The morning call., 1893-02-12
THEY RELATED
The Chinese and Digger
Indians.
EIANY TRAITS IN COMMON.
Similar Social Customs and Char
acteriStics A Lack of
Affection.
my TRAITS IN COMMON.
Written for THE MORNING CALI.

The broad ocean separates the Chinese
Empire and its people from California, the
home of the Digger Indian. The Chinese
count their geneaogy into remote periods
Of the past; they boast of their record of
10000 ages. The Digger has no memory
Of his ancestral tribes, and if she be not
living during his recollection he only knows
that he had a grandmother through tradi-
ton. OF his great-grandmOther be never
speaks; his Hne has Of course sprung from
somewhere, but his thoughts never travel
retr0s pectvely is an exercise of the
mind of which he is not capable. He be-
comes confused IN the recollection of a
probable grandmother, he grows so hope
lessly entanGled in the possibility Of a great
great-grandmother that he lies down with a
throbblng headache, from which he RECEIVERS
by thro wing the subject and all other sub
jects which require thought overheard.
Yet. however great the distance of space
and time between these two dark peoples,
with the same fat noses and luXuriant
growth Of straight black hair, the slmllarl-
ties Of language and of social customs are
very striking, marking the differences with
equal emphasis.
Tie greatest differences are, first, the
family handspring; second, the character OF
the brain.
With the Chinese the wife is of no im-
portance. She lives, moves and has her
being in the entity of her husband. II Is
not the man who forsakes father and
mother and ceayeS unto his wife, but the
woman who is thrust cut by her parents TO
become her husbands chattel.
Having been born only a woman she Is
not of sufficient Importance to be named.
Ii she be the only girl she is called MooeY,
which means servant. sister or girl. ae-
cOrdinE TO the station which she occupies.
If she be on Of number OF girls she Is No.
la or 5, according to the rotation of
birth.
When she Is married she is simply So.
meaning Mrs or married She may then.
II she choose. lIken herself 10 some loved
flower or brilliant gem and appropriate its
ECh-sOundIug name; but the appropriation
IS sOiitary-aO one knows Of II but herself.
Her husband calls her woman" for in the
Chinese, as in the German, there Is no such
endearing term as wife"
In Indian life the family is built upon the
woman; the girl babe is as welcome as the
boy. The girl loses nothing by marriage.
Such individuality - or characteristics,
strong or weak, as The maid possesses she
retains when a wife. Her husband never
presumes 10 command you shall" or You
shall not" and when they indulge in matri-
monial rows terminating IN blows, the fight
is a fair one. The wife has equal show
with the husband. The strongest gains the
victory
TIE Chinaman loves knowledge for itself
outside OF its commercial value. Some Of
their men spend years in the vain attempt
10 master certain branches Of literature. II
they perseyere until they are grown old and
still fail 10 pass the competitive examlna-
tions, the Emperor compliments them with
the title OF master of arts
The rich invariably desire an advanced
education for their boys. The wel-tO-do
and medium classes Invariably give their
boys a commercial education, and so greatly
is knowledge revered that maby of the
poorer people. poor almost to wanting Tor
the neCessaries of life, still deprive them
selves fur her and save a few cash for the
boys tuition in reading and writing. OF
all professions in China none is so revered
a that Of teaching. The masters viii Is
law with his pupils; from the time the boy
enters school the tutor has almost exclusive
control OF his actions. The parents concur
in every order, whether pleasant or disa-
gTeeable. to cruelty. He IS supreme and
almost always 4 cespOtlc ruler In his do
main, and before him the pupil bows and
kueeis and offers homage as to a god.
The Indian lives neither in the recollec-
ton OF Tie past, nor in the anticipation Of
future, but fOrthe present ODly-the present
being neither next week, nor tomorrow,
nor to-day, but now, at this moment. he
has no veneration for knowledge, he
W0Tships wealth, not transformations, but
visible riches displayed in great houses.
gaudy enyirons and array Of horses. He
cares for nothing but the qualification Of
senses; he spends his all for what he coYets
in bright ribbons and dress, or Graves for
his stomach. or sits down and eats it up.
The next day he lives upon water. AS for
sending his children to school he has al
ways found mushrooms and pine nuts with
ont education, he has always been supplied
gratutously with clothing; be can always
invade whites man ranch and aDprO-
pirate its acOrns, then sell them back TO the
legitimate owner for so cents per sack,
which viii keep him in whisky. His simple
wants being thus supplied without educa-
ton. OF what possible use TO stir up the gray
matter inside his head to the detriment of
the gray matter stirring lively on the out
side Of his head?
The shade Of the gray matter and its
weight are in favor of the Chinese. They
boast of their imperial astronomers, their
matlematicIans who calculate time, divide
the year into months, months into seasons,
seasons into bTeaths; who fOretell eclipses
and other untOward events 10 the heavens.
The Indian has 0 idea OF time, past, pres
ent or future. lis knows there are hot aud
cold periods from the impressions on his
senses, he knows that day is divided from
the night by the sinking Of the sun and the
tWinkHng Of the stars, but If you ask the
age Of his foUr-mOnth babe, be VIII answer
truthfully, Il don't know, Injuns never
know how old something ISL and refer you
TO his nearest white neigbbOr for informa-
ton.
The Chinese Is an expert accountant. The
more figures added to his units the greater
bis delight. The Digger with the aid Of his
fingers counts only TO ten, above that Ii Is
ION, oh, manyP
Compare the names Of his cardinal num-
beTs with the Chinese: