CHINESE PIGTAILS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1196, 3 August 1911, Page 3

CHINESE PIGTAILS.

WHAT CUTTING OFF THE QUEUES MEANS, A SIGNIFICANT BEFOEM. "That a new stylo iri the cut of the hair may moan, on the one hand, a savng of millions of dollars a year to a ivhqle people, involving the destiny of a ration, ami. on the other hand, the most lisastrous derangement of economic eonlitions, even to the extent of dislocating ,'i-eat industries of n whole nation, may not have occurred to these who have noted recently that the Chinese are cuttins off their queues," writes Ching-Chun Wans in the "Atlantic Monthly." "The queue itself is insignificant; hut its abolition means incomparably more than the. mere removal of a few feet of liair. The significance of tho economic js well as moral meaning behind this relorra can hardly be over-estimated. Cut Off Your Queue. "It is no wonder,, then, that the recent Imperial Edict of the Chinese Emperor ordering all the Chinese diplomatic Dthcers to cut off their queues has at onco aroused world-wide.. interest. The farreaching effect and significance of this reform, however, cannot bo estimated aright without some knowledge of the prism and singular meaning of this peculiar form of wearing the hair, which has been the mark-of ridicule on the ono hand, and a sign of refinement on the other. notiu ff the great fondness which Ihe Chinese in the United Slates have for their queues in the face of much inconvenience and embarrassment, one can hardly believe that this stvlo of tonsuro was once forced upon them, with the sword, as a mark of subjection. Nevertheless this was the case. Pride in the Queue, "Time and dexterous policy have worked a complete' change. Not onlv have the Chinese people long forgotten the rancorous hostility of their forefathers toward the queue, but, they have become more proud of it, perhaps, than of anv other characteristic of .their dress. I'o an average Chinese young man, a fine long queue is of more importance for his social prominence than the choice neck-tie, the smart cut of the coat, the crease of the trousers, and all other similar points ol style combined, of his American brotner. "Such has been, and to a largo extent is, tho affection of the Chinese for the queue. During tho last two .centuries, scarcely anyone ever thought of changing the queue, much less of abolishing it. Indeed, it seemed as if the queue were to remain a part of the Chinese people as long as. China should remain ;\ nation. "With tho beginning ol intimate intcrloursc with the West, however, there jradually sprang up a teeling against the lueue, which has grown, not because oi my lack of loyalty to the dynasty, but because of the conviction of the inconvenience of tho queue itself. But nothing appreciable had Leon done towards its removal until after ths Chino-Japanese war, when the Emperor Kwanghsu, along with the other reforms whicn ■he was about to introduce, was reported to have favoured the removal oi the queue. "In the meantime the popular feeling against the queue has grown in proportion to the increase of torciguers coming into China, as well as to the unprecedented exodus ol .Chinese travellers and students into other countries. The law requiring the wearing of. the queue also gradually relaxed in severity. Not many years ago, the cutting off of tho queue would have been dealt with as a criminal act, while, to-day. members of the Imperial Household go without it. Before 1900 a Chinese in tho United States without a queue was a rare exception, but now the reverse is the case. State Paper on Pigtails. "In spite of tho silent change of public opinion in regard to tho queue, the Government, being too deeply absorbed in other reforms, did not pay much attention to . the queue until his' Excellency Wu Ting-fang, the late Chinese' Minister to the United States, presented his memorial. Minister Wit's experience in foreign countries and-.his keen observation of .the. conditions of the Chinese people, especially those in America, convinced him of the uselessness of the queue.' So, in spite of the warning of his staff that his agitation for the abolition of the queue might prove disastrous to his official career, lie did not hesitate to present to tho Throne, at the beginning of 1910, his memorial setting forth his convictions. China's National Dress, "Just about this time Prince Ts-ai Tao, uncle of the Emperor, and brother of the Prince Kegent, returned from his world tour. This young, energetic princo was so convinced of the uselessness of the queue that he personally urged the Prince Regent again and again to abolish it. He even made compliance with his request $ condition of his remaining in office. The strenuous advocacy of this prince supplied the strength that had been lacking in the proposals of China's diplomatic officers. Following his lead, other prince; and members of the Imperial Family auc anti-queue officials took new courage, anc for a while flooded the Throne with pleas and memorials advocating the change. Ir fact, all other reforms which rightly came up for discussion in Government circle: were for the time being held in abeyance owing to the absorbing interest attachec to this problem. "Reports say that after the experiment with the diplomatic officers the Government will soon impose the reform upon the army, the navy, and the students, and finally will proclaim the complete abolition oi the queue throughout the country, and will leave the question of costume tc | each individual. Tho general attitutle of the masses, the strong conviction oi the leading classes, ' and the sincerity shown by the Government in carrying oul the reform, make it apparent that those who want to see the Chinese queues wit have to go to China within the next five 1 years. Saving of Time and Money. "The significance of this change car hardly be overestimated. When th< wholo country is taken into consideration the benefits and saving from doing awaj with.the queue arc enormous. For instance, the combing and braiding of thi queue take's every day at least fifteer minutes of the best hours of every man ii: China, and perhaps twice that much oi the barbers' time, which could be ap plied to productive purposes. Althougl; timo is cheap in China, it is'worth ai | least ten cents a day on the average. Ac cording to this rate- each queue cost: I about one cent every day for combing Multiply this' by tho number of male: , ibovo fifteen in the country, which i< placed at about 100,000,000, and then bi tho number of days in a year, one wit see that the annual saving from thi: source alone'will mean about i£"3,000,i/d0 "This, however, is only the cash valui of time saved. But the actual savins in useful material is also considerable A conservative estimate of what ai average man or boy spends for queui cord 9, etc., will be about twenty ccius > year, which means .£-1,000,000 for th< country. It is also recognised that tin queue shortens the life of one's coat a; gown by at least 10 per cent. The re moval of the queue will .therefore, meai a' saving of about twenty cents a year foi every man, or about JM-.000.000 annualli for tho country. , There aro many othei savings from the removal of the queue concerning which we need not go inti detail; but these three sources alone wil mean an actual saving of material value; at ,£8,000,000 per year, or .£81,000,000 i[ cash value of time and material. "The economic and hygienic benefits great a sthey are, dwindle to insignific once when compared with the moral effec of the reform. In introducing the west crn institutions upon which China's des tiny largely depends, China must changi the attitude and feeling of her masses To accomplish this, nothing seems mon effective than to do away, with the queue "Once an average 'Chinaman' finds hi: head minus his queue he will at onco taki it for granted that he lias also becomi ono of those 'foreign devils,' and henci regard it as his lot to adopt thing: foreign. Instead of being opposed to west crn innovations, ho will becomo cngei to adopt them. Indeed, it seems safe t( prophesy that the removal of tho queue will bring about more changes in tin attitude of the masses toward tho intro duction of modern institutions than nn.i other reform. It will probably mean the complete revolution of the thoughts oi lour hundred millions of people!"

For Children's Hacking Cough at Night, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, la 6(1. '