Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-12-29
CHINESE MOTIONS.
Ceiestials' Ideas Regarding women-No
Change of Dishes.
St. Peters.


There are some amusing supersti-
tions connected with Chinese entertain
ments. A dinner party is an ordeal
which, once experienced, is never for
gotten. 1t consists of from 40 to so
distinct courses, and occupies the
greater portion of day. During the
whole Of these repasts, and notwith-
standing the endless variety of dishes
served, the invited guest retains the
same plate throughout. The explana-
tion of this strange custom is an old
proverb, which has now become IL
superstition, that "he who changes the
plates kills the housewife"
Chinese proverbs explain several of
the superstitious notions with regard
to women. 1t is considered unlucky
for a woman to mix with the builders
| of a house or other edifice during its
erection, and to avoid any possibility
of one straying into the premises all
| approaches are carefully guarded by
watchmen, and fence is erected
around the proposed building as soon
as its foundations are laid. The eX-
| PLANTATION of this is the saying,
women mix i'll with wood. and death
lives in the house over whose founda-
| tions woman has walked" There
is similar horror of the fair sex in
terfering with any public matter Of
national interest, or in any business
transactions where men are concerned.
Women tie knots. says the Chinese
| proyerb, ''let them remain at home"
No funeral can take place until as
trologers and professional fortune
tellers have been consulted. These I'M
scrupulous diviners decide the place of
burial, and in the event of disagree
ment no final interment can take place.
This accounts for the number Of I'M
buried collins which are seen about the
country districts in China. Sometimes
the coffin is temporarily deposited in u
temple Or Kept in the house of the heir
of the deceased. Among the poor as
often as not it is conveyed to some
sheltered spot and covered with Il mat.
When in course of time tby aid of ad-
ditional fees) the OWNERS can report
that all objections to final burial are
removed, the funeral takes place amid
rejoicing and profane excuses. The
mode of Precipitation generally pre-
scribed by astrologers is the purchase
of some stone or piece of iron, to which
an elaborate ritual of prayer and sac
rifice is made, or, if the client is
wealthy, the building of n pagola is
suggested, in connection with which
the mercenary fortune teller doubtless
reaps large commission.
The last species of superstition to
which we will call attention forces us
10 place China among the half-civil
lied and brutal nations. One Of these
superstitions is that the soul of dying
! person takes possession of the bed anc
room in which the invalid is lying. Tt
obviatc such n curse as this the rela
tivcs of tho dying person, rs soon as
they perceive his ond approaching
J forcibly remove him from his bed ant
place him, almost naked,npon a board
2 If by chance Il man should expire i,
his bed, it, together with all the fur
niture in the room, must be burnet
5 and many atonements offered befor,
the room is considered fit for habitatiol
. again.
Many strange and inhuman ideas ar,
: associated with the illness and deatl
9 of children. If child sickens and die
. before the age of IL years, its las
t moments are hastented by horrible
cruelty of its parents. So long as hop
J is possible the parents do their utinos
to save their child, but as soon ms tn
Q doctors abandon hone the child i
: Suippeu Hhkeu ana placed against I'll
n outer door of the house. When tn
! end has come the corpse. is thrown on
: into the street, to be picked up by tn
passing dead cart. The reason for thi
b brutality is this; If family loses
Q child before it has grown to maturit
It its parents refuse TO regard itsas thei
offspring, but rather as sono ovl
t spirit, who has worked it's way int
n their home in order to bringiruin an
s misfortune upon il and thnm..