THE FLOWERY KINGDOM.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 31, 2 August 1900, Page 5

THE FLOWERY KINGDOM.

BITS OF CHINA, OLD AND NEW

Until the third century before the Christian era China was split ud into a number of small states, the weaker being tributary to the stronger. The ruler of Tshin succeeded in uniting the various states into one kingdom, and it was at that time the Chinese Empire properly so called began. Hence the name Tshina or China.

THE NEW TEAR.

The Chinese New Year begins 15 days after the rising of the February moon, and *t this fete the Celestials, who are generally bo devoted to business, throw aside all occupation and give themselves up completely to amusement. There ia no Sabbath or weekly day of rest in the Empire, which perhaps accounts for the intense zest with whioh rich and poor enjoy the annual fortnight of repose. On the eve of the holiday the Chinese merchant puta his business affairs in scrupulous order, balances his accounts, and invariably pays all his debts. His work done, he locks up his books and hastens off to don his best clothes ; and then, holding fast the indispensable fan, he betakes himself to the theatres or other places of amusement.

THE I'LOWERY KINGDOM.

.Agriculture it the favourite occupation of the Chinese, and they consider the tilling of the ground almost a religious duty. It has been customary for many years for the Emperor to turn over a few furrows at the beginning of the agricultural year, and in all the provinces a similar ceremony is performed by his delegate. Flowers are everywhere cultivated, though generally in pots, with an enthusiasm amounting to passion, and marvellous ■kill is shown in the growing of dwarf trees, which produce quantities of fruit. In a word, vegetation in China is stamped with an originality setting it apart from that of any other country. In irrigation and the use of manure Chinese gardeners were long tar in advance of Western nations. We know what they can do in l^ew Zealand as growers of vegetables.

HONGKONU.

In 1851, wheu the English took pobs.ev.ion of the island o f Hongkong, it was but a rugged conical-shaped rock, dreary and forbidden in appearance. The Chinese living there were enraged at the intrusion of the foreigners, and one of them, the only baker on the island, resolved to dispose of all the intruders at one blow He put arsenic in their bread; but he overdid the business, and those who tasted the bread were seized with violent sickness, which accounted for their escape. Hongkong is now a maritime port of the am rank7and its harbor is one of the finest in the world The town has many first-clasa hotels, and pretty villas dot the hills in all directions. The benefit to British trade since that time has been enormous, and it is now one of the chief naval stations of the Labt It is not a pleasant town to live in. and from a moral standpoint has an evil reputation.

THE ORIGIN Of THE BOXERS.

Sneaking to a newspaper representative recently, Mr. Quong Tart, SnTwell-known Sydney merchant, said that the origin of the secret society now known as the Boxers w peculiarly Oriental So far as can be learned, it is the outcome of the troubles which have beset China during the last few years. The Chinese are conservative tothe backbone. Their reverence for their parents is proverbial, but their regard for old-time inetitutious and observances goes to a very much greater extent, for they revere not only their religious traditions, but the state of things existing with them. Mr. Tart points out that if a man were to build a particularly high house i or construct a new bridge, or indeed alter the features o the land - ■cane in any marked degree, that act might be regarded by the SSant and s^rstitious peasants as a ra,us belli To us it seems ncredible, but alterations which to our minds would be regarded as improvements to them would appear as impious "toferanoa rwrfh nature ' as they know it. It is more than likely that the Boxer SkS had it/origin in this wise. The people have been disconSd and generally unhappy. They have seen in certain^of the foreign concessions, new works going on, the object of wbioh they could not understand. Railways have been constructed, and hi Is which were landmarks from time immemorial, have been cut through, whilst valleys, equally pmed as mementos of their forefathers are now traversed by ungainly embankments. AH these inSSSiS^XS^iiidi of the u/educated Chinese as objection•ble and they also regard them as of ill-omen. To suggest that anything is unlucky to a Chinaman is sufficient to arouse his indignation, if not his wrath. They are superstitious to a degree which we can hardly under 9 tand, and all these now enterprises have been viewed with reprobation and alarm. They believe them to be unlucky. In this state of public feeling it was only necessary for a

few agitators to come along. Perhaps the opportunities produced the men. At all events, a number of mob orators quickly made their appearance, and by unmeasured condemnation of the foreigner whose immigration they said was hastening the ruin of the country, at once enlisted the sympathies of the people, and the whole country-side was in a blaze. Furthermore, these prophets of evil declared that such was the righteousness of their cauce that the missiles of the ' foreign devil ' could by no chance injure the Chinese ' patriots.'

WHAT THE CHINESE EAT.

The Rev. Father Maurice Watson, O P., in the course of an article in an American contemporary on Chinese customs, gives the following aooount of their system of dietary: — 'In the matter of eating there is really no accounting for tastes. I remember very well that while at Xsi-ho-ying a large black dog used to frequent the narrow road in front of my house. He seemed to be nobody'a dog and lived on what he could find. Eventually he died, and then everybody laid claim to the carcase. A. had often given him food ; B. had often taken him into his house ; while he was continually seen at C.'s doorstep. The dispute reached me, and I asked my oldest servant, a good, fervent, and devoted old man, named Shun, why they wanted the dog now he was dead, whereas no one claimed him when alive. "They are going to eat it," said Shun. So the dog was divided and eaten, and Shun had his share. Now to show how there iB no accounting for tastes, I will tell my patient readers that a long time after thi?, pnor old Shun caught a very bad cold and was obliged to wrap himself up and keep to his bed. I like this pious old man, and set to work to make him something for his cold. With my own hands I made him some arrowroot, using condensed milk and European sugar. And stirring it up, I sent it round to Shun by another servant. It looked so tempting that I almost felt sorry I had not a cold myself ; but to my great surprise, back came the servant with the arrowroot, and the message that Shun did not like foreign food and could not eat it. Feeling rather annoyed, I ate it myself. My Chinese curate then came to explain matters, and this is what he said : " I hope you are not annoyed, Father, because old Shun, did not eat your arrowroot ; but I must tell you, the Chinese are very particular what they eat." That silenced me. , ' The Chinese are not great meat-eaters ; grain and vegetable form their staple food. Perhaps it is owing to this circumstance that most of them have good teeth, white and regular, and generally free from aches. We wear out our teeth tearing up pieces of meat ; and behold how dentists multiply and thrive amongst us ! In my Chinese parishes there was not much work for dentists, and I always then, as now, attributed the immunity from toothache to the easily masticated food. Much meat overheats the Chinese blood, and a very wealthy mandarin once told me that even the well-to-do amongst them could not eat meat as we did without getting ill. But whereas we have a difficulty in finding substitutes for flesh meat, the Chinese eeem to have discovered hundreds of palatable dishes unknown to us.'

THE lIRITIHH LEGATION.

The following description of the British Legation at Pekin will be of interest at the present time :— ' From the time we passed the huge Gate Tower and entered the Tartar city (writes Mius GordonGumming), about one hour of severe jolting brought us to the British Legation, a tine old palace (of the bungalow type), once an imperial residence, which about 200 years ago was bestowed by the Emperor on one of hia 3H sons, whose descendants bear a title equivalent to Dukes of Leang, and their palace was called Leang-koong-f 00. This palace and another happened to lie so conveniently near to the quarters assigned to the envoys of ' the tribute-bearing nations,' that when troublesome foreigners insisted on sending ambassadors to the Emperor of China, it occurred to the authorities that if they established the foreign legations here it would appear to the ignorant public as if these great nations were simply new vassals of the Celestial Empire. So the Leang-koong-foo was made over to Britain in perpetuity at an annual rent of 1500 taels (£o00), and is now known as the Ta-Ying-koo-foo, or Great England Country Palace. Sites in the same quarter were assigned to the French, Russian, German, and American Embassies, so they have the great advantage of being near together and forming a pleasant little society of their own— a real privilege in this exile, and one which fully compensates for being apparently classed as tributebearers. The grounds of the British Legation, which cover about three acres, are enclosed by a high wall, agreeably to Chinese ideas of seclusion, and greatly to the comfort of the inmates. Fart of this is laid out as a garden, and the buildings are in separate blocks and courts. The state rooms are distinguished by being roofed with green-glazed tiles. They are supported by heavy wooden columns, and the windows and doors are panelled with lattice work of carved wood Unfortunately, both inside and out there has been lavish decoration of gaudy paint and gilding, as Chinese taste delights in the very crudest and most uncompromising colors— pure scarlet pillars jarring with the brightest green land Albert blue, lavishly laid on. To eyes that have recently rejoiced in the delicate tints and touches of harmonious Japanese decorations, theee Chinese crudities are a positive pain.'

THE CAPITAL OF THE OELKSTIAL EMPIRE. •»'

We take the following description of Pekin from a work of travel by Miss C. F. Gordon-Cumming —In truth, when standing on the south wall which divides the Tartar city from th&,Chinese, it is scarcely possible to realise that one is looking down, on the dwellings of about 1.300,000 human beings. Of these, 900,000 inhabit the Tartar city, which seen from the walls is apparently a beautiful park, richly wooded, and now clothed in densest midsummer foliage. And yet so effectually do high walls enclose these numerous shady gardens that an enormous majority of the toiling crowd never see a tree— probably scarcely know that snob exist, as

the people never dream of coming on to the walls, from which alone these are visible. Looking over the wall on the other side into the Chinese city is certain'y more s^gge^tive of the presence of human being?, ac there are f<>wer trees, for in Pekin the luxurious folk who dwell in palaces with shady courts are all Tartars, whereas the Chinese are the working bee 1 -, and their poor mud huts are densely packed all along tin 1 drain Tribute Can.il, which is led quite round the Tartar city, and alino-l round the Chinese city. Happily for our illusive inipn scions of IV Win, a^ seen from the wall-, we cannot at this di«tfirr>p iliM-crn ihn unutterable filth of its stagnant waters. Now, tnrnin'/ to J opposite direction, and looking into the Tt-«- ,- oity !>i>iii thm flfVMtion of about ."id it et. the brillianc, yellowtiled roofs uf the Imperial Palace are most conspicuous and very beautiful, as thiyri^e abovf* the dark green foliage. A considerable im ib^r of ornamental buildings, all yellow-roofed, and gleaming like b'uni-ihi'd gold, are scattered in every direction through the I'n p^rial pleasure grounds, and with the aid of good opera glantes one can distinguish objects very fairly, but, of course, when winter has stripped the trees the view mußt be far more distinct. The green-tiled roofs of the British Embassy are also conspicuous, and some important grey roofs also tower above the trees, and far away on the horizon lie a range of distant hills on whose slopes nestle beautifully-situated temples and Buddhist monasteries Of course, as you travel right round the walls the view changes considerably, one lot of roofs giving place to another, so that you obtain a bird's-eye view of the situation of most of the points of interest in tbe city. It would, however, take a really good walker to go the whole round of the walls, as the Tartar city forms a square four miles in every direction, adjoining the Chinese city, which is an oblocg 13 miles in circumference. It does not, however, follow that tbere are 2.) miles of outer wall, as three and a half of the south Tartar wall do double duty. It is only when thus looking down from the walls that you see the actual width of any of the main streets. For. as I said at first, these being about iio feet wide, the people establish rows of booths facing the permanent shops, consequently no one on the street ever sees more than one side of it at a time. The booths are just a framework of wood covered with matting, in which are sold readymade clotues, food, candles, fans, birds in cages, and all manner of cheap good.s. The true street has a moderately ornamental wooden frontage, some of the shops being decorated with very elaborate designs, hut though these were once resplendent with gold and scarlet, they are now t-o dingy and dirty as scarcely to look out of keeping with the rag-fair opposite. From these carved fronts project gigantic voles, with dangling signs, representing the trade of the owner, and gilded drngons uphold very varied signboards. Of course, the s-hops are all entirely open to the dusty street, glass windows being unknown luxuries.