The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-08-18
CHINESE PHILOSOPHY.
l a,sbatsh sunday Traveler.l

tcii you, Sd!tl d WCll-hHoNH lttS- burger 10 Tavelty representative yesterday, people who judge of the Chinese race by the specimens to be seen n our laundries. have no idea of what an intelligent people they are. Even in ther cellars around town there are many wto are much better informed than the general run of their Caucasian customers. l laley rode from Chicago to St. Louis n company with Wah Hing, q Chinese student. who was en route from an eastern college to his oriental home, the orien, beng west now-a-days. MT. Wah Is a tfeaghtinl little gentleman. who permitted re 10 give my curiosity full swing, and answered my questions with gravity tta; made me feel somewhat abashed.
 How do you Chinamen tell each other apan:' asked. You all look al lke ,o me
 Ah, tha, is no, strange. When l iirsi elmeto America could not get ac- faaln.ed with many, for everybody looked like everybody else. Especially dld ;he women bother me. suppose Il @as because the general appearance of ,her dress was more similar than that of ;he men. But had trouble in identify ms he men. think, perhaps the same Is rue ef all people. Negroes sull look Ike each other to me, and am almost sate never could learn te tell Indians apart. Don't you think 1t takes I good wh.'e fer person to overcome the ,end en5y ;o look at new things in a too gen erai way: Now. babes all look alike ,a ne. even those if my own nationality. ihznS that when you have become ae- tr,.s. al i...p { k MI cease to look l, their yellow skins md slmond eyes and long hair as the only features worth sec
 Tel me. Air. Wah. or Mr Hing. which $ your family mamc:a
 Wah is my family name. Hing is my gwen name what you would call my thusilan name.'
 Why to you Chinese have your names upside down -
 We don't IL is you whose name is backward. What was your name when yea was born :"
 ,o,d him.
 Well, when did yos se, your other name -
 Abou, three months afterwards, l suppose
 Then why do you place the one you go, las, ahead of the one you so, hrs, :;
 Yes. continued Mir. Wah, you Ameri- cans are l sort of wrong-end up people in more ways than one, judged from Chinese point of view. When It is day n China il Is nigh, here. When we ate waking about with our heads up you are sticking la ,hc under side of the earth ike tiles on ceiling Nature seems ,o have intended ,o have Us in direct con traS; with yot ana so most of our GUS toms ltc reversed. Your boys do all the piaylns and your oid men arr tIaiet .,nd seGaie. In China the old men Ily the sl,es and play the games and the boys stand and look on. Here you have lbominAhly hot dinners anal freeing cold wines. Al home our wines are served no, and our bis dinners cold When you meet an American he takes oti hls hat, When you meet a barehcaded Cinnamon he will cover his head as quickly as possible. When you salute d trend here you shake his hand and squeeze 1t perhaps until il hurts him. don't wonder that your handicrai,smeu are not as cunning with their fingers as the Chinese. they have all the delicacy squeezed out of them by shaking hands n this baibarous fashion of yours. In China We salute friend by shaking one ot our hands m the other, and we are sery careful not 10 squeeze ii until the ringers suck together, as you Americans sometimes do. In your art, too, l notice that you think only of perspective. In Chinese art there IS hardly thought of perspective. We make figures without distance, you make distance without hgarcs.'
 Is there any such thing as music in China :"
 eJh. yes we have some eNcellen, music, bu, you could no, appreciate |, lnu you had learned our langaage There $ a very close connection between language And music. Before learned you: language your music was simply d tumble ot deafen.ng nose in my ears. The firs; piano heard ln San Francesca nearly drove me ou, of my wits. and when heard brass band wondered ,ha, the law suffered such an unmusical mob 10 walk in the streets Now tha, 1 know the language 1 like the music of this country and Europe, and can play little on the piano. But still a Chinese orchestra is better, think, though you would probably think |, made only a ven poor quality of racket"
 Are the Chinese idolators .'
 Certainly not. The Buddhisttc re hglon is very much like the christian, cx- oep, that i, is a good deal older. and has suffered the priests to ring in few more supers,itions. The Coniucian religion is really only code of morals. By the way, Confucius lived i've centuries before Christ, and taught jus, abou, the same things. Might not some of the christian ministers defend their plagiaristic prac- ,ices by referring to Chris,'s golden rule, which was almost identical to the word with the golden rule of Confucius whatsoever ye would not that men do unto you do ye not so unto them?' Take out the not and you have the christian text. Now, as for idola,ry, l can tell you where that idea came from. In almos,