Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1904-12-24
New Years Day in
o. BY
AIllIld Rev. Frederick Poole.

~ the boys-get lots Of fun out Of thei?
yearly festivals, and the little ufchiiis
look forward to their holiday times with
as much glee and happiness as does
Young America to the Fourth Of July
Decoration day. Washington's Birthday,
Christmas and New Years.
There Is the Lantern Festival. when
all turn out to witness the brilliant dis
play, forthe whole country is ablaAe with
The light of thousands of paper lanterns
made in all sorts of fancy shapes. Thea
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 a man, but a
toad, in the moon; for there is a 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 a toad.
and ever since the Chinese have seen a
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-shaIed
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 aud
the holiday We keep in memory CT the
Father of his Country, but they know
all about the wise and good Chinese Of.
fetal who lived about 450 years before
our first Christmas, and who was scolded
and degraded by an unerateful emperor,
so that in sorrow and disgrace he
drowned himself. Well, his BODY was
never found; and so, to keep his mem
DRY, the Chinese, once n 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
W NuttI inc " 80 VI v II Olii'-I
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 tho
children in China is New Years Day, !
think, If you were to Gsk a little Chi
nese boy what he meant by New
Years he would say; Noise, ana
plenty Of it." For weeks the Chinese are
preparing for this great event. Houses
are cleaned. and the shopkeeper looks
forward to 1t with great satisfaction, be-
cause he knows that his customers, !!
they have any self-respect will be sure
to pay their debts before the new year;
for II is considered a 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 IN 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 Ire, what a time o.
frolic and nervous expectancy il is lol
the little slant-eyed boys and girls
Lots of frecrackers are laid by in read
mess. but none must be let off before tht
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 hi
wife and little ones, all worship before
the spirit tables of their ancestors, AM
then at the shrine Of the household godl
Then the door is opened, and the whols
family and servants go out outside an(
bow down to a certain part in the heav'
ems which has been indicated in the Chi.
nese calendar, and SO worship HEAVIER
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 emma ! otten uSeu thlnk lhdt II wal
a good thing that the country was 81
Dig, for every one of the 400, 10000 arc
setting off f%rtcrackers at the same time
This is to brighten away evil spirits, an
| have thought many a time that thos'
spirits must have a bad time of it durinf
the dawn of the Chinese New Year. j
the Chinese had been present at the TIM
that Admiral SIMPSONS guns had thell
bad coughing spell before the hills o.
Santiago on a certain day in July, they
would have clapped their hands, ant
cried: Good, good! Just like our New
Year's!"
Yet, Notwithstanding The noise, | al
ways liked the New Years % China fol
after tle arsi dey NE oQ'r ftogsi aFt