Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-13
CHINESE TRADE MARKS.
The Selection of Proper Label is an
Important Matter.

One of the daily consular reports issued
from the State Department contains an in
teresting and useful article from United
States Consul Gracey. at Fuchau, upon la
bells and trade marks in China. Its pur-
pose is to show the American merchant
how important may be such an apparently
trivial matter as the selection of a label
for goods intended for sale to the Chinese
and japanese. The consul says it has not
infrequently occurred that the sale of for
eign goods has been greatly crippled by
having some label placed upon it that was
offensive to Chinese superstition or tastes.
Many colors have peculiar recognition by
the people: some offend their tastes and
others their superstitions. Some are all
right on some kinds of goods and all wrong
on others. The Chinese will often buy bis
cults, needles, thread. matches, soap. medi-
cine, scents. sweets, etc, for the sake of
getting lucky label. Some colors and COM
binatiOns of colorS are to the Chinese I'M
lucky.
From my own observation of what is
displayed in shops" says Consul Gracey,
land what is manfestly pleasing to the
people, l give herewith a few specimens of
things most frequently seen, and which,
therefore think, must be popular.
Simply naming these things will not sup
ply sufficient data from which to prepare
them. 1t must be remembered that Chinese
art is very peculiar, and a tiger, as ordi-
ld!liy represented by foreign aruStS, would
not meet with favor with these people. 1t
must be tiger according to Chinese i'm
aSination and art, of unreasonable length
OF body or bigness of head or curve of tail,
and impossible attitudes. On a popular
Japanese match box is displayed a monkey
standing on its front feet, head nearly
touching the ground, with hind feet up in
the air, and tail whipping the skies. The
grotesque, and even hideous, to the Ameri-
can mind, tickles the fancy of the dwellers
in Far Cathay. No description can supply
adequate information to an engraver or col
orer by which he could produce the real
thing and any departure from the Chinese
fancy i'll such things would brand the goods
at once as the product of a foreign devil
and doom il 70 defeat.
"A Chinese differs from a japanese drag
on in its ccntortions. A royal dragon must
have five claws, while the pebeian beast has
only four. A stork must always stand on
one leg or, flying, must present an enor-
nous spread of wings and trailing long legs
All japanese birds, when flying, have a ten
dency downward, never up or in a straight
course. To a japanese, nothing is prefers-
bic to the representation OF snow-capped
sacred Fusiyama, IS seen on nearly all
japanese fans. screens, etc.
The following are some of the labels
trade marks. etc, which would be useful in
the trade of the far east.
Lion, tiger, deer, fawn, leopard, ape ele-
plant, camel, dragon, buffalo, man piowing
with water buffalo, boy riding wafer buf-
falo, woman in bright robes holding a long
necked vase on her shoulder while on one
side of her is monkey holding up q chrys-
anthemum in its mouth. Many of these an
imals are represented in various attitudes
leapnS, running, standing on hind legs
some with enormous heads out of all pro-
portion 10 the body, while some have
long body out of all proportion to the other
parts.
Women, archer, trident, spear urnbrel-
la, fans open and shut, open fan with quo
tatlons from the classics written on them,
long fans tobiong, square and round all
having figures of flowers, animals birds or
butterflies painted on theme, houses tenn
pies, books, arches, coolies carrying chests
of tea or other articles suspended from ends
of bamboo, soldier, flags, banner, ships
junks, sampans, battle ship, men fishing
with cormorants, tobacco pipe, opium pipe
abaCuS or Chinese calculating machine
dragons, long dragon lantern borne aloft
on poles by eight or ten men, kites of many
shapes, men flying kites, men playing with
shuttlecock with feet, wedding chair we'd
ding procession, lanterns in scores of diff
ferent shapes, Chinese hats with different
colored buttons, mountains. rivers, bridges
of granite slabs with high, sharp arch and
canal boats in canal
Chinese characters for good luck hap
piness, longevity, health, prosperity, double
happiness; checkered figures, stripes in
bright yellow, green. blue and red