The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-05-14
CHINESE ETIQUETTE.


The Mongoiian's Ideas OF What Constitutes
Correct Conduct.
As BELTS the oldest people in the
world the Chinese are the most polite
Indeed, they have etiquette TO such a
science that nothing has escaped its
rigid rules, and every Chinaman is
bound by traditional ceremony from the
day he takes his first step until the day
of his death. .Liki." or sRules of Be
hayior," is a classic work, and no re-
spectacle Chinese home is without it.
As to visits, the manual directs, among
other things, that the master of the
house must advance outside DO meet his
guest, who will refuse to enter the door
first; the host, after profound bow, then
enters at the side of the guest.
The door passed, the same trouble oc-
ours about going up stairs. 1t is only
afterea long exchange of compliments
that the two walk up side by side, but
even then the visitor must mount the
first step with his right foot and the
host with his left foot. Cinnamon who
failed to observe this ceremonial would
be considered without breeding.
If the visitor is invited to dinner, Gus
tom orders that when the invitation is
given he shall receive from the host GER
tain advice as to conduct, such as: DO
not eat with noise; do not crunch the
bones with your teeth, or drink down
the sauces at gulp" This is said seri-
ously and seriously received. If the
master of the house is a person of inn
portance and offers to his guest fruit
with stones or pits, such as peaches and
cherries, the guest must put the pits in
his pocket in order not to appear to re-
fuse anything the host is good enough
to offer.
If melon is served, the manner of
cutting it depends upon the caste to
which the cutter belongs.
Sentiments are regulated by custom,
as we'll as by their expression. Thus,
If in the course of d visit refreshments
are offered to the guest, he must drink
the first cup with an air of profound
thought" the second with q satisfied
expression"
The "Li-Ki" has many pages devoted
to the ceremonial of mourning. Grief
must attain its height at the return
from theTfuneral.
The code says: "When father has
died the son must seem to be completely
overwhelmed; when the body has been
replaced in the coffin, he should cast
around. him rapid glances Of affiiction,
as if he sought for something he could
not find. After the burial he should ap-
pear uneasy and alarmed as II waiting
for some one who does not come. At
the end of the first year of mourning
he should appear sad; at the end of the
second year. uneasy"
Lamentations are restricted to certain
hours and places. At certain times the
mourner must bare his breast and jump
up and down. elf mourning for q dis
tant relative it is sufficient for him to
pretend to jump. Consolation is also
melted out by rnIc-
The "Li-Kis mentions q woman
named King Kiang, who was 30 we'll
bred that, having lost both husband and
son, she mourned fer her son day and
night, and for her husband by day only.
Irregularity in ceremonial Is to
mourning is regarded with such disfa-
vor that the ''Li-Kiv observes:
s III Is better not to mourn at all than
qmonrn after an Improper fashion and
10 Improper dress. ~ Golden Days 4