, 1886-04-09
cnILpnoop OF TIE CHINESE.


I less toplcfor neWspaper twit anu satirs-'
This would not be thu. casa -n-the-o origin.
and meaning Of Chinese customs were
understood by the gentlsmsn who make
merry over them for their laughter
arises from wonder, and wonder, as a
great writer says, is the result OF ignor-
ance.li will attempt tonight not so
much 10 trzce those customs to their
sources as TO showztheir rightoto 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 everyrbed in China thereii is "a little
idol and censor. dedicatedt to- Poo Paw,
or ~auntie, This takes the place of the
maiden aunt in CHINA for We have no
maiden apnts there: Ianghter,L She
is supposed to protect every baby. This,
OF course, Is apart of our superstitione..
A few d~aysiaftsr the birth a chfistehI
ing ceremony takes place and a ane is
chosen for 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 mean .wealth through imperial
favor. My grandfather had expectations
OF my becoming agreat mandarin through
the bounty Of the emperor, OF course
you see that his expectations were not
realized. sLaughter. Those names
which YOU see on the fronts of Chinese
shops are not the names Of people. They
are business titles or notices, SOME
company" Hop Sing" means -it, TO
prosper" A drug store bearing the
sign ~Chung Sing Yong means tALong
life to all. ssi-Lung Fat does not mean
that the owner of the sign has f~atlunes;
it signifies prosper and get rich We
have a custom Of giving pigs feet and
ginger toa mother after the birth of a
child. The pigs feet are boiled in ginger
and are supposed to- be very n~ourishing.
About a month after the birth of the
child we have a ceremony which we call
the full moon 1t is the custom then
for friends and relatives to make pres
ents Of cloth and cakes and iewelry.
Sometimes ~the,parents thereupon give a
feast andlsend back to h givors of pres
ents slices of roast pig. for roast pig is
esteemed a great dainty in China. gfn.uI
The next event in the child's life Is the
ceremony OF shaving when the embryo
cue is formed. Americans nave a wrong
notion CONCERNING the cue. Its merely
worn in China because it is n fashion, not
because it has any religious significance.
I am frequently asked whether, if | went
back to China, I would wear my cues
Yes, I would, but not growing upon my
head. Whati is to prevent my wearing
it like this taking off his skull cap with
the cue attached)? l would wearmy 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 a 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 thecommon
enemy be 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 decapitationa1
who would not wear cues. loiSo we got
the cue by force at first. q Since then it
has become popular and 10 now the thing
to wear in China. Our costume also un-
derwent very considerable notifications
at the hands OF the Taitars. Previous to.
their coming the dress of the Chinese
was much more pretty than 1t is now. as
1t is very hard for ohildrendto learn
the Chinese language because it consists
Of words of one syllable only. As there
are 40, 900 words IN use and as the organs
Of speech are limited as to the variety Of
sounds they cam make we have many
words with a dozen different meanings
each and some with even more, 1t is
hard also to learn our written language,
because there are as 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 be
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 c~atechising
OF the children in the Chinese schools;
they simply, learn q thing by heart and
90 up and repeat it. They turn their
backs so that they may not be able to
see the lesson. The ferrule ~ frequently
used in Chinese schools thoughnita has
long been, banished from those of Amer
lea. The teacher will prompt opce or
twice, but the third time his ferrule
comes down. 50 that the education Of
boys and girls in China proceeds under
considerable difficulty. Girls go 10 school
till they are IL Or l2 years of agelIt is
not deemed necessary for them TO know
IS much as the boys.-Brooklyp Eagle,
The Pig in CAPS BEetsn Hoaseholds. .
The pig is sometimes a member Of the
Cape breton household in regard to bed