The Russellville Democrat., 1884-04-24
! How ChInansen Eat

' \
 Hsdu Vou?) is as common greeting
 among the Chinamen as our "How dc
 you do?'r In their opinion, he who it
 able to eat is surely well. happy, and
 all right. in every respect. Eating is the most common subject of cUnversa'
 ton among them: How many meals q day have youp" s'Iow many bowls
 of rice do you eat in a day?'' In an swer to such questions the Celestials always name a larger numper of meals than they really have, and when, with their hands, they show you the size oi their bowls, you must understand that they usually hyperbolize. They often address foreigners. such questions as these: ~Have you rice in your coun- try?" ssHow many meals a day do youi countrymen eat2" 1t Is e common opinion among Chinamen that fnreign- CTS ccme to China because they have nothing. or not enough, to eat at home.
 Chinamen hold that the stomach is the source of intellectual life, and, therefore, the more portly man is the wiser he must be- In their language the sentence, ssHe eats much, is synonymous with s.He is wise man. " As the rich eat far more animal food than the poor, who subsist chiefly on vegetables. so the phrase, "CHe jon de, 2 meaning those feeding upon meat, is applied to wise, happy, and dstin- guished men, while .(Ge mids, de.vqap. piled to those feeding upon corn, s,g gni- fies A class of men unhappy, ignorant, and oppressed by fate, The Chinese vegetarian's highest ideal of life is to become a meat-eater.
 To treat a guest or a visitor to a meal at any time of the day is considered here as mark of refined politeness. Chiaamen eating is the most familiar scene here, and it can be witnessed in the streets and yards, as well as in the eating houses and private houses.
 Only Chinamen who have families take their meals at home: the rest cat at hotels. Usually they have two sub stantial meals a day, inthe morning, ah hour after tleyget up, and between three and four clock, p. m. Well-to- do Chinamen have three or four meals a day. The head of the family gets the best articles of food. Often only the father eats meat, while the rest of the family must be satisfied with rice. In olden times the children, although they might be married, were not 'al- lowed to either eat, sit. or talk while their father ate; they served him as serv- ants. Nowadays, even in the Celestial Empire, such veneration for age is gone; 1t is observed only as meaningless ceremony in the presence of guests.
 Poor families usually get their meals from street vendors. These carry pro- visions along with small stove on x wheelbarrow. Well-to-do families usu- ally employ cooks. The guild of cooks is very numerous here, and the cooks get their degrees and diplomas like men of science A learned Chinese cook can prepare pork and mutton in fifty differ ent styles. All cooks here pocket q cer- tain percentage on the provisions they buy for their masters.
 The Celestials use no table-cloth, napkins, knives, forks, spoons, dishes, plates or glassware. The European style of ealing with knives and forks they eriticise as being rather work than pleasure They do not use white table-cloth, because it reminds them of deep mourning, Instead of napkins they use packages of thin, soft paper, which serve them also for handker- chiefs. They throw away the sheets of paper after they have once been, used, and scorn Europeans for using the same handkerchief several times. Since 1920, when the Chinese thoroughly made the acquaintance of Europeans, the napkin has come into use among them, partic- ularly in Canton, but they have modi- fiedits use. In corner of the napkin they make a hole and hang it from a button on a servants dress. The serv- ant with the napkin goes from one guest to another, and thus a score of Celes- tials may use the same napkin. Each guest has a saucer, pair of sticks Ikuaytzi), a package of paper and a minute cup with salt sauce. Neither sticks nor saucer are changed during the dinner. Warm tea and warm whisky are served many times during the dinner. ,is1 s., 6,4a a8.s.a.1-
 When a Chinamap gives formal dinner he invites his guests either per sonally or by cards. Those who accept the invitation inform the host and send him money, provisions and presents, at the cost of from half dollar up to hun. dreds of dollars. The money and pres- ents are entered in . special book which is carefully preserved for reference. On the appointed day the guests appear, and the host with numberless cere- monies receives them and leads them 10 the tents which are put mp in the yard. These contain rows of tables, ea h table seating eight persons. 'sThe tables of the eight sages. they call them, for, ac .ord,ng to tradition, the great Con- fucius with Lis disciples used such ta- bles. The Chinese women never dine with the men. For the amusement of the guests they improyise stage and perform . play in which boys take the female roles. It Is considered, howev- er, bad taste to pay much attention to the play.---Pskin Cor. St. Petersburg Messenger.
 ] Chinese ksensing Spirits.