Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 September 1901 — THE QUEUE WILL STAY. [ARTICLE]

THE QUEUE WILL STAY.

Firmly Bound to the Chinamen, Reform Can’t Clip It. Persons who have a knowledge of Chinese customs and beliefs declare that the effort to secure the abolition of the queue will' surely fall. The 400,000,000 dwellers In the Flowery Kingdom would look upon such a desecration with horror. From time to time, says the Chicago Record-Htrald, whole districts are stirred by some fabulous story about the robbery of a pigtail, which Is generally attributed to a malign foreign devil, and grave edicts are issued to allay the excitement. The people are advised to remain at home, as our people are in proclamations against riots, and charms are prescribed for the confusion of the evil-doer. The custom of queue-wearing was decreed by the first Manchu Emperor as a sign of submission, and was bitterly opposed until he issued a supplemental decree which commanded the clipping process as a punishment for criminals. Then the people cultivated pigtails with anxious care In order to separate themselves from the criminal classes, and no evidence of the old protest remains except In the province of Fuhklen, where scarfs or kerchiefs are still run about the head because that custom came in two centuries back to conceal the other. The queue is now the badge of manhood, and the Chinese boy longs for it as the American boy longs for trousers with pockets in them. His desire Is gratified when he Is about 13 or 14 years old, and thenceforth, if he aims at high respectability, he will keep It in the neatest trim. It must never be worn coiled in society or before a social superior, and pulling the queue is a worse offense than a slap In the face. When a death occurs in the family, mourning is expressed through the queue. The black cord which ties it is changed to white in the north and to other colors in the south. Tien, too, the braiding is neglected and the hair is allowed to grow all over the head. The duration of this exhibition of woe is variously reported by different authorities, according, probably, to their point of observation. It may be 30 days or it may be 100.