The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1894-02-22
THECHINESI. ATHOME
MANY OF THEIR CUSTOMS ARE THE
REVERSE OF OURS.

/
What Constitutes an Education-No He
| reditary Aristocracy In China-The Peo-
pie Vary In Different Sections.
The samples we get of China in our
country give us very inadequate ideas
| of the people. We have here to contem-
| plate a civilization entirely unlike our
own but in itself much more complete
than ours. In the presence of the Chi
nese all Europeans and Americans are
parvenus. These people burned coal
before the Christian era. They invent
ed printing 900 years before Guten
berg apd Faust flourished, and they
knew the use of gunpowder when our
forefathers were using bows and ar
rows. In most things which appear on
the surface they are our antipodes.
They mount a horse from the right side
instead of the left, read from left to
right. say west south instead of south
west, their mariners needle points to
the south, the men wear petticoats and
the women trousers, they shave the
fronts OF their heads and not their faces.
shake their own hands instead of each
others as a greeting, write their family
names first and their given names att
erward, have their marginal notes al
the top of their books. place distin-
guished guest on the left and are care
full not to uncover in his pr, sence, wear
white for mourning, the men sew and
the women work in the fields. and SO on
to the end of the chapter.
We shall find in China the origin of
much that we have seen in Japan. The
position of woman in the family and So
ciety is about the same, except that the
japanese women do not cramp their
feet, and therefore can go about more
freely. The domestic architecture is
similar, so far as external construction
goes, but the Chinese houses have no
mats, and the people do not squat on
the floor Both wear loose, flowing
robes, which the Chinese button, bat
the japanese do not. In the conversa-
ton of the people the Chinese indulge
in honorifics as much as the Japanese
1t is the correct thing to ask your friend
to condescend to come from his elegant
house to your miserable howell, or to al
low his distinguished cup Of tea to de
scend to your unworthy self. The Chi
nese classics are also the classics in ia
pan, and the Chinese ideagraphs are
used by Japanese writers. Education
is mainly etiquette. The Chinese have
8, 1000 rules of behavior, which the edu
Gated man must know II a man have
bad manners, they say he is not edu
Gated
The Chinese sages, like Confucius,
Mencius and others whose works a1e
classics, enunciated high grade of
ethics. Confucius stated the goidei
rule, though negatively, thus; =" If there
is anything do not want done to me,
will not do it unto another. His eth
icaI teachings take rank with those of
the Greek and Roman moralists and
the Hebrew prophets, but are without
reference to Supreme Being who re-
quires us to keep his commandments.
The family customs are similar to the
Japanese. Society is patriarchal. The
family, not the individual, is consid-
cred. Marriages are arranged as in ia
pan to perpetuate the family, and go be-
tweens are employed to settle the terms.
There is only one wife, but concubines
are taken into the house at will. The
wife finds life burdensone when she is
the servant of the household, especially
Of her father in law and mother-in- law,
but when she becomes a motherinlaw
she gets her own innings and makes il
warm for hen daughter-in-la
The Chinese have as many genuflex-
ions as the japanese and numerous
grades of obeisances to be employed ac
cording to circumstances. Three prostra
tons, each with three knockings of the
head against the floor, are supposed to be
about the extreme exhibition of respect.
The people vary good deal in the diff
ferent sections. The south Of China is
mountainous, and the people there are
smaller. more volatile and brighter
than in the north, where the crowded
jewellers on the plains and paddy fields
are heavier. less excitable, not so quick
to see or act. There is no hereditary
aristocracy in China. All the people
are bound to obey the will of the en-
peror and have no rights he IS bound
to respect. There i no caste, as in India.
The people are classified as natives and
aliens. the latter being subdued peo-
pie in the provinces; conquerors and
conquered, with special reference to
the prohibition of marriages between
the Mantchoo and Chinese, and freemen
and slaves. There are no laws against
slavery. Every native is allowed to
purchase slaves and retain their chill
dren in servitude, but the number OF
slaves is small, and their condition is
comparatively easy. Probably there are
no better hammered people in the world
than the educated Chinese. They are
also very competent business men, and
as such enjoy an excellent reputation, -
Cor. Boston Herald.