River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1904-12-29
by
'ld Rev. Frederick Poole.

~
The Chinese boys and girls-especial-
~ the boys-geu lots of fun out of their
yearly festivals, and the little urchins
look forward to their holiday times with
as much glee and happiness as does
Young America to the Fourth Of July,
Decoration day, Washington Birthday,
Christmas and New Years.
There is the Lantern Festival, when
all turn out to witness the brilliant dis
play ,forth whole country is ablaze with
the light of thousands of paper lanterns
made in all sorts of fancy shapes. Then
there is the Moon Festival, when they
worship the moon, and the little pig
tailed boy and his chubby, small-footed
sister look up and see, not man, but
toad, In the moon; for there is story
Of a beautiful Chinese lady who drank
some medicine which would keep her
free from death, and then went to the
moon, where she was turned into toad,
and ever since the Chinese have seen
toad in the MOON"
But perhaps the chief reason why the
little folks in China look forward to the
Moon Festival is because they get all
they want of those little moon-shaped
cakes which are made only for this oc-
casion. They are very prettily deco
rated but oh! so aWfully indigestible
that the next day the little fellows who
are suffering from stomach ache are apt
to think that there was a toad in the
cake instead of the moon.
The Chinese boys and girls may never
have heard of George Washington and
the holiday we keep in memory of the
Father of his Country, but they know
all about the wise and good Chinese Of
fetal who lived about $50 years before
our first Christmas, and who was scolded
and degraded by an ungrateful emperor,
so that in sorrow and disgrace he
drowned himself Well, his body was
never found; and so, to keep his men,
DRY, the Chinese, once year, ever since,
have had a Dragon Boat Festival, and
the children go out in swarms to see the
long boat professions on the rivers, and
to watch the offerings of rice and other
foods as they are placed on the waters
for the benefit of the spirit of the lost
minister of state.
But the great day of all days for the
children in China is New Years Day. I
think, if you were to ask little Chi
nese boy what he meant by New
Years." he would say: "Noise, and
plenty Of it." For weeks the Chinese are
preparing for this great event. Houses
are cleaned, and the shopkeeper looks
forward to it with great satisfaction, be-
cause he knows that his customers, If
they have any self-respect, will be sure
to pay their debts before the new year;
for it is considered q great disgrace to
start the new year in debt.
The Chinese know nothing about
Christmas, because, you know, that
beautiful holiday belongs only to Chris
tian countries.
BY the way, boys, ask your father
which comes first, Christmas or New
Years. He is sure to say Christmas"
and then you can laugh, and tell him that
he is wrong.
Well, New Years ever comes first in
China, and, dear me, what a time OF
frolic and nervous expectancy it is for
the little slant-eyed boys and girls!
Lots of frecrackers are laid by in read
mess, but none must be let off before the
proper time.
Nobody goes to bed that night, but
all sit up waiting for the first hour of
the new day when the father, and his
wife and little ones, all worship before
the spirit tables of their ancestors, and
OF he hriT NF 2 IoH ~
Then the door is opened, and the whole
family and servants go out outside and
bow down to a certain part in the heav-
ems which has been indicated in the Chi
nese calendar, and SO worship heaven
and earth, and receive the spirit of glad
ness and good fortune, which, they say,
comes from that quarter of the heav-
ems.
Then the noise begins, and when was
In China often used to think that it was
a good thing that the country was SO
big, for every one of the 400,000,000 are
setting off firecrackers at the same time.
This is to brighten away evil spirits, and
I have thought many time that those
spirits must have a bad time Of it during
the dawn of the Chinese New Year. If
the Chinese had been present at the time
that Admiral SIMPSONS guns had their
bad coughing spell before the hills of
Santiago on a certain day in July, they
would have clapped their hands. and
cried: Good, good! Just like our New
Yearis!"
Yet, notwithstanding the noise, al
ways liked the New Years in China, for
after the first day the noise stops, and