A BRIDE AND BRIDEGROOM.
[Illustration]
THE Street of Apothecaries was no exception to the general rule that
Sybil had laid down. It also was very narrow, and, like many other
streets in Canton, was so covered over at the top that in walking
through it the sun did not burn too fiercely, neither did the rain fall
upon the passers-by.
The shops opened right upon the street, which was very gay indeed with
sign-boards. Just in front of the shops were granite counters, on which
goods were shown to purchasers.
Many of the sign-boards rested on granite pedestals. On one side of each
shop was a little altar, dedicated to the god of wealth, or the god
supposed to preside over the special trade carried on within. Every
heathen Chinese merchant and shopkeeper has some little spot set apart
for this worship, although all the shops have not an altar, but many
only a piece of red paper pasted upon a wall, on which the characters
meaning "god of wealth" are written, and before which incense and
candles are burnt. Every day, as soon as the shop is opened, worship is
paid to this divinity.
[Illustration: THE STREET OF APOTHECARIES, CANTON.]
The counters and shelves inside these hongs were very handsome. The
accountant's desk was at the end of the hong, and here again the red
colour was not absent, for the scales and weights of the shop were
covered with cloth of that hue.
Beggars (some miserably and scantily dressed) are very numerous in
China, people making quite a profession of begging, when they visit
shops in companies, and there make a great disturbance until they
receive what they demand. These beggars are often governed by a
head-man, who was really first appointed to rule over them by the
mandarin, to save himself trouble. A head-man will sometimes make an
agreement with a hong proprietor, that if he will pay a sum of money
down beggars shall not molest him; and when he agrees to this, a notice
on red paper, stating the arrangement made, is hung up in the shop,
after which any native beggar applying for aid can be shown this, turned
out of the hong, and upon refusing to go, he can be beaten. But unless
such an arrangement has been made, beggars may neither be beaten nor
turned out of a shop, whatever annoyance they may offer, unless they
steal, or break some other law. Therefore it is that poor shop-keepers
feel themselves bound to pay money in order to avoid such annoyance.
When the head-man is paid a sum of money, he is supposed to divide it
amongst his band.
"I never heard such a shame!" Leonard exclaimed, when he saw one of
these beggars very troublesome in the Street of Apothecaries, and heard
the law with regard to them. "I wish I were a mandarin. I'd very soon
put a stop to poor shop-keepers being so persecuted."
[Illustration: A BEGGAR.]
[Illustration: BRIDESMAIDS]
That evening both Sybil and Leonard, feeling tired, went very early to
bed, as they wanted to be up in very good time in the morning, so as to
see the whole of the bridal procession, for the bridegroom sends very
early indeed in the morning for his bride. The bridal-chair which he
sends for her is often painted red. The one which the Grahams saw was of
this colour, and over the door were also strips of red paper. Before the
bride took her seat in the sedan, which was brought into the
reception-room of her home for her, she having eaten nothing that
morning, and having kow-towed very often to her parents, they covered
her head and face with a thick veil, so that she could not be seen. The
floor, from her room to the sedan, was covered with red carpet. When in
the sedan, four bread-cakes were tossed into the air by one of the
bridesmaids as an omen of good fortune. In front of the procession two
men carried large lighted lanterns, having the family name of the
bridegroom, cut in red paper, and pasted on them. Then came two men
bearing the family name of the bride, who were, however, only to go part
of the way. Other men followed, some carrying a large red umbrella,
others torches, and again some playing a band of music. Near the
bridal-chair brothers or friends of the bride walked. Half-way between
the two houses the friends of the bridegroom met the bride, and as they
approached the procession stopped.
The children were very much interested in watching what happened next.
The bride's friends brought out a large red card, on which was written
the bride's family name, and the other party produced a similar one,
bearing that of the bridegroom. These were exchanged with bows. The two
men at the head of the procession then walked, with their lanterns,
between the sedan-chair and the lantern-bearers, who carried the bride's
family name, and returned to their places in front, when the bride's
party turned round and went back to her father's house, carrying home
her family name, she being supposed to have now taken that of her
husband. Even her brothers went back also, and then the band played a
very lively air whilst the rest of the procession took her on.
Fireworks were let off along the road, and a great many outside the
bridegroom's door when the bride arrived. Her bridesmaids, who have to
keep with her throughout the day, accompanied the procession.
As the sedan-chair was taken into the reception-room, the torch-bearers
and musicians stayed near the door, and where it was put down the floor
was again covered with red carpet. The bridegroom then came and knocked
at the bridal door, but a married woman and a little boy, holding a
mirror, asked the bride to get out. Her bridesmaids helped her to
alight. The mirror was supposed to ward off evil influences.
[Illustration: BRIDE AND BRIDEGROOM.]
Sometimes, much for the same purpose, a bride is carried over a charcoal
fire on a servant's back, but this was not done on this occasion. All
this time the bride's face was hidden by her veil. She was then taken
into a room, where the bridegroom was waiting for her, and here they sat
down together for a few minutes, without speaking a word. Sometimes the
bridegroom sits on a high stool, while the bride throws herself down
before him, to show that she considers man superior to woman.
He then went into the reception-room, where he waited for his bride to
come to worship his ancestral tablets with him. A table was put in front
of the room, on which were two lighted candles and lighted incense. Two
goblets, chop-sticks, white sugar-cocks, and other things were on the
table, when the bride and bridegroom both knelt four times, bowing their
heads towards the earth. This was called "worshipping heaven and earth."
The ancestral tablets were on tables at the back, on which were also
lighted candles and incense. Turning round towards the tablets, they
worshipped them eight times, and then facing one another, they knelt
four times.
Wedding wine was now drunk, and the bride and bridegroom ate a small
piece from the same sugar-cock, which was to make them agree.
The thick veil was now taken off the bride, but her face was still
partly hidden by strings of pearl hanging from a bridal coronet.
It often happens that the bridegroom now sees his bride for the first
time, the two fathers having perhaps planned the marriage, asked a
fortune-teller's advice, sent go-betweens to make all the necessary
arrangements, chosen a lucky day, without the bride or bridegroom having
a voice in the matter. This was the case with the young couple, a great
part of whose wedding ceremony Sybil and Leonard had witnessed. Both
Chinese boys and girls marry sometimes when they are sixteen years of
age; these were very little older.
Many other ceremonies had to take place, such as kneeling very often
before the bridegroom's parents, when at last it was time for the
bride's heavy outer garments to be taken off, together with her
head-dress, so that her hair could be well arranged; but she was not
allowed to eat anything at all at the wedding dinner. Indeed, on her
wedding-day, she is hardly expected to touch food at all.
Many people came in to see her, and on this day she must be quite
natural, and wear no rouge at all. She has to stand up quietly to be
looked at, blessed, and have remarks made upon her appearance. Presents
are sent to the bridegroom's family. For three days the bride's parents
send her food, as she may not, during that time, eat what her husband
provides. In some districts of the province of Canton the bride leaves
her husband, and goes home again for a time after she is married, but
after marriage she is generally considered to belong almost entirely to
her husband's family, in a wing of whose house she lives with him, and
to whose parents she is supposed to help him to be filial. On many other
days the ancestral tablets have to be worshipped by the bride and
bridegroom, and amongst other gods and goddesses, those of the kitchen
have adoration paid to them.
[Illustration: AT A CHINESE FARM.]
"_Canton, February, 1881._
"MY DEAREST LILY.--Father took us to a lovely farm
the other day" (Sybil wrote in another letter),
"where we saw a little donkey, who was so well
cared for that he seemed like one of the family.
Leonard and I fed him for some time. We both
thought that the farm-house was something like a
Swiss cottage. Father said the walls were made of
clay, and on these walls were scrolls, which were
supposed to have power to keep the fox and wild
cat away.
"There were a few bullocks and cows here, but not
many; their stalls were quite near to the house.
We liked the village, to which we went, very much,
and it was surrounded by high trees. Father says
that the stables of the Chinese are like
cart-sheds, but each stable has an altar in honour
of the ruler of horses. In this city there is a
large temple to this god.
"We saw a number of bean, pea, rice, and
cotton-fields, and had some sugar-cane given us to
eat. Sugar-cane is grown in Canton, and we had
some bean-curds to drink. We liked them very much.
Mother says she was told that they were made in
Canton overnight, and generally sold very early in
the morning. The beans are ground to flour, which
is strained, and then boiled slowly for an hour. I
wonder if you would like it?
"The Chinese are so fond of sugar-cane, and it
grew in China before it grew anywhere else. Ever
so many fruits and vegetables grow also in China,
but there seem to be more rice-fields than any
other. I will tell you a few of the vegetables:
sweet potatoes, yams, tomatoes, cabbages,
lettuces, turnips, and carrots; and some fruits
are apricots, custard-apples, rose-apples, dates,
oranges, pomegranates, melons, pumpkins, and ever
so many others. Canton is in the tropics, but it
is not hot here in the winter. There are such
pretty water-lilies here, not only white, but also
red and red-and-white. The Chinese look upon this
lily as a sacred plant. Some shop-keepers use the
leaves, in which to wrap up things, instead of
paper.
"Chinese people do very funny things. Because they
think that their birds sometimes like change of
air, they carry their cages out of doors with them
for a walk. But I do so wish that they did not eat
dogs! You see them being sold in the shops, and in
one district of Canton a fair is held, where they
are regularly sold for food. Many people like
black dogs best. At the beginning of summer nearly
everybody eats dog's flesh, when a ceremony takes
place. If people eat it, they think that it will
keep them from being ill in the summer. I am glad,
for that reason, that I shall not be here in June,
as the dogs are cruelly beaten the day before they
are killed. Fancy, poor little things! I suppose
that is to bring luck too! And yet the Cantonese
think that they displease the gods when they eat
dog's flesh, and we have seen it written on
Buddhist temples that people ought not to eat
'their faithful guardians.'
"The Cantonese must not go into a temple to
worship till they have been three whole days
without eating any dog. One of the 'boys' here--he
is a footman; but in China all these sort of
people are called 'boys'--eats rats. He says he is
getting bald, and if he eats them his hair will
grow again. Horses are sometimes eaten too; and
worms that spoil the rice-fields, father told me,
are sent to the markets and sold to be eaten.
Isn't that nasty? And a kind of swallow's nest is
eaten even by ladies. It is lined with feathers,
which are first removed; then it is scraped,
washed, and pulled to pieces, when it looks white.
People say it is something like blancmange. I
should not like to eat it. Does it not seem
greedy, when people have so much to eat, to take
poor little birds'-nests which have been made with
such pains by their owners?
"There is a bird in China that has such a long
tail: it is called the Golden Pheasant. The
feathers of the cock bird are most beautiful. His
throat and breast are like purple velvet, and his
back looks like gold. The upper part of his very
long tail is scarlet, and the rest yellow. When
this pheasant lifts his head and neck-feathers he
shows such a tuft!
"There are a good many deer in China, which are
also supposed to bring good fortune. Some Chinese
are very cruel to animals. We have seen them
carrying pigs, ducks, and geese fastened to a
pole, hanging with their heads downwards; and some
of their dogs look so hungry, and their beasts of
burden so tired. We saw a dreadful thing one day,
almost too dreadful to write about--a poor little
dog running yelping through the streets with its
tail cut off! A Taouist priest had cut it off, so
that it should run screaming through all the house
in which evil spirits were supposed to be, because
this would drive them out; then the poor little
dog rushed into the streets, where we saw it, and,
fortunately, father was near enough to have it
killed at once.
"The people listen more to father than they do to
many missionaries, because he goes to the
dispensary and helps to cure them when they are
ill.
"I forgot to tell you that when we first went to
the farm nobody saw us, because the farmer, his
wife, daughter, and a labourer were all listening
to a man reading to them. We thought he must have
got hold of some of the Chinese classics. The
pigeon-English people talk sometimes is so funny.
They are so fond of the word 'piecee.' Instead of
'one child,' they say 'one piecee chilo;' and if
they had many children, I expect they would say
'piecee muchee.'
"Leonard makes very good shots at pigeon-English,
and can talk it much better than I can. What we
generally do is to put 'ee' at the end of our
words; but when we spoke to the farmer he could
not understand, and so said, 'You talkee me. Very
good talkee.' When he wanted to tell us that his
house was very large, he said, 'Number one largee,
handsome howsow;' and for 'There is a child
up-stairs,' he said, 'Have got chilo topside.'
"You asked me how the Chinese dressed, so I must
try to tell you this, although I have written you
such a long letter already.
[Illustration: CHINESE LADIES.]
[Illustration: A VILLAGER.]
[Illustration: A COOLIE.]
"Gentlemen and ladies seem to dress very much
alike; and people cannot change their clothes as
they choose, because there is a minister of
ceremonies, who says of what colour, stuff, and
shape things are to be made, and when winter and
summer things are to be changed. Even a head-dress
may not be altered as people like, or they might
be breaking a law. And it is so funny about the
nails; some people let some of their nails grow as
long as they can, and are so proud when they are
very long. No Chinaman wears a beard till he is
forty. The outside robe of a gentleman is so long
that it reaches to his ankles, and it is fastened
with buttons. The sleeves are first broad, and
then get narrower and narrower. A sash is tied
round his waist, and from this chop-sticks, a
tobacco-case, fans, and such-like things hang. The
head-dress is a cap with a peak at the top. Men do
not take off their hats to bow; indeed, they would
put them on if they were off. In-doors they wear
silk slippers, pointed and turned up at the toes.
Chinese men are admired when they are stout, and
women when they are thin. Women also have two
robes, the top one often being made of satin, and
reaching from the chin to the ground. Their
sleeves are so long that they do instead of
gloves. They always wear trousers, and often carry
a pipe, for women smoke a great deal in China.
Some, I think, are pretty. They have rather large
eyes and red lips. Old ladies wear very quiet
clothes. Mother says the Chinese are not at all
clean people, and ought to change their clothes
much oftener than they do. People wear shoes of
silk, or cotton, with thick felt soles. The women
spend hours having their hair done into all sorts
of shapes, such as baskets, bird-cages, or
anything they and their amahs can manufacture.
Then besides ornaments in their hair, they wear
ear-rings and bangles. Even boat-women wear these;
and the ladies almost always paint their faces,
to do which they have a kind of enamel. Chinese
ladies have little useful occupation, and spend a
great part of their time, mother says, when they
are not doing embroidery, in gambling and adorning
themselves.
"The peasants wear a coarse linen shirt, covered
by a cotton tunic, with thin trousers fastened to
the ankles. In wet and cold weather they make a
useful covering of net-work, into which are
plaited rushes, or coarse dry grass, and they put
on very large hats, made in the same way. The
Chinese are not at all lazy people, for father
says after their shutters are shut, and all looks
dark from the outside, they are often at work, and
they get up early too. When men grow old their
tails get so thin. I saw such a wrinkled old man
the other day, with hardly any tail at all. I
think he must have been very sorry about that; he
was an old villager.
"Coolies wear their tails twisted round their
heads. They do all the heavy work, and are
porters, common house labourers, and sedan-chair
bearers.
"Leonard says if I write any more stuff he is sure
you will not read it; but I hope you will think it
interesting stuff, at all events, and, therefore,
not mind my letter being so long. There seems to
be so much to tell you when you have not been to
China, and it seems selfish to keep all the
pleasure of seeing such new things to myself. I
meant to tell you about the New Year, which we
have just kept, but I have not room. I hope you
will write to me very soon. We all send love to
you, and
"Believe me,
"Your very affectionate friend,
"SYBIL GRAHAM."
[Illustration]