The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-04-08
MARRYING 900 WIVES.
The Interesting and Peculiar Ways of CHI
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Ncw lo.'k LD,,rnni.

Ncr Iork J0uynal.
"a Chinese love letter, Have any
old fashioned Chinese love letters in my
trunk? Have I Il gil, edged Chinese bill.
let doux with monogram like 4 crows
track? There was never . love letter
written in Chinese. No Chinese maiden
ever penned billet ,lcux Or sent val
entine."
Rather sadly was this said by roman.
tic young Chinaman, Mr.. Hong Wing,
who lives in Mott street and is noted
among the Chinese for the skill with
which he plays on the mandolin.
"In China" continued he, "a man
never secs his wife until he hiss been
welded to her for life, and sometimes he
does not see her Their, for she may refuse
to remove her veil until three days have
elapsed after the wedding. If he doesn't
like her he caunot get Il divorce, but he
may marry another wfe, and then an.
other, and another, until he has gone
through the blindfo!d lottery often
enough to hit upon one that suits him.
In China every one may have as many
wives as he pleases, and | have known
men Of somewhat moderate means to
have six and eight wives. Some of the
Chinese Crnsuses have hundreds of them.
There was an old Chinese bachc!o. who
took it into his head to get married one
winter, and he married 200 wives before
he got through. The last wife is the
faYoritc, but the first wife is the boss"
eff man never sees his wife before
their wedding, how does he make love to
her?'
"He doesn't make lore to her. His
mother arrapges the match and his future
mother in.law makes love to him. tits
sour courtship. Children are formally
engaged to other children that they have
never seen at the tender age Of 0 and 10,
and after an engagement of 10 or -
years they get married"
"Does young Chinaman ever marry
his cousin ?"
"No, marriage of cousins was never
heard of in the whole Chinese Empire.
A man may no more marry his cousin in
China than in England. He may marry
his deceased wife's sister. You talk
about your old families here, and your
oldest families are only three generations
old. In Boston there are few families
four or FIVE generations old. In China
families are scvcnty-iiye and eighty gen.
erations old, and every member has a
complete record Of his ancestors for all
these generations. Now the remotest
kinship prevents marriage in China, and
if two families have the faintest imagin-
able kiuship seyenty-Gvc generations
back their children cannot marry. Not
only is this true, but people of the same
name, between whom the longest gencal-
ogy cannot show, trace of kinship, can.
not marry"
"What are the most common families
in your country?"
"The Cheus, the Wongs, and the Lees.
The Chens are the Smiths Of China, the
Wongs are the Joneses and the Lees are
the Browns. A Mr.. Chen would marry
Miss Wong, but lie wouldn't marry o
Miss Chen. Perhaps that is the reason
the old folks make the matches. Itiprc.
vents the Chens from falling in love with
one another"
care the Chinese ladies cultivated" ?"
"Oh, yes. They can read and write
and draw and paint aud embroider.
They never go out on the street with
their husbands. IF Chinese man and
woman were to walk arm-in.arm on the
street in their country as American men
and women do here they would be
mobbed. The women stay indoors. If
they go to visit their mothers they take
conveyance. Sometimes they may be
seen walking in the parks with their
children"
"You are married?"
"Yes."
"To Chinese lady?"
"No. To an American. | came to
this country when l was q boy IL years
old. Though 1 was 5000 miles from
China my mother betrothed me to little
Chinese girl whom 1 had never seen.
My mother used to write me how small
the Chinese girls feet were, and how
pretty she was, and what beautiful cat
like nose she had. When was 90 years
old my mother sent ME letter saying
that 1 was old enough to get married,
and must come back to China and marry
tue girl"
"What did you think about IL"
81 thought 1 was old enough to get
married, and SO fell heels over queue in
love with an American girl in Nevada
and married her. We had our picture
taken, and I sent it to my mother with
an account of the wedding, which l had
translated from au American newspaper
into Chinese"
"What happcned?"
"The next thing / knew my uncle and
four of my cousins came on from China
to the United States aud had me arrested
for bigamy. l was taken before a court
and tried. My uncle, my four cousins
and thirty.fve other Chinese witnesses
went on the stand and swore that had
wife in China"
"What did you think then?"
81 thought l was in = box, as you
Americans say. The Judge asked the
witnesses how old l was when left
China. They said l was IL years old.
He asked them if had married the girl
in China They replied that my mother
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