The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-04-30
WHY chinese commit suieide.

be an egregiOus mistake. The VIC
tims killed themselves because from
their point of view it was impossible
for them to do anything else as gem
tlemen and men of honor. If they
had done otherwise they would have
been considered by their countrymen
as disgraced. When Canton fell, in
1857, Gen Yeh, commander of the
Chinese forces, incurred popular de-
testation by refusing to take his own
life.
1t is always the proper thing in
China for a defeated G, raj to com
NIT suicide. When the Gakoo forts
were captured in 1860 many man
darins destroyed themselves. Their
sense of honor would not permit
them to survive the disgrace. They
acted, according to the Oriental idea,
like %yirtuous and brave men, and the
gates of Paradise were opened wide
to receive them. Any officer of State
may appropriately have recourse to
self-slaughter under similar circum-
stances, or if an insult has been of
fered to the Emperor. An historic
conference between representatives of
China and Great Britain, the object
of which was to settle terms of
peace, was interrupted by one of the
pig-tailed officials, who withdrew to
commit suicide, being overwhelmed
with modification.
Sometimes the wives of officials
follow the example set by their hus-
bands and commit suicide. Women
n who have lost their husbands often
rclikewise. Such action on their
part is ceasihcred highly creditable
and not to Bcintnrferet with by%fly-
body. They dress themselves in red
Tor the ceremony and hang them
selves in the open street on in some
other public place, surrounded by an
admiring crowd. Tablets inscribed
with their names and II record of the
yirtuons of their deaths are
placed in the temples. A girl who
has lost her aflianced husband may
with. propriety do the same thing,
and it is expected that the Governor
of the province will set forth the case
IN IL eulogistic memorial addressed to
the Emperor. Thus II premium may
be put on suicide. When the British
captured Annoy, Ningpo and Chang
Kiang the bodies of many women
were found in wells. They had de-
stroyed themselves for fear of expe-
~periencing at the hands of the Euro
pean conquerors outrages of the sort
unhappily common and ever CUSTOM
airy i'll Asiatic warfare.
Entirely apart from the consider
ations thus far mentioned the Chi
nese sem to be more disposed to sui
eide than any other people. Many
Chinese laborers were brought to the
lsthmus of Panama to assist in build
ing the railway which now Joins the
two oceans. The work being hard
and the climate unhealthy they killed
themselves in great numbers, and it
was no uncommon thing to find half
a dozen OF them on any fine morning
dangling by their necks from the
trees along the road that was in
course OF construction. These pig
tailed Orientals almost invariably
select poison, hanging OF drowning
as a means of self-destruction. They
seldom cut their Threats, because
they believe they will appear i'm the
next world exactly as they have left
this one, and itwould not be agreca-
BILE to go about with u slit throat in
the 4and of spirits. What has lust
been sad . supposed to apply v
to their dfessssso that the intending
self-murderer pl&t u his or her best
clothes before committing the act.
LII a man, he goes to the kep of Il hill
or to some other retired Spot and
there accomplishes the purpose in
view. If woman, the deed is usual
ly performed in the house.
The recent suicides of the,Chinese
naval and military leaders made
them safe at all events from SEN
fences of decapitation such as were
issued against others of the COM
manders. This was fortunate for
them, for, if they had been beheaded,
0"~J """ao o"PPSttIcu III Jl1e next
world without any heads. Incident
ally all their ancestors would have
been involved. 1t is quite pos
sible that the Emperor will issue an
order depriving the ancestors of the
defeated leaders of the rank which
they have hitherto enjoyed. The
power of the sovereign thus extends
to the domain of spirits. When al
title is to be conferred upon one of
his subjects, it is "a customary pre-
liminary to raise the rank of the an
cestors of the individual SO honored.
This matter being somewhat techni-
cal, it is impossible to estimate with
%e&actness the amount IF damage
doneto LII Hung Chang's great-great-
grandfather by the withdrawal from
that eminent statesman of the Vel
low Riding Jacket and the Three
eyed Peacock's Feather. This idea.
absurd as it seems, has found it's
analogy in England, where, within
quite recent times, the whole family
of a person guilty of treason was at
tainted, and the estates of innocent
relatives were coniscated.
IN