The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1886-04-16
CURIOUS CHINESE CUSTOMS.
An Amusing Lecture by an Oriental
Humor1Dt.


Yam Phon Lee, a young Chinaman
with q very dry way of saying very
funny things, stood in the hall of the
Young Mems Christian association
Tuesday evening, says The Brookly,,
Eagle, clad in the garb of his country.
men. and wearing the national cue with
a skull cap surmounting it. He talked
for an hour or more about Chinese Gus
toms, endeavoring to correct American
mistakes. When the lights went out
the map Of China shone out on big
sheet over the platform and Mr.. Yam
Phon Lee continued his lecture with
the aid of q stereopticon. He said in
part:
The first thing which strikes even the
casual observer in China is what to a
foreigner seems to be oddity in the peo-
pie and their customs. The contrast
between these and those prevailing i n
the western hemisphere has afforded an
endless topic for newspaper wit and
satire. This would not be the case il
tho origin sad meaning of Chinese Gus.
toms were understood by the gentle
men who make merry over them, for
their laughter arises from wonder, and
wonder, asa great writer says, is the
result of ignorance. Twill attempt to-
night not so much to trace these GUS
toms to their sources as to show their
right to exist-to show that their char
tor of liberty is still valid. Let us first
consider the customs which surround
the advent of those little angels which
we call babies. Under every bed in
China there is q 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 christening ccrc-
mony takes place and name is chosen
for the child. Names in China are not
conventional. They are taken from the
dictionary because of their happy mean
ing. For instance, take my name, it
means wealth through imperial favor
My grandfather had expectations of my
/ becoming great mandarin 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,
something like your "Reliable Insur-
ancc company" "Hop Sing means
"lit 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 custom Of giving
pigs feet and ginger to mother after
the birth of child. The pigs feet arc
boiled in ginger and are supposed to be
very nourishlng. About a month after
the birth of the child we have cere-
mony which we call the ..full moon. I"
1t is the custom then for friends and
relatives to make presents of cloth and
cakes and jewelry. Sometimes the
parents thereupon give a feast and send
back to the givers of presents slices of
roast pig, for roast pig is esteemed a
great dainty in China. The next event
in the child's life is the ceremony of
shaving when the embryo cue is form
ed. Americans have wrong notion
concerning the cues. 1t is merely worn
in China because it is q fashion, not be-
cause it has any religious significance.
i am frequently asked whether, if
went back to China, l would wear my
cue? Yes, 1 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? would
wear my cue in China because it would
be very uncomfortable for me to walk
through the streets there without it.
would be pelted with sticks and stones
and other substances, for the people
would say: ''That man is a Christian,
because he has given up Chinese fash
ions" Cinnamon got their cues in the
first place from the Manchu Tartars.
A civil war was reigning in China mt the
time, 1870, and the emperor of the Man
chus was invited to ally himself with
one OF. the chiefs. He did, and after he
conquered the common enemy he con-
quered his ally also. and became the
ruler of China. He introduced the cue
by force through an cdict by Which he
sentenced to decapitation all who would
not wear cues. So we got the cues
by force ut first. Since then it
has become popular and is now
the thing to wear in China. Our COS
tune also underwent very considerable
notifications at the hands of the Tar
tars. Previous to their coming the
dress of the Chinese was much more
pretty than it is now. I saw in Tile
lomth's Companion, not long ago, q
portrait of Confucius wearing u cue and
Il dress like this you see me wearing.
1t was about as appropriate as bangs
would be upon the mother of the
tiracchi. [Laughter.l 1t is very hard for
children to learn the Chinese language
because il consists of words of one syl-
liable only. As there are forty thousand
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 q dozen different meanings
each and some with even more. 1t is
hard also to learn our written language,
because there are rs many characters
as there are words. These characters
were pictures of the objects meant by
the words in the first place. but they
have been greatly modified, and could
not DE recognized as the pictures of
anything now. You hear it said that
children turn their backs on the teach
cr when they recite. They do; there is
no catechising of children in the Chin
esc schools; they simply learn thing
by heart and 60 up and repeat it. They
turn their backs so that they may not
be able to see the lesson. The ferrulc
is frequently used in Chinese schools,
though it has long been banished from
those of America. The teacher will
prompt once or twice, but the third
time his ferrule comes down. So that
the education of boys and girls in China
proceeds under considerable difficulty.
Girls 60 to school till they are IL or i2
years of age. 1t is not deemed neces-
sary for them to know as much as the
boys. If they can write letters to their
iianccs they will do very well.
The Doctor Nonplused.
A little fellow happened into DIR.
Hutchins' office few days ago on an
errand. The physician looked him over