Thoughts Rising From A Chinese Chop Suey Bowl

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 91, 18 April 1942, Page 6

Thoughts Rising From A Chinese Chop Suey Bowl

rjN'E of the most eventful days, in a so far not altogether uneventful life has just been spent, and the clock is striking twelve while I make this effort to condense into a brief space one experience which coulcl more easily be written for a column and a half.

By Rev. C. W. Chandler

Since reading Lin Yutang's "My Country and My People." and "With Love and Irony." my interest in, and regard for. the Chinese has increased. Now, the best of all places to get to know anybody, and to foster a spirit of comradeship, is at a meal table. That is why the Eucharist and the Passover, two meals, comprise the most important services in Jewish and Christian liturgies. Seasoncrl with love, and when taken in a spirit of thankfulness, every meal can be a sacrament. So with an English friend. T visited a Chinese chop suey house in Grey's .Avenue. Over a stall-ease leading to the basement of this Oriental establishment is a notice—"Maoris and Europeans keep out." From the sound of the rattling of ivory, and the babel of excited conversation in Chinese, it seemed evident that mah jong. without any fashionable Remuera touch, was being played below. Observing the curt notice, we did not venture to intrude, but pushed our way through dingy curtains into the cafe itself. In a far corner sat a European much the worse for licjuor [probably methylated spirits) slobbering "long soup" down his unshaven chin, and wallowing in a bowl of rice with chop sticks. A smiling Chinese waiter in a clean apron took our order for chop suev. Judging by the time we waited, special care was evidently being taken to please us. Doubtless they had heard of Christian missionaries going to China, but what could have brought these two "fathers" into a Chinese cafe in C.rev's Avenue? It isn't usual to bother about "heathens" so near at hand. Curious eves peeped over the screen behind which our meal was being prepared. Happy Eating Just then a bespectacled Chinese with a happy face and "good capon lined" appearance came in and walked into the kitchen. He came out shortly afterwards eating what looked like a snowball, but which turned out to be a sort of "potato bomb" filled with minced chicken. He sat on the edge of a chair and finished his snack, then walked towards the door wiping his mouth with the baek of his hand. No sooner had he got there than he turned back and purchased two more, and laughed heartilv when saw that, we appreciated how much he was enjoying himself. Enjoyment is close akin to thankfulness/

Then out came the waiter with our chop suey. Two steaming bowls containing a strange mixture of meat nnd vegetables, well seasoned anil piping hot. together with four chopsticks. and two little dishes of hut sauce that my friend had tasted in a similar cafe in Bombay. My first effort with chopsticks made a Maori woman at the next table send out a peal of laughtT that brought curious eyes to the top of the screen again, and knives and forks from the kitchen.

There wore so many things that I wanted to ask those softly treading Chinese who sauntered in and nut of the cafe. God must love them, as He must love all coloured people, that He has made so many of them. More than half the population of the world is in Asia and Africa. Nine hundred million is a conservative estimate.

Have the Chinese anything to give us in return for our meagre efforts to carry the gospel to them'' Our total effort up to date can be no more than one candle-power beside the blinding radiance of their own religious inheritance. Because they know more of quietness than we do, and culturally and religiouslv are so much older than we are. I believe that our deliverance from the bondage of material possessions may well come from the land of Chiang Kai-Shek. China Is Different It is in her likeness to ourselves that Japan is now so menacing. Her genius for copying us has made her the enemy she is. Not so with China. Behind the apparent sleepiness of the men who took at least 15 minutes to serve our chop suev to-day. I could see a true reflection of the Chinese character. "Hammer away at me as long as you like, you little Nippons," it seems to say. "but you'll never conquer me. I shall still be sitting beneath my bamboo tree beside a lilv pond when you have blown yourself to bits with your bombs, and gorged yourself to bursting point with your imperial greed. T shall still be making fireworks for all the world to plav with when Fusiyama has sunk into the sea. In her methods of warfare, as in her philosophy, China is old. and can brush away her enemies much as Daisy the cow can whisk away the flies with her tail. How I ended the day must form the substance of next week's contribution.