Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1876 — At Table, in China and Japan. [ARTICLE]

At Table, in China and Japan.

Let ua nolle* what U native amt whJtt is foreign in the table appointments of both countries. We mark the absence of knives, forks and spoons. The flat plates seen in their collections are made for foreign, not for native use. To set an unspoiled gentleman, from the sunrise or the middle kingddth, to a dinner served on :flat dishes, to be Mien from with chopsticks, would be a mere repetition of the fable of the fox and the stork. Chon sticks and long bills would be equally 1 helpless. Give the blnck-halred gentleman a deep vessel, a bowl or cup, and the :rioe or minced food disappears like the soap in m platter, under the fox's tongue. ; One can |>ositiTcly eat soup with the chopsticks—provided it be not too thin. We see cups with handles, and saucers and tea “sets” at the Philadelphia show. These are foreign ideas. The Chinese host acts Uie small cup in a socket, places • liberal pinch of tlie leaf in it before the guest. ' A servant pours hot water, tn each one's taste. A lid keeps steam and fragrance beneath until the decoction is made, and while conversation progresses In Japan, the tea is made by host or maid, in a little kettle. The tiny, lid has cup is set in a metal socket or tray. Rarohr Is a oover of lacquered wood added, sweetmeats, served on snow-white paper, are an invariable accompaniment. Hence, tiny cups, metal sockets, raised stands, like “ cake-holdere,” Lilliputian tea-pots and kettles, caddies and tea-scoops, and a very complex array of tea service are displayed in the Main Hall. In the Agricultural Hall, the apparatus for the “ garden parties” and marvelously pompous ceremony known aa cha-no-yu (*• hot water and tea"), may be seen. Whole volumes of etiquette, pertaining to the delicious little nothing, are to be found in Japanese libraries. It is generally considered that the consummate graces of making, serving and presiding over cha-no-yu can be gained by a gentleman or lady in not less than two yean. It is a curious fact that, though cha is the tern for tea in Japan and China, thepronunciation of it in the colloquial of Amoy, China, is tea. At this port, and at Formosa, in 1818, the English first began to trade and to introduce this new -aril* into Europe. The fact that an Oriental (shall we not rather say a neo-occidental ?) banquet constats of many courses, a sufficient supply for the entire company lieing placed on -one did), requires platters of immense, .size. Hence, those huge, full-moon-shaped dishes of blue, red and cream- - tinted porcelain, in the Japanese display. -Cooked and raw fish, boiled and fried -egga, B]K>nge-cake, oranges, fruits, jelly, ■etc., etc., are piled upon them in utter ■ defiance of economy. I have been at great Japanese banquets, when salvers ‘rally as immense as anything In the Main Hall were used. On these edible mountains and volcanoes, trees, waves and foam, temples and gardens, made the mouths of children of the gods water. These, by means of chop-sticks, deftly handled by tapering fingers of bright-eyed maidens, ■were leveled into dishes of baby-house di- ■ mens ions. Each guest sat by, heels and ) knees on the clean matting on the floor, with the wilderness of cups and bowls -around him. I once counted forty-seven -dishes around me at one feast. The serving of take (Japanese), or samshiu (Chinese) hot, requires a kettle and feigfc porcelain decanters, or corkless bottles. These are served by young girls. Only one cup for four persons is the rule; -One or more tureens-full of water are ranged in the centre, between the row of guests. After one drinks, he rinses the •cup in the water, and otters or sends it to another. In hilarious moods, it is tossed -to Who person who calls for it. By way of introduction, one guest may offer the - empty cup, and pour out to the drinker. If reciprocated, after a few moments, friendship and conversation begin. Nothing so shocks an uninitiated native of China or Japan, at a foreign dinner, as 'the colossal and vulgar size of the tumblers and glasses. To offer a Japanese, at home,. a large cup, is tantamount to an insult, - and- the insinuation that he is a toper. ’ The Japanese Bacchus is a scarlet-red-haired creature, who stands by a jar of < sake with a dipper in her hand, or dances a drunken reel. The Shoji, as they are ■ called, are a lively family, and are figured ! liberally on their bronze, porcelain, lac- . quer and ivory. The arts of gorging to repletion, and of guzzling to loss of equilibrium and heavy sleep, are quite well understood by both Chinese and Japanese. Toothpicks are not used at table except in a secret or semi-secret manner. No dental noise must be made. At all times : the requirements of nasal etiquette must be’ attended to with face averted, or retirement from the company. Snuff is unknown. Tobacco may be indulged in at ■ all times by both sexes. Napkins are •of paper. Ernctetion is quite permissible, ana is rattier a compliment to your host, v that you have appreciated his cheer. Foreigners who learn this secret are apt to - overdo the matter in expressing their greti*tude; estmodo in rebus, however, even in 'volcanoes. The great importance of flow- - era in a Japanese household decoration is shown in the vast number of vases and ■ bouquet-holders of all sorts at the show. Many of the covered porcelain vessels in ’the exhibit, however, are for holding live • coals of charcoal for lighting pipes. Against the wall hang finely carved or gold-lacquered - fan-holders, the fans restring open on silver hooks. Folding fans are an original Japanese invention. A fan, a cup of tea ana fire for tobacco form. /•the ever-ready service of immediate refreshment to the visitor or the entering ■inmate of each house. — Prof. Griffin, in Meme Journal.