The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-11-08
WHAT CHlNAMEN EAT.
Tho Philosophy of tho Stomach In tho
Celestial Kingdom.

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 subject. They hold that only the
sntiated man can be wise, and those who
cannot make themselves full are surely
fools. Their most sacred philosophical
and medical treatises deal with the stom-
! ach rs the principal source of the spirit
! ual. moral. and physical life of man.
The head, in their opinion, is n poor de-
pendent on the bounty of the stomach.
<ot tho head, but the stomach, ought to
be crowned. They hold rs cardinal
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 rs a clever trick. They assert that
the American doctor deceived the public
by drinking some colorless nutritious
! substances dissolved in water. Other.
wise, they argue, he would necessarily
turn first an idiot, and then a corpse.
When we ponder on some difficult sub
ject we often touch or riit our fore head.
Under the same circumstances the Chi
nanlan puts his finger be!o@ his bei..
By touching he facilitates his mental
process. In view of the supremacy of
the stomach tho Chinese came to the
| conclusion that the better it is filled the
wiser is It's possesSor hence fatness and
corpulcnce are the best mirror of the
mind, the best indication of superior
intellect. And, rs wisdom brings man
/ n NJ Il f<, ~
bcautitude, therefore the Cinnamon
regard extraordinary stoutness as a sim
| bol OF the future heavenly state. The
idol of Buddha Shuhemuny, the ideal of
supreme beauttiude, is represented as an
abnormaly fat man, with smile OF perfect
satisfaction. There is no need to
| put any sign under that idol, for without
words everybody would read in its looks
that Il am quite FULL" The superior
| spiritual advisers of the Budhists are
distinguished for their corpulence. I am
told there are divines among them who
| devour whole sheep for breakfast! No
wonder they regard tho severe fasting of
the Christian hermits as hopeless folly.
| Now. what are the agencies which
bring the Chineman to his blissful state /?
They are manifold; yet beef, milk, and
dairy products in general are strictly ex-
cluded from the list. About twenty
centuries ago in the Celestial Empire
there was established OK worship, rs a
reward for the great assistance in agri.
culture rendered by that horned animal.
Then it was forbidden to kill either OK or
COW. 1t became also a sacred habit to
leave the cows milk exclusively for the
calves, to who Al it rightfully belonged.
Chlnamen do not use tho milk of sheep
or she goats, though they are very fond
OF the meat Of these animals. But,
then, they are exceedingly fond of wo.
mans milk. The we'll to. do parents
often keep wet nurses for their children
up to the seventh and even ninth year.
Sometimes even men Of age, and partic.
uiarly old men, resort to woman's milk
either as an article Of luxury or as
] I!etect!c means. Among rich Cinnamon
it is point of pride 20 keep a number
OF wet nurses. OF the rich Celestial it
may be truly said that she il worth 80
many wet nurses" rs Of the rich Mo.
hammedan that "he is worth 30 many
wives" or of the American that che is
worth so many dollars" No Chinese
woman would milk cow, for such prac-
tice. in her opinion, would stain forever
her chastity.
Excluding beef and dairy products,
ChInsmen eat everything that is edible,
horse and ass flesh, snakes, rats, mice,
dogs, grassloppers, spiders. worms, CO..
coons, sea.cucumbers, swallows nests,
and 80 on. Once. while living in villa
near Pekin, | saw very strange scene.
There appeared cloud of grasshoppers.
Suddenly the field was covered with
Cinnamon who ran frantically hither and
| nat har 4
large sacks and bags with the insects.
They carried portable stoves On whish
they roasted their curious game. Other
Chinamen greedily dcvoure5 grasshop.
pers, paying penny for ten.
AT the head Of all meats Chinumen
put, of course, pork. In their opinion,
TO the hog belongs the first place in the
list Of animals. If you ask a Gilman e.
why, he will answer you proudly. "Be-
cause it was the hog from whom the
| Chinamen decendedw Don't you see,
the Celestials have beaten Darwin on
the theory of the descent Of man. It j.,
only natural, then, that among Cinnamon
hogs should enjoy full rights Of citizen.
ship. Like dogs, they wander wherever
they please. A Chinese street without q
number Of hogs is an impossibility. Are
there many hogs in China7 should
think so. On single holiday in memory
| OF their ancestors-not the original
ancestors, the hogs, but merely human
ancestors-the Celestials eat fully 600, 900
hogs. must admit that Chinese pork is
superior to any found elsewhere on the
| globe. Poor Cinnamon who cannot afford
| to buy pork cat meat Of dogs, asses,
horses, rats, mice, rabbits, ha-es, goats
and sheep. But never saw them eating
cats.
Of iirds the Chinese eat silver phea.
SAINTS, ducks, geese, chickens, jackdaws,
crows, and many others. Curiously
enough, the SO called Cochin. China 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
sharkes and the nests of sea swallows.
Under the latter is understood not the
whole nests, but only the mucilagious
inner coating of tho nests. 1t il believ-
ed that the swallows who build their
nests on the sea rocks cover their nests
AID 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 hemisphere of the size of a hall
orange peel. The nests are sold here al
from fifteen to twenty-five dollars Del
pound. They are used principally 70,
making broth, to which they give pc.
cuiiar aroma and taste, much valued by
gastronomers.