The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-19
THE HEATHER GH|NEE'
PECULIAR IN EVERYTHING. LIFE
CUSTOMS. ETIQUETTE AND
MANNER OF LIVING
DOES EVERYTHING ODDLY
How He Acts When You Enter His
HOuse-Reasons for DISTRESSING
FOlks-Want to Eat
at Home.


ble That ocean which is the physical
separation between her and America is
but narrow gorge compared to the gulf
between her mental life and O Irs. .Iapar
knows her, but the white man does not
and never can. She is beyond the pale.
For thousands upon thousands of years
her people have lived apart from the rest
OF the world, sufficient unto themselves
They might as well have been upon an
other planet or in a realm IF the rSurth
dimension, so different has their environ
ment been to that of otner peoples OH
this earth today.
Their origin, if they had one, must date
back to primeval chaos, says the New
York Press. The chaos still clings The
reports from China in the papers declare
1t daily. They reflect the conditi III of
affairs there accurately enough, and if
the reflection passes comprehension it is
not the reflections fault.
Foreigners who have lived for many
years in China. who have studied the life.
the literature and the art of the people
the mind that produced :hese things
nave as the chief result of their labor
a steadily increasing consciousness of the
vastness of their ignorance. Th,J are
continually discovering things there a,s
yet to learn, they observe these multiply
before their eyes, while the things they
nave already learned sink into relative
inSignifcance.
IN Chinese characteristics and evil
lage Life III China" DR.. Arthur H Smith
speaks of the trials of those who would
Know China. Many men, each working
many iifetimes, would be necessary to
get the knowledge they desire, he asserts.
out nevertheless he gives great number
OF interesting gltmpSes which make his
work splendid contribution not only to
chinese photography, but to the general
SUBJECT OF sociology as we'll
one cannot prognosticate what a China
man will do, but one can be sure that
what ever he does he will do it different
ly than would an American Or Euro
pean.
His pol1teness is impertinent to us, for
whether you are man or woman, his first
are advanced in years he congratulates
question Is How old are your" If YOU
are advancing in years he congratulates
you. Then he will ask your income and
many other questions as to your private
aHalrs This is Chinese etiquette; but If
you would show a friendly interest in his
WelTare and the prosperity of his family
De sure not to say wife" To ask after
Chlnaman's wife or to refer to her at
all is serious breach of good manners.
do not speak Of his daughters. either. but
you may congratulate him on having
sons. DO not praise them, however. FOR
- one should fall sick at any time after
he would lay it to your evil eve.
When you enter a Chinaman's bousa
you take your hat off, while he, as he
hears you coming, puts his on He would
not receive guest otherwise Rv wav
or greeting he shakes hands with himself
instead of with you, and offers YOU
seat on his left rather than on the right:
for the left is the honorable side in China.
Inc book he has laid down as you came
In has its title on the lower left-hand
corner of the back cover It's pages read
from right to left, in columns, instead
OF IN lines. The "footnotes' are at the
TOP OF the page, and he has inserted his
pooKmark at the bottom. If he is a mer
cnant and keeps accounts he will enter
the DEBTS on the upper half and the cred
Its on the lower half of the same page.
Instead of backing he uses whiting for
MS shoes, and If he is in mourning he
robes himself in white. If he is a. man Of
position he has a wife with dwarfed feet
TOO small to walk on; so small, indeed
tnat IN the process Of compression some
OF the bones were crowded out The
nurse carries his children on her back
instead Of against her breast. But all
these things are of kind with the Chi
nese compass, which points south instead
OF north and reads west-north. west
It. He also says thirds-two instead of
tWo-th1rds. and in writing a date his
order is year, month, day
He writes his family name first and
MS given name follows. If he plays
cards ne deals to the left, l. e., towards
the honorable side; if he mounts q horse
he Chambers up on the right side: If he
shores boat he does it stern first. If
he marches in company or works at a.
paddle he breaks" instead of keeping
time. He laughs when telling you of the
death Of a relative or friend.
If he is i'll his doctor prods for the
pain with long needle, often piercing
the stomach walls in the endeavor to find
1t. If he Is lame he takes ashes Of
frogs legs; for rheumatism, dragon s
bones" and among other remedies in the
Chinese pharmacopoeia are asbestos.
rhinoceros horns, the new tops of stag
horns, tortoise shell, human milk, and
various stalactites ground to powder,
His names for villages are as various
as his medicines. Here are some within
short radius of a place where DR.. Smith
sojourn for a while. Hcrse-Words VII
lage, Female-Dog village, Horse-With-
OUI-SH-AAOO1, WduS-P eJIlly, GTOdC-M6iOn
village, Sun-Family-B village, Look
at the Grave, Market-Town-o of the
Crows, Duck s-Nest-of -the-C hou-F amiIy,
V1llage-of-C Chang of-the-Iron- Mouth, The
Village Where They Near-Pug Noses.
II You ask your servant why he did not
water the flowers as you had ordered
he replies calmly, Not on account of any
reason" and seems surprised if you are
not content after this statement If YOU
are in business and, it may be, are clos.
ing up for the day, having locked your
| safe and called for your 'rtkishaW, a Chi.
naman happens in with a bill, you unlock
| your safe, take out the amount receive
a receipt and lock up again. The China
man chats complacently for an hour OF
| two, while you wait as cheerfully as you
may. Then he says, ST have another bill
| for here IF you had only told me al
the time I got the money for the frs
BILL" you say, 81 could have paid both
at once" But I did not know that the
accounts had anything in common" re-
plies the Celestial. An explanation thai
! quite makes up for the loss of your
afternoon ride, if you only think so.
Sometimes, too, Chinaman will allow
8 physician to call on him several times
| and then will announce 81 have also an
other disease"
| On one occasion native took the medi-
cine missionary physician gave him and
still fingered. After a while the mis-
sionary asked If he did not feel better
"I am not the one that is ILL., he replied
''It Is my sinking wife, He could moi
bring himself to refer to his spouse unit
threatened with second dose of physic
/ 1t is a common beliSf in China that for
eigners pluck out tfHeHes of native chill