Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 December 1881 — A Strange Custom. [ARTICLE]

A Strange Custom.

The respectable women of Thibet always appear in public with their faces pain tea black, so as to disguise thei/ charms and thus prevent frail men from the perils ofteb great admiration. Before going out of.do‘»rsthey i invariably rub their taces over with black glutenou-* varnish, soinething like currant Jelly in appearance. The object being to render themselves as unattractive as possib, they daub this composition over every feat ure, so as to render their; faces as unlike those human beipg as possidie. M. Hue in his travels in the country ascertained that the singular custom had its origin in the deeree of a Lama King, some 200 years ago. This King, being a man of austere habits was desirous of cheking license which prevailed among the people, and which had even spread to the'priests of the Buddhist moriasteries to such an extent as to relax their discipline, issued an edict that no woman sheuld appear in public otherwise than with her face daubed in the manner described. Severe temporal and spiritual, penal ties enforced the decree among them, the terrible wrath of Buddha. Tradition says that woman were perfectly resigned and obedient, and that far from the edict giving rise to a petticoat rebellion, the practice was cheerfully adopted and has been faithfully observ- > ed down to our own time.' Now, it is.considered a point of religious creed and evidence of a spirit of devotion, the women who daub their faces the most being the most relgious. It is only in the large" towns that ‘Women are seen in the streets with unpainted faces. • ■