THROUGH EASTERN EYES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 263, 28 March 1911, Page 3

THROUGH EASTERN EYES

"DEVILS OF THE OCKAN." CHINESE ON THE ENGLISH. It is always amusing to see ourselves as others see us —provided we have sense of humor. In a hook entitled "The-Cus-toms of the Devils of the Ocean," a Chinese official who lived for some years in Europe gives his impressions of Western habits. So cleverly <l6es he "hit off" many of our customs that we- might almost suspect the hook of being written by a satirical Englishman; but the Wesminster Gazette assures us it is the work of his Excellency Ho Kuei Fang, Imperial High Commissioner! who went to Europe on a diplomatic mission. • • '•'The Devils of the Ocean have overturned all the rules of rank and respect.' I had heard that their women were more honored than their men, but I should never have thought that this aberration was so general and profound. Thus, .on the narrow pavement the mnn always gives way to the inferior creatures. A husband allows his wife to sit side by side with him, and' nobody laughs. He may even carry parcels for her without being'mocked at. And that is not all. •Men wait at table until the women are seated, and then sit beside them and show them all sorts of attentions. I have seen a man serve his wife at meals before his own father! "In the hotel? men and women take their meals together in public. ' Women serve in the sliops. and they travel alone. When the women g 0 out in'the evening they uncover their bosoms. In. order to make their waists seem small and their busts hirge they wear underneath their dress a kind of iron cage. The deformations which result are very grave. "The feet of the Devils of the Ocean are enormous. That shows that their race is less ifine and less pure in brood than ours. Most of the men have short hair, which they do not shave off the front of their heads. This makes thorn look like our prisoners and outcast beggars. As a head covering they have'a sort of tube, which sometimes has springs in it. It is 'extremely hideous. The sleeves of their garments do not come over their lands, so they hide these in bags of white skin. . . "Very strange are the amusements of the (Barbarians. Couple by couple they leave their seats. 'The man clasps the waist of the woman, who may be the wife of someone else. Then they slide and turn and leap, recede, advance and salute, strike attitudes and strut and bend. It is odd and extravagant and ridiculous and shocking, and yet it appears to entertain them very much. Another of their astounding customs is their way of accosting and leaving. They put their lips on the' checks of their relatives, and make a noise as if they were tasting rich wine. Their poets—for they, have poets—have written songs about this strange custom.

'"The Barbarian? are very backward, and it will take some time for them to come to think and fee! as we do, supposing that they have the heart and the mind necessary to succeed in- his, What they on 11 'prom-ens' is a vain and often dangerous thing. Look at-their prison system, for example. ■ The prisons are places of pleasure for scoundrels who are carefully tended. Only one fear exists: that the prisoners are not comfortably lodged, clothed and nourished. If this system were applied in the Flowery Ijand our brigands would struggle to commit the greatest crimes so as to get into prison, and the Umpire would be overturned. It seems as though the Devils of the Ocean have taken a mischievous pleasure in adopting in everything the opposite of our customs. Those ivlio read wliai I have written will hardly be able to believe me, but I' have tolil the exact truth."