The Dawson journal., 1883-04-12
Chinese and Ans0glclns A Chap
ter of COntraritieS.
BY REV. sEI.AH BROWN.

lCd II "a HdIlOn OI people WHO are not OiiEN
our aatipodes in geographical position, hut
they differ from us in a multitude Of ways.
Not only are they asleep when we are
awake; not only is their midnight our noon
day, and their sunset cur sunrise. bul their
peculiar manners and eccentric customs
form very amusing chapter. Perhaps
however. we ought TO remember, wheG we
call them a peculiar people, that they cali
us the same, and say that we are the ones
that do things contrariwise. Still, to lis
they are very odd people.
We shake hands as saution: a China
man shakes hand with himself; that is. he
Stands at distance, and, clasping both
hands together, he shakes them up and
down at you-a good idea when one thinks
of the numerous sain diseases among
them. Instead of saying, Good morn
ing" or Chow do you do?" they saw
4'How old are you?" or 'Iiavc you eaten
yor rice?" They uncover the head as q
mark of respect: they keep their head COW
cred, bnt they take off their shoes as a
matter Of politeness. We shave the face:
they shave the head and eyebrows. We
have the patriarchal beard before; they
have the long pig-tail' behind We cut
our finger nails; they consider it quite aris-
tocratic to have nails from three to five
inches long, which they are obliged to
protect in silver cases. When broken of
they are used as medicine.
In matters Of dress John China nan fin
ishes where the rest off mankind begin.
His waistcoat is outside his coat, and his
drawers outside his pants. We blacken
our shoes; he whitens his, Our ladies'
compress the waist; theirs the feet. Our
women wear long dresses; theirs long
sleeves. In China the men carry the fans,
and the women wear the trousers.
In eating, their customs are in striking
contrast with ours We have soup as a
first course, and desert al last, they have
desert at first and soup at last. Tney ig
more knife and fork and spoon, and eat
with two chop-sticks,' both held in the
right hand. They abominate beef. milk.
butter and cheese; but eat puppies. cats,
rats, sbnd,s-nests, sharks fins aadssnails.
Americans want their wines ice-cold: the
Chinese drink theirs scalding hot. In our
land we drink our beautifully coIored
Young Hyson; in til land If tea they
leave out tie indigo and prussiau blue.
and wonder at the depraved taste that de-
mands 'doctored tea They not only
leave off the coloring, but always leave off
the milk and sugar
Their books are quite dissimilar TO ours.
Theirs begin just where ours end. We
read in lines; they in columns. We read
horizontally, from left to right; they per-
pendicularly, from top to bottom. Our
foot-notes are on the bottom of tee pace
theirs on the top. We print on both sides
OF the leaf, they only on one. but their
leaves are always double. We set cur vol
umes up on the end in our libraries; they
lay theirs down. We print with metal
type; they with wooden blocks In writ
ing we use a pen; they use a brush. We
hold our pen obiquely; they perpendicu-
larly. Our ink is fluid; theirs hard
cake. Their language has no alphahe
Ihe written language is not spoken. and
the spoken Language is not written. Two
men can converse in writing when they
cannot understand word of each other in
speaking. A Chinese school is a perfect
Babel. The pupiIs study out aloud. ca III
one at the top of his voice. and all at once.
When scholar recites he turns his back
to the teacher. This they call backing
the lesson
In America, young people prefer to do
their own counting, and engagements fer
marriage are made by the parties mos.
concerned. In China the parents wth
the help of 'go-between' select husbanbs
and wives for their children, and the par
ties often never see each other till tba
wedding is over. After marriage, instead
OF wedding trip, the bride is shut up as a
prisoner in her husbands home. audi does
not go out for month. In China, wive.
are always sold; in America, sometimes
the husband gets sold
In China, the funeral customs are often
directly the reverse of ours. In our coun.
try coffin would not be considered very
appropriate present; in the 'Flowery King
dom coffin is often given to parent OF
friend, while they are yet u perfect
health This is kept in the house for year.
and often used as a table or bench VIZ
60 In silence to the grave; they with great
noise and confusion We deposit our deaC
in cemeteries; with each family. has it,
separate place or seputure We bury il
the earth; they ON its surface. We put oul
inscriptions on the coffin: they put it or
the end. We choose shady place fol
burial; but no shadow must ever fall on .
Chinese grave. With us, black clothing il
badge Of mourning; with them, whit,
garments indioatefhe loss Of friends.
But where shall we end this chapter Of
contrarities and oddities? In that land O
oppostes it is the old men that fly kites
play marbles, walk on stilts, and pla,
shuttle-cock; and, to keep up their odC
way of doing things, they play the latte
with their feet, instead Of their hands. Ii
China, women do mems work, and mer
are the milliners,. dressmakers, and wash
erwomen Wlthus the right hand is the on,