The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-20
CHINESE LADIES AT HOME.
REID,s ACCOUNT OF
1hS' sacJrTy IN SHANGHh

.A.Nn N uUlN"
-s~crIu.ion In which They Live
lea' u.rIcnn Missionaries AmenE Thera
,..rr missionaries get an opportunity
rev Ue.ioiIv with Chinese OF high position.
20 mlnsS = woman, in New York at present,
There ro ycars has had the privilege of doing
~hoIo. :. mo bride of the Rev. Gilbert Reid,
60 en0 IN establish at Pekin an Inter
WV !" I~nstitutc for the benefit OF mandarins
psuoned Cbinnmcn generally. When 1t 10
. .so, Mrs. Reid minglcs with chinese OF
..,hion in Shanghai ii doosn I mean .ne' II
iAs "~" any of the men. for the sexes arc aoso-
hnon9 .ro,ed so far as social intercourse goes.
Wv ,ntsrcsting to learn how she made such q
n0si,,onf for herself. She was a Miss Rey.
-, south Carolina. and nearly nve years
nouso sont out by the Methodist Episcopal
- south. MS a missionary to teach In tho
Nnu, N-.a .ohool at shanghai, the only school In
ut. where the Upper Ton" can send
" TO board and he educated and
N"",or,, But Mrs. Reid can tell her own story.
pa,n,,. hoard that stand very close to
class women in Shanghai, have you 7"
tneh ,yben the subject was introduced.
!. !. "A NJ course YOU want to know how 1 ever
aud 70 pet into their houses and to get
-. 70 v;sit me In mine. II was through their
A-.AktaF0 Inc DuIllS III VNt S"S'h 1850
s.naI vas the grand thought OF q grand woman.
Mis- Laura A. Haygood. Miss hayeooa Is a
1850 p,sbop Atticus G. Haygood Of Atlanta,
.na Ia nerhaps the first woman in Southern
,'.,hrdism, Six years ago this month she
Hn..oa The only school for high.class girls
~ ali China. Her idea was to give to
~ Urls the same opportunities that
-. given TO high.class Chinese boys and
- ahillrnn unt in tho charity
,,,.s;on schools. and one OF her main objects
a. 70 establish Christian homes in China A
hr,Iainp was nut up at a cost Of $4,000, and
~. ,chool was intended to be self. supporting.
W. oncpcd with five pupils and now have forty
,vo boarders and day pupils. They are taught
Nth Chinese and English. A native. a m q
,ssehes the classics. and Miss Haygood, Miss
richardson and I, assisted by two pupil teach
era give instruction in English, reading. writing,
arithmetic. embroidery, and physical culture.
.tIT lust tell you who a few Of our pupils are
and then you can see plainly how I got in with
tb,ir mothers and friends. There is the niece Of
che Chinese Minister in Washington, a dear girl,
and the daughter of the Tao Tai OF Shanghai,
which amounts to a Mayor over here. The
daughter Of the manager of the imperial tele-
graphs is one OF our pupils, and so is the
dhuHDteT Vi IL i ~ VI Nuih'h 1hO
Iis 10 years old, has little feet. and is
betrothed. We have one little slave girl
lin the school who is being educated for the
wife OF q mandarin. She was bought by his
mothen and he is being educated in n foreign
land. The daughter Of the Rev. Y. X. Yen, who
visited England and America in the interest Of
the Anti Association. is also among our
pupils, and we have a lot of girls whose fathers
-. .l..tnJ 4, Epr1apd opJ Ap,ori,o Tho
mnthers Of these girls visit us and we visit them.
wouldn't you like to hear about the feasts
they give in our honori' continued Mrs.
Reid. THE invitations are written on red
paper and worded in very knchee language"
showing a whole batch OF them. what do 1
mean by kacheel Well. they mean the breath
or spirit Of a guest. When the day Of the feast
comes the hostess has a Chinese band stationed
at the front door, and as each guest comes they
shoot of irecrackers. beat tom.toms. and make
noise enough TO scare the guest. II she hap
pens TO be a poor little woman foreign
devil. A runner or courier announces each guest,
and the h~ostesses, for you must remember that
Chinese men are not content with one wife.
come ont to meet them. The guests are taken
into the reception room and seated. And how do
you suppose we are entertained Generally by
shVehoo n hioihcy vi IHT y II bOtu. anu L
never fully comprehended what n monkey and
q parrot time was until I went TO my first
Chinese feast in high life. II the people are
ven rich they bring in their Jewels. and show
their silk dresses and fine furniture. I remem-
Der seeing a bed made OF red Cantonese lacquer
and gold leaf. which would bring 5000 easily
III this country.
IT'S intere sting to watch tho four or five
E'lPa nj nnn nf ithaca Fn,,t, Is-.l -
ft'nds Just which wife is which. The first wifo
o ways comes from the high class. and she has
tfr pFiyi!eGe Of deciding whether she will have
CHILDREN or not. She invariably wants them,
Tor Ton know sons are sacred beings in China,
trn every Chinese woman wants a son, The
wives are to all appearances loving and peace-
im,loward one 9no'hcr, but they hate each other
Iorn by envy and jealousy. All the other wives
except number one may he of humble origin, or
"Irse. and when the first one dies another is
o".rntea 10 take her place.
bnt 70 get hack to the feast. We sit down
y me tables. eight at u table-never more. The
re-, distinguished, guests sit facing the south.
we Worship OF ancestors. The tables arc bare
Tantare polished until they look like mirrors.
1 lSy arc INK l,,a With silver chop sticks and little
emblem OF luck. Fruit and conseryes are
LEA up on the tables pagoda.like. A de.
chi into SGGi nSGvs Is made Of rose leaves
and than .l '"" "'"ltr bHu DHllt into DaR00aS,
snI men there arc dishes of sugared peanuts
w nrInl watermelon seed on the table. That
S"l. FROM thirty TO forty courses arc usually
ssrntn at a feast. and we Americans never cat
~ n3h.hihR al nome the day we are going to one. IL
mm ' peeanse we enjoy what is In store for us SO
tha. 9ut because VIC know what Is before us and
saa' ~ ~ very rude to refuse n course at a feast.
MI, alugs are served on the half shell with
istSs zen nrst instead Of oysters. The latter
in MAMMALS u%s,S OF Worcester sauce and is shipped
have sbn ~ quantities to England. Next we
eo ~ shark nm soup and bird nest stew. Then
sTns doves eggs brought on steaminp hot and
n.ihgl ~ a chafng dish. After that cro1uettes
anS vi shrimps and bamboo shoots are served.
snS = next course consists Of pork. beef. ham
saths "anooo shoots shredded and stewed to-
f6ia Sish DAM with a shrug at tho thought Of
nDuck is usually served several times at n
EE y cooked in different WAYS. and now II "a
dnc lLkn. on prepared with mushrooms, After
thvnnSuHme cold chicken. and then we have to live
EnnSsn ahother course OF pork, and before we
ths II u mere comes duck once more. Toward
MI %Sta lot OF Chinese Diem Sing is brought on.
eerve% ean. s~eetmeats to us. They have pre-
Stns AK hgeri shredded cocoanut, preserved
q hot lurhips and oranges and so on. Cups
ES;s and sometimes these aufhiin nb sns
tbs e eod get 50 drunk they have to be carried from
~ ioom. They serve three wines One In n,sda
oranSa snoiher OF rose leaves, and the third of
vary pesllngs. The roseleaf wine ia like n
viii lanns french brandy, and a small cup Of IL
room = most delicious fragrance to a whole
ding madooeI the sweetmeats are served a mud.
being % ricn OF nine ingredients. the CHIEF ones
with aImonSd ana r9isins, is brought and served
~tGStast goodt!l' asked the visitor.
n Eoou! exclaimed Mrs. Rata aIt,s hor.la