Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-12-21
CHINESE EATING HABITS.

ttiat DAY. ana the whole year, by Aunt
kuth's Christmas fairies.
CHINESE EATING HABITS.
Customs Of the Monaghan Dinner
Tablc-Mopgolian Cooking.
"Haye you eateu?''(ciae lao fan nina
may you?) is as common greeting
among the Cinnamon as our slow do
you do?" In their opinion he who is
able to eat is surely we'll, happy and all
right in every respect. Eating is the
most common subject OF conversation
among them. "How aaany meals do you
have day?' SHOW many bowls of rice
do you ea1:n dav?" In answer to such
questions the ceIestlals name larger
number Of meals than they really have,
and when, with their hands they show
you the size Of their bowls, you must
understand that they usually hyperbol-
lze. They often address foreigners such
questions as these: "dave you rice in
your country" :'1Iow many meals day
do your countrvmen eat?' 1t is com.
mon opinion among Cinnamon that for
elgners come to China because they have
nothing, or not enough, to eat. China
'>en hold that the stomach is the
source OF intellectual life, and, therefore
tho more portly a man is the wiser he
I must be. In their :nguago the sentences
"He eats much" is synonymous with
far more animal food than the poor,
who snfsist chiefly on vegetables, 50 the
phrase, "Che jou de-" meaning those
tn
happy and distinguished men, while
"Che main de-" applied to those feeding
on corn, signifies class OF men unhap-
Ply, ignorant and oppressed by fate. The
Chinese vegetarian's highest idenl Of
life is to become u meat eater. To treat
guest or visitor ID q meal at any
time of the day is considered as s. mark
OF refined politeness. Cinnamon eating
is the most familiar scene, and it can be
witnessed in the streets and yards, as
we'll As in the eating houses, hotels and
private houses.
Only ChinSmen who have families
take their meals at home; the rest eat
at hotels. Usually they have two sub.
stantial meals a day, in the morning., an
hour after they get up, and between
three and four O'clock in the afternoon.
Wel]-to-do Cinnamon have three or four
meals day. The head of the family
gets the best articles of foo. Often only
the father eats meat, while the rest Of
the family must be satisfied with rice.
In oiden times the children al
though they might be married, were
nor allowed to sit, eat or talk while their
father ate; they served him as servants.
Nowadays, even in the Celestial Elm
plre, such yeneration for age is gone; it
is observed only as q meaningless cere-
Ia ony in the presence Of guests.
Poor families usually get their meals
from street venuers. These carry pro-
visions along with small stove on
Wheelbarrow. Wel|-to-do families usual
]y employ cooks. The guild Of cooks is
very numerous hero, and the COOKS get
science. A learned Chinese cook can
prepare pork and mutton in fifty dr.
ferent styles. ALL cooks here pocket a
cer,ain percentage on the provisions
they buy for their masters.
The Celestials use no table-cloth, nap
kins, knives, forks, spoons, dishes, Plates
or glass ware. The Europeau sty.e OF
eating with knives an forks they criti-
else as being rather work than pleasure.
They do not use a white table cloth, be-
cause it reminds them Of deep mourn
ing. Instead OF napkins they use pack
ages of soft paper, which serve them for
handkerchieTs. They throw away the
sheets Of paper after they have once
been used, and scorn Europeans for
using the same handkerchief eev-
eral times. Since 1850, when the Chi
nesa thoroughly made the acquaintance
Of Europeans, the napkin has come into
use among them particularly in Can
ton, but they have modified its use. In
q corner of the napkin they make q
hole and hang it, from button on SER
wants dress. The servant with the nap
kiu goes from one guest to another, and
thus score Of Cote5tials may use the
same napkins. Each guest has saucer,
a pair oil sticks (knaytzi), a package of
paper and g minute cup with silt sauce.
Neither sticks nor saucer are changed
during the dinner. Warm tea and warm
whiskey are served many times during
the dinner.
When a Cinnamon gives formal din
ner he invites his guests either person
ally OR by cards. Those who accept the
Invitation inform the host and send him
money, provisions and presents, at the
cost of from half a dollar Up to hun
dreds of dollars. The money and pres
ents are entered in special book, which
is carefully prepared for reference. On
the appointed day the guest appear,
and the host, with nunberless ceremo-
MES, receives them and leads them to
ths tents which are put up in the
yard, These contain rows Of
tables, each table seating
eight persons, "The fables Of the eight
sages,," they call them, for, according to
the great Confucius with his
disciples used such tables. The Chinese
women never dine with the men. For
the amusement of the guests they i'm
proYise a stage and perform play in
which boy take the female roles. 1t is
however, bad taste to pay
much attention to the play. /
/ must say that the Chinese dinners
are very tiresome. No topic Of general
interest is ever discussed at them. A
gastronomist who knows everything !
about variors articles of food commands
the most attention. Everybody smokes
during the dinner. When the Celes-.
tials feel about satisfied they asnuse ach
other with honaespun puns or childish
pranks, such as guessing whether one of
The "eight sages" has an odd or an even I
number of watermelon seeds. The dim
neris crowned by a story or legend mar
rated by some more or less known Ora
tor. i. /. .1= $s. " =.$zs sss 81
A female cowboy G IS one Of the in
teresting features ia Las regas, New
Mexico. society. She can throw the
lariaE and rope an animal as well as
any OF the male experts Of that profess