Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 November 1883 — CHINAMEN AT DINNER. [ARTICLE]

CHINAMEN AT DINNER.

How the Celestial* Eat—A Queer Measure of Wisdom. “Have you eaten?” (Che lao fan nina may you?) is as common a greeting among the Chinamen as our “How do you do?” In their opinion, he who is able to eat is surely well, happy and all right in every respect. Eating is- the most common subjeot of conversation among them. “How many meals a day have you?” “How many bowls of rioe do you eat in a day?" In answer to such questions, the Celestials always name a larger number of meals than they really have, and when, with their hands, they show you the size of their bowls, you must understand that they usually hyperbolize. They often address foreigners such questions as these: “Have you rice in your country ?” “How many meals a day do your countrymen eat ?" It is a common opinion among Chinamen that foreigners come to China because they have nothing, or not enough, to eat at home. Chinamen hold that the stomach is the source of intellectual life, and, therefore, the more portly a man is the wiser he must be. In their language the sentenoe, “He eats much,” is synonymous with, “He is a wise man. ” To treat a guest or a visitor to a meal at any time of the day is considered here as a mark of refined politeness. Chinamen eating is the most familiar scene here, and it can be witnessed in the streets and yards, as well as in the eating houses, hotels and private houses. Only Chinamen who have families take their meals at home; the rest eat at hotels. Usually they have two substantial meals a day —in the morning, an hour after they get up. and between 3 and 4 o’olock p. m. Well-to-do Chinamen have three or four meals a day. The head of the family gets the best articles of food. Often only the father eats meat, while the rest of the family must be satisfied with rice. In olden times the children, although they might be married, were not allowed to either eat, sit or talk while their father ate; they served him as servants. Nowadays, even in the Celestial empire, such veneration for age is gone; it is observed only as a meaningless ceremony in the presence of guests. Poor families usually get their meals from street venders. These carry provisions along with a small stove on a wheelbarrow. Well-to-do families usually employ cooks. The guild of cooks is very numerous here, and the cooks get their. degrees and diplomas like men of science. A learned Chinese cook can prepare pork and mutton in fifty different styles. All cooks here pocket a certain percentage on the provisions they buy for their masters. The Celestials use no table-cloth, napkins, knives, forks, spoons, dishes, plates or glassware. The European style of eating with knives and forks they criticise as being rather work than pleasure. They do not use a white table-cloth, because it reminds them of deep mourning. Instead of napkins they use packages of thin, soft paper, which serve them also for handkerchiefs. They throw away the sheets of paper after they have been once used, and scorn Europeans for using the same handkerchief several times. Since 1820, when the Chinese thoroughly made the acquaintance of Europeans, the napkin has come into use among them, particularly in Canton, but they modified its use. In a corner of the napkin they make a hole and hang it from a button on a servant’s dress. The servant with the napkin goes from one guest to another, and thus a score of Celestials may use the same napkin. Each guest has a saucer, a pair of sticks ( kuaytzi ), a package of paper, and a minute cup with salt sauoe. Neither Bticks nor saucer are changed during the dinner. Warm tea and warm whisky are served many times during the dinner. When a Chinaman gives a formal dinner he invites his guests either personally or by cards. Those who accept the invitation inform the host and send him money, provisions and presents, at the cost of from half a dollar up to hundreds of dollars. The money and presents are entered in a special book which is carefully preserved for reference. On the appointed day the guests appear, and the host with numberless ceremonies receives them and leads them to the tents which are put up in the yard. These contain rows of tables, each table seating eight persons. “The tables of the eight sages,” they call them, for, according to tradition, the great Confucius with his disciples used such tables. The Chinese women never dine with the men. For the amusement of the guests they improvise a stage and perform a play in which boys take the female roles. It is considered, however, bad taste to pay much attention to the play. I must say that the Chinese dinners are very tiresome. No topic of general interest is ever discussed at them. A gastronomist who knows everything about various articles of food commands the most attention. Everybody smokes during the dinner. When the Celestials feel about satisfied they amuse eaoh other with homespun pUns or childish pranks, such as guessing whether one of the “eight sages” has an odd or even number of watermelon seeds. The dinner is crowned by a story or legend narrated by some more or less known orator. —Letter from Pekin.