The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1886-03-27
CHILDHOOD OF THE CHINESE.
A Chinese Lecturers Dry Way of Saying
Some Very Funny Things.

0~~~"~~"~ ~|~~~N~~~~
Some Very Funny Things.
The first thing which strikes even the
casual observer in China is what to a for
eigner seems to be oddity in the people
and their customs. The contrast be-
tween these and those prevailing in tho
western hemisphere has afforded an end
less topic for newspaper wit and satire.
This would not be the case il the origin
and meaning of Chinese customs were
understood by the gentlemen who make
merry over them, for their laughter
arises from wonder, and wonder, as a
great writer says, is the result of ignor-
ance. | will attempt tonight not SO
much to trace those customs to their
sources as TO show their right to exist
to show that their charter of liberty is
still valid. Let us first consider the Gus
toms which surround the advent of those
little angels which we call babies. I'm
der every bed in China there is little
idol and censor, dedicated to Poo Paw,
or auntie. This takes the place of the
maiden aunt in China, for we have no
maiden aunts there. Laughter She
is supposed to protect every baby. This,
of course, is part of our superstition.
A few days after the birth christen-
ing ceremony takes place and name is
chosen fer the child. Names in China
are not conventional. They are taken
from the dictionary because of their
happy meaning. For instance, take my
name, it means wealth through imperial
favor. My grandfather had expectations
ofmy becoming agreatmandarin through
the bounty of the emperor. OF course
you see that his expectations were not
realized. Laughter. Those names
which you see on the fronts of Chinese
shops are not the names of people. They
are business titles or notices, some
thing like your Reliable insurance
company Hop Sing" means aft to
prosper" A drug store bearing the
sign "Chung Sing Yong" means Long
life to ALL" Lung Fat" does not mean
that the owner Of the sign has fat lungs;
it signifies prosper and get rich" We
have a custom of giving pigs feet and
ginger to a mother after the birth of a
child. The pigs feet are boiled in ginger
and are supposed to be very nourishing.
About a month after the birth of the
child we have a ceremony which we call
the "fulI moon.n 1t is the custom then
for friends and relatives 10 make pres
ents of cloth and cakes and iewelry.
Sometimes the parents thereupon give a
feast and send back to the givers of pres
ents slices of roast pig, for roast pig is
esteemed great dainty in China.
The next event in the child's life is the
| ceremony of shaving when the embryo
cue is formed. Americans have wrong
notion concerning the cue. 1t is merely
worn in China because it is a fashion, not
because it has any religious significance.
am frequently asked whether, if went
back to China, would wear my cue9
Yes, would, but not growing upon my
head. What is to prevent my wearing
it like this taking off his skull cap with
the cue attached)? l would wearm cue
in China because it would be very I'M
comfortable for me to walk through the
streets there without it. l would be
pelted with sticks and stones, and other
substances, for the people would say:
"That man is Christian, because he has
given up Chinese fashions" Cinnamon
got their cues in the first place from the
Manchu Tartars. A civil war was reign
ing in China at the time, 1870, and the
emperor of the Manchus was invited to
ally himself with one of the chiefs. He
did; and after he conquered the common
enemy he conquered his ally also, and
became the ruler of China. He intro
duced the cue by force through an edict
by which he sentenced to decapitation all
who would not wear cues. So we got
the cue by force at first. Since then it
has become popular and is now the thing
TO wear in China. Our costume also UNI
derwent very considerable notifications
at the hands of the Tartars. Previous To
their coming the dress of the Chinese
was much more pretty than it is now.
1t is very hard for children to learn
the Chinese language because it consists
of words of one syllable only. AS there
are 10000 words in use and as the organs
of speech are limited as to the variety Of
sounds they can make we have many
words with dozen different meanings
each and some with even more. 1t il
hard also TO learn our written language
because there are as many characters az
there are words. These characters wer,
pictures of the objects meant by tn,
words in the first place, but they hav,
been greatly modified, and could not b,
recognized as the pictures of anything
now. You hear it said that children turn
their backs ON the teacher when they re
cite. They do; there is no catechisinl
of the children in the Chinese schools
, they simply learn a thing by heart an'
/ go up and repeat it. They turn thei
} backs so that they may not be able Il
see the lesson. The ferrule is frequent,
used in Chinese schools, though it la
long been banished from those of Amer
lea. The teacher will prompt once o
twice, but the third time his ferrul
: comes down. So that the education @
boys and girls in China proceeds unde
! considerable difficulty. Girls go to schoC
till they are II or 10 years of age. 1t
not deemed necessary for them to kno1
as much as the oys.-Brooklyn Eagle
= The Pig in Cape Breton Households.
a The pig is sometimes a member of tn
e Cape Breton household in regard to be
< and board.
. A minister at a wedding remained a
e night and was given low cot-bed in IL
living room. In the night he WI
startled at finding some one getting I'M
his bed, and soon felt it to be the p
e nesting down against his back. +
= tried TO drive it out, but the outrage
il animal would not CO.
}. The noise of the fight brought ii
C householder, and he explained that
g was the habit of the pig to come into b.
It with them on cold nights, and assure
= the reve,ned pentlenan that IL would ,