The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-08-15

twist at the top, and very likely thick
tassel of .i'ksn threads falling dewn be-
h nd.
His shoes have thick, white so'es, and
cfton the toes are embroidered with fan
ciful little designs of flowers or butter
flies by his proud mother.
Sometimes he wears in his girdle little
purse. which has a'so been embroidered
by his mother.
His Public Offices.
Having reached the schoolhouse. the hoy
enters carrying in his hand some small
present for the grave looking. elderly per-
son who is to be his teacher, and his first
act is TO do reverence and burn incense
before the tablet which has the name of
the aged .Confucius written upon it.
The furniture of the room consists of n
number OF little desks or tables. with
high stools behind them, which are fire.
quently provided by the parents. Before
the master stands large table. and upon
1t are lying not only books aud papers,
but the indispensable pipe. Upoa each lit
tie desk one Will see not pens and Ink
such as we use. but inkstones. upon
which the boys rub the cake of India,
or rather Chinese, ink, dipping It in a lit
tie water.
For his pen he has a brush. not unlike
our large paint brushes of camels hair.
He holds it perpendicularly in his hand,
pointing TO the ceiling, as he traces on the
thin, soft paper the queer looking char
acters on the copy slips.
There is no alphabet of the Chinese Ian
suage for him to learn but instead PA rad
icais or root words. which enter into the
formation of all the other characters The
words are all one syllable, and are writ
ten down, one beneath the other. in col
umns, instead of across the page and the
beginning of the books is at the end of
ours.
The first book of all to be studied is the
San Tsz- King" or "Trimetrcal Clas-
sic" because. to make 1t more easily re-
membered it is written in lines of three
words each. The teacher repeats the first
few lines, and the scholars, holding their
books in their hands and swinging their
small bodies backward and forward, fol-
low his pronunciation of the words They
then return to their seats and commit the
words to memory.
In order to be sure each small boy is
attending to his lessons he is expected to
shout out the passage he is learning at
the top of his voice. The continual din
caused by the arrangement can be better
imagined than described, aud to pass a
schoolhouse in China one is more likely to
suspect the existence of Bedlam than O
place of learning. The Importance of
study is enlarged upon. and a sentence
occurs to the effect that "to educate with
out severity shows a teachers Incidence. -
The sight of the bamboo rod which is
found in every chool room close to the
masters hand, and in very constant use,
is a proof that this maxim of the sage
of old commends itself to the teachers of
the present day.
Chinese boys are taught that there are
three great powers-heaven, earth and
man; that there are three lights-the sun.
moon and stars They are further inform
ed that rice, millet. pulse, wheat, rye and
barley are the six kinds of grain on which
men sibsist. Various other matters of a
similar kind are touched upon, followed
by a summary of Chinese history.
Chinese boys know something of arith-
metic, and calculate rapidly but they do
this with their little abacus, or counting
board
Among other books studied the classic
of "Filial Piety'' is largely used as a read
ing book. and gives graphic glimpses of
Chinese life and exemplary character A
favorlte Chinese proverb teaches that "of
the hundred virtues the chief is flial
piety," and no other duty Is SO carefully
and constantly instilfed into the children $
minds as this.
Kite Flying.
hIe Hyng Is the great delight of the
Chinese boys though not of bows alone.
out also of their fathers and grandfath-
ers. And what famous kites they have.
too! Some are in the form of beautiful
birds, or butterflies, with wings cleeving
the air; others are in the shape of men.
or various animals, dragons and cent?
pedes
Occasionally Tiny paper Ian .ern is fas
tened to the tail Of a kite. and, being
lighted, it has pretty effect as it rises
shining like star in the twilight Some
times a number of bird kites are fastened
by short lines to the principal cord. and
when flying in the air look like a flight
of birds clustering round one common
center.
When Chinese children want more ac-
tive amusements, they play battledore
and shuttlecock, only the battledore is
usually the thick sole of the shoe or the
instep of the foot They manage IL so
cleverly that it is quite common to see
the shuttlecock struck some two or three
hundred TINS without a single miss
Ia chiau," or hitting the BALL" is an
other favorite game Mo boys would no
doubt consider ii rather monotonous,
since it is simply played by striking the
ball to the ground with the hand as mary
times as possible
TIA teh-lo' Is "wh piping the ton"
Chine Sc top is made of bamboo with a
piece TO wood going through IT, and a
large hole is cut in the side which makes
it have fine humming sound as 1t spins.
Hiding from the cat is not unlike our
familiar blind mans buff" one child
having his eyes blinded, and trying to
catch the others. who escape from him
in all direc ions.
Other Amusements.
Catching shrimps is another game, in
which all the boys have their eyes COW
cred, and Try to catch each Other
TIA Pan Is not unlike hopscotch Every
child has small. fiat stone or copper cash
and standing on a marked line, tries to
strike the stone which has been thrown
by the first boy.
Turning the dragon is the favorite
amusement Of Chinese boys In the spring.
time, and like most OF their pleasures, II
has a religious or superstitous signih-
canoe, The passage of this fabulous ami
NAL through the streets of their cities Is
believed TO be very effectual in dispell!ng
all evil influences, especially tendency
to various sicknesses thought TO exist In
the first month of The year. The body OF
the dragon is composed of a large number
of liant rms fastened tog Their, and COW
cred with colored paper and cloth. Il is