The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1893-08-05

add to the resources OF the family.
The children of the family many of whom
are veritable babies, play around the boats
as carelessly as though they were in a nur-
sery on shore, and to prevent accident from
drowning among the very young boys, they
have float attached to their waists, in the
shape of small piece of bamboo, so that if
they fall over and drop into the river they
may be easily fished out again. Since girl
babies are not considered of very much i'm
portance in China, it is rather matter of
Indifference as to whether they drown or
not. To explain this discrimination in
favor of the boy, it must be understood that
there are certain duties which must be per-
formed by son, and these duties are incul-
Gated in the mind of the eldest sou from
childhood. These all refer to ancestral
worship, the most important feature in
Chinese religious life, and the eldest son
is the principal figure in these ceremonies.
He must worship at the tomb on the death
of the father, and before the ancestral
tablets he must make offerings and sacri-
fees for the benefit of the dead, and if the
deceased wishes to be comfortable in the
other world this worship and sacrifice
must be performed by the living. Hence
the importance to Chinaman of leaving
a son who will attend to these duties and
insure peace to the spirit of the departed.
The eldest son will in his turn observe this
obligation punctiliously, for, according to
the Chinese belief, the spirit Of the dead is
very powerful, and will promptly avenge
any neglect in the regulation ceremonies
required in ancestral worship, by the inhic-
ton upon the culprit plaques, torments
and kindred misfortunes, so that the whole
operation might be called one of double or
mutual insurance. From these considera-
tions the Importance of son to China
man can be readily seen, and should he fail
to obtain male issue, he will beg, borrow
or steal an heir, rather than die without
being assured that there was some one left
behind who would attend to these tradi-
tions. Consequently all this Importance
is not found necessary with girl infants,
and they are looked upon as an incum-
brance from birth, so that their fate is a
small matter to any one. Female infanti-
eide has been greatly practiced in China,
and it has only been of late years that it
has been frowned down at all by the au-
thorities.
A FLOATING CITY.
The boats composing this floating city
are all moored closely together, each with
its appointed anchorage, forming long wa
ter lanes or streets, through which the
traffic of the community takes place. They
have their municipal regulations, which
are strictly enforced by river police, as
must necessarily be the case with such a
large population, and every condition of
life on shore has similar condition on the
water. To supply the necessities of life
they have floating stores and market boats
for the sale of meat, fish and vegetables,
fruit boats and almost everything that a
household requires is brought from boat
to boat in these water streets by peddlers
and tradesmen. Then there are floating
kitchens connected with other boats known
as "Aower boats" which are not floating
Conservatives, as their names might i'm
ply, but restaurants or dining halls, gor-
geously fitted up with gilded adornments
of many kinds, handsome wood carvings,
embroidered silken hangings and brilliant
illuminations. These are for the purpose
of giving dinner parties, and are used by
the wealthier Cinnamon to entertain their
friends. During the intervals between the
courses the guests are regaled with the
performances of number of handsomely
attired "Sing -Ssng" girls, the professional
lyric artists of China, who delight the ears
of the Chinese guests, but to a European
the sounds given out by these sirens are
torturing TO the extreme.
Shooting in among these river lanes is
the river doctor, in his small boat, and
calling attention to his whereabouts by
ringing a bell, so that those requiring his
services can readily find him, and in like
manner travels the barber, who has busy
vocation, his services being in continual
demand shaving the heads of his floating
patrons. The priests are net even left out
in this peranbulating community, for, al
though there is little space usually allotted
in each boat for a shrine, there is quite an
amount Of public worship necessitating the
service of priest, such as marriage cere-
monies, burials, &C., consequently they
have church boats fitted up with all the
paraphernalia of their faith. But of all
the odd boats in this motley group perhaps
the most singular are those in which they
rear ducks and geese, many of them con-
tanning as many as several hundred in one
boat. The ducks are sent out usually
/ twice day to feed along the maFshes and
mud fields by the shore, aud they are re-
called by signal from whistle. At
this sound the feeding instantly ceases,
and they return to their respective boats
with p7omptness that is simply astonish-
ing. The latest arrival is always taken up
and given beating with the bamboo, and
on the next recall that duck is invariably
the first to come on board, thus showing
the wonderful efficiency of the bamboo in
intoxicating punctualitY,