The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-02-28

DELICATE WORK FOR A M0NcO..H
MASTER OF CEREMONIES.

NtHO ~ VI -.,E,,O4NtC
a Com pIicntrh system Of buttons, Ban
to Dcsigrat" Nnnk-Confusion Ocr.-
stoned by the Purchase of Insignias.
"NCthinG i lI.r" complicated than
'hinese etilu"it'." Slii Dr.. Edward
Bello", ~eX-con5ul t. Annoy. "A master
Of Debrett and Dtrl.' is 2 novice beside
2 Celestial master OF ceremonies. Never
Lhelr-> the i]attcr's system Is definite. If
elaborate, ani h" has many olficiarlanI-
marks whereby to shape his course. One
Of tn" most important of these is Tie
hut1oN winch Is worn by every man1ar.u
on IN" top Of his hat. Each Of the n,r.
ranks has is Particular button. and tie
second degree of the first and second
ranks are also marked by separate bu,-
tons. TIL" official list is rs follows:
"Eir~t Rank Eir.t degree, light coral rel
button; second degree dee coral red button.
"Src"1i hank FIRST degree, hight crimson
button; second de-, zee, dark crimson button.
Third Rank B",l light clear biue.
"F"Urth Kunk-Davk prI~sian blue.
"FItlu quartz, glass or CT! >tal.
sixth Dpaqu" white.
"Sevcnth and Eighth Gilhcd, yellow or gold.
"N~inth-Siivcr or silver white.
1T will be seen that a red button in
dicates high rank. The rank in general
is personal rather than official. Thus,
for example. a taotatship is an Office of
the third rank, and its button is a light.
clear blue. Yet many taotatis, if not "a
majority Of the class, are decorated with
red buttons. 1t even happens that a per
son of the second rank, through mlsfOr-
tune or political vicissitudes, will hold
an Office of the fifth or sixth rank. In such
a case he would still wear his red button.
and in many official events would be
preceded by an official of a dark blue or
crystal button. For this reason it is
often very difficult to tell the official
rank Of mandarins by their buttons.
Nor is the difficulty lessened by the EN-
broidered insignia upon the wearing APP
parel. This is more elaborate than the
buttons, but. like the latter, does not
discriminate between rank and position.
ITO overcome the difficulty the Chi
nese resort to several expedients. One is
the card on which is written a fall state
ment of the owrerS rank. degree and
position. Such Il card in English MIN,
read, Smith, haron"t. ju'lg" Of session.
Devon. Another consists Of having IT,.
same facts painted upon the lanterns
with which all chairs are provided.
These can be read with equal ease ,iay
49,, ,trl+ I'll, tl,,.1 :, ,,~.l e., "
formation u the public and consists in
having tn" name and all titles carved
in large, bold characters on long red
boards, which are carried by coolies.
Mandarlns who have received many hon
ors will frequently have as many as ~
Of these red boards. Where an official
has retired from service he is still en-
titled to place these boards at the en-
trance of his residence. A fourth mode
resembles the preceding and applies to
junks or vessels in which a mandarin
travels. The characters are written
upon flags, which are fastened to the
mast and elsewhere in lieu of ordinary
bunting. When the present governor
of FOrmOSa left Shanghai on the steamer
Smith, no less than 80 banners of this
class We're flung to the breeze from the
masts and other parts Of the boat.
The embroidered insignias If rank
and position are placed upon the front
and back of official robes. They must
be Of the finest workmanship and so well
executed as to show the design clearly
and accurately. The general design. for
a civil officer is a bird, and for a mill
tary official a quadruped animal. The
civil list is as follows, ranks and not de-
srees being Disseminated:
"First-A Muntchoorian crane. -SpCOnd-A
golden pheasant. Third-A peacock. Fourth
A wild goose. Fifth-A silver pheasant.
Sixth A young cgret. Seventh-.A quail.
EiShth-A long tailed jay. Ninth-An oriole.
The military list runs:
"First-A unicorn. Sec0nd-A lion. Third
A leopard. FOurth-A tiger. Fifth \ Hack
bear. Sixth-A tiger cat. Seventh A mottled
bear. Eighth-A seal. Ninth-A rhinocrros.
These insignias have been used from
time immemorial, while the buttons are
a creation of the Mantchoo conuuerOrso of
China. 1t Is a singular fact that both
the lion and the rhinOctrOs are strangers
10 llIt ldjltI tDtiltIN. 1 he IlltllI Oh Intlf
habitat seems to be the Ganges and to
been 50 since the tertiary period.
The knowledge of these animals Dv the
Chinese was acquired long before the
Christian era, when large fleets OF junks.
naval, pirate or commercial. Went from
Canton to nearly every port III IIindoo-
stan and often brought back these and
other wild beasts alive.
a cause of confusion in the use of
and in>ignias lies i'll the ever in
.creasing power of wealth to secure these
honors by purchase. Originally they
pedigree. military heroism, gener-
or intellectual ability, literary
culture or eminent philanthropy. Their
ownership indicated distinction of some
kind to a hi*.h degree. This is so no long
er. Ambitious officials are permitted to
wear them in high honorary ranks. In
ana llankOw several magistrates
Of the seventh rank have purchased the
and now wear light blue buttons.
One. a very rich Cantonese, uncon-
.sciou.ly reflects upon the ~decadence Of
the lines by using as IA button a magniti-
cent sapphire worth a kings ransom.
Even privot "a citjzenS ara allOwa1 tn graf