THE OTHER WAY ROUND

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19830, 3 May 1927, Page 5

THE OTHER WAY ROUND

TOPSY-TURVYDOM IN CHINA CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE A TRAVELLER’S OBSERVATIONS By Frederick Stubbs, F.R.G.S. (All Rights Reserved.) No. 1. There are many customs in China which appear strange to us, and although, politically, that huge country is experiencing a scries of violent change's, so that it will never bo the same again, the social customs of the people are not greatly affected. I speak, of course, of the great mass of the people, not of those that have attended European schools and universities and imbibed Western ideas. I have emphasised the word European because I used the word not geographically, but as indicating an education on European lines, imparting the science, philosophy, and ideals of the European peoples. Chinese Greetings. On meeting a friend, e.g., we extend the hand in greetieng; the Chinese takes ’and shakes; not your hand but his own, which is certainly more sanctuary. He does not say “How do you do?” but “Have you eaten rice.” Amongst all primitive peoples the getting and eating iof rice (food) was the most important question. If a man had eaten, how could he be anything but well? If we meet a married friend we will probably make enquiries as to the wellbeing of his wife and children. A Chinese would never dream of doing this; it would be most improper, especially in the case of females; it would be an offence, indeed, to refer to female relatives in any way. You may ask after his boys as much as you like. Should a Chinese ever inquire of a relative or intimate friend how his daughter was, ho would say “How is your thousand pieces of gold?” We think it ill-mannered to ask a casual acquaintance his age, income etc. Not so the Chinese. Probably his first question will be “Where do you come from?” “Where arc you going to?” then, “What is your age? How much money do you make? What rent do you pay?” It would be extremely foolish for a visitor to be offended at such questions. They appear impertinent to us, but not to a Chinese. The visitor must always return a polite answer though he may please himself about giving the information. To the question, “Where are you going?” it would be permissible to reply, “I am here”; or on inquiry being made as to your income, it would be sufficient to say—though not bo strictly true—“lt does not amount to much.” A lady of mature age who arrived in China more than 40 years ago, on being asked her age replied, “I am over 30”; and to friendly inquiries after her honorable age she is still over 30. It is sufficient that she gives a civil reply.

Chinese Dress. In the case of European peoples, the husband wears the trousers—at least literally if not always metaphorically; in China among the better classes it is the wife that wears the breeches—sometimes figuratively as well as literally, and very pretty ones too, usually of white silk, whilst the husband wears skirts, though he may have something in the nature of trousers underneath. The waistcoat is worn not under but over the coat. If you called on a European at his home or office, you would take your hat off. A Chinese would put it on. Even the servant that waits on you at table wears a hat. The hat most frequently worn by men is a silk smoking cap. Sometimes a man will have two hats; sometimes two on his head; more frequently one on the head and one held in front as a shield against wind and rain. Women wear no hats at all. In a Chinese theatre there is no need to request ladies to take off their hats, for the simple reason that they have none to take off.

Tho European man wears boots with thick soles; the woman with thin. It is just the opposite with the Chinese. We blacken our shoes; they whiten tlic soles and sides. It behoves a mere man to approach the mysteries of female dress with awe, but one may be permitted to say that ordinary feminine attire is composed of a blue frock coat with short silk trousers, with cloth sox and hemp or satin shoes. Then there arc, of course, ornaments in tho hair, the ears, etc. Even in countries where ladies wear no clothes they wear ornaments. And in cold weather there will be a warm over-garment. Bat neither men nor women wear underclothing. If you hand a Chinese some money, or any other article, he will put it—not in his pocket as we would, for he has none, but in his sleeve. Some of the poor Chinese use tho ear as a purse. You would never meet your Chinese friend and his wife out walking together; women are even precluded from dining with their lords and masters. Inside the house the gentleman enters the room first, the lady following. If you are staying with Chinese friends you will observe that it is the men that do all the housework, the cooking etc. A man-servant enters a lady’s bedroom, prepares her bath, etc. The Chinese think it highly improper for a chambermaid to wait on a gentleman. Dressmaking is done not by women but by men; and women, not the men as with us, carry the loads. One respect (not the only one) in which Chinese servants are superior to European is that when he wants a holiday or to leave your service, your servant provides a substitute. More Opposites.

We arc careful to pare our nails before going into company; a high-class Chinese seldom cuts his. I have seen them over an inch long, and sometimes silver cases arc worn to protect them. This may be one reason why the Chinese never shake hands. Our pillow is soft; that of the Chinese hard, frequently a piece of bamboo. The bed is wooden. If a man wishes another person to come to him he makes the same motion with the band that we make when we want him to go away, and vice versa. In a rowing boat we have our backs to the direction in which we are going; the Chinese, his face. In some parts of the

country that I have visited, rowing is done with the feet, not with the hands. We speak of the points of the compass as north-east, south-west, etc.; the Chinese speaks of the east-north, etc. His compass points not north, but due south. In a Chinese clock the hands do not go round the face, but the face round the hands. A Chinese even strikes a match in the opposite way to our own. His mourning colour is white where ours is black, and in announcing the death of a near relative he will laugh we would look grave and sorrowful even though the deceased has left us a fortune. The coffin would bo covered, not with black, but with a gorgeous cloth of divers colours. The Chinese mounts a horse from the offside, and when he is up holds the reins in his right hand. When he stables his horse he puts its tail where we would place its head. He uses a saw in the opposite way. A woman knits a stocking from the toe, not from the leg. We speak of a man killed by lightning; the Chinese by A Chinese Dinner. Dinner begins with dessert and ends with soup. I remember when staying at Kong Chuen being asked to a birthday feast by a gentleman who had lived and made money in New Zealand and then retired to his native village, and as a compliment to the European guest the first course was Australian apples which he had been at pains and expense to procure. With us, of course, the soup would come first and the desserts last That dinner consisted of nearly twenty courses, and took two hours. Sewers, when there are any, run down the middle of the road, loosely covered with flagstones. One can imagine the stench. But the Chinese docs not dislike this, : and wonders why we should put sewers where they can be neither seen nor smelt. These are by no means all the queer customs of the Chinese, in contrast with our own, but- I must respect the editor’s space and reserve others for my next article. j