Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-02-18
CHINESE ETIQUETTE.

q yearly audience to all foreign Minis
ters.
That is not much in itself, says the
New York Sun, but, taken with q SINH
lar piece Of news from Siam q few
months ago that the King had decreed
that his mobiles need no longer approach
him ON their stomachs, It goes to indi-
cate that TShat we call Western civiliZa-
ton Is beginning to work even among
the most conservative Of peoples
The Emperor Of China is the might
lest Of all rulers, in his own estimation.
He is 1.-THE Son Of Heaven and Father
of His People," equal to the gods whom
he graciously consents to worship, and
quite above the necessity Of being po-
lite to representatives Of foreign Gov
ernments. So, only occasionally, when
he feels as If he'd like to look at the
foreign DEVILS" has he ever granted
audiences to the Ambassadors and Min
listers from other countries; and his new
departure is, therefore, particularly
striking, and in it's nature q very strong
precedent for his successors. In fact, if
he really does as he says he will do, his
successors will have to follow HIM; for
the customs Of the Chinese are as the
alter not, unless the Emperor has O
mind to change them.
A feature of the so-called audiences"
which up to 1878 were granted to the
foreign Ministers, was the ceremony Of
the kowtow, insisted on by the Chinese
court functionaries,ge generally resisted by
the foreign Ministers, occasionally, and
since 1873 always, graciously waived by
the son of heaven and the father of his
people. It was an abasement to the
ground of the body Of q person APP
preaching the Majesty of China, and
knocking of the head Of that person
upon the ground a certain number of
times to satisfy the demand of court
etiquette; and, like so many other
things in China, it was founded by Con-
fucius, though the sage's book, "Li-Ki,"
doesn't say a word about it.
The word kowtow lit is spelled also
kotow, kotou, kotoo, kootoo, kotau,
koti, and has been adopted into the En-
glish language) is derived from two
Chinese words, k'ow row, meaning
"a knocking of the head" It is the
eighth and highest grade of obeisance,
rendered only to the Emperor and his
equals, the gods, and though we speak
of it always as the kowtow, that name
Is applied properly only to the fifth
grade. That consists of kneeling and
knocking the head once upon the
ground. The sixth grade is the san kao;
the performer kneels and knocks his
head three times. The seventh grade
Is the luh kao; It consists in
kneeling and knocking the head
hNfo fcsn
knocking the head three times more.
The eighth grade is the san kwei kin
kao, which is the kowtow performed
three times. All the time, too, that the
san kwei kin kao, the "three kneelings
and nine knoclSings," is going on the
imperial band plays to the tune lung
ping, "a splendid humiliation" Alto
gether, the Chinese mobiles who have
the privilege of an audience must be
devoutely grateful that the Emperor is
no higher than the immortal gods.
Now this kowtow (meaning the obei-
sance of the highest grade) is per-
formed by the Kings of Cochin China,
Korea and other tributary States when
they are confirmed by the Emperor in
their succession to their thrones, and rs
| Sir John Francis Davis in his book on
China points out, is exactly the same as
the homage performed by tenants in
capite in the feudal times, and there
fore is an overt recognition of the EN-
peror Of China as overload of the per-
son making the kowtow. For this
reason the Ministers and Legates of for
eign Governments have almost invaria
bly, refused to perform the ceremony; and
though the Chinese officials have insist
ed in most instances they have had tc
yield on the point, and the audiences
at which yellow curtain did duty fol
the Emperor, were not enlivened b1
the spectacle of gentlemen in gold
laced uniforms or in dress suits lneel
ing ungraciously and ruffling both shirt
fronts and tempers' in acrobatic per
formances for which their garment
were not adapted.
In 1850 the American Minister refuse,
TO Rowtow, but he did not get an audi