Evening star., 1900-10-27

poetic, characters. For instance, when We
read about Shanhaikuan we would be much
more appreciative If we understood that
shan means mountain, hal means sea and
kuan the official residence, which controls
the whole meaning, THE City Which Guards
the Narrow Gap Between the Mountains
and the Sea-" Tien Tsin Is the Heavenly
Place. Pekin the North Capital, Peiho the
North River, Hun Ho the Muddy River,
Yang Tsun the Village of the Yang family,
Ho-Hsi-Wu the Place on the West of the
River. Chinese names also preserve much
of the history OF the past, and explain the
reasons for their existence. The Grand
canal is called by the Chinese Yun-Liang-
Ho. the River for Transporting Grain. The
name of Chefoo is Yen-Tai and means
Rocky Terrace.
Again. take the names of the :'reets on
which the various places which have be-
destroyed in Pekin are situated. The Meth
odist mission is on Hsiao Shun HUI Tung, or
''Filial Piety street," the American Board
of Foreign Missions at Teng Shih our rh,
or the Mouth of the Lamp Market; the
school for the blind on Kan yu HUI Tung,
or ''Dried Fish street, the Presbyterian
mission on Ya'rh HUI Tung, or Duck
street." which runs off Yen Tai Chieh, or
Lu jou Hu Tung, or "Donkey-meat street" "
while the Society for the Propagation OF
the Gospel is on Jung Hsien HUI Tung, or
silk Thread street"
Descriptive Titles.
The names which the Chinese give to all
kinds of foreign inventions, machinery and
importations, are not without interest The
car is called fine wheel cart" the en-
gine fire cart head" and the railroad
an iron road" The steamer is called
fire wheel boat" and the man-of-war
only soldier boat" The bicycle is called
a "self-moving cart" or cart that one
can himself move" The phonograph is
called talk box the telegraph an "elec-
tric WIRE the telegram an electric let
tor nd he talenhopa a rt91k wire coal
gas lamps and electric gas lamps are
sufficiently clear not to need explanation.
A fountain pen is a water pen desk is
book table, and Washstand Is d
wash face table,
That rule which cautions us against talk-
ing about feet in the presence OF clup-
footed man does not apply in China. Every
popularity, particularly II 1t be physicai
and obvious, is eagerly and promptly seized
upon as a basis for the almost universal
habit of nicknaming.
The founder of the Taoist sect goes 81, py
the name of the "Old Boy" Lao Tzu. This
is not applied to him in any sportive sense,
but because it is said he looked old when he
was born. If great officials and founders or
religious systems are not free from oelng
nicknamed it cannot be expected that the
people will spare the common herd or the
foreign devil.
Anything but Complimentary.
The members of our mission, in travelling
through the country and talking with the
people, were commonly addressed, though
not in a spirit of rudeness, as Mr. Foreign
Devil Kuei tzu Lao Yeh. And the doctor,
when he visits a patient, is frequently an
nounced in manner which is hardly cal
culated to prove cheering to the SICK one.
The Devil Doctor has come.
An individual is nicknamed usually from
some physical deformity or shortcomlng, or
mental or moral characteristic. A man
whose face : pitted deeply with smallpox
It-t tha of tfk m a .
TZu. The ordinary Chinese method of ad-
dressing a child is to call him Badly,
either because of his shaved head or his
scant hair. A little girl is called slave
va Ton.
A cross-eyed man, if his name is Wang,
is always called ''Cross-eyed Wang Hsieh
Yen. If he is the unfortunate possessor of
an unthatched roof he goes by the name of
..Baldy' Hsia yen; if it is his hearing he is
"deafy'' Lung tzu. If he is lame he loses
all other personality and answers per force
to ''lamey'' CHI Ueh Tzu.
There is an old woman in the PreSbyte-
rian mission in Pekin who is afflicted with
birth mark which almost covers her face.
She goes by no other name than Black
face Wang" Hei Lien Wang. Any peculiar
ity about the nose. eyes, hair, beard, feet,
mouth or figure may attach to its possessor
some such rhyme as the following:
The big-bellied merchant.
,- --. He opened up stall,
- But had to sell his trousers
IO Sel tie SapitSii.
What pertains to physical deformities is
true also of mental characteristics. l knew
young man who went by the name OF
"Impulsive Liu." If his temper is bad that
gives him his nickname. If he is a book
worm as we say, he is called either a book
cover shu pao tZu, or book insect
shu Ike tzu. If he is generous OF benevo-
lent, ambitious or avaricious, just or good,
his disposition gives him his name A lazy
or useless woman is justly and pertinently
1oSip tad a ''hrea1 baSket' and
Clothes horse" Sometimes the nickname,
however. depends upon some particular
action, as, for instance, l knew one of the
missionaries who preached series of SER
mons on Galatians and became known to
his hearers as "Galatian Liu' CHA, la TAI.
Another preached a series of sermons on
the eight beatitudeS and they called Rim
Eight Beatitudes" CHA, Pa fu CHA.
Nicknames of Missionaries.
Another missionary, because he wore a
mouse-colored suit of clothes. went by the
name Of "Hei Mouse. Mel Hao tzu," and
still another member Of the same mission,
a man beloved by every Chinaman with
whom he came into contact, was known
amcng his oriental friends as Blind PAR
PAT Hsia tzu, because his eyes were deep
set and had in them sightless appearance
"a characteristic which had never noticed
until after I heard his nickname.
A member of another mission in Pekin
Ho Shang, because his badness gave him
more or less the appearance of having had
his head shaved. Another member Of the
same mission had an immense beard and
was always known among the Chinese as
mi Big-whiskers" Mi Ia hu tzu.
Two other members of one of the mis-
sions in Pekin seem to have been nick
named without any particular reason, one
of them was called the "Old Fellow Lao
T. ou tzu, and the other "Old Pao' Lao Pao.
A young man. a member of this same mis-
sion, was called MY Elder Brother Sea"
Hal Ia Ke, while 1 myself went as Uncle
Ho' Ho Ia Shu.
1 know another gentleman who. while in
charge of school, had the reputation Of
keeping order among the boys by frequent
use Of a ruler. and they dubbed him
Board CHA pan tzu. A teacher who kept
rigid account Of everything was called
Contractor LIZ Ii Chang Kuei tt, or as We
would say, "Overseer LIZ
Often nicknames are extremely pat and
hit the mark with such effect that they
for life Ones only hope of
avoiding some humiliating or sardonic SOU
briquet from his Chinese friends is to keep
himself pure, gentle, kind. considerate and
just, and then If he is given a nickname it
will be one which reflects credit upon him.
No Money for Her..
ESr.,,-, 40 o4,lp 10