Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-09-15
STRANGE FOOD IN CHINA.
The Philosophy 81 the stomach I'm the
Celestial Kingdom.


The Philosophy 81 the stomach I'm the
Celestial Kingdom.
A letter from Pekin to the st. Petersburg
Messenger says:
To be able to eat'well means, in the China
mans opinion, to be happy. All his cares, trou-
bles, and desires center In the same point,
namely, good eating. True, everybody the
world over takes care to satisfy his appetite in
the best possible way. But the Chinese differ
from other people in the philosophy of the sub
ject. They hold that only the satiated man can
be wise, and those who cannot make themselves
full are surely FOOLS Their most sacred philo-
sophical and medical treatises deal with the
stomach as the principal source of the spiritual,
moral and physical life of man. The head, in
their opinion, is a poor dependent on the bounty
of the stomach. Not the head but the stOm-
ach. ought to be crowned. They hold as a car
dinal axiom that the stomach is the spring of
every thought, feeling and muscular action. He
who does not eat loses all energy. Man differs
from wood and stone only because he fills up
his stomach. They look upon Dr. Tanners forty
days fast as clever trick. They assert that the
American doctor deceived the public by drink
ing some c0orless nutritious substances dis
solved in water. Otherwise they argue he
would necessarily turn first an idiot and then
corpse.
When we ponder on some difficult subject we
often touch or rub our forehead. Under the
same circumstances the Chinaman puts his fin
sers below his belt. BY touching his abdomen
he facilitates his mental process. In view of
the supremacy of the stomach the Chinese came
to the conclusion that the better it is filled the
wiser is Its possessor; hence fairness and corpu-
lence are the best mirror of the mind, the best
indication Of superior intellect. And as wis
dom brings man to blissful state and to q
nlxr I'm
gard extraordinary stoutness as a symbol of the
future heavenly state. The idol of Buddha-
Shahemuny. the idol OF supreme beattude. is
represented as an abnormally tat man, with a
smile OF perfect satisfaction. There is no need
to put any sign under the idol. for without words
everybody would read in it's looks that II am
quite full" The superior spiritual advisers Of
the Buddhists are distinguished for their corpu-
lence. am told there are divines amongst
them who devour whole sheep for breakfast!
NO wonder they regard the severe fasting Of
the Christian hermits as hopeless folly.
Now: what are the agencies which bring the
Chinaman to his bIissful state? They are mani
fold; yet beef milk and dairy products in gen.
eral are strictly excluded from the list. About
twenty centuries ago in the Celestial Empire
there was established OK worship as a reward
for the great assistance in agriculture rendered
by that horned animal. Then it was forbidden
to kill either OK or cow. 1t became also asacred
habit to leave the cows milk exclusively for the
III.
men do not use the milk of sheep or she goats,
though they are very fond OF the meat of these
| animals. But. then, they are exceedingly fond
of woman's milk. The well-to-do parents often
keep wet-nurses for their children up to the
seventh and even ninth year. Sometimes even
men of age, and particularly old men, resort to
woman's milk either as an article of luxury or
| as dietetic means. Among rich Cinnamon it ia
point of pride to keep a number of wet
nurses Ofthe rich Celestial it may be truly
fhof no 10 nrf, -
of the rich Mohammedan that she is worth so
many wives" or of the American that she is
worth so many dollars" No Chinese woman
would milk a COW, for such practice in her
opinion. would stain forever her chastity.
Excluding beet and dairy products, Cinnamon
eat everything that is edible, horses and ass
flesh, snakes, rats, mice. dogs. grasshoppers,
spiders, worms, cOcOOns, sea-cucumbers, swal-
lows nests, and SO on. Once, while living in a
villa near Pekfn, l saw very strange scene.
denly the field was covered with Cinnamon who
ran frantically hither and thither, gathering
them in. They filled large sacks and bags with
the insects. They carried portable stoves on
which they roasted their curious game. Other
Cinnamon greedily devoured the grasshoppers,
paying penny for ten.
At the head Of all meats Cinnamon put OF
course. pork. In their opinion, to the hog be-
longs the first place in the list of domestic ami
mails. If You ask Chinaman why, he will
from which the Chinaman descended" Don't
you see, the Celestials have beaten Darwin on
the theory of the descent OF man. 1t Is only ma
tural, then. that among Cinnamon hogs should
enjoy full rights of citizenship. Like dogs. they
wander wherever they please. Chinese street
without number of hogs is an impossibility
Are there many hogs in China? should think
SO. On single holiday in memory of their an
cestOrs-nOt the original ancestors, the hogs
but merely human ancestors-the Celestials eat
II ~ III I 6v,,i{ bat
pork is superior to any found elsewhere on the
globe. Poor Cinnamon who cannot afford to
buy pork eat meat Of dogs asses. horses. rats,
mice, rabbits, hares, goats and sheep. But
| never saw them eating cats.
OF brds the Chinese eat silver pheasants.
ducks, geese, chickens, jackdaws, crows and
many others. Curiously enough, the so-called
COchin-Chna fowls are very rarely seen here.
Salt eggs are in great use here.
Among the choice delicacies of the Chinese
must be mentioned the fins of sharks and the
nests OF sea swallows. Under the latter is un-
deTstood not the whole nest but only the muci-
laginous inner coating Of the nests. 1t is be-
lieVed that the swallows who build their nests
| on the sea rocks cover their nests and glue
| them to the rocks with the Juice of sea cane
which, on being dried, looks like mucilaginous
membrane. On the market these nests are
| found in the shape of O hemisphere of the size
of half orange peel. The nests are sold here
at from Sl5 to $25 per pound. They are used
IOA ildNIuS UTOlIl, W WHICH IUey
give peculiar aroma and taste, much valued
by gastrOnOmes.
Rice stands, Of course, at the head of vegeta-
BILE foods. Without rice Cruel no meal is served
here. Fan" means both ito have meal" and
Ito eat rice Cruel" The brown rice which is
common rice. but heated and musty. is much
liked. There is also a red variety of rice.
Honey is much used here. but chiefly as cos
metic. After being mixed with flour it is used
by the women in their hair dressing. With their
hair saturated, sticky and shining with honey
they must be indeed sweet.
As everybody knows the Chinese are passion
ately fond of tea. which they cultivate for the
| rest of the world. They drink it at every meal.
at home and out, when idle and at work. in
shops and in offices-in short. everywhere, and
at any time of day or night. The red, black and
green sorts of tea they prepare only for export.
while they themselves use exclusively yellow
tea. They take tea in small cups, and without
sugar.
Though in China there are excellent sorts of
grapes, yet no wine is prepared there. The
Chinese make two kinds OF whisky of sarge and
of rice, and drink good deal of it. Women
als0 drink and smoke here. A tin gill ofthe
shape of an hOur-glass is used for whisky-drink-
ing. They had no glass works here until re-
Gently. when an American gentleman taught
some Celestials to make glass. During my thirty
years residence here ! have never seen a single
drunken Chinaman on the street. No coffee or
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