Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-03-09
Chinese and American.
VAADCoG uuU AmtIIC8UH.
Tine Rev. Selah Brown I'm the New York c,hr
Hara

only our antipodes in geographical position.
but they differ from us in a multitude of
ways. Not only are they asleep when we
are awake; not only is their midnight our
noonday, and their sunset our sunrise: but
their peculiar manners and eccentric cus-
toms form very amusing chapter. Per-
haps, ,howeyer,we ought to remember when
we call them peculiar people, that they
call us the same, and say that we are the
ones that do things contrariwise. Still,to ,s
they are a very odd people.
We shake hands as a salutation: China
man shakes hands with himself; that is, he
stands at distance, and, ,claping both hands
together, he shakes them up and down at
you-a good idea when one thinks of the
numerous skin diseases among them. In
stead of saying, "Good morning. or "How
do you do?" thsy say, How old are you?''
or "Have you eaten your riceg" We un-
cover the head as mark Of respect; they
keep their heads covered, but take off their
shoes as 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 c,t
our finger-nails; they consider it quite aris-
tocratic to have nails from three to five
inches long, which they are obliged to pro-
tect in silver cases. When broken of, they
are used as medicine.
tfnF Of Iroc1 Irl., e
ishes where the rest of mankind begin.
His waistcoat is outside his coat, and his
drawers outside his pants. We bIacken our
shoes he whit them. Our ladies COM
press the waist; theirs the feet. Our wo.
men 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 dessert at last; they have des-
sert at first, and soup at last. They ignore
knife, 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, birds
nests, sharks fins and, snails. Americans
want their wines ice cold; the Chinese
drink theirs scalding hot. In our land we
drink our beautifully colored {" Young Hy-
son." in the land of tea they leave out the
indigo and prussian blue, and wonder at
the deprived taste that demands 'doctored
tea" They not only leave off the color, but
always leave out the milk and sugar.
Their books are also 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
perpendicularly, from top TO bottom. Our
foot-notes are on the bottom of the page:
theirs on the top. We print on both sides
OF the leaf; they on only one, but their
leaves are always double. We set our vol.
umes up OIL end in our libraries; they lay
theirs down. We print with metal type
they with wooden blocks. In writing we use
a pen; they brush. We hold orr pen OBJ
lliquely; they perpendicularly. Our ink is
a fluid; theirs a hard cake. Their language
has no alphabet. The written language is
not spoken, and the spoken language Is not
written. Two men can converse III writ.
ing when they cannot understand a word
of each other IN speaking. A Chinese school
Is perfect Babel. The pupils study Out
loud, each one at the top of his voice, and
all at once. When a scholar recites he
turns his back to the teacher. This they
call "backing the lesson"
|, In America, young people prefer to dc
their own cOurting, and engagements fol
marriage are made by the parties most con
cerned. In China, the parents, with thu
help Of "go-betweens," select husband,
, and wives for their children, and tn,
parties often never see each other till tn,
wedding is over. After marriage, instead
Of wedding trip, the bride is shut up a!
prisoner in her husbands home, and doe
not 60 out for a month. In China, wive
, are always sold; in America, sometime
. the husband gets '.sold."
In China, the funeral customs are Otter
directly the reverse of ours. In our coun
r try coffin would not be considered yer,
5 appropriate present; in the .Flowery King
dom," coffin is often given to parent o
friend, while they are yet in perfec
health. This is kept in the house for year.
, and often used as a table or a bench. w
: go In silence to the grave; they with grea
d noise and confusion. We deposit our dea
in cemeteries; with them each family h,
!, its separate place of sepulture. We bur
q in the earth; they on its surface. We pu
= our inscriptions on the top of the coffin
d they on the end. We choose shady plac
for burial ibut no shade must ever fall on
= Chinese grave. With us, black clothing
badge of mourning; with them, viii,
garments indicate the loss of friends:
: = But where shall we end this chapter {
a contraries and oddities? In tn at land Z
>, opposites it is the old men that fly kite
g play marbles, walk on stilts, and plar
= shuttle-cecki and to keep up their cd
\ way Of doing things they play the latts
y with their feet instead of their hands. I
r China. women do mems work, and men al
9 the milliners, dressmakers, and washerwc
= men. With us the right hand is the plac
of honor; with them it is the left. In datir
n letters we place the year last; they wri
= the year first. Instead of saying, '.Nortl
4 east" or Southwest" they say sEas
n north" and "Westsouth." They alwa,
le soeak of the rnariner,s counuass (fi,oir o,x