The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1884-09-27
CHINA AT HOME.
Domestic Habits of the Country Where
the War is to be Waged.
New York Herald.

New York Herald.
China is the country of long tresses
and short feet; a country where tea is
drank without milk or sugar and where
two little ivory sticks, skillfully handled
between the finger and thumb, replaces
the fork and spoon; a country where
you call the first man you meet your
elder brother; where to ask a boot
maker his address it is necessary to in
quire "what noble place" he inhabits;
country where the creditor has the
right to make an insolvent debtor pay
his bill with a piece of his flesh, and
where the debtor, by way of revenge,
hangs himself at his creditors door; a.
country where the son ruins himself to
buy coffin for his dead father, and,
covered with a hempen garment, walks
backward as he follows his sumptuous
funeral; country where people work
for their rice instead of working for
their bread, but which is of earth and
not of lacquer work and porcelain; and
where, as in other countries, the hus-
band loves his wife and the orange-col-
ored mother loves her slant-eyed chill
dren.
1t is q country, moreover, where the
bride attaches great Importance to the
personal appearance of the bridegroom,
and the bridegroom equal Importance
to the moral qualities Of the bride; and
the basis of many Chinese dramas, as
of dramas in other parts of the world.
is the passion of love. Women have
been forbidden to appear on the stage
since the days when celebrated ac-
tress inspired the emperor with fatal
caprice. The men, who undertake
female as well as male parts, play with
good expression, and use superabund-
ance of gestures, some of which, though
derived from the observation of reality,
have at last acquired purely conven1
tional value. An actor who, pIvotin&
GU his left foot, makes a circular move
ment with his right, is understood 10 be
getting on horseback. To cut the air
with a riding whip is to indicate,
through the connection of cause with
effect, galloping pace. The exhibit
ton of pieces of gold cloth with wheels
painted on them has almost an arbi-
trary meaning, and signifies that the
emperor is coming.
Etiquette is rigidly observed. A
young girl walking in the street must
not turn her head round; nor at home
is she to glance sly at visitors. She is
to remember, moreover, that girls who
are always laughing and talking are
not esteemed, and that virtuous women
have been honored from the earliest
times. The philosophic Mendzer
grieved when he saw his mother
break her shuttle; the woman Tsoun
threw herself onto sword in order to
save her husbands life; the mother OF
40, being so poor that she could not
buy writing materials, taught her son
to read by tracing characters in the
sand. Women should be able to read,
write and use the counting machine, so
as to be held in position to direct a.
household. They should read books OF
piety and stories of morality in action,
while avoiding love poetry, songs and
anecdotes. Women should be re-
served; and they are cruelty enjoined
never TO occupy themselves with other
peoples affairs. Men ought never to
talk of domestic matters, while women
should never talk of anything else.
When visitor is in the drawing room,
the lady of the house should not be
heard raising her voice in the kitchen.
Women are not 10 paint their faces and
wear striking colors, for the INSULT
Gent reasen that if they do men will
look at them. Young women, as well
as young men, are to be dutiful to their
parents, and always in a good humor,
even when their father and mother are
not.
China is, in short, a country of prim-
tive manners and primitive morals,
very simple tranquil, and picturesque.