Bridgeton pioneer., 1884-10-09
CURIOUS CELESTIAL CUSTOMS.
Methods Which Are the Opposite OF
the Anglo-Saxon's Ways.

In an exceedingly entertaining passage
| Or. Taylorssummons up the differences
between the Chinese and ourselves so
far as the opposite ways of doing things
are concerned.
They shave the hair from the head
instead of the face after they reach man
hood. The lather brush looks like our
tooth brush, and they use only warm
water without soap. They not only always
Dathe and wash in warm water, but
also drink warm water in preference to
cold. They begin at the end of a book
to read and read from the top to the
bottom, beginning on the right hand,
instead of across the page beginning at
the left. Explanatory notes are always
at the top instead of the bottom of the
page. The title Of book is always at
the outer margin instead of at the top.
The leaves are all doubled and printed
on both sides instead of single and
printed on both. The pupils in school
study as loud as they can scream, in
stead Of silently, and in reciting stand
with the back to the teacher instead of
the face. They locate the seat of intelli
gence in the stomach instead of the
head.
said to point to the south, and in nam
ing the cardinal points they say east,
south, west, north. Instead of south
east and northwest, they always say
east-south and west-north. Mating is
used on the beds instead of on the floors,
and they use hard pillows, gener
ally a block of wood, instead
of soft. Long nails are ornamental;
if three or four inches, they are
of quite an aristocratic length. They
put the given name, or the title after
the family name instead of before it, so
it would be Smith, Mister instead of
NJ. Smith. 1t is impolite to take off
your hat in the house, but the height of
respect to remove your shoes. They
plaster and whitewash their houses on
the outside instead of on the inside, and
it is strong mark of fillial regard for
son to buy a coffin for his still living
father. When man becomes able,
one of the first articles of furniture he
buys is his own coffin, and it is often
used as a bench or table for years.
When it becomes tenanted, it is fire.
quently kept in the house many years
longer instead of being taken out and
buried, and when thus taken out it is
placed on top of the ground and the
earth heaped over it in a mound. The
inscription is always on the end instead
of the top of the coffin, and all the
mourners wear white instead of black.
At funerals women must weep even if
they are not grieved; men must not if
they are
"More lanterns are carried at full
moon than at any other time, and wood
and water are sold by weight instead of
measure. At dinner the dessert is al
ways eaten first. The seat of honor is
on the left hand instead of the right, the
boots and shoes are higher at the toes
than at the heels, made of cloth instead
of leather, and are whitened instead of
blacked. In laying floors they lay the
plank with the smooth surface down on
timbers, while the upper is left rough
and unplaned. In drinking tea, the
saucer is placed on the top of the cup in
stead of under the bottom. They kill
themselves to be revenged on an en-
emy. Men wear gowns, petticoats,
beads, embroidery, garters and corsets,
and women wear pantaloons. They al
ways mount horse on the wrong side,
and women ride the same as the men.
Military officers carry fans instead of
pistols. The plumes on their caps are
at the back, and hang down, instead of
being at the front and standing up. In
battle they wait for the ship to move in
line with the cannon, instead of NOV
ing the gun in the direction of the ship.
In the dress of the men, the drawers are
large and loose at the bottom and have
no strings, while the pants are as tight
as the skin, and tied round the ankles
Among US, young men and women
choose for themselves and do their own
courting when they become grown; in
China this is all done for them by their
parents while they are infants. With us
ladies have the preference; with them
gentlemen. We educate our wives,
sisters and daughters and bring them
forward in society; they degrade theirs,
keep them in ignorance and out of sight.
Women there have their feet always
hound, their waists never. The circum-
ference of their dresses is greatest at the
waist and least at the ankles. They
wear their breastpins on their foreheads.
The young lady goes to the residence
of her betrothed to be married,
and weeps and walls along the
whole way to her wedding. They
always have feasting and music at fu-
nerals, and eat green plums rather than
ripe ones. They abominate milk, but
relish castor oil, snails, seaworms, bird
nests and some kinds of caterpillars.
They shave off nearly the whole of their
eyebrows, leaving mere pencil of hair,
while that on the opposite side of the
head is allowed to grow till it reaches
the ground. Men are often furnished
with feather breeches and put to incu-
batting chickens. Nearly all the duties
of the household are performed by men
and those of the field by women. In
word they nearly as possible reverse the
entire order of things from the way we
have been accustomed to do them, and
in every respect are our antipodes." )"