snored composedly on the other
Cinnamon of every class and grade, as
it is well known, are passionately fond
of fireworks, but prefer to exhibit them
in the daytime. While in Europe the
feet of culprits are put in the stocks,
among these strange people the stocks
are hung around the neck.
China has long been famous for its
canals and its wonderful system of in
land navigation The means adopted
for land locomotion are, however, scarcely
less peculiar than those i'll vogue on the
water; for while their boats are almost
universally drawn by men, their carriages
and carts are, III favorable weather, as
invariably propelled by sails.
In China the family name comes first,
and the Christian, or given, name, after
ward Their mourning color is white
instead of black as with us, and they
mourn their parents three years They
resemble us i'll one thing, however,
though they differ slightly in their
method of showing it, they are fond of
good living, and, indeed, are great cpl
cures in their way. A Chinaman will
not drink drop of milk, but he will
devour birds nests, snails, and the fins
of sharks with the keenest relish In
stead, however, Of indulging in the dis
cOrdant clatter of knives and forks, so
characteristic of an English dinner, they
toss their meat into their mouths tn a.
tune, every man keeping time with his
chop-sticks. The time, however, is not
generally either musical or provocative
of appetite, and a Chinese dinner is
usually very tame affair.