Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-15
CHRISTMAS IN CHINA.
Trees Which Are Just as Odd as
Cinnamon Can Make Them.

| tory were worshipers of the sun. In China
| the sun takes an inferior position, and
| the moon becomes the principal character.
| Nearly all the great events in the Chinese
| year have some reference to that bright
satellite. New Year begins with the moon
| and the other great festival is that of the
| harvest moon in mid autumn, and here
| also are found two sun festivals, one in
| early summer and the second and more
| important around December %. This is
| the Chinese Christmas, which has come
down through the centuries from the time
that the Chinese race dwelt in the fertile
| plains of Mongolia and Manchuria, and
when the present empire was occupied by
| dark-skinned tribes, who long since have
| vanished and been forgotten.
| This Chinese Christmas is known under
| different names. In one place it is called
the festival Of the Winter Sun, in another
the festival of the Tree Spirits, in another
| the festival of the Forest Dragon, in an
| other the festival of the Young Heaven,
| and still another the festival of the Spirits
| of Growing Grain. Whatever the name, IT
has always some connection with the win
| ter's solstice, and is the exact equivalent
| Of our own Christmas.
1t is celebrated like other Chinese festi-
| walls, and Is a source OF enjoyment to MIL
| lions. There is also a celebration Of the
4
| VINO have been converted to Christianity.
| These converts are of three classes-those
| belonging to the Protestant missions. those
| of the Greek Church and those of Rome.
| The converts, no matter what their de-
| nomination, celebrate the day in good old
| fashioned style. Their prepa rations begin
| several days in advance Of the festival.
They first make little trees, that corre-
! spond to the Christmas trees of our own
| country. But these are very different, and
are just as odd as Chinaman can make
| them. The commonest form consists of a
| long dried branch, from which the dead
| leaves have been removed, and on which
are fastened green paper leaves, little
| pieces of tiEsel and fragments of scarlet
| paper, until the affair CLEANS with color
1t is fastened to the wall, so as to pro-
| ject into the room, or else placed in a
| heavy vase on a table in front of the fam
| lily altar. Another very pretty variation
| is dry branch, forked and irregular, with
a mimic cobweb made of silk thread. in
| whose meshes are green leaves and rcd
| and gold flowers.
| CantOn's Famous Flowers.
| Artificial flowers are largely employed
as household ornaments at this season.
| Those of Canton are famous in this re-
| gard, and are made with such consum-
mate skill TO almost defy detection.
| Those of Swallow and Foochow are cheap
er and much poorer, betraying their pa
| per texture across a wide apartment.
| More common than either OF those men,
| toned are the bouquets and garlandS with
| out which no Chinese house or church
| seems Well furnished. These floral OBJ
| Jects are purely conventional and usually
| consist of leaves and flowers made from
| colored paper, initiating the natural hues
of the plant copied, pieces OF gold, silver
| and red bronze tinsei and little human
| figures in porcelain or composition which
| nestle in the paper Verdure around them.
| These combinations OF color, tinsel and
| statuettes are startling, and the effect
| chromatic in the extreme. Instead of a
| bouquet the elements are strung along
| a cord or wire so as to produce a narrow
| garland, which is used lii nearly the same
| manner as the evergreen festoons OF our
| own country.
| The bouquets and garlands are of every
| size and quality. Some are small enough
| to do duty as boutonniere, and cost the
| fraction of cent, while others are mass
| eS of color and brilliancy yard in diam
| eter and three in height, costing SIS to
| SO. The small ones are used by children
| and by the very poor; those of gigantic
| dimensions are employed in temples and
| the palaces OF the great mandarinS. Those
! in general use range from three to eight
| inches in diameter, and from three to twenty
| inches in height. Made of common pa
per and cheap tlnsel, they cost a few cents,
| but when made of the best materials their
| price runs as high as a dollar.
| John Chinaman, no matter how wealthy
| ne may be- is economical in his ornaments,
and seldom buys any bouquets or garlands
| which are not OF the cheapest sort obtain
| able.
| Ghost Papers.
Another important matter in the renew
| al Of the ghost papers. Christmas is one
| of the days, rather nights, when the
| wandering spirits walk the earth-good
ones on benevolent and evil ones on malev-
| olent missions. A careful citizen always
provides against the latter by affixing to
the door or jamb a piece of sacred yellow
paper on which priest has written an
| incarnation. This is warranted to keep
away an army of ill-minded specters. The
incarnation is written with brush, in a
| single character, so intricate as to sug-
gest crazy study in spherical trigonom-
etry. The paper is about foot square
and is of the imperial yellow color which
| is consecrated to the throne and the spirit
| world.
A ghost paper costs according to the
means of the buyer. ~ poor coole secures
| one for two cents, while a mandarin s
wife will pay as much as quarter of a
dollar. Iealots are not satisfied with a
paper which keeps away COLLINS, but want
second which will attract or placate
| good spirits. This they paste on the wall
| just inside the doorway. When it is seen
! by a genial denizen of another sphere he
| feels as if he had been welcomed in per-
! son and generally settles down there for
| a term of years.
| But If the rain, wind or mischievous
small boy tears or removes either ghost
paper, great is the woe in the household
| Even if it remain intact it may lose some
| virtue. For this reason it ought to be
| renewed at Christmas tide, so that the
family may close the year in safety and
| happiness.
| Going Out of Fashion.
| Some people at this time put ghost
| catchers and ghost chasers on their roof
ridge. These are small figures in porce-
| lain which serve the same purpose as the
| ghost papers. They are going out of fash
| ion in the Middle Kingdom. OF fifty new
houses l have seen erected only two were
| supplied with these spiritual luxures. In
| the past they were very popular, and
| could be seen nearly every building
| from a temple down to a coolies howell
| The Chinese Christmas is a popular day
| for church going, especially when it falls
on the fifth or fifteenth day of the moon or
| Chinese month. Every temple is then
busy all day, and even late in the even
| ing Women are the chief patrons, they
| usually numbering ten to one man.
| They are eccentric In their system Of
! worship. Instead of attending one temple,
| they go to any one of fifty and select the
| one in which, according to their belief
| they will secure most readily their desire
| Thus Chinese lady will go to one church
| or joss house when she is sick herself, and
| to another when her husband Is the pa