The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1912-05-04


We have been reading a great deal
&tely about the Chinese and what
europeans think Of them. SO perhaps
& may be Of interest to tell what the
Chinese think of Europeans, says
ChAmbers Journal
a missionary travelling in a boat was
anused at overhearing a conversation
ct two simple countrymen. How
much winter his skin Is than ours"
1atd one OF them. looking at the mis-
1tena<y. YES" replied the other,
Foreign devils are very singular. they
are born entirely white or entirely
black. The mans impression was
that color was as uncertain as in
Hitter Of puppies. and that Sikh. negro,
and Englishman all came from the
same stock.
The Chinese call themselves the
b1Ack-haired race and all foreigners
red-headed devils. chinaman who
had not the smallest idea of being de-
ficient In pofiteness confided to the
writer that when he first saw foreign
eRs he thought 1t extraordinary that
they should have boards all around
their faces. Just like monkeys: "but."
he added reassuringly. 81 am quite
used to It now" This reminds US of
what the people in another place said
Of . missionary: He speaks our Ian
gu41es IL his whiskers were shaved
Oft he would be nearly as good looking
~ We are"
Chinese children often scream with
fright when they see a European for
the first time. especially IL he has a
red beard like the bogeyman depicted
In their picture books. The children
thought that these were mythical per-
sOnages-but no. there is one of them
IN the flesh. In the new territory"
opposite Hongkong heard a boy,
whom asked whose was a certain
house, reply: That's the devils
house" He meant nothing more than
that the only European in the neigh
borhood lived there.
In the interior of China foreigner
Ii always suspected. He Is supposed
to be able to see into the earth and
discover precious metals. II he is a
missionary he Is a political agent
come to get himself killed SO that his
death may be an excuse for land grab
bfng on the part of some European
power. Should he offer any food or
drink to visitors they think that 1t is
poisoned. Many Chinese women are
they should be bewitched.
Chinese ladies dress, and do not un-
dress. for evening parties. so they are
shocked when they hear that Western
women do the reverse-that when they
go to court they regard "a bare skin
as q mark Of respect" Chinese ladies
are also concerned because their Eu-
ropean sisters do not wear visible
trousers, and have tight-fitting clothes
that show their shape. Even upon a
man tight clothes can only be ex-
planned IL the poor fellow has not
enough cloth to cover himself prop
erly.
A Chinaman will feel the board-like
shirt front Of a European with won
der and ask IL his collar does not cut
his throat. what" he asks. "can
be worse for his health than to have
the waistcoat of evening dress open in
front. thus exposing the chest, a most
vulnerable part?"
A friend told the writer that the
first time he gave a swallow-tail coat
to a new Chinese servant to brush, he
saw the hoy" round the corner hold
Ing the garment up to the light and
shaking with mirth. "Why was it
cut SO In front and at the tails? What
the thing go on?" The Chinese think
we should wear hats out Of doors in
summer when 1t is warm and take
them indoors however cold.
What Celestials call our European
odor is quite as nauseous to them as
their smell Is to US. Think of that,
ye well-tubbed Britishers. A mission
airy friend, who is a very clean man,
told me that he had often been panied
by seeing Chinese hold their noses
when talking to him. They say we
smell because we eat beef
The Chinese think that Europeans
have neither religion nor morals nor
manners. and only worship force as
represented by big armies and navies.
They say that. while we profess
Christianity, its spirit influences our
actions far less than do economic con-
siderations; that Christianity is even
less to us than is Confucianism to
them; and that it is like our impert-
inence to send missionaries to China.
The Chinese think that we ignore
and neglect the five great relation
ships which they learn in their class
1cs: the Relationship of sovereign to
subject. Of father to son. of husband
to wife, OF younger brother to elder,
and of riend to friend. Celestial OBJ
ssrve that in Western countries when
= SON comes OF age he goes where he
z1ikes, does what he chooses, and has
no necessary connection with his par
=onfs, nor they with him, and they
&hink that this behavior Of a grown
III or colt to a cow or mare-proper
~ brutes, but not for human beings.
b The Platonic intermingling OF sexes
- western society the Chinese do not
n1orstand: they think that our treat
Onout OF women is a mixture of imbe
o11fty. fll-breeding and buffoonery.
4 Chinese opponent Of railways late
~ wrote that they would be useless in
.CAina as far as women are concerned.
The wives and daughters OF Euro
boAnD take no pleasure in staying at
home; but In the case OF our woman
kind. g8dding about Is held in great
disrepute'
The author of native work called
The sights Of Shanghai complains
that foreigners and their wives stroll
about In the public gardens arm in
arm and shoulder to shoulder without
any bashfulness whatever. For men
and women to talk together in public
Il. In the opinion Of the Chinese, bad:
but for them to shake hands or take
each others arm Is barefaced immor-
atty. Etiquette in the Flowery Land
requires that men and women passing
things to one another should lay them
upon table instead of handing them