Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-09-21
Mha, The ChInamen Ea,.


A recent Peking letter to the ST. Petersburg
Messenger says: To be able to eat well
means, IN the Chinamen's opinion, to be hap
py. All his cares, troubles and desires ceutre
| in 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 satiated man can be wise, and
those who cannot make themselves full aro
surely fools. Their most sacred philosophical
and medical treatises deal with the stomach
as the principal source Of the spiritual, neral
and physical life Of man. The head, in their
opinion, is a poor dependent on the bounty
of the stomach. Not the head, but the stom.
ach, ought to be crowned. They hold as a
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 as a clever trick
They assert that the American doctor deceiv-
ed the public by drinking some colorless uu-
| tritious substances dissolved in water. Other
wise, they argue, he would necessarily .prn
first an idiot aud then corpse.
When weponderon some difficult subject We
often touch or rub our forehead. Under the
same circumstances the Chinamsu puts his
fingers below his belt By touching his abdo-
men he facilitates his mental process. In
view Of the supremacy of the stomach the
Chinese came to the conclusion that the bet
ter it is filed the wiser is its possessor hence
fatness aud corpulence is the best mirror Of
the mind, the best indication Of superior in
| tellect. And, as wisdom brings man 10
blissful state and TO heavenly beatitude,
therefore the Cinnamon regard extraordinary
| stoutness as a symbol of the future heavenly
state. The idol of Buddha- Shahemuny the
| ideal of supreme beatitude, is represented
| an abnormally fat man, with a smile of per
feet satisfaction. There is no need to put any
sign under that idol, for without words every
body would read in its looks that Il am quite
| full" The superior spiritual advisers of the
Buddhists are distinguished for their corpu-
lence. l am told there are divines among
| them who devour whole sheep for break
fast No wonder they regard the severe fast
ing of the Christian hermts as a hopeless
| folly.
Now, what are the agencies which bring
| the Chinaman to his blissfu state They are
manifold yet beef, milk and dairy products
| in general are strictly excluded from the list.
| About twenty centuries ago in the Celestial
Empire there was established OK worship, as
reward for the great assistance in agricul-
| ture rendered by that horned animal Then
became also a sacred habit to leave the cows
milk to the calves to whom it rightfully be-
| longed. Cinnamon do not use the milk of
sheep or she goats, thou gh they are very
fond of the meat of these animals. But, then,
| they are exceedingly fond of woman's milk.
The well to do parents often keep wet nuraes
for their children up to the Sc yenth and even
ninth year Sometimes even men of age, and
particularly old men, resort to woman's milk
| 81 g t,,,-. 4.
means. Among rich Cinnamon it is a point
Of pride 10 keep a number of wet nurses. OF
the rich Celestial it may be truly said that
"he is worth so many wet nurses" as of the
| ricb Mohammedan that "he is worth so many
wives" or Of the American that "he is worth
so many dollars" No Chinese woman would
milk COW, for such practice in her opinion
would stain forever her chastity.
Excluding beef and dairy products, China
men eat everything that is edible horse and
ass flesh, snakes, rats, mice, dogs, grasshop-
pers, spiders, worms, cocoons, sea cucumb
ers, swallows nests and so on. Once, while
living in villa near Peking, | saw very
strange scene. There appeared a cloud OF
grasshoppers. Suddenly the field was cover
ed with Cinnamon, who ran frantioally bither
and thither, gathering them in. They filed
large sacks and bags with the insects. They
carried portable stoves, on which they roasted
their curious game. Other Cinnamon greed
lily devoured the grasshoppers, paying pen
ny for ten.
At the head of all meats Cinnamon put, Of
course, pork In their opinion, to the hog
belongs the first place in the list OF dom este
animals. If you ask Chinaman why, he will
answer you proudly Because ii was the
hog from whom the Cinnamon descended n'
Don't you see, the Celestials have beaten Dar.
win on the theory of the descent OF man. 1t
is only natural, then, that among Cinnamon
hogs should enjoy full rights OF citizenship
Like dogs, they wander wherever they please.
A Chinese street without number OF hogs is
an impossibility. Are there many hogs in
China? l should think so. On a single hol.
iday ia memory of their anoestors-nOt the
original ancestors, the hogs, but merely hu-
man ancestors-the Oelestials eat fully $50,
600 hogs. l must admit that Chinese porh is
superior to any found elsewhere on the globe.
Poor Cinnamon who cannot afford to buy
pork eat meat of dogs, horses, asses, rats,
mice, rabbits, hares, goats and sheep but
never saw them eating cats
or birds the Chinese eat silver pheasants,
ducks, geese, chickens, jackdaws, crows and
many others. Curiously enough, the so call
ed 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 fms Of sharks aud the
nests of sea swallows. Under the latter ID
understood not the whole nests, but only the
! muoilaginous inner coating Of the nests. II