Yan Phou Lee

“ It is the custom, I am aware, to represent Chinese young ladies as languishing in their apartments and contemplating with tearful eyes the walls that confine them. To be sure, they do not have that excess of liberty by which some American girls are spoiled; yet they are not kept under lock and key. They have that liberty which is consistent with our ideas of propriety. They make visits, they call on their neighbors, they go to theatres, they see the sights, they witness boat-races and do many pleasant and social things besides. ”

“ But the Chinese take no explanations from those subject to them. It is better for an accused son, pupil, or servant to suffer punishment in silence although he may be conscious of no wrong doing. This seems very unreasonable; and, in fact, it does foster sullenness and a spirit of rebellion which fear alone keeps under. But the Chinese deem this method absolutely necessary for the preservation of authority. In every household the rattan stick is always ready to the hand of the majestic wrath of outraged family law. It is not my intention to represent the Chinese as naturally cruel. ”

“ I am indignant that there should be a popular belief in America that Chinese girls at their birth are generally put to death because they are not wanted by their parents. Nothing can be further from the truth. In a country like China, where women do not appear in public life, it must follow that sons are more to be desired, for the very good reasons that family honor and glory depend on them and ancestral worship necessitates either the birth or adoption of sons to perpetuate it. ”

“ Since young ladies and gentlemen are not allowed, in China, to enjoy one another’s society, dancing is, of course, out of the question. A Chinese gentleman would consider it foolishness and an insensate waste of time to hop about and twirl around for a whole night. Amusements requiring so much exertion are not to his taste; and as for throwing his arm around a girl’s waist in the whirl of the waltz, a Chinese gentleman would not permit himself such an indecorum. Accordingly, gentlemen’s indoor pastimes are cricket-fighting and quail-fighting. ”

“ As the moon becomes gradually full there appears in it to the Chinese eye a man who is climbing a tree. The full moon is greeted with much ceremony, and the night on which the luminary appears its brightest is passed in feasting and rejoicing. ”

“ There are hardly any sports, so-called, that develop the muscles and render a lad graceful and agile. The Chinese boy at sixteen is as grave and staid as an American grandfather; and if he happens to be married soon after, he throws aside most games as being childish. At the best, he has nothing corresponding to base-ball, foot-ball, cricket, bicycle-riding, skating, sliding, or tennis. ”

“ Each one carries a paddle, and the boat is so made that it can go just as well backwards as forwards. The direction devolves upon the men in the ends of the boat. In the centre the idol from whose ward or district the boat hails, sits enthroned with an immense umbrella of red silk to keep the sun from tanning his complexion. A band of music accompanies each boat. By its warlike clangor it encourages the racers, while its drum beats the time for the stroke. Banners are given after the race, as spoils of victory, to be placed in the temple of the patron deity. ”

“ Ah! a mother’s love is strong wherever it is found. She gave me some pocket-money and bade me be a good boy and write often.
With those words ringing in my ears and the memory of that sad face fresh in my mind, I walked briskly by the side of my cousin down to the wharf at which the junk was moored, which vessel, of a style well-known by picture to American boys and girls, was to carry us to Hongkong, whence we expected to take steamer for Shanghai. ”

“ STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS. The Chinese are passionately fond of stories and story-telling. On the public streets and squares, professional story-tellers congregate from noon to midnight, going over the achievements of a hero or portraying the despair of a lover. They recite with a dramatic power not to be expected from their sluggish movements and stolid countenances.
All classes indulge in this favorite pastime. The dignified scholar relishes a good story as much as a child in the lap a fairy tale. Story-books in the language can be counted by the tens of thousands. ”

“ The priests, fortune-tellers, lessees of temples, clairvoyants, and astrologers drive a flourishing trade in these mysterious wares. For these charms, and the friendliness of the idols being a matter of life or death, of future happiness or misery to the beloved child, of course the poor are just as eager to spend money in this way as the rich, and through baby’s life they continue to pay annual instalments of money for these things.
On my christening-day friends came to see me and to congratulate my family, and a feast was made in my honor. ”

“ Very distant relatives are recognized in China; a man prides himself upon the large number of his connections as well as upon the influence his family exert in the community on account of wealth or position. A “poor relation” there is treated with much more consideration and affection than in this country. Generosity towards that class of unfortunates is so common, and its practice is so strenuously insisted upon, in the moral code of the Chinese, that it almost ceases to be an individual virtue—it is a national virtue. ”

“ It teaches mankind to perform certain duties; for instance, to honor and serve one’s parents, to be obedient and deferential towards one’s elders, to be loyal to one’s lawful sovereign and to live harmoniously with one’s wife. These precepts are expanded and extended so that they are adapted to all the requirements of modern society. Confucius never taught the existence of God, for he felt that he did not know anything about Him ”

“ In spite of the restraint all Chinese children are subject to, we little boys and girls used to have good times together. Among the boys were two brothers of mine and a whole troop of cousins of whom five were about my age. We used to play cat’s-cradle, puss-in-the-corner, jack-straws and jack-stones, the girls (all the way from four to eight years of age) taking as much interest in the games as we did. Of course at any time when the gentlemen of the family were present, we used to sit as quiet as mice and as demure as monks and nuns. ”

“ At that age all well-born Chinese misses have their feet bound. It is a fashion they are obliged to follow. If they should not, they would not be recognized as ladies when they grow up, and they would become a disgrace to their families. Chinese aristocrats are as proud and jealous of their good name as the bluest-blooded of European nobles. Anything that lowers them in the eyes of their neighbors is carefully guarded against. ”

“ In order to ward off malignant influences from the future of their child, rich people often spend great sums of money. To some deities, especially to the God of Longevity, vows are made, and promises of presents annually, if the god will protect baby and bring him through certain crises in his life; and thus, willing or unwilling, the idol is supposed bound to be the child’s tutelary guardian.10 Also blind fortune-tellers are paid to intercede for the infant with their particular idol. If you were living in China, you would notice the strings of amulets which youngsters wear. ”

“ We Chinese say “Early morning!” instead of “Good morning!” The servants were then sent out to market to buy the materials for breakfast. Let us follow them.
After winding in and out through narrow streets flanked with blank walls, the monotony broken only by doorways, we come to the business portion of the city. We emerge into a scene of life and animation. Men and servant-girls are either on their way to market or returning, carrying wicker baskets of eels, fish, pork, vegetables. Here are incense-shops, butcher-shops and grocery-stores, fish-stalls and vegetable-stands. ”

“ There are usually placed in every temple a large number of idols inferior in power to the chief idol. Before the chief idol is burnt incense-sticks and candles and costly sandalwood. Food is offered on stated days, as well as on ordinary days; the worshipers believe that the essence of the food is eaten by the spirit of the god and that the substance remains for their own enjoyment. From the fact that the devotees themselves eat the food offered to the idol, people reconcile economy with profuse expenditure, by pretending to be religious with the view to gratifying their own appetites. ”

“ RELIGIONS. In talking about religion in China, I need hardly remind you that Christianity is of recent introduction and that many things belonging to it, such as the Sabbath, churches, ministers, regular meetings for worship, are unknown to the great mass of the people. The Chinese do not divide the year into weeks, nor do they have Christmas or Easter. In the place of those Christian days they observe other festivals. ”

“ He generally is a gentleman who depends on his teaching to make both ends meet;—his school is his own private enterprise—for no such thing exists in China as a “school-board” and if he be an elegant penman, he increases the weight of his purse by writing scrolls; if he be an artist, he paints pictures on fans. If he has not taken a degree, he is a perennial candidate for academic honors which the government only has a right to confer. ”

“ The louder you speak, or shriek, the more credit you get as a student. It is the only way by which Chinese teachers make sure that their pupils are not thinking of something else, or are not playing under the desks. ”

“ In spite of many obstacles, he proves that he is a boy still, and I will describe the outdoor amusements in which he does indulge.
Kite-flying is a national recreation. Young and old take part in it and it is not unusual to see a gray-haired man enjoying it in company with a ten-year-old youngster. Kites are of all sizes. I have seen kites that were six or seven feet from wing to wing. The frame is made of bamboo slips which can be easily bent. Over this is pasted very stout rice-paper, upon which strong figures are painted—sometimes the face of a man, sometimes a bird. ”

“ CHINESE HOLIDAYS. It would be a matter of many chapters were I to describe all the holidays which we have in China. The bare enumeration of them would be as difficult as tedious. In point of fact we have almost as many holidays and festivals as there are days in the year. Each prominent idol has a birthday, also an anniversary of his death, both of which are celebrated. There are some—the Goddess of Mercy, for instance—who have half a dozen days sacred to them. There are a number of deities, great persons deified, that are common to the nation ”

“ Every person in China is in strict subjection to somebody. The child is subject to his parents or guardian. They, in turn, are subject to their parents, who are liable to be called to account by the elders of the clan. The magistrate is considered the father of the people he rules over; and the Emperor stands in the same relation to his subjects18 as the father to his children. Women are subject to their fathers or husbands. All are subject to the national laws.
Accordingly obedience and respect, rather than affection, are required of the Chinese child. ”

“ Buddhist priests and nuns live apart from other people in monasteries and nunneries. They wear a different costume, and have their heads entirely shaven. They live on a vegetable diet, and obtain their food by their chants, by singing masses and often by begging. People believe that wealth, happiness and longevity can be procured through them, and so, according to their means, they offer these priests and nuns money with which to buy68 incense for Buddha and oil to burn in his lamps, also that a number of prayers shall be offered up in their behalf. ”

“ The boy attains to the ideal character only when he habitually checks his affectionate impulses, suppresses his emotions and is uniformly respectful to his superiors and uniformly dignified with his inferiors. Therefore the child is early taught to walk respectfully behind his superiors, to sit only when he is bidden, to speak only when questions are asked him, and to salute his superiors by the correct designations. ”

“ I venture to say that in proportion to population and distribution of wealth that infanticide is as rare in China as it is in this country. Extremely poor people, finding it hard to keep even themselves alive, often prefer to “make way” with their babies rather than see them slowly starve to death. With them, girl-babies are more often sacrificed44 because boys are readily adopted by rich and childless persons, while the female infants rarely can be thus provided for. ”

“ It is a breach of etiquette to reach over to the opposite side. When one finishes, he bids the rest to “eat leisurely,” which is our mode of saying, “Excuse me!” The Chinese invariably wash their hands and faces after every meal.
Tea is drank about the same time. It is taken without milk or sugar. Coffee is not common in China, and we are not accustomed to drink cold water. Tea is the national beverage and is taken to assuage thirst at all times and occasions as water is31 in America. At noon a lunch of cakes or pastry may be served. The majority of people are satisfied with two meals a day. ”

“ Unlike the boys and girls of America, Chinese pupils have no Saturdays as holidays, no Sundays as rest-days. School is in session daily from six to ten A. M., at which time all go home to breakfast. At eleven A. M., all assemble again. At one P. M. a recess of about an hour is granted to the pupils to get lunch. From two P. M. to four is held the afternoon session. This of course is only approximate, as no teacher is bound to a fixed regularity. He is at liberty to regulate his hours as he chooses. ”

“ Buddhist priests are praying to Buddha in the central hall, while in the back hall, where the shrine of the chief deity is77 situated, flocks of worshipers flit to and fro making offerings of food, lighting candles, and burning incense. There is no scene in China more animated. Everybody who has any religion in him comes to worship and to ask some favor of the god, and each person leaves more or less money with the keepers of the temple. In my native city festivals similar to this occur two or three times in the week in different parts of the town. ”

“ Our servants having, after much haggling, procured the wherewithal for breakfast, let us return to our kitchen and see the meal prepared. Your first exclamation is sure to be, “How smoky it is! Oh, stifling! Let us come away!” Well, this kitchen certainly is not so cosey and neat as American kitchens usually are. The smoke does not go out by chimney, but through the skylight and wherever it finds an outlet. The walls are black with the accumulation of years of soot. That large stove in the corner is built of brick. ”