THE CHINESE IN CHINA.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 111, 12 June 1875, Page 9

THE CHINESE IN CHINA.

Wb take the following interesting items from the Chinese letter of the Boston Pilot. It has been said that Australia is the land of contrarieties as compared with Great Britain, but it will be admitted by a perusal of the following that the Flowery Land has far greater claim to the title. Speaking of the many evidences of a high state of civilisation, and the unity to be found amongst 400,000,000 of persons with regard to habits, dress, and the wearing of the orthodox pigtail, the writer says : — But you don't want to Lear so much about the matters in which they resemble us as the points in which they differ. lam almost afraid to give a list of Chinese contrarieties, for every traveller has felt bound to enlarge upon this subject. But I suppose no series of letters on that people would be complete without some allusion to them. We'll commence with the baby — f or I believe there is evidence to prove that we were all babies once, Chinese as well as foreigners. The puling little creature when born may, if it be a girl, be put to death— drowned — just as we drown a kitten or a puppy, and the little boy's inquiry about his twin sisters, "Which is papa going to keep ? " is one of ten asked by grown people in China. I don't believe that infanticide is at all as common as many writers on China make out, but it exists to a sufficient extent to justify us in speaking of it as a too frequent national crime. At all events, a man's friends congratulate him on the birth of a son, and condole with him on the birth of a daughter. They are very emphatic opponents of " women's rights " out here you Bee, for they don't always give them the right to live. Qubbb Customs. But supposing that the child escapes this "killing no murder" process (it ib not murder in China to kill a child), it will probably not be weaned till it is three or four years old. When the mother dandles the little darling she smells its face with her nose instead of kis•mg it by way of showing affection. When the young lady becomes of marriageable age her attendant bridesmaids (generally the ugliest old women to be found) wear black dresses instead of white. White is the mourning color, and the dead are decked not with the mournful shroud, but with the gayeßt and brightest coloured clothes procurable. The boy at school turns his back upon the master to repeat his lesson, and learns to write by tracing instead of copying. In playing shuttlecock they use their heels as battledoors, instead of wooden ones. Venerable old gentlemen of four score may be seen playing at marbles and flying kites, while little atoms of humanity with an aspect of preternatural gravity stand looking on. The Chinese keep their hats on when they want to be civil, and shake their own hands instead of their friends when they meet him in the street. (People who object to the "coming man "by the way will appreciate this custom.) We commence our dinners with soup and end with fruit and wine. The Chinese reverse the courses ; they think nothing of piling a guest's plate with sweatmeats, jellies, pickled cucumbers, salt fish, and bad eggs all at once : and can't understand why foreigners should object to it. The women too — I am sorry to mention such a piece of rudeness — never dine with the men (because they are not allowed to) another proof that the doctrine of equality and women's rights is ac yet unknown ii\ China. In giving the name the family or surname comes first ; thus a man whose family is named Chang, would call himself Chang Fung Woo, not Fung Woo Chang. Crruious Coutbabieties.

At the risk of being tedious, I will mention a few more of their curious contrarieties. I could not enumerate them all, for the catalogue is endless. The compass needle is always spoken of as pointing to the South, and the points are named E. W. S. N., instead of N. S. E. W. A horse is mounted on the right instead of the left side, while the knees are raised almost to the chin in riding, instead of grasping the horse's side, so that " spills " are pretty numerous amongst the native cavalry. Their vessels are built flat bottomed and square bowed, instead of with keels and cutwaters ; the masts slant forward instead of aft, while they launch a craft sideways instead of end on. The wheel of a barrow is placed in the middle instead of at its end, and in the northern provinces they hoist a sail on the vehicles to keep them along— a custom alluded to, as you will doubtless recollect, by the poet Milton, and which was a matter of dispute between residents in China no longer than three years ago. Chinese boots again have been talked about by all travellers from that country. We think that a quarter inch sole is the correct thing for an evening party ; the Chinese rejoices in an inch and a half sole when he wants to make an impression ; and so I dare say should we if we had only stone-flagged or mud floors instead of wood and carpet. They don't black boots by the by, but whiten them. You mustn't fancy you know that boys stand at the corners of the streets with skins of whitewash at two cents, a brushf ul, as our shoe-black brigades do. Nothing of the sort j it'i all done at home, and very carelessly done, too, generally. Death and the Geave.

- Some of the queerest of the many queer customs are connected with death and the grave. When a person is dying, and given up by the doctor, you would fancy that they tried to make his last hours quiet and peaceful. Nothing of the kind ! They send for a band, which make as much noise as its musicians possibly can to scare away the goblin that is coming to take the soul of the dying man. The inconvenience to the patient is quite a secondary consideration, and of course he is frequently killed by this highly proper attention. Scarcely lets singular is a custom they have of making people they etteem the present of a coffin. A son of a filial turn of mmd will cheer the heart of his ancient parent by a gift of this sort, and the parenb will be delighted at the evidence of affection thus given. When a man is very ill, and a doctor is called in, he submits the prescription to the patients, who frequently strike out anything they think too •expensive, the patient himself sometimes joining in the effort to abate the bill. Oases have been known where it hai been concluded, that it would be much better to save the medicine money to buy a handsome coffin- 1 — all with; the. full acquiescence' of a dying , main. Talking, of doctors I mu»t hot omit 66' mention that thoie attached to the Court •re only paid while the Emperor is well ; their salary stops as soon a

he becomes sick, and you may imagine- the zeal displayed to amend his imperial health under such circumstances. I'm afraid the profes•ion wouldn t thrive in the United States under such an arrangement I may wind up this superficial allusion to Chinese contrarieties by mentioning that ap determined they are to walk backward! that they say gee wo J'to a horse to make him stop : instead of putting the candle into the candlestick, they put the candlestick into tHe candle, the latter having a hole fitting over the pointed end of the rormer ; while finally the native barber is, unlike his western brethren, one of the least talkative of men !

• Coming now to the social characteristics of the people, it is natural to say a few words in' the first place upon their personal appearance. zrhereisanoldaayinginJlurope that "The tailor makes the ' m"llm "ll J% Chillß c m&7 almOßt BaT "' Tht > T»rber makes the man ; " tor the difference between an unshaved and a properly shaved Chinaman is absolutely ludicrous. Everybody knows that he shares the top of his head and wears a pigtail. They don't like that word at all. I niay^ observe— they call it a pientzu or " queue j " but many people don t know why they do so. Long hair worn just as we wear it, without a parting, was the fashion in all China until two hundred years ago, when the new fashion was introduced by the Mantchoo dynasty on its taking possession of the throne. Two centuries have reconciled the natives of China to this badge of allegiance, and at the present tune, more than ever, it has become the distinction between •' royals " and " rebels."

The Use of the Pigtail. • t. y conceivable use I have been able to see for the pigtails of the aid they afford to the police in catching a thief. At Hong Kong you will sometimes see a stalwart coloured policeman with half-a-dozen culprits, each with the end of his "tail" in the policeman's hands, wending then- sorrowful way to the magistrate's court. It is verydifficult to get away when a good strong turn of the tail is taken ; and a sudden pull will throw the owner on his back in the most charming manner ; so they don't always show fight. A very common thieves' trick is to plait fish-hooks and needles into the tail, so that the firsfc one that catches hold of it is a great de*l more anxious to drop his prize than to secure him. Bad characters have their tails cut off in gaol, though they always affix a false one the moment they are out of prison. Guardians of the peace are frequently "sold" by this the appendage remaining in the seizer's lands, while the slenderly attached owner bolts as fast as he can.