LETTERS FROM CHINA

Evening Star, Issue 18147, 11 December 1922, Page 10

LETTERS FROM CHINA

IMPRESSIONS OF PEKING. SOME CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 11. [Written by M.P.. for the ‘ Evening Star.] One has so often heard of the wonder of Chinese architecture and coloring that the first view is apt to be disappointing. However, wait till you approach Peking, and it night all the better, and then your ncart will begin to quicken. The train floor iUiitsm passes through the wall ot tins toe lar£Cbt-\vailed city in the world, fl* 1 * fa. I believe, the oldest, still m vigorous health. Think, of it! As long ago as 1200 BX. a city was built on ibis wy site and became the capital of the Kingdom of Ten till B.c. 222, when it -was captured. Vhrougnout the next few centuries it had a chequered career till late in tho thirteenth century, in the reign of the famous Kublai Khan, known to ns through Coleridge, it once more came to glory. Ho rebuilt it and called it Khambalik (the city of Khan, tho family name). Europeans corrupted the name "J Cambahio. There are still relics of the old town, as seen by that great traveller Marco Polo, whose memory, by the way, is pre*arrcdi by a street name. For • capital tbo site is poor, as most or the wealth and prosperity lie in the south, also it has no navigable river. However, in olden times it bad tho great advantage of being able, from its position, to watch the Mongols, tho Tartars, and later the Manchu Emperors liked it because of ita proximity to their ancestral homo in Manohuna. After the revolution many thought that the capital would! be moved to the south, but as tins was likely to endanger the allegiance of Manchuria and' Mongolia, Peking was left supreme. There are still some who hope for a southern kingdom with its own capital, but it is all very vague. A SECLUDED EMPEROR.

And so hero in Peking wo have the President living in one of the Imperial palaces, and near him, carefully kept out ot sight, is the young Emperor in the Forbidden City. It is said that only two Europeans have seen him. Not that ha is kept a prisoner in the ordinary, nense of the term, but tradition, which is still very strong in- China, forbids the sacred person of the Emperor to be seen of common eyes. It is only within the last few years that he was seen at the Council meetings; before that he always had a : screen in front of him, and the late Dowager-Empress (who died, I think, in 1907) was never visible; even the Councillore had' to speak on their knees) and separated from her by a curtain. Up to tho time of the revolution, whenever the Emperor had occasion to go with his nobles lo one of the numerous temples, he was carried in a close chair covered with the imperial yellow cloth of silk; people were ordered to keep in their shuttered houses, the “hutunga” or small streets were closed by having a cloth Lung where they joined the main road, and the penalty for peeping was death. China is a- country of walled towns, and Peking excels them all by having an enormous wall round its large area and another across it, by which the Tartar and Chinese towns are separated. Tho north of the city is known as the Tartar City, and that to the south the Chinese. Around them is a wall 50ft high -and 60ft at the base. It is fine walking along the top; but, unfortunately, as so often happens in China, it is neglected, and jusb now the growth is so thick that it is impossible to walk, except in the legation quarter, which, being foreign, has wealth and a sense of order. But winter will soon come to kill off all this superfluous growth, and then we can admire at ease the wonderful panorama. There are about a dozen gates that lead out of tho walla to the outer plain, and as far as the eye can see ono finds cultivated ground, broken her© and there with some temple or other monument of by-gone times. From the wall one can see the gates—at least, a few of them. We are quite, near one here, and you can hardly imagine tbs peace and quiet of it, and yet just below there is nothing but turmoil. These gates are entrances and exits, always locked at night. Fancy being shut in hard and fast, just like the Middle. Agee! As recently as last May there was likely to bo trouble from the defeated army near here (within a few miles on the western hills a battle raged for soma days), and the gates were closed all day. Only people with special passes were allowed in or out. No doubt this caution saved Peking from being looted by tho retreating heroes. DEVIL DODGERS. You would naturally think that the road outside tho gat© would load straight on. Not a bit of it. If you stand on the wall, as 1 have often done, and look down on the mass below you will notice that the road takes a sharp turn, then proceeds through the second exit. Tho reason is that devils cannot travel except in straight lines, so when they go through the first one they go blindly on and bump against tho wail of the second one. For the same reason every house has a “devil dodger” in front, just behind the main gate. The inmates are not then likely to be troubled with unwelcome visitors; further, all the roads (except the three or four main ones) wind l in and Out, so that it would be the easiest thing in the world to lose yourself. Yesterday I counted that we turned ten times in five minutes. No wonder the evil spirits keep away! This belief In a malignant power permeates the whole life of the average Chinese. When a person dies weird noises are made

on curious instruments, drums are beaten,

people -wail, all to scare away whatever mayharm the departed one on his journey. But more tragic still is the way parents put children out in the streets to die. Indeed, I heard of a case where a child was put

under a cart so that . . . and this is done to preserve the other members of the family, for the cause of a little child’s death is always soma devil, and if he is allowed to escape near the others he will then enter someone else. It must be a great grief to th parents to have to resort to such in- - human means of preserving the family, for they are the most affectionate people I have ever met, and children are played with and petted more than in most countries. A SQUAT CITY. " Ketournons a nos moutons,” which, being interpreted, means let me get back to my walls. Another thing you will quickly notice is the absence of lofty buildings, though now this is being altered, as another result of the Republic. The Emperors decreed that no one should build two-story houses for fear that he might see within the Palace walls, and that would bo violating the privacy of the Imperial family. So anyone who was bold enough to build high stood in danger of being decapitated. Needless to say, people did not run unnecessary risks; there were too many already. -So the town looks decidedly squat. These city walls were built about 1470 by the conquering Tartars. The Chinese took the debris of old Camhaluc and built themsielves a wall and city just outside the Tartar one, which is still called the Chinese City. This is the- wall that runs across the city; it is not nearly so high as the other, being only about 30ft high, and tho gates between them, as far as I know, are not closed at night. Within the Tartar tManchu as it is now called) city are more walls, pink in color. The Manchu conquerors cam# to Peking and decided to live there, so they took a large section of its_ interior, and round it they put these high pink walls to show that it was Imperial property and therefore sacred. This was the “Forbidden City." Since tho revolution much of this is open to the public, though the part where the imprisoned Emperor lives is still jealously guarded. CHINESE AND MAN OH US.

One soon l learns to distinguish the Chinese from the Hanchua by their dress. Chinese women haTO the bound' or “lily” feet, while tba Manchu, to make herself tall, wears •hao with the heel under the middle of the sole} the Chines© lady puts her hair in a sort of hom, tho other wears a fin© headgoar to represent the pheenbe (the symbol of female virtue), often decorated with flowers. Men (both races) wear the pigtail, though this is true chiefly of tho poorer classes, v%ere custom lingers long. It is quite usual to have the bead shaved, and you would bo much amused to see little boys’ heads with a tiny scrap of hair left, which is carefully plaited tightly and tied' with colored wool, «o that it sticks at right angles. It was late when I arrived, and my first, glimpse was thrilling. Peking, like most Eesteru towns, looks its best at night, when much of the dirt and squalor are hidden. Th© streets are filled with lights and shouts, •indies and lanterns hang from small innumerable shops and rickshas; shouts from •verywbere—men on the roadside cooking savoury-smelling meals, which are eaten on the »pot, from others with baskets of fruit •impended from bamboo poles, and, most inMtent of all, the noise of the ricksha coolies, •touting to each other or to straying pedestrians. Pew people walk, however, or take *ny other form of exercise, except, of course, the mad foreigner. And as few exert themselves so many arc fat, to their joy. For here corpulence and grey hairs inspire reference. To celebrate age, on the sixtieth krtbdaya party is allowed* but not before;.

much less do children have one, as they do not form an important part of “ the family ' till they are ten years old or more. Very modem families do occasionally allow a party for tho fiftieth anniversary.