New-York tribune., 1898-12-25
AT A CHINESE DINNER.
OBSERVATIONS OF THE ONLY EUROPEAN
GUEST AT THE BANQUET

GUEST AT THE BANQUET
From The London Star
! had a novel experience the other night says
THE Stars" Yokohama correspondent in being
the sole European guest at dinner party at
tended by some six hundred progressive China
men. The occasion was the birthday OF Con-
fucius. That sage, according to Chinese caIen-
dars born 2,440 years ago. Confucius has
still strong hold on the educated Chinese and
the party of REFORM Of which the unfortunate
Kang YinWei was the leader. particularly
attached to his teachings The Reformers in
deed have lately been making strenuous efforts
to revive the cult OF Confucius, and this was the
first time for many years that his birthday has
been celebrated In style. Probably in China the
victorious conservatives did their best to crush
the movement but here in Yokohama 1t was a
great success. Nearly all the Chinese OF the
place. except the Legation people and the
plOyes Of the Russo Turkish Bank-Who are
Manchus-joined in.
The dinner was held at the josshouse. which
was perfect blaze Of Chinese lanterns, electric
light and grand dragon flags. and crowded with
Chinese in their most brilliant silks-reds and
green's and blues Of the lveliest possible shades.
Seats were provided for every one-an improve
ment on the japanese custom Of sitting ones
knees-and the meal was served on small tables
to accommodate four The dinner commenced
at $50 o'clock. and it ended at II o'clock, and
there was eating and drinking the whole time.
with no iaborous speeches to distract the at
tentiOn. no music to divert one from the main
object, and no irritating humorist to waste time
drink like a Gothic hero.
The method Of serving was peculiar. Before
each guest was placed little cup, not much
bigger than a thimble. to contain the hot liquor
beloved Of the Celestial; a plate about two
inches in diameter. a porcelain spoon. and some
ivory chop sticks. Each course was brought on
in a large basin placed in the centre OF the
table and the guests helped themselves as they
pleased. The plate was so small as to be quite
useless and so the chop sticks moved from tho
guests lips to the basin direct In manner
xVh ch 10
The plate and cup. l should add. had to serve
for about twenty courses.
The first course was Of trihes-parched al
mopds melon seeds, kind OF radsh. and fled
bananas. Fancy any one but Chinese COM
mencing dinner In that dry way. Melon seeds
in particular strike one as impossible as part OF
a menu. After toying with these for a few min
utes the next course arrived 1t was no other
than the famous bird's-nest soup. Like Huckle-
berry Finn's dream of being rich. it's mot what
1t is cracked up to be-" but | can imagine II
being quite edible If one is hungry. Then came
sharks fin. which my palate told me was not at
all bad, though my reason rebelled against the
verdict Then there was pigeon done in mys-
terious fashion. chicken and some unknown
fungus. translated to me as mushroom (Which it
noD; salmon stewed In mysterious sauces,
and fried chicken and bamboo
Young bamboo roots common dish with
both Chinese and Japanese. and are almost as
succuent and nourishing as deal chips Then
there was the brain of the wong fish, which APP
pears to be quite an intellectual fish, for there
was more than enough brain for the six hum
dred present. What the wong fish u.s. its size.
shape. habits and moral character, L have
idea. Then followed a duck which had been
cleverly bOned and boiled in its own skin Then
came the abb shefsh (of which, again. / am
ashamed to confess ignorance). a preparation OF
pork as fat as an Alderman and rich
Rockefeller more mushrooms and bamboo in
cryptic sauces. chicken and ham, and one or
two other things. the component parts OF which
not even Lord Rayleigh could have determined
Finaily-a blessed relief,-cakes tea and fruits
cigarette was smoked reigously after each
course and at the end Of it all each guest was
given little box of outlandish confectionery.
The Chinaman makes jolly host and when
well educated. is by no means an uninteresting
co npanon. l was speaking with one who could
talk English like professor, who had enlight-
ened ideas on the necessity Of free press and
the advantages Of railways and telegraphs for
China He had passed stiff English examna-
ton in mathematics and ancient and modern
languages. japanese Of similar attainments
would have made OF himself greasy frock-
coated horror with napless pot hat and brown
boots But this man stuck manfully to every
detail or his national costume. He had most
pronounced pigtail, a yellow silk tunic and blue
satin breeches. One respected him for It,
THE "pETTT RTEU"