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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/522-h.zip b/522-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..25ab0bf --- /dev/null +++ b/522-h.zip diff --git a/522-h/522-h.htm b/522-h/522-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8cb8dd7 --- /dev/null +++ b/522-h/522-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5341 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Chinese Boy and Girl, by Isaac Taylor Headland +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +PRE.poem { font-size: small; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.footnote {font-size: smaller ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Chinese Boy and Girl, by Isaac Taylor Headland + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Chinese Boy and Girl + +Author: Isaac Taylor Headland + +Posting Date: September 13, 2008 [EBook #522] +Release Date: May, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHINESE BOY AND GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHINESE BOY AND GIRL +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +OF PEKING UNIVERSITY +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Author of Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PREFACE +</H3> + +<P> +No thorough study of Chinese child life can be made until the wall of +Chinese exclusiveness is broken down and the homes of the East are +thrown open to the people of the West. Glimpses of that life however, +are available, sufficient in number and character to give a fairly good +idea of what it must be. The playground is by no means always hidden, +least of all when it is the street. The Chinese nurse brings her +Chinese rhymes, stories and games into the foreigner's home for the +amusement of its little ones. +</P> + +<P> +Chinese kindergarten methods and appliances have no superior in their +ingenuity and their ability to interest, as well as instruct. In the +matter of travelling shows and jugglers also, no country is better +supplied, and these are chiefly for the entertainment of the little +ones. +</P> + +<P> +To the careful observer of these different phases it becomes apparent +that the Chinese child is well supplied with methods of exercise and +amusement, also that he has much in common with the children of other +lands. A large collection of toys shows many duplicates of those common +in the West, and from the nursery rhymes of at least two out of the +eighteen provinces it appears that the Chinese nursery is rich in +Mother Goose. As a companion to the "Chinese Mother Goose," this book +seeks to show that the same sunlight fills the homes of both East and +West. If it also leads their far-away mates to look upon the Chinese +Boy and Girl as real little folk, human like themselves, and thus think +more kindly of them, its mission will have been accomplished. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<H4> + <A HREF="#nursery">THE NURSERY AND ITS RHYMES</A><BR> + <A HREF="#children">CHILDREN AND CHILD-LIFE</A><BR> + <A HREF="#boys">GAMES PLAYED BY BOYS</A><BR> + <A HREF="#girls">GAMES PLAYED BY GIRLS</A><BR> + <A HREF="#toys">THE TOYS CHILDREN PLAY WITH</A><BR> + <A HREF="#block">BLOCK GAMES—KINDERGARTEN</A><BR> + <A HREF="#shows">CHILDREN'S SHOWS AND ENTERTAINMENTS</A><BR> + <A HREF="#juggling">JUVENILE JUGGLING</A><BR> + <A HREF="#stories">STORIES TOLD TO CHILDREN</A><BR> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="nursery"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE NURSERY AND ITS RHYMES +</H3> + +<P> +It is a mistake to suppose that any one nation or people has exclusive +right to Mother Goose. She is an omnipresent old lady. She is Asiatic +as well as European or American. Wherever there are mothers, +grandmothers, and nurses there are Mother Gooses,—or; shall we say, +Mother Geese—for I am at a loss as to how to pluralize this old dame. +She is in India, whence I have rhymes from her, of which the following +is a sample: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Heh, my baby! Ho, my baby!<BR> + See the wild, ripe plum,<BR> + And if you'd like to eat a few,<BR> + I'll buy my baby some.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +She is in Japan. She has taught the children there to put their fingers +together as we do for "This is the church, this is the steeple," when +she says: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + A bamboo road,<BR> + With a floor-mat siding,<BR> + Children are quarrelling,<BR> + And parents chiding,<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +the "children" being represented by the fingers and the "parents" by +the thumbs. She is in China. I have more than 600 rhymes from her +Chinese collection. Let me tell you how I got them. +</P> + +<P> +One hot day during my summer vacation, while sitting on the veranda of +a house among the hills, fifteen miles west of Peking, my friend, Mrs. +C. H. Fenn, said to me: +</P> + +<P> +"Have you noticed those rhymes, Mr. Headland?" +</P> + +<P> +"What rhymes?" I inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"The rhymes Mrs. Yin is repeating to Henry." +</P> + +<P> +"No, I have not noticed them. Ask her to repeat that one again." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Fenn did so, and the old nurse repeated the following rhyme, very +much in the tone of, "The goblins 'll git you if you don't look out." +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + He climbed up the candlestick,<BR> + The little mousey brown,<BR> + To steal and eat tallow,<BR> + And he couldn't get down.<BR> + He called for his grandma,<BR> + But his grandma was in town,<BR> + So he doubled up into a wheel,<BR> + And rolled himself down.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +I asked the nurse to repeat it again, more slowly, and I wrote it down +together with the translation. +</P> + +<P> +Now, I think it must be admitted that there is more in this rhyme to +commend it to the public than there is in "Jack and Jill." If when that +remarkable young couple went for the pail of water, Master Jack had +carried it himself, he would have been entitled to some credit for +gallantry, or if in cracking his crown he had fallen so as to prevent +Miss Jill from "tumbling," or even in such a way as to break her fall +and make it easier for her, there would have been some reason for the +popularity of such a record. As it is, there is no way to account for +it except the fact that it is simple and rhythmic and children like it. +This rhyme, however, in the original, is equal to "Jack and Jill" in +rhythm and rhyme, has as good a story, exhibits a more scientific +tumble, with a less tragic result, and contains as good a moral as that +found in "Jack Sprat." +</P> + +<P> +It is as popular all over North China as "Jack and Jill" is throughout +Great Britain and America. Ask any Chinese child if he knows the +"Little Mouse," and he reels it off to you as readily as an +English-speaking child does "Jack and Jill." Does he like it? It is a +part of his life. Repeat it to him, giving one word incorrectly, and he +will resent it as strenuously as your little boy or girl would if you +said, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Jack and Jill<BR> + Went DOWN the hill<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Suppose you repeat some familiar rhyme to a child differently from the +way he learned it and see what the result will be. +</P> + +<P> +Having obtained this rhyme, I asked Mrs. Yin if she knew any more. She +smiled and said she knew "lots of them." I induced her to tell them to +me, promising her five hundred cash (about three cents) for every rhyme +she could give me, good, bad, or indifferent, for I wanted to secure +all kinds. And I did. Before I was through I had rhymes which ranged +from the two extremes of the keenest parental affection to those of +unrefined filthiness. The latter class however came not from the nurses +but from the children themselves. +</P> + +<P> +When I had finished with her I had a dozen or more. I soon learned +these so that I could repeat them in the original, which gave me an +entering wedge to the heart of every man, woman or child I met. +</P> + +<P> +One day, as I rode through a broom-corn field on the back of a little +donkey, my feet almost dragging on the ground, I was repeating some of +these rhymes, when the driver running at my side said: +</P> + +<P> +"Ha, you know those children's songs, do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes do you know any?" +</P> + +<P> +"Lots of them," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Lots of them" is a favorite expression with the Chinese. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me some." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you ever hear this one?" +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Fire-fly, fire-fly,<BR> + Come from the hill,<BR> + Your father and mother<BR> + Are waiting here still.<BR> + They've brought you some sugar,<BR> + Some candy, and meat,<BR> + For baby to eat."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +I at once dismounted and wrote it down, and promised him five hundred +cash apiece for every new one he could give me. In this way, going to +and from the city, in conversation with old nurses or servants, +personal friends, teachers, parents or children, or foreign children +who had been born in China and had learned rhymes from their nurses, I +continued to gather them during the entire vacation, and when autumn +came I had more than fifty of the most common and consequently the best +rhymes known in and about Peking. +</P> + +<P> +A few months after I returned to the city a circular was sent around +asking for subscriptions to a volume of Pekinese Folklore, published by +Baron Vitali, Interpreter at the Italian legation, which, on +examination, proved to be exactly what I wanted. He had collected about +two hundred and fifty rhymes, had made a literal—not +metrical—translation and had issued them in book form without +expurgation. +</P> + +<P> +Others learned of my collection, and rhymes began to come to me from +all parts of the empire. Dr. Arthur H. Smith, the well-known author of +"Chinese Characteristics" gave me a collection of more than three +hundred made in Shantung, among which were rhymes similar to those we +had found in Peking. Still later I received other versions of these +same rhymes from my little friend, Miss Chalfant, collected in a +different part of Shantung from that occupied by Dr. Smith. I then had +no fewer than five versions of +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "This little pig went to market,"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +each having some local coloring not found in the other, proving that +the fingers and toes furnish children with the same entertainment in +the Orient as in the Occident, and that the rhyme is widely known +throughout China. +</P> + +<P> +These nursery rhymes have never been printed in the Chinese language, +but like our own Mother Goose before the year 1719, if we may credit +the Boston story, they are carried in the minds and hearts of the +children. Here arose the first difficulty we experienced in collecting +rhymes—the matter of getting them complete. Few are able to repeat the +whole of the +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "House that Jack built"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +although it has been printed many times and they learned it all in +their youth. The difficulty is multiplied tenfold in China where the +rhymes have never been printed, and where there have grown up various +versions from one original which the nurse had, no doubt, partly +forgotten, but was compelled to complete for the entertainment of the +child. +</P> + +<P> +A second difficulty in making such a collection is that of getting +unobjectionable rhymes. While the Chinese classics are among the purest +classical books of the world, there is yet a large proportion of the +people who sully everything they take into their hands as well as every +thought they take into their minds. Thus so many of their rhymes have +suffered. +</P> + +<P> +Some have an undertone of reviling. Some speak familiarly of subjects +which we are not accustomed to mention, and others are impure in the +extreme. +</P> + +<P> +A third difficulty in making a collection of Chinese nursery lore is +greater than either the first or the second,—I refer to the difficulty +of a metrical rendition of the rhymes. I have no doubt my readers can +easily find flaws in my translations of Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes +published during the past year. It is much easier for me to find the +flaws than the remedies. Many of the words used in the original have no +written character or hieroglyphic to represent them, while many others, +though having a written form, are, like our own slang expressions, not +found in the dictionary. +</P> + +<P> +Now let us turn to a more pleasant feature of this unwritten nursery +literature. The language is full of good rhymes, and all objectionable +features can be cut out without injury to the rhyme, as it was not a +part of the original, but added by some more unscrupulous hand. +</P> + +<P> +Among the nursery rhymes of all countries many refer to insects, birds, +animals, persons, actions, trades, food or children. In Chinese rhymes +we have the cricket, cicada, spider, snail, firefly, ladybug and +butterfly and others. Among fowls we have the bat, crow, magpie, cock, +hen, duck and goose. Of animals, the dog, cow, horse, mule, donkey, +camel, and mouse, are the favorites. There are also rhymes on the snake +and frog, and others without number on places, things and +persons,—men, women and children. +</P> + +<P> +Those who hold that the Chinese do not love their children have never +consulted their nursery lore. There is no language in the world, I +venture to believe, which contains children's songs expressive of more +keen and tender affection than some of those sung to children in China. +</P> + +<P> +When we hear a parent say that his child +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Is as sweet as sugar and cinnamon too,"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +or that +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Baby is a sweet pill,<BR> + That fills my soul with joy"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +or when we see a father, mother or nurse—for nurses sometimes become +almost as fond of their little charge as the parents +themselves,—hugging the child to their bosoms as they say that he is +so sweet that "he makes you love him till it kills you," we begin to +appreciate the affection that prompts the utterance. +</P> + +<P> +Another feature of these rhymes is the same as that found in the +nursery songs of all nations, namely, the food element. "Jack Sprat," +"Little Jacky Horner," "Four and Twenty Black-birds," "When Good King +Arthur Ruled the Land," and a host of others will indicate what I mean. +A little child is a highly developed stomach, and anything which tells +about something that ministers to the appetite and tends to satisfy +that aching void, commends itself to his literary taste, and hence the +popularity of many of our nursery rhymes, the only thought of which is +about something good to eat. Notice the following: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Look at the white breasted crows overhead.<BR> + My father shot once and ten crows tumbled dead.<BR> + When boiled or when fried they taste very good,<BR> + But skin them, I tell you, there's no better food.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In imagination I can see the reader raise his eyebrows and mutter, "Do +the Chinese eat crows?" while at the same time he has been singing all +his life about what a "dainty dish" "four and twenty blackbirds" would +make for the "king," without ever raising the question as to whether +blackbirds are good eating or not. +</P> + +<P> +We note another feature of all nursery rhymes in the additions made by +the various persons through whose hands,—or should we say, through +whose mouths they pass. +</P> + +<P> +When an American or English child hears how a certain benevolent dame +found no bone in her cupboard to satisfy the cravings of her hungry +dog, its feelings of compassion are stirred up to ask: "And then what? +Didn't she get any meat? Did the dog die?" and the nurse is compelled +to make another verse to satisfy the curiosity of the child and bring +both the dame and the dog out of the dilemma in which they have been +left. This is what happened in the case of "Old Mother Hubbard" as will +readily be seen by examining the meter of the various verses. The +original "Mother Hubbard" consisted of nothing more than the first six +lines which contain three rhymes. All the other verses have but four +lines and one rhyme. +</P> + +<P> +We find the same thing in Chinese Mother Goose. Take the following as +an example: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + He ate too much,<BR> + That second brother,<BR> + And when he had eaten his fill<BR> + He beat his mother.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This was the original rhyme. Two verses have been added without rhyme, +reason, rhythm, sense or good taste. They are as follows: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + His mother jumped up on the window-sill,<BR> + But the window had no crack,<BR> + She then looked into the looking-glass,<BR> + But the mirror had no back.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Then all at once she began to sing,<BR> + But the song it had no end<BR> + And then she played the monkey trick<BR> + And to heaven she did ascend.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The moral teachings of nursery rhymes are as varied as the morals of +the people to whom the rhymes belong. The "Little Mouse" already given +contains both a warning and a penalty. The mouse which had climbed up +the candle-stick to steal tallow was unable to get down. This was the +penalty for stealing, and indicates to children that if they visit the +cupboard in their mother's absence and take her sweetmeats without her +permission, they may suffer as the mouse did. To leave the mouse there +after he had repeatedly called for that halo-crowned grandmother, who +refused to come, would have been too much for the child's sympathies, +and so the mouse doubles himself up into a wheel, and rolls to the +floor. +</P> + +<P> +In other rhymes, children are warned against stealing, but the penalty +threatened is rather an indication of the untruthfulness of the parent +or nurse than a promise of reform in the child, for they are told that, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + If you steal a needle<BR> + Or steal a thread,<BR> + A pimple will grow<BR> + Upon your head.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + If you steal a dog<BR> + Or steal a cat,<BR> + A pimple will grow<BR> + Beneath your hat.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Boys are warned of the dire consequences if they wear their hats on the +side of their heads or go about with ragged coats or slipshod feet. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + If you wear your hat on the side of your head,<BR> + You'll have a lazy wife, 'tis said.<BR> + If a ragged coat or slipshod feet,<BR> + You'll have a wife who loves to eat.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Those rhymes which manifest the affection of parents for children +cultivate a like affection in the child. We have in the Chinese Mother +Goose a rhyme called the Little Orphan, which is a most pathetic tale. +A little boy tells us that, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Like a little withered flower,<BR> + That is dying in the earth,<BR> + I was left alone at seven<BR> + By her who gave me birth.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + With my papa I was happy<BR> + But I feared he'd take another,<BR> + But now my papa's married,<BR> + And I have a little brother.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + And he eats good food,<BR> + While I eat poor,<BR> + And cry for my mother,<BR> + Whom I'll see no more.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Such a rhyme cannot but develop the pathetic and sympathetic instincts +of the child, making it more kind and gentle to those in distress. +</P> + +<P> +A girl in one of the rhymes urged by instinct and desire to chase a +butterfly, gives up the idea of catching it, presumably out of a +feeling of sympathy for the insect. +</P> + +<P> +Unfortunately all their rhymes do not have this same high moral tone. +They indicate a total lack of respect for the Buddhist priests. This is +not necessarily against the rhyme any more than against the priest, but +it is an unfortunate disposition to cultivate in children. There are +constant sallies at the shaved noddle of the priest. They speak of his +head as a gourd, and they class him with the tiger as a beast of prey. +</P> + +<P> +Some of the rhymes illustrate the disposition of the Chinese to +nickname every one, from the highest official in the empire to the +meanest beggar on the street. One of the great men of the present +dynasty, a prime minister and intimate friend of the emperor, goes by +the name of Humpbacked Liu. Another may be Cross-eyed Wang, another +Club-footed Chang, another Bald-headed Li. Any physical deformity or +mental peculiarity may give him his nickname. Even foreigners suffer in +reputation from this national bad habit. +</P> + +<P> +A man whose face is covered with pockmarks is ridiculed by children in +the following rhyme, which is only a sample of what might be produced +on a score of other subjects: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Old pockmarked Ma,<BR> + He climbed up a tree,<BR> + A dog barked at him,<BR> + And a man caught his knee,<BR> + Which scared old Poxey<BR> + Until he couldn't see.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +A well-known characteristic of the Chinese is to do things opposite to +the way in which we do them. We accuse them of doing things backwards, +but it is we who deserve such blame because they antedated us in the +doing of them. We shake each other's hands, they each shake their own +hands. We take off our hats as a mark of respect, they keep theirs on. +We wear black for mourning, they wear white. We wear our vests inside, +they wear theirs outside. A hundred other things more or less familiar +to us all, illustrate this rule. In some of their nursery rhymes +everything is said and done on the "cart before the horse" plan. This +is illustrated by a rhyme in which when the speaker heard a disturbance +outside his door he discovered it was because a "dog had been bitten by +a man." Of course, he at once rushed to the rescue. He "took up the +door and he opened his hand." He "snatched up the dog and threw him at +a brick." The brick bit his hand and he left the scene "beating on a +horn and blowing on a drum." +</P> + +<P> +Tongue twisters are as common in Chinese as in English, and are equally +appreciated by the children. From the nature of such rhymes, however, +it is impossible to translate them into any other language. +</P> + +<P> +In one of these children's songs, a cake-seller informs the public in +stentorian tones that his wares will restore sight to the blind and that +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + They cure the deaf and heal the lame,<BR> + And preserve the teeth of the aged dame.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +They will further cause hair to grow on a bald head and give courage to +a henpecked husband. A girl who has been whipped by her mother mutters +to herself how she would love and serve a husband if she only had one, +even going to the extent of calling that much-despised mother-in-law +her mother, and when overheard by her irate parent and asked what she +was saying, she answers: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + I was saying the beans are boiling nice<BR> + And it's just about time to add the rice.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +These are rather an indication of good cheer on the part of the +children than lack of filial affection. A parent must be cruel indeed +to make a girl willing to give up her mother for a mother-in-law. +</P> + +<P> +Another style of verses comes under the head of pure nonsense rhymes. +They are wholly without sense and I am not sure they are good nonsense. +They are popular, however, with the children, and critics may say what +they will, but the children are the last court of appeal in case of +nursery rhymes. Let me give one: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + There's a cow on the mountain, the old saying goes,<BR> + On her legs are four feet, on her feet are eight toes.<BR> + Her tail is behind on the end of her back,<BR> + And her head is in front on the end of her neck.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The Chinese nursery is well provided with rhymes pertaining to certain +portions of the body. They have rhymes to repeat when they play with +the five fingers, and others when they pull the toes; rhymes when they +take hold of the knee and expect the child to refrain from laughing, no +matter how much its knee is tickled; rhymes which correspond to all our +face and sense; rhymes where the forehead represents the door and the +five senses various other things, ending, of course, by tickling the +child's neck. +</P> + +<P> +All of these have called forth rhymes among Chinese children similar to +"little pig went to market," "forehead bender, eye winker," etc. The +parent, or the nurse, taking hold of the toes of the child, repeats the +following rhyme, as much to the amusement of the little Oriental as the +"little pig" has always been to our own children: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + This little cow eats grass,<BR> + This little cow eats hay,<BR> + This little cow drinks water,<BR> + This little cow runs away,<BR> + This little cow does nothing,<BR> + Except lie down all day.<BR> + We'll whip her.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +And, with that, she playfully pats the little bare foot. If it is the +hand that is played with the fingers are taken hold of one after +another, as the parent, or nurse, repeats the following rhyme: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + This one's old,<BR> + This one's young<BR> + This one has<BR> + no meat;<BR> + This one's gone<BR> + To buy some hay,<BR> + And this one's on<BR> + the street.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +There are various forms of this rhyme, depending upon the place where +it is found. The above is the Shantung version. In Peking it is as +follows: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + A great, big brother,<BR> + And a little brother, too,<BR> + A big bell tower,<BR> + And a temple and a show,<BR> + And little baby wee, wee,<BR> + Always wants to go.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The following rhyme explains itself: The nurse knocks on the forehead, +then touches the eye, nose, ear, mouth and chin successively, as she +repeats: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Knock at the door,<BR> + See a face,<BR> + Smell an odor,<BR> + Hear a voice,<BR> + Eat your dinner,<BR> + Pull your chin, or<BR> + Ke chih, ke chih.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Tickling the child's neck with the last two expressions. +</P> + +<P> +We have in English a rhyme: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + If you be a gentleman,<BR> + As I suppose you be,<BR> + You'll neither laugh nor smile<BR> + With a tickling of your knee.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +I had tried many months to find if there were any finger, face or body +games other than those already given. Our own nurse insisted that she +knew of none, but one day I noticed her grabbing my little girl's knee, +while she was saying: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + One grab silver,<BR> + Two grabs gold,<BR> + Three don't laugh,<BR> + And you'll grow old.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +There is no literature in China, not even in the sacred books, which is +so generally known as their nursery rhymes. These are understood and +repeated by the educated and the illiterate alike; by the children of +princes and the children of beggars; children in the city and children +in the country and villages, and they produce like results in the minds +and hearts of all. The little folks laugh over the Cow, look sober over +the Little Orphan, absorb the morals taught by the Mouse, and are sung +to sleep by the song of the Little Snail. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes however they, like children in other lands, are skeptical as +to the reality of the stories told in the songs. Thus I remember once +hearing our old nurse telling a number of stories and singing a number +of songs to the little folk in the nursery. They had accepted one after +another the legends as they rolled off the old woman's tongue, without +question, but pretty soon she gave them a version of a Wind Song which +aroused their incredulity. She sang: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Old grandmother Wind has come from the East.<BR> + She's ridden a donkey—a dear little beast.<BR> + Old mother-in-law Rain has come back again.<BR> + She's come from the North on a horse, it is plain.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Old grandmother Snow is coming you know,<BR> + From the West on a crane—just see how they go.<BR> + And old aunty Lightning has come from the South,<BR> + On a big yellow dog with a bit in his mouth.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"There is no grandmother Wind, is there, nurse?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, of course not, people only call her grandmother Wind." +</P> + +<P> +"Why do they call the other mother-in-law Rain?" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose, because mothers-in-law are often disagreeable, just like +rainy weather." +</P> + +<P> +"And why do they speak of snow and the crane, and lightning and a +yellow dog?" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose, because a crane is somewhat the color of snow, and a yellow +dog swift and the color of lightning." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="children"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHILDREN AND CHILD-LIFE +</H3> + +<P> +Before going to China, I could not but wonder, when I saw a Chinese or +Japanese doll, why it was they made such unnatural looking things for +babies to play with. On reaching the Orient the whole matter was +explained by my first sight of a baby. The doll looks like the child! +</P> + +<P> +Nothing in China is more common than babies. Nothing more helpless. +Nothing more troublesome. Nothing more attractive. Nothing more +interesting. +</P> + +<P> +A Chinese baby is a round-faced little helpless human animal, whose +eyes look like two black marbles over which the skin had been +stretched, and a slit made on the bias. His nose is a little kopje in +the centre of his face, above a yawning chasm which requires constant +filling to insure the preservation of law and order. On his shaved head +are left small tufts of hair in various localities, which give him the +appearance of the plain about Peking, on which the traveler sees, here +and there, a small clump of trees around a country village, a home, or +a cemetery; the remainder of the country being bare. These tufts are +usually on the "soft spot," in the back of his neck, over his ears, or +in a braid or a ring on the side of his head. +</P> + +<P> +The amount of joy brought to a home by the birth of a child depends +upon several important considerations, chief among which are its sex, +the number and sex of those already in the family, and the financial +condition of the home. +</P> + +<P> +In general the Chinese prefer a preponderance of boys, but in case the +family are in good circumstances and already have several boys, they +are as anxious for a girl as parents in any other country. +</P> + +<P> +The reason for this is deeper than the mere fact of sex. It is imbedded +in the social life and customs of the people. A girl remains at home +until she is sixteen or seventeen, during which time she is little more +than an expense. She is then taken to her husband's home and her own +family have no further control over her life or conduct. She loses her +identity with her own family, and becomes part of that of her husband. +This through many years and centuries has generated in the popular mind +a feeling that it is "bad business raising girls for other people," and +there are not a few parents who would prefer to bring up the girl +betrothed to their son, rather than bring up their own daughter. +</P> + +<P> +"Selfishness!" some people exclaim when they read such things about the +Chinese. Yes, it is selfishness; but life in China is not like ours—a +struggle for luxuries—but a struggle, not for bread and rice as many +suppose, but for cornmeal and cabbage, or something else not more +palatable. This is the life to which most Chinese children are born, +and parents can scarcely be blamed for preferring boys whose hands may +help provide for their mouths, to girls who are only an expense. +</P> + +<P> +The presumption is that a Chinese child is born with the same general +disposition as children in other countries. This may perhaps be the +case; but either from the treatment it receives from parents or nurses, +or because of the disposition it inherits, its nature soon becomes +changed, and it develops certain characteristics peculiar to the +Chinese child. It becomes t'ao ch'i. That almost means mischievous; it +almost means troublesome—a little tartar—but it means exactly t'ao +ch'i. +</P> + +<P> +In this respect almost every Chinese child is a little tyrant. Father, +mother, uncles, aunts, and grandparents are all made to do his bidding. +In case any of them seems to be recalcitrant, the little dear lies down +on his baby back on the dusty ground and kicks and screams until the +refractory parent or nurse has repented and succumbed, when he get up +and good-naturedly goes on with his play and allows them to go about +their business. The child is t'ao ch'i. +</P> + +<P> +This disposition is general and not confined to any one rank or grade +in society, if we may credit the stories that come from the palace +regarding the present young Emperor Kuang Hsu. When a boy he very much +preferred foreign to Chinese toys, and so the eunuchs stocked the +palace nursery with all the most wonderful toys the ingenuity and +mechanical skill of Europe had produced. As he grew older the toys +became more complicated, being in the form of gramophones, +graphophones, telephones, phonographs, electric lights, electric cars, +cuckoo clocks, Swiss watches and indeed all the great inventions of +modern times. The boy was t'ao ch'i, and the eunuchs say that if he +were thwarted in any of his undertakings, or denied anything he very +much desired, he would dash a Swiss watch, or anything else he might +have in his hand, to the floor, breaking it into atoms; and as there +was no chance of using the rod there was no way but to spoil the child. +</P> + +<P> +It is amusing to listen to the women in a Chinese home when a baby +comes. If the child is a boy the parents are congratulated on every +hand because of the "great happiness" that has come to their home. If +it is a girl, and there are more girls than boys in the family, the old +nurse goes about as if she had stolen it from somewhere, and when she +is congratulated, if congratulated she happens to be, she says with a +sigh and a funereal face, "Only a 'small happiness'—but that isn't +bad." +</P> + +<P> +When a child is born it is considered one year old, and its years are +reckoned not from its birthdays but from its New Year's days. If it has +the good fortune to be born the day before two days old it is reckoned +two years old being one year old when born and two years old on its +first New Year's day. +</P> + +<P> +The first great event in a child's life occurs when it is one month +old. It is then given its first public reception. Its head is shaved +amid kicking and screaming, its mother is up and around where she can +receive the congratulations of her friends, its grandmother is the +honored guest of the occasion, and the baby is named. +</P> + +<P> +All the relatives and friends are invited and every one is expected to +take dinner with the child, and, which is more important, to bring +presents. If the family is poor, this day puts into the treasury of +life a day of happiness and a goodly amount of filthy lucre. If the +family is rich the presents are correspondingly rich, for nowhere +either in Orient or Occident can there be found a people more lavish +and generous in their gifts than the Chinese. All the family can afford +is spent upon the dinner given on this occasion, with the assurance +that they will receive in presents and money more than double the +expense both of the dinner and the birth of the child. If they do not +"come" they are expected to "send" or they "lose face." Among the +middle-class, the presents are of a useful nature, usually in the form +of money, clothing or silver ornaments which are always worth their +weight in bullion. +</P> + +<P> +The name given the child is called its "milk" name until the boy enters +school. Whether boy or girl it may answer a good part of its life to +the place it occupies in the family whether first, second or third. +</P> + +<P> +If a girl she may be compelled to answer to "Little Slave," and if a +boy to "Baldhead." But the names usually given indicate the place or +time of birth, the hope of the parent for the child, or exhibit the +parent's love of beauty or euphony. +</P> + +<P> +A friend who was educated in a school situated in Filial Piety Lane and +who afterwards lived near Filial Piety Gate called his first son "Two +Filials." Another friend had sons whose names were "Have a Man," "Have +a Mountain," "Have a Garden," "Have a Fish." In conversation with this +friend about the son whose "milk" name was "Have a Man," I constantly +spoke of the boy by his "school" name, the only name by which I knew +him. The old man was perfectly blank—he knew not of whom I spoke, as +he had not seen his son since he got his school name. Finally, as it +began to dawn on him that I was talking of his son, he asked: +</P> + +<P> +"Whom are you talking about?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your son." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you mean 'Have a Man.'" +</P> + +<P> +This same man had a little girl called "Apple," not an ordinary apple, +but the most luscious apple known to North China. I have as I write a +list of names commonly applied to girls from which I select the +following: Beautiful Autumn, Charming Flower, Jade Pure, Lucky Pearl, +Precious Harp, Covet Spring; and the parent's way of speaking of his +little girl, when not wishing to be self-depreciative, is to call her +his "Thousand ounces of gold." +</P> + +<P> +The names given to boys are quite as humiliating or as elevating as +those given to girls. He may be Number One, Two or Three, Pig, Dog or +Flea, or he may be like Wu T'ing Fang a "Fragrant Palace," or like Li +Hung Chang, an "Illustrious Bird" or "Learned Treatise." +</P> + +<P> +During the summer-time in North China the child goes almost if not +completely naked. Until it is five years old, its wardrobe consists +largely of a chest-protector and a pair of shoes. In the winter-time +its trousers are quilted, with feet attached, its coat made in the same +way, and it is anything but "clean and sweet." The odor is not unlike +that of an up-stairs back room in a narrow alley at Five Points, in +which dwell a whole family of emigrants. +</P> + +<P> +When the Chinese child is ill he does not have the same kind of +hospital accommodations, nursing and medical skill at his command as do +we in the West. His bed is brick, his pillow stuffed with bran or +grass-seed, he has no sheets, his food is coarse and ill-adapted to a +sick child's stomach. While his nurse may be kind, gentle and loving +she is not always skillful, and as for the ability of his physician let +the following child's song tell us: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + My wife's little daughter once fell very ill,<BR> + And we called for a doctor to give her a pill.<BR> + He wrote a prescription which now we will give her,<BR> + In which he has ordered a mosquito's liver.<BR> + And then in addition the heart of a flea,<BR> + And half pound of fly-wings to make her some tea.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +When the child begins to walk and talk it begins to be interesting. Its +father has a little push cart made by which it learns to walk, and the +nurse goes about the court with it repeating ba ba, ma ma, (notice that +these words for papa and mama are practically the same in Chinese as in +English, the b being substituted for p), and all the various words +which mean elder brother, younger brother, elder and younger sisters, +uncles, aunts, grandfathers, grandmothers, and cousins and all the +various relatives which may be found in its family, village or home. +</P> + +<P> +It is not an easy matter to learn the names of one's relatives in +China, as there is a separate name for each showing whether the person +whom we call uncle is father or mother's elder or younger brother or +the husband of their elder or younger sister. When it comes to learning +the names of all one's cousins it is quite a difficult affair. Suppose, +for instance, you were to introduce me to your cousin, and I wanted to +know which one, you might explain that he is the son of your mother's +elder brother. In China the word you used for cousin would express the +exact idea. The child begins his study of language by learning all +these relationships. +</P> + +<P> +These are for the most part taught them by the nurse, who is an +important element in the Chinese home and a useful adjunct to the +child. Each little girl in the homes of the better classes has her own +particular nurse, who teaches her nursery songs in her childhood, is +her companion during her youth, goes with her to her husband's home, +when she marries presumably to prevent her becoming lonesome, and +remains with her through life. In conversation with the granddaughters +of a duke and their old nurse, I discovered that the same games the +little children play upon the street, they play in the seclusion of +their green-tiled palace, and the same nursery songs that entice +Morpheus to share the mat shed of the beggar's boy, entice him also to +share the silken couch of the emperor in the palace. +</P> + +<P> +When a boy is old enough, he grows a queue, which takes the place in +the life of the Chinese boy which his first pair of trousers does in +that of the American or English boy. It is one of the first things he +lives for; and he should not be despised for wearing his hair in this +fashion, especially when we remember that George Washington and +Lafayette and their contemporaries wore their hair in a braid down +their backs. +</P> + +<P> +Besides the queue has a great variety of uses. It serves him in some of +the games he plays. When I saw the boys in geometry use their queues to +strike an arc or draw a circle, it reminded me of my college days when +I had forgotten to take a string to class. The laborer spreads a +handkerchief or towel over his head, wraps his queue around it and +makes for himself a hat. The cart driver whips his mule with it; the +beggar uses it to scare away the dogs; the father takes hold of his +little boy's queue instead of his hand when walking with him on the +street, or the child follows holding to his father's queue, and the +boys use it as reins when they play horse. I saw this amusingly +illustrated on the streets of Peking. Two boys were playing horse. Now +I have always noticed that when a boy plays horse, it is not because he +has any desire to be the horse, but the driver. He is willing to be +horse for a time, in order that he may be allowed to be driver for a +still longer time. A large boy was playing horse with a smaller one, +the latter acting as the beast of burden. This continued for some time, +when the smaller, either discovering that a horse is larger than a man, +or that it is more noble to be a man than a horse, balked, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Now you be horse." +</P> + +<P> +The older was not yet inclined to be horse, and tried in vain, by +coaxing, scolding and whipping, to induce him to move, but the horse +was firm. The driver was also firm, and not until the horse in a very +unhorselike manner, gave away to tears, could the man be induced to let +himself down to the level of a horse. From all of which it will be seen +that the disposition of Chinese children is no exception to that +longing for superiority which prevails in every human heart. +</P> + +<P> +All kinds of trades, professions, and employments have as great +attraction for Chinese as for American children. A country boy looks +forward to the time when he can stand up in the cart and drive the +team. Children seeing a battalion of soldiers at once "organize a +company." This was amusingly illustrated by a group of children in +Peking during the Chinese-Japanese war. Each had a stick or a weed for +a gun, except the drummer-boy, who was provided with an empty +fruit-can. They went through various maneuvres, for practice, no doubt, +and all seemed to be going on beautifully until one of those in front +shouted, in a voice filled with fear: +</P> + +<P> +"The Japanese are coming, the Japanese are coming." +</P> + +<P> +This was the signal for a general retreat, and the children, in +imitation of the army then in the field, retreated in disorder and +dismay in every direction. +</P> + +<P> +The Chinese boys and girls are little men and women. At an early age +they are familiar with all the rules of behaviour which characterize +their after life and conduct. Their clothes are cut on the same +pattern, out of cloth as those of their parents and grandparents. There +are no kilts and knee-breeches, pinafores and short skirts, to make +them feel that they are little people. +</P> + +<P> +But they are little people as really and truly as are the children of +other countries. A gentleman in reviewing my "Chinese Mother Goose +Rhymes" speaks of some of the illustrations which "present the Chinese +children playing their sober little games." Why we should call such a +game as "blind man's buff," "e-ni-me-ni-mi-ni-mo," "this little pig +went to market" or "pat-a-cake" "sober little games," unless it is +because of preconceived notions of the Chinese people I do not +understand. The children are dignified little people, but they enjoy +all the attractions of child-life as much as other children do. +</P> + +<P> +It is a mistake to suppose that the life of Chinese children is a +doleful one. It is understood, of course, that their life is not the +same, nor to be compared with that of children in Europe or America: +and it should be remembered further that the pleasures of child-life +are not measured by the gratification of every childish whim. Many of +the little street children who spend a large part of their time in +efforts to support the family, when allowed to go to a fair or have a +public holiday enjoy themselves more in a single day than the child of +wealth, in a whole month of idleness. +</P> + +<P> +In addition to his games and rhymes, the fairs which are held regularly +in the great Buddhist temples in different parts of the cities, are to +the Chinese boy what a country fair, a circus or Fourth of July is to +an American farmer's boy or girl. He has his cash for candy or fruit, +his crackers which he fires off at New Year's time, making day a time +of unrest, and night hideous. Kite-flying is a pleasure which no +American boy appreciates as does the Chinese, a pleasure which clings +to him till he is three-score years and ten, for it is not uncommon to +find a child and his grandfather in the balmy days of spring flying +their kites together. He has his pet birds which he carries around in +cages or on a perch unlike any other child we have ever seen. He has +his crickets with which he amuses himself—not "gambles"—and his gold +fish which bring him days and years of delight. Indeed the Chinese +child, though in the vast majority of cases very poor, has ample +provision for a very good time, and if he does not have it, it must be +his own fault. +</P> + +<P> +Statements about the life of the children, however, may be nothing more +than personal impressions, and are usually colored as largely by the +writer's prejudices as by the conditions of the children. Some of us +are so constituted as to see the dark side of the picture, others the +bright. Let us go with the boys and girls to their games. Let us play +with their toys and be entertained by the shows that entertain them, +and see if they are not of the same flesh and blood, heart and +sentiment as we. We shall find that the boys and girls live together, +work together, study together, play together, have their heads shaved +alike and quarrel with each other until they are seven years old, the +period which brings to an end the life of the Chinese child. From this +period it is the boy or the girl. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="boys"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +GAMES PLAYED BY BOYS +</H3> + +<P> +Children's games are always interesting. Chinese games are especially +so because they are a mine hitherto unexplored. An eminent archdeacon +once wrote: "The Chinese are not much given to athletic exercises." A +well-known doctor of divinity states that, "their sports do not require +much physical exertion, nor do they often pair off, or choose sides and +compete, in order to see who are the best players," while a still more +prominent writer tells us that, "active, manly sports are not popular +in the South." Let us see whether these opinions are true. +</P> + +<P> +Two years ago a letter from Dr. Luther Gulick, at present connected +with the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., came to us while in Peking, +asking that we study into the character of Chinese children's games. +Dr. Gulick was preparing a series of lectures on the "Psychology of +Play." He desired to secure as much reliable information as possible +regarding the play-life of the children of the East, in order that he +might discover what relation exists between the games of Oriental and +those of Occidental children. By so doing he would learn the effect of +play on the mental and physical development as well as the character of +children, and through them upon the human race as a whole. We were +fortunate in having at our disposal a large number of students +connected with Peking University, the preparatory, intermediate and +primary schools, together with 150 girls in attendance at the girls' +high school. +</P> + +<P> +We received the letter at four o'clock, at which time the students had +just been dismissed from school, and were taking their afternoon meal, +but at 4:30 we went to the playground, notebook in hand, called +together some of our most interesting boys, explained to them our +object, and asked them to play for us. Some one may say that this was +the worst possible thing to do, as it would make the children +self-conscious and hence unnatural—the sequel, however, will show. +</P> + +<P> +At first that was exactly what happened. The children tittered, and +looked at each other in blank astonishment, then one of them walked +away and several others gathered about us. We repeated our explanation +in order to secure their interest, set their minds to work thinking up +games, and do away with the embarrassment, and it was only a few +minutes before an intelligent expression began to appear in the eyes of +some of the boys, and one of them, who was always ready for anything +new, turned to his companion and said: +</P> + +<P> +"You go and find Chi, and bring him here." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is Chi?" we inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"He is the boy who knows more games than any of the rest of us," he +explained. +</P> + +<P> +Away he ran and soon reappeared with a very unpromising looking boy +whom we recognized as a street waif that had been taken into what some +one called our "raggedy school" a few years before. He was a glum +looking boy—a boy without a smile. There was a set expression on his +face which might be interpreted as "life is not worth living," or, +which would be an equally legitimate interpretation in the present +instance, "these games are of no importance. If you want them we can +play any number of them for you, but what will you do with them after +you get them?" +</P> + +<P> +All the crowd began at once to explain to Chi what we wanted, and he +looked more solemn than ever, then we came to his rescue. +</P> + +<P> +"Chi," we asked, "what kind of games do boys play?" +</P> + +<P> +Slowly and solemnly Chi wound one leg around the other as he answered: +</P> + +<P> +"Lots of them." +</P> + +<P> +This is the stereotyped answer that will come from any Chinaman to +almost any question he may be asked about things Chinese. "For +instance?" we further inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Forcing the city gates," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Play it for me." +</P> + +<P> +The boys at once appointed captains who chose sides and they formed +themselves into two lines facing each other, those of each line taking +fast hold of each other's hands. The boys on one side then sang: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + He stuck a feather in his hat,<BR> + And hurried to the town<BR> + And children met him with a horse<BR> + For the gates were broken down.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Then one from the other side ran with all his force, throwing himself +upon the hands of the boys who had sung, the object being to "break +through," in which case he took the two whose hands had been parted to +"his side," while if he failed to break through he had to remain on +their side. The others then sang. One from this group tried to break +through their line, and thus they alternated until one side or the +other was broken up. +</P> + +<P> +The boys were panting and red in the face when the game was over, a +strong argument against the +Chinese-are-not-much-given-to-vigorous-exercise theory. +</P> + +<P> +"Now play something which does not require so much exercise," we +requested. +</P> + +<P> +Every one looked at Chi, not that the other boys did not know the +games, but simply because this matter-of-fact boy was their natural +leader in this kind of sport. +</P> + +<P> +"Blind man," he said quietly. +</P> + +<P> +At once a handkerchief was tied around the eyes of one of the boys who +was willing to be "blind man," and a game corresponding almost exactly +to our own "blind man's buff" was played, without the remotest +embarrassment, but with as much naturalness as though neither teacher +nor spectator was near them. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you any other games which require strength?" we inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Man-wheel," said Chi in his monosyllabic way. +</P> + +<P> +"Play it, please." +</P> + +<P> +"Go and call Wei-Yuan," to one of the smaller boys. +</P> + +<P> +The boy ran off to find the one indicated, and Chi selected two other +middle-sized and two small boys. When Wei-Yuan, a larger but very +good-natured, kindly-dispositioned lad, came, the two middle-sized boys +stood beside him, one facing north, the other south, and caught each +other's hand over Wei-Yuan's shoulder. The two smaller boys then stood +beside these two, each of whom clutched hold of the small boys' +girdles, who in turn clutched their girdles and Wei-Yuan took their +disengaged hands. Thus the five boys were firmly bound together. The +wheel then began to turn, the small boys were gradually lifted from the +ground and swung or whirled around in an almost horizontal position. +</P> + +<P> +"This game requires more strength," Chi explained, "than any other +small boys' game." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you any games more vigorous than this?" +</P> + +<P> +"Pitching the stone lock, and lifting the stone dumb-bells, but they +are for men." +</P> + +<P> +"What is that game you were playing a few days ago in which you used +one stick to knock another?" +</P> + +<P> +"One is striking the stick, and another is knocking the stick." +</P> + +<P> +"Play one of them." +</P> + +<P> +Chi drew two lines on the ground eight feet apart, on one of which he +put a stick. He then threw another stick at it, the object being to +drive it over the other line. He who first succeeds in driving it over +the line wins the game. The sticks are ten to fifteen inches long. +</P> + +<P> +Striking the stick is similar to tip-cat which we have often seen +played by boys on the streets of New York. The children mark out a +square five or six feet on each side. The striker takes a position +inside, with his feet spread apart as wide as possible, to give him a +better command of the square. One of the others places the block in the +position which he supposes will be most difficult for the striker to +hit. The latter is then at liberty to twist around on one foot, placing +the other outside the square, in order if possible to secure a position +from which he can strike to advantage. He then throws a stick about +fifteen inches long at the block to drive it out of the square. If he +fails, the one who placed the block takes the stick, and another places +the block for him. If he succeeds he has the privilege of striking the +block three times as follows: He first strikes it perpendicularly, +which causes it to bound up two or three feet, when he hits it as one +would hit a ball, driving it as far as possible. This he repeats three +times, and if he succeeds in driving it the distance agreed upon, which +may be 20, 50, 200, 300, 500 or more feet, he wins the game. If not he +brings back the block and tries again, continuing to strike until he +fails to drive it out of the square. This game develops ingenuity in +placing the block and skill, in striking, and is one of the most +popular of all boys' games. +</P> + +<P> +When they had finished striking the stick one of the smaller children +went over to where Chi was standing and whispered in his ear. The +expression of his face remained as unchangeable as that of a stone +image, as he called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Select fruit." +</P> + +<P> +The boys danced about in high glee, selected two captains who chose +sides, and they all squatted down in two rows twenty feet apart. Each +boy was given the name of some kind of fruit, such as apples, pears, +peaches, quinces or plums, all of which are common about Peking. The +captain on one side then blindfolded one of his boys, while one from +the other group arose and stealthily walked over and touched him, +returning to his place among his own group and taking as nearly as +possible the position he had when the other was blindfolded. In case +his companions are uncertain as to whether his position is exactly the +same, they all change their position, in order to prevent the one +blindfolded from guessing who it was who left his place. +</P> + +<P> +The covering was then removed from his eyes, he went over to the other +side, examined carefully if perchance he might discover, from change of +position, discomfort in squatting, or a trace of guilt in the face or +eyes of any of them, a clue to the guilty party. He "made faces" to try +to cause the guilty one to laugh. He gesticulated, grimaced, did +everything he could think of, but they looked blank and unconcerned, or +all laughed together, allowing no telltale look to appear on their +faces. His pantomimes sometimes brought out the guilty one, but in case +they did not, his last resort was to risk a guess, and so he made his +selection. If he was right he took the boy to his side; if wrong, he +stayed on their side. One of their side was then blindfolded, and the +whole was repeated until one group or the other lost all its men. The +game is popular among girls as well as boys. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you have any other guessing games?" we asked Chi. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, there is point at the moon or the stars," he answered, "and blind +man is also a guessing game." +</P> + +<P> +By this time the boys had become enthusiastic, and had entirely +forgotten that they were playing for us or indeed for any purpose. It +was a new experience, this having their games taken in a notebook, and +each was anxious not only that he play well, but that no mistake be +made by any one. The more Chi realized the importance of playing the +games properly the more solemn he became, if indeed it were possible to +be more solemn than was his normal condition. He now changed to a game +of an entirely different character from those already played. Those +developed strength, skill or curiosity; this developed quick reaction +in the players. +</P> + +<P> +"What shall we play?" inquired one of the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"Queue," answered Chi. +</P> + +<P> +Immediately every boy jerked his queue over his shoulder and began to +edge away from his companions. But as he walked away from one he drew +near another, and a sudden calling of his name would so surprise him +that in turning his head to see who spoke his short queue would be +jerked back over his shoulder and he received a dozen slaps from his +companions, all of whom were waiting for just such an opportunity. This +is the object of the game—to catch a boy with his queue down his back. +Some of the boys, more spry than others, would move away to a distance, +and then as though all unconsciously, allow their queue to hang down +the back in its natural position, depending upon their fleetness or +their agility in getting out of the way or bringing the queue around in +front. This game is peculiarly interesting and caused much hilarity. At +times even the solemn face of Chi relaxed into a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Honor," called out Chi, and as in the circus when the ringmaster +cracks his whip, everything changed. The boys each hooked the first +finger of his right hand with that of his companion and then pulled +until their fingers broke apart, when they each uttered the word +"Honor." This must not be spoken before they broke apart, but as soon +as possible after, and he who was first heard was entitled to an +obeisance on the part of the other. Those who failed the first trial +sat down, and those who succeeded paired off and pulled once more, and +so on until only one was left, who, as in the spelling-bees of our +boyhood days, became the hero of the hour. +</P> + +<P> +Chi, however, was not making heroes, or was it that he did not want to +hurt the feelings of those who were less agile; at any rate he called +out "Hockey," and the boys at once snatched up their short sticks and +began playing at a game that is not unlike our American "shinny," a +game which is so familiar to every American boy as to make description +unnecessary—the principal difference between this and the American +game being that the boys all try to prevent one boy from putting a ball +into what they call the big hole, which, like the others, tended to +develop quickness of action in the boys. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +I was familiar with the fact that there are certain games which tend to +develop the parental or protective instinct in children, while certain +others develop the combative and destructive, as for instance playing +with dolls develops the mother-instinct in girls; tea-parties, the love +of society; and paper dolls teach them how to arrange the furniture in +their houses; while on the other hand, wrestling, boxing, sparring, +battles, and all such amusements if constantly engaged in by boys, tend +to make them, if properly guided and instructed, brave and patriotic; +but if not properly led, cause them to be quarrelsome, domineering, +cruel, coarse and rough, and I wondered if the Chinese boys had any +such games. +</P> + +<P> +"Chi," I asked, "do you have any such games as host and guest, or games +in which the large boys protect the small ones?" +</P> + +<P> +"Host and guest," said Chi. +</P> + +<P> +The boys at once arranged themselves promiscuously over the playground, +and with a few peanuts, or sour dates which they picked up under the +date trees, with all the ceremony of their race, they invited the +others to dine with them. After playing thus for a moment, Chi called +out: +</P> + +<P> +"Roast dog meat." +</P> + +<P> +The children gathered in a group, put the palms of their hands +together, squatted in a bunch or ring, and placed their hands together +in the centre to represent the pot. The boy on the left of the +illustration represents Mrs. Wang, the guest of the occasion, while Chi +himself stands on the right with his hand on the head of one of the +boys. Chi walked around the ring while he sang: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Roast, roast, roast dog meat,<BR> + The second pot smells bad,<BR> + The little pot is sweet,<BR> + Come, Mrs. Wang, please,<BR> + And eat dog meat.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +He then invited Mrs. Wang to come and partake of a dinner of dog meat +with him, and the following conversation ensued. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + I cannot walk.<BR> + I'll hire a cart for you.<BR> + I'm afraid of the bumping.<BR> + I'll hire a sedan chair for you.<BR> + I'm afraid of the jolting.<BR> + I'll hire a donkey for you.<BR> + I'm afraid of falling off.<BR> + I'll carry you.<BR> + I have no clothes.<BR> + I'll borrow some for you.<BR> + I have no hair ornaments.<BR> + I'll make some for you.<BR> + I have no shoes.<BR> + I'll buy some for you.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +This conversation may be carried on to any length, according to the +fertility of the minds of the children, the excuses of Mrs. Wang at +times being very ludicrous. All these, however, being met, the host +carries her off on his back to partake of the dainties of a dog meat +feast. +</P> + +<P> +"What were you playing a few days ago when all the boys lay in a +straight line?" +</P> + +<P> +"Skin the snake." +</P> + +<P> +The boys danced for glee. This was one of their favorite games. +</P> + +<P> +They all stood in line one behind the other. They bent forward, and +each put one hand between his legs and thus grasped the disengaged hand +of the boy behind him. +</P> + +<P> +Then they began backing. The one in the rear lay down and they backed +over astride of him, each lying down as he backed over the one next +behind him with the other's head between his legs and his head between +the legs of his neighbor, keeping fast hold of hands. They were thus +lying in a straight line. +</P> + +<P> +The last one that lay down then got up, and as he walked astride the +line raised each one after him until all were up, when they let go +hands, stood straight, and the game was finished. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +"Have you any other games which develop the protective instinct in +boys?" we inquired of Chi. +</P> + +<P> +"The hawk catching the young chicks," said the matter-of-fact boy, +answering my question and directing the boys at the same time. +</P> + +<P> +The children selected one of their number to represent the hawk and +another the hen, the latter being one of the largest and best natured +of the group, and one to whom the small boys naturally looked for +protection. +</P> + +<P> +They formed a line with the mother hen in front, each clutching fast +hold of the others' clothing, with a large active boy at the end of the +line. +</P> + +<P> +The hawk then came to catch the chicks, but the mother hen spread her +wings and moved from side to side keeping between the hawk and the +brood, while at the same time the line swayed from side to side always +in the opposite direction from that in which the hawk was going. Every +chick caught by the hawk was taken out of the line until they were all +gone. +</P> + +<P> +One of the boys whispered something to Chi. +</P> + +<P> +"Strike the poles," exclaimed the latter. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as they began playing we recognized it as a game we had already +seen. +</P> + +<P> +The boys stood about four feet apart, each having a stick four or five +feet long which he grasped near the middle. As they repeated the +following rhyme in concert they struck alternately the upper and lower +ends of the sticks together, occasionally half inverting them and thus +striking the upper ends together in an underhand way. They struck once +for each accented syllable of the following rhyme, making it a very +rhythmical game. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Strike the stick,<BR> + One you see.<BR> + I'll strike you and you strike me.<BR> + Strike the stick,<BR> + Twice around,<BR> + Strike it hard for a good, big sound.<BR> + Strike it thrice,<BR> + A stick won't hurt.<BR> + The magpie wears a small white shirt.<BR> + Strike again.<BR> + Four for you.<BR> + A camel, a horse, and a Mongol too.<BR> + Strike it five—<BR> + Five I said,<BR> + A mushroom grows with dirt on its head.<BR> + Strike it six<BR> + Thus you do,<BR> + Six good horsemen caught Liu Hsiu.<BR> + Strike it seven<BR> + For 'tis said<BR> + A pheasant's coat is green and red.<BR> + Strike it eight,<BR> + Strike it right,<BR> + A gourd on the house-top blossoms white.<BR> + Strike again,<BR> + Strike it nine,<BR> + We'll have some soup, some meat and wine.<BR> + Strike it ten,<BR> + Then you stop,<BR> + A small, white blossom on an onion top.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Chi did not wait for further suggestion from any one, but called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Throw cash." +</P> + +<P> +The boys all ran to an adjoining wall, each took a cash from his purse +or pocket, and pressing it against the wall, let it drop. The one whose +cash rolled farthest away took it up and threw it against the wall in +such a way as to make it bound back as far as possible. +</P> + +<P> +Each did this in turn. The one whose cash bounded farthest, then took +it up, and with his foot on the place whence he had taken it, he +pitched or threw it in turn at each of the others. Those he hit he took +up. When he missed one, all who remained took up their cash and struck +the wall again, going through the same process as before. The one who +wins is the one who takes up most cash. +</P> + +<P> +This seemed to call to mind another pitching game, for Chi said once +more in his old military way: +</P> + +<P> +"Pitch brickbats." +</P> + +<P> +The boys drew two lines fifteen feet apart. Each took a piece of brick, +and, standing on one line pitched to see who could come nearest to the +other. +</P> + +<P> +The one farthest from the line set up his brick on the line and the one +nearest, standing on the opposite line, pitched at it, the object being +to knock it over. +</P> + +<P> +If he failed he set up his brick and the other pitched at it. +</P> + +<P> +If he succeeded, he next pitched it near the other, hopped over and +kicked his brick against that of his companion, knocking it over. Then +he carried it successively on his head, on each shoulder, on back and +breast (walking), in the bend of his thigh and the bend of his knee +(hopping), and between his legs (shuffling), each time dropping it on +the other brick and knocking it over. +</P> + +<P> +Finally he marked a square enclosing the brick, eighteen inches each +side, and hopped back and forth over both square and brick ten times +which constituted him winner of the game. +</P> + +<P> +Chi had become so expert in pitching and dropping the brick as to be +able to play the game without an error. The shuffling and hopping often +caused much merriment. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that game," we inquired of Chi, "the boys on the street play +with two marbles?" +</P> + +<P> +Without directly answering my question Chi turned to the boys and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Kick the marbles." +</P> + +<P> +The boys soon produced from somewhere,—Chinese boys can always produce +anything from anywhere,—two marbles an inch and a half in diameter. +Chi put one on the ground, and with the toe of his shoe upon it, gave +it a shove. Then placing the other, he shoved it in the same way, the +object being to hit the first. +</P> + +<P> +There are two ways in which one may win. The first boy says to the +second, kick this marble north (south, east or west) of the other at +one kick. If he succeeds he wins, if he fails the other wins. +</P> + +<P> +If he puts it north as ordered, he may kick again to hit the other +ball, in which case he wins again. If he hits the ball and goes north, +as ordered, at one kick, he wins double. +</P> + +<P> +Each boy tries to leave the balls in as difficult a position as +possible for his successor; and here comes in a peculiarity which +leaves this game unique among the games of the world. If the position +in which the balls are left is too difficult for the other to play he +may refuse to kick and the first is compelled to play his own difficult +game—or like Haman—to hang on his own gallows. It recognizes the +Chinese golden rule of not doing to others what you would not have +them do to you. +</P> + +<P> +The boys spent a long time playing this game—indeed they seemed to +forget they were playing for us, and we were finally compelled to call +them off. +</P> + +<P> +Chi had turned the marbles over to the others as soon as he had fairly +started it, and stood in that peculiar fashion of his with one leg +wound around the other, and when we called to them, he simply said as +though it were the next part of the same game: +</P> + +<P> +"Kick the shoes." +</P> + +<P> +The boys all took off their shoes—an easy matter for an Oriental—and +piled them in a heap. At a given sign they all kicked the pile +scattering the shoes in every direction, and each snatched up, and, for +the time, kept what he got. Those who were very agile got their own +shoes, or a pair which would fit them, while those who were slow only +secured a single shoe, and that either too large or too small. It was +amusing to see a large-footed boy with a small shoe, and a boy with +small feet having a shoe or shoes much too large for him. +</P> + +<P> +The game was a good test of the boys' agility. +</P> + +<P> +On consulting our watch we found it would soon be time for the boys to +enter school, but asked them to play one more game. +</P> + +<P> +"Cat catching mice," said Chi. +</P> + +<P> +The children selected one of their company to represent the cat and +another the mouse. +</P> + +<P> +The remainder formed a ring with the mouse inside and the cat outside, +and while the ring revolved, the following conversation took place: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "What o'clock is it?"<BR> + "Just struck nine."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Is the mouse at home?"<BR> + "He's about to dine."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +All the time the mouse was careful to keep as far as possible from the +cat. +</P> + +<P> +The ring stopped revolving and the cat popped in at this side and the +mouse out at the other. It is one of the rules of the game that the cat +must follow exactly in the footsteps of the mouse. They wound in and +out of the ring for some time but at last the mouse was caught and +"eaten," the eating process being the amusing part of the game. It is +impossible to describe it as every "cat" does it differently, and one +of the virtues of a cat is to be a good eater. +</P> + +<P> +The boys continued to play until the bell rang for the evening session. +They referred to many different games which they had received from +Europeans, but played only those which Chi had learned upon the street +before he entered school. This was repeated day after day, until we had +gathered a large collection of their most common, and consequently +their best, games, the number of which was an indication of the +richness of the play life of Chinese boys. +</P> + +<P> +Another peculiarly interesting fact was the leadership of Chi. The +Chinese boy, like the Chinese man is a genuine democrat and is ready to +follow the one who knows what he is about and is competent to take the +lead, with little regard to social position. It is the civil service +idea of a genuine democracy ingrained in childhood. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="girls"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +GAMES PLAYED BY GIRLS +</H3> + +<P> +After having made the collection of boys' games we undertook to obtain +in a similar way, fullest information concerning games played by the +girls. Of course, it was impossible to do it alone, for the appearance +of a man among a crowd of little girls in China is similar to that of a +hawk among a flock of small chicks—it results in a tittering and +scattering in every direction, or a gathering together in a dock under +the shelter of the school roof or the wings of the teacher. One of the +teachers, however, Miss Effie Young, kindly consented to go with us, +and a goodly number of the small girls, after a less than usual amount +of tittering and whispering, gathered about us to see what was wanted. +The smallest among them was the most brave, and Miss Young explained +that this was a "little street waif" who had been taken into the school +because she had neither home nor friends, with the hope that something +might be done to save her from an unhappy fate. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know any games?" we asked her. +</P> + +<P> +She put her hands behind her, hung her head, shuffled in an embarrassed +manner, and answered: "Lots of them." +</P> + +<P> +"Play some for me." +</P> + +<P> +This small girl after some delay took control of the party and began +arranging them for a game, which she called "going to town," similar to +one which the boys called "pounding rice." Two of the girls stood back +to back, hooked their arms, and as one bent the other from the ground, +and thus alternating, they sang: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Up you go, down you see,<BR> + Here's a turnip for you and me;<BR> + Here's a pitcher, we'll go to town;<BR> + Oh, what a pity, we've fallen down.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +At which point they both sat down back to back, their arms still +locked, and asked and answered the following questions: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + What do you see in the heavens bright?<BR> + I see the moon and the stars at night.<BR> + What do you see in the earth, pray tell?<BR> + I see in the earth a deep, deep well.<BR> + What do you see in the well, my dear?<BR> + I see a frog and his voice I hear.<BR> + What is he saying there on the rock?<BR> + Get up, get up, ke'rh kua, ke'rh kua.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +They then tried to get up, but, with their arms locked, they found it +impossible to do so, and rolled over and got up with great hilarity. +</P> + +<P> +This seemed to suggest to our little friend another game, which she +called "turning the mill." The girls took hold of each other's hands, +just as the boys do in "churning butter," but instead of turning around +under their arms they turn half way, put one arm up over their head, +bringing their right or left sides together, one facing one direction +and one the other; then, standing still, the following dialogue took +place: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Where has the big dog gone?<BR> + Gone to the city.<BR> + Where has the little dog gone?<BR> + Run away.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Then, as they began to turn, they repeated: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + The big dog's gone to the city;<BR> + The little dog's run away;<BR> + The egg has fallen and broken,<BR> + And the oil's leaked out, they say.<BR> + But you be a roller<BR> + And hull with power,<BR> + And I'll be a millstone<BR> + And grind the flour.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +As soon as this game was finished our little friend arranged the +children against the wall for another game. Everything was in +readiness. They were about to begin, when one of the larger girls +whispered something in her ear. She stepped back, put her hands behind +her, hung her head and thought a moment. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on," we said. +</P> + +<P> +"No, we can't play that; there is too much bad talk in it." This is one +of the unfortunate features of Chinese children's games and rhymes. +There is an immense amount of bad talk in them. +</P> + +<P> +She at once called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Meat or vegetables." +</P> + +<P> +Each girl began to scurry around to find a pair of old shoes, which may +be picked up almost anywhere in China, and putting one crosswise of the +other, they let them fall. The way they fell indicated what kind of +meat or vegetables they were. If they both fell upside down they were +the big black tiger. If both fell on the side they were double beans. +If one fell right side up and the other on its side they were beans. If +both were right side up they were honest officials. (What kind of meat +or vegetables honest officials are it is difficult to say, but that +never troubles the Chinese child.) If one is right side and the other +wrong side up they are dogs' legs. If the toe of one rests on the top +of the other, both right side up and at right angles, they form a dark +hole or an alley. +</P> + +<P> +The child whose shoes first form an alley must throw a pebble through +this alley—that is, under the toe of the shoe—three times, or, +failing to do so, one of the number takes up the shoes, and standing on +a line, throws them all back over her head. Then she hops to each +successively, kicking it back over the line, each time crossing the +line herself, until all are over. In case she fails another tries it in +the same way, and so on, till some one succeeds. This one then takes +the two shoes of the one who got the alley, and, hanging them +successively on her toe, kicks them as far as possible. The possessor +of the shoes, starting from the line, hops to each, picks it up and +hops back over the line with it, which ends the game. It is a vigorous +hopping game for little girls. +</P> + +<P> +The girls were pretty well exhausted when this game was over and we +asked them to play something which required less exercise. +</P> + +<P> +"Water the flowers," said the small leader. +</P> + +<P> +Several of them squatted down in a circle, put their hands together in +the centre to represent the flowers. One of their number gathered up +the front of her garment in such a way as to make a bag, and went +around as if sprinkling water on their heads, at the same time +repeating: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "I water the flowers, I water the flowers,<BR> + I water them morning and evening hours,<BR> + I never wait till the flowers are dry,<BR> + I water them ere the sun is high."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +She then left a servant in charge of them while she went to dinner. +While she was away one of them was stolen. +</P> + +<P> +Returning she asked: "How is this that one of my flowers is gone?" +</P> + +<P> +"A man came from the south on horseback and stole one before I knew it. +I followed him but how could I catch a man on horseback?" +</P> + +<P> +After many rebukes for her carelessness, she again sang: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "A basin of water, a basin of tea,<BR> + I water the flowers, they're op'ning you see."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Again she cautioned the servant about losing any of the flowers while +she went to take her afternoon meal, but another flower was stolen and +this time by a man from the west. +</P> + +<P> +When the mistress returned, she again scolded the servant, after which +she sang: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "A basin of water, another beside,<BR> + I water the flowers, they're opening wide."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +This was continued until all the flowers were gone. One had been taken +by a carter, another by a donkey-driver, another by a muleteer, another +by a man on a camel, and finally the last little sprig was eaten by a +chicken. The servant was soundly berated each time and cautioned to be +more careful, which she always promised but never performed, and was +finally dismissed in disgrace without either a recommendation, or the +wages she had been promised when hired. +</P> + +<P> +The game furnishes large opportunity for invention on the part of the +servant, depending upon the number of those to be stolen. This little +girl seemed to be at her wit's end when she gave as the excuse for the +loss of the last one that it had been eaten by a chicken. +</P> + +<P> +This game suggested to our little friend another which proved to be the +sequel to the one just described, and she called out: +</P> + +<P> +"The flower-seller." +</P> + +<P> +The girl who had just been dismissed appeared from behind the corner of +the house with all the stolen "flowers," each holding to the other's +skirts. At the same time she was calling out: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Flowers for sale,<BR> + Flowers for sale,<BR> + Come buy my flowers<BR> + Before they get stale."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The original owner hereupon appeared and called to her: +</P> + +<P> +"Hey! come here, flower-girl, those flowers look like mine," and she +took one away. +</P> + +<P> +The flower-seller did not stop to argue the question but hurried off +crying: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Flowers for sale," etc.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The original owner again called to her: +</P> + +<P> +"Ho! flower-seller, come here, those flowers are certainly mine," +whereupon she took them all and whipped the flower-seller who ran away +crying. +</P> + +<P> +As the little flower-seller ran away crying in her sleeve, she stumbled +over an old flower-pot that lay in the school court. This accident +seemed to act as a reminder to our little leader for she called out, +</P> + +<P> +"Flower-pot." +</P> + +<P> +The girls divided themselves into companies of three and stood in the +form of a triangle, each with her left hand holding the right hand of +the other, their hands being crossed in the centre. +</P> + +<P> +Then by putting the arms of two back of the head of the third she was +brought into the centre (steps into the well), and by stepping over two +other arms, she goes out on the opposite side, so that whereas she was +on the left side of this and the right side of that one, she now stands +on the right side of this and the left side of that girl. In the same +way the second and third girls go through, and so on as long as they +wish to keep up the game, saying or singing the following rhyme: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + You first cross over, and then cross back,<BR> + And step in the well as you cross the track,<BR> + And then there is something else you do,<BR> + Oh, yes, you make a flower-pot too.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +By this time the girls had lost most of their strangeness or +embarrassment and continued the flower-pot until we were compelled to +remind them that they were playing for us. Everybody let go hands and +the little general called out, +</P> + +<P> +"The cow's tail." +</P> + +<P> +One girl with a small stick in her hand squatted down pretending to be +digging and the others took a position one behind the other similar to +the hawk catching the chicks. They walked up to the girl digging and +engaged in the following conversation: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "What are you digging?"<BR> + "Digging a hole."<BR> + "What is it for?"<BR> + "My pot for to boil."<BR> + "What will you heat?"<BR> + "Some water and broth."<BR> + "How use the water?"<BR> + "I'll wash some cloth."<BR> + "What will you make?"<BR> + "I'll make a bag."<BR> + "And what put in it?"<BR> + "A knife and a rag."<BR> + "What is the knife for?"<BR> + "To kill your lambs."<BR> + "What have they done?"<BR> + "They've eaten my yams."<BR> + "How high were they?"<BR> + "About so high."<BR> + "Oh, that isn't high."<BR> + "As high as the sky."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "What is your name?"<BR> + "My name is Grab, what is your name?"<BR> + "My name is Turn."<BR> + "Turn once for me."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +They all walked around in a circle and as they turned they sang: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "We turn about once,<BR> + Or twice I declare,<BR> + And she may grab,<BR> + But we don't care."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Can't you grab once for us?"<BR> + "Yes, but what I grab I keep."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +She then ran to "grab" one of the "lambs" but they kept behind the +front girl just as the boys did in the hawk catching the chicks. After +awhile however, they were all caught. +</P> + +<P> +Why this game is called "cow's tail" and the girls called "lambs," we +do not know. We asked the girls why and their answer was, "There is no +reason." +</P> + +<P> +The girls were panting with the running before they were all caught and +we suggested that they rest awhile, but instead the little leader +called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Let out the doves." +</P> + +<P> +One of the larger girls took hold of the hands of two of the smaller, +one of whom represented a dove and the other a hawk. The hawk stood +behind her and the dove in front. +</P> + +<P> +She threw the dove away as she might pitch a bird into the air, and as +the child ran it waved its arms as though they were wings. She threw +the hawk in the same way, and it followed the dove. +</P> + +<P> +She then clapped her hands as the Chinese do to bring their pet birds +to them, and the dove if not caught, returned to the cage. This is a +very pretty game for little children. +</P> + +<P> +By this time the girls were all rested and our little friend said: +</P> + +<P> +"Seek for gold." +</P> + +<P> +Three or four of the girls gathered up some pebbles, squatted down in a +group and scattered them as they would a lot of jackstones. Then one +drew her finger between two of the stones and snapped one against the +other. If she hit it the two were taken up and put aside. +</P> + +<P> +She then drew her finger between two more and snapped them. +</P> + +<P> +If she missed, another girl took up what were left, scattered them, +snapped them, took them up, and so on until one or another got the most +of the pebbles and thus won the game. Our little friend was reminded of +another and she called out: +</P> + +<P> +"The cow's eye." +</P> + +<P> +Immediately the girls all sat down in a ring and put their feet +together in the centre. Then one of their number repeated the following +rhyme, tapping a foot with each accented syllable. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + One, two, three, and an old cow's eye,<BR> + When a cow's eye's blind she'll surely die.<BR> + A piece of skin and a melon too,<BR> + If you have money I'll sell to you,<BR> + But if you're without,<BR> + I'll put you out.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The foot on which her finger happened to rest when she said "out" was +excluded from the ring. Again she repeated the rhyme excluding a foot +with each repetition till all but one were out. +</P> + +<P> +Up to this point all the children were in a nervous quiver waiting to +see which foot would be left, but now the fun began, for they took the +shoe off and every one slapped that unfortunate foot. This was done +with good-natured vigor but without intention to hurt. It was amusing +to see the children squirm as they neared the end of the game. +</P> + +<P> +This game finished, the little girl called out: +</P> + +<P> +"Pat your hands and knees." +</P> + +<P> +The girls sat down in pairs and, after the style of "Bean Porridge +Hot," clapped hands to the following rhyme: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Pat your hands and knees,<BR> + On January first,<BR> + The old lady likes to go a sightseeing most.<BR> + Pat your hands and knees,<BR> + On February second,<BR> + The old lady likes a piece of candy it is reckoned.<BR> + Pat your hands and knees,<BR> + On March the third,<BR> + The old lady likes a Canton pipe I have heard.<BR> + Pat your hands and knees,<BR> + On April fourth,<BR> + The old lady likes bony fish from the north.<BR> + Pat your hands and knees,<BR> + The fifth of May,<BR> + The old lady likes sweet potatoes every day.<BR> + Pat your hands and knees,<BR> + The sixth of June,<BR> + The old lady eats fat pork with a spoon.<BR> + Pat your hands and knees,<BR> + The seventh of July,<BR> + The old lady likes to eat a fat chicken pie.<BR> + Pat your hands and knees,<BR> + On August eight,<BR> + The old lady likes to see the lotus flowers straight.<BR> + Pat your hands and knees,<BR> + September nine,<BR> + The old lady likes to drink good hot wine.<BR> + Pat your hands and knees,<BR> + October ten,<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + The old lady, you and I, may meet hope again.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +This we afterwards discovered is very widely known throughout the north +of China. +</P> + +<P> +The foregoing are a few of the games played by the children in Peking. +In that one city we have collected more than seventy-five different +games, and have no reason to believe we have secured even a small +proportion of what are played there. Games played in Central and South +China are different, partly because of climatic conditions, partly +because of the character of the people. There, as here, the games of +children are but reproductions of the employments of their parents. +They play at farming, carpentry, house-keeping, storekeeping, or +whatever employments their parents happen to be engaged in. Indeed, in +addition to the games common to a larger part of the country, there are +many which are local, and depend upon the employment of the parents or +the people. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="toys"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TOYS CHILDREN PLAY WITH +</H3> + +<P> +One day while sitting at table, with our little girl, nineteen months +old, on her mother's knee near by, we picked up her rubber doll and +began to whip it violently. The child first looked frightened, then +severe, then burst into tears and plead with her mother not to "let +papa whip dolly." +</P> + +<P> +Few people realize how much toys become a part of the life of the +children who play with them. They are often looked upon as nothing more +than "playthings for children." This is a very narrow view of their +uses and relationships. There is a philosophy underlying the production +of toys as old as the world and as broad as life, a philosophy which, +until recent years, has been little studied and cultivated. +</P> + +<P> +Playthings are as necessary a constituent of human life as food or +medicine, and contribute in a like manner to the health and development +of the race. Like the science of cooking and healing, the business of +toy-making has been driven by the stern teacher, necessity, to a rapid +self-development for the general good of the little men and women in +whose interests they are made. +</P> + +<P> +They are the tools with which children ply their trades; the +instruments with which they carry on their professions; the goods which +they buy and sell in their business, and the paraphernalia with which +they conduct their toy society. They are more than this. They are the +animals which serve them, the associates who entertain them, the +children who comfort them and bring joy to the mimic home. +</P> + +<P> +Toys are nature's first teachers. The child with his little shovels, +spades and hoes, learns his first lessons in agriculture; with his +hammer and nails, he gets his first lessons in the various trades; and +the bias of the life of many a child of larger growth has come from the +toys with which he played. Into his flower garden the father of +Linnaeus introduced his son during his infancy, and "this little garden +undoubtedly created that taste in the child which afterwards made him +the first botanist and naturalist of his age, if not of his race." +</P> + +<P> +No experiments in any chemical laboratory will excite more wonder or be +carried on with more interest, than those which the boy performs with +his pipe and basin of soapy water. The little girl's mud pies and other +sham confectionery furnish her first lessons in the art of preparing +food. Her toy dinners and playhouse teas offer her the first +experiences in the entertainment of guests. With her dolls, the +domestic relations and affections. +</P> + +<P> +No science has ever originated and been carried to any degree of +perfection in Asia. There is no reason why this statement should cause +the noses of Europeans and Americans to twitch in derision and pride, +for there is another fact equally momentous in favor of the +Asiatics,—viz., no religion that originated outside of Asia has ever +been carried to any degree of perfection. +</P> + +<P> +The above facts will indicate that we need not hope to find the +business of toy-making, or the science of child-education in a very +advanced state in China—the most Asiatic country of Asia. Child's play +and toy-making have been organized into a business and a science in +Europe, as astronomy, which had been studied so long in Asia, was +developed into a science by the Greeks. And so we find that what is +taught in the kindergarten of the West is learned in the streets of the +East; and the toys which are manufactured in great Occidental business +establishments, are made by poor women in Oriental homes, and the same +mistakes are made by the one as by the other. +</P> + +<P> +The same whistle by which the cock crows, enables the dog to bark, the +baby to cry, the horse to neigh, the sheep to bleat and the cow to low, +just as in our own rubber goods. The same end is accomplished in the +one case as in the other. The two, three or twenty cash doll does for +the Chinese girl what the two, three or twenty dollar one does for her +antipodal sister,—develops the instinct of motherhood, besides +standing a greater amount of rough handling. Nevertheless it usually +comes to the same deplorable end, departing this world, bereft of its +arms and legs, without going through the tedious process of a surgical +operation. +</P> + +<P> +Chinese toys are less varied, less complicated, less true to the +original, and less expensive than those of the West,—more perhaps like +the toys of a century or two ago. Nevertheless they are toys, and in +the hands of boys and girls, the drum goes "rub-a-dub," the horn +"toots," and the whistle squeaks. The "gingham dog and calico cat," +besides a score of other animals more nearly related to the soil of +their native place—being made of clay—express themselves in the +language of the particular whistle which happens to have been placed +within them. All this is to the entire satisfaction of "little Miss +Muffet" and "little boy Blue," just as they do in other lands. +</P> + +<P> +When the children grow older they have tops to spin that whistle as +good a whistle, and buzzers to buzz that buzz as good a buzz, and music +balls to roll, and music carts to pull, that emit sounds as much to +their satisfaction, as anything that ministered to the childish tastes +of our grandfathers; and these become as much a part of their business +and their life as if they were living, talking beings. Furthermore, +their dolls are as much their children as they themselves are the +offspring of their parents. +</P> + +<P> +Chinese toys embrace only those which involve no intricate scientific +principles. The music boxes of the West are unknown in China except as +they are imported. The Chinese know nothing about dolls which open and +shut their eyes, simple as this principle is, nor of toys which are +self-propelling by some mysterious spring secreted within, because, +forsooth, they know nothing about making the spring. +</P> + +<P> +There are some principles, however, which, though they may not +understand, they are nevertheless able to utilize; such, for instance, +as the expansion of air by heat, and the creation of air currents. This +principle is utilized in lanterns. In the top of these is a paper wheel +attached to a cross-bar on the ends of which are suspended paper men +and women together with animals of all kinds making a very interesting +merry-go-round. These lantern-figures correspond to the sawyers, +borers, blacksmiths, washers and others which twenty or more years ago +were on top of the stove of every corner grocery or country post-office. +</P> + +<P> +When we began the study of Chinese toys our first move was to call in a +Chinese friend whom we thought we could trust, and who could buy toys +at a very reasonable rate, and sent him out to purchase specimens of +every variety of toys he could find in the city of Peking. We ordered +him the first day to buy nothing but rattles, because the rattle is the +first toy that attracts the attention of the child. +</P> + +<P> +In the evening Mr. Hsin returned with a good-sized basket full of +rattles. Some were tin in the form of small cylinders, with handles in +which were small pebbles: others were shaped like pails; and others +like cooking pots and pans. +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +Some of the most attractive were hollow wood balls, baskets, pails and +bottles, gorgeously painted, with long handles, necks, or bails. The +paint was soon transferred from the face of the toy to that of the +first child that happened to play with it, which child was of course, +our own little girl. +</P> + +<P> +The most common rattles representing various kinds of fowls and animals +known and unknown are made of clay. Others are in the form of fat +little priests that make one think of Santa Claus, or little roly-poly +children that look like the little folks who play with them. +</P> + +<P> +As the child grows larger the favorite rattle is a drum-shaped piece of +bamboo or other wood, with skin—not infrequently fish skin, stretched +over the two ends, and a long handle attached. On the sides are two +stout strings with beads on the ends, which, when the rattle is turned +in the hand, strike on the drum heads. These rattles of brass or tin as +well as bamboo, are in imitation of those carried by street hawkers. +</P> + +<P> +We said to Mr. Hsin, "Foreigners say the Chinese do not have dolls, how +is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"They have lots of them," he answered in the stereotyped way. +</P> + +<P> +"Then to-morrow buy samples of all the dolls you can find." +</P> + +<P> +"All?" he asked with some surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, all. We want to know just what kind of dolls they have." +</P> + +<P> +The next evening Mr. Hsin came in with an immense load of dolls. He had +large, small, and middle sized rag dolls, on which the nose was sewed, +the ears pasted, and the eyes and other features painted. They were +rude, but as interesting to children as other more natural and more +expensive ones, as we discovered by giving one of them to our little +girl. In not a few instances Western children have become much more +firmly attached to their Chinese cloth dolls than any that can be found +for them in America or Europe. +</P> + +<P> +He had a number of others both large and small with paper mache heads, +leather bodies, and clay arms and legs. The body was like a bellows in +which a reed whistle was placed, that enabled the baby to cry in the +same tone as the toy dog barks or the cock crows. They had "real hair" +in spots on their head similar to those on the child, and they were +dressed in the same kind of clothing as that used on the baby in +summer-time, viz., a chest-protector and a pair of shoes or trousers. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Hsin then took out a small package in which was wrapped a +half-dozen or more "little people," as they are called, by the Chinese, +with paper heads, hands and feet, exquisitely painted, and their +clothing of the finest silk. Attached to the head of each was a silk +string by which the "little people" are hung upon the wall as a +decoration. +</P> + +<P> +"But what are these, Mr. Hsin?" we asked. "These are not dolls." +</P> + +<P> +"No," he answered, "these are cloth animals. The children play with +these at the same time they play with dolls." +</P> + +<P> +He had gone beyond our instructions. He had brought us a large +collection of camels made of cloth the color of the camel's skin, with +little bunches of hair on the head, neck, hump and the joints of the +legs, similar to those on the camel when it is shedding its coat in the +springtime. He had elephants made of a grayish kind of cloth on which +were harnesses similar to those supposed to be necessary for those +animals. He had bears with bits of hair on neck and tail and a leading +string in the nose; horses painted with spots of white and red, matched +only by the most remarkable animals in a circus; monkeys with black +beads for eyes, and long tails; lions, tigers, and leopards, with +large, savage, black, glass eyes, with manes or tails suited to each, +and properly crooked by a wire extending to the tip. And finally he +laid the bogi-boo, a nondescript with a head on each end much like the +head of a lion or tiger. When not used as a plaything, this served the +purpose of a pillow. +</P> + +<P> +"Do the Chinese have no other kinds of toy animals?" we inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he answered, "I'll bring them to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +The following evening he brought us a collection of clay toys too +extensive to enumerate. There were horses, cows, camels, mules, deer, +and a host of others the original of which has never been found except +in the imagination of the people. He had women riding donkeys followed +by drivers, men riding horses and shooting or throwing a spear at a +fleeing tiger, and women with babies in their arms while grandmother +amused them with rattles, and father lay near by smoking an opium pipe. +</P> + +<P> +From the bottom of his basket he brought forth a nuber of small +packages. +</P> + +<P> +"What are in those?" +</P> + +<P> +"These are clay insects." +</P> + +<P> +They were among the best clay work we have seen in China. There were +tumble-bugs, grasshoppers, large beetles, mantis, praying mantis, toads +and scorpions, together with others never seen outside of China, and +some never seen at all, the legs and feelers all being made of wire. +</P> + +<P> +In another package he had a dozen dancing dolls. They were made of +clay, were an inch and a half long, dressed with paper, and had small +wires protruding the sixteenth of an inch below the bottom of the +skirt. He put them all on a brass tray, the edge of which he struck +with a small stick to make it vibrate, thus causing the dancers to turn +round and round in every direction. +</P> + +<P> +The next package contained a number of clay beggars. Two were fighting, +one about to smash his clay pot over the other's head: another had his +pot on his head for a lark, a third was eating from his, while others +were carrying theirs in their hand. One had a sore leg to which he +called attention with open mouth and pain expressed in every feature. +</P> + +<P> +From another package he brought out a number of jumping jacks, +imitations as it seemed of things Japanese. There were monkey acrobats +made of clay, wire and skin, fastened to a small slip of bamboo. A doll +fastened to a stick, with cymbals in its hands would clash the cymbals, +when its queue was pulled. Finally there was a large dragon which +satisfied its raging appetite by feeding upon two or three little clay +men specially prepared for his consumption. +</P> + +<P> +But, perhaps, among the most interesting of his toys were his clay +whistles. Some of these burnt or sun-dried toys were hollow and in the +shape of birds, beasts and insects. When blown into, they would emit +the shrillest kind of a whistle. In others a reed whistle had been +placed similar to those in the dolls, and these usually had a bellows +to blow them. Whether cock or hen, dog or child, they all crowed, +barked, cackled, or cried in the self-same tone. +</P> + +<P> +"What will you get to-morrow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Drums, knives, and tops," said Mr. Hsin. He was being paid by the day +for spending our money, and so had his plans well laid. +</P> + +<P> +The following evening he brought a large collection of toy drums, some +of which were in the shape of a barrel, both in their length and in +being bulged out at the middle. On the ends were painted gay pictures +of men and women clad in battle-array or festive garments, making the +drum a work of art as well as an instrument of torture to those who are +disturbed by noises about the house. +</P> + +<P> +He had large knives covered with bright paint which could easily be +washed off, and tridents, with loose plates or cymbals, which make a +noise to frighten the enemy. +</P> + +<P> +The tops Mr. Hsin had collected were by far the most interesting. +Chinese tops are second to none made. They are simple, being made of +bamboo, are spun with a string, and when properly operated emit a +shrill whistle. +</P> + +<P> +The ice top, without a stem, and simply a block of wood in shape of a +top, is spun with a string, but is kept going by whipping. +</P> + +<P> +Another toy which foreigners call a top is entirely different from +anything we see in the West. The Chinese call it a K'ung chung, while +the top is called t'o lo. It is constructed of two pieces of bamboo, +each of which is made like a top, and then joined by a carefully turned +axle, each end being of equal weight, and looking not unlike the wheels +of a cart. It is then spun by a string, which is wound once around the +axle and attached to two sticks. A good performer is able to spin it in +a great variety of ways, tossing it under and over his foot, spinning +it with the sticks behind him, and at times throwing it up into the air +twenty or thirty feet and catching it as it comes down. The principle +upon which it is operated is the quick jerking of one of the sticks +while the other is allowed to be loose. +</P> + +<P> +"To-morrow," said Mr. Hsin, as he ceased spinning the top, "I will get +you some toy carts." +</P> + +<P> +The Chinese cart has been described as a Saratoga trunk on two wheels. +This is, however, only one form—that of the passenger cart. There are +many others, and all of them are used as patterns of toy carts. They +all have a kind of music-box attachment, operated by the turning of the +axle to which the wheels of the toys, as well as those of some of the +real carts, are fixed. +</P> + +<P> +The toy carts are made of tin, wood and clay. Some of them are very +simple, having paper covers, while others possess the whole +paraphernalia of the street carts. When the mule of the toy cart is +unhitched and unharnessed, he looks like a very respectable mule. +Nevertheless, instead of devouring food, he becomes the prey of +insects. Usually he appears the second season, if he lasts that long, +bereft of mane and tail, as well as a large portion of his skin. +</P> + +<P> +The flat carts have a revolving peg sticking up through the centre, on +which a small clay image is placed which turns with the stick. Others +are placed on wires on the two sides, to represent the driver and the +passengers. +</P> + +<P> +These in Peking are the omnibus carts. Running from the east gate of +the Imperial city to the front gate, and in other parts of the city as +well, there are street carts corresponding to the omnibus or street +cars of the West. These start at intervals of ten minutes, more or +less, with eight or ten persons on a cart, the fare being only a few +cash. Toy carts of this kind have six or eight clay images to represent +the passengers. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Hsin brought out from the bottom of his basket a number of neatly +made little pug dogs, and pressing upon a bellows in their body caused +them to bark, just as the hen cackled a few days before. +</P> + +<P> +What we have described formed only a small portion of the toys Mr. Hsin +brought. Cheap clay toys of all kinds are hawked about the street by a +man who sells them at a fifth or a tenth of a cent apiece. With him is +often found a candy-blower, who with a reed and a bowl of taffy-candy +is ready to blow a man, a chicken, a horse and cart, a corn ear, or +anything else the child wants, as a glass-blower would blow a bottle or +a lamp chimney. The child plays with his prize until he tires of it and +then he eats it. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="block"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BLOCK GAMES—KINDERGARTEN +</H3> + +<P> +It was on a bright spring afternoon that a Chinese official and his +little boy called at our home on Filial Piety Lane, in Peking. +</P> + +<P> +The dresses of father and child were exactly alike—as though they had +been twins, boots of black velvet or satin, blue silk trousers, a long +blue silk garment, a waistcoat of blue brocade, and a black satin +skullcap—the child was in every respect, even to the dignity of his +bearing, a vest-pocket edition of his father. +</P> + +<P> +He had a T'ao of books which I recognized as the Fifteen Magic Blocks, +one of the most ingenious, if not the most remarkable, books I have +ever seen. +</P> + +<P> +A T'ao is two or any number of volumes of a book wrapped in a single +cover. In this case it was two volumes. In the inside of the cover +there was a depression three inches square in which was kept a piece of +lead, wood or pasteboard, divided into fifteen pieces as in the +following illustration. +</P> + +<P> +These blocks are all in pairs except one, which is a rhomboid. They are +all exactly proportional, having their sides either half-inch, inch, +inch and a half, or two inches in length. +</P> + +<P> +They are not used as are the blocks in our kindergarten simply to make +geometrical figures, but rather to illustrate such facts of history as +will have a moral influence, or be an intellectual stimulus to the +child. +</P> + +<P> +He may build houses with them, or make such ancient or modern +ornaments, or household utensils, as may suit his fancy; but the +primary object of the blocks and the books, is to impress upon the +child's mind, in the most forcible way possible, the leading facts of +history, poetry, mythology or morals; while the houses, boats and other +things are simply side issues. +</P> + +<P> +The first illustration the child constructed for me, for I desired him +to teach me how it was done, was a dragon horse, and when I asked him +to explain it, he said that it represented the animal seen by Fu Hsi, +the original ancestor of the Chinese people, emerging from the Meng +river, bearing upon its back a map on which were fifty-five spots, +representing the male and female principles of nature, and which the +sage used to construct what are called the eight diagrams. +</P> + +<P> +The child tossed the blocks off into a pile and then constructed a +tortoise which he said was seen by Yu, the Chinese Noah, coming out of +the Lo river, while he was draining off the floods. On its back was a +design which he used as a pattern for the nine divisions of his empire. +</P> + +<P> +These two incidents are referred to by Confucius, and are among the +first learned by every Chinese child. +</P> + +<P> +I looked through the book and noticed that many of the designs were for +the amusement of the children, as well as to develop their ingenuity. +In the two volumes of the T'ao he had only the outlines of the pictures +which he readily constructed with the blocks. But he had with him also +a small volume which was a key to the designs having lines indicating +how each block was placed. This he had purchased for a few cash. Much +of the interest of the book, however, attached to the puzzling +character of the pictures. +</P> + +<P> +There was one with a verse attached somewhat like the following: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + The old wife drew a chess-board<BR> + On the cover of a book,<BR> + While the child transformed a needle<BR> + Into a fishing-hook.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Chinese literature is full of examples of men and women who applied +themselves to their books with untiring diligence. Some tied their hair +to the beam of their humble cottage so that when they nodded with +sleepiness the jerk would awake them and they might return to their +books. +</P> + +<P> +Others slept upon globular pillows that when they became so restless as +to move and cause the pillow to roll from under their head they might +get up and study. +</P> + +<P> +The child once more took the blocks and illustrated how one who was so +poor as to be unable to furnish himself with candles, confined a +fire-fly in a gauze lantern using that instead of a lamp. At the same +time he explained that another who was perhaps not able to afford the +gauze lantern, studied by the light of a glowworm. +</P> + +<P> +"K'ang Heng," said the child, as he put the blocks together in a new +form, "had a still better way, as well as more economical. His house +was built of clay, and as the window of his neighbor's house was +immediately opposite, he chiseled a hole through his wall and thus took +advantage of his neighbor's light. +</P> + +<P> +"Sun K'ang's method was very good for winter," continued the child as +he rearranged the blocks, "but I do not know what he would do in +summer. He studied by the light reflected from the snow. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps," he went on as he changed the form, "he followed the example +of another who studied by the pale light of the moon." +</P> + +<P> +"What does that represent?" I asked him pointing to a child with a bowl +in his hand who looked as if he might have been going to the grocer's. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that boy is going to buy wine." +</P> + +<P> +The Chinese have never yet realized what a national evil liquor may +become. They have little wine shops in the great cities, but they have +no drinking houses corresponding to the saloon, and it is not uncommon +to see a child going to the wine shop to fetch a bowl of wine. The +Buddhist priest indulges with the same moderation as the official class +or gentry. Indeed most of the drunkenness we read about in Chinese +books is that of poets and philosophers, and in them it is, if not +commended, at least not condemned. The attitude of literature towards +them is much like that of Thackeray towards the gentlemen of his day. +</P> + +<P> +The child constructed the picture of a Buddhist priest, who, with staff +in hand, and a mug of wine, was viewing the beautiful mountains in the +distance. He then changed it to one in which an intoxicated man was +leaning on a boy's shoulder, the inscription to which said: "Any one is +willing to assist a drunken man to return home." +</P> + +<P> +"This," he went on as he changed his blocks, "is a picture of Li Pei, +China's greatest poet. He lived more than a thousand years ago. This +represents the closing scene in his life. He was crossing the river in +a boat, and in a drunken effort to get the moon's reflection from the +water, he fell overboard and was drowned." The child pointed to the +sail at the same time, repeating the following: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + The sail being set,<BR> + He tried to get,<BR> + The moon from out the main.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +I noticed a large number of boat scenes and induced the child to +construct some of them for me, which he was quite willing to do, +explaining them as he went as readily as our children would explain Old +Mother Hubbard or the Old Woman who Lived in her Shoe, by seeing the +illustrations. +</P> + +<P> +Constructing one he repeated a verse somewhat like the following: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Alone the fisherman sat,<BR> + In his boat by the river's brink,<BR> + In the chill and cold and snow,<BR> + To fish, and fish, and think.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Then he turned over to two on opposite pages, and as he constructed +them he repeated in turn: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + In a stream ten thousand li in length<BR> + He bathes his feet at night,<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + While on a mount he waves his arms,<BR> + Ten thousand feet in height.<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The ten thousand li in one couplet corresponds to the ten thousand feet +in the other, while the bathing of the feet corresponds to the waving +of the arms. Couplets of this kind are always attractive to the Chinese +child as well as to the scholar, and poems and essays are replete with +such constructions. +</P> + +<P> +The child enjoyed making the pictures. I tried to make one, but found +it very difficult. I was not familiar with the blocks. It is different +now, I have learned how to make them. Then it seemed as if it would be +impossible ever to do so. When I had failed to make the picture I +turned them over to him. In a moment it was done. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is it?" I asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Chang Ch'i, the poet," he answered. "Whenever he went for a walk he +took with him a child who carried a bag in which to put the poems he +happened to write. In this illustration he stands with his head bent +forward and his hands behind his back lost in thought, while the lad +stands near with the bag." +</P> + +<P> +We have given in another chapter the story of the great traveller, +Chang Ch'ien, and his search for the source of the Yellow River. +</P> + +<P> +In one of the illustrations the child represented him in his boat in a +way not very different from that of the artist. +</P> + +<P> +Another quotation from one of the poets was illustrated as follows: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Last night a meeting I arranged,<BR> + Ere I my lamp did light,<BR> + Nor while I crossed the ferry feared,<BR> + Or wind or rain or night.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The child's eyes sparkled as he turned to some of those illustrating +children at play, and as he constructed one which represents two +children swinging their arms and running, he repeated: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + See the children at their play,<BR> + Gathering flowers by the way.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"They are gathering pussy-willows," he added. +</P> + +<P> +In another he represented a child standing before the front gate, where +he had knocked in vain to gain admission. As he completed it he said, +pointing to the apricot over the door: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Ten times he knocked upon the gate,<BR> + But nine, they opened not,<BR> + Above the wall he plainly saw,<BR> + A ripe, red apricot.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +He continued to represent quotations from the poets and explain them as +he went along. +</P> + +<P> +There was one which indicated that some one was ascending the steps to +the jade platform on which the dust had settled as it does on +everything in Peking; at the same time the verse told us that +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Step by step we reach the platform,<BR> + All of jade of purest green,<BR> + Call a child to come and sweep it,<BR> + But he cannot sweep it clean.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"You know," he went on, "the cottages of many of the poets were near +the beautiful lakes in central China, in the wild heights of the +mountains, or upon the banks of some flowing stream. In this one the +pavilion of the poet is on the bank of the river, and we are told that, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + In his cottage sat the poet<BR> + Thinking, as the moon went by,<BR> + That the moonlight on the water,<BR> + Made the water like the sky."<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Changing it somewhat he made a cottage of a different kind. This was +not made for the picture's sake, but to illustrate a sentence it was +designed to impress upon the child's mind. The quotation is somewhat as +follows: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + The ringing of the evening bells,<BR> + The moon a crescent splendid,<BR> + The rustling of the swallow's wings<BR> + Betoken winter ended.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The child looked up at me significantly as he turned to one which +represented a Buddhist priest. I expected something of a joke at the +priest's expense as in the nursery rhymes and games, but there was +none. That would injure the sale of the book. The inscription told us +that "a Buddhist lantern will reflect light enough to illuminate the +whole universe." +</P> + +<P> +Turning to the next page we found a priest sitting in front of the +temple in the act of beating his wooden drum, while the poet exclaims: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + O crystal pool and silvery moon,<BR> + So clear and pure thou art,<BR> + There's nought to which thou wilt compare<BR> + Except a Buddha's heart.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +The child next directed our attention to various kinds of flowers, more +especially the marigold. A man in a boat rows with one hand while he +points backward to the blossoming marigold, while in another picture +the poet tells us that, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Along the eastern wall,<BR> + We pluck the marigold,<BR> + While on the south horizon,<BR> + The mountain we behold.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +"What is that?" I asked as he turned to a picture of an old man riding +on a cow. +</P> + +<P> +"That is Laotze, the founder of Taoism, crossing the frontier at the +Han Ku Pass between Shansi and Shensi, riding upon a cow. Nobody knows +where he went." +</P> + +<P> +There were other pictures of Taoist patriarchs keeping sheep. By their +magic power they turned the sheep into stones when they were tired +watching them, and again the inscriptions told us, "the stones became +sheep at his call." Still others represented them in search of the +elixir of life, while in others they were riding on a snail. +</P> + +<P> +The object of thus bringing in incidents from all these Buddhist, +Taoist, Confucian, and other sources is that by catering to all classes +the book may have wide distribution, and whatever the Confucianist may +say, it must be admitted that the other religions have a strong hold +upon the popular mind. +</P> + +<P> +The last twenty-six illustrations in Vol. I represent various incidents +in the life, history and employments of women. +</P> + +<P> +The first of these is an ancient empress "weaving at night by her +palace window." +</P> + +<P> +Another represents a woman in her boat and we are told that, "leaving +her oar she leisurely sang a song entitled, 'Plucking the Caltrops.'" +</P> + +<P> +Another represents a woman "wearing a pomegranate-colored dress riding +a pear-blossom colored horse." A peculiar combination to say the least. +</P> + +<P> +The fisherman's wife is represented in her boat, "making her toilet at +dawn using the water as a mirror." While we are assured also that the +woman sitting upon her veranda "finds it very difficult to thread her +needle by the pale light of the moon," which fact, few, I think, would +question. +</P> + +<P> +In one of the pictures "a beautiful maiden, in the bright moonlight, +came beneath the trees." This is evidently contrary to Chinese ideas of +propriety, for the Classic for girls tells us that a maiden should not +go out at night except in company with a servant bearing a lantern. As +it was bright moonlight, however, let us hope she was excusable. +</P> + +<P> +This sauntering about in the court is not uncommon if we believe what +the books say, for in the next picture we are told that: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + As near the middle summer-house,<BR> + The maiden sauntered by,<BR> + Upon the jade pin in her hair<BR> + There lit a dragon-fly.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +The next illustration represented the wife of the famous poet Ssu-Ma +Hsiang-Ju in her husband's wine shop. +</P> + +<P> +This poet fell in love with the widowed daughter of a wealthy merchant, +the result of which was that the young couple eloped and were married; +and as the daughter was disinherited by her irate parent, she was +compelled to wait on customers in her husband's wine shop, which she +did without complaint. In spite of their imprudent conduct, and for the +time, its unhappy results, as soon as the poet had become so famous as +to be summoned to court, the stern father relented, and, as it was a +case of undoubted affection, which the Chinese readily appreciate they +have always had the sympathy of the whole Chinese people. +</P> + +<P> +One of the most popular women in Chinese history is Mu Lan, the A +Chinese Joan of Arc. Her father, a great general, being too old to take +charge of his troops, and her brothers too young, she dressed herself +in boy's clothing, enrolled herself in the army, mounted her father's +trusty steed, and led his soldiers to battle, thus bringing honor to +herself and renown upon her family. +</P> + +<P> +We have already seen how diligent some of the ancient worthies were in +their study. This, however, is not universal, for we are told the +mother of Liu Kung-cho, in order to stimulate her son to study took +pills made of bear's gall and bitter herbs, to show her sympathy with +her boy and lead him to feel that she was willing to endure bitterness +as well as he. +</P> + +<P> +The last of these examples of noble women is that of the wife of Liang +Hung, a poor philosopher of some two thousand years ago. An effort was +made to engage him to Meng Kuang, the daughter of a rich family, whose +lack of beauty was more than balanced by her remarkable intelligence. +The old philosopher feared that family pride might cause domestic +infelicity. The girl on her part steadfastly refused to marry any one +else, declaring that unless she married Liang Hung, she would not marry +at all. This unexpected constancy touched the old man's heart and he +married her. She dressed in the most common clothing, always prepared +his food with her own hand, and to show her affection and respect never +presented him with the rice-bowl without raising it to the level of her +eyebrows, as in the illustration. +</P> + +<P> +It may be interesting to see some of the ornaments and utensils the +child made with his blocks. I shall therefore add three, a pair of +scissors, a teapot, and a seal with a turtle handle. +</P> + +<P> +Such is in general the character of the book the official's little boy +had with him. I afterwards secured several copies for myself and +learned to make all the pictures first shown me by the child, and I +discovered that it is but one of several forms of what we may call +kindergarten work, that it has gone through many editions, and is very +widely distributed. My own set contains 216 illustrations such as I +have given. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="shows"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHILDREN'S SHOWS AND ENTERTAINMENTS +</H3> + +<P> +My little girl came running into my study greatly excited and +exclaiming: +</P> + +<P> +"Papa, the monkey show, the monkey show. We want the monkey show, may +we have it?" +</P> + +<P> +Now if you had but one little girl, and she wanted a monkey show to +come into your own court and perform for her and her little friends for +half an hour, the cost of which was the modest sum of five cents, what +would you do? +</P> + +<P> +You would do as I did, no doubt, go out with the little girl, call in +the passing showman and allow him to perform, which would serve the +triple purpose of furnishing relaxation and instruction for yourself, +entertainment for the children, and business for the showman. +</P> + +<P> +This however proved to be not the monkey show but Punch and Judy, a +species of entertainment for children, the exact counterpart of our own +entertainment of that name. It may be of interest to young readers to +know how this show originated, and I doubt not it will be a surprise to +some older ones to know that it dates back to about the year 1000 B. C. +</P> + +<P> +We are told that while the Emperor Mu of the Chou dynasty was making a +tour of his empire, a skillful mechanic, Yen Shih by name, was brought +into his presence and entertained him and the women of his seraglio +with a dance performed by automaton figures, which were capable not +only of rhythmical movements of their limbs, but of accompanying their +movements with songs. +</P> + +<P> +During and at the close of the performance, the puppets cast such +significant glances at the ladies as to anger the monarch, and he +ordered the execution of the originator of the play. +</P> + +<P> +The mechanic however ripped open the puppets, and proved to his +astonished majesty that they were only artificial objects, and instead +of being executed he was allowed to repeat his performance. This was +the origin of the play in China which corresponds to Punch and Judy in +Europe and America. +</P> + +<P> +To the question which naturally arises as to how the play was carried +to the West, I reply, it may not have been carried to Europe at all, +but have originated there. From marked similarities in the two plays +however, and more especially in the methods of their production, we may +suppose that the Chinese Punch and Judy was carried to Europe in the +following way: +</P> + +<P> +Among the many traders who visited Central Asia while it was under the +government of the family of Genghis Khan, were two Venetian brothers, +Maffeo and Nicolo Polo, whose wondering disposition and trading +interests led them as far as the court of the Great Khan, where they +remained in the most intimate relations with Kublai for some time, and +were finally sent back to Italy with a request that one hundred +European scholars be sent to China to instruct them in the arts of +Europe. +</P> + +<P> +This request was never carried out, but the two returned to the Khan's +court with young Marco, the son of one of them, who remained with the +Mongol Emperor for seventeen years, during which time he had a better +opportunity of observing their customs than perhaps any other foreigner +since his time. His final return to Italy was in 1295, and a year or +two later, he wrote and revised his book of travels. +</P> + +<P> +The art of printing in Europe was discovered in 1438, and the first +edition of Marco Polo's travels was printed about 1550-59. Our Punch +and Judy was invented by Silvio Fiorillo an Italian dramatist before +the year 1600. I have found no reference to the play in Marco Polo's +works, nevertheless, one cannot but think that, if not a written, at +least an oral, communication of the play may have been carried to +Europe by him or some other of the Italian traders or travellers. The +two plays are very similar, even to the tones of the man who works the +puppets. +</P> + +<P> +In passing the school court on one occasion I saw the students gathered +in a crowd under the shade of the trees. A small tent was pitched, on +the front of which was a little stage. A manager stood behind the +screen from which position he worked a number of puppets in the form of +men, women, children, horses and dragons. These were suspended by black +threads as I afterwards discovered from small sticks or a framework +which the manager manipulated behind the screen. When one finished its +part of the performance, it either walked off the stage, or the stick +was fastened in such a way as to leave it in a position conducive to +the amusement of the crowd. These were puppet shows, and were put +through entire performances or plays, the manager doing the talking as +in Punch and Judy. +</P> + +<P> +After the performance several of the students passed around the hat, +each person present giving one-fifth or one-tenth of a cent. +</P> + +<P> +As I came from school one afternoon, the children had called in from +the street a showman with a number of trained mice. He had erected a +little scaffolding just inside the gateway, at one side of which there +was a small rope ladder, and this with the inevitable gong, and the +small boxes in which the mice were kept constituted his entire outfit. +</P> + +<P> +In the boxes he had what seemed to be cotton from the milk-weed which +furnished a nest for the mice. These he took from their little boxes +one by one, stroked them tenderly, while he explained what this +particular mouse would do, put each one on the rope ladder, which they +ascended, and performed the tricks expected of them. These were going +through a pagoda, drawing water, creeping through a tube, wearing a +criminal's collar, turning a tread-mill, or working some other equally +simple trick. +</P> + +<P> +At times the mice had to be directed by a small stick in the hands of +the manager, but they were carefully trained, kindly treated, and much +appreciated by the children. +</P> + +<P> +Although less attractive, there is no other show which impresses itself +so forcibly on the child's mind as the monkey, dog and sheep show. +</P> + +<P> +The dog was the first to perform. Four hoops were placed on the corners +of a square, ten feet apart. The dog walked around through these hoops, +first through each in order, then turning went through each twice, then +through one and retracing his steps went through the one last passed +through. +</P> + +<P> +The showman drove an iron peg in the ground on which were two blocks +representing millstones. To the upper one was a lever by which the dog +with his nose turned the top millstone as if grinding flour. He was +hitched to a wheelbarrow, the handles of which were held by the monkey, +who pushed while the dog pulled. +</P> + +<P> +The most interesting part of the performance, however, was by the +monkey. Various kinds of hats and false faces were kept in a box which +he opened and secured. He stalked about with a cane in his hand, or +crosswise back of his neck, turned handsprings, went through various +trapeze performances, such as hanging by his legs, tail, chin, and +hands, or was whirled around in the air. +</P> + +<P> +The leading strap of the monkey was finally tied to the belt of the +sheep which was led away to some distance and let go. The monkey +bounded upon its back and held fast to the wool, while the sheep ran +with all its speed to the showman, who held a basin of broom-corn seed +as a bait. This was repeated as often as the children desired, which +ended the show. Time,—half an hour; spectators,—all who desired to +witness it; price,—five cents. +</P> + +<P> +The showmen in China are somewhat like the tramps and beggars in other +countries. When they find a place where there are children who enjoy +shows, each tells the other, and they all call around in turn. +</P> + +<P> +Our next show was an exhibition given by a man with a trained bear. +</P> + +<P> +The animal had two rings in his nose, to one of which was fastened a +leading string or strap, and to the other, while performing, a large +chain. A man stood on one end of the chain, and the manager, with a +long-handled ladle, or with his hand, gave the bear small pieces of +bread or other food after each trick he performed. +</P> + +<P> +The first trick was walking on his hind feet as if dancing. But more +amusing than this to the children was to see him turn summersaults both +forward and backward. These were repeated several times because they +were easily done, and added to the length of time the show continued. +</P> + +<P> +Children, however, begin to appreciate at an early age what is +difficult and what easy, and it was not until he took a carrying-pole +six feet long, put the middle of it upon his forehead and set it +whirling with his paws, that they began to say: +</P> + +<P> +"That's good," "That's hard to do," and other expressions of a like +nature. +</P> + +<P> +They enjoyed seeing him stand on his front feet, or on his head with +his hind feet kicking the air, but they enjoyed still more seeing him +put on the wooden collar of a convict and twirl it around his neck. The +manager gave him some bread and then tried to induce him to take it +off, but he whined for more bread and refused to do so. Finally he took +off the collar, and when they tried to take it from him he put it on +again. When he took it off the next time and offered it to them they +refused to receive it, but tried to get him to put it on, which he +stubbornly refused to do, and finally threw it away. +</P> + +<P> +His last trick was to sit down upon his haunches, stick up one of his +hind feet, and twirl a knife six feet long upon it as he had twirled +the carrying-pole upon his head. The manager said he would wrestle with +the men, but this was a side issue and only done when extra money was +added to the regular price, which was twelve cents. +</P> + +<P> +One of the most common showmen seen on the streets of Peking, goes +about with a framework upon his shoulder in the shape of a sled, the +runners of which are turned up at both ends. It seemed to me to be less +interesting than the other shows, but as it is more common, the +children probably look upon it with more favor, and the children are +the final critics of all things for the little ones. +</P> + +<P> +The show was given by a man and two boys, one of whom impersonated a +girl. Small feet, like the bound feet of a girl, were strapped on like +stilts, his own being covered by wide trousers, and he and the boy sang +songs and danced to the music of the drum and cymbals in the hands of +the showman. +</P> + +<P> +The second part of the performance was a boat ride on dry land. The +girl got into the frame, let down around it a piece of cloth which was +fastened to the top, and took hold of the frame in such a way as to +carry it easily. The boy, with a long stick, pushed as if starting the +boat, and then pulled as if rowing, and with every pull of the oar, the +girl ran a few steps, making it appear that the boat shot forward. All +the while the boy sang a boat-song or a love-ditty to his sweetheart. +</P> + +<P> +Again the scene changed. The head and hind parts of a papier mache +horse were fastened to the "tomboy" in such a way as to make it appear +that she was riding; a cloth was let down to hide her feet, and they +ran to and fro, one in one direction and the other in the other, she +jerking her unmanageable steed, and he singing songs, and all to the +music of the drum and the cymbals. +</P> + +<P> +It sometimes happens that while the girl rides the horse, the boy goes +beside her in the boat, the rapidity and character of their movements +being governed by the music of the manager. +</P> + +<P> +The best part of the whole performance was that which goes by the name +of the lion show. The girl took off her small feet and girl's clothes +and became a boy again. One of the boys stood up in front and put on an +apron of woven grass, while the other bent forward and clutched hold of +his belt. A large papier mache head of a lion was put on the front boy, +to which was attached a covering of woven grass large enough to cover +them both, while a long tail of the same material was stuck into a +framework fastened to the belt of the hinder boy. +</P> + +<P> +The manager beat the drum, the lion stalked about the court, keeping +step to the music, turning its large head in every direction and +opening and shutting its mouth, much to the amusement of the children. +</P> + +<P> +There is probably no country in the world that has more travelling +shows specially prepared for the entertainment of children than China. +Scarcely a day passes that we do not hear the drum or the gong of the +showmen going to and fro, or standing at our court gate waiting to be +called in. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="juggling"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JUVENILE JUGGLING +</H3> + +<P> +"How is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"Very good." +</P> + +<P> +"Can you do it?" asked the sleight-of-hand performer, as he rolled a +little red ball between his finger and thumb, pitched it up, caught it +as it came down, half closed his hand and blew into it, opened his hand +and the ball had disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +He picked up another ball, tossed it up, caught it in his mouth, +dropped it into his hand, and it mysteriously disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +The juggler was seated on the ground with a piece of blue cloth spread +out before him, on which were three cups, and five little red wax balls +nearly as large as cranberries. +</P> + +<P> +He continued to toss the wax balls about until they had all +disappeared. We watched him closely, but could not discover where they +had gone. He then arose, took a small portion of my coat sleeve between +his thumb and finger, began rubbing them together, and by and by, one +of the balls appeared between his digits. He picked at a small boy's +ear and got another of the balls. He blew his nose and another dropped +upon the cloth. He slapped the top of his head and one dropped out of +his mouth, and he took the fifth from a boy's hair. +</P> + +<P> +He then changed his method. He placed the cups' mouths down upon the +cloth, and under one of them put the five little balls. When he placed +the cup we watched carefully; there were no balls under it. When he +raised it up, behold, there were the five little balls. +</P> + +<P> +He removed the cups from one place to another, and asked us to guess +which cup the balls were under, but we were always wrong. +</P> + +<P> +There was a large company of us, ranging from children of three to old +men and women of seventy-five, and from Chinese schoolboys to a bishop +of the church, but none of us could discover how he did it. +</P> + +<P> +Later, however, I learned how the trick was performed. As he raised the +cup with his thumb and forefinger, he inserted two other fingers under, +gathered up all the balls between them and placed them under the cup as +he put it down. While in making the balls disappear, he concealed them +either in his mouth or between his fingers. +</P> + +<P> +The Chinese have a saying: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + In selecting his balls from north to south,<BR> + The magician cannot leave his mouth;<BR> + And in rolling his balls, you understand,<BR> + He must have them hidden in his hand.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Of quite a different character are the jugglers with plates and bowls. +Not only children, but many of a larger growth delight to watch these. +Our only way of learning about them was to call them into our court as +the Chinese call them to theirs, and that is what we did. +</P> + +<P> +The performer first put a plate on the top of a trident and set it +whirling. In this whirling condition he put the trident on his forehead +where he balanced it, the trident whirling with the plate as though +boring into his skull. +</P> + +<P> +He next took a bamboo pole six feet long, with a nail in the end on +which he set the plate whirling. The plate, of course, had a small +indentation to keep it in its place on the nail. He raised the plate in +the air and inserted into the first pole another of equal length, then +another and still another, which put the plate whirling in the air +thirty feet high. +</P> + +<P> +Thus whirling he balanced it on his hand, on his arm, on his thumb, on +his forehead, and finally in his mouth, after which he tossed the plate +up, threw the pole aside and caught it as it came down. The old manager +standing by received the pole, but as he saw the plate tossed up, he +fell flat upon the earth, screaming lest the plate be broken. +</P> + +<P> +This same performer set a bowl whirling on the end of a chop-stick. +Then tossing the bowl up he caught it inverted on the chop-stick, and +made it whirl as rapidly as possible. In this condition he tossed it up +ten, then fifteen, then twenty or more feet into the air catching it on +the chop-stick as it came down. +</P> + +<P> +He then changed the process. He tossed the bowl a foot high, and struck +it with the other chop-stick one, two, three, four or five times before +it came down, and this he did so rapidly and regularly as to make it +sound almost like music. There is a record of one of the ancient poets +who was able to play a tune with his bowl and chop-sticks after having +finished his meal. He may have done it in this way. +</P> + +<P> +This trick seemed a very difficult performance. It excited the +children, and some of the older persons clapped their hands and +exclaimed, "Very good, very good." But when he tossed it only a foot +high and let go the chop-stick, making it change ends, and catching the +bowl, they were ready for a general applause. In striking the bowl and +thus manipulating his chop-sticks, his hands moved almost as rapidly as +those of an expert pianist. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you toss the knives?" piped up one of the children who had seen a +juggler perform this difficult feat. +</P> + +<P> +The man picked up two large knives about a foot long and began tossing +them with one hand. While this was going on a third knife was handed +him and he kept them going with both hands. At times he threw them +under his leg or behind his back, and at other times pitched them up +twenty feet high, whirling them as rapidly as possible and catching +them by the handles as they came down. +</P> + +<P> +While doing this he passed one of the knives to the attendant who gave +him a bowl, and he kept the bowl and two knives going. Then he gave the +attendant another knife and received a ball, and the knife, the ball +and the bowl together, the ball and bowl at times moving as though the +former were glued to the bottom of the latter. +</P> + +<P> +These were not all the tricks he could perform but they were all he +would perform in addition to his bear show for twelve cents—for this +was the man with the bear—so the children allowed him to go. +</P> + +<P> +Some weeks later they called in a different bear show. This bear was +larger and a better performer, but his tricks were about the same. +</P> + +<P> +The juggler in addition to doing all we have already described +performed also the following tricks. +</P> + +<P> +He first put one end of an iron rod fifteen inches long in his mouth. +On this he placed a small revolving frame three by six inches. He set a +bowl whirling on the end of a bamboo splint fifteen inches long, the +other end of which he rested on one side of the frame, balancing the +whole in his mouth. +</P> + +<P> +While the bowl continued whirling, he took the frame off the rod, stuck +the bamboo in a hole in the frame an inch from the end, resting the +other end of the frame on the rod, brought the bowl over so as to +obtain a centre of gravity and thus balanced it. +</P> + +<P> +He took two small tridents a foot or more in length, put the end of the +handle of one in his mouth, set the bowl whirling on the end of the +handle of the other, rested the middle prong of one on the middle prong +of the other and let it whirl with the bowl. Afterwards he set the +prong of the whirling trident on the edge of the other and let it whirl. +</P> + +<P> +He took two long curved boar's teeth which were fastened on the ends of +two sticks, one a foot long, the other six inches. The one he held in +his mouth, the other having a hole diagonally through the stick, he +inserted a chop-stick making an angle of seventy degrees. He set the +bowl whirling on the end of the chop-stick, rested one tooth on the +other, in the indentation and they whirled like a brace and bit. +</P> + +<P> +Finally he took a spiral wire having a straight point on each end. This +he called a dead dragon. He set the bowl whirling on one end, placing +the other on the small frame already referred to. As the spiral wire +began to turn as though boring, he called it a living dragon. These +feats of balancing excited much wonder and merriment on the part of the +children. +</P> + +<P> +The juggler then took an iron trident with a handle four and a half +feet long and an inch and a half thick, and, pitching it up into the +air, caught it on his right arm as it came down. He allowed it to roll +down his right arm, across his back, and along his left arm, and as he +turned his body he kept the trident rolling around crossing his back +and breast and giving it a new impetus with each arm. The trident had +on it two cymbal-shaped iron plates which kept up a constant rattling. +</P> + +<P> +This showman had with him three boy acrobats whose skill he proceeded +to show. +</P> + +<P> +"Pitch the balls," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The largest of the three boys fastened a cushioned band, on which was a +leather cup, around his head, the cup being on his forehead just +between his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +He took two wooden balls, two and a half inches in diameter, tossed +them in the air twenty feet high, catching them in the cup as they came +down. The shape of the cup was such as to hold the balls by suction +when they fell. He never once missed. This is the most dangerous +looking of all the tricks I have seen jugglers perform. +</P> + +<P> +"Shooting stars," said the showman. +</P> + +<P> +The boy tossed aside his cup and balls and took a string six feet long, +on the two ends of which were fastened wooden balls two and a half +inches in diameter. He set the balls whirling in opposite directions +until they moved so rapidly as to stretch the string, which he then +held in the middle with finger and thumb and by a simple motion of the +hand kept the balls whirling. +</P> + +<P> +He was an expert, and changed the swinging of the balls in as many +different ways as an expert club-swinger could his clubs. +</P> + +<P> +"Boy acrobats," called out the manager, as the manipulator of the +"shooting stars" bowed himself out amid the applause of the children. +</P> + +<P> +The two smaller boys threw off their coats, hitched up their +trousers—always a part of the performance whether necessary or +not—and began the high kick, high jump, handspring, somersault, wagon +wheel, ending with hand-spring, and bending backwards until their heads +touched the ground. +</P> + +<P> +One of them stood on two benches a foot high, put a handkerchief on the +ground, and bending backwards, picked it up with his teeth. +</P> + +<P> +The two boys then clasped each other around the waist, as in the +illustration, and each threw the other back over his head a dozen times +or more. +</P> + +<P> +Exit the bear show with the boy acrobats, enter the old woman juggler +with her husband who beats the gong. +</P> + +<P> +This was one of the most interesting performances I have ever seen in +China, perhaps because so unexpected. +</P> + +<P> +The old woman had small, bound feet. She lay flat on her back, stuck up +her feet, and her husband put a crock a foot in diameter and a foot and +a half deep upon them. She set it rolling on her feet until it whirled +like a cylinder. She tossed it up in such a way as to have it light +bottom side up on her "lillies,"[1] in which position she kept it +whirling. Tossing it once more it came down on the side, and again +tossing it she caught it right side up on her small feet, keeping it +whirling all the time. +</P> + +<P> +My surprise was so great that I gave the old woman ten cents for +performing this single trick. +</P> + +<P> +The tricks of sleight-of-hand performers are well-nigh without number. +Some of them are easily understood,—surprising, however, to +children—and often interesting to grown people, while others are very +clever and not so easily understood. +</P> + +<P> +Instead of the hat from which innumerable small packages are taken, the +Chinese magician had two hollow cylinders, which exactly fit into each +other, that he took out of a box and placed upon a cylindrical chest, +and from these two cylinders—each of which he repeatedly showed us as +being without top or bottom and empty—he took a dinner of a dozen +courses. +</P> + +<P> +He called upon the baker to bring bread, the grocer to bring +vegetables, and after each call he took out of the cylinders the thing +called for. He finally called the wine shop to bring wine, and removing +both cylinders, he exposed to the surprised children a large crock of +wine. +</P> + +<P> +As he brought out dish after dish, the children looked in open-mouthed +wonder, and asked papa, mama or nurse, where he got them all, for they +evidently were not in the cylinders. But papa saw him all the time +manipulating the crock in the cylinder which he did not show, and he +knew that all these things were taken from and then returned to this +crock, while instead of being full of wine, he had only a cup of wine +in a false lid which exactly fitted the mouth of the crock, and made it +seem full. +</P> + +<P> +When he had put away his crock and cylinders, he produced what seemed +to be two empty cups. +</P> + +<P> +He presented them to us to show that they were empty, then putting them +mouth to mouth, and placing them on the ground, he left them a moment, +when with a "presto change," and a wave of the hand, he removed the top +cup and revealed to the astonished children and some of the children of +a larger growth, a cup full of water with two or three little fish or +frogs therein. +</P> + +<P> +On inquiry I was told that he had the under cup covered with a thin +film of water-colored material, and that as he removed the top cup he +removed also the film which left the fish or frogs exposed to view. +</P> + +<P> +This same juggler performed many tricks of producing great dishes of +water from under his garments, the mere enumeration of which, might +prove to be tiresome. +</P> + +<P> +I was walking along the street one day near the mouth of Filial Piety +Lane where a large company of men and children were watching a juggler, +and from the trick I thought it worth while to invite him in for the +amusement of the children. He promised to come about four o clock, +which he did. +</P> + +<P> +He first proceeded to eat a hat full of yellow paper, after which, with +a gag and a little puff, he pulled from his mouth a tube of paper of +the same color five or six yards long. +</P> + +<P> +This was very skillfully performed and for a long time I was not able +to understand how he did it. But after awhile I discovered that with +the last mouthful of paper he put in a small roll, the centre of which +he started by puffing, and this he pulled out in a long tube. He did it +with so many groanings and with such pain in the region of the stomach, +that attention was directed either to his stomach or the roll, and +taken away from his mouth. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall eat these needles," said he, as he held up half a dozen +needles, "and then eat this thread, after which I shall reproduce them." +</P> + +<P> +He did so. He grated his teeth together causing a sound much like that +of breaking needles. He pretended to swallow them, working his tongue +back and forth in his tightly closed mouth, after which he drew forth +the thread on which all the needles were strung. +</P> + +<P> +He had a number of small white bone needles which he stuck into his +nose and pulled out of his eyes, or which he pushed up under his upper +lip and took out of his eyes or vice versa. How he performed the above +trick I was not able to discover. He seemed to put them through the +tear duct, but whether he did or not I cannot say. How he got them from +his mouth to his eyes unless he had punctured a passage beneath the +skin, is still to me a mystery. +</P> + +<P> +His last trick was to swallow a sword fifteen inches long. The sword +was straight with a round point and dull edges. There was no deception +about this. He was an old man and his front, upper teeth were badly +worn away by the constant rasping of the not over-smooth sword. He +simply put it in his mouth, threw back his head and stuck it down his +throat to his stomach. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[1] Small feet of the Chinese woman. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="stories"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +STORIES TOLD TO CHILDREN +</H3> + +<P> +One hot summer afternoon as I lay in the hammock trying to take a nap +after a hard forenoon's work and a hearty lunch, I heard the same old +nurse who had told me my first Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes, telling the +following story to the same little boy to whom she had repeated the +"Mouse and the Candlestick." +</P> + +<P> +She told him that the Chinese call the Milky Way the Heavenly River, +and that the Spinning Girl referred to in the story is none other than +the beautiful big star in Lyra which we call Vega, while the Cow-herd +is Altair in Aquila. +</P> + +<BR> + +<H4> +THE HEAVENLY RIVER, WITH THE PEOPLE WHO DWELL THEREON. +</H4> + +<P> +Once upon a time there dwelt a beautiful maiden in a quiet little +village on the shore of the Heavenly River. +</P> + +<P> +Her name was Vega, but the people of China have always called her the +Spinning Maiden, because of her faithfulness to her work, for though +days, and months, and years passed away, she never left her loom. +</P> + +<P> +Her diligence so moved the heart of her grandfather, the King of +Heaven, that he determined to give her a vacation, which she at once +decided to spend upon the earth. +</P> + +<P> +In a village near where the maiden dwelt there was a young man named +Altair, whom the Chinese call the Cow-herd. +</P> + +<P> +Now the Cow-herd was in love with the Spinning Girl, but she was always +so intent upon her work as never to give him an opportunity to confess +his affection, but now he determined to follow her to earth, and, if +possible, win her for his bride. +</P> + +<P> +He followed her through the green fields and shady groves, but never +dared approach her or tell her of his love. +</P> + +<P> +At last, however, the time came. He discovered her bathing in a limpid +stream, the banks of which were carpeted with flowers, while myriad +boughs of blossoming peach and cherry trees hid her from all the world +but him. +</P> + +<P> +He secretly crept near and stole away and hid her garments made of +silken gauze and finely woven linen, making it alike impossible for her +to resist his suit or to return to her celestial home. +</P> + +<P> +She yielded to the Cow-herd and soon became his wife, and as the years +passed by a boy and girl were born to them, little star children, +twins, such as are seen near by the Spinning Girl in her heavenly home +to-day. +</P> + +<P> +One day she went to her husband, and, bowing low, requested that he +return the clothes he had hid away, and he, thinking the presence of +the children a sufficient guaranty for her remaining in his home, told +her he had put them in an old, dry well hard by the place where she had +been bathing. +</P> + +<P> +No sooner had she secured them than the aspect of their home was +changed. The Cow-herd's wife once more became the Spinning Girl and +hied her to her heavenly abode. +</P> + +<P> +It so happened that her husband had a piece of cow-skin which gave him +power over earth and air. Snatching up this, with his ox-goad, he +followed in the footsteps of his fleeing wife. +</P> + +<P> +Arriving at their heavenly home the happy couple sought the joys of +married life. The Spinning Girl gave up her loom, and the Cow-herd his +cattle, until their negligence annoyed the King of Heaven, and he +repented having let her leave her loom. He called upon the Western +Royal Mother for advice. After consultation they decided that the two +should be separated. The Queen, with a single stroke of her great +silver hairpin, drew a line across the heavens, and from that time the +Heavenly River has flowed between them, and they are destined to dwell +forever on the two sides of the Milky Way. +</P> + +<P> +What had seemed to the youthful pair the promise of perpetual joy, +became a condition of unending grief. They were on the two sides of a +bridgeless river, in plain sight of each other, but forever debarred +from hearing the voice or pressing the land of the one beloved, doomed +to perpetual toil unlit by any ray of joy or hope. +</P> + +<P> +Their evident affection and unhappy condition moved the heart of His +Majesty, and caused him to allow them to visit each other once with +each revolving year,—on the seventh day of the seventh moon. But +permission was not enough, for as they looked upon the foaming waters +of the turbulent stream, they could but weep for their wretched +condition, for no bridge united its two banks, nor was it allowed that +any structure be built which would mar the contour of the shining dome. +</P> + +<P> +In their helplessness the magpies came to their rescue. At early morn +on the seventh day of the seventh moon, these beautiful birds gathered +in great flocks about the home of the maiden, and hovering wing to wing +above the river, made a bridge across which her dainty feet might carry +her in safety. But when the time for separation came, the two wept +bitterly, and their tears falling in copious showers are the cause of +the heavy rains which fall at that season of the year. +</P> + +<P> +From time immemorial it has been known that the Yellow River is neither +more nor less than a prolongation of the Milky Way, soiled by earthly +contact and contamination, and that the homes of the Spinning Maiden +and the Cow-herd are the centres of two of the numerous villages that +adorn its banks. It is not to be wondered at, however, that in an evil +and skeptical world there should be many who doubt these facts. +</P> + +<P> +On this account, and to forever settle the dispute, the great traveller +and explorer, Chang Ch'ien, undertook to discover the source of the +Yellow River. He first transformed the trunk of a great tree into a +boat, provided himself with the necessities of life and started on his +journey. +</P> + +<P> +Days passed into weeks, and weeks became months as he sailed up the +murky waters of the turbid stream. But the farther he went the clearer +the waters became until it seemed as if they were flowing over a bed of +pure, white limestone. Village after village was passed both on his +right hand and on his left, and many were the strange sights that met +his gaze. The fields became more verdant, the flowers more beautiful, +the scenery more gorgeous, and the people more like nymphs and fairies. +The color of the clouds and the atmosphere was of a richer, softer hue; +while the breezes which wafted his frail bark were milder and gentler +than any he had known before. +</P> + +<P> +Despairing at last of reaching the source he stopped at a village where +he saw a maiden spinning and a young man leading an ox to drink. He +alighted from his boat and inquired of the girl the name of the place, +but she, without making reply, tossed him her shuttle, telling him to +return to his home and inquire of the astrologer, who would inform him +where he received it, if he but told him when. +</P> + +<P> +He returned and presented the shuttle to the noted astrologer Chun +Ping, informing him at the same time where, when and from whom he had +received it. The latter consulted his observations and calculations and +discovered that on the day and hour when the shuttle had been given to +the traveller he had observed a wandering star enter and leave the +villages of the Spinning Girl and the Cow-herd, which proved beyond +doubt that the Yellow River is the prolongation of the Milky Way, while +the points of light which we call stars, are the inhabitants of Heaven +pursuing callings similar to our own. +</P> + +<P> +Chang Ch'ien made another important discovery, namely, that the +celestials, understanding the seasons better than we, turn the shining +dome in such a way as to make the Heavenly River indicate the seasons +of the year, and so the children sing: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + Whene'er the Milky Way you spy,<BR> + Diagonal across the sky,<BR> + The egg-plant you may safely eat,<BR> + And all your friends to melons treat.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + But when divided towards the west,<BR> + You'll need your trousers and your vest<BR> + When like a horn you see it float;<BR> + You'll need your trousers and your coat.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +It is unnecessary to state that I did not go to sleep while the old +nurse was telling the story of the Heavenly River. The child sat on his +little stool, his elbows on his knees and his chin resting in his +hands, listening with open lips and eyes sparkling with interest. To +the old nurse it was real. The spinning girl and the cow-herd were +living persons. The flowers bloomed,—we could almost smell their +odor,—and the gentle breezes seemed to fan our cheeks. She had told +the story so often that she believed it, and she imparted to us her own +interest. +</P> + +<P> +"Nurse," said the child, "tell me about +</P> + +<H4> + "'THE MAN IN THE MOON.'"<BR> +</H4> + +<P> +"The man in the moon," said the old nurse, "is called Wu Kang. He was +skilled in all the arts of the genii, and was accustomed to play before +them whenever opportunity offered or occasion required. +</P> + +<P> +"Once it turned out that his performances were displeasing to the +spirits, and for this offense he was banished to the moon, and +condemned to perpetual toil in hewing down the cinnamon trees which +grow there in great abundance. At every blow of the axe he made an +incision, but only to see it close up when the axe was withdrawn. +</P> + +<P> +"He had another duty, however, a duty which was at times irksome, but +one which on the whole was more pleasant than any that falls to men or +spirits,—the duty indicated by the proverb that 'matches are made in +the moon.' +</P> + +<P> +"It was his lot to bind together the feet of all those on earth who are +destined to a betrothal, and in the performance of this duty, he was +often compelled to return to earth. When doing so he came as an old man +with long white hair and beard, with a book in his hand in which he had +written the matrimonial alliances of all mankind. He also carried a +wallet which contains a ball of invisible cord with which he ties +together the feet of all those who are destined to be man and wife, and +the destinies which he announces it is impossible to avoid. +</P> + +<P> +"On one occasion he came to the town of Sung, and while sitting in the +moonlight, turning over the leaves of his book of destinies, he was +asked by Wei Ku, who happened to be passing, who was destined to become +his bride. The old man consulted his records, as he answered: 'Your +wife is the daughter of an old woman named Ch'en who sells vegetables +in yonder shop.' +</P> + +<P> +"Having heard this, Wei Ku went the next day to look about him and if +possible to get a glimpse of the one to whom the old man referred, but +he discovered that the only child the old woman had was an ill-favored +one of two years which she carried in her arms. He hired an assassin to +murder the infant, but the blow was badly aimed and left only a scar on +the child's eyebrow. +</P> + +<P> +"Fourteen years afterwards, Wei Ku married a beautiful maiden of +sixteen whose only defect was a scar above the eye, and on inquiries he +discovered that she was the one foretold by the Old Man of the Moon, +and he recalled the proverb that 'Matches are made in heaven, and the +bond of fate is sealed in the moon.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Nurse, tell me about the land of the big people," whereupon the nurse +told him of +</P> + +<H4> + THE LAND OF GIANTS.<BR> +</H4> + +<P> +"There was in ancient times a country east of Korea which was called +the land of the giants. It was celebrated for its length rather than +for its width, being bounded on all sides by great mountain ranges, the +like of which cannot be found in other countries. It extends for +thousands of miles along the deep passes between the mountains, at the +entrance to which there are great iron gates, easily closed, but very +difficult to open. +</P> + +<P> +"Many armies have made war upon the giants, among which none have been +more celebrated than those of Korea, which embraces in its standing +army alone many thousands of men, but thus far they have never been +conquered. +</P> + +<P> +"Nor is this to be wondered at, for besides their great iron gates, and +numerous fortifications, the men are thirty feet tall according to our +measurement, have teeth like a saw, hooked claws, and bodies covered +with long black hair. +</P> + +<P> +"They live upon the flesh of fowls and wild beasts which are found in +abundance in the mountain fastnesses, but they do not cook their food. +They are very fond of human flesh, but they confine themselves to the +flesh of enemies slain in battle, and do not eat the flesh of their own +people, even though they be hostile, as this is contrary to the law of +the land. +</P> + +<P> +"Their women are as large and fierce as the men, but their duties are +confined to the preparation of extra clothing for winter wear, for +although they are covered with hair it is insufficient to protect them +from the winter's cold." +</P> + +<P> +While the old nurse was relating the tale of the giants I could not but +wonder whether there was not some relation between that and the +Brobdingnagians I had read about in my youth. But I was not given much +time to think. This seemed to have been a story day, for the nurse had +hardly finished the tale till the child said: +</P> + +<P> +"Now tell me about the country of the little people," and she related +the story of +</P> + +<H4> + THE LAND OF DWARFS.<BR> +</H4> + +<P> +"The country of the little people is in the west, where the sun goes +down. +</P> + +<P> +"Once upon a time a company of Persian merchants were making a journey, +when by a strange mishap they lost their way and came to the land of +the little people. They were at first surprised, and then delighted, +for they discovered that the country was not only densely populated +with these little people, who were not more than three feet high, but +that it was rich in all kinds of precious stones and rare and valuable +materials. +</P> + +<P> +"They discovered also that during the season of planting and +harvesting, they were in constant terror lest the great multitude of +cranes, which are without number in that region, should swoop down upon +them and eat both them and their crops. They soon learned, however, +that the little people were under the protecting care of the Roman +Empire, whose interest in them was great, and her arm mighty, and they +were thus guarded from all evil influences as well as from all danger. +Nor was this a wholly unselfish interest on the part of the Roman +power, for the little people repaid her with rich presents of the most +costly gems,—pearls, diamonds, rubies and other precious stones." +</P> + +<P> +I need not say I was beginning to be surprised at the number of tales +the old woman told which corresponded to those I had been accustomed to +read and hear in my childhood, nor was my surprise lessened when at his +request she told him how +</P> + +<H4> + THE SUN WENT BACKWARD.<BR> +</H4> + +<P> +"Once upon a time Lu Yang-kung was engaged in battle with Han Kou-nan, +and they continued fighting until nearly sundown. The former was +getting the better of the battle, but feared he would lose it unless +they fought to a finish before the close of day. The sun was near the +horizon, and the battle was not yet ended, and the former, pointing his +lance at the King of Day caused him to move backward ten miles in his +course." +</P> + +<P> +"When did that happen?" inquired the child. +</P> + +<P> +"The Chinese say it happened about three thousand years ago," replied +the old nurse. +</P> + +<P> +"Now tell me about the man who went to the fire star." +</P> + +<P> +The old woman hesitated a moment as though she was trying to recall +something and then told him the story of +</P> + +<H4> + MARS, THE GOD OF WAR.<BR> +</H4> + +<P> +"Once upon a time there was a great rebel whose name was Ch'ih Yu. He +was the first great rebel that ever lived in China. He did not want to +obey the chief ruler, and invented for himself warlike weapons, +thinking that in this way he might overthrow the government and place +himself upon the throne. +</P> + +<P> +"He had eighty-one brothers, of whom he was the leader. They had human +speech, but bodies of beasts, foreheads of iron, and fed upon the dust +of the earth. +</P> + +<P> +"When the time for the battle came, he called upon the Chief of the +Wind and the Master of the Rain to assist him, and there arose a great +tempest. But the Chief sent the Daughter of Heaven to quell the storm, +and then seized and slew the rebel. His spirit ascended to the +Fire-Star (Mars)—the embodiment of which he was while upon +earth,—where it resides and influences the conduct of warfare even to +the present time." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me the story of the man who went to the mountain to gather +fire-wood and did not come home for such a long time." +</P> + +<P> +The old nurse began a story which as it progressed reminded me of +</P> + +<H4> + RIP VAN WINKLE.<BR> +</H4> + +<P> +"A long time ago there lived a man named Wang Chih, which in our +language means 'the stuff of which kings are made.' In spite of his +name, however, he was only a common husbandman, spending his summers in +plowing, planting and harvesting, and his winters in gathering +fertilizers upon the highways, and fire-wood in the mountains. +</P> + +<P> +"On one occasion he wandered into the mountains of Ch'u Chou, his axe +upon his shoulder, hoping to find more and better fire-wood than could +be found upon his own scanty acres, or the adjoining plain. While in +the mountains he came upon a number of aged men, in a beautiful +mountain grotto, intently engaged in a game of chess. Wang was a good +chess-player himself, and for the time forgot his errand. He laid down +his axe, stood silently watching them, and in a very few moments was +deeply interested in the game. +</P> + +<P> +"It was while he was thus watching them that one of the old men, +without looking up from the game, gave him what seemed to be a date +seed, telling him at the same time to put it in his mouth. He did so, +but no sooner had he tasted it, than he lost all consciousness of +hunger and thirst, and continued to stand watching the players and the +progress of the game, thinking nothing of the flight of time. +</P> + +<P> +"At last one of the old men said to him: +</P> + +<P> +"'You have been here a long time, ought you not to go home?' +</P> + +<P> +"This aroused him from his reverie, and he seemed to awake as from a +dream, his interest in the game passed away, and he attempted to pick +up his axe, but found that it was covered with rust and the handle had +moulded away. But while this called his attention to the fact that time +had passed, he felt not the burden of years. +</P> + +<P> +"When he returned to the plain, and to what had formerly been his home, +he discovered that not only years but centuries had passed away since +he had left for the mountains, and that his relatives and friends had +all crossed to the 'Yellow Springs,' while all records of his departure +had long since been forgotten, and he alone remained a relic of the +past. +</P> + +<P> +"He wandered up and down inquiring of the oldest people of all the +villages, but could discover no link which bound him to the present. +</P> + +<P> +"He returned to the mountain grotto, devoted himself to the study of +the occult principles of the 'Old Philosopher' until the material +elements of his mortal frame were gradually evaporated or sublimated, +and without having passed through the change which men call death, he +became an immortal spirit returning whence he came." +</P> + +<P> +Just as the old woman finished this story, my teacher, who always took +a nap after lunch, ascended the steps. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, the story of Wang Chih." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know any of these stories?" I asked him as I sat down beside +him. +</P> + +<P> +"All children learn these stories in their youth," he answered, and +then as if fearing I would try to induce him to tell them to me he +continued, "but nurses always tell these stories better than any one +else, because they tell them so often to the children, for whom alone +they were made." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Chinese Boy and Girl, by Isaac Taylor Headland + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHINESE BOY AND GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 522-h.htm or 522-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/522/ + +Produced by Charles Keller. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Chinese Boy and Girl + +Author: Isaac Taylor Headland + +Posting Date: September 13, 2008 [EBook #522] +Release Date: May, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHINESE BOY AND GIRL *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + +THE CHINESE BOY AND GIRL + + + +BY + +ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND + +OF PEKING UNIVERSITY + + + +Author of Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes + + + + + +PREFACE + +No thorough study of Chinese child life can be made until the wall of +Chinese exclusiveness is broken down and the homes of the East are +thrown open to the people of the West. Glimpses of that life however, +are available, sufficient in number and character to give a fairly good +idea of what it must be. The playground is by no means always hidden, +least of all when it is the street. The Chinese nurse brings her +Chinese rhymes, stories and games into the foreigner's home for the +amusement of its little ones. + +Chinese kindergarten methods and appliances have no superior in their +ingenuity and their ability to interest, as well as instruct. In the +matter of travelling shows and jugglers also, no country is better +supplied, and these are chiefly for the entertainment of the little +ones. + +To the careful observer of these different phases it becomes apparent +that the Chinese child is well supplied with methods of exercise and +amusement, also that he has much in common with the children of other +lands. A large collection of toys shows many duplicates of those common +in the West, and from the nursery rhymes of at least two out of the +eighteen provinces it appears that the Chinese nursery is rich in +Mother Goose. As a companion to the "Chinese Mother Goose," this book +seeks to show that the same sunlight fills the homes of both East and +West. If it also leads their far-away mates to look upon the Chinese +Boy and Girl as real little folk, human like themselves, and thus think +more kindly of them, its mission will have been accomplished. + + + +CONTENTS + + THE NURSERY AND ITS RHYMES + CHILDREN AND CHILD-LIFE + GAMES PLAYED BY BOYS + GAMES PLAYED BY GIRLS + THE TOYS CHILDREN PLAY WITH + BLOCK GAMES--KINDERGARTEN + CHILDREN'S SHOWS AND ENTERTAINMENTS + JUVENILE JUGGLING + STORIES TOLD TO CHILDREN + + + +THE NURSERY AND ITS RHYMES + +It is a mistake to suppose that any one nation or people has exclusive +right to Mother Goose. She is an omnipresent old lady. She is Asiatic +as well as European or American. Wherever there are mothers, +grandmothers, and nurses there are Mother Gooses,--or; shall we say, +Mother Geese--for I am at a loss as to how to pluralize this old dame. +She is in India, whence I have rhymes from her, of which the following +is a sample: + + Heh, my baby! Ho, my baby! + See the wild, ripe plum, + And if you'd like to eat a few, + I'll buy my baby some. + +She is in Japan. She has taught the children there to put their fingers +together as we do for "This is the church, this is the steeple," when +she says: + + A bamboo road, + With a floor-mat siding, + Children are quarrelling, + And parents chiding, + +the "children" being represented by the fingers and the "parents" by +the thumbs. She is in China. I have more than 600 rhymes from her +Chinese collection. Let me tell you how I got them. + +One hot day during my summer vacation, while sitting on the veranda of +a house among the hills, fifteen miles west of Peking, my friend, Mrs. +C. H. Fenn, said to me: + +"Have you noticed those rhymes, Mr. Headland?" + +"What rhymes?" I inquired. + +"The rhymes Mrs. Yin is repeating to Henry." + +"No, I have not noticed them. Ask her to repeat that one again." + +Mrs. Fenn did so, and the old nurse repeated the following rhyme, very +much in the tone of, "The goblins 'll git you if you don't look out." + + He climbed up the candlestick, + The little mousey brown, + To steal and eat tallow, + And he couldn't get down. + He called for his grandma, + But his grandma was in town, + So he doubled up into a wheel, + And rolled himself down. + +I asked the nurse to repeat it again, more slowly, and I wrote it down +together with the translation. + +Now, I think it must be admitted that there is more in this rhyme to +commend it to the public than there is in "Jack and Jill." If when that +remarkable young couple went for the pail of water, Master Jack had +carried it himself, he would have been entitled to some credit for +gallantry, or if in cracking his crown he had fallen so as to prevent +Miss Jill from "tumbling," or even in such a way as to break her fall +and make it easier for her, there would have been some reason for the +popularity of such a record. As it is, there is no way to account for +it except the fact that it is simple and rhythmic and children like it. +This rhyme, however, in the original, is equal to "Jack and Jill" in +rhythm and rhyme, has as good a story, exhibits a more scientific +tumble, with a less tragic result, and contains as good a moral as that +found in "Jack Sprat." + +It is as popular all over North China as "Jack and Jill" is throughout +Great Britain and America. Ask any Chinese child if he knows the +"Little Mouse," and he reels it off to you as readily as an +English-speaking child does "Jack and Jill." Does he like it? It is a +part of his life. Repeat it to him, giving one word incorrectly, and he +will resent it as strenuously as your little boy or girl would if you +said, + + Jack and Jill + Went DOWN the hill + +Suppose you repeat some familiar rhyme to a child differently from the +way he learned it and see what the result will be. + +Having obtained this rhyme, I asked Mrs. Yin if she knew any more. She +smiled and said she knew "lots of them." I induced her to tell them to +me, promising her five hundred cash (about three cents) for every rhyme +she could give me, good, bad, or indifferent, for I wanted to secure +all kinds. And I did. Before I was through I had rhymes which ranged +from the two extremes of the keenest parental affection to those of +unrefined filthiness. The latter class however came not from the nurses +but from the children themselves. + +When I had finished with her I had a dozen or more. I soon learned +these so that I could repeat them in the original, which gave me an +entering wedge to the heart of every man, woman or child I met. + +One day, as I rode through a broom-corn field on the back of a little +donkey, my feet almost dragging on the ground, I was repeating some of +these rhymes, when the driver running at my side said: + +"Ha, you know those children's songs, do you?" + +"Yes do you know any?" + +"Lots of them," he answered. + +"Lots of them" is a favorite expression with the Chinese. + +"Tell me some." + +"Did you ever hear this one?" + + "Fire-fly, fire-fly, + Come from the hill, + Your father and mother + Are waiting here still. + They've brought you some sugar, + Some candy, and meat, + For baby to eat." + + +I at once dismounted and wrote it down, and promised him five hundred +cash apiece for every new one he could give me. In this way, going to +and from the city, in conversation with old nurses or servants, +personal friends, teachers, parents or children, or foreign children +who had been born in China and had learned rhymes from their nurses, I +continued to gather them during the entire vacation, and when autumn +came I had more than fifty of the most common and consequently the best +rhymes known in and about Peking. + +A few months after I returned to the city a circular was sent around +asking for subscriptions to a volume of Pekinese Folklore, published by +Baron Vitali, Interpreter at the Italian legation, which, on +examination, proved to be exactly what I wanted. He had collected about +two hundred and fifty rhymes, had made a literal--not +metrical--translation and had issued them in book form without +expurgation. + +Others learned of my collection, and rhymes began to come to me from +all parts of the empire. Dr. Arthur H. Smith, the well-known author of +"Chinese Characteristics" gave me a collection of more than three +hundred made in Shantung, among which were rhymes similar to those we +had found in Peking. Still later I received other versions of these +same rhymes from my little friend, Miss Chalfant, collected in a +different part of Shantung from that occupied by Dr. Smith. I then had +no fewer than five versions of + + "This little pig went to market," + +each having some local coloring not found in the other, proving that +the fingers and toes furnish children with the same entertainment in +the Orient as in the Occident, and that the rhyme is widely known +throughout China. + +These nursery rhymes have never been printed in the Chinese language, +but like our own Mother Goose before the year 1719, if we may credit +the Boston story, they are carried in the minds and hearts of the +children. Here arose the first difficulty we experienced in collecting +rhymes--the matter of getting them complete. Few are able to repeat the +whole of the + + "House that Jack built" + +although it has been printed many times and they learned it all in +their youth. The difficulty is multiplied tenfold in China where the +rhymes have never been printed, and where there have grown up various +versions from one original which the nurse had, no doubt, partly +forgotten, but was compelled to complete for the entertainment of the +child. + +A second difficulty in making such a collection is that of getting +unobjectionable rhymes. While the Chinese classics are among the purest +classical books of the world, there is yet a large proportion of the +people who sully everything they take into their hands as well as every +thought they take into their minds. Thus so many of their rhymes have +suffered. + +Some have an undertone of reviling. Some speak familiarly of subjects +which we are not accustomed to mention, and others are impure in the +extreme. + +A third difficulty in making a collection of Chinese nursery lore is +greater than either the first or the second,--I refer to the difficulty +of a metrical rendition of the rhymes. I have no doubt my readers can +easily find flaws in my translations of Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes +published during the past year. It is much easier for me to find the +flaws than the remedies. Many of the words used in the original have no +written character or hieroglyphic to represent them, while many others, +though having a written form, are, like our own slang expressions, not +found in the dictionary. + +Now let us turn to a more pleasant feature of this unwritten nursery +literature. The language is full of good rhymes, and all objectionable +features can be cut out without injury to the rhyme, as it was not a +part of the original, but added by some more unscrupulous hand. + +Among the nursery rhymes of all countries many refer to insects, birds, +animals, persons, actions, trades, food or children. In Chinese rhymes +we have the cricket, cicada, spider, snail, firefly, ladybug and +butterfly and others. Among fowls we have the bat, crow, magpie, cock, +hen, duck and goose. Of animals, the dog, cow, horse, mule, donkey, +camel, and mouse, are the favorites. There are also rhymes on the snake +and frog, and others without number on places, things and +persons,--men, women and children. + +Those who hold that the Chinese do not love their children have never +consulted their nursery lore. There is no language in the world, I +venture to believe, which contains children's songs expressive of more +keen and tender affection than some of those sung to children in China. + +When we hear a parent say that his child + + "Is as sweet as sugar and cinnamon too," + +or that + + "Baby is a sweet pill, + That fills my soul with joy" + +or when we see a father, mother or nurse--for nurses sometimes become +almost as fond of their little charge as the parents +themselves,--hugging the child to their bosoms as they say that he is +so sweet that "he makes you love him till it kills you," we begin to +appreciate the affection that prompts the utterance. + +Another feature of these rhymes is the same as that found in the +nursery songs of all nations, namely, the food element. "Jack Sprat," +"Little Jacky Horner," "Four and Twenty Black-birds," "When Good King +Arthur Ruled the Land," and a host of others will indicate what I mean. +A little child is a highly developed stomach, and anything which tells +about something that ministers to the appetite and tends to satisfy +that aching void, commends itself to his literary taste, and hence the +popularity of many of our nursery rhymes, the only thought of which is +about something good to eat. Notice the following: + + Look at the white breasted crows overhead. + My father shot once and ten crows tumbled dead. + When boiled or when fried they taste very good, + But skin them, I tell you, there's no better food. + + +In imagination I can see the reader raise his eyebrows and mutter, "Do +the Chinese eat crows?" while at the same time he has been singing all +his life about what a "dainty dish" "four and twenty blackbirds" would +make for the "king," without ever raising the question as to whether +blackbirds are good eating or not. + +We note another feature of all nursery rhymes in the additions made by +the various persons through whose hands,--or should we say, through +whose mouths they pass. + +When an American or English child hears how a certain benevolent dame +found no bone in her cupboard to satisfy the cravings of her hungry +dog, its feelings of compassion are stirred up to ask: "And then what? +Didn't she get any meat? Did the dog die?" and the nurse is compelled +to make another verse to satisfy the curiosity of the child and bring +both the dame and the dog out of the dilemma in which they have been +left. This is what happened in the case of "Old Mother Hubbard" as will +readily be seen by examining the meter of the various verses. The +original "Mother Hubbard" consisted of nothing more than the first six +lines which contain three rhymes. All the other verses have but four +lines and one rhyme. + +We find the same thing in Chinese Mother Goose. Take the following as +an example: + + He ate too much, + That second brother, + And when he had eaten his fill + He beat his mother. + + +This was the original rhyme. Two verses have been added without rhyme, +reason, rhythm, sense or good taste. They are as follows: + + His mother jumped up on the window-sill, + But the window had no crack, + She then looked into the looking-glass, + But the mirror had no back. + + Then all at once she began to sing, + But the song it had no end + And then she played the monkey trick + And to heaven she did ascend. + +The moral teachings of nursery rhymes are as varied as the morals of +the people to whom the rhymes belong. The "Little Mouse" already given +contains both a warning and a penalty. The mouse which had climbed up +the candle-stick to steal tallow was unable to get down. This was the +penalty for stealing, and indicates to children that if they visit the +cupboard in their mother's absence and take her sweetmeats without her +permission, they may suffer as the mouse did. To leave the mouse there +after he had repeatedly called for that halo-crowned grandmother, who +refused to come, would have been too much for the child's sympathies, +and so the mouse doubles himself up into a wheel, and rolls to the +floor. + +In other rhymes, children are warned against stealing, but the penalty +threatened is rather an indication of the untruthfulness of the parent +or nurse than a promise of reform in the child, for they are told that, + + If you steal a needle + Or steal a thread, + A pimple will grow + Upon your head. + + If you steal a dog + Or steal a cat, + A pimple will grow + Beneath your hat. + + +Boys are warned of the dire consequences if they wear their hats on the +side of their heads or go about with ragged coats or slipshod feet. + + If you wear your hat on the side of your head, + You'll have a lazy wife, 'tis said. + If a ragged coat or slipshod feet, + You'll have a wife who loves to eat. + +Those rhymes which manifest the affection of parents for children +cultivate a like affection in the child. We have in the Chinese Mother +Goose a rhyme called the Little Orphan, which is a most pathetic tale. +A little boy tells us that, + + Like a little withered flower, + That is dying in the earth, + I was left alone at seven + By her who gave me birth. + + With my papa I was happy + But I feared he'd take another, + But now my papa's married, + And I have a little brother. + + And he eats good food, + While I eat poor, + And cry for my mother, + Whom I'll see no more. + +Such a rhyme cannot but develop the pathetic and sympathetic instincts +of the child, making it more kind and gentle to those in distress. + +A girl in one of the rhymes urged by instinct and desire to chase a +butterfly, gives up the idea of catching it, presumably out of a +feeling of sympathy for the insect. + +Unfortunately all their rhymes do not have this same high moral tone. +They indicate a total lack of respect for the Buddhist priests. This is +not necessarily against the rhyme any more than against the priest, but +it is an unfortunate disposition to cultivate in children. There are +constant sallies at the shaved noddle of the priest. They speak of his +head as a gourd, and they class him with the tiger as a beast of prey. + +Some of the rhymes illustrate the disposition of the Chinese to +nickname every one, from the highest official in the empire to the +meanest beggar on the street. One of the great men of the present +dynasty, a prime minister and intimate friend of the emperor, goes by +the name of Humpbacked Liu. Another may be Cross-eyed Wang, another +Club-footed Chang, another Bald-headed Li. Any physical deformity or +mental peculiarity may give him his nickname. Even foreigners suffer in +reputation from this national bad habit. + +A man whose face is covered with pockmarks is ridiculed by children in +the following rhyme, which is only a sample of what might be produced +on a score of other subjects: + + Old pockmarked Ma, + He climbed up a tree, + A dog barked at him, + And a man caught his knee, + Which scared old Poxey + Until he couldn't see. + +A well-known characteristic of the Chinese is to do things opposite to +the way in which we do them. We accuse them of doing things backwards, +but it is we who deserve such blame because they antedated us in the +doing of them. We shake each other's hands, they each shake their own +hands. We take off our hats as a mark of respect, they keep theirs on. +We wear black for mourning, they wear white. We wear our vests inside, +they wear theirs outside. A hundred other things more or less familiar +to us all, illustrate this rule. In some of their nursery rhymes +everything is said and done on the "cart before the horse" plan. This +is illustrated by a rhyme in which when the speaker heard a disturbance +outside his door he discovered it was because a "dog had been bitten by +a man." Of course, he at once rushed to the rescue. He "took up the +door and he opened his hand." He "snatched up the dog and threw him at +a brick." The brick bit his hand and he left the scene "beating on a +horn and blowing on a drum." + +Tongue twisters are as common in Chinese as in English, and are equally +appreciated by the children. From the nature of such rhymes, however, +it is impossible to translate them into any other language. + +In one of these children's songs, a cake-seller informs the public in +stentorian tones that his wares will restore sight to the blind and that + + They cure the deaf and heal the lame, + And preserve the teeth of the aged dame. + +They will further cause hair to grow on a bald head and give courage to +a henpecked husband. A girl who has been whipped by her mother mutters +to herself how she would love and serve a husband if she only had one, +even going to the extent of calling that much-despised mother-in-law +her mother, and when overheard by her irate parent and asked what she +was saying, she answers: + + I was saying the beans are boiling nice + And it's just about time to add the rice. + +These are rather an indication of good cheer on the part of the +children than lack of filial affection. A parent must be cruel indeed +to make a girl willing to give up her mother for a mother-in-law. + +Another style of verses comes under the head of pure nonsense rhymes. +They are wholly without sense and I am not sure they are good nonsense. +They are popular, however, with the children, and critics may say what +they will, but the children are the last court of appeal in case of +nursery rhymes. Let me give one: + + There's a cow on the mountain, the old saying goes, + On her legs are four feet, on her feet are eight toes. + Her tail is behind on the end of her back, + And her head is in front on the end of her neck. + +The Chinese nursery is well provided with rhymes pertaining to certain +portions of the body. They have rhymes to repeat when they play with +the five fingers, and others when they pull the toes; rhymes when they +take hold of the knee and expect the child to refrain from laughing, no +matter how much its knee is tickled; rhymes which correspond to all our +face and sense; rhymes where the forehead represents the door and the +five senses various other things, ending, of course, by tickling the +child's neck. + +All of these have called forth rhymes among Chinese children similar to +"little pig went to market," "forehead bender, eye winker," etc. The +parent, or the nurse, taking hold of the toes of the child, repeats the +following rhyme, as much to the amusement of the little Oriental as the +"little pig" has always been to our own children: + + This little cow eats grass, + This little cow eats hay, + This little cow drinks water, + This little cow runs away, + This little cow does nothing, + Except lie down all day. + We'll whip her. + +And, with that, she playfully pats the little bare foot. If it is the +hand that is played with the fingers are taken hold of one after +another, as the parent, or nurse, repeats the following rhyme: + + This one's old, + This one's young + This one has + no meat; + This one's gone + To buy some hay, + And this one's on + the street. + +There are various forms of this rhyme, depending upon the place where +it is found. The above is the Shantung version. In Peking it is as +follows: + + A great, big brother, + And a little brother, too, + A big bell tower, + And a temple and a show, + And little baby wee, wee, + Always wants to go. + +The following rhyme explains itself: The nurse knocks on the forehead, +then touches the eye, nose, ear, mouth and chin successively, as she +repeats: + + Knock at the door, + See a face, + Smell an odor, + Hear a voice, + Eat your dinner, + Pull your chin, or + Ke chih, ke chih. + +Tickling the child's neck with the last two expressions. + +We have in English a rhyme: + + If you be a gentleman, + As I suppose you be, + You'll neither laugh nor smile + With a tickling of your knee. + +I had tried many months to find if there were any finger, face or body +games other than those already given. Our own nurse insisted that she +knew of none, but one day I noticed her grabbing my little girl's knee, +while she was saying: + + One grab silver, + Two grabs gold, + Three don't laugh, + And you'll grow old. + +There is no literature in China, not even in the sacred books, which is +so generally known as their nursery rhymes. These are understood and +repeated by the educated and the illiterate alike; by the children of +princes and the children of beggars; children in the city and children +in the country and villages, and they produce like results in the minds +and hearts of all. The little folks laugh over the Cow, look sober over +the Little Orphan, absorb the morals taught by the Mouse, and are sung +to sleep by the song of the Little Snail. + +Sometimes however they, like children in other lands, are skeptical as +to the reality of the stories told in the songs. Thus I remember once +hearing our old nurse telling a number of stories and singing a number +of songs to the little folk in the nursery. They had accepted one after +another the legends as they rolled off the old woman's tongue, without +question, but pretty soon she gave them a version of a Wind Song which +aroused their incredulity. She sang: + + Old grandmother Wind has come from the East. + She's ridden a donkey--a dear little beast. + Old mother-in-law Rain has come back again. + She's come from the North on a horse, it is plain. + + Old grandmother Snow is coming you know, + From the West on a crane--just see how they go. + And old aunty Lightning has come from the South, + On a big yellow dog with a bit in his mouth. + + +"There is no grandmother Wind, is there, nurse?" + +"No, of course not, people only call her grandmother Wind." + +"Why do they call the other mother-in-law Rain?" + +"I suppose, because mothers-in-law are often disagreeable, just like +rainy weather." + +"And why do they speak of snow and the crane, and lightning and a +yellow dog?" + +"I suppose, because a crane is somewhat the color of snow, and a yellow +dog swift and the color of lightning." + + + +CHILDREN AND CHILD-LIFE + +Before going to China, I could not but wonder, when I saw a Chinese or +Japanese doll, why it was they made such unnatural looking things for +babies to play with. On reaching the Orient the whole matter was +explained by my first sight of a baby. The doll looks like the child! + +Nothing in China is more common than babies. Nothing more helpless. +Nothing more troublesome. Nothing more attractive. Nothing more +interesting. + +A Chinese baby is a round-faced little helpless human animal, whose +eyes look like two black marbles over which the skin had been +stretched, and a slit made on the bias. His nose is a little kopje in +the centre of his face, above a yawning chasm which requires constant +filling to insure the preservation of law and order. On his shaved head +are left small tufts of hair in various localities, which give him the +appearance of the plain about Peking, on which the traveler sees, here +and there, a small clump of trees around a country village, a home, or +a cemetery; the remainder of the country being bare. These tufts are +usually on the "soft spot," in the back of his neck, over his ears, or +in a braid or a ring on the side of his head. + +The amount of joy brought to a home by the birth of a child depends +upon several important considerations, chief among which are its sex, +the number and sex of those already in the family, and the financial +condition of the home. + +In general the Chinese prefer a preponderance of boys, but in case the +family are in good circumstances and already have several boys, they +are as anxious for a girl as parents in any other country. + +The reason for this is deeper than the mere fact of sex. It is imbedded +in the social life and customs of the people. A girl remains at home +until she is sixteen or seventeen, during which time she is little more +than an expense. She is then taken to her husband's home and her own +family have no further control over her life or conduct. She loses her +identity with her own family, and becomes part of that of her husband. +This through many years and centuries has generated in the popular mind +a feeling that it is "bad business raising girls for other people," and +there are not a few parents who would prefer to bring up the girl +betrothed to their son, rather than bring up their own daughter. + +"Selfishness!" some people exclaim when they read such things about the +Chinese. Yes, it is selfishness; but life in China is not like ours--a +struggle for luxuries--but a struggle, not for bread and rice as many +suppose, but for cornmeal and cabbage, or something else not more +palatable. This is the life to which most Chinese children are born, +and parents can scarcely be blamed for preferring boys whose hands may +help provide for their mouths, to girls who are only an expense. + +The presumption is that a Chinese child is born with the same general +disposition as children in other countries. This may perhaps be the +case; but either from the treatment it receives from parents or nurses, +or because of the disposition it inherits, its nature soon becomes +changed, and it develops certain characteristics peculiar to the +Chinese child. It becomes t'ao ch'i. That almost means mischievous; it +almost means troublesome--a little tartar--but it means exactly t'ao +ch'i. + +In this respect almost every Chinese child is a little tyrant. Father, +mother, uncles, aunts, and grandparents are all made to do his bidding. +In case any of them seems to be recalcitrant, the little dear lies down +on his baby back on the dusty ground and kicks and screams until the +refractory parent or nurse has repented and succumbed, when he get up +and good-naturedly goes on with his play and allows them to go about +their business. The child is t'ao ch'i. + +This disposition is general and not confined to any one rank or grade +in society, if we may credit the stories that come from the palace +regarding the present young Emperor Kuang Hsu. When a boy he very much +preferred foreign to Chinese toys, and so the eunuchs stocked the +palace nursery with all the most wonderful toys the ingenuity and +mechanical skill of Europe had produced. As he grew older the toys +became more complicated, being in the form of gramophones, +graphophones, telephones, phonographs, electric lights, electric cars, +cuckoo clocks, Swiss watches and indeed all the great inventions of +modern times. The boy was t'ao ch'i, and the eunuchs say that if he +were thwarted in any of his undertakings, or denied anything he very +much desired, he would dash a Swiss watch, or anything else he might +have in his hand, to the floor, breaking it into atoms; and as there +was no chance of using the rod there was no way but to spoil the child. + +It is amusing to listen to the women in a Chinese home when a baby +comes. If the child is a boy the parents are congratulated on every +hand because of the "great happiness" that has come to their home. If +it is a girl, and there are more girls than boys in the family, the old +nurse goes about as if she had stolen it from somewhere, and when she +is congratulated, if congratulated she happens to be, she says with a +sigh and a funereal face, "Only a 'small happiness'--but that isn't +bad." + +When a child is born it is considered one year old, and its years are +reckoned not from its birthdays but from its New Year's days. If it has +the good fortune to be born the day before two days old it is reckoned +two years old being one year old when born and two years old on its +first New Year's day. + +The first great event in a child's life occurs when it is one month +old. It is then given its first public reception. Its head is shaved +amid kicking and screaming, its mother is up and around where she can +receive the congratulations of her friends, its grandmother is the +honored guest of the occasion, and the baby is named. + +All the relatives and friends are invited and every one is expected to +take dinner with the child, and, which is more important, to bring +presents. If the family is poor, this day puts into the treasury of +life a day of happiness and a goodly amount of filthy lucre. If the +family is rich the presents are correspondingly rich, for nowhere +either in Orient or Occident can there be found a people more lavish +and generous in their gifts than the Chinese. All the family can afford +is spent upon the dinner given on this occasion, with the assurance +that they will receive in presents and money more than double the +expense both of the dinner and the birth of the child. If they do not +"come" they are expected to "send" or they "lose face." Among the +middle-class, the presents are of a useful nature, usually in the form +of money, clothing or silver ornaments which are always worth their +weight in bullion. + +The name given the child is called its "milk" name until the boy enters +school. Whether boy or girl it may answer a good part of its life to +the place it occupies in the family whether first, second or third. + +If a girl she may be compelled to answer to "Little Slave," and if a +boy to "Baldhead." But the names usually given indicate the place or +time of birth, the hope of the parent for the child, or exhibit the +parent's love of beauty or euphony. + +A friend who was educated in a school situated in Filial Piety Lane and +who afterwards lived near Filial Piety Gate called his first son "Two +Filials." Another friend had sons whose names were "Have a Man," "Have +a Mountain," "Have a Garden," "Have a Fish." In conversation with this +friend about the son whose "milk" name was "Have a Man," I constantly +spoke of the boy by his "school" name, the only name by which I knew +him. The old man was perfectly blank--he knew not of whom I spoke, as +he had not seen his son since he got his school name. Finally, as it +began to dawn on him that I was talking of his son, he asked: + +"Whom are you talking about?" + +"Your son." + +"Oh, you mean 'Have a Man.'" + +This same man had a little girl called "Apple," not an ordinary apple, +but the most luscious apple known to North China. I have as I write a +list of names commonly applied to girls from which I select the +following: Beautiful Autumn, Charming Flower, Jade Pure, Lucky Pearl, +Precious Harp, Covet Spring; and the parent's way of speaking of his +little girl, when not wishing to be self-depreciative, is to call her +his "Thousand ounces of gold." + +The names given to boys are quite as humiliating or as elevating as +those given to girls. He may be Number One, Two or Three, Pig, Dog or +Flea, or he may be like Wu T'ing Fang a "Fragrant Palace," or like Li +Hung Chang, an "Illustrious Bird" or "Learned Treatise." + +During the summer-time in North China the child goes almost if not +completely naked. Until it is five years old, its wardrobe consists +largely of a chest-protector and a pair of shoes. In the winter-time +its trousers are quilted, with feet attached, its coat made in the same +way, and it is anything but "clean and sweet." The odor is not unlike +that of an up-stairs back room in a narrow alley at Five Points, in +which dwell a whole family of emigrants. + +When the Chinese child is ill he does not have the same kind of +hospital accommodations, nursing and medical skill at his command as do +we in the West. His bed is brick, his pillow stuffed with bran or +grass-seed, he has no sheets, his food is coarse and ill-adapted to a +sick child's stomach. While his nurse may be kind, gentle and loving +she is not always skillful, and as for the ability of his physician let +the following child's song tell us: + + My wife's little daughter once fell very ill, + And we called for a doctor to give her a pill. + He wrote a prescription which now we will give her, + In which he has ordered a mosquito's liver. + And then in addition the heart of a flea, + And half pound of fly-wings to make her some tea. + + +When the child begins to walk and talk it begins to be interesting. Its +father has a little push cart made by which it learns to walk, and the +nurse goes about the court with it repeating ba ba, ma ma, (notice that +these words for papa and mama are practically the same in Chinese as in +English, the b being substituted for p), and all the various words +which mean elder brother, younger brother, elder and younger sisters, +uncles, aunts, grandfathers, grandmothers, and cousins and all the +various relatives which may be found in its family, village or home. + +It is not an easy matter to learn the names of one's relatives in +China, as there is a separate name for each showing whether the person +whom we call uncle is father or mother's elder or younger brother or +the husband of their elder or younger sister. When it comes to learning +the names of all one's cousins it is quite a difficult affair. Suppose, +for instance, you were to introduce me to your cousin, and I wanted to +know which one, you might explain that he is the son of your mother's +elder brother. In China the word you used for cousin would express the +exact idea. The child begins his study of language by learning all +these relationships. + +These are for the most part taught them by the nurse, who is an +important element in the Chinese home and a useful adjunct to the +child. Each little girl in the homes of the better classes has her own +particular nurse, who teaches her nursery songs in her childhood, is +her companion during her youth, goes with her to her husband's home, +when she marries presumably to prevent her becoming lonesome, and +remains with her through life. In conversation with the granddaughters +of a duke and their old nurse, I discovered that the same games the +little children play upon the street, they play in the seclusion of +their green-tiled palace, and the same nursery songs that entice +Morpheus to share the mat shed of the beggar's boy, entice him also to +share the silken couch of the emperor in the palace. + +When a boy is old enough, he grows a queue, which takes the place in +the life of the Chinese boy which his first pair of trousers does in +that of the American or English boy. It is one of the first things he +lives for; and he should not be despised for wearing his hair in this +fashion, especially when we remember that George Washington and +Lafayette and their contemporaries wore their hair in a braid down +their backs. + +Besides the queue has a great variety of uses. It serves him in some of +the games he plays. When I saw the boys in geometry use their queues to +strike an arc or draw a circle, it reminded me of my college days when +I had forgotten to take a string to class. The laborer spreads a +handkerchief or towel over his head, wraps his queue around it and +makes for himself a hat. The cart driver whips his mule with it; the +beggar uses it to scare away the dogs; the father takes hold of his +little boy's queue instead of his hand when walking with him on the +street, or the child follows holding to his father's queue, and the +boys use it as reins when they play horse. I saw this amusingly +illustrated on the streets of Peking. Two boys were playing horse. Now +I have always noticed that when a boy plays horse, it is not because he +has any desire to be the horse, but the driver. He is willing to be +horse for a time, in order that he may be allowed to be driver for a +still longer time. A large boy was playing horse with a smaller one, +the latter acting as the beast of burden. This continued for some time, +when the smaller, either discovering that a horse is larger than a man, +or that it is more noble to be a man than a horse, balked, and said: + +"Now you be horse." + +The older was not yet inclined to be horse, and tried in vain, by +coaxing, scolding and whipping, to induce him to move, but the horse +was firm. The driver was also firm, and not until the horse in a very +unhorselike manner, gave away to tears, could the man be induced to let +himself down to the level of a horse. From all of which it will be seen +that the disposition of Chinese children is no exception to that +longing for superiority which prevails in every human heart. + +All kinds of trades, professions, and employments have as great +attraction for Chinese as for American children. A country boy looks +forward to the time when he can stand up in the cart and drive the +team. Children seeing a battalion of soldiers at once "organize a +company." This was amusingly illustrated by a group of children in +Peking during the Chinese-Japanese war. Each had a stick or a weed for +a gun, except the drummer-boy, who was provided with an empty +fruit-can. They went through various maneuvres, for practice, no doubt, +and all seemed to be going on beautifully until one of those in front +shouted, in a voice filled with fear: + +"The Japanese are coming, the Japanese are coming." + +This was the signal for a general retreat, and the children, in +imitation of the army then in the field, retreated in disorder and +dismay in every direction. + +The Chinese boys and girls are little men and women. At an early age +they are familiar with all the rules of behaviour which characterize +their after life and conduct. Their clothes are cut on the same +pattern, out of cloth as those of their parents and grandparents. There +are no kilts and knee-breeches, pinafores and short skirts, to make +them feel that they are little people. + +But they are little people as really and truly as are the children of +other countries. A gentleman in reviewing my "Chinese Mother Goose +Rhymes" speaks of some of the illustrations which "present the Chinese +children playing their sober little games." Why we should call such a +game as "blind man's buff," "e-ni-me-ni-mi-ni-mo," "this little pig +went to market" or "pat-a-cake" "sober little games," unless it is +because of preconceived notions of the Chinese people I do not +understand. The children are dignified little people, but they enjoy +all the attractions of child-life as much as other children do. + +It is a mistake to suppose that the life of Chinese children is a +doleful one. It is understood, of course, that their life is not the +same, nor to be compared with that of children in Europe or America: +and it should be remembered further that the pleasures of child-life +are not measured by the gratification of every childish whim. Many of +the little street children who spend a large part of their time in +efforts to support the family, when allowed to go to a fair or have a +public holiday enjoy themselves more in a single day than the child of +wealth, in a whole month of idleness. + +In addition to his games and rhymes, the fairs which are held regularly +in the great Buddhist temples in different parts of the cities, are to +the Chinese boy what a country fair, a circus or Fourth of July is to +an American farmer's boy or girl. He has his cash for candy or fruit, +his crackers which he fires off at New Year's time, making day a time +of unrest, and night hideous. Kite-flying is a pleasure which no +American boy appreciates as does the Chinese, a pleasure which clings +to him till he is three-score years and ten, for it is not uncommon to +find a child and his grandfather in the balmy days of spring flying +their kites together. He has his pet birds which he carries around in +cages or on a perch unlike any other child we have ever seen. He has +his crickets with which he amuses himself--not "gambles"--and his gold +fish which bring him days and years of delight. Indeed the Chinese +child, though in the vast majority of cases very poor, has ample +provision for a very good time, and if he does not have it, it must be +his own fault. + +Statements about the life of the children, however, may be nothing more +than personal impressions, and are usually colored as largely by the +writer's prejudices as by the conditions of the children. Some of us +are so constituted as to see the dark side of the picture, others the +bright. Let us go with the boys and girls to their games. Let us play +with their toys and be entertained by the shows that entertain them, +and see if they are not of the same flesh and blood, heart and +sentiment as we. We shall find that the boys and girls live together, +work together, study together, play together, have their heads shaved +alike and quarrel with each other until they are seven years old, the +period which brings to an end the life of the Chinese child. From this +period it is the boy or the girl. + + + +GAMES PLAYED BY BOYS + +Children's games are always interesting. Chinese games are especially +so because they are a mine hitherto unexplored. An eminent archdeacon +once wrote: "The Chinese are not much given to athletic exercises." A +well-known doctor of divinity states that, "their sports do not require +much physical exertion, nor do they often pair off, or choose sides and +compete, in order to see who are the best players," while a still more +prominent writer tells us that, "active, manly sports are not popular +in the South." Let us see whether these opinions are true. + +Two years ago a letter from Dr. Luther Gulick, at present connected +with the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., came to us while in Peking, +asking that we study into the character of Chinese children's games. +Dr. Gulick was preparing a series of lectures on the "Psychology of +Play." He desired to secure as much reliable information as possible +regarding the play-life of the children of the East, in order that he +might discover what relation exists between the games of Oriental and +those of Occidental children. By so doing he would learn the effect of +play on the mental and physical development as well as the character of +children, and through them upon the human race as a whole. We were +fortunate in having at our disposal a large number of students +connected with Peking University, the preparatory, intermediate and +primary schools, together with 150 girls in attendance at the girls' +high school. + +We received the letter at four o'clock, at which time the students had +just been dismissed from school, and were taking their afternoon meal, +but at 4:30 we went to the playground, notebook in hand, called +together some of our most interesting boys, explained to them our +object, and asked them to play for us. Some one may say that this was +the worst possible thing to do, as it would make the children +self-conscious and hence unnatural--the sequel, however, will show. + +At first that was exactly what happened. The children tittered, and +looked at each other in blank astonishment, then one of them walked +away and several others gathered about us. We repeated our explanation +in order to secure their interest, set their minds to work thinking up +games, and do away with the embarrassment, and it was only a few +minutes before an intelligent expression began to appear in the eyes of +some of the boys, and one of them, who was always ready for anything +new, turned to his companion and said: + +"You go and find Chi, and bring him here." + +"Who is Chi?" we inquired. + +"He is the boy who knows more games than any of the rest of us," he +explained. + +Away he ran and soon reappeared with a very unpromising looking boy +whom we recognized as a street waif that had been taken into what some +one called our "raggedy school" a few years before. He was a glum +looking boy--a boy without a smile. There was a set expression on his +face which might be interpreted as "life is not worth living," or, +which would be an equally legitimate interpretation in the present +instance, "these games are of no importance. If you want them we can +play any number of them for you, but what will you do with them after +you get them?" + +All the crowd began at once to explain to Chi what we wanted, and he +looked more solemn than ever, then we came to his rescue. + +"Chi," we asked, "what kind of games do boys play?" + +Slowly and solemnly Chi wound one leg around the other as he answered: + +"Lots of them." + +This is the stereotyped answer that will come from any Chinaman to +almost any question he may be asked about things Chinese. "For +instance?" we further inquired. + +"Forcing the city gates," he answered. + +"Play it for me." + +The boys at once appointed captains who chose sides and they formed +themselves into two lines facing each other, those of each line taking +fast hold of each other's hands. The boys on one side then sang: + + He stuck a feather in his hat, + And hurried to the town + And children met him with a horse + For the gates were broken down. + +Then one from the other side ran with all his force, throwing himself +upon the hands of the boys who had sung, the object being to "break +through," in which case he took the two whose hands had been parted to +"his side," while if he failed to break through he had to remain on +their side. The others then sang. One from this group tried to break +through their line, and thus they alternated until one side or the +other was broken up. + +The boys were panting and red in the face when the game was over, a +strong argument against the +Chinese-are-not-much-given-to-vigorous-exercise theory. + +"Now play something which does not require so much exercise," we +requested. + +Every one looked at Chi, not that the other boys did not know the +games, but simply because this matter-of-fact boy was their natural +leader in this kind of sport. + +"Blind man," he said quietly. + +At once a handkerchief was tied around the eyes of one of the boys who +was willing to be "blind man," and a game corresponding almost exactly +to our own "blind man's buff" was played, without the remotest +embarrassment, but with as much naturalness as though neither teacher +nor spectator was near them. + +"Have you any other games which require strength?" we inquired. + +"Man-wheel," said Chi in his monosyllabic way. + +"Play it, please." + +"Go and call Wei-Yuan," to one of the smaller boys. + +The boy ran off to find the one indicated, and Chi selected two other +middle-sized and two small boys. When Wei-Yuan, a larger but very +good-natured, kindly-dispositioned lad, came, the two middle-sized boys +stood beside him, one facing north, the other south, and caught each +other's hand over Wei-Yuan's shoulder. The two smaller boys then stood +beside these two, each of whom clutched hold of the small boys' +girdles, who in turn clutched their girdles and Wei-Yuan took their +disengaged hands. Thus the five boys were firmly bound together. The +wheel then began to turn, the small boys were gradually lifted from the +ground and swung or whirled around in an almost horizontal position. + +"This game requires more strength," Chi explained, "than any other +small boys' game." + +"Have you any games more vigorous than this?" + +"Pitching the stone lock, and lifting the stone dumb-bells, but they +are for men." + +"What is that game you were playing a few days ago in which you used +one stick to knock another?" + +"One is striking the stick, and another is knocking the stick." + +"Play one of them." + +Chi drew two lines on the ground eight feet apart, on one of which he +put a stick. He then threw another stick at it, the object being to +drive it over the other line. He who first succeeds in driving it over +the line wins the game. The sticks are ten to fifteen inches long. + +Striking the stick is similar to tip-cat which we have often seen +played by boys on the streets of New York. The children mark out a +square five or six feet on each side. The striker takes a position +inside, with his feet spread apart as wide as possible, to give him a +better command of the square. One of the others places the block in the +position which he supposes will be most difficult for the striker to +hit. The latter is then at liberty to twist around on one foot, placing +the other outside the square, in order if possible to secure a position +from which he can strike to advantage. He then throws a stick about +fifteen inches long at the block to drive it out of the square. If he +fails, the one who placed the block takes the stick, and another places +the block for him. If he succeeds he has the privilege of striking the +block three times as follows: He first strikes it perpendicularly, +which causes it to bound up two or three feet, when he hits it as one +would hit a ball, driving it as far as possible. This he repeats three +times, and if he succeeds in driving it the distance agreed upon, which +may be 20, 50, 200, 300, 500 or more feet, he wins the game. If not he +brings back the block and tries again, continuing to strike until he +fails to drive it out of the square. This game develops ingenuity in +placing the block and skill, in striking, and is one of the most +popular of all boys' games. + +When they had finished striking the stick one of the smaller children +went over to where Chi was standing and whispered in his ear. The +expression of his face remained as unchangeable as that of a stone +image, as he called out: + +"Select fruit." + +The boys danced about in high glee, selected two captains who chose +sides, and they all squatted down in two rows twenty feet apart. Each +boy was given the name of some kind of fruit, such as apples, pears, +peaches, quinces or plums, all of which are common about Peking. The +captain on one side then blindfolded one of his boys, while one from +the other group arose and stealthily walked over and touched him, +returning to his place among his own group and taking as nearly as +possible the position he had when the other was blindfolded. In case +his companions are uncertain as to whether his position is exactly the +same, they all change their position, in order to prevent the one +blindfolded from guessing who it was who left his place. + +The covering was then removed from his eyes, he went over to the other +side, examined carefully if perchance he might discover, from change of +position, discomfort in squatting, or a trace of guilt in the face or +eyes of any of them, a clue to the guilty party. He "made faces" to try +to cause the guilty one to laugh. He gesticulated, grimaced, did +everything he could think of, but they looked blank and unconcerned, or +all laughed together, allowing no telltale look to appear on their +faces. His pantomimes sometimes brought out the guilty one, but in case +they did not, his last resort was to risk a guess, and so he made his +selection. If he was right he took the boy to his side; if wrong, he +stayed on their side. One of their side was then blindfolded, and the +whole was repeated until one group or the other lost all its men. The +game is popular among girls as well as boys. + +"Do you have any other guessing games?" we asked Chi. + +"Yes, there is point at the moon or the stars," he answered, "and blind +man is also a guessing game." + +By this time the boys had become enthusiastic, and had entirely +forgotten that they were playing for us or indeed for any purpose. It +was a new experience, this having their games taken in a notebook, and +each was anxious not only that he play well, but that no mistake be +made by any one. The more Chi realized the importance of playing the +games properly the more solemn he became, if indeed it were possible to +be more solemn than was his normal condition. He now changed to a game +of an entirely different character from those already played. Those +developed strength, skill or curiosity; this developed quick reaction +in the players. + +"What shall we play?" inquired one of the boys. + +"Queue," answered Chi. + +Immediately every boy jerked his queue over his shoulder and began to +edge away from his companions. But as he walked away from one he drew +near another, and a sudden calling of his name would so surprise him +that in turning his head to see who spoke his short queue would be +jerked back over his shoulder and he received a dozen slaps from his +companions, all of whom were waiting for just such an opportunity. This +is the object of the game--to catch a boy with his queue down his back. +Some of the boys, more spry than others, would move away to a distance, +and then as though all unconsciously, allow their queue to hang down +the back in its natural position, depending upon their fleetness or +their agility in getting out of the way or bringing the queue around in +front. This game is peculiarly interesting and caused much hilarity. At +times even the solemn face of Chi relaxed into a smile. + +"Honor," called out Chi, and as in the circus when the ringmaster +cracks his whip, everything changed. The boys each hooked the first +finger of his right hand with that of his companion and then pulled +until their fingers broke apart, when they each uttered the word +"Honor." This must not be spoken before they broke apart, but as soon +as possible after, and he who was first heard was entitled to an +obeisance on the part of the other. Those who failed the first trial +sat down, and those who succeeded paired off and pulled once more, and +so on until only one was left, who, as in the spelling-bees of our +boyhood days, became the hero of the hour. + +Chi, however, was not making heroes, or was it that he did not want to +hurt the feelings of those who were less agile; at any rate he called +out "Hockey," and the boys at once snatched up their short sticks and +began playing at a game that is not unlike our American "shinny," a +game which is so familiar to every American boy as to make description +unnecessary--the principal difference between this and the American +game being that the boys all try to prevent one boy from putting a ball +into what they call the big hole, which, like the others, tended to +develop quickness of action in the boys. + + +I was familiar with the fact that there are certain games which tend to +develop the parental or protective instinct in children, while certain +others develop the combative and destructive, as for instance playing +with dolls develops the mother-instinct in girls; tea-parties, the love +of society; and paper dolls teach them how to arrange the furniture in +their houses; while on the other hand, wrestling, boxing, sparring, +battles, and all such amusements if constantly engaged in by boys, tend +to make them, if properly guided and instructed, brave and patriotic; +but if not properly led, cause them to be quarrelsome, domineering, +cruel, coarse and rough, and I wondered if the Chinese boys had any +such games. + +"Chi," I asked, "do you have any such games as host and guest, or games +in which the large boys protect the small ones?" + +"Host and guest," said Chi. + +The boys at once arranged themselves promiscuously over the playground, +and with a few peanuts, or sour dates which they picked up under the +date trees, with all the ceremony of their race, they invited the +others to dine with them. After playing thus for a moment, Chi called +out: + +"Roast dog meat." + +The children gathered in a group, put the palms of their hands +together, squatted in a bunch or ring, and placed their hands together +in the centre to represent the pot. The boy on the left of the +illustration represents Mrs. Wang, the guest of the occasion, while Chi +himself stands on the right with his hand on the head of one of the +boys. Chi walked around the ring while he sang: + + Roast, roast, roast dog meat, + The second pot smells bad, + The little pot is sweet, + Come, Mrs. Wang, please, + And eat dog meat. + +He then invited Mrs. Wang to come and partake of a dinner of dog meat +with him, and the following conversation ensued. + + I cannot walk. + I'll hire a cart for you. + I'm afraid of the bumping. + I'll hire a sedan chair for you. + I'm afraid of the jolting. + I'll hire a donkey for you. + I'm afraid of falling off. + I'll carry you. + I have no clothes. + I'll borrow some for you. + I have no hair ornaments. + I'll make some for you. + I have no shoes. + I'll buy some for you. + +This conversation may be carried on to any length, according to the +fertility of the minds of the children, the excuses of Mrs. Wang at +times being very ludicrous. All these, however, being met, the host +carries her off on his back to partake of the dainties of a dog meat +feast. + +"What were you playing a few days ago when all the boys lay in a +straight line?" + +"Skin the snake." + +The boys danced for glee. This was one of their favorite games. + +They all stood in line one behind the other. They bent forward, and +each put one hand between his legs and thus grasped the disengaged hand +of the boy behind him. + +Then they began backing. The one in the rear lay down and they backed +over astride of him, each lying down as he backed over the one next +behind him with the other's head between his legs and his head between +the legs of his neighbor, keeping fast hold of hands. They were thus +lying in a straight line. + +The last one that lay down then got up, and as he walked astride the +line raised each one after him until all were up, when they let go +hands, stood straight, and the game was finished. + + +"Have you any other games which develop the protective instinct in +boys?" we inquired of Chi. + +"The hawk catching the young chicks," said the matter-of-fact boy, +answering my question and directing the boys at the same time. + +The children selected one of their number to represent the hawk and +another the hen, the latter being one of the largest and best natured +of the group, and one to whom the small boys naturally looked for +protection. + +They formed a line with the mother hen in front, each clutching fast +hold of the others' clothing, with a large active boy at the end of the +line. + +The hawk then came to catch the chicks, but the mother hen spread her +wings and moved from side to side keeping between the hawk and the +brood, while at the same time the line swayed from side to side always +in the opposite direction from that in which the hawk was going. Every +chick caught by the hawk was taken out of the line until they were all +gone. + +One of the boys whispered something to Chi. + +"Strike the poles," exclaimed the latter. + +As soon as they began playing we recognized it as a game we had already +seen. + +The boys stood about four feet apart, each having a stick four or five +feet long which he grasped near the middle. As they repeated the +following rhyme in concert they struck alternately the upper and lower +ends of the sticks together, occasionally half inverting them and thus +striking the upper ends together in an underhand way. They struck once +for each accented syllable of the following rhyme, making it a very +rhythmical game. + + Strike the stick, + One you see. + I'll strike you and you strike me. + Strike the stick, + Twice around, + Strike it hard for a good, big sound. + Strike it thrice, + A stick won't hurt. + The magpie wears a small white shirt. + Strike again. + Four for you. + A camel, a horse, and a Mongol too. + Strike it five-- + Five I said, + A mushroom grows with dirt on its head. + Strike it six + Thus you do, + Six good horsemen caught Liu Hsiu. + Strike it seven + For 'tis said + A pheasant's coat is green and red. + Strike it eight, + Strike it right, + A gourd on the house-top blossoms white. + Strike again, + Strike it nine, + We'll have some soup, some meat and wine. + Strike it ten, + Then you stop, + A small, white blossom on an onion top. + +Chi did not wait for further suggestion from any one, but called out: + +"Throw cash." + +The boys all ran to an adjoining wall, each took a cash from his purse +or pocket, and pressing it against the wall, let it drop. The one whose +cash rolled farthest away took it up and threw it against the wall in +such a way as to make it bound back as far as possible. + +Each did this in turn. The one whose cash bounded farthest, then took +it up, and with his foot on the place whence he had taken it, he +pitched or threw it in turn at each of the others. Those he hit he took +up. When he missed one, all who remained took up their cash and struck +the wall again, going through the same process as before. The one who +wins is the one who takes up most cash. + +This seemed to call to mind another pitching game, for Chi said once +more in his old military way: + +"Pitch brickbats." + +The boys drew two lines fifteen feet apart. Each took a piece of brick, +and, standing on one line pitched to see who could come nearest to the +other. + +The one farthest from the line set up his brick on the line and the one +nearest, standing on the opposite line, pitched at it, the object being +to knock it over. + +If he failed he set up his brick and the other pitched at it. + +If he succeeded, he next pitched it near the other, hopped over and +kicked his brick against that of his companion, knocking it over. Then +he carried it successively on his head, on each shoulder, on back and +breast (walking), in the bend of his thigh and the bend of his knee +(hopping), and between his legs (shuffling), each time dropping it on +the other brick and knocking it over. + +Finally he marked a square enclosing the brick, eighteen inches each +side, and hopped back and forth over both square and brick ten times +which constituted him winner of the game. + +Chi had become so expert in pitching and dropping the brick as to be +able to play the game without an error. The shuffling and hopping often +caused much merriment. + +"What is that game," we inquired of Chi, "the boys on the street play +with two marbles?" + +Without directly answering my question Chi turned to the boys and said: + +"Kick the marbles." + +The boys soon produced from somewhere,--Chinese boys can always produce +anything from anywhere,--two marbles an inch and a half in diameter. +Chi put one on the ground, and with the toe of his shoe upon it, gave +it a shove. Then placing the other, he shoved it in the same way, the +object being to hit the first. + +There are two ways in which one may win. The first boy says to the +second, kick this marble north (south, east or west) of the other at +one kick. If he succeeds he wins, if he fails the other wins. + +If he puts it north as ordered, he may kick again to hit the other +ball, in which case he wins again. If he hits the ball and goes north, +as ordered, at one kick, he wins double. + +Each boy tries to leave the balls in as difficult a position as +possible for his successor; and here comes in a peculiarity which +leaves this game unique among the games of the world. If the position +in which the balls are left is too difficult for the other to play he +may refuse to kick and the first is compelled to play his own difficult +game--or like Haman--to hang on his own gallows. It recognizes the +Chinese golden rule of not doing to others what you would not have +them do to you. + +The boys spent a long time playing this game--indeed they seemed to +forget they were playing for us, and we were finally compelled to call +them off. + +Chi had turned the marbles over to the others as soon as he had fairly +started it, and stood in that peculiar fashion of his with one leg +wound around the other, and when we called to them, he simply said as +though it were the next part of the same game: + +"Kick the shoes." + +The boys all took off their shoes--an easy matter for an Oriental--and +piled them in a heap. At a given sign they all kicked the pile +scattering the shoes in every direction, and each snatched up, and, for +the time, kept what he got. Those who were very agile got their own +shoes, or a pair which would fit them, while those who were slow only +secured a single shoe, and that either too large or too small. It was +amusing to see a large-footed boy with a small shoe, and a boy with +small feet having a shoe or shoes much too large for him. + +The game was a good test of the boys' agility. + +On consulting our watch we found it would soon be time for the boys to +enter school, but asked them to play one more game. + +"Cat catching mice," said Chi. + +The children selected one of their company to represent the cat and +another the mouse. + +The remainder formed a ring with the mouse inside and the cat outside, +and while the ring revolved, the following conversation took place: + + "What o'clock is it?" + "Just struck nine." + + "Is the mouse at home?" + "He's about to dine." + +All the time the mouse was careful to keep as far as possible from the +cat. + +The ring stopped revolving and the cat popped in at this side and the +mouse out at the other. It is one of the rules of the game that the cat +must follow exactly in the footsteps of the mouse. They wound in and +out of the ring for some time but at last the mouse was caught and +"eaten," the eating process being the amusing part of the game. It is +impossible to describe it as every "cat" does it differently, and one +of the virtues of a cat is to be a good eater. + +The boys continued to play until the bell rang for the evening session. +They referred to many different games which they had received from +Europeans, but played only those which Chi had learned upon the street +before he entered school. This was repeated day after day, until we had +gathered a large collection of their most common, and consequently +their best, games, the number of which was an indication of the +richness of the play life of Chinese boys. + +Another peculiarly interesting fact was the leadership of Chi. The +Chinese boy, like the Chinese man is a genuine democrat and is ready to +follow the one who knows what he is about and is competent to take the +lead, with little regard to social position. It is the civil service +idea of a genuine democracy ingrained in childhood. + + + +GAMES PLAYED BY GIRLS + +After having made the collection of boys' games we undertook to obtain +in a similar way, fullest information concerning games played by the +girls. Of course, it was impossible to do it alone, for the appearance +of a man among a crowd of little girls in China is similar to that of a +hawk among a flock of small chicks--it results in a tittering and +scattering in every direction, or a gathering together in a dock under +the shelter of the school roof or the wings of the teacher. One of the +teachers, however, Miss Effie Young, kindly consented to go with us, +and a goodly number of the small girls, after a less than usual amount +of tittering and whispering, gathered about us to see what was wanted. +The smallest among them was the most brave, and Miss Young explained +that this was a "little street waif" who had been taken into the school +because she had neither home nor friends, with the hope that something +might be done to save her from an unhappy fate. + +"Do you know any games?" we asked her. + +She put her hands behind her, hung her head, shuffled in an embarrassed +manner, and answered: "Lots of them." + +"Play some for me." + +This small girl after some delay took control of the party and began +arranging them for a game, which she called "going to town," similar to +one which the boys called "pounding rice." Two of the girls stood back +to back, hooked their arms, and as one bent the other from the ground, +and thus alternating, they sang: + + Up you go, down you see, + Here's a turnip for you and me; + Here's a pitcher, we'll go to town; + Oh, what a pity, we've fallen down. + +At which point they both sat down back to back, their arms still +locked, and asked and answered the following questions: + + What do you see in the heavens bright? + I see the moon and the stars at night. + What do you see in the earth, pray tell? + I see in the earth a deep, deep well. + What do you see in the well, my dear? + I see a frog and his voice I hear. + What is he saying there on the rock? + Get up, get up, ke'rh kua, ke'rh kua. + +They then tried to get up, but, with their arms locked, they found it +impossible to do so, and rolled over and got up with great hilarity. + +This seemed to suggest to our little friend another game, which she +called "turning the mill." The girls took hold of each other's hands, +just as the boys do in "churning butter," but instead of turning around +under their arms they turn half way, put one arm up over their head, +bringing their right or left sides together, one facing one direction +and one the other; then, standing still, the following dialogue took +place: + + Where has the big dog gone? + Gone to the city. + Where has the little dog gone? + Run away. + +Then, as they began to turn, they repeated: + + The big dog's gone to the city; + The little dog's run away; + The egg has fallen and broken, + And the oil's leaked out, they say. + But you be a roller + And hull with power, + And I'll be a millstone + And grind the flour. + +As soon as this game was finished our little friend arranged the +children against the wall for another game. Everything was in +readiness. They were about to begin, when one of the larger girls +whispered something in her ear. She stepped back, put her hands behind +her, hung her head and thought a moment. + +"Go on," we said. + +"No, we can't play that; there is too much bad talk in it." This is one +of the unfortunate features of Chinese children's games and rhymes. +There is an immense amount of bad talk in them. + +She at once called out: + +"Meat or vegetables." + +Each girl began to scurry around to find a pair of old shoes, which may +be picked up almost anywhere in China, and putting one crosswise of the +other, they let them fall. The way they fell indicated what kind of +meat or vegetables they were. If they both fell upside down they were +the big black tiger. If both fell on the side they were double beans. +If one fell right side up and the other on its side they were beans. If +both were right side up they were honest officials. (What kind of meat +or vegetables honest officials are it is difficult to say, but that +never troubles the Chinese child.) If one is right side and the other +wrong side up they are dogs' legs. If the toe of one rests on the top +of the other, both right side up and at right angles, they form a dark +hole or an alley. + +The child whose shoes first form an alley must throw a pebble through +this alley--that is, under the toe of the shoe--three times, or, +failing to do so, one of the number takes up the shoes, and standing on +a line, throws them all back over her head. Then she hops to each +successively, kicking it back over the line, each time crossing the +line herself, until all are over. In case she fails another tries it in +the same way, and so on, till some one succeeds. This one then takes +the two shoes of the one who got the alley, and, hanging them +successively on her toe, kicks them as far as possible. The possessor +of the shoes, starting from the line, hops to each, picks it up and +hops back over the line with it, which ends the game. It is a vigorous +hopping game for little girls. + +The girls were pretty well exhausted when this game was over and we +asked them to play something which required less exercise. + +"Water the flowers," said the small leader. + +Several of them squatted down in a circle, put their hands together in +the centre to represent the flowers. One of their number gathered up +the front of her garment in such a way as to make a bag, and went +around as if sprinkling water on their heads, at the same time +repeating: + + "I water the flowers, I water the flowers, + I water them morning and evening hours, + I never wait till the flowers are dry, + I water them ere the sun is high." + +She then left a servant in charge of them while she went to dinner. +While she was away one of them was stolen. + +Returning she asked: "How is this that one of my flowers is gone?" + +"A man came from the south on horseback and stole one before I knew it. +I followed him but how could I catch a man on horseback?" + +After many rebukes for her carelessness, she again sang: + + "A basin of water, a basin of tea, + I water the flowers, they're op'ning you see." + +Again she cautioned the servant about losing any of the flowers while +she went to take her afternoon meal, but another flower was stolen and +this time by a man from the west. + +When the mistress returned, she again scolded the servant, after which +she sang: + + "A basin of water, another beside, + I water the flowers, they're opening wide." + +This was continued until all the flowers were gone. One had been taken +by a carter, another by a donkey-driver, another by a muleteer, another +by a man on a camel, and finally the last little sprig was eaten by a +chicken. The servant was soundly berated each time and cautioned to be +more careful, which she always promised but never performed, and was +finally dismissed in disgrace without either a recommendation, or the +wages she had been promised when hired. + +The game furnishes large opportunity for invention on the part of the +servant, depending upon the number of those to be stolen. This little +girl seemed to be at her wit's end when she gave as the excuse for the +loss of the last one that it had been eaten by a chicken. + +This game suggested to our little friend another which proved to be the +sequel to the one just described, and she called out: + +"The flower-seller." + +The girl who had just been dismissed appeared from behind the corner of +the house with all the stolen "flowers," each holding to the other's +skirts. At the same time she was calling out: + + "Flowers for sale, + Flowers for sale, + Come buy my flowers + Before they get stale." + +The original owner hereupon appeared and called to her: + +"Hey! come here, flower-girl, those flowers look like mine," and she +took one away. + +The flower-seller did not stop to argue the question but hurried off +crying: + + "Flowers for sale," etc. + +The original owner again called to her: + +"Ho! flower-seller, come here, those flowers are certainly mine," +whereupon she took them all and whipped the flower-seller who ran away +crying. + +As the little flower-seller ran away crying in her sleeve, she stumbled +over an old flower-pot that lay in the school court. This accident +seemed to act as a reminder to our little leader for she called out, + +"Flower-pot." + +The girls divided themselves into companies of three and stood in the +form of a triangle, each with her left hand holding the right hand of +the other, their hands being crossed in the centre. + +Then by putting the arms of two back of the head of the third she was +brought into the centre (steps into the well), and by stepping over two +other arms, she goes out on the opposite side, so that whereas she was +on the left side of this and the right side of that one, she now stands +on the right side of this and the left side of that girl. In the same +way the second and third girls go through, and so on as long as they +wish to keep up the game, saying or singing the following rhyme: + + You first cross over, and then cross back, + And step in the well as you cross the track, + And then there is something else you do, + Oh, yes, you make a flower-pot too. + +By this time the girls had lost most of their strangeness or +embarrassment and continued the flower-pot until we were compelled to +remind them that they were playing for us. Everybody let go hands and +the little general called out, + +"The cow's tail." + +One girl with a small stick in her hand squatted down pretending to be +digging and the others took a position one behind the other similar to +the hawk catching the chicks. They walked up to the girl digging and +engaged in the following conversation: + + "What are you digging?" + "Digging a hole." + "What is it for?" + "My pot for to boil." + "What will you heat?" + "Some water and broth." + "How use the water?" + "I'll wash some cloth." + "What will you make?" + "I'll make a bag." + "And what put in it?" + "A knife and a rag." + "What is the knife for?" + "To kill your lambs." + "What have they done?" + "They've eaten my yams." + "How high were they?" + "About so high." + "Oh, that isn't high." + "As high as the sky." + + + "What is your name?" + "My name is Grab, what is your name?" + "My name is Turn." + "Turn once for me." + +They all walked around in a circle and as they turned they sang: + + "We turn about once, + Or twice I declare, + And she may grab, + But we don't care." + + "Can't you grab once for us?" + "Yes, but what I grab I keep." + +She then ran to "grab" one of the "lambs" but they kept behind the +front girl just as the boys did in the hawk catching the chicks. After +awhile however, they were all caught. + +Why this game is called "cow's tail" and the girls called "lambs," we +do not know. We asked the girls why and their answer was, "There is no +reason." + +The girls were panting with the running before they were all caught and +we suggested that they rest awhile, but instead the little leader +called out: + +"Let out the doves." + +One of the larger girls took hold of the hands of two of the smaller, +one of whom represented a dove and the other a hawk. The hawk stood +behind her and the dove in front. + +She threw the dove away as she might pitch a bird into the air, and as +the child ran it waved its arms as though they were wings. She threw +the hawk in the same way, and it followed the dove. + +She then clapped her hands as the Chinese do to bring their pet birds +to them, and the dove if not caught, returned to the cage. This is a +very pretty game for little children. + +By this time the girls were all rested and our little friend said: + +"Seek for gold." + +Three or four of the girls gathered up some pebbles, squatted down in a +group and scattered them as they would a lot of jackstones. Then one +drew her finger between two of the stones and snapped one against the +other. If she hit it the two were taken up and put aside. + +She then drew her finger between two more and snapped them. + +If she missed, another girl took up what were left, scattered them, +snapped them, took them up, and so on until one or another got the most +of the pebbles and thus won the game. Our little friend was reminded of +another and she called out: + +"The cow's eye." + +Immediately the girls all sat down in a ring and put their feet +together in the centre. Then one of their number repeated the following +rhyme, tapping a foot with each accented syllable. + + One, two, three, and an old cow's eye, + When a cow's eye's blind she'll surely die. + A piece of skin and a melon too, + If you have money I'll sell to you, + But if you're without, + I'll put you out. + +The foot on which her finger happened to rest when she said "out" was +excluded from the ring. Again she repeated the rhyme excluding a foot +with each repetition till all but one were out. + +Up to this point all the children were in a nervous quiver waiting to +see which foot would be left, but now the fun began, for they took the +shoe off and every one slapped that unfortunate foot. This was done +with good-natured vigor but without intention to hurt. It was amusing +to see the children squirm as they neared the end of the game. + +This game finished, the little girl called out: + +"Pat your hands and knees." + +The girls sat down in pairs and, after the style of "Bean Porridge +Hot," clapped hands to the following rhyme: + + Pat your hands and knees, + On January first, + The old lady likes to go a sightseeing most. + Pat your hands and knees, + On February second, + The old lady likes a piece of candy it is reckoned. + Pat your hands and knees, + On March the third, + The old lady likes a Canton pipe I have heard. + Pat your hands and knees, + On April fourth, + The old lady likes bony fish from the north. + Pat your hands and knees, + The fifth of May, + The old lady likes sweet potatoes every day. + Pat your hands and knees, + The sixth of June, + The old lady eats fat pork with a spoon. + Pat your hands and knees, + The seventh of July, + The old lady likes to eat a fat chicken pie. + Pat your hands and knees, + On August eight, + The old lady likes to see the lotus flowers straight. + Pat your hands and knees, + September nine, + The old lady likes to drink good hot wine. + Pat your hands and knees, + October ten, + + The old lady, you and I, may meet hope again. + +This we afterwards discovered is very widely known throughout the north +of China. + +The foregoing are a few of the games played by the children in Peking. +In that one city we have collected more than seventy-five different +games, and have no reason to believe we have secured even a small +proportion of what are played there. Games played in Central and South +China are different, partly because of climatic conditions, partly +because of the character of the people. There, as here, the games of +children are but reproductions of the employments of their parents. +They play at farming, carpentry, house-keeping, storekeeping, or +whatever employments their parents happen to be engaged in. Indeed, in +addition to the games common to a larger part of the country, there are +many which are local, and depend upon the employment of the parents or +the people. + + + +THE TOYS CHILDREN PLAY WITH + +One day while sitting at table, with our little girl, nineteen months +old, on her mother's knee near by, we picked up her rubber doll and +began to whip it violently. The child first looked frightened, then +severe, then burst into tears and plead with her mother not to "let +papa whip dolly." + +Few people realize how much toys become a part of the life of the +children who play with them. They are often looked upon as nothing more +than "playthings for children." This is a very narrow view of their +uses and relationships. There is a philosophy underlying the production +of toys as old as the world and as broad as life, a philosophy which, +until recent years, has been little studied and cultivated. + +Playthings are as necessary a constituent of human life as food or +medicine, and contribute in a like manner to the health and development +of the race. Like the science of cooking and healing, the business of +toy-making has been driven by the stern teacher, necessity, to a rapid +self-development for the general good of the little men and women in +whose interests they are made. + +They are the tools with which children ply their trades; the +instruments with which they carry on their professions; the goods which +they buy and sell in their business, and the paraphernalia with which +they conduct their toy society. They are more than this. They are the +animals which serve them, the associates who entertain them, the +children who comfort them and bring joy to the mimic home. + +Toys are nature's first teachers. The child with his little shovels, +spades and hoes, learns his first lessons in agriculture; with his +hammer and nails, he gets his first lessons in the various trades; and +the bias of the life of many a child of larger growth has come from the +toys with which he played. Into his flower garden the father of +Linnaeus introduced his son during his infancy, and "this little garden +undoubtedly created that taste in the child which afterwards made him +the first botanist and naturalist of his age, if not of his race." + +No experiments in any chemical laboratory will excite more wonder or be +carried on with more interest, than those which the boy performs with +his pipe and basin of soapy water. The little girl's mud pies and other +sham confectionery furnish her first lessons in the art of preparing +food. Her toy dinners and playhouse teas offer her the first +experiences in the entertainment of guests. With her dolls, the +domestic relations and affections. + +No science has ever originated and been carried to any degree of +perfection in Asia. There is no reason why this statement should cause +the noses of Europeans and Americans to twitch in derision and pride, +for there is another fact equally momentous in favor of the +Asiatics,--viz., no religion that originated outside of Asia has ever +been carried to any degree of perfection. + +The above facts will indicate that we need not hope to find the +business of toy-making, or the science of child-education in a very +advanced state in China--the most Asiatic country of Asia. Child's play +and toy-making have been organized into a business and a science in +Europe, as astronomy, which had been studied so long in Asia, was +developed into a science by the Greeks. And so we find that what is +taught in the kindergarten of the West is learned in the streets of the +East; and the toys which are manufactured in great Occidental business +establishments, are made by poor women in Oriental homes, and the same +mistakes are made by the one as by the other. + +The same whistle by which the cock crows, enables the dog to bark, the +baby to cry, the horse to neigh, the sheep to bleat and the cow to low, +just as in our own rubber goods. The same end is accomplished in the +one case as in the other. The two, three or twenty cash doll does for +the Chinese girl what the two, three or twenty dollar one does for her +antipodal sister,--develops the instinct of motherhood, besides +standing a greater amount of rough handling. Nevertheless it usually +comes to the same deplorable end, departing this world, bereft of its +arms and legs, without going through the tedious process of a surgical +operation. + +Chinese toys are less varied, less complicated, less true to the +original, and less expensive than those of the West,--more perhaps like +the toys of a century or two ago. Nevertheless they are toys, and in +the hands of boys and girls, the drum goes "rub-a-dub," the horn +"toots," and the whistle squeaks. The "gingham dog and calico cat," +besides a score of other animals more nearly related to the soil of +their native place--being made of clay--express themselves in the +language of the particular whistle which happens to have been placed +within them. All this is to the entire satisfaction of "little Miss +Muffet" and "little boy Blue," just as they do in other lands. + +When the children grow older they have tops to spin that whistle as +good a whistle, and buzzers to buzz that buzz as good a buzz, and music +balls to roll, and music carts to pull, that emit sounds as much to +their satisfaction, as anything that ministered to the childish tastes +of our grandfathers; and these become as much a part of their business +and their life as if they were living, talking beings. Furthermore, +their dolls are as much their children as they themselves are the +offspring of their parents. + +Chinese toys embrace only those which involve no intricate scientific +principles. The music boxes of the West are unknown in China except as +they are imported. The Chinese know nothing about dolls which open and +shut their eyes, simple as this principle is, nor of toys which are +self-propelling by some mysterious spring secreted within, because, +forsooth, they know nothing about making the spring. + +There are some principles, however, which, though they may not +understand, they are nevertheless able to utilize; such, for instance, +as the expansion of air by heat, and the creation of air currents. This +principle is utilized in lanterns. In the top of these is a paper wheel +attached to a cross-bar on the ends of which are suspended paper men +and women together with animals of all kinds making a very interesting +merry-go-round. These lantern-figures correspond to the sawyers, +borers, blacksmiths, washers and others which twenty or more years ago +were on top of the stove of every corner grocery or country post-office. + +When we began the study of Chinese toys our first move was to call in a +Chinese friend whom we thought we could trust, and who could buy toys +at a very reasonable rate, and sent him out to purchase specimens of +every variety of toys he could find in the city of Peking. We ordered +him the first day to buy nothing but rattles, because the rattle is the +first toy that attracts the attention of the child. + +In the evening Mr. Hsin returned with a good-sized basket full of +rattles. Some were tin in the form of small cylinders, with handles in +which were small pebbles: others were shaped like pails; and others +like cooking pots and pans. + + +Some of the most attractive were hollow wood balls, baskets, pails and +bottles, gorgeously painted, with long handles, necks, or bails. The +paint was soon transferred from the face of the toy to that of the +first child that happened to play with it, which child was of course, +our own little girl. + +The most common rattles representing various kinds of fowls and animals +known and unknown are made of clay. Others are in the form of fat +little priests that make one think of Santa Claus, or little roly-poly +children that look like the little folks who play with them. + +As the child grows larger the favorite rattle is a drum-shaped piece of +bamboo or other wood, with skin--not infrequently fish skin, stretched +over the two ends, and a long handle attached. On the sides are two +stout strings with beads on the ends, which, when the rattle is turned +in the hand, strike on the drum heads. These rattles of brass or tin as +well as bamboo, are in imitation of those carried by street hawkers. + +We said to Mr. Hsin, "Foreigners say the Chinese do not have dolls, how +is that?" + +"They have lots of them," he answered in the stereotyped way. + +"Then to-morrow buy samples of all the dolls you can find." + +"All?" he asked with some surprise. + +"Yes, all. We want to know just what kind of dolls they have." + +The next evening Mr. Hsin came in with an immense load of dolls. He had +large, small, and middle sized rag dolls, on which the nose was sewed, +the ears pasted, and the eyes and other features painted. They were +rude, but as interesting to children as other more natural and more +expensive ones, as we discovered by giving one of them to our little +girl. In not a few instances Western children have become much more +firmly attached to their Chinese cloth dolls than any that can be found +for them in America or Europe. + +He had a number of others both large and small with paper mache heads, +leather bodies, and clay arms and legs. The body was like a bellows in +which a reed whistle was placed, that enabled the baby to cry in the +same tone as the toy dog barks or the cock crows. They had "real hair" +in spots on their head similar to those on the child, and they were +dressed in the same kind of clothing as that used on the baby in +summer-time, viz., a chest-protector and a pair of shoes or trousers. + +Mr. Hsin then took out a small package in which was wrapped a +half-dozen or more "little people," as they are called, by the Chinese, +with paper heads, hands and feet, exquisitely painted, and their +clothing of the finest silk. Attached to the head of each was a silk +string by which the "little people" are hung upon the wall as a +decoration. + +"But what are these, Mr. Hsin?" we asked. "These are not dolls." + +"No," he answered, "these are cloth animals. The children play with +these at the same time they play with dolls." + +He had gone beyond our instructions. He had brought us a large +collection of camels made of cloth the color of the camel's skin, with +little bunches of hair on the head, neck, hump and the joints of the +legs, similar to those on the camel when it is shedding its coat in the +springtime. He had elephants made of a grayish kind of cloth on which +were harnesses similar to those supposed to be necessary for those +animals. He had bears with bits of hair on neck and tail and a leading +string in the nose; horses painted with spots of white and red, matched +only by the most remarkable animals in a circus; monkeys with black +beads for eyes, and long tails; lions, tigers, and leopards, with +large, savage, black, glass eyes, with manes or tails suited to each, +and properly crooked by a wire extending to the tip. And finally he +laid the bogi-boo, a nondescript with a head on each end much like the +head of a lion or tiger. When not used as a plaything, this served the +purpose of a pillow. + +"Do the Chinese have no other kinds of toy animals?" we inquired. + +"Yes," he answered, "I'll bring them to-morrow." + +The following evening he brought us a collection of clay toys too +extensive to enumerate. There were horses, cows, camels, mules, deer, +and a host of others the original of which has never been found except +in the imagination of the people. He had women riding donkeys followed +by drivers, men riding horses and shooting or throwing a spear at a +fleeing tiger, and women with babies in their arms while grandmother +amused them with rattles, and father lay near by smoking an opium pipe. + +From the bottom of his basket he brought forth a nuber of small +packages. + +"What are in those?" + +"These are clay insects." + +They were among the best clay work we have seen in China. There were +tumble-bugs, grasshoppers, large beetles, mantis, praying mantis, toads +and scorpions, together with others never seen outside of China, and +some never seen at all, the legs and feelers all being made of wire. + +In another package he had a dozen dancing dolls. They were made of +clay, were an inch and a half long, dressed with paper, and had small +wires protruding the sixteenth of an inch below the bottom of the +skirt. He put them all on a brass tray, the edge of which he struck +with a small stick to make it vibrate, thus causing the dancers to turn +round and round in every direction. + +The next package contained a number of clay beggars. Two were fighting, +one about to smash his clay pot over the other's head: another had his +pot on his head for a lark, a third was eating from his, while others +were carrying theirs in their hand. One had a sore leg to which he +called attention with open mouth and pain expressed in every feature. + +From another package he brought out a number of jumping jacks, +imitations as it seemed of things Japanese. There were monkey acrobats +made of clay, wire and skin, fastened to a small slip of bamboo. A doll +fastened to a stick, with cymbals in its hands would clash the cymbals, +when its queue was pulled. Finally there was a large dragon which +satisfied its raging appetite by feeding upon two or three little clay +men specially prepared for his consumption. + +But, perhaps, among the most interesting of his toys were his clay +whistles. Some of these burnt or sun-dried toys were hollow and in the +shape of birds, beasts and insects. When blown into, they would emit +the shrillest kind of a whistle. In others a reed whistle had been +placed similar to those in the dolls, and these usually had a bellows +to blow them. Whether cock or hen, dog or child, they all crowed, +barked, cackled, or cried in the self-same tone. + +"What will you get to-morrow?" + +"Drums, knives, and tops," said Mr. Hsin. He was being paid by the day +for spending our money, and so had his plans well laid. + +The following evening he brought a large collection of toy drums, some +of which were in the shape of a barrel, both in their length and in +being bulged out at the middle. On the ends were painted gay pictures +of men and women clad in battle-array or festive garments, making the +drum a work of art as well as an instrument of torture to those who are +disturbed by noises about the house. + +He had large knives covered with bright paint which could easily be +washed off, and tridents, with loose plates or cymbals, which make a +noise to frighten the enemy. + +The tops Mr. Hsin had collected were by far the most interesting. +Chinese tops are second to none made. They are simple, being made of +bamboo, are spun with a string, and when properly operated emit a +shrill whistle. + +The ice top, without a stem, and simply a block of wood in shape of a +top, is spun with a string, but is kept going by whipping. + +Another toy which foreigners call a top is entirely different from +anything we see in the West. The Chinese call it a K'ung chung, while +the top is called t'o lo. It is constructed of two pieces of bamboo, +each of which is made like a top, and then joined by a carefully turned +axle, each end being of equal weight, and looking not unlike the wheels +of a cart. It is then spun by a string, which is wound once around the +axle and attached to two sticks. A good performer is able to spin it in +a great variety of ways, tossing it under and over his foot, spinning +it with the sticks behind him, and at times throwing it up into the air +twenty or thirty feet and catching it as it comes down. The principle +upon which it is operated is the quick jerking of one of the sticks +while the other is allowed to be loose. + +"To-morrow," said Mr. Hsin, as he ceased spinning the top, "I will get +you some toy carts." + +The Chinese cart has been described as a Saratoga trunk on two wheels. +This is, however, only one form--that of the passenger cart. There are +many others, and all of them are used as patterns of toy carts. They +all have a kind of music-box attachment, operated by the turning of the +axle to which the wheels of the toys, as well as those of some of the +real carts, are fixed. + +The toy carts are made of tin, wood and clay. Some of them are very +simple, having paper covers, while others possess the whole +paraphernalia of the street carts. When the mule of the toy cart is +unhitched and unharnessed, he looks like a very respectable mule. +Nevertheless, instead of devouring food, he becomes the prey of +insects. Usually he appears the second season, if he lasts that long, +bereft of mane and tail, as well as a large portion of his skin. + +The flat carts have a revolving peg sticking up through the centre, on +which a small clay image is placed which turns with the stick. Others +are placed on wires on the two sides, to represent the driver and the +passengers. + +These in Peking are the omnibus carts. Running from the east gate of +the Imperial city to the front gate, and in other parts of the city as +well, there are street carts corresponding to the omnibus or street +cars of the West. These start at intervals of ten minutes, more or +less, with eight or ten persons on a cart, the fare being only a few +cash. Toy carts of this kind have six or eight clay images to represent +the passengers. + +Mr. Hsin brought out from the bottom of his basket a number of neatly +made little pug dogs, and pressing upon a bellows in their body caused +them to bark, just as the hen cackled a few days before. + +What we have described formed only a small portion of the toys Mr. Hsin +brought. Cheap clay toys of all kinds are hawked about the street by a +man who sells them at a fifth or a tenth of a cent apiece. With him is +often found a candy-blower, who with a reed and a bowl of taffy-candy +is ready to blow a man, a chicken, a horse and cart, a corn ear, or +anything else the child wants, as a glass-blower would blow a bottle or +a lamp chimney. The child plays with his prize until he tires of it and +then he eats it. + + + +BLOCK GAMES--KINDERGARTEN + +It was on a bright spring afternoon that a Chinese official and his +little boy called at our home on Filial Piety Lane, in Peking. + +The dresses of father and child were exactly alike--as though they had +been twins, boots of black velvet or satin, blue silk trousers, a long +blue silk garment, a waistcoat of blue brocade, and a black satin +skullcap--the child was in every respect, even to the dignity of his +bearing, a vest-pocket edition of his father. + +He had a T'ao of books which I recognized as the Fifteen Magic Blocks, +one of the most ingenious, if not the most remarkable, books I have +ever seen. + +A T'ao is two or any number of volumes of a book wrapped in a single +cover. In this case it was two volumes. In the inside of the cover +there was a depression three inches square in which was kept a piece of +lead, wood or pasteboard, divided into fifteen pieces as in the +following illustration. + +These blocks are all in pairs except one, which is a rhomboid. They are +all exactly proportional, having their sides either half-inch, inch, +inch and a half, or two inches in length. + +They are not used as are the blocks in our kindergarten simply to make +geometrical figures, but rather to illustrate such facts of history as +will have a moral influence, or be an intellectual stimulus to the +child. + +He may build houses with them, or make such ancient or modern +ornaments, or household utensils, as may suit his fancy; but the +primary object of the blocks and the books, is to impress upon the +child's mind, in the most forcible way possible, the leading facts of +history, poetry, mythology or morals; while the houses, boats and other +things are simply side issues. + +The first illustration the child constructed for me, for I desired him +to teach me how it was done, was a dragon horse, and when I asked him +to explain it, he said that it represented the animal seen by Fu Hsi, +the original ancestor of the Chinese people, emerging from the Meng +river, bearing upon its back a map on which were fifty-five spots, +representing the male and female principles of nature, and which the +sage used to construct what are called the eight diagrams. + +The child tossed the blocks off into a pile and then constructed a +tortoise which he said was seen by Yu, the Chinese Noah, coming out of +the Lo river, while he was draining off the floods. On its back was a +design which he used as a pattern for the nine divisions of his empire. + +These two incidents are referred to by Confucius, and are among the +first learned by every Chinese child. + +I looked through the book and noticed that many of the designs were for +the amusement of the children, as well as to develop their ingenuity. +In the two volumes of the T'ao he had only the outlines of the pictures +which he readily constructed with the blocks. But he had with him also +a small volume which was a key to the designs having lines indicating +how each block was placed. This he had purchased for a few cash. Much +of the interest of the book, however, attached to the puzzling +character of the pictures. + +There was one with a verse attached somewhat like the following: + + The old wife drew a chess-board + On the cover of a book, + While the child transformed a needle + Into a fishing-hook. + +Chinese literature is full of examples of men and women who applied +themselves to their books with untiring diligence. Some tied their hair +to the beam of their humble cottage so that when they nodded with +sleepiness the jerk would awake them and they might return to their +books. + +Others slept upon globular pillows that when they became so restless as +to move and cause the pillow to roll from under their head they might +get up and study. + +The child once more took the blocks and illustrated how one who was so +poor as to be unable to furnish himself with candles, confined a +fire-fly in a gauze lantern using that instead of a lamp. At the same +time he explained that another who was perhaps not able to afford the +gauze lantern, studied by the light of a glowworm. + +"K'ang Heng," said the child, as he put the blocks together in a new +form, "had a still better way, as well as more economical. His house +was built of clay, and as the window of his neighbor's house was +immediately opposite, he chiseled a hole through his wall and thus took +advantage of his neighbor's light. + +"Sun K'ang's method was very good for winter," continued the child as +he rearranged the blocks, "but I do not know what he would do in +summer. He studied by the light reflected from the snow. + +"Perhaps," he went on as he changed the form, "he followed the example +of another who studied by the pale light of the moon." + +"What does that represent?" I asked him pointing to a child with a bowl +in his hand who looked as if he might have been going to the grocer's. + +"Oh, that boy is going to buy wine." + +The Chinese have never yet realized what a national evil liquor may +become. They have little wine shops in the great cities, but they have +no drinking houses corresponding to the saloon, and it is not uncommon +to see a child going to the wine shop to fetch a bowl of wine. The +Buddhist priest indulges with the same moderation as the official class +or gentry. Indeed most of the drunkenness we read about in Chinese +books is that of poets and philosophers, and in them it is, if not +commended, at least not condemned. The attitude of literature towards +them is much like that of Thackeray towards the gentlemen of his day. + +The child constructed the picture of a Buddhist priest, who, with staff +in hand, and a mug of wine, was viewing the beautiful mountains in the +distance. He then changed it to one in which an intoxicated man was +leaning on a boy's shoulder, the inscription to which said: "Any one is +willing to assist a drunken man to return home." + +"This," he went on as he changed his blocks, "is a picture of Li Pei, +China's greatest poet. He lived more than a thousand years ago. This +represents the closing scene in his life. He was crossing the river in +a boat, and in a drunken effort to get the moon's reflection from the +water, he fell overboard and was drowned." The child pointed to the +sail at the same time, repeating the following: + + The sail being set, + He tried to get, + The moon from out the main. + +I noticed a large number of boat scenes and induced the child to +construct some of them for me, which he was quite willing to do, +explaining them as he went as readily as our children would explain Old +Mother Hubbard or the Old Woman who Lived in her Shoe, by seeing the +illustrations. + +Constructing one he repeated a verse somewhat like the following: + + Alone the fisherman sat, + In his boat by the river's brink, + In the chill and cold and snow, + To fish, and fish, and think. + +Then he turned over to two on opposite pages, and as he constructed +them he repeated in turn: + + In a stream ten thousand li in length + He bathes his feet at night, + + + While on a mount he waves his arms, + Ten thousand feet in height. + + +The ten thousand li in one couplet corresponds to the ten thousand feet +in the other, while the bathing of the feet corresponds to the waving +of the arms. Couplets of this kind are always attractive to the Chinese +child as well as to the scholar, and poems and essays are replete with +such constructions. + +The child enjoyed making the pictures. I tried to make one, but found +it very difficult. I was not familiar with the blocks. It is different +now, I have learned how to make them. Then it seemed as if it would be +impossible ever to do so. When I had failed to make the picture I +turned them over to him. In a moment it was done. + +"Who is it?" I asked. + +"Chang Ch'i, the poet," he answered. "Whenever he went for a walk he +took with him a child who carried a bag in which to put the poems he +happened to write. In this illustration he stands with his head bent +forward and his hands behind his back lost in thought, while the lad +stands near with the bag." + +We have given in another chapter the story of the great traveller, +Chang Ch'ien, and his search for the source of the Yellow River. + +In one of the illustrations the child represented him in his boat in a +way not very different from that of the artist. + +Another quotation from one of the poets was illustrated as follows: + + Last night a meeting I arranged, + Ere I my lamp did light, + Nor while I crossed the ferry feared, + Or wind or rain or night. + +The child's eyes sparkled as he turned to some of those illustrating +children at play, and as he constructed one which represents two +children swinging their arms and running, he repeated: + + See the children at their play, + Gathering flowers by the way. + +"They are gathering pussy-willows," he added. + +In another he represented a child standing before the front gate, where +he had knocked in vain to gain admission. As he completed it he said, +pointing to the apricot over the door: + + Ten times he knocked upon the gate, + But nine, they opened not, + Above the wall he plainly saw, + A ripe, red apricot. + +He continued to represent quotations from the poets and explain them as +he went along. + +There was one which indicated that some one was ascending the steps to +the jade platform on which the dust had settled as it does on +everything in Peking; at the same time the verse told us that + + Step by step we reach the platform, + All of jade of purest green, + Call a child to come and sweep it, + But he cannot sweep it clean. + +"You know," he went on, "the cottages of many of the poets were near +the beautiful lakes in central China, in the wild heights of the +mountains, or upon the banks of some flowing stream. In this one the +pavilion of the poet is on the bank of the river, and we are told that, + + In his cottage sat the poet + Thinking, as the moon went by, + That the moonlight on the water, + Made the water like the sky." + +Changing it somewhat he made a cottage of a different kind. This was +not made for the picture's sake, but to illustrate a sentence it was +designed to impress upon the child's mind. The quotation is somewhat as +follows: + + The ringing of the evening bells, + The moon a crescent splendid, + The rustling of the swallow's wings + Betoken winter ended. + +The child looked up at me significantly as he turned to one which +represented a Buddhist priest. I expected something of a joke at the +priest's expense as in the nursery rhymes and games, but there was +none. That would injure the sale of the book. The inscription told us +that "a Buddhist lantern will reflect light enough to illuminate the +whole universe." + +Turning to the next page we found a priest sitting in front of the +temple in the act of beating his wooden drum, while the poet exclaims: + + O crystal pool and silvery moon, + So clear and pure thou art, + There's nought to which thou wilt compare + Except a Buddha's heart. + +The child next directed our attention to various kinds of flowers, more +especially the marigold. A man in a boat rows with one hand while he +points backward to the blossoming marigold, while in another picture +the poet tells us that, + + Along the eastern wall, + We pluck the marigold, + While on the south horizon, + The mountain we behold. + +"What is that?" I asked as he turned to a picture of an old man riding +on a cow. + +"That is Laotze, the founder of Taoism, crossing the frontier at the +Han Ku Pass between Shansi and Shensi, riding upon a cow. Nobody knows +where he went." + +There were other pictures of Taoist patriarchs keeping sheep. By their +magic power they turned the sheep into stones when they were tired +watching them, and again the inscriptions told us, "the stones became +sheep at his call." Still others represented them in search of the +elixir of life, while in others they were riding on a snail. + +The object of thus bringing in incidents from all these Buddhist, +Taoist, Confucian, and other sources is that by catering to all classes +the book may have wide distribution, and whatever the Confucianist may +say, it must be admitted that the other religions have a strong hold +upon the popular mind. + +The last twenty-six illustrations in Vol. I represent various incidents +in the life, history and employments of women. + +The first of these is an ancient empress "weaving at night by her +palace window." + +Another represents a woman in her boat and we are told that, "leaving +her oar she leisurely sang a song entitled, 'Plucking the Caltrops.'" + +Another represents a woman "wearing a pomegranate-colored dress riding +a pear-blossom colored horse." A peculiar combination to say the least. + +The fisherman's wife is represented in her boat, "making her toilet at +dawn using the water as a mirror." While we are assured also that the +woman sitting upon her veranda "finds it very difficult to thread her +needle by the pale light of the moon," which fact, few, I think, would +question. + +In one of the pictures "a beautiful maiden, in the bright moonlight, +came beneath the trees." This is evidently contrary to Chinese ideas of +propriety, for the Classic for girls tells us that a maiden should not +go out at night except in company with a servant bearing a lantern. As +it was bright moonlight, however, let us hope she was excusable. + +This sauntering about in the court is not uncommon if we believe what +the books say, for in the next picture we are told that: + + As near the middle summer-house, + The maiden sauntered by, + Upon the jade pin in her hair + There lit a dragon-fly. + +The next illustration represented the wife of the famous poet Ssu-Ma +Hsiang-Ju in her husband's wine shop. + +This poet fell in love with the widowed daughter of a wealthy merchant, +the result of which was that the young couple eloped and were married; +and as the daughter was disinherited by her irate parent, she was +compelled to wait on customers in her husband's wine shop, which she +did without complaint. In spite of their imprudent conduct, and for the +time, its unhappy results, as soon as the poet had become so famous as +to be summoned to court, the stern father relented, and, as it was a +case of undoubted affection, which the Chinese readily appreciate they +have always had the sympathy of the whole Chinese people. + +One of the most popular women in Chinese history is Mu Lan, the A +Chinese Joan of Arc. Her father, a great general, being too old to take +charge of his troops, and her brothers too young, she dressed herself +in boy's clothing, enrolled herself in the army, mounted her father's +trusty steed, and led his soldiers to battle, thus bringing honor to +herself and renown upon her family. + +We have already seen how diligent some of the ancient worthies were in +their study. This, however, is not universal, for we are told the +mother of Liu Kung-cho, in order to stimulate her son to study took +pills made of bear's gall and bitter herbs, to show her sympathy with +her boy and lead him to feel that she was willing to endure bitterness +as well as he. + +The last of these examples of noble women is that of the wife of Liang +Hung, a poor philosopher of some two thousand years ago. An effort was +made to engage him to Meng Kuang, the daughter of a rich family, whose +lack of beauty was more than balanced by her remarkable intelligence. +The old philosopher feared that family pride might cause domestic +infelicity. The girl on her part steadfastly refused to marry any one +else, declaring that unless she married Liang Hung, she would not marry +at all. This unexpected constancy touched the old man's heart and he +married her. She dressed in the most common clothing, always prepared +his food with her own hand, and to show her affection and respect never +presented him with the rice-bowl without raising it to the level of her +eyebrows, as in the illustration. + +It may be interesting to see some of the ornaments and utensils the +child made with his blocks. I shall therefore add three, a pair of +scissors, a teapot, and a seal with a turtle handle. + +Such is in general the character of the book the official's little boy +had with him. I afterwards secured several copies for myself and +learned to make all the pictures first shown me by the child, and I +discovered that it is but one of several forms of what we may call +kindergarten work, that it has gone through many editions, and is very +widely distributed. My own set contains 216 illustrations such as I +have given. + + + +CHILDREN'S SHOWS AND ENTERTAINMENTS + +My little girl came running into my study greatly excited and +exclaiming: + +"Papa, the monkey show, the monkey show. We want the monkey show, may +we have it?" + +Now if you had but one little girl, and she wanted a monkey show to +come into your own court and perform for her and her little friends for +half an hour, the cost of which was the modest sum of five cents, what +would you do? + +You would do as I did, no doubt, go out with the little girl, call in +the passing showman and allow him to perform, which would serve the +triple purpose of furnishing relaxation and instruction for yourself, +entertainment for the children, and business for the showman. + +This however proved to be not the monkey show but Punch and Judy, a +species of entertainment for children, the exact counterpart of our own +entertainment of that name. It may be of interest to young readers to +know how this show originated, and I doubt not it will be a surprise to +some older ones to know that it dates back to about the year 1000 B. C. + +We are told that while the Emperor Mu of the Chou dynasty was making a +tour of his empire, a skillful mechanic, Yen Shih by name, was brought +into his presence and entertained him and the women of his seraglio +with a dance performed by automaton figures, which were capable not +only of rhythmical movements of their limbs, but of accompanying their +movements with songs. + +During and at the close of the performance, the puppets cast such +significant glances at the ladies as to anger the monarch, and he +ordered the execution of the originator of the play. + +The mechanic however ripped open the puppets, and proved to his +astonished majesty that they were only artificial objects, and instead +of being executed he was allowed to repeat his performance. This was +the origin of the play in China which corresponds to Punch and Judy in +Europe and America. + +To the question which naturally arises as to how the play was carried +to the West, I reply, it may not have been carried to Europe at all, +but have originated there. From marked similarities in the two plays +however, and more especially in the methods of their production, we may +suppose that the Chinese Punch and Judy was carried to Europe in the +following way: + +Among the many traders who visited Central Asia while it was under the +government of the family of Genghis Khan, were two Venetian brothers, +Maffeo and Nicolo Polo, whose wondering disposition and trading +interests led them as far as the court of the Great Khan, where they +remained in the most intimate relations with Kublai for some time, and +were finally sent back to Italy with a request that one hundred +European scholars be sent to China to instruct them in the arts of +Europe. + +This request was never carried out, but the two returned to the Khan's +court with young Marco, the son of one of them, who remained with the +Mongol Emperor for seventeen years, during which time he had a better +opportunity of observing their customs than perhaps any other foreigner +since his time. His final return to Italy was in 1295, and a year or +two later, he wrote and revised his book of travels. + +The art of printing in Europe was discovered in 1438, and the first +edition of Marco Polo's travels was printed about 1550-59. Our Punch +and Judy was invented by Silvio Fiorillo an Italian dramatist before +the year 1600. I have found no reference to the play in Marco Polo's +works, nevertheless, one cannot but think that, if not a written, at +least an oral, communication of the play may have been carried to +Europe by him or some other of the Italian traders or travellers. The +two plays are very similar, even to the tones of the man who works the +puppets. + +In passing the school court on one occasion I saw the students gathered +in a crowd under the shade of the trees. A small tent was pitched, on +the front of which was a little stage. A manager stood behind the +screen from which position he worked a number of puppets in the form of +men, women, children, horses and dragons. These were suspended by black +threads as I afterwards discovered from small sticks or a framework +which the manager manipulated behind the screen. When one finished its +part of the performance, it either walked off the stage, or the stick +was fastened in such a way as to leave it in a position conducive to +the amusement of the crowd. These were puppet shows, and were put +through entire performances or plays, the manager doing the talking as +in Punch and Judy. + +After the performance several of the students passed around the hat, +each person present giving one-fifth or one-tenth of a cent. + +As I came from school one afternoon, the children had called in from +the street a showman with a number of trained mice. He had erected a +little scaffolding just inside the gateway, at one side of which there +was a small rope ladder, and this with the inevitable gong, and the +small boxes in which the mice were kept constituted his entire outfit. + +In the boxes he had what seemed to be cotton from the milk-weed which +furnished a nest for the mice. These he took from their little boxes +one by one, stroked them tenderly, while he explained what this +particular mouse would do, put each one on the rope ladder, which they +ascended, and performed the tricks expected of them. These were going +through a pagoda, drawing water, creeping through a tube, wearing a +criminal's collar, turning a tread-mill, or working some other equally +simple trick. + +At times the mice had to be directed by a small stick in the hands of +the manager, but they were carefully trained, kindly treated, and much +appreciated by the children. + +Although less attractive, there is no other show which impresses itself +so forcibly on the child's mind as the monkey, dog and sheep show. + +The dog was the first to perform. Four hoops were placed on the corners +of a square, ten feet apart. The dog walked around through these hoops, +first through each in order, then turning went through each twice, then +through one and retracing his steps went through the one last passed +through. + +The showman drove an iron peg in the ground on which were two blocks +representing millstones. To the upper one was a lever by which the dog +with his nose turned the top millstone as if grinding flour. He was +hitched to a wheelbarrow, the handles of which were held by the monkey, +who pushed while the dog pulled. + +The most interesting part of the performance, however, was by the +monkey. Various kinds of hats and false faces were kept in a box which +he opened and secured. He stalked about with a cane in his hand, or +crosswise back of his neck, turned handsprings, went through various +trapeze performances, such as hanging by his legs, tail, chin, and +hands, or was whirled around in the air. + +The leading strap of the monkey was finally tied to the belt of the +sheep which was led away to some distance and let go. The monkey +bounded upon its back and held fast to the wool, while the sheep ran +with all its speed to the showman, who held a basin of broom-corn seed +as a bait. This was repeated as often as the children desired, which +ended the show. Time,--half an hour; spectators,--all who desired to +witness it; price,--five cents. + +The showmen in China are somewhat like the tramps and beggars in other +countries. When they find a place where there are children who enjoy +shows, each tells the other, and they all call around in turn. + +Our next show was an exhibition given by a man with a trained bear. + +The animal had two rings in his nose, to one of which was fastened a +leading string or strap, and to the other, while performing, a large +chain. A man stood on one end of the chain, and the manager, with a +long-handled ladle, or with his hand, gave the bear small pieces of +bread or other food after each trick he performed. + +The first trick was walking on his hind feet as if dancing. But more +amusing than this to the children was to see him turn summersaults both +forward and backward. These were repeated several times because they +were easily done, and added to the length of time the show continued. + +Children, however, begin to appreciate at an early age what is +difficult and what easy, and it was not until he took a carrying-pole +six feet long, put the middle of it upon his forehead and set it +whirling with his paws, that they began to say: + +"That's good," "That's hard to do," and other expressions of a like +nature. + +They enjoyed seeing him stand on his front feet, or on his head with +his hind feet kicking the air, but they enjoyed still more seeing him +put on the wooden collar of a convict and twirl it around his neck. The +manager gave him some bread and then tried to induce him to take it +off, but he whined for more bread and refused to do so. Finally he took +off the collar, and when they tried to take it from him he put it on +again. When he took it off the next time and offered it to them they +refused to receive it, but tried to get him to put it on, which he +stubbornly refused to do, and finally threw it away. + +His last trick was to sit down upon his haunches, stick up one of his +hind feet, and twirl a knife six feet long upon it as he had twirled +the carrying-pole upon his head. The manager said he would wrestle with +the men, but this was a side issue and only done when extra money was +added to the regular price, which was twelve cents. + +One of the most common showmen seen on the streets of Peking, goes +about with a framework upon his shoulder in the shape of a sled, the +runners of which are turned up at both ends. It seemed to me to be less +interesting than the other shows, but as it is more common, the +children probably look upon it with more favor, and the children are +the final critics of all things for the little ones. + +The show was given by a man and two boys, one of whom impersonated a +girl. Small feet, like the bound feet of a girl, were strapped on like +stilts, his own being covered by wide trousers, and he and the boy sang +songs and danced to the music of the drum and cymbals in the hands of +the showman. + +The second part of the performance was a boat ride on dry land. The +girl got into the frame, let down around it a piece of cloth which was +fastened to the top, and took hold of the frame in such a way as to +carry it easily. The boy, with a long stick, pushed as if starting the +boat, and then pulled as if rowing, and with every pull of the oar, the +girl ran a few steps, making it appear that the boat shot forward. All +the while the boy sang a boat-song or a love-ditty to his sweetheart. + +Again the scene changed. The head and hind parts of a papier mache +horse were fastened to the "tomboy" in such a way as to make it appear +that she was riding; a cloth was let down to hide her feet, and they +ran to and fro, one in one direction and the other in the other, she +jerking her unmanageable steed, and he singing songs, and all to the +music of the drum and the cymbals. + +It sometimes happens that while the girl rides the horse, the boy goes +beside her in the boat, the rapidity and character of their movements +being governed by the music of the manager. + +The best part of the whole performance was that which goes by the name +of the lion show. The girl took off her small feet and girl's clothes +and became a boy again. One of the boys stood up in front and put on an +apron of woven grass, while the other bent forward and clutched hold of +his belt. A large papier mache head of a lion was put on the front boy, +to which was attached a covering of woven grass large enough to cover +them both, while a long tail of the same material was stuck into a +framework fastened to the belt of the hinder boy. + +The manager beat the drum, the lion stalked about the court, keeping +step to the music, turning its large head in every direction and +opening and shutting its mouth, much to the amusement of the children. + +There is probably no country in the world that has more travelling +shows specially prepared for the entertainment of children than China. +Scarcely a day passes that we do not hear the drum or the gong of the +showmen going to and fro, or standing at our court gate waiting to be +called in. + + + +JUVENILE JUGGLING + +"How is that?" + +"Very good." + +"Can you do it?" asked the sleight-of-hand performer, as he rolled a +little red ball between his finger and thumb, pitched it up, caught it +as it came down, half closed his hand and blew into it, opened his hand +and the ball had disappeared. + +He picked up another ball, tossed it up, caught it in his mouth, +dropped it into his hand, and it mysteriously disappeared. + +The juggler was seated on the ground with a piece of blue cloth spread +out before him, on which were three cups, and five little red wax balls +nearly as large as cranberries. + +He continued to toss the wax balls about until they had all +disappeared. We watched him closely, but could not discover where they +had gone. He then arose, took a small portion of my coat sleeve between +his thumb and finger, began rubbing them together, and by and by, one +of the balls appeared between his digits. He picked at a small boy's +ear and got another of the balls. He blew his nose and another dropped +upon the cloth. He slapped the top of his head and one dropped out of +his mouth, and he took the fifth from a boy's hair. + +He then changed his method. He placed the cups' mouths down upon the +cloth, and under one of them put the five little balls. When he placed +the cup we watched carefully; there were no balls under it. When he +raised it up, behold, there were the five little balls. + +He removed the cups from one place to another, and asked us to guess +which cup the balls were under, but we were always wrong. + +There was a large company of us, ranging from children of three to old +men and women of seventy-five, and from Chinese schoolboys to a bishop +of the church, but none of us could discover how he did it. + +Later, however, I learned how the trick was performed. As he raised the +cup with his thumb and forefinger, he inserted two other fingers under, +gathered up all the balls between them and placed them under the cup as +he put it down. While in making the balls disappear, he concealed them +either in his mouth or between his fingers. + +The Chinese have a saying: + + In selecting his balls from north to south, + The magician cannot leave his mouth; + And in rolling his balls, you understand, + He must have them hidden in his hand. + +Of quite a different character are the jugglers with plates and bowls. +Not only children, but many of a larger growth delight to watch these. +Our only way of learning about them was to call them into our court as +the Chinese call them to theirs, and that is what we did. + +The performer first put a plate on the top of a trident and set it +whirling. In this whirling condition he put the trident on his forehead +where he balanced it, the trident whirling with the plate as though +boring into his skull. + +He next took a bamboo pole six feet long, with a nail in the end on +which he set the plate whirling. The plate, of course, had a small +indentation to keep it in its place on the nail. He raised the plate in +the air and inserted into the first pole another of equal length, then +another and still another, which put the plate whirling in the air +thirty feet high. + +Thus whirling he balanced it on his hand, on his arm, on his thumb, on +his forehead, and finally in his mouth, after which he tossed the plate +up, threw the pole aside and caught it as it came down. The old manager +standing by received the pole, but as he saw the plate tossed up, he +fell flat upon the earth, screaming lest the plate be broken. + +This same performer set a bowl whirling on the end of a chop-stick. +Then tossing the bowl up he caught it inverted on the chop-stick, and +made it whirl as rapidly as possible. In this condition he tossed it up +ten, then fifteen, then twenty or more feet into the air catching it on +the chop-stick as it came down. + +He then changed the process. He tossed the bowl a foot high, and struck +it with the other chop-stick one, two, three, four or five times before +it came down, and this he did so rapidly and regularly as to make it +sound almost like music. There is a record of one of the ancient poets +who was able to play a tune with his bowl and chop-sticks after having +finished his meal. He may have done it in this way. + +This trick seemed a very difficult performance. It excited the +children, and some of the older persons clapped their hands and +exclaimed, "Very good, very good." But when he tossed it only a foot +high and let go the chop-stick, making it change ends, and catching the +bowl, they were ready for a general applause. In striking the bowl and +thus manipulating his chop-sticks, his hands moved almost as rapidly as +those of an expert pianist. + +"Can you toss the knives?" piped up one of the children who had seen a +juggler perform this difficult feat. + +The man picked up two large knives about a foot long and began tossing +them with one hand. While this was going on a third knife was handed +him and he kept them going with both hands. At times he threw them +under his leg or behind his back, and at other times pitched them up +twenty feet high, whirling them as rapidly as possible and catching +them by the handles as they came down. + +While doing this he passed one of the knives to the attendant who gave +him a bowl, and he kept the bowl and two knives going. Then he gave the +attendant another knife and received a ball, and the knife, the ball +and the bowl together, the ball and bowl at times moving as though the +former were glued to the bottom of the latter. + +These were not all the tricks he could perform but they were all he +would perform in addition to his bear show for twelve cents--for this +was the man with the bear--so the children allowed him to go. + +Some weeks later they called in a different bear show. This bear was +larger and a better performer, but his tricks were about the same. + +The juggler in addition to doing all we have already described +performed also the following tricks. + +He first put one end of an iron rod fifteen inches long in his mouth. +On this he placed a small revolving frame three by six inches. He set a +bowl whirling on the end of a bamboo splint fifteen inches long, the +other end of which he rested on one side of the frame, balancing the +whole in his mouth. + +While the bowl continued whirling, he took the frame off the rod, stuck +the bamboo in a hole in the frame an inch from the end, resting the +other end of the frame on the rod, brought the bowl over so as to +obtain a centre of gravity and thus balanced it. + +He took two small tridents a foot or more in length, put the end of the +handle of one in his mouth, set the bowl whirling on the end of the +handle of the other, rested the middle prong of one on the middle prong +of the other and let it whirl with the bowl. Afterwards he set the +prong of the whirling trident on the edge of the other and let it whirl. + +He took two long curved boar's teeth which were fastened on the ends of +two sticks, one a foot long, the other six inches. The one he held in +his mouth, the other having a hole diagonally through the stick, he +inserted a chop-stick making an angle of seventy degrees. He set the +bowl whirling on the end of the chop-stick, rested one tooth on the +other, in the indentation and they whirled like a brace and bit. + +Finally he took a spiral wire having a straight point on each end. This +he called a dead dragon. He set the bowl whirling on one end, placing +the other on the small frame already referred to. As the spiral wire +began to turn as though boring, he called it a living dragon. These +feats of balancing excited much wonder and merriment on the part of the +children. + +The juggler then took an iron trident with a handle four and a half +feet long and an inch and a half thick, and, pitching it up into the +air, caught it on his right arm as it came down. He allowed it to roll +down his right arm, across his back, and along his left arm, and as he +turned his body he kept the trident rolling around crossing his back +and breast and giving it a new impetus with each arm. The trident had +on it two cymbal-shaped iron plates which kept up a constant rattling. + +This showman had with him three boy acrobats whose skill he proceeded +to show. + +"Pitch the balls," he said. + +The largest of the three boys fastened a cushioned band, on which was a +leather cup, around his head, the cup being on his forehead just +between his eyes. + +He took two wooden balls, two and a half inches in diameter, tossed +them in the air twenty feet high, catching them in the cup as they came +down. The shape of the cup was such as to hold the balls by suction +when they fell. He never once missed. This is the most dangerous +looking of all the tricks I have seen jugglers perform. + +"Shooting stars," said the showman. + +The boy tossed aside his cup and balls and took a string six feet long, +on the two ends of which were fastened wooden balls two and a half +inches in diameter. He set the balls whirling in opposite directions +until they moved so rapidly as to stretch the string, which he then +held in the middle with finger and thumb and by a simple motion of the +hand kept the balls whirling. + +He was an expert, and changed the swinging of the balls in as many +different ways as an expert club-swinger could his clubs. + +"Boy acrobats," called out the manager, as the manipulator of the +"shooting stars" bowed himself out amid the applause of the children. + +The two smaller boys threw off their coats, hitched up their +trousers--always a part of the performance whether necessary or +not--and began the high kick, high jump, handspring, somersault, wagon +wheel, ending with hand-spring, and bending backwards until their heads +touched the ground. + +One of them stood on two benches a foot high, put a handkerchief on the +ground, and bending backwards, picked it up with his teeth. + +The two boys then clasped each other around the waist, as in the +illustration, and each threw the other back over his head a dozen times +or more. + +Exit the bear show with the boy acrobats, enter the old woman juggler +with her husband who beats the gong. + +This was one of the most interesting performances I have ever seen in +China, perhaps because so unexpected. + +The old woman had small, bound feet. She lay flat on her back, stuck up +her feet, and her husband put a crock a foot in diameter and a foot and +a half deep upon them. She set it rolling on her feet until it whirled +like a cylinder. She tossed it up in such a way as to have it light +bottom side up on her "lillies,"[1] in which position she kept it +whirling. Tossing it once more it came down on the side, and again +tossing it she caught it right side up on her small feet, keeping it +whirling all the time. + +My surprise was so great that I gave the old woman ten cents for +performing this single trick. + +The tricks of sleight-of-hand performers are well-nigh without number. +Some of them are easily understood,--surprising, however, to +children--and often interesting to grown people, while others are very +clever and not so easily understood. + +Instead of the hat from which innumerable small packages are taken, the +Chinese magician had two hollow cylinders, which exactly fit into each +other, that he took out of a box and placed upon a cylindrical chest, +and from these two cylinders--each of which he repeatedly showed us as +being without top or bottom and empty--he took a dinner of a dozen +courses. + +He called upon the baker to bring bread, the grocer to bring +vegetables, and after each call he took out of the cylinders the thing +called for. He finally called the wine shop to bring wine, and removing +both cylinders, he exposed to the surprised children a large crock of +wine. + +As he brought out dish after dish, the children looked in open-mouthed +wonder, and asked papa, mama or nurse, where he got them all, for they +evidently were not in the cylinders. But papa saw him all the time +manipulating the crock in the cylinder which he did not show, and he +knew that all these things were taken from and then returned to this +crock, while instead of being full of wine, he had only a cup of wine +in a false lid which exactly fitted the mouth of the crock, and made it +seem full. + +When he had put away his crock and cylinders, he produced what seemed +to be two empty cups. + +He presented them to us to show that they were empty, then putting them +mouth to mouth, and placing them on the ground, he left them a moment, +when with a "presto change," and a wave of the hand, he removed the top +cup and revealed to the astonished children and some of the children of +a larger growth, a cup full of water with two or three little fish or +frogs therein. + +On inquiry I was told that he had the under cup covered with a thin +film of water-colored material, and that as he removed the top cup he +removed also the film which left the fish or frogs exposed to view. + +This same juggler performed many tricks of producing great dishes of +water from under his garments, the mere enumeration of which, might +prove to be tiresome. + +I was walking along the street one day near the mouth of Filial Piety +Lane where a large company of men and children were watching a juggler, +and from the trick I thought it worth while to invite him in for the +amusement of the children. He promised to come about four o clock, +which he did. + +He first proceeded to eat a hat full of yellow paper, after which, with +a gag and a little puff, he pulled from his mouth a tube of paper of +the same color five or six yards long. + +This was very skillfully performed and for a long time I was not able +to understand how he did it. But after awhile I discovered that with +the last mouthful of paper he put in a small roll, the centre of which +he started by puffing, and this he pulled out in a long tube. He did it +with so many groanings and with such pain in the region of the stomach, +that attention was directed either to his stomach or the roll, and +taken away from his mouth. + +"I shall eat these needles," said he, as he held up half a dozen +needles, "and then eat this thread, after which I shall reproduce them." + +He did so. He grated his teeth together causing a sound much like that +of breaking needles. He pretended to swallow them, working his tongue +back and forth in his tightly closed mouth, after which he drew forth +the thread on which all the needles were strung. + +He had a number of small white bone needles which he stuck into his +nose and pulled out of his eyes, or which he pushed up under his upper +lip and took out of his eyes or vice versa. How he performed the above +trick I was not able to discover. He seemed to put them through the +tear duct, but whether he did or not I cannot say. How he got them from +his mouth to his eyes unless he had punctured a passage beneath the +skin, is still to me a mystery. + +His last trick was to swallow a sword fifteen inches long. The sword +was straight with a round point and dull edges. There was no deception +about this. He was an old man and his front, upper teeth were badly +worn away by the constant rasping of the not over-smooth sword. He +simply put it in his mouth, threw back his head and stuck it down his +throat to his stomach. + +[1] Small feet of the Chinese woman. + + + +STORIES TOLD TO CHILDREN + +One hot summer afternoon as I lay in the hammock trying to take a nap +after a hard forenoon's work and a hearty lunch, I heard the same old +nurse who had told me my first Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes, telling the +following story to the same little boy to whom she had repeated the +"Mouse and the Candlestick." + +She told him that the Chinese call the Milky Way the Heavenly River, +and that the Spinning Girl referred to in the story is none other than +the beautiful big star in Lyra which we call Vega, while the Cow-herd +is Altair in Aquila. + + +THE HEAVENLY RIVER, WITH THE PEOPLE WHO DWELL THEREON. + +Once upon a time there dwelt a beautiful maiden in a quiet little +village on the shore of the Heavenly River. + +Her name was Vega, but the people of China have always called her the +Spinning Maiden, because of her faithfulness to her work, for though +days, and months, and years passed away, she never left her loom. + +Her diligence so moved the heart of her grandfather, the King of +Heaven, that he determined to give her a vacation, which she at once +decided to spend upon the earth. + +In a village near where the maiden dwelt there was a young man named +Altair, whom the Chinese call the Cow-herd. + +Now the Cow-herd was in love with the Spinning Girl, but she was always +so intent upon her work as never to give him an opportunity to confess +his affection, but now he determined to follow her to earth, and, if +possible, win her for his bride. + +He followed her through the green fields and shady groves, but never +dared approach her or tell her of his love. + +At last, however, the time came. He discovered her bathing in a limpid +stream, the banks of which were carpeted with flowers, while myriad +boughs of blossoming peach and cherry trees hid her from all the world +but him. + +He secretly crept near and stole away and hid her garments made of +silken gauze and finely woven linen, making it alike impossible for her +to resist his suit or to return to her celestial home. + +She yielded to the Cow-herd and soon became his wife, and as the years +passed by a boy and girl were born to them, little star children, +twins, such as are seen near by the Spinning Girl in her heavenly home +to-day. + +One day she went to her husband, and, bowing low, requested that he +return the clothes he had hid away, and he, thinking the presence of +the children a sufficient guaranty for her remaining in his home, told +her he had put them in an old, dry well hard by the place where she had +been bathing. + +No sooner had she secured them than the aspect of their home was +changed. The Cow-herd's wife once more became the Spinning Girl and +hied her to her heavenly abode. + +It so happened that her husband had a piece of cow-skin which gave him +power over earth and air. Snatching up this, with his ox-goad, he +followed in the footsteps of his fleeing wife. + +Arriving at their heavenly home the happy couple sought the joys of +married life. The Spinning Girl gave up her loom, and the Cow-herd his +cattle, until their negligence annoyed the King of Heaven, and he +repented having let her leave her loom. He called upon the Western +Royal Mother for advice. After consultation they decided that the two +should be separated. The Queen, with a single stroke of her great +silver hairpin, drew a line across the heavens, and from that time the +Heavenly River has flowed between them, and they are destined to dwell +forever on the two sides of the Milky Way. + +What had seemed to the youthful pair the promise of perpetual joy, +became a condition of unending grief. They were on the two sides of a +bridgeless river, in plain sight of each other, but forever debarred +from hearing the voice or pressing the land of the one beloved, doomed +to perpetual toil unlit by any ray of joy or hope. + +Their evident affection and unhappy condition moved the heart of His +Majesty, and caused him to allow them to visit each other once with +each revolving year,--on the seventh day of the seventh moon. But +permission was not enough, for as they looked upon the foaming waters +of the turbulent stream, they could but weep for their wretched +condition, for no bridge united its two banks, nor was it allowed that +any structure be built which would mar the contour of the shining dome. + +In their helplessness the magpies came to their rescue. At early morn +on the seventh day of the seventh moon, these beautiful birds gathered +in great flocks about the home of the maiden, and hovering wing to wing +above the river, made a bridge across which her dainty feet might carry +her in safety. But when the time for separation came, the two wept +bitterly, and their tears falling in copious showers are the cause of +the heavy rains which fall at that season of the year. + +From time immemorial it has been known that the Yellow River is neither +more nor less than a prolongation of the Milky Way, soiled by earthly +contact and contamination, and that the homes of the Spinning Maiden +and the Cow-herd are the centres of two of the numerous villages that +adorn its banks. It is not to be wondered at, however, that in an evil +and skeptical world there should be many who doubt these facts. + +On this account, and to forever settle the dispute, the great traveller +and explorer, Chang Ch'ien, undertook to discover the source of the +Yellow River. He first transformed the trunk of a great tree into a +boat, provided himself with the necessities of life and started on his +journey. + +Days passed into weeks, and weeks became months as he sailed up the +murky waters of the turbid stream. But the farther he went the clearer +the waters became until it seemed as if they were flowing over a bed of +pure, white limestone. Village after village was passed both on his +right hand and on his left, and many were the strange sights that met +his gaze. The fields became more verdant, the flowers more beautiful, +the scenery more gorgeous, and the people more like nymphs and fairies. +The color of the clouds and the atmosphere was of a richer, softer hue; +while the breezes which wafted his frail bark were milder and gentler +than any he had known before. + +Despairing at last of reaching the source he stopped at a village where +he saw a maiden spinning and a young man leading an ox to drink. He +alighted from his boat and inquired of the girl the name of the place, +but she, without making reply, tossed him her shuttle, telling him to +return to his home and inquire of the astrologer, who would inform him +where he received it, if he but told him when. + +He returned and presented the shuttle to the noted astrologer Chun +Ping, informing him at the same time where, when and from whom he had +received it. The latter consulted his observations and calculations and +discovered that on the day and hour when the shuttle had been given to +the traveller he had observed a wandering star enter and leave the +villages of the Spinning Girl and the Cow-herd, which proved beyond +doubt that the Yellow River is the prolongation of the Milky Way, while +the points of light which we call stars, are the inhabitants of Heaven +pursuing callings similar to our own. + +Chang Ch'ien made another important discovery, namely, that the +celestials, understanding the seasons better than we, turn the shining +dome in such a way as to make the Heavenly River indicate the seasons +of the year, and so the children sing: + + Whene'er the Milky Way you spy, + Diagonal across the sky, + The egg-plant you may safely eat, + And all your friends to melons treat. + + But when divided towards the west, + You'll need your trousers and your vest + When like a horn you see it float; + You'll need your trousers and your coat. + +It is unnecessary to state that I did not go to sleep while the old +nurse was telling the story of the Heavenly River. The child sat on his +little stool, his elbows on his knees and his chin resting in his +hands, listening with open lips and eyes sparkling with interest. To +the old nurse it was real. The spinning girl and the cow-herd were +living persons. The flowers bloomed,--we could almost smell their +odor,--and the gentle breezes seemed to fan our cheeks. She had told +the story so often that she believed it, and she imparted to us her own +interest. + +"Nurse," said the child, "tell me about + + "'THE MAN IN THE MOON.'" + +"The man in the moon," said the old nurse, "is called Wu Kang. He was +skilled in all the arts of the genii, and was accustomed to play before +them whenever opportunity offered or occasion required. + +"Once it turned out that his performances were displeasing to the +spirits, and for this offense he was banished to the moon, and +condemned to perpetual toil in hewing down the cinnamon trees which +grow there in great abundance. At every blow of the axe he made an +incision, but only to see it close up when the axe was withdrawn. + +"He had another duty, however, a duty which was at times irksome, but +one which on the whole was more pleasant than any that falls to men or +spirits,--the duty indicated by the proverb that 'matches are made in +the moon.' + +"It was his lot to bind together the feet of all those on earth who are +destined to a betrothal, and in the performance of this duty, he was +often compelled to return to earth. When doing so he came as an old man +with long white hair and beard, with a book in his hand in which he had +written the matrimonial alliances of all mankind. He also carried a +wallet which contains a ball of invisible cord with which he ties +together the feet of all those who are destined to be man and wife, and +the destinies which he announces it is impossible to avoid. + +"On one occasion he came to the town of Sung, and while sitting in the +moonlight, turning over the leaves of his book of destinies, he was +asked by Wei Ku, who happened to be passing, who was destined to become +his bride. The old man consulted his records, as he answered: 'Your +wife is the daughter of an old woman named Ch'en who sells vegetables +in yonder shop.' + +"Having heard this, Wei Ku went the next day to look about him and if +possible to get a glimpse of the one to whom the old man referred, but +he discovered that the only child the old woman had was an ill-favored +one of two years which she carried in her arms. He hired an assassin to +murder the infant, but the blow was badly aimed and left only a scar on +the child's eyebrow. + +"Fourteen years afterwards, Wei Ku married a beautiful maiden of +sixteen whose only defect was a scar above the eye, and on inquiries he +discovered that she was the one foretold by the Old Man of the Moon, +and he recalled the proverb that 'Matches are made in heaven, and the +bond of fate is sealed in the moon.'" + +"Nurse, tell me about the land of the big people," whereupon the nurse +told him of + + THE LAND OF GIANTS. + +"There was in ancient times a country east of Korea which was called +the land of the giants. It was celebrated for its length rather than +for its width, being bounded on all sides by great mountain ranges, the +like of which cannot be found in other countries. It extends for +thousands of miles along the deep passes between the mountains, at the +entrance to which there are great iron gates, easily closed, but very +difficult to open. + +"Many armies have made war upon the giants, among which none have been +more celebrated than those of Korea, which embraces in its standing +army alone many thousands of men, but thus far they have never been +conquered. + +"Nor is this to be wondered at, for besides their great iron gates, and +numerous fortifications, the men are thirty feet tall according to our +measurement, have teeth like a saw, hooked claws, and bodies covered +with long black hair. + +"They live upon the flesh of fowls and wild beasts which are found in +abundance in the mountain fastnesses, but they do not cook their food. +They are very fond of human flesh, but they confine themselves to the +flesh of enemies slain in battle, and do not eat the flesh of their own +people, even though they be hostile, as this is contrary to the law of +the land. + +"Their women are as large and fierce as the men, but their duties are +confined to the preparation of extra clothing for winter wear, for +although they are covered with hair it is insufficient to protect them +from the winter's cold." + +While the old nurse was relating the tale of the giants I could not but +wonder whether there was not some relation between that and the +Brobdingnagians I had read about in my youth. But I was not given much +time to think. This seemed to have been a story day, for the nurse had +hardly finished the tale till the child said: + +"Now tell me about the country of the little people," and she related +the story of + + THE LAND OF DWARFS. + +"The country of the little people is in the west, where the sun goes +down. + +"Once upon a time a company of Persian merchants were making a journey, +when by a strange mishap they lost their way and came to the land of +the little people. They were at first surprised, and then delighted, +for they discovered that the country was not only densely populated +with these little people, who were not more than three feet high, but +that it was rich in all kinds of precious stones and rare and valuable +materials. + +"They discovered also that during the season of planting and +harvesting, they were in constant terror lest the great multitude of +cranes, which are without number in that region, should swoop down upon +them and eat both them and their crops. They soon learned, however, +that the little people were under the protecting care of the Roman +Empire, whose interest in them was great, and her arm mighty, and they +were thus guarded from all evil influences as well as from all danger. +Nor was this a wholly unselfish interest on the part of the Roman +power, for the little people repaid her with rich presents of the most +costly gems,--pearls, diamonds, rubies and other precious stones." + +I need not say I was beginning to be surprised at the number of tales +the old woman told which corresponded to those I had been accustomed to +read and hear in my childhood, nor was my surprise lessened when at his +request she told him how + + THE SUN WENT BACKWARD. + +"Once upon a time Lu Yang-kung was engaged in battle with Han Kou-nan, +and they continued fighting until nearly sundown. The former was +getting the better of the battle, but feared he would lose it unless +they fought to a finish before the close of day. The sun was near the +horizon, and the battle was not yet ended, and the former, pointing his +lance at the King of Day caused him to move backward ten miles in his +course." + +"When did that happen?" inquired the child. + +"The Chinese say it happened about three thousand years ago," replied +the old nurse. + +"Now tell me about the man who went to the fire star." + +The old woman hesitated a moment as though she was trying to recall +something and then told him the story of + + MARS, THE GOD OF WAR. + +"Once upon a time there was a great rebel whose name was Ch'ih Yu. He +was the first great rebel that ever lived in China. He did not want to +obey the chief ruler, and invented for himself warlike weapons, +thinking that in this way he might overthrow the government and place +himself upon the throne. + +"He had eighty-one brothers, of whom he was the leader. They had human +speech, but bodies of beasts, foreheads of iron, and fed upon the dust +of the earth. + +"When the time for the battle came, he called upon the Chief of the +Wind and the Master of the Rain to assist him, and there arose a great +tempest. But the Chief sent the Daughter of Heaven to quell the storm, +and then seized and slew the rebel. His spirit ascended to the +Fire-Star (Mars)--the embodiment of which he was while upon +earth,--where it resides and influences the conduct of warfare even to +the present time." + +"Tell me the story of the man who went to the mountain to gather +fire-wood and did not come home for such a long time." + +The old nurse began a story which as it progressed reminded me of + + RIP VAN WINKLE. + +"A long time ago there lived a man named Wang Chih, which in our +language means 'the stuff of which kings are made.' In spite of his +name, however, he was only a common husbandman, spending his summers in +plowing, planting and harvesting, and his winters in gathering +fertilizers upon the highways, and fire-wood in the mountains. + +"On one occasion he wandered into the mountains of Ch'u Chou, his axe +upon his shoulder, hoping to find more and better fire-wood than could +be found upon his own scanty acres, or the adjoining plain. While in +the mountains he came upon a number of aged men, in a beautiful +mountain grotto, intently engaged in a game of chess. Wang was a good +chess-player himself, and for the time forgot his errand. He laid down +his axe, stood silently watching them, and in a very few moments was +deeply interested in the game. + +"It was while he was thus watching them that one of the old men, +without looking up from the game, gave him what seemed to be a date +seed, telling him at the same time to put it in his mouth. He did so, +but no sooner had he tasted it, than he lost all consciousness of +hunger and thirst, and continued to stand watching the players and the +progress of the game, thinking nothing of the flight of time. + +"At last one of the old men said to him: + +"'You have been here a long time, ought you not to go home?' + +"This aroused him from his reverie, and he seemed to awake as from a +dream, his interest in the game passed away, and he attempted to pick +up his axe, but found that it was covered with rust and the handle had +moulded away. But while this called his attention to the fact that time +had passed, he felt not the burden of years. + +"When he returned to the plain, and to what had formerly been his home, +he discovered that not only years but centuries had passed away since +he had left for the mountains, and that his relatives and friends had +all crossed to the 'Yellow Springs,' while all records of his departure +had long since been forgotten, and he alone remained a relic of the +past. + +"He wandered up and down inquiring of the oldest people of all the +villages, but could discover no link which bound him to the present. + +"He returned to the mountain grotto, devoted himself to the study of +the occult principles of the 'Old Philosopher' until the material +elements of his mortal frame were gradually evaporated or sublimated, +and without having passed through the change which men call death, he +became an immortal spirit returning whence he came." + +Just as the old woman finished this story, my teacher, who always took +a nap after lunch, ascended the steps. + +"Ah, the story of Wang Chih." + +"Do you know any of these stories?" I asked him as I sat down beside +him. + +"All children learn these stories in their youth," he answered, and +then as if fearing I would try to induce him to tell them to me he +continued, "but nurses always tell these stories better than any one +else, because they tell them so often to the children, for whom alone +they were made." + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Chinese Boy and Girl, by Isaac Taylor Headland + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHINESE BOY AND GIRL *** + +***** This file should be named 522.txt or 522.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/522/ + +Produced by Charles Keller. 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+The Chinese Boy and Girl
+
+by Isaac Taylor Headland
+
+May, 1996 [Etext #522]
+
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+
+THE CHINESE
+BOY AND GIRL
+
+
+
+BY
+ISAAC TAYLOR HEADLAND
+OF PEKING UNIVERSITY
+
+
+
+Author of Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+
+No thorough study of Chinese child life can be made until
+the wall of Chinese exclusiveness is broken down and the
+homes of the East are thrown open to the people of the
+West. Glimpses of that life however, are available, sufficient
+in number and character to give a fairly good idea of
+what it must be. The playground is by no means always
+hidden, least of all when it is the street. The Chinese
+nurse brings her Chinese rhymes, stories and games into
+the foreigner's home for the amusement of its little ones.
+
+Chinese kindergarten methods and appliances have no
+superior in their ingenuity and their ability to interest, as
+well as instruct. In the matter of travelling shows and
+jugglers also, no country is better supplied, and these are
+chiefly for the entertainment of the little ones.
+
+To the careful observer of these different phases it
+becomes apparent that the Chinese child is well supplied
+with methods of exercise and amusement, also that he has
+much in common with the children of other lands. A large
+collection of toys shows many duplicates of those common
+in the West, and from the nursery rhymes of at least two
+out of the eighteen provinces it appears that the Chinese
+nursery is rich in Mother Goose. As a companion to
+the "Chinese Mother Goose," this book seeks to show
+that the same sunlight fills the homes of both East and
+West. If it also leads their far-away mates to look upon
+the Chinese Boy and Girl as real little folk, human like
+themselves, and thus think more kindly of them, its mission
+will have been accomplished.
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+THE NURSERY AND ITS RHYMES
+CHILDREN AND CHILD-LIFE
+GAMES PLAYED BY BOYS
+GAMES PLAYED BY GIRLS
+THE TOYS CHILDREN PLAY WITH
+BLOCK GAMES--KINDERGARTEN
+CHILDREN'S SHOWS AND ENTERTAINMENTS
+JUVENILE JUGGLING
+STORIES TOLD TO CHILDREN
+
+
+THE NURSERY AND ITS RHYMES
+
+It is a mistake to suppose that any one nation or people
+has exclusive right to Mother Goose. She is an omnipresent
+old lady. She is Asiatic as well as European or American.
+Wherever there are mothers, grandmothers, and
+nurses there are Mother Gooses,--or; shall we say, Mother
+Geese--for I am at a loss as to how to pluralize this old
+dame. She is in India, whence I have rhymes from her,
+of which the following is a sample:
+
+ Heh, my baby! Ho, my baby!
+ See the wild, ripe plum,
+ And if you'd like to eat a few,
+ I'll buy my baby some.
+
+She is in Japan. She has taught the children there to put
+their fingers together as we do for "This is the church,
+this is the steeple," when she says:
+
+
+ A bamboo road,
+ With a floor-mat siding,
+ Children are quarrelling,
+ And parents chiding,
+
+the children" being represented by the fingers and the
+"parents" by the thumbs. She is in China. I have more
+than 600 rhymes from her Chinese collection. Let me tell
+you how I got them.
+
+One hot day during my summer vacation, while sitting
+on the veranda of a house among the hills, fifteen miles
+west of Peking, my friend, Mrs. C. H. Fenn, said to me:
+
+"Have you noticed those rhymes, Mr. Headland?"
+
+"What rhymes?" I inquired.
+
+"The rhymes Mrs. Yin is repeating to Henry."
+
+"No, I have not noticed them. Ask her to repeat that one again."
+
+Mrs. Fenn did so, and the old nurse repeated the following rhyme,
+very much in the tone of, "The goblins 'll git you if you don't
+look out."
+
+ He climbed up the candlestick,
+ The little mousey brown,
+ To steal and eat tallow,
+ And he couldn't get down.
+ He called for his grandma,
+ But his grandma was in town,
+ So he doubled up into a wheel,
+ And rolled himself down.
+
+I asked the nurse to repeat it again, more slowly, and I
+wrote it down together with the translation.
+
+Now, I think it must be admitted that there is more in
+this rhyme to commend it to the public than there is in
+"Jack and Jill." If when that remarkable young couple
+went for the pail of water, Master Jack had carried it
+himself, he would have been entitled to some credit for
+gallantry, or if in cracking his crown he had fallen so as to
+prevent Miss Jill from "tumbling," or even in such a way
+as to break her fall and make it easier for her, there would
+have been some reason for the popularity of such a record.
+As it is, there is no way to account for it except the fact
+that it is simple and rhythmic and children like it. This
+rhyme, however, in the original, is equal to "Jack and Jill" in
+rhythm and rhyme, has as good a story, exhibits a more scientific
+tumble, with a less tragic result, and contains as good a moral
+as that found in "Jack Sprat."
+
+It is as popular all over North China as "Jack and Jill" is
+throughout Great Britain and America. Ask any Chinese child if he
+knows the "Little Mouse," and he reels it off to you as readily
+as an English-speaking child does "Jack and Jill." Does he like
+it? It is a part of his life. Repeat it to him, giving one word
+incorrectly, and he will resent it as strenuously as your little
+boy or girl would if you said,
+
+ Jack and Jill
+ Went DOWN the hill
+
+Suppose you repeat some familiar rhyme to a child differently
+from the way he learned it and see what the result will be.
+
+Having obtained this rhyme, I asked Mrs. Yin if she
+knew any more. She smiled and said she knew "lots of
+them." I induced her to tell them to me, promising her
+five hundred cash (about three cents) for every rhyme she
+could give me, good, bad, or indifferent, for I wanted to
+secure all kinds. And I did. Before I was through I had
+rhymes which ranged from the two extremes of the keenest
+parental affection to those of unrefined filthiness. The
+latter class however came not from the nurses but from
+the children themselves.
+
+When I had finished with her I had a dozen or more. I
+soon learned these so that I could repeat them in the original,
+which gave me an entering wedge to the heart of every
+man, woman or child I met.
+
+One day, as I rode through a broom-corn field on the
+back of a little donkey, my feet almost dragging on the
+ground, I was repeating some of these rhymes, when the
+driver running at my side said:
+
+"Ha, you know those children's songs, do you?"
+
+"Yes do you know any?"
+
+"Lots of them," he answered.
+
+"Lots of them" is a favorite expression with the Chinese.
+
+"Tell me some."
+
+"Did you ever hear this one?"
+
+ "Fire-fly, fire-fly,
+ Come from the hill,
+ Your father and mother
+ Are waiting here still.
+ They've brought you some sugar,
+ Some candy, and meat,
+ For baby to eat."
+
+
+I at once dismounted and wrote it down, and promised
+him five hundred cash apiece for every new one he could
+give me. In this way, going to and from the city, in
+conversation with old nurses or servants, personal friends,
+teachers, parents or children, or foreign children who had
+been born in China and had learned rhymes from their
+nurses, I continued to gather them during the entire
+vacation, and when autumn came I had more than fifty of the
+most common and consequently the best rhymes known
+in and about Peking.
+
+A few months after I returned to the city a circular was
+sent around asking for subscriptions to a volume of Pekinese
+Folklore, published by Baron Vitali, Interpreter at the
+Italian legation, which, on examination, proved to be exactly
+what I wanted. He had collected about two hundred and
+fifty rhymes, had made a literal--not metrical--translation
+and had issued them in book form without expurgation.
+
+Others learned of my collection, and rhymes began to come
+to me from all parts of the empire. Dr. Arthur H. Smith,
+the well-known author of "Chinese Characteristics" gave
+me a collection of more than three hundred made in Shantung,
+among which were rhymes similar to those we had
+found in Peking. Still later I received other versions of these
+same rhymes from my little friend, Miss Chalfant, collected
+in a different part of Shantung from that occupied by Dr.
+Smith. I then had no fewer than five versions of
+
+ "This little pig went to market,"
+
+each having some local coloring not found in the other,
+proving that the fingers and toes furnish children with the
+same entertainment in the Orient as in the Occident, and
+that the rhyme is widely known throughout China.
+
+These nursery rhymes have never been printed in the
+Chinese language, but like our own Mother Goose before
+the year 1719, if we may credit the Boston story, they are
+carried in the minds and hearts of the children. Here arose
+the first difficulty we experienced in collecting rhymes--the
+matter of getting them complete. Few are able to repeat
+the whole of the
+
+ "House that Jack built"
+
+although it has been printed many times and they learned
+it all in their youth. The difficulty is multiplied tenfold in
+China where the rhymes have never been printed, and
+where there have grown up various versions from one
+original which the nurse had, no doubt, partly forgotten,
+but was compelled to complete for the entertainment of the
+child.
+
+A second difficulty in making such a collection is that of
+getting unobjectionable rhymes. While the Chinese classics
+are among the purest classical books of the world, there
+is yet a large proportion of the people who sully everything
+they take into their hands as well as every thought they take
+into their minds. Thus so many of their rhymes have suffered.
+
+Some have an undertone of reviling. Some speak
+familiarly of subjects which we are not accustomed to
+mention, and others are impure in the extreme.
+
+A third difficulty in making a collection of Chinese nursery
+lore is greater than either the first or the second,--I refer to
+the difficulty of a metrical rendition of the rhymes. I have
+no doubt my readers can easily find flaws in my translations
+of Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes published during the past
+year. It is much easier for me to find the flaws than the
+remedies. Many of the words used in the original have no
+written character or hieroglyphic to represent them, while
+many others, though having a written form, are, like our
+own slang expressions, not found in the dictionary.
+
+Now let us turn to a more pleasant feature of this unwritten
+nursery literature. The language is full of good rhymes,
+and all objectionable features can be cut out without injury
+to the rhyme, as it was not a part of the original, but added
+by some more unscrupulous hand.
+
+Among the nursery rhymes of all countries many refer to
+insects, birds, animals, persons, actions, trades, food or
+children. In Chinese rhymes we have the cricket, cicada,
+spider, snail, firefly, ladybug and butterfly and others.
+Among fowls we have the bat, crow, magpie, cock, hen,
+duck and goose. Of animals, the dog, cow, horse, mule,
+donkey, camel, and mouse, are the favorites. There are
+also rhymes on the snake and frog, and others without
+number on places, things and persons,--men, women and
+children.
+
+Those who hold that the Chinese do not love their
+children have never consulted their nursery lore. There is
+no language in the world, I venture to believe, which
+contains children's songs expressive of more keen and tender
+affection than some of those sung to children in China.
+
+When we hear a parent say that his child
+
+ "Is as sweet as sugar and cinnamon too,"
+
+or that
+
+ "Baby is a sweet pill,
+ That fills my soul with joy"
+
+or when we see a father, mother or nurse--for nurses sometimes
+become almost as fond of their little charge as the parents
+themselves,--hugging the child to their bosoms as they say that
+he is so sweet that "he makes you love him till it kills you," we
+begin to appreciate the affection that prompts the utterance.
+
+Another feature of these rhymes is the same as that found in the
+nursery songs of all nations, namely, the food element. "Jack
+Sprat," "Little Jacky Horner," "Four and Twenty Black-birds,"
+"When Good King Arthur Ruled the Land," and a host of others will
+indicate what I mean. A little child is a highly developed
+stomach, and anything which tells about something that ministers
+to the appetite and tends to satisfy that aching void, commends
+itself to his literary taste, and hence the popularity of many
+of our nursery rhymes, the only thought of which is about
+something good to eat. Notice the following:
+
+ Look at the white breasted crows overhead.
+ My father shot once and ten crows tumbled dead.
+ When boiled or when fried they taste very good,
+ But skin them, I tell you, there's no better food.
+
+
+In imagination I can see the reader raise his eyebrows and
+mutter, "Do the Chinese eat crows?" while at the same time he has
+been singing all his life about what a "dainty dish" "four and
+twenty blackbirds" would make for the "king," without ever
+raising the question as to whether blackbirds are good eating or
+not.
+
+We note another feature of all nursery rhymes in the
+additions made by the various persons through whose hands,
+--or should we say, through whose mouths they pass.
+
+When an American or English child hears how a certain
+benevolent dame found no bone in her cupboard to satisfy
+the cravings of her hungry dog, its feelings of compassion
+are stirred up to ask: "And then what? Didn't she get
+any meat? Did the dog die?" and the nurse is compelled
+to make another verse to satisfy the curiosity of the child
+and bring both the dame and the dog out of the dilemma in
+which they have been left. This is what happened in the
+case of "Old Mother Hubbard" as will readily be seen by
+examining the meter of the various verses. The original
+"Mother Hubbard" consisted of nothing more than the first
+six lines which contain three rhymes. All the other verses
+have but four lines and one rhyme.
+
+We find the same thing in Chinese Mother Goose. Take the
+following as an example:
+
+ He ate too much,
+ That second brother,
+ And when he had eaten his fill
+
+ He beat his mother.
+
+This was the original rhyme. Two verses have been added without
+rhyme, reason, rhythm, sense or good taste. They are as follows:
+
+ His mother jumped up on the window-sill,
+ But the window had no crack,
+ She then looked into the looking-glass,
+ But the mirror had no back.
+
+ Then all at once she began to sing,
+ But the song it had no end
+ And then she played the monkey trick
+ And to heaven she did ascend.
+
+The moral teachings of nursery rhymes are as varied as
+the morals of the people to whom the rhymes belong. The
+"Little Mouse" already given contains both a warning and
+a penalty. The mouse which had climbed up the candle-
+stick to steal tallow was unable to get down. This was
+the penalty for stealing, and indicates to children that if
+they visit the cupboard in their mother's absence and take
+her sweetmeats without her permission, they may suffer as
+the mouse did. To leave the mouse there after he had
+repeatedly called for that halo-crowned grandmother, who
+refused to come, would have been too much for the child's
+sympathies, and so the mouse doubles himself up into a
+wheel, and rolls to the floor.
+
+In other rhymes, children are warned against stealing, but
+the penalty threatened is rather an indication of the
+untruthfulness of the parent or nurse than a promise of reform in
+the child, for they are told that,
+
+ If you steal a needle
+ Or steal a thread,
+ A pimple will grow
+ Upon your head.
+
+ If you steal a dog
+ Or steal a cat,
+ A pimple will grow
+ Beneath your hat.
+
+
+Boys are warned of the dire consequences if they wear
+their hats on the side of their heads or go about with ragged
+coats or slipshod feet.
+
+ If you wear your hat on the side of your head,
+ You'll have a lazy wife, 'tis said.
+ If a ragged coat or slipshod feet,
+ You'll have a wife who loves to eat.
+
+Those rhymes which manifest the affection of parents for
+children cultivate a like affection in the child. We have in
+the Chinese Mother Goose a rhyme called the Little Orphan,
+which is a most pathetic tale. A little boy tells us that,
+
+ Like a little withered flower,
+ That is dying in the earth,
+ I was left alone at seven
+ By her who gave me birth.
+
+ With my papa I was happy
+ But I feared he'd take another,
+ But now my papa's married,
+ And I have a little brother.
+
+ And he eats good food,
+ While I eat poor,
+ And cry for my mother,
+ Whom I'll see no more.
+
+Such a rhyme cannot but develop the pathetic and sympathetic
+instincts of the child, making it more kind and gentle
+to those in distress.
+
+A girl in one of the rhymes urged by instinct and desire to chase
+a butterfly, gives up the idea of catching it, presumably
+out of a feeling of sympathy for the insect.
+
+Unfortunately all their rhymes do not have this same
+high moral tone. They indicate a total lack of respect for the
+Buddhist priests. This is not necessarily against the rhyme
+any more than against the priest, but it is an unfortunate
+disposition to cultivate in children. There are constant
+sallies at the shaved noddle of the priest. They speak of
+his head as a gourd, and they class him with the tiger as a
+beast of prey.
+
+Some of the rhymes illustrate the disposition of the Chinese to
+nickname every one, from the highest official in the empire to
+the meanest beggar on the street. One of the great men of the
+present dynasty, a prime minister and intimate friend of the
+emperor, goes by the name of Humpbacked Liu. Another may be
+Cross-eyed Wang, another Club-footed Chang, another Bald-headed
+Li. Any physical deformity or mental peculiarity may give him his
+nickname. Even foreigners suffer in reputation from this national
+bad habit.
+
+A man whose face is covered with pockmarks is ridiculed by
+children in the following rhyme, which is only a sample of what
+might be produced on a score of other subjects:
+
+ Old pockmarked Ma,
+ He climbed up a tree,
+ A dog barked at him,
+ And a man caught his knee,
+ Which scared old Poxey
+ Until he couldn't see.
+
+A well-known characteristic of the Chinese is to do things
+opposite to the way in which we do them. We accuse
+them of doing things backwards, but it is we who deserve
+such blame because they antedated us in the doing of them.
+We shake each other's hands, they each shake their own
+hands. We take off our hats as a mark of respect, they
+keep theirs on. We wear black for mourning, they wear
+white. We wear our vests inside, they wear theirs outside.
+A hundred other things more or less familiar to us all,
+illustrate this rule. In some of their nursery rhymes everything
+is said and done on the "cart before the horse" plan.
+This is illustrated by a rhyme in which when the speaker
+heard a disturbance outside his door he discovered it was
+because a "dog had been bitten by a man." Of course,
+he at once rushed to the rescue. He "took up the door
+and he opened his hand." He "snatched up the dog and
+threw him at a brick." The brick bit his hand and he left
+the scene "beating on a horn and blowing on a drum."
+
+Tongue twisters are as common in Chinese as in English, and are
+equally appreciated by the children. From the nature of such
+rhymes, however, it is impossible to translate them into any
+other language.
+
+In one of these children's songs, a cake-seller informs the
+public in stentorian tones that his wares will restore sight to
+the blind and that
+
+ They cure the deaf and heal the lame,
+ And preserve the teeth of the aged dame.
+
+They will further cause hair to grow on a bald head and
+give courage to a henpecked husband. A girl who has been
+whipped by her mother mutters to herself how she would
+love and serve a husband if she only had one, even going to
+the extent of calling that much-despised mother-in-law her
+mother, and when overheard by her irate parent and asked
+what she was saying, she answers:
+
+ I was saying the beans are boiling nice
+ And it's just about time to add the rice.
+
+These are rather an indication of good cheer on the part
+of the children than lack of filial affection. A parent must
+be cruel indeed to make a girl willing to give up her mother
+for a mother-in-law.
+
+Another style of verses comes under the head of pure nonsense
+rhymes. They are wholly without sense and I am not sure they are
+good nonsense. They are popular, however, with the children, and
+critics may say what they will, but the children are the last
+court of appeal in case of nursery rhymes. Let me give one:
+
+ There's a cow on the mountain, the old saying goes,
+ On her legs are four feet, on her feet are eight toes.
+ Her tail is behind on the end of her back,
+ And her head is in front on the end of her neck.
+
+The Chinese nursery is well provided with rhymes
+pertaining to certain portions of the body. They have rhymes
+to repeat when they play with the five fingers, and others
+when they pull the toes; rhymes when they take hold of
+the knee and expect the child to refrain from laughing, no
+matter how much its knee is tickled; rhymes which correspond
+to all our face and sense; rhymes where the forehead
+represents the door and the five senses various other
+things, ending, of course, by tickling the child's neck.
+
+All of these have called forth rhymes among Chinese
+children similar to "little pig went to market," "forehead
+bender, eye winker," etc. The parent, or the nurse, taking
+hold of the toes of the child, repeats the following rhyme,
+as much to the amusement of the little Oriental as the
+"little pig" has always been to our own children:
+
+ This little cow eats grass,
+ This little cow eats hay,
+ This little cow drinks water,
+ This little cow runs away,
+ This little cow does nothing,
+ Except lie down all day.
+ We'll whip her.
+
+And, with that, she playfully pats the little bare foot. If it is
+the hand that is played with the fingers are taken hold of one
+after another, as the parent, or nurse, repeats the following
+rhyme:
+
+ This one's old,
+ This one's young
+ This one has
+ no meat;
+ This one's gone
+ To buy some hay,
+ And this one's on
+ the street.
+
+There are various forms of this rhyme, depending upon
+the place where it is found. The above is the Shantung
+version. In Peking it is as follows:
+
+ A great, big brother,
+ And a little brother,
+ too,
+A big bell tower,
+ And a temple and a
+ show,
+ And little baby
+ wee, wee,
+ Always wants to
+ go.
+
+The following rhyme explains itself: The nurse knocks on the
+forehead, then touches the eye, nose, ear, mouth and chin
+successively, as she repeats:
+
+ Knock at the door,
+ See a face,
+ Smell an odor,
+ Hear a voice,
+ Eat your dinner,
+ Pull your chin, or
+ Ke chih, ke chih.
+
+Tickling the child's neck with the last two expressions.
+
+We have in English a rhyme:
+
+ If you be a gentleman,
+ As I suppose you be,
+ You'll neither laugh nor smile
+ With a tickling of your knee.
+
+I had tried many months to find if there were any finger,
+face or body games other than those already given. Our own nurse
+insisted that she knew of none, but one day I noticed her
+grabbing my little girl's knee, while she was saying:
+
+ One grab silver,
+ Two grabs gold,
+ Three don't laugh,
+ And you'll grow old.
+
+There is no literature in China, not even in the sacred
+books, which is so generally known as their nursery
+rhymes. These are understood and repeated by the educated
+and the illiterate alike; by the children of princes and
+the children of beggars; children in the city and children in
+the country and villages, and they produce like results in
+the minds and hearts of all. The little folks laugh over the
+Cow, look sober over the Little Orphan, absorb the morals
+taught by the Mouse, and are sung to sleep by the song of
+the Little Snail.
+
+Sometimes however they, like children in other lands, are
+skeptical as to the reality of the stories told in the songs.
+Thus I remember once hearing our old nurse telling a number
+of stories and singing a number of songs to the little folk in
+the nursery. They had accepted one after another
+the legends as they rolled off the old woman's tongue,
+without question, but pretty soon she gave them a version
+of a Wind Song which aroused their incredulity. She sang:
+
+ Old grandmother Wind has come from the East.
+ She's ridden a donkey--a dear little beast.
+ Old mother-in-law Rain has come back again.
+ She's come from the North on a horse, it is plain.
+
+ Old grandmother Snow is coming you know,
+ From the West on a crane--just see how they go.
+ And old aunty Lightning has come from the South,
+ On a big yellow dog with a bit in his mouth.
+
+"There is no grandmother Wind, is there, nurse?"
+
+"No, of course not, people only call her grandmother Wind."
+
+"Why do they call the other mother-in-law Rain?"
+
+"I suppose, because mothers-in-law are often disagreeable,
+
+just like rainy weather."
+
+"And why do they speak of snow and the crane, and lightning and a
+yellow dog?"
+
+"I suppose, because a crane is somewhat the color of snow, and a
+yellow dog swift and the color of lightning."
+
+
+CHILDREN AND CHILD-LIFE
+
+Before going to China, I could not but wonder, when I
+saw a Chinese or Japanese doll, why it was they made such
+unnatural looking things for babies to play with. On reaching
+the Orient the whole matter was explained by my first
+sight of a baby. The doll looks like the child!
+
+Nothing in China is more common than babies. Nothing
+more helpless. Nothing more troublesome. Nothing more
+attractive. Nothing more interesting.
+
+A Chinese baby is a round-faced little helpless human
+animal, whose eyes look like two black marbles over which
+the skin had been stretched, and a slit made on the bias.
+His nose is a little kopje in the centre of his face, above a
+yawning chasm which requires constant filling to insure the
+preservation of law and order. On his shaved head are left
+small tufts of hair in various localities, which give him the
+appearance of the plain about Peking, on which the traveler
+sees, here and there, a small clump of trees around a country
+village, a home, or a cemetery; the remainder of the country
+being bare. These tufts are usually on the "soft spot," in the
+back of his neck, over his ears, or in a braid or a ring on the
+side of his head.
+
+The amount of joy brought to a home by the birth of a child
+depends upon several important considerations, chief among which
+are its sex, the number and sex of those already in the family,
+and the financial condition of the home.
+
+In general the Chinese prefer a preponderance of boys, but in
+case the family are in good circumstances and already have
+several boys, they are as anxious for a girl as parents in any
+other country.
+
+The reason for this is deeper than the mere fact of sex.
+It is imbedded in the social life and customs of the people.
+A girl remains at home until she is sixteen or seventeen,
+during which time she is little more than an expense. She
+is then taken to her husband's home and her own family
+have no further control over her life or conduct. She
+loses her identity with her own family, and becomes part
+of that of her husband. This through many years and
+centuries has generated in the popular mind a feeling that
+it is "bad business raising girls for other people," and
+there are not a few parents who would prefer to bring up
+the girl betrothed to their son, rather than bring up their
+own daughter.
+
+"Selfishness!" some people exclaim when they read such
+things about the Chinese. Yes, it is selfishness; but life
+in China is not like ours--a struggle for luxuries--but a
+struggle, not for bread and rice as many suppose, but for
+cornmeal and cabbage, or something else not more palatable.
+This is the life to which most Chinese children are
+born, and parents can scarcely be blamed for preferring
+boys whose hands may help provide for their mouths, to
+girls who are only an expense.
+
+The presumption is that a Chinese child is born with the
+same general disposition as children in other countries.
+This may perhaps be the case; but either from the treatment
+it receives from parents or nurses, or because of the
+disposition it inherits, its nature soon becomes changed,
+and it develops certain characteristics peculiar to the
+Chinese child. It becomes t'ao ch'i. That almost means
+mischievous; it almost means troublesome--a little tartar--
+but it means exactly t'ao ch'i.
+
+In this respect almost every Chinese child is a little tyrant.
+Father, mother, uncles, aunts, and grandparents are all made
+to do his bidding. In case any of them seems to be recalcitrant,
+the little dear lies down on his baby back on the
+dusty ground and kicks and screams until the refractory
+parent or nurse has repented and succumbed, when he get
+up and good-naturedly goes on with his play and allows
+them to go about their business. The child is t'ao ch'i.
+
+This disposition is general and not confined to any one
+rank or grade in society, if we may credit the stories that come
+from the palace regarding the present young Emperor
+Kuang Hsu. When a boy he very much preferred foreign
+to Chinese toys, and so the eunuchs stocked the palace
+nursery with all the most wonderful toys the ingenuity and
+mechanical skill of Europe had produced. As he grew
+older the toys became more complicated, being in the form
+of gramophones, graphophones, telephones, phonographs,
+electric lights, electric cars, cuckoo clocks, Swiss watches
+and indeed all the great inventions of modern times. The
+boy was t'ao ch'i, and the eunuchs say that if he were
+thwarted in any of his undertakings, or denied anything he
+very much desired, he would dash a Swiss watch, or anything
+else he might have in his hand, to the floor, breaking
+it into atoms; and as there was no chance of using the rod
+there was no way but to spoil the child.
+
+It is amusing to listen to the women in a Chinese home
+when a baby comes. If the child is a boy the parents are
+congratulated on every hand because of the "great happiness"
+that has come to their home. If it is a girl, and there
+are more girls than boys in the family, the old nurse goes
+about as if she had stolen it from somewhere, and when she
+is congratulated, if congratulated she happens to be, she
+says with a sigh and a funereal face, "Only a 'small happiness'--
+but that isn't bad."
+
+When a child is born it is considered one year old, and its years
+are reckoned not from its birthdays but from its New Year's days.
+If it has the good fortune to be born the day before two days old
+it is reckoned two years old being one year old when born and two
+years old on its first New Year's day.
+
+The first great event in a child's life occurs when it is
+one month old. It is then given its first public reception.
+Its head is shaved amid kicking and screaming, its mother is up
+and around where she can receive the congratulations of her
+friends, its grandmother is the honored guest of the occasion,
+andthe baby is named.
+
+All the relatives and friends are invited and every one is
+expected to take dinner with the child, and, which is more
+important, to bring presents. If the family is poor, this day
+puts into the treasury of life a day of happiness and a goodly
+amount of filthy lucre. If the family is rich the presents are
+correspondingly rich, for nowhere either in Orient or Occident
+can there be found a people more lavish and generous
+in their gifts than the Chinese. All the family can afford
+is spent upon the dinner given on this occasion, with the
+assurance that they will receive in presents and money
+more than double the expense both of the dinner and the
+birth of the child. If they do not "come" they are expected
+to "send" or they "lose face." Among the middle-class, the
+presents are of a useful nature, usually in the form of money,
+clothing or silver ornaments which are always worth their weight
+in bullion.
+
+The name given the child is called its "milk" name until the boy
+enters school. Whether boy or girl it may answer a good part of
+its life to the place it occupies in the family whether first,
+second or third.
+
+If a girl she may be compelled to answer to "Little Slave," and
+if a boy to "Baldhead." But the names usually given indicate the
+place or time of birth, the hope of the parent for the child, or
+exhibit the parent's love of beauty or euphony.
+
+A friend who was educated in a school situated in Filial
+Piety Lane and who afterwards lived near Filial Piety Gate
+called his first son "Two Filials." Another friend had sons
+whose names were "Have a Man," "Have a Mountain,"
+"Have a Garden," "Have a Fish." In conversation with
+this friend about the son whose "milk" name was "Have
+a Man," I constantly spoke of the boy by his "school"
+name, the only name by which I knew him. The old man
+was perfectly blank--he knew not of whom I spoke, as he
+had not seen his son since he got his school name. Finally,
+as it began to dawn on him that I was talking of his son, he
+asked:
+
+"Whom are you talking about?"
+
+"Your son."
+
+"Oh, you mean 'Have a Man.' "
+
+This same man had a little girl called "Apple," not an
+ordinary apple, but the most luscious apple known to North
+China. I have as I write a list of names commonly applied
+to girls from which I select the following: Beautiful
+Autumn, Charming Flower, Jade Pure, Lucky Pearl, Precious
+Harp, Covet Spring; and the parent's way of speaking of
+his little girl, when not wishing to be self-depreciative, is to
+call her his "Thousand ounces of gold."
+
+The names given to boys are quite as humiliating or as
+elevating as those given to girls. He may be Number One,
+Two or Three, Pig, Dog or Flea, or he may be like Wu
+T'ing Fang a "Fragrant Palace," or like Li Hung Chang, an
+"Illustrious Bird" or "Learned Treatise."
+
+During the summer-time in North China the child goes
+almost if not completely naked. Until it is five years old,
+its wardrobe consists largely of a chest-protector and a pair
+of shoes. In the winter-time its trousers are quilted, with
+feet attached, its coat made in the same way, and it is
+anything but "clean and sweet." The odor is not unlike that
+of an up-stairs back room in a narrow alley at Five Points,
+in which dwell a whole family of emigrants.
+
+When the Chinese child is ill he does not have the same
+kind of hospital accommodations, nursing and medical skill
+at his command as do we in the West. His bed is brick,
+his pillow stuffed with bran or grass-seed, he has no sheets,
+his food is coarse and ill-adapted to a sick child's stomach.
+While his nurse may be kind, gentle and loving she is not
+always skillful, and as for the ability of his physician let the
+following child's song tell us:
+
+ My wife's little daughter once fell very ill,
+ And we called for a doctor to give her a pill.
+ He wrote a prescription which now we will give her,
+ In which he has ordered a mosquito's liver.
+ And then in addition the heart of a flea,
+ And half pound of fly-wings to make her some tea.
+
+
+When the child begins to walk and talk it begins to be
+interesting. Its father has a little push cart made by which
+it learns to walk, and the nurse goes about the court with
+it repeating ba ba, ma ma, (notice that these words for papa
+and mama are practically the same in Chinese as in English,
+the b being substituted for p), and all the various words
+which mean elder brother, younger brother, elder and
+younger sisters, uncles, aunts, grandfathers, grandmothers,
+and cousins and all the various relatives which may be
+found in its family, village or home.
+
+It is not an easy matter to learn the names of one's
+relatives in China, as there is a separate name for each showing
+whether the person whom we call uncle is father or
+mother's elder or younger brother or the husband of their
+elder or younger sister. When it comes to learning the
+names of all one's cousins it is quite a difficult affair.
+Suppose, for instance, you were to introduce me to your cousin,
+and I wanted to know which one, you might explain that
+he is the son of your mother's elder brother. In China the
+word you used for cousin would express the exact idea.
+The child begins his study of language by learning all these
+relationships.
+
+These are for the most part taught them by the nurse,
+who is an important element in the Chinese home and a
+useful adjunct to the child. Each little girl in the homes of
+the better classes has her own particular nurse, who teaches
+her nursery songs in her childhood, is her companion during
+her youth, goes with her to her husband's home, when she
+marries presumably to prevent her becoming lonesome, and remains
+with her through life. In conversation with the
+granddaughters of a duke and their old nurse, I discovered
+that the same games the little children play upon the street,
+they play in the seclusion of their green-tiled palace, and the
+same nursery songs that entice Morpheus to share the mat
+shed of the beggar's boy, entice him also to share the silken
+couch of the emperor in the palace.
+
+When a boy is old enough, he grows a queue, which takes
+the place in the life of the Chinese boy which his first pair of
+trousers does in that of the American or English boy. It is
+one of the first things he lives for; and he should not be
+despised for wearing his hair in this fashion, especially when
+we remember that George Washington and Lafayette and
+their contemporaries wore their hair in a braid down their
+backs.
+
+Besides the queue has a great variety of uses. It serves
+him in some of the games he plays. When I saw the boys
+in geometry use their queues to strike an arc or draw a circle,
+it reminded me of my college days when I had forgotten to
+take a string to class. The laborer spreads a handkerchief
+or towel over his head, wraps his queue around it and
+makes for himself a hat. The cart driver whips his mule
+with it; the beggar uses it to scare away the dogs; the
+father takes hold of his little boy's queue instead of his hand
+when walking with him on the street, or the child follows
+holding to his father's queue, and the boys use it as reins
+when they play horse. I saw this amusingly illustrated on
+the streets of Peking. Two boys were playing horse.
+Now I have always noticed that when a boy plays horse, it
+is not because he has any desire to be the horse, but the
+driver. He is willing to be horse for a time, in order that he
+may be allowed to be driver for a still longer time. A large
+boy was playing horse with a smaller one, the latter acting
+as the beast of burden. This continued for some time, when the
+smaller, either discovering that a horse is larger than a man, or
+that it is more noble to be a man than a horse, balked, and said:
+
+"Now you be horse."
+
+The older was not yet inclined to be horse, and tried in
+vain, by coaxing, scolding and whipping, to induce him to
+move, but the horse was firm. The driver was also firm, and not
+until the horse in a very unhorselike manner, gave away to tears,
+could the man be induced to let himself down to the level of a
+horse. From all of which it will be seen that the disposition of
+Chinese children is no exception to that longing for superiority
+which prevails in every human heart.
+
+All kinds of trades, professions, and employments have
+as great attraction for Chinese as for American children. A
+country boy looks forward to the time when he can stand
+up in the cart and drive the team. Children seeing a
+battalion of soldiers at once "organize a company." This
+was amusingly illustrated by a group of children in Peking
+during the Chinese-Japanese war. Each had a stick or a
+weed for a gun, except the drummer-boy, who was provided
+with an empty fruit-can. They went through various
+maneuvres, for practice, no doubt, and all seemed to be going on
+beautifully until one of those in front shouted,
+in a voice filled with fear:
+
+"The Japanese are coming, the Japanese are coming."
+
+This was the signal for a general retreat, and the children,
+in imitation of the army then in the field, retreated in
+disorder and dismay in every direction.
+
+The Chinese boys and girls are little men and women. At an early
+age they are familiar with all the rules of behaviour which
+characterize their after life and conduct. Their clothes are cut
+on the same pattern, out of cloth as those of their parents and
+grandparents. There are no kilts and knee-breeches, pinafores and
+short skirts, to make them feel that they are little people.
+
+But they are little people as really and truly as are the
+children of other countries. A gentleman in reviewing my
+"Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes" speaks of some of the
+illustrations which "present the Chinese children playing
+their sober little games." Why we should call such a game
+as "blind man's buff," "e-ni-me-ni-mi-ni-mo," "this little
+pig went to market" or "pat-a-cake" "sober little games,"
+unless it is because of preconceived notions of the Chinese
+people I do not understand. The children are dignified little
+people, but they enjoy all the attractions of child-life as
+much as other children do.
+
+It is a mistake to suppose that the life of Chinese children
+is a doleful one. It is understood, of course, that their life
+is not the same, nor to be compared with that of children
+in Europe or America: and it should be remembered further
+that the pleasures of child-life are not measured by the
+gratification of every childish whim. Many of the little
+street children who spend a large part of their time in
+efforts to support the family, when allowed to go to a fair
+or have a public holiday enjoy themselves more in a single
+day than the child of wealth, in a whole month of idleness.
+
+In addition to his games and rhymes, the fairs which are
+held regularly in the great Buddhist temples in different
+parts of the cities, are to the Chinese boy what a country
+fair, a circus or Fourth of July is to an American farmer's
+boy or girl. He has his cash for candy or fruit, his crackers
+which he fires off at New Year's time, making day a time
+of unrest, and night hideous. Kite-flying is a pleasure
+which no American boy appreciates as does the Chinese, a
+pleasure which clings to him till he is three-score years and
+ten, for it is not uncommon to find a child and his grandfather
+in the balmy days of spring flying their kites together.
+He has his pet birds which he carries around in cages or on
+a perch unlike any other child we have ever seen. He has
+his crickets with which he amuses himself--not "gambles"
+--and his gold fish which bring him days and years of
+delight. Indeed the Chinese child, though in the vast
+majority of cases very poor, has ample provision for a very
+good time, and if he does not have it, it must be his own
+fault.
+
+Statements about the life of the children, however, may
+be nothing more than personal impressions, and are usually
+colored as largely by the writer's prejudices as by the
+conditions of the children. Some of us are so constituted as to
+see the dark side of the picture, others the bright. Let us
+go with the boys and girls to their games. Let us play
+with their toys and be entertained by the shows that entertain
+them, and see if they are not of the same flesh and
+blood, heart and sentiment as we. We shall find that the
+boys and girls live together, work together, study together,
+play together, have their heads shaved alike and quarrel
+with each other until they are seven years old, the period
+which brings to an end the life of the Chinese child. From
+this period it is the boy or the girl.
+
+
+GAMES PLAYED BY BOYS
+
+Children's games are always interesting. Chinese games
+are especially so because they are a mine hitherto
+unexplored. An eminent archdeacon once wrote: "The Chinese
+are not much given to athletic exercises." A well-known
+doctor of divinity states that, "their sports do not require
+much physical exertion, nor do they often pair off, or choose
+sides and compete, in order to see who are the best
+players," while a still more prominent writer tells us that,
+"active, manly sports are not popular in the South." Let us
+see whether these opinions are true.
+
+Two years ago a letter from Dr. Luther Gulick, at present
+connected with the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., came to
+us while in Peking, asking that we study into the character
+of Chinese children's games. Dr. Gulick was preparing a
+series of lectures on the "Psychology of Play." He desired
+to secure as much reliable information as possible regarding
+the play-life of the children of the East, in order that he
+might discover what relation exists between the games of
+Oriental and those of Occidental children. By so doing he
+would learn the effect of play on the mental and physical
+development as well as the character of children, and
+through them upon the human race as a whole. We were
+fortunate in having at our disposal a large number of
+students connected with Peking University, the preparatory,
+intermediate and primary schools, together with 150 girls in
+attendance at the girls' high school.
+
+We received the letter at four o'clock, at which time the
+students had just been dismissed from school, and were taking
+their afternoon meal, but at 4:30 we went to the playground,
+notebook in hand, called together some of our most interesting
+boys, explained to them our object, and asked them to play for
+us. Some one may say that this was the worst possible thing to
+do, as it would make the children self-conscious and hence
+unnatural--the sequel, however, will show.
+
+At first that was exactly what happened. The children
+tittered, and looked at each other in blank astonishment,
+then one of them walked away and several others gathered
+about us. We repeated our explanation in order to secure
+their interest, set their minds to work thinking up games,
+and do away with the embarrassment, and it was only a
+few minutes before an intelligent expression began to appear
+in the eyes of some of the boys, and one of them, who was
+always ready for anything new, turned to his companion and said:
+
+"You go and find Chi, and bring him here."
+
+"Who is Chi?" we inquired.
+
+"He is the boy who knows more games than any of the rest of us,"
+he explained.
+
+Away he ran and soon reappeared with a very unpromising
+looking boy whom we recognized as a street waif that had been
+taken into what some one called our "raggedy school" a few years
+before. He was a glum looking boy--a boy without a smile. There
+was a set expression on his face which might be interpreted as
+"life is not worth living," or, which would be an equally
+legitimate interpretation in the present instance, "these games
+are of no importance. If you want them we can play any number of
+them for you, but what will you do with them after you get them?"
+
+All the crowd began at once to explain to Chi what we wanted,
+and he looked more solemn than ever, then we came to his rescue.
+
+"Chi," we asked, "what kind of games do boys play?"
+
+Slowly and solemnly Chi wound one leg around the other as he
+answered:
+
+"Lots of them."
+
+This is the stereotyped answer that will come from any
+Chinaman to almost any question he may be asked about
+things Chinese.
+"For instance?" we further inquired.
+
+"Forcing the city gates," he answered.
+
+"Play it for me."
+
+The boys at once appointed captains who chose sides
+and they formed themselves into two lines facing each
+other, those of each line taking fast hold of each other's
+hands. The boys on one side then sang:
+
+ He stuck a feather in his hat,
+ And hurried to the town
+ And children met him with a horse
+ For the gates were broken down.
+
+Then one from the other side ran with all his force,
+throwing himself upon the hands of the boys who had
+sung, the object being to "break through," in which case
+he took the two whose hands had been parted to "his
+side," while if he failed to break through he had to remain
+on their side. The others then sang. One from this group
+tried to break through their line, and thus they alternated
+until one side or the other was broken up.
+
+The boys were panting and red in the face when the
+game was over, a strong argument against the Chinese-are-
+not-much-given-to-vigorous-exercise theory.
+
+"Now play something which does not require so much
+exercise," we requested.
+
+Every one looked at Chi, not that the other boys did not
+know the games, but simply because this matter-of-fact
+boy was their natural leader in this kind of sport.
+
+"Blind man," he said quietly.
+
+At once a handkerchief was tied around the eyes of one of the
+boys who was willing to be "blind man," and a game corresponding
+almost exactly to our own "blind man's buff" was played, without
+the remotest embarrassment, but with as much naturalness as
+though neither teacher nor spectator was near them.
+
+"Have you any other games which require strength?"
+we inquired.
+
+"Man-wheel," said Chi in his monosyllabic way.
+
+"Play it, please."
+
+"Go and call Wei-Yuan," to one of the smaller boys.
+
+The boy ran off to find the one indicated, and Chi
+
+selected two other middle-sized and two small boys.
+When Wei-Yuan, a larger but very good-natured, kindly-
+dispositioned lad, came, the two middle-sized boys stood
+beside him, one facing north, the other south, and caught
+each other's hand over Wei-Yuan's shoulder. The two
+smaller boys then stood beside these two, each of whom
+clutched hold of the small boys' girdles, who in turn
+clutched their girdles and Wei-Yuan took their disengaged
+hands. Thus the five boys were firmly bound together.
+The wheel then began to turn, the small boys were gradually
+lifted from the ground and swung or whirled around
+in an almost horizontal position.
+
+"This game requires more strength," Chi explained, "than any
+other small boys' game."
+
+"Have you any games more vigorous than this?"
+
+"Pitching the stone lock, and lifting the stone dumb-bells, but
+they are for men."
+
+"What is that game you were playing a few days ago in
+which you used one stick to knock another?"
+
+"One is striking the stick, and another is knocking the stick."
+
+"Play one of them."
+
+Chi drew two lines on the ground eight feet apart, on one
+of which he put a stick. He then threw another stick at it,
+the object being to drive it over the other line. He who
+first succeeds in driving it over the line wins the game.
+The sticks are ten to fifteen inches long.
+
+Striking the stick is similar to tip-cat which we have
+often seen played by boys on the streets of New York. The
+children mark out a square five or six feet on each side.
+The striker takes a position inside, with his feet spread apart
+as wide as possible, to give him a better command of the
+square. One of the others places the block in the position
+which he supposes will be most difficult for the striker to
+hit. The latter is then at liberty to twist around on one
+foot, placing the other outside the square, in order if possible
+to secure a position from which he can strike to advantage.
+He then throws a stick about fifteen inches long at
+the block to drive it out of the square. If he fails, the one
+who placed the block takes the stick, and another places the
+block for him. If he succeeds he has the privilege of striking
+the block three times as follows: He first strikes it
+perpendicularly, which causes it to bound up two or three feet,
+when he hits it as one would hit a ball, driving it as far as
+possible. This he repeats three times, and if he succeeds
+in driving it the distance agreed upon, which may be 20,
+50, 200, 300, 500 or more feet, he wins the game. If not
+he brings back the block and tries again, continuing
+to strike until he fails to drive it out of the square. This
+game develops ingenuity in placing the block and skill,
+in striking, and is one of the most popular of all boys'
+games.
+
+When they had finished striking the stick one of the
+smaller children went over to where Chi was standing and
+whispered in his ear. The expression of his face remained
+as unchangeable as that of a stone image, as he called out:
+
+"Select fruit."
+
+The boys danced about in high glee, selected two captains
+who chose sides, and they all squatted down in two rows
+twenty feet apart. Each boy was given the name of some
+kind of fruit, such as apples, pears, peaches, quinces or
+plums, all of which are common about Peking. The captain
+on one side then blindfolded one of his boys, while
+one from the other group arose and stealthily walked over
+and touched him, returning to his place among his own
+group and taking as nearly as possible the position he had
+when the other was blindfolded. In case his companions
+are uncertain as to whether his position is exactly the same,
+they all change their position, in order to prevent the one
+blindfolded from guessing who it was who left his place.
+
+The covering was then removed from his eyes, he went
+over to the other side, examined carefully if perchance he
+might discover, from change of position, discomfort in
+squatting, or a trace of guilt in the face or eyes of any of
+them, a clue to the guilty party. He "made faces" to try
+to cause the guilty one to laugh. He gesticulated, grimaced,
+did everything he could think of, but they looked blank and
+unconcerned, or all laughed together, allowing no telltale look
+to appear on their faces. His pantomimes sometimes
+brought out the guilty one, but in case they did not, his last
+resort was to risk a guess, and so he made his selection. If he
+was right he took the boy to his side; if wrong, he stayed
+on their side. One of their side was then blindfolded,
+and the whole was repeated until one group or the other lost all
+its men. The game is popular among girls as well as boys.
+
+"Do you have any other guessing games?" we asked Chi.
+
+"Yes, there is point at the moon or the stars," he answered, "and
+blind man is also a guessing game."
+
+By this time the boys had become enthusiastic, and had entirely
+forgotten that they were playing for us or indeed for any
+purpose. It was a new experience, this having their games taken
+in a notebook, and each was anxious not only that he play well,
+but that no mistake be made by any one. The more Chi realized the
+importance of playing the games properly the more solemn he
+became, if indeed it were possible to be more solemn than was his
+normal condition. He now changed to a game of an entirely
+different character from those already played. Those developed
+strength, skill or curiosity; this developed quick reaction in
+the players.
+
+"What shall we play?" inquired one of the boys.
+
+"Queue," answered Chi.
+
+Immediately every boy jerked his queue over his shoulder
+and began to edge away from his companions. But as he
+walked away from one he drew near another, and a sudden
+calling of his name would so surprise him that in turning
+his head to see who spoke his short queue would be jerked
+back over his shoulder and he received a dozen slaps from
+his companions, all of whom were waiting for just such an
+opportunity. This is the object of the game--to catch a
+boy with his queue down his back. Some of the boys, more
+spry than others, would move away to a distance, and then as
+though all unconsciously, allow their queue to hang down
+the back in its natural position, depending upon their fleetness
+or their agility in getting out of the way or bringing the
+queue around in front. This game is peculiarly interesting
+and caused much hilarity. At times even the solemn face
+of Chi relaxed into a smile.
+
+"Honor," called out Chi, and as in the circus when the
+ringmaster cracks his whip, everything changed. The boys
+each hooked the first finger of his right hand with that of
+his companion and then pulled until their fingers broke
+apart, when they each uttered the word "Honor." This
+must not be spoken before they broke apart, but as soon as
+possible after, and he who was first heard was entitled to
+an obeisance on the part of the other. Those who failed
+the first trial sat down, and those who succeeded paired off
+and pulled once more, and so on until only one was left,
+who, as in the spelling-bees of our boyhood days, became
+the hero of the hour.
+
+Chi, however, was not making heroes, or was it that he
+did not want to hurt the feelings of those who were less
+agile; at any rate he called out "Hockey," and the boys at
+once snatched up their short sticks and began playing at a
+game that is not unlike our American "shinny," a game
+which is so familiar to every American boy as to make
+description unnecessary--the principal difference between
+this and the American game being that the boys all try to
+prevent one boy from putting a ball into what they call the
+big hole, which, like the others, tended to develop quickness
+of action in the boys.
+
+
+I was familiar with the fact that there are certain games
+which tend to develop the parental or protective instinct in
+children, while certain others develop the combative and
+destructive, as for instance playing with dolls develops the
+mother-instinct in girls; tea-parties, the love of society; and
+paper dolls teach them how to arrange the furniture in their
+houses; while on the other hand, wrestling, boxing, sparring,
+battles, and all such amusements if constantly engaged in by
+boys, tend to make them, if properly guided and instructed, brave
+and patriotic; but if not properly led, cause them to be
+quarrelsome, domineering, cruel, coarse and rough, and I wondered
+if the Chinese boys had any such games.
+
+"Chi," I asked, "do you have any such games as host and guest, or
+games in which the large boys protect the small ones?"
+
+"Host and guest," said Chi.
+
+The boys at once arranged themselves promiscuously over
+the playground, and with a few peanuts, or sour dates
+which they picked up under the date trees, with all the
+ceremony of their race, they invited the others to dine with
+them. After playing thus for a moment, Chi called out:
+
+"Roast dog meat."
+
+The children gathered in a group, put the palms of their
+hands together, squatted in a bunch or ring, and placed their
+hands together in the centre to represent the pot. The boy
+on the left of the illustration represents Mrs. Wang, the
+guest of the occasion, while Chi himself stands on the right
+with his hand on the head of one of the boys. Chi walked
+around the ring while he sang:
+
+ Roast, roast, roast dog meat,
+ The second pot smells bad,
+ The little pot is sweet,
+ Come, Mrs. Wang, please,
+ And eat dog meat.
+
+He then invited Mrs. Wang to come and partake of a dinner
+of dog meat with him, and the following conversation
+ensued.
+
+ I cannot walk.
+ I'll hire a cart for you.
+ I'm afraid of the bumping.
+ I'll hire a sedan chair for you.
+ I'm afraid of the jolting.
+ I'll hire a donkey for you.
+ I'm afraid of falling off.
+ I'll carry you.
+ I have no clothes.
+ I'll borrow some for you.
+ I have no hair ornaments.
+ I'll make some for you.
+ I have no shoes.
+ I'll buy some for you.
+
+This conversation may be carried on to any length,
+according to the fertility of the minds of the children, the
+excuses of Mrs. Wang at times being very ludicrous. All
+these, however, being met, the host carries her off on his
+back to partake of the dainties of a dog meat feast.
+
+"What were you playing a few days ago when all the boys lay in a
+straight line?"
+
+"Skin the snake."
+
+The boys danced for glee. This was one of their favorite games.
+
+They all stood in line one behind the other. They bent
+forward, and each put one hand between his legs and thus
+grasped the disengaged hand of the boy behind him.
+
+Then they began backing. The one in the rear lay down
+and they backed over astride of him, each lying down as he
+backed over the one next behind him with the other's head
+between his legs and his head between the legs of his
+neighbor, keeping fast hold of hands. They were thus
+lying in a straight line.
+
+The last one that lay down then got up, and as he walked
+astride the line raised each one after him until all were up,
+when they let go hands, stood straight, and the game was
+finished.
+
+
+"Have you any other games which develop the protective instinct
+in boys?" we inquired of Chi.
+
+"The hawk catching the young chicks," said the matter-of-fact
+boy, answering my question and directing the boys at the same
+time.
+
+The children selected one of their number to represent the
+hawk and another the hen, the latter being one of the largest
+and best natured of the group, and one to whom the small
+boys naturally looked for protection.
+
+They formed a line with the mother hen in front, each
+clutching fast hold of the others' clothing, with a large active
+boy at the end of the line.
+
+The hawk then came to catch the chicks, but the mother
+hen spread her wings and moved from side to side keeping
+between the hawk and the brood, while at the same time
+the line swayed from side to side always in the opposite
+direction from that in which the hawk was going. Every
+chick caught by the hawk was taken out of the line until
+they were all gone.
+
+One of the boys whispered something to Chi.
+
+"Strike the poles," exclaimed the latter.
+
+As soon as they began playing we recognized it as a game we had
+already seen.
+
+The boys stood about four feet apart, each having a stick four or
+five feet long which he grasped near the middle. As they repeated
+the following rhyme in concert they struck alternately the upper
+and lower ends of the sticks together, occasionally half
+inverting them and thus striking the upper ends together in an
+underhand way. They struck once for each accented syllable of the
+following rhyme, making it a very rhythmical game.
+
+ Strike the stick,
+ One you see.
+ I'll strike you and you strike me.
+ Strike the stick,
+ Twice around,
+ Strike it hard for a good, big sound.
+ Strike it thrice,
+ A stick won't hurt.
+ The magpie wears a small white shirt.
+ Strike again.
+ Four for you.
+ A camel, a horse, and a Mongol too.
+ Strike it five--
+ Five I said,
+ A mushroom grows with dirt on its head.
+ Strike it six
+ Thus you do,
+ Six good horsemen caught Liu Hsiu.
+ Strike it seven
+ For 'tis said
+ A pheasant's coat is green and red.
+ Strike it eight,
+ Strike it right,
+ A gourd on the house-top blossoms white.
+ Strike again,
+ Strike it nine,
+ We'll have some soup, some meat and wine.
+ Strike it ten,
+ Then you stop,
+ A small, white blossom on an onion top.
+
+Chi did not wait for further suggestion from any one, but called
+out:
+
+"Throw cash."
+
+The boys all ran to an adjoining wall, each took a cash
+from his purse or pocket, and pressing it against the wall,
+let it drop. The one whose cash rolled farthest away took
+it up and threw it against the wall in such a way as to make
+it bound back as far as possible.
+
+Each did this in turn. The one whose cash bounded
+farthest, then took it up, and with his foot on the place
+whence he had taken it, he pitched or threw it in turn at
+each of the others. Those he hit he took up. When he
+missed one, all who remained took up their cash and struck
+the wall again, going through the same process as before.
+The one who wins is the one who takes up most cash.
+
+This seemed to call to mind another pitching game, for
+Chi said once more in his old military way:
+
+"Pitch brickbats."
+
+The boys drew two lines fifteen feet apart. Each took a
+piece of brick, and, standing on one line pitched to see who
+could come nearest to the other.
+
+The one farthest from the line set up his brick on the line
+and the one nearest, standing on the opposite line, pitched
+at it, the object being to knock it over.
+
+If he failed he set up his brick and the other pitched at it.
+
+If he succeeded, he next pitched it near the other, hopped
+over and kicked his brick against that of his companion,
+knocking it over. Then he carried it successively on his
+head, on each shoulder, on back and breast (walking), in
+the bend of his thigh and the bend of his knee (hopping),
+and between his legs (shuffling), each time dropping it on
+the other brick and knocking it over.
+
+Finally he marked a square enclosing the brick, eighteen
+inches each side, and hopped back and forth over both
+square and brick ten times which constituted him winner of
+the game.
+
+Chi had become so expert in pitching and dropping the
+brick as to be able to play the game without an error. The
+shuffling and hopping often caused much merriment.
+
+"What is that game," we inquired of Chi, "the boys on
+the street play with two marbles?"
+
+Without directly answering my question Chi turned to the boys and
+said:
+
+"Kick the marbles."
+
+The boys soon produced from somewhere,--Chinese boys
+can always produce anything from anywhere,--two marbles
+an inch and a half in diameter. Chi put one on the ground,
+and with the toe of his shoe upon it, gave it a shove. Then
+placing the other, he shoved it in the same way, the object
+being to hit the first.
+
+There are two ways in which one may win. The first
+boy says to the second, kick this marble north (south, east
+or west) of the other at one kick. If he succeeds he wins,
+if he fails the other wins.
+
+If he puts it north as ordered, he may kick again to hit
+the other ball, in which case he wins again. If he hits the
+ball and goes north, as ordered, at one kick, he wins double.
+
+Each boy tries to leave the balls in as difficult a position
+as possible for his successor; and here comes in a peculiarity
+which leaves this game unique among the games of the world. If
+the position in which the balls are left is too difficult for the
+other to play he may refuse to kick and the first is compelled to
+play his own difficult game--or like Haman--to hang on his own
+gallows. It recognizes the Chinese golden rule of not doing to
+others what you would not have them do to you.
+
+The boys spent a long time playing this game--indeed they seemed
+to forget they were playing for us, and we were finally compelled
+to call them off.
+
+Chi had turned the marbles over to the others as soon as
+he had fairly started it, and stood in that peculiar fashion of
+his with one leg wound around the other, and when we
+called to them, he simply said as though it were the next
+part of the same game:
+
+"Kick the shoes."
+
+The boys all took off their shoes--an easy matter for an
+Oriental--and piled them in a heap. At a given sign they
+all kicked the pile scattering the shoes in every direction,
+and each snatched up, and, for the time, kept what he got.
+Those who were very agile got their own shoes, or a pair
+which would fit them, while those who were slow only
+secured a single shoe, and that either too large or too small.
+It was amusing to see a large-footed boy with a small shoe,
+and a boy with small feet having a shoe or shoes much too
+large for him.
+
+The game was a good test of the boys' agility.
+
+On consulting our watch we found it would soon be time for the
+boys to enter school, but asked them to play one more game.
+
+"Cat catching mice," said Chi.
+
+The children selected one of their company to represent the cat
+and another the mouse.
+
+The remainder formed a ring with the mouse inside and
+the cat outside, and while the ring revolved, the following
+conversation took place:
+
+ "What o'clock is it?"
+ "Just struck nine."
+
+"Is the mouse at home?"
+ "He's about to dine."
+
+All the time the mouse was careful to keep as far as possible
+from the cat.
+
+The ring stopped revolving and the cat popped in at this
+side and the mouse out at the other. It is one of the rules
+of the game that the cat must follow exactly in the footsteps
+of the mouse. They wound in and out of the ring for some time but
+at last the mouse was caught and "eaten," the eating process
+being the amusing part of the game. It is impossible to describe
+it as every "cat" does it differently, and one of the virtues of
+a cat is to be a good eater.
+
+The boys continued to play until the bell rang for the
+evening session. They referred to many different games
+which they had received from Europeans, but played only
+those which Chi had learned upon the street before he
+entered school. This was repeated day after day, until we
+had gathered a large collection of their most common, and
+consequently their best, games, the number of which was
+an indication of the richness of the play life of Chinese boys.
+
+Another peculiarly interesting fact was the leadership of
+Chi. The Chinese boy, like the Chinese man is a genuine
+democrat and is ready to follow the one who knows what he
+is about and is competent to take the lead, with little regard
+to social position. It is the civil service idea of a genuine
+democracy ingrained in childhood.
+
+
+GAMES PLAYED BY GIRLS
+
+After having made the collection of boys' games we
+undertook to obtain in a similar way, fullest information
+concerning games played by the girls. Of course, it was
+impossible to do it alone, for the appearance of a man
+among a crowd of little girls in China is similar to that of a
+hawk among a flock of small chicks--it results in a tittering
+and scattering in every direction, or a gathering together in
+a dock under the shelter of the school roof or the wings of
+the teacher. One of the teachers, however, Miss Effie
+Young, kindly consented to go with us, and a goodly
+number of the small girls, after a less than usual amount of
+tittering and whispering, gathered about us to see what was
+wanted. The smallest among them was the most brave,
+and Miss Young explained that this was a "little street
+waif" who had been taken into the school because she had
+neither home nor friends, with the hope that something
+might be done to save her from an unhappy fate.
+
+"Do you know any games?" we asked her.
+
+She put her hands behind her, hung her head, shuffled
+in an embarrassed manner, and answered: "Lots of them."
+
+"Play some for me."
+
+This small girl after some delay took control of the party
+and began arranging them for a game, which she called "going
+to town," similar to one which the boys called "pounding rice."
+Two of the girls stood back to back, hooked their arms, and as
+one bent the other from the ground, and thus alternating, they
+sang:
+
+ Up you go, down you see,
+ Here's a turnip for you and me;
+ Here's a pitcher, we'll go to town;
+ Oh, what a pity, we've fallen down.
+
+At which point they both sat down back to back, their arms still
+locked, and asked and answered the following questions:
+
+ What do you see in the heavens bright?
+ I see the moon and the stars at night.
+ What do you see in the earth, pray tell?
+ I see in the earth a deep, deep well.
+ What do you see in the well, my dear?
+ I see a frog and his voice I hear.
+ What is he saying there on the rock?
+ Get up, get up, ke'rh kua, ke'rh kua.
+
+They then tried to get up, but, with their arms locked,
+they found it impossible to do so, and rolled over and got
+up with great hilarity.
+
+This seemed to suggest to our little friend another game,
+which she called "turning the mill." The girls took hold
+of each other's hands, just as the boys do in "churning
+butter," but instead of turning around under their arms they
+turn half way, put one arm up over their head, bringing
+their right or left sides together, one facing one direction
+and one the other; then, standing still, the following dialogue
+took place:
+
+ Where has the big dog gone?
+ Gone to the city.
+ Where has the little dog gone?
+ Run away.
+
+Then, as they began to turn, they repeated:
+
+ The big dog's gone to the city;
+ The little dog's run away;
+ The egg has fallen and broken,
+ And the oil's leaked out, they say.
+ But you be a roller
+ And hull with power,
+ And I'll be a millstone
+ And grind the flour.
+
+As soon as this game was finished our little friend
+arranged the children against the wall for another game.
+Everything was in readiness. They were about to begin,
+when one of the larger girls whispered something in her
+ear. She stepped back, put her hands behind her, hung
+her head and thought a moment.
+
+"Go on," we said.
+
+"No, we can't play that; there is too much bad talk in it."
+This is one of the unfortunate features of Chinese children's
+games and rhymes. There is an immense amount of bad talk in them.
+
+She at once called out:
+
+"Meat or vegetables."
+
+Each girl began to scurry around to find a pair of old
+shoes, which may be picked up almost anywhere in China,
+and putting one crosswise of the other, they let them fall.
+The way they fell indicated what kind of meat or vegetables
+they were. If they both fell upside down they were the big black
+tiger. If both fell on the side they were double beans.
+If one fell right side up and the other on its side they were
+beans. If both were right side up they were honest officials.
+(What kind of meat or vegetables honest officials are it is
+difficult to say, but that never troubles the Chinese child.)
+If one is right side and the other wrong side up they are
+dogs' legs. If the toe of one rests on the top of the other,
+both right side up and at right angles, they form a dark
+hole or an alley.
+
+The child whose shoes first form an alley must throw a
+pebble through this alley--that is, under the toe of the shoe
+--three times, or, failing to do so, one of the number takes
+up the shoes, and standing on a line, throws them all back
+over her head. Then she hops to each successively, kicking
+it back over the line, each time crossing the line herself, until
+all are over. In case she fails another tries it in the same
+way, and so on, till some one succeeds. This one then takes
+the two shoes of the one who got the alley, and, hanging
+them successively on her toe, kicks them as far as possible.
+The possessor of the shoes, starting from the line, hops to
+each, picks it up and hops back over the line with it, which
+ends the game. It is a vigorous hopping game for little girls.
+
+The girls were pretty well exhausted when this game was over and
+we asked them to play something which required less exercise.
+
+"Water the flowers," said the small leader.
+
+Several of them squatted down in a circle, put their hands
+together in the centre to represent the flowers. One of their
+number gathered up the front of her garment in such a way as to
+make a bag, and went around as if sprinkling water on their
+heads, at the same time repeating:
+
+ "I water the flowers, I water the flowers,
+ I water them morning and evening hours,
+ I never wait till the flowers are dry,
+ I water them ere the sun is high."
+
+She then left a servant in charge of them while she went
+to dinner. While she was away one of them was stolen.
+
+Returning she asked: "How is this that one of my flowers is
+gone?"
+
+"A man came from the south on horseback and stole one
+before I knew it. I followed him but how could I catch a
+man on horseback?"
+
+After many rebukes for her carelessness, she again sang:
+
+ "A basin of water, a basin of tea,
+ I water the flowers, they're op'ning you see."
+
+Again she cautioned the servant about losing any of the
+flowers while she went to take her afternoon meal, but another
+flower was stolen and this time by a man from the west.
+
+When the mistress returned, she again scolded the servant,
+after which she sang:
+
+ "A basin of water, another beside,
+ I water the flowers, they're opening wide."
+
+This was continued until all the flowers were gone. One
+had been taken by a carter, another by a donkey-driver,
+another by a muleteer, another by a man on a camel, and
+finally the last little sprig was eaten by a chicken. The
+servant was soundly berated each time and cautioned to be
+more careful, which she always promised but never
+performed, and was finally dismissed in disgrace without either
+a recommendation, or the wages she had been promised when hired.
+
+The game furnishes large opportunity for invention on the part of
+the servant, depending upon the number of those to be stolen.
+This little girl seemed to be at her wit's end when she gave as
+the excuse for the loss of the last one that it had been eaten by
+a chicken.
+
+This game suggested to our little friend another which proved to
+be the sequel to the one just described, and she called out:
+
+"The flower-seller."
+
+The girl who had just been dismissed appeared from behind the
+corner of the house with all the stolen "flowers," each holding
+to the other's skirts. At the same time she was calling out:
+
+ "Flowers for sale,
+ Flowers for sale,
+ Come buy my flowers
+ Before they get stale."
+
+The original owner hereupon appeared and called to her:
+
+"Hey! come here, flower-girl, those flowers look like mine," and
+she took one away.
+
+The flower-seller did not stop to argue the question but
+hurried off crying:
+
+ "Flowers for sale," etc.
+
+The original owner again called to her:
+
+"Ho! flower-seller, come here, those flowers are certainly mine,"
+whereupon she took them all and whipped the flower-seller who ran
+away crying.
+
+As the little flower-seller ran away crying in her sleeve,
+she stumbled over an old flower-pot that lay in the school
+court. This accident seemed to act as a reminder to our
+little leader for she called out,
+
+"Flower-pot."
+
+The girls divided themselves into companies of three and stood in
+the form of a triangle, each with her left hand holding the right
+hand of the other, their hands being crossed in the centre.
+
+Then by putting the arms of two back of the head of the third
+she was brought into the centre (steps into the well), and by
+stepping over two other arms, she goes out on the opposite
+side, so that whereas she was on the left side of this and
+the right side of that one, she now stands on the right side of
+this and the left side of that girl. In the same way the second
+and third girls go through, and so on as long as they wish to
+keep up the game, saying or singing the following rhyme:
+
+ You first cross over, and then cross back,
+ And step in the well as you cross the track,
+ And then there is something else you do,
+ Oh, yes, you make a flower-pot too.
+
+By this time the girls had lost most of their strangeness
+or embarrassment and continued the flower-pot until we
+were compelled to remind them that they were playing for
+us. Everybody let go hands and the little general called out,
+
+"The cow's tail."
+
+One girl with a small stick in her hand squatted down pretending
+to be digging and the others took a position one behind the other
+similar to the hawk catching the chicks. They walked up to the
+girl digging and engaged in the following conversation:
+
+ "What are you digging?"
+ "Digging a hole."
+ "What is it for?"
+ "My pot for to boil."
+ "What will you heat?"
+ "Some water and broth."
+ "How use the water?"
+ "I'll wash some cloth.
+ "What will you make?"
+ "I'll make a bag."
+ "And what put in it?"
+ "A knife and a rag."
+ "What is the knife for?"
+ "To kill your lambs."
+ "What have they done?"
+ "They've eaten my yams."
+ "How high were they?"
+ "About so high."
+ "Oh, that isn't high."
+ "As high as the sky."
+
+
+"What is your name?"
+ "My name is Grab, what is your name?"
+ "My name is Turn."
+"Turn once for me."
+
+They all walked around in a circle and as they turned they sang:
+
+ "We turn about once,
+ Or twice I declare,
+ And she may grab,
+ But we don't care."
+
+ "Can't you grab once for us?"
+ "Yes, but what I grab I keep."
+
+She then ran to "grab" one of the "lambs" but they kept behind
+the front girl just as the boys did in the hawk catching the
+chicks. After awhile however, they were all caught.
+
+Why this game is called "cow's tail" and the girls called
+"lambs," we do not know. We asked the girls why and
+their answer was, "There is no reason."
+
+The girls were panting with the running before they were
+all caught and we suggested that they rest awhile, but
+instead the little leader called out:
+
+"Let out the doves."
+
+One of the larger girls took hold of the hands of two of
+the smaller, one of whom represented a dove and the other
+a hawk. The hawk stood behind her and the dove in front.
+
+She threw the dove away as she might pitch a bird into
+the air, and as the child ran it waved its arms as though they
+were wings. She threw the hawk in the same way, and it
+followed the dove.
+
+She then clapped her hands as the Chinese do to bring
+their pet birds to them, and the dove if not caught, returned
+to the cage. This is a very pretty game for little children.
+
+By this time the girls were all rested and our little friend
+said:
+
+"Seek for gold."
+
+Three or four of the girls gathered up some pebbles,
+squatted down in a group and scattered them as they would
+a lot of jackstones. Then one drew her finger between two
+of the stones and snapped one against the other. If she hit
+it the two were taken up and put aside.
+
+She then drew her finger between two more and snapped them.
+
+If she missed, another girl took up what were left,
+scattered them, snapped them, took them up, and so on until one
+or another got the most of the pebbles and thus won the game.
+Our little friend was reminded of another and she called out:
+
+"The cow 's eye."
+
+Immediately the girls all sat down in a ring and put their feet
+together in the centre. Then one of their number repeated the
+following rhyme, tapping a foot with each accented syllable.
+
+ One, two, three, and an old cow's eye,
+ When a cow s eye's blind she'll surely die.
+ A piece of skin and a melon too,
+ If you have money I'll sell to you,
+ But if you're without,
+ I'll put you out.
+
+The foot on which her finger happened to rest when she said "out"
+was excluded from the ring. Again she repeated the rhyme
+excluding a foot with each repetition till all but one were out.
+
+Up to this point all the children were in a nervous quiver
+waiting to see which foot would be left, but now the fun
+began, for they took the shoe off and every one slapped
+that unfortunate foot. This was done with good-natured
+vigor but without intention to hurt. It was amusing to see
+the children squirm as they neared the end of the game.
+
+This game finished, the little girl called out:
+
+"Pat your hands and knees."
+
+The girls sat down in pairs and, after the style of "Bean
+Porridge Hot," clapped hands to the following rhyme:
+
+ Pat your hands and knees,
+ On January first,
+ The old lady likes to go a sightseeing most.
+ Pat your hands and knees,
+ On February second,
+ The old lady likes a piece of candy it is reckoned.
+ Pat your hands and knees,
+ On March the third,
+ The old lady likes a Canton pipe I have heard.
+ Pat your hands and knees,
+ On April fourth,
+ The old lady likes bony fish from the north.
+ Pat your hands and knees,
+ The fifth of May,
+ The old lady likes sweet potatoes every day.
+ Pat your hands and knees,
+ The sixth of June,
+ The old lady eats fat pork with a spoon.
+ Pat your hands and knees,
+ The seventh of July,
+ The old lady likes to eat a fat chicken pie.
+ Pat your hands and knees,
+ On August eight,
+ The old lady likes to see the lotus flowers straight.
+ Pat your hands and knees,
+ September nine,
+ The old lady likes to drink good hot wine.
+ Pat your hands and knees,
+ October ten,
+
+ The old lady, you and I, may meet hope again.
+
+This we afterwards discovered is very widely known throughout the
+north of China.
+
+The foregoing are a few of the games played by the
+children in Peking. In that one city we have collected
+more than seventy-five different games, and have no reason
+to believe we have secured even a small proportion of what
+are played there. Games played in Central and South China
+are different, partly because of climatic conditions, partly
+because of the character of the people. There, as here, the
+games of children are but reproductions of the employments
+of their parents. They play at farming, carpentry, house-
+keeping, storekeeping, or whatever employments their
+parents happen to be engaged in. Indeed, in addition to
+the games common to a larger part of the country, there
+are many which are local, and depend upon the employment
+of the parents or the people.
+
+
+THE TOYS CHILDREN PLAY WITH
+
+One day while sitting at table, with our little girl, nineteen
+months old, on her mother's knee near by, we picked up
+her rubber doll and began to whip it violently. The child
+first looked frightened, then severe, then burst into tears and
+plead with her mother not to "let papa whip dolly."
+
+Few people realize how much toys become a part of the
+life of the children who play with them. They are often
+looked upon as nothing more than "playthings for children."
+This is a very narrow view of their uses and
+relationships. There is a philosophy underlying the
+production of toys as old as the world and as broad as life, a
+philosophy which, until recent years, has been little studied
+and cultivated.
+
+Playthings are as necessary a constituent of human life as
+food or medicine, and contribute in a like manner to the
+health and development of the race. Like the science of
+cooking and healing, the business of toy-making has been
+driven by the stern teacher, necessity, to a rapid
+self-development for the general good of the little men and women
+in whose interests they are made.
+
+They are the tools with which children ply their trades;
+the instruments with which they carry on their professions;
+the goods which they buy and sell in their business, and the
+paraphernalia with which they conduct their toy society.
+They are more than this. They are the animals which serve
+them, the associates who entertain them, the children who
+comfort them and bring joy to the mimic home.
+
+Toys are nature's first teachers. The child with his little
+shovels, spades and hoes, learns his first lessons in
+agriculture; with his hammer and nails, he gets his first
+lessons in the various trades; and the bias of the life of many a
+child of larger growth has come from the toys with which he
+played. Into his flower garden the father of Linnaeus
+introduced his son during his infancy, and "this little garden
+undoubtedly created that taste in the child which afterwards
+made him the first botanist and naturalist of his age, if not
+of his race."
+
+No experiments in any chemical laboratory will excite
+more wonder or be carried on with more interest, than those
+which the boy performs with his pipe and basin of soapy
+water. The little girl's mud pies and other sham confectionery
+furnish her first lessons in the art of preparing food.
+Her toy dinners and playhouse teas offer her the first
+experiences in the entertainment of guests. With her dolls,
+the domestic relations and affections.
+
+No science has ever originatedmand been carried to any
+degree of perfection in Asia. There is no reason why this
+statement should cause the noses of Europeans and Americans
+to twitch in derision and pride, for there is another fact
+equally momentous in favor of the Asiatics,--viz., no religion
+that originated outside of Asia has ever been carried to any
+degree of perfection.
+
+The above facts will indicate that we need not hope to
+find the business of toy-making, or the science of child-
+education in a very advanced state in China--the most
+Asiatic country of Asia. Child's play and toy-making have
+been organized into a business and a science in Europe, as
+astronomy, which had been studied so long in Asia, was
+developed into a science by the Greeks. And so we find
+that what is taught in the kindergarten of the West is
+learned in the streets of the East; and the toys which are
+manufactured in great Occidental business establishments,
+are made by poor women in Oriental homes, and the same
+mistakes are made by the one as by the other.
+
+The same whistle by which the cock crows, enables the
+dog to bark, the baby to cry, the horse to neigh, the sheep
+to bleat and the cow to low, just as in our own rubber
+goods. The same end is accomplished in the one case as in
+the other. The two, three or twenty cash doll does for the
+Chinese girl what the two, three or twenty dollar one does
+for her antipodal sister,--develops the instinct of motherhood,
+besides standing a greater amount of rough handling.
+Nevertheless it usually comes to the same deplorable end,
+departing this world, bereft of its arms and legs, without
+going through the tedious process of a surgical operation.
+
+Chinese toys are less varied, less complicated, less true to
+the original, and less expensive than those of the West,--
+more perhaps like the toys of a century or two ago. Nevertheless
+they are toys, and in the hands of boys and girls,
+the drum goes "rub-a-dub," the horn "toots," and the
+whistle squeaks. The "gingham dog and calico cat," besides
+a score of other animals more nearly related to the soil
+of their native place--being made of clay--express themselves
+in the language of the particular whistle which happens
+to have been placed within them. All this is to the
+entire satisfaction of "little Miss Muffet" and "little boy
+Blue," just as they do in other lands.
+
+When the children grow older they have tops to spin that
+whistle as good a whistle, and buzzers to buzz that buzz as
+good a buzz, and music balls to roll, and music carts to pull,
+that emit sounds as much to their satisfaction, as anything
+that ministered to the childish tastes of our grandfathers;
+and these become as much a part of their business and their
+life as if they were living, talking beings. Furthermore,
+their dolls are as much their children as they themselves are
+the offspring of their parents.
+
+Chinese toys embrace only those which involve no intricate
+scientific principles. The music boxes of the West are
+unknown in China except as they are imported. The
+Chinese know nothing about dolls which open and shut
+their eyes, simple as this principle is, nor of toys which are
+self-propelling by some mysterious spring secreted within,
+because, forsooth, they know nothing about making the spring.
+
+There are some principles, however, which, though they
+may not understand, they are nevertheless able to utilize;
+such, for instance, as the expansion of air by heat, and the
+creation of air currents. This principle is utilized in
+lanterns. In the top of these is a paper wheel attached to a
+cross-bar on the ends of which are suspended paper men
+and women together with animals of all kinds making a
+very interesting merry-go-round. These lantern-figures
+correspond to the sawyers, borers, blacksmiths, washers
+and others which twenty or more years ago were on top of
+the stove of every corner grocery or country post-office.
+
+When we began the study of Chinese toys our first move
+was to call in a Chinese friend whom we thought we could
+trust, and who could buy toys at a very reasonable rate,
+and sent him out to purchase specimens of every variety of
+toys he could find in the city of Peking. We ordered him
+the first day to buy nothing but rattles, because the rattle
+is the first toy that attracts the attention of the child.
+
+In the evening Mr. Hsin returned with a good-sized
+basket full of rattles. Some were tin in the form of small
+cylinders, with handles in which were small pebbles: others
+were shaped like pails; and others like cooking pots and pans.
+
+
+Some of the most attractive were hollow wood balls,
+baskets, pails and bottles, gorgeously painted, with long
+handles, necks, or bails. The paint was soon transferred
+from the face of the toy to that of the first child that
+happened to play with it, which child was of course, our own
+little girl.
+
+The most common rattles representing various kinds of
+fowls and animals known and unknown are made of clay.
+Others are in the form of fat little priests that make one
+think of Santa Claus, or little roly-poly children that look
+like the little folks who play with them.
+
+As the child grows larger the favorite rattle is a drum-
+shaped piece of bamboo or other wood, with skin--not
+infrequently fish skin, stretched over the two ends, and a long
+handle attached. On the sides are two stout strings with
+beads on the ends, which, when the rattle is turned in the
+hand, strike on the drum heads. These rattles of brass or
+tin as well as bamboo, are in imitation of those carried by
+street hawkers.
+
+We said to Mr. Hsin, "Foreigners say the Chinese do not
+have dolls, how is that?"
+
+"They have lots of them," he answered in the stereotyped way.
+
+"Then to-morrow buy samples of all the dolls you can find."
+
+"All?" he asked with some surprise.
+
+"Yes, all. We want to know just what kind of dolls they have."
+
+The next evening Mr. Hsin came in with an immense
+load of dolls. He had large, small, and middle sized rag dolls,
+on which the nose was sewed, the ears pasted, and the
+eyes and other features painted. They were rude, but as
+interesting to children as other more natural and more
+expensive ones, as we discovered by giving one of them to
+our little girl. In not a few instances Western children
+have become much more firmly attached to their Chinese
+cloth dolls than any that can be found for them in America
+or Europe.
+
+He had a number of others both large and small with
+paper mache heads, leather bodies, and clay arms and legs.
+The body was like a bellows in which a reed whistle was
+placed, that enabled the baby to cry in the same tone as the
+toy dog barks or the cock crows. They had "real hair" in
+spots on their head similar to those on the child, and they
+were dressed in the same kind of clothing as that used on the
+baby in summer-time, viz., a chest-protector and a pair of
+shoes or trousers.
+
+Mr. Hsin then took out a small package in which was
+wrapped a half-dozen or more "little people," as they are
+called, by the Chinese, with paper heads, hands and feet,
+exquisitely painted, and their clothing of the finest silk.
+Attached to the head of each was a silk string by which the
+"little people" are hung upon the wall as a decoration.
+
+"But what are these, Mr. Hsin?" we asked. "These are not dolls."
+
+"No," he answered, "these are cloth animals. The children play
+with these at the same time they play with dolls."
+
+He had gone beyond our instructions. He had brought
+us a large collection of camels made of cloth the color of
+the camel's skin, with little bunches of hair on the head,
+neck, hump and the joints of the legs, similar to those on the
+camel when it is shedding its coat in the springtime. He had
+elephants made of a grayish kind of cloth on which were
+harnesses similar to those supposed to be necessary for those
+animals. He had bears with bits of hair on neck and tail
+and a leading string in the nose; horses painted with spots
+of white and red, matched only by the most remarkable
+animals in a circus; monkeys with black beads for eyes, and
+long tails; lions, tigers, and leopards, with large, savage,
+black, glass eyes, with manes or tails suited to each, and
+properly crooked by a wire extending to the tip. And
+finally he laid the bogi-boo, a nondescript with a head on
+each end much like the head of a lion or tiger. When not
+used as a plaything, this served the purpose of a pillow.
+
+"Do the Chinese have no other kinds of toy animals?" we inquired.
+
+"Yes," he answered, "I'll bring them to-morrow."
+
+The following evening he brought us a collection of clay
+toys too extensive to enumerate. There were horses, cows,
+camels, mules, deer, and a host of others the original of which
+has never been found except in the imagination of the people.
+He had women riding donkeys followed by drivers, men riding
+horses and shooting or throwing a spear at a fleeing tiger, and
+women with babies in their arms while grandmother amused them
+with rattles, and father lay near by smoking an opium pipe.
+
+From the bottom of his basket he brought forth a nuber of small
+packages.
+
+"What are in those?"
+
+"These are clay insects."
+
+They were among the best clay work we have seen in
+China. There were tumble-bugs, grasshoppers, large beetles,
+mantis, praying mantis, toads and scorpions, together with others
+never seen outside of China, and some never seen at all, the legs
+and feelers all being made of wire.
+
+In another package he had a dozen dancing dolls. They
+were made of clay, were an inch and a half long, dressed
+with paper, and had small wires protruding the sixteenth of
+an inch below the bottom of the skirt. He put them all on
+a brass tray, the edge of which he struck with a small stick
+to make it vibrate, thus causing the dancers to turn round
+and round in every direction.
+
+The next package contained a number of clay beggars.
+Two were fighting, one about to smash his clay pot over
+the other's head: another had his pot on his head for a lark,
+a third was eating from his, while others were carrying theirs
+in their hand. One had a sore leg to which he called attention
+with open mouth and pain expressed in every feature.
+
+From another package he brought out a number of
+jumping jacks, imitations as it seemed of things Japanese.
+There were monkey acrobats made of clay, wire and skin,
+fastened to a small slip of bamboo. A doll fastened to a
+stick, with cymbals in its hands would clash the cymbals,
+when its queue was pulled. Finally there was a large
+dragon which satisfied its raging appetite by feeding upon
+two or three little clay men specially prepared for his
+consumption.
+
+But, perhaps, among the most interesting of his toys were his
+clay whistles. Some of these burnt or sun-dried toys were
+hollow and in the shape of birds, beasts and insects. When blown
+into, they would emit the shrillest kind of a whistle. In others
+a reed whistle had been placed similar to those in the dolls, and
+these usually had a bellows to blow them. Whether cock or hen,
+dog or child, they all crowed, barked, cackled, or cried in the
+self-same tone.
+
+"What will you get to-morrow?"
+
+"Drums, knives, and tops," said Mr. Hsin. He was being paid by
+the day for spending our money, and so had his plans well laid.
+
+The following evening he brought a large collection of toy drums,
+some of which were in the shape of a barrel, both in their length
+and in being bulged out at the middle. On the ends were painted
+gay pictures of men and women clad in battle-array or festive
+garments, making the drum a work of art as well as an instrument
+of torture to those who are disturbed by noises about the house.
+
+He had large knives covered with bright paint which could easily
+be washed off, and tridents, with loose plates or cymbals, which
+make a noise to frighten the enemy.
+
+The tops Mr. Hsin had collected were by far the most interesting.
+Chinese tops are second to none made. They are simple, being made
+of bamboo, are spun with a string, and when properly operated
+emit a shrill whistle.
+
+The ice top, without a stem, and simply a block of wood in shape
+of a top, is spun with a string, but is kept going by whipping.
+
+Another toy which foreigners call a top is entirely different
+from anything we see in the West. The Chinese call it
+a K'ung chung, while the top is called t'o lo. It is
+constructed of two pieces of bamboo, each of which is made
+like a top, and then joined by a carefully turned axle, each
+end being of equal weight, and looking not unlike the
+wheels of a cart. It is then spun by a string, which is
+wound once around the axle and attached to two sticks.
+A good performer is able to spin it in a great variety of
+ways, tossing it under and over his foot, spinning it with
+the sticks behind him, and at times throwing it up into the
+air twenty or thirty feet and catching it as it comes down.
+The principle upon which it is operated is the quick jerking
+of one of the sticks while the other is allowed to be loose.
+
+"To-morrow," said Mr. Hsin, as he ceased spinning the top, "I
+will get you some toy carts."
+
+The Chinese cart has been described as a Saratoga trunk
+on two wheels. This is, however, only one form--that of
+the passenger cart. There are many others, and all of them
+are used as patterns of toy carts. They all have a kind of
+music-box attachment, operated by the turning of the axle
+to which the wheels of the toys, as well as those of some of
+the real carts, are fixed.
+
+The toy carts are made of tin, wood and clay. Some of
+them are very simple, having paper covers, while others
+possess the whole paraphernalia of the street carts. When
+the mule of the toy cart is unhitched and unharnessed, he
+looks like a very respectable mule. Nevertheless, instead of
+devouring food, he becomes the prey of insects. Usually
+he appears the second season, if he lasts that long, bereft of
+mane and tail, as well as a large portion of his skin.
+
+The flat carts have a revolving peg sticking up through
+the centre, on which a small clay image is placed which
+turns with the stick. Others are placed on wires on the
+two sides, to represent the driver and the passengers.
+
+These in Peking are the omnibus carts. Running from the east gate
+of the Imperial city to the front gate, and in other parts of the
+city as well, there are street carts corresponding to the omnibus
+or street cars of the West. These start at intervals of ten
+minutes, more or less, with eight or ten persons on a cart, the
+fare being only a few cash. Toy carts of this kind have six or
+eight clay images to represent the passengers.
+
+Mr. Hsin brought out from the bottom of his basket a
+number of neatly made little pug dogs, and pressing upon a
+bellows in their body caused them to bark, just as the hen
+cackled a few days before.
+
+What we have described formed only a small portion of
+the toys Mr. Hsin brought. Cheap clay toys of all kinds
+are hawked about the street by a man who sells them at a
+fifth or a tenth of a cent apiece. With him is often found
+a candy-blower, who with a reed and a bowl of taffy-
+candy is ready to blow a man, a chicken, a horse and cart,
+a corn ear, or anything else the child wants, as a glass-
+blower would blow a bottle or a lamp chimney. The child
+plays with his prize until he tires of it and then he eats it.
+
+
+BLOCK GAMES--KINDERGARTEN
+
+It was on a bright spring afternoon that a Chinese official and
+his little boy called at our home on Filial Piety Lane, in
+Peking.
+
+The dresses of father and child were exactly alike--as
+though they had been twins, boots of black velvet or satin,
+blue silk trousers, a long blue silk garment, a waistcoat of
+blue brocade, and a black satin skullcap--the child was in
+every respect, even to the dignity of his bearing, a vest-
+pocket edition of his father.
+
+He had a T'ao of books which I recognized as the Fifteen
+Magic Blocks, one of the most ingenious, if not the most
+remarkable, books I have ever seen.
+
+A T'ao is two or any number of volumes of a book wrapped in a
+single cover. In this case it was two volumes. In the inside of
+the cover there was a depression three inches square in which was
+kept a piece of lead, wood or pasteboard, divided into fifteen
+pieces as in the following illustration.
+
+These blocks are all in pairs except one, which is a rhomboid.
+They are all exactly proportional, having their sides either
+half-inch, inch, inch and a half, or two inches in length.
+
+They are not used as are the blocks in our kindergarten
+simply to make geometrical figures, but rather to illustrate
+such facts of history as will have a moral influence, or be an
+intellectual stimulus to the child.
+
+He may build houses with them, or make such ancient or
+modern ornaments, or household utensils, as may suit his
+fancy; but the primary object of the blocks and the books,
+is to impress upon the child's mind, in the most forcible
+way possible, the leading facts of history, poetry, mythology
+or morals; while the houses, boats and other things are
+simply side issues.
+
+The first illustration the child constructed for me, for I
+desired him to teach me how it was done, was a dragon horse, and
+when I asked him to explain it, he said that it represented the
+animal seen by Fu Hsi, the original ancestor of the Chinese
+people, emerging from the Meng river, bearing upon its back a map
+on which were fifty-five spots, representing the male and female
+principles of nature, and which the sage used to construct what
+are called the eight diagrams.
+
+The child tossed the blocks off into a pile and then constructed
+a tortoise which he said was seen by Yu, the Chinese Noah, coming
+out of the Lo river, while he was draining off the floods. On its
+back was a design which he used as a pattern for the nine
+divisions of his empire.
+
+These two incidents are referred to by Confucius, and are among
+the first learned by every Chinese child.
+
+I looked through the book and noticed that many of the
+designs were for the amusement of the children, as well
+as to develop their ingenuity. In the two volumes of the
+T'ao he had only the outlines of the pictures which he
+readily constructed with the blocks. But he had with him
+also a small volume which was a key to the designs having
+lines indicating how each block was placed. This he had
+purchased for a few cash. Much of the interest of the book,
+however, attached to the puzzling character of the pictures.
+
+There was one with a verse attached somewhat like the following:
+
+ The old wife drew a chess-board
+ On the cover of a book,
+ While the child transformed a needle
+ Into a fishing-hook.
+
+Chinese literature is full of examples of men and women
+who applied themselves to their books with untiring
+diligence. Some tied their hair to the beam of their humble
+cottage so that when they nodded with sleepiness the jerk
+would awake them and they might return to their books.
+
+Others slept upon globular pillows that when they
+became so restless as to move and cause the pillow to roll
+from under their head they might get up and study.
+
+The child once more took the blocks and illustrated how one who
+was so poor as to be unable to furnish himself with candles,
+confined a fire-fly in a gauze lantern using that instead of a
+lamp. At the same time he explained that another who was perhaps
+not able to afford the gauze lantern, studied by the light of a
+glowworm.
+
+"K'ang Heng," said the child, as he put the blocks together in a
+new form, "had a still better way, as well as more economical.
+His house was built of clay, and as the window of his neighbor's
+house was immediately opposite, he chiseled a hole through his
+wall and thus took advantage of his neighbor's light.
+
+"Sun K'ang's method was very good for winter," continued the
+child as he rearranged the blocks, "but I do not know what he
+would do in summer. He studied by the light reflected from the
+snow.
+
+"Perhaps," he went on as he changed the form, "he followed
+the example of another who studied by the pale light of the
+moon."
+
+"What does that represent?" I asked him pointing to a child with
+a bowl in his hand who looked as if he might have been going to
+the grocer's.
+
+"Oh, that boy is going to buy wine."
+
+The Chinese have never yet realized what a national evil
+liquor may become. They have little wine shops in the
+great cities, but they have no drinking houses corresponding
+to the saloon, and it is not uncommon to see a child going
+to the wine shop to fetch a bowl of wine. The Buddhist
+priest indulges with the same moderation as the official class
+or gentry. Indeed most of the drunkenness we read about
+in Chinese books is that of poets and philosophers, and in
+them it is, if not commended, at least not condemned.
+The attitude of literature towards them is much like that of
+Thackeray towards the gentlemen of his day.
+
+The child constructed the picture of a Buddhist priest, who, with
+staff in hand, and a mug of wine, was viewing the beautiful
+mountains in the distance. He then changed it to one in which an
+intoxicated man was leaning on a boy's shoulder, the inscription
+to which said: "Any one is willing to assist a drunken man to
+return home."
+
+"This," he went on as he changed his blocks, "is a picture of Li
+Pei, China's greatest poet. He lived more than a thousand years
+ago. This represents the closing scene in his life. He was
+crossing the river in a boat, and in a drunken effort to
+get the moon's reflection from the water, he fell overboard
+and was drowned." The child pointed to the sail at the
+same time, repeating the following:
+
+ The sail being set,
+ He tried to get,
+ The moon from out the main.
+
+I noticed a large number of boat scenes and induced the
+child to construct some of them for me, which he was quite
+willing to do, explaining them as he went as readily as our
+children would explain Old Mother Hubbard or the Old
+Woman who Lived in her Shoe, by seeing the illustrations.
+
+Constructing one he repeated a verse somewhat like the following:
+
+ Alone the fisherman sat,
+ In his boat by the river's brink,
+ In the chill and cold and snow,
+ To fish, and fish, and think.
+
+Then he turned over to two on opposite pages, and as he
+constructed them he repeated in turn:
+
+ In a stream ten thousand li in length
+ He bathes his feet at night,
+
+
+ While on a mount he waves his arms,
+ Ten thousand feet in height.
+
+
+The ten thousand li in one couplet corresponds to the
+ten thousand feet in the other, while the bathing of the
+feet corresponds to the waving of the arms. Couplets of
+this kind are always attractive to the Chinese child as well
+as to the scholar, and poems and essays are replete with
+such constructions.
+
+The child enjoyed making the pictures. I tried to make
+one, but found it very difficult. I was not familiar with the
+blocks. It is different now, I have learned how to make
+them. Then it seemed as if it would be impossible ever to
+do so. When I had failed to make the picture I turned them
+over to him. In a moment it was done.
+
+"Who is it?" I asked.
+
+"Chang Ch'i, the poet," he answered. "Whenever he went for a walk
+he took with him a child who carried a bag in which to put the
+poems he happened to write. In this illustration he stands with
+his head bent forward and his hands behind his back lost in
+thought, while the lad stands near with the bag."
+
+We have given in another chapter the story of the great
+traveller, Chang Ch'ien, and his search for the source of the
+Yellow River.
+
+In one of the illustrations the child represented him in his boat
+in a way not very different from that of the artist.
+
+Another quotation from one of the poets was illustrated as
+follows:
+
+ Last night a meeting I arranged,
+ Ere I my lamp did light,
+ Nor while I crossed the ferry feared,
+ Or wind or rain or night.
+
+The child's eyes sparkled as he turned to some of those
+illustrating children at play, and as he constructed one which
+represents two children swinging their arms and running,
+he repeated:
+
+ See the children at their
+ play,
+ Gathering flowers by the
+ way.
+
+"They are gathering pussy-willows," he added.
+
+In another he represented a child standing before the
+front gate, where he had knocked in vain to gain admission.
+As he completed it he said, pointing to the apricot
+over the door:
+
+ Ten times he knocked upon the gate,
+ But nine, they opened not,
+ Above the wall he plainly saw,
+ A ripe, red apricot.
+
+He continued to represent quotations from the poets and explain
+them as he went along.
+
+There was one which indicated that some one was ascending
+the steps to the jade platform on which the dust had settled
+as it does on everything in Peking; at the same time the
+verse told us that
+
+ Step by step we reach the platform,
+ All of jade of purest green,
+ Call a child to come and sweep it,
+ But he cannot sweep it clean.
+
+"You know," he went on, "the cottages of many of the
+poets were near the beautiful lakes in central China, in the
+wild heights of the mountains, or upon the banks of some
+flowing stream. In this one the pavilion of the poet is on
+the bank of the river, and we are told that,
+
+ In his cottage sat the poet
+ Thinking, as the moon went by,
+ That the moonlight on the water,
+ Made the water like the sky."
+
+Changing it somewhat he made a cottage of a different kind. This
+was not made for the picture's sake, but to illustrate a sentence
+it was designed to impress upon the child's mind. The quotation
+is somewhat as follows:
+
+ The ringing of the evening bells,
+ The moon a crescent splendid,
+ The rustling of the swallow's wings
+ Betoken winter ended.
+
+The child looked up at me significantly as he turned to
+one which represented a Buddhist priest. I expected something of
+a joke at the priest's expense as in the nursery rhymes and
+games, but there was none. That would injure the sale of the
+book. The inscription told us that "a Buddhist lantern will
+reflect light enough to illuminate the whole universe."
+
+Turning to the next page we found a priest sitting in
+front of the temple in the act of beating his wooden drum,
+while the poet exclaims:
+
+ O crystal pool and silvery moon,
+ So clear and pure thou art,
+ There's nought to which thou wilt compare
+ Except a Buddha's heart.
+
+The child next directed our attention to various kinds of
+flowers, more especially the marigold. A man in a boat rows with
+one hand while he points backward to the blossoming marigold,
+while in another picture the poet tells us that,
+
+ Along the eastern wall,
+ We pluck the marigold,
+ While on the south horizon,
+ The mountain we behold.
+
+"What is that?" I asked as he turned to a picture of an old man
+riding on a cow.
+
+"That is Laotze, the founder of Taoism, crossing the frontier at
+the Han Ku Pass between Shansi and Shensi, riding upon a cow.
+Nobody knows where he went."
+
+There were other pictures of Taoist patriarchs keeping sheep. By
+their magic power they turned the sheep into stones when they
+were tired watching them, and again the inscriptions told us,
+"the stones became sheep at his call." Still others represented
+them in search of the elixir of life, while in others they
+were riding on a snail.
+
+The object of thus bringing in incidents from all these
+Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and other sources is that by
+catering to all classes the book may have wide distribution, and
+whatever the Confucianist may say, it must be admitted that the
+other religions have a strong hold upon the popular mind.
+
+The last twenty-six illustrations in Vol. I represent various
+incidents in the life, history and employments of women.
+
+The first of these is an ancient empress "weaving at night by her
+palace window."
+
+Another represents a woman in her boat and we are told that,
+"leaving her oar she leisurely sang a song entitled, 'Plucking
+the Caltrops.' "
+
+Another represents a woman "wearing a pomegranate-colored
+dress riding a pear-blossom colored horse." A peculiar
+combination to say the least.
+
+The fisherman's wife is represented in her boat, "making her
+toilet at dawn using the water as a mirror." While we are assured
+also that the woman sitting upon her veranda "finds it very
+difficult to thread her needle by the pale light of the moon,"
+which fact, few, I think, would question.
+
+In one of the pictures "a beautiful maiden, in the bright
+moonlight, came beneath the trees." This is evidently contrary to
+Chinese ideas of propriety, for the Classic for girls tells us
+that a maiden should not go out at night except in company with a
+servant bearing a lantern. As it was bright moonlight, however,
+let us hope she was excusable.
+
+This sauntering about in the court is not uncommon if we believe
+what the books say, for in the next picture we are told that:
+
+ As near the middle summer-house,
+ The maiden sauntered by,
+ Upon the jade pin in her hair
+ There lit a dragon-fly.
+
+The next illustration represented the wife of the famous poet
+Ssu-Ma Hsiang-Ju in her husband's wine shop.
+
+This poet fell in love with the widowed daughter of a wealthy
+merchant, the result of which was that the young couple eloped
+and were married; and as the daughter was disinherited by her
+irate parent, she was compelled to wait on customers in her
+husband's wine shop, which she did without complaint. In spite of
+their imprudent conduct, and for the time, its unhappy results,
+as soon as the poet had become so famous as to be summoned to
+court, the stern father relented, and, as it was a case of
+undoubted affection, which the Chinese readily appreciate they
+have always had the sympathy of the whole Chinese people.
+
+One of the most popular women in Chinese history is Mu Lan, the
+A Chinese Joan of Arc. Her father, a great general, being too old
+to take charge of his troops, and her brothers too young, she
+dressed herself in boy's clothing, enrolled herself in the army,
+mounted her father's trusty steed, and led his soldiers to
+battle, thus bringing honor to herself and renown upon her
+family.
+
+We have already seen how diligent some of the ancient worthies
+were in their study. This, however, is not universal, for we are
+told the mother of Liu Kung-cho, in order to stimulate her son to
+study took pills made of bear's gall and bitter herbs, to show
+her sympathy with her boy and lead him to feel that she was
+willing to endure bitterness as well as he.
+
+The last of these examples of noble women is that of the wife of
+Liang Hung, a poor philosopher of some two thousand years ago. An
+effort was made to engage him to Meng Kuang, the daughter of a
+rich family, whose lack of beauty was more than balanced by her
+remarkable intelligence. The old philosopher feared that family
+pride might cause domestic infelicity. The girl on her part
+steadfastly refused to marry any one else, declaring that unless
+she married Liang Hung, she would not marry at all. This
+unexpected constancy touched the old man's heart and he married
+her. She dressed in the most common clothing, always prepared
+his food with her own hand, and to show her affection and
+respect never presented him with the rice-bowl without raising it
+to the level of her eyebrows, as in the illustration.
+
+It may be interesting to see some of the ornaments and
+utensils the child made with his blocks. I shall therefore
+add three, a pair of scissors, a teapot, and a seal with a
+turtle handle.
+
+Such is in general the character of the book the official's
+little boy had with him. I afterwards secured several copies
+for myself and learned to make all the pictures first shown
+me by the child, and I discovered that it is but one of
+several forms of what we may call kindergarten work, that
+it has gone through many editions, and is very widely
+distributed. My own set contains 216 illustrations such as I
+have given.
+
+
+CHILDREN'S SHOWS AND ENTERTAINMENTS
+
+My little girl came running into my study greatly excited
+and exclaiming:
+
+"Papa, the monkey show, the monkey show. We want the monkey show,
+may we have it?"
+
+Now if you had but one little girl, and she wanted a monkey show
+to come into your own court and perform for her and her little
+friends for half an hour, the cost of which was the modest sum of
+five cents, what would you do?
+
+You would do as I did, no doubt, go out with the little girl,
+call in the passing showman and allow him to perform, which would
+serve the triple purpose of furnishing relaxation and instruction
+for yourself, entertainment for the children, and business for
+the showman.
+
+This however proved to be not the monkey show but Punch and Judy,
+a species of entertainment for children, the exact counterpart of
+our own entertainment of that name. It may be of interest to
+young readers to know how this show originated, and I doubt not
+it will be a surprise to some older ones to know that it dates
+back to about the year 1000 B. C.
+
+We are told that while the Emperor Mu of the Chou dynasty was
+making a tour of his empire, a skillful mechanic, Yen Shih by
+name, was brought into his presence and entertained him and the
+women of his seraglio with a dance performed by automaton
+figures, which were capable not only of rhythmical movements of
+their limbs, but of accompanying their movements with songs.
+
+During and at the close of the performance, the puppets cast such
+significant glances at the ladies as to anger the monarch, and he
+ordered the execution of the originator of the play.
+
+The mechanic however ripped open the puppets, and proved to his
+astonished majesty that they were only artificial objects, and
+instead of being executed he was allowed to repeat his
+performance. This was the origin of the play in China which
+corresponds to Punch and Judy in Europe and America.
+
+To the question which naturally arises as to how the play was
+carried to the West, I reply, it may not have been carried to
+Europe at all, but have originated there. From marked
+similarities in the two plays however, and more especially in the
+methods of their production, we may suppose that the Chinese
+Punch and Judy was carried to Europe in the following way:
+
+Among the many traders who visited Central Asia while it was
+under the government of the family of Genghis Khan, were two
+Venetian brothers, Maffeo and Nicolo Polo, whose wondering
+disposition and trading interests led them as far as the court of
+the Great Khan, where they remained in the most intimate
+relations with Kublai for some time, and were finally sent back
+to Italy with a request that one hundred European scholars be
+sent to China to instruct them in the arts of Europe.
+
+This request was never carried out, but the two returned
+to the Khan's court with young Marco, the son of one of
+them, who remained with the Mongol Emperor for seventeen years,
+during which time he had a better opportunity of observing their
+customs than perhaps any other foreigner since his time. His
+final return to Italy was in 1295, and a year or two later, he
+wrote and revised his book of travels.
+
+The art of printing in Europe was discovered in 1438, and the
+first edition of Marco Polo's travels was printed about 1550-59.
+Our Punch and Judy was invented by Silvio Fiorillo an Italian
+dramatist before the year 1600. I have found no reference to the
+play in Marco Polo's works, nevertheless, one cannot but think
+that, if not a written, at least an oral, communication of the
+play may have been carried to Europe by him or some other of the
+Italian traders or travellers. The two plays are very similar,
+even to the tones of the man who works the puppets.
+
+In passing the school court on one occasion I saw the
+students gathered in a crowd under the shade of the trees.
+A small tent was pitched, on the front of which was a little
+stage. A manager stood behind the screen from which
+position he worked a number of puppets in the form of
+men, women, children, horses and dragons. These were
+suspended by black threads as I afterwards discovered from
+small sticks or a framework which the manager manipulated
+behind the screen. When one finished its part of the
+performance, it either walked off the stage, or the stick was
+fastened in such a way as to leave it in a position conducive
+to the amusement of the crowd. These were puppet shows, and were
+put through entire performances or plays, the manager doing the
+talking as in Punch and Judy.
+
+After the performance several of the students passed around the
+hat, each person present giving one-fifth or one-tenth of a cent.
+
+As I came from school one afternoon, the children had called in
+from the street a showman with a number of trained mice. He had
+erected a little scaffolding just inside the gateway, at one side
+of which there was a small rope ladder, and this with the
+inevitable gong, and the small boxes in which the mice were kept
+constituted his entire outfit.
+
+In the boxes he had what seemed to be cotton from the milk-weed
+which furnished a nest for the mice. These he took from their
+little boxes one by one, stroked them tenderly, while he
+explained what this particular mouse would do, put each one on
+the rope ladder, which they ascended, and performed the tricks
+expected of them. These were going through a pagoda, drawing
+water, creeping through a tube, wearing a criminal's collar,
+turning a tread-mill, or working some other equally simple trick.
+
+At times the mice had to be directed by a small stick in the
+hands of the manager, but they were carefully trained, kindly
+treated, and much appreciated by the children.
+
+Although less attractive, there is no other show which impresses
+itself so forcibly on the child's mind as the monkey, dog and
+sheep show.
+
+The dog was the first to perform. Four hoops were placed on the
+corners of a square, ten feet apart. The dog walked around
+through these hoops, first through each in order, then turning
+went through each twice, then through one and retracing his steps
+went through the one last passed through.
+
+The showman drove an iron peg in the ground on which were two
+blocks representing millstones. To the upper one was a lever by
+which the dog with his nose turned the top millstone as if
+grinding flour. He was hitched to a wheelbarrow, the handles of
+which were held by the monkey, who pushed while the dog pulled.
+
+The most interesting part of the performance, however, was by the
+monkey. Various kinds of hats and false faces were kept in a box
+which he opened and secured. He stalked about with a cane in his
+hand, or crosswise back of his neck, turned handsprings, went
+through various trapeze performances, such as hanging by his
+legs, tail, chin, and hands, or was whirled around in the air.
+
+The leading strap of the monkey was finally tied to the belt of
+the sheep which was led away to some distance and let go. The
+monkey bounded upon its back and held fast to the wool, while the
+sheep ran with all its speed to the showman, who held a basin of
+broom-corn seed as a bait. This was repeated as often as the
+children desired, which ended the show. Time,--half an hour;
+spectators,--all who desired to witness it; price,--five cents.
+
+The showmen in China are somewhat like the tramps and beggars in
+other countries. When they find a place where there are children
+who enjoy shows, each tells the other, and they all call around
+in turn.
+
+Our next show was an exhibition given by a man with a trained
+bear.
+
+The animal had two rings in his nose, to one of which was
+fastened a leading string or strap, and to the other, while
+performing, a large chain. A man stood on one end of the chain,
+and the manager, with a long-handled ladle, or with his hand,
+gave the bear small pieces of bread or other food after each
+trick he performed.
+
+The first trick was walking on his hind feet as if dancing. But
+more amusing than this to the children was to see him turn
+summersaults both forward and backward. These were repeated
+several times because they were easily done, and added to the
+length of time the show continued.
+
+Children, however, begin to appreciate at an early age what
+is difficult and what easy, and it was not until he took a
+carrying-pole six feet long, put the middle of it upon his
+forehead and set it whirling with his paws, that they began to
+say:
+
+"That's good," "That's hard to do," and other expressions
+of a like nature.
+
+They enjoyed seeing him stand on his front feet, or on his
+head with his hind feet kicking the air, but they enjoyed
+still more seeing him put on the wooden collar of a convict
+and twirl it around his neck. The manager gave him some
+bread and then tried to induce him to take it off, but he
+whined for more bread and refused to do so. Finally he
+took off the collar, and when they tried to take it from him
+he put it on again. When he took it off the next time and
+offered it to them they refused to receive it, but tried to get
+him to put it on, which he stubbornly refused to do, and
+finally threw it away.
+
+His last trick was to sit down upon his haunches, stick up one of
+his hind feet, and twirl a knife six feet long upon it as he had
+twirled the carrying-pole upon his head. The manager said he
+would wrestle with the men, but this was a side issue and only
+done when extra money was added to the regular price, which was
+twelve cents.
+
+One of the most common showmen seen on the streets of Peking,
+goes about with a framework upon his shoulder in the shape of a
+sled, the runners of which are turned up at both ends. It seemed
+to me to be less interesting than the other shows, but as it is
+more common, the children probably look upon it with more favor,
+and the children are the final critics of all things for the
+little ones.
+
+The show was given by a man and two boys, one of whom
+impersonated a girl. Small feet, like the bound feet of a girl,
+were strapped on like stilts, his own being covered by wide
+trousers, and he and the boy sang songs and danced to the music
+of the drum and cymbals in the hands of the showman.
+
+The second part of the performance was a boat ride on dry land.
+The girl got into the frame, let down around it a piece of cloth
+which was fastened to the top, and took hold of the frame in such
+a way as to carry it easily. The boy, with a long stick, pushed
+as if starting the boat, and then pulled as if rowing, and with
+every pull of the oar, the girl ran a few steps, making it appear
+that the boat shot forward. All the while the boy sang a
+boat-song or a love-ditty to his sweetheart.
+
+Again the scene changed. The head and hind parts of a papier
+mache horse were fastened to the "tomboy" in such a way as to
+make it appear that she was riding; a cloth was let down to hide
+her feet, and they ran to and fro, one in one direction and the
+other in the other, she jerking her unmanageable steed, and he
+singing songs, and all to the music of the drum and the cymbals.
+
+It sometimes happens that while the girl rides the horse, the boy
+goes beside her in the boat, the rapidity and character of their
+movements being governed by the music of the manager.
+
+The best part of the whole performance was that which goes by the
+name of the lion show. The girl took off her small feet and
+girl's clothes and became a boy again. One of the boys stood up
+in front and put on an apron of woven grass, while the other bent
+forward and clutched hold of his belt. A large papier mache head
+of a lion was put on the front boy, to which was attached a
+covering of woven grass large enough to cover them both, while a
+long tail of the same material was stuck into a framework
+fastened to the belt of the hinder boy.
+
+The manager beat the drum, the lion stalked about the court,
+keeping step to the music, turning its large head in every
+direction and opening and shutting its mouth, much to the
+amusement of the children.
+
+There is probably no country in the world that has more
+travelling shows specially prepared for the entertainment of
+children than China. Scarcely a day passes that we do not hear
+the drum or the gong of the showmen going to and fro, or standing
+at our court gate waiting to be called in.
+
+
+JUVENILE JUGGLING
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"Very good."
+
+"Can you do it?" asked the sleight-of-hand performer, as he
+rolled a little red ball between his finger and thumb, pitched it
+up, caught it as it came down, half closed his hand and blew into
+it, opened his hand and the ball had disappeared.
+
+He picked up another ball, tossed it up, caught it in his
+mouth, dropped it into his hand, and it mysteriously disappeared.
+
+The juggler was seated on the ground with a piece of blue cloth
+spread out before him, on which were three cups, and five little
+red wax balls nearly as large as cranberries.
+
+He continued to toss the wax balls about until they had all
+disappeared. We watched him closely, but could not discover where
+they had gone. He then arose, took a small portion of my coat
+sleeve between his thumb and finger, began rubbing them together,
+and by and by, one of the balls appeared between his digits. He
+picked at a small boy's ear and got another of the balls. He blew
+his nose and another dropped upon the cloth. He slapped the top
+of his head and one dropped out of his mouth, and he took the
+fifth from a boy's hair.
+
+He then changed his method. He placed the cups' mouths down upon
+the cloth, and under one of them put the five little balls. When
+he placed the cup we watched carefully; there were no balls under
+it. When he raised it up, behold, there were the five little
+balls.
+
+He removed the cups from one place to another, and asked us to
+guess which cup the balls were under, but we were always wrong.
+
+There was a large company of us, ranging from children of three
+to old men and women of seventy-five, and from Chinese schoolboys
+to a bishop of the church, but none of us could discover how he
+did it.
+
+Later, however, I learned how the trick was performed. As he
+raised the cup with his thumb and forefinger, he inserted two
+other fingers under, gathered up all the balls between them and
+placed them under the cup as he put it down. While in making the
+balls disappear, he concealed them either in his mouth or between
+his fingers.
+
+The Chinese have a saying:
+
+ In selecting his balls from north to south,
+ The magician cannot leave his mouth;
+ And in rolling his balls, you understand,
+ He must have them hidden in his hand.
+
+Of quite a different character are the jugglers with plates
+and bowls. Not only children, but many of a larger growth
+delight to watch these. Our only way of learning about them was
+to call them into our court as the Chinese call them to theirs,
+and that is what we did.
+
+The performer first put a plate on the top of a trident and
+set it whirling. In this whirling condition he put the trident
+on his forehead where he balanced it, the trident whirling
+with the plate as though boring into his skull.
+
+He next took a bamboo pole six feet long, with a nail in
+the end on which he set the plate whirling. The plate, of
+course, had a small indentation to keep it in its place on the
+nail. He raised the plate in the air and inserted into the
+first pole another of equal length, then another and still
+another, which put the plate whirling in the air thirty feet
+high.
+
+Thus whirling he balanced it on his hand, on his arm, on his
+thumb, on his forehead, and finally in his mouth, after which he
+tossed the plate up, threw the pole aside and caught it as it
+came down. The old manager standing by received the pole, but as
+he saw the plate tossed up, he fell flat upon the earth,
+screaming lest the plate be broken.
+
+This same performer set a bowl whirling on the end of a
+chop-stick. Then tossing the bowl up he caught it inverted
+on the chop-stick, and made it whirl as rapidly as possible. In
+this condition he tossed it up ten, then fifteen, then twenty or
+more feet into the air catching it on the chop-stick as it came
+down.
+
+He then changed the process. He tossed the bowl a foot
+high, and struck it with the other chop-stick one, two, three,
+four or five times before it came down, and this he did so
+rapidly and regularly as to make it sound almost like
+music. There is a record of one of the ancient poets who
+was able to play a tune with his bowl and chop-sticks
+after having finished his meal. He may have done it in this way.
+
+This trick seemed a very difficult performance. It excited
+the children, and some of the older persons clapped their
+hands and exclaimed, "Very good, very good." But when
+he tossed it only a foot high and let go the chop-stick, making
+it change ends, and catching the bowl, they were ready
+for a general applause. In striking the bowl and thus
+manipulating his chop-sticks, his hands moved almost as
+rapidly as those of an expert pianist.
+
+"Can you toss the knives?" piped up one of the children
+who had seen a juggler perform this difficult feat.
+
+The man picked up two large knives about a foot long and began
+tossing them with one hand. While this was going on a third knife
+was handed him and he kept them going with both hands. At times
+he threw them under his leg or behind his back, and at other
+times pitched them up twenty feet high, whirling them as rapidly
+as possible and catching them by the handles as they came down.
+
+While doing this he passed one of the knives to the attendant who
+gave him a bowl, and he kept the bowl and two knives going. Then
+he gave the attendant another knife and received a ball, and the
+knife, the ball and the bowl together, the ball and bowl at times
+moving as though the former were glued to the bottom of the
+latter.
+
+These were not all the tricks he could perform but they
+were all he would perform in addition to his bear show for
+twelve cents--for this was the man with the bear--so the
+children allowed him to go.
+
+Some weeks later they called in a different bear show. This bear
+was larger and a better performer, but his tricks were about the
+same.
+
+The juggler in addition to doing all we have already described
+performed also the following tricks.
+
+He first put one end of an iron rod fifteen inches long in his
+mouth. On this he placed a small revolving frame three by six
+inches. He set a bowl whirling on the end of a bamboo splint
+fifteen inches long, the other end of which he rested on one side
+of the frame, balancing the whole in his mouth.
+
+While the bowl continued whirling, he took the frame off
+the rod, stuck the bamboo in a hole in the frame an inch
+from the end, resting the other end of the frame on the rod,
+brought the bowl over so as to obtain a centre of gravity
+and thus balanced it.
+
+He took two small tridents a foot or more in length, put
+the end of the handle of one in his mouth, set the bowl
+whirling on the end of the handle of the other, rested the
+middle prong of one on the middle prong of the other and
+let it whirl with the bowl. Afterwards he set the prong of
+the whirling trident on the edge of the other and let it whirl.
+
+He took two long curved boar's teeth which were fastened on the
+ends of two sticks, one a foot long, the other six inches. The
+one he held in his mouth, the other having a hole diagonally
+through the stick, he inserted a chop-stick making an angle of
+seventy degrees. He set the bowl whirling on the end of the
+chop-stick, rested one tooth on the other, in the indentation and
+they whirled like a brace and bit.
+
+Finally he took a spiral wire having a straight point on
+each end. This he called a dead dragon. He set the bowl
+whirling on one end, placing the other on the small frame
+already referred to. As the spiral wire began to turn as
+though boring, he called it a living dragon. These feats of
+balancing excited much wonder and merriment on the part
+of the children.
+
+The juggler then took an iron trident with a handle four
+and a half feet long and an inch and a half thick, and,
+pitching it up into the air, caught it on his right arm as it
+came down. He allowed it to roll down his right arm, across his
+back, and along his left arm, and as he turned his body he kept
+the trident rolling around crossing his back and breast and
+giving it a new impetus with each arm. The trident had on it two
+cymbal-shaped iron plates which kept up a constant rattling.
+
+This showman had with him three boy acrobats whose skill he
+proceeded to show.
+
+"Pitch the balls," he said.
+
+The largest of the three boys fastened a cushioned band, on which
+was a leather cup, around his head, the cup being on his forehead
+just between his eyes.
+
+He took two wooden balls, two and a half inches in diameter,
+tossed them in the air twenty feet high, catching them in the cup
+as they came down. The shape of the cup was such as to hold the
+balls by suction when they fell. He never once missed. This is
+the most dangerous looking of all the tricks I have seen jugglers
+perform.
+
+"Shooting stars," said the showman.
+
+The boy tossed aside his cup and balls and took a string six feet
+long, on the two ends of which were fastened wooden balls two
+and a half inches in diameter. He set the balls whirling in
+opposite directions until they moved so rapidly as to stretch the
+string, which he then held in the middle with finger and thumb
+and by a simple motion of the hand kept the balls whirling.
+
+He was an expert, and changed the swinging of the balls
+in as many different ways as an expert club-swinger could
+his clubs.
+
+"Boy acrobats," called out the manager, as the manipulator of the
+"shooting stars" bowed himself out amid the applause of the
+children.
+
+The two smaller boys threw off their coats, hitched up
+their trousers--always a part of the performance whether
+necessary or not--and began the high kick, high jump,
+handspring, somersault, wagon wheel, ending with hand-
+spring, and bending backwards until their heads touched
+the ground.
+
+One of them stood on two benches a foot high, put a
+handkerchief on the ground, and bending backwards, picked
+it up with his teeth.
+
+The two boys then clasped each other around the waist,
+as in the illustration, and each threw the other back over his
+head a dozen times or more.
+
+Exit the bear show with the boy acrobats, enter the old
+woman juggler with her husband who beats the gong.
+
+This was one of the most interesting performances I have
+ever seen in China, perhaps because so unexpected.
+
+The old woman had small, bound feet. She lay flat on her
+back, stuck up her feet, and her husband put a crock a foot
+in diameter and a foot and a half deep upon them. She set
+it rolling on her feet until it whirled like a cylinder. She
+tossed it up in such a way as to have it light bottom side up
+on her "lillies,"[1] in which position she kept it whirling.
+Tossing it once more it came down on the side, and again
+tossing it she caught it right side up on her small feet,
+keeping it whirling all the time.
+
+[1] Small feet of the Chinese woman.
+
+
+My surprise was so great that I gave the old woman ten
+cents for performing this single trick.
+
+The tricks of sleight-of-hand performers are well-nigh
+without number. Some of them are easily understood,--surprising,
+however, to children--and often interesting to grown people,
+while others are very clever and not so easily understood.
+
+Instead of the hat from which innumerable small packages
+are taken, the Chinese magician had two hollow cylinders,
+which exactly fit into each other, that he took out of a box
+and placed upon a cylindrical chest, and from these two
+cylinders--each of which he repeatedly showed us as being
+without top or bottom and empty--he took a dinner of
+a dozen courses.
+
+He called upon the baker to bring bread, the grocer to
+bring vegetables, and after each call he took out of the
+cylinders the thing called for. He finally called the wine
+shop to bring wine, and removing both cylinders, he
+exposed to the surprised children a large crock of wine.
+
+As he brought out dish after dish, the children looked in
+open-mouthed wonder, and asked papa, mama or nurse,
+where he got them all, for they evidently were not in the
+cylinders. But papa saw him all the time manipulating the
+crock in the cylinder which he did not show, and he knew
+that all these things were taken from and then returned to
+this crock, while instead of being full of wine, he had only
+a cup of wine in a false lid which exactly fitted the mouth
+of the crock, and made it seem full.
+
+When he had put away his crock and cylinders, he produced what
+seemed to be two empty cups.
+
+He presented them to us to show that they were empty,
+then putting them mouth to mouth, and placing them on
+the ground, he left them a moment, when with a "presto
+change," and a wave of the hand, he removed the top cup
+and revealed to the astonished children and some of the
+children of a larger growth, a cup full of water with two or
+three little fish or frogs therein.
+
+On inquiry I was told that he had the under cup covered
+with a thin film of water-colored material, and that as he
+removed the top cup he removed also the film which left the
+fish or frogs exposed to view.
+
+This same juggler performed many tricks of producing
+great dishes of water from under his garments, the mere
+enumeration of which, might prove to be tiresome.
+
+I was walking along the street one day near the mouth of
+Filial Piety Lane where a large company of men and children
+were watching a juggler, and from the trick I thought it worth
+while to invite him in for the amusement of the children. He
+promised to come about four o clock, which he did.
+
+He first proceeded to eat a hat full of yellow paper, after
+which, with a gag and a little puff, he pulled from his mouth
+a tube of paper of the same color five or six yards long.
+
+This was very skillfully performed and for a long time I
+was not able to understand how he did it. But after awhile
+I discovered that with the last mouthful of paper he put in a
+small roll, the centre of which he started by puffing, and
+this he pulled out in a long tube. He did it with so many
+groanings and with such pain in the region of the stomach,
+that attention was directed either to his stomach or the roll,
+and taken away from his mouth.
+
+"I shall eat these needles," said he, as he held up half a
+dozen needles, "and then eat this thread, after which I shall
+reproduce them."
+
+He did so. He grated his teeth together causing a sound
+much like that of breaking needles. He pretended to swallow
+them, working his tongue back and forth in his tightly
+closed mouth, after which he drew forth the thread on
+which all the needles were strung.
+
+He had a number of small white bone needles which he
+stuck into his nose and pulled out of his eyes, or which he
+pushed up under his upper lip and took out of his eyes or
+vice versa. How he performed the above trick I was not
+able to discover. He seemed to put them through the tear
+duct, but whether he did or not I cannot say. How he got
+them from his mouth to his eyes unless he had punctured a
+passage beneath the skin, is still to me a mystery.
+
+His last trick was to swallow a sword fifteen inches long.
+The sword was straight with a round point and dull edges.
+There was no deception about this. He was an old man
+and his front, upper teeth were badly worn away by the
+constant rasping of the not over-smooth sword. He simply
+put it in his mouth, threw back his head and stuck it down
+his throat to his stomach.
+
+
+STORIES TOLD TO CHILDREN
+
+One hot summer afternoon as I lay in the hammock trying
+to take a nap after a hard forenoon's work and a hearty
+lunch, I heard the same old nurse who had told me my first
+Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes, telling the following story
+to the same little boy to whom she had repeated the "Mouse
+and the Candlestick."
+
+She told him that the Chinese call the Milky Way the
+Heavenly River, and that the Spinning Girl referred to in the
+story is none other than the beautiful big star in Lyra which
+we call Vega, while the Cow-herd is Altair in Aquila.
+
+
+THE HEAVENLY RIVER, WITH THE PEOPLE WHO DWELL THEREON.
+
+Once upon a time there dwelt a beautiful maiden in a
+quiet little village on the shore of the Heavenly River.
+
+Her name was Vega, but the people of China have always
+called her the Spinning Maiden, because of her faithfulness
+to her work, for though days, and months, and years passed
+away, she never left her loom.
+
+Her diligence so moved the heart of her grandfather, the
+King of Heaven, that he determined to give her a vacation,
+which she at once decided to spend upon the earth.
+
+In a village near where the maiden dwelt there was a
+young man named Altair, whom the Chinese call the Cow-herd.
+
+Now the Cow-herd was in love with the Spinning Girl, but
+she was always so intent upon her work as never to give
+him an opportunity to confess his affection, but now he
+determined to follow her to earth, and, if possible, win her for
+his bride.
+
+He followed her through the green fields and shady
+groves, but never dared approach her or tell her of his love.
+
+At last, however, the time came. He discovered her
+bathing in a limpid stream, the banks of which were
+carpeted with flowers, while myriad boughs of blossoming
+peach and cherry trees hid her from all the world but him.
+
+He secretly crept near and stole away and hid her garments made
+of silken gauze and finely woven linen, making
+it alike impossible for her to resist his suit or to return to
+her celestial home.
+
+She yielded to the Cow-herd and soon became his wife,
+and as the years passed by a boy and girl were born to them,
+little star children, twins, such as are seen near by the
+Spinning Girl in her heavenly home to-day.
+
+One day she went to her husband, and, bowing low, requested that
+he return the clothes he had hid away, and he, thinking the
+presence of the children a sufficient guaranty for her remaining
+in his home, told her he had put them in an old, dry well hard by
+the place where she had been bathing.
+
+No sooner had she secured them than the aspect of their
+home was changed. The Cow-herd's wife once more became
+the Spinning Girl and hied her to her heavenly abode.
+
+It so happened that her husband had a piece of cow-skin which
+gave him power over earth and air. Snatching up this, with his
+ox-goad, he followed in the footsteps of his fleeing wife.
+
+Arriving at their heavenly home the happy couple sought
+the joys of married life. The Spinning Girl gave up her loom,
+and the Cow-herd his cattle, until their negligence annoyed
+the King of Heaven, and he repented having let her leave
+her loom. He called upon the Western Royal Mother for
+advice. After consultation they decided that the two should
+be separated. The Queen, with a single stroke of her great
+silver hairpin, drew a line across the heavens, and from
+that time the Heavenly River has flowed between them, and
+they are destined to dwell forever on the two sides of the
+Milky Way.
+
+What had seemed to the youthful pair the promise of
+perpetual joy, became a condition of unending grief. They
+were on the two sides of a bridgeless river, in plain sight of
+each other, but forever debarred from hearing the voice or
+pressing the land of the one beloved, doomed to perpetual
+toil unlit by any ray of joy or hope.
+
+Their evident affection and unhappy condition moved the
+heart of His Majesty, and caused him to allow them to visit
+each other once with each revolving year,--on the seventh
+day of the seventh moon. But permission was not enough,
+for as they looked upon the foaming waters of the turbulent
+stream, they could but weep for their wretched condition,
+for no bridge united its two banks, nor was it allowed that
+any structure be built which would mar the contour of the
+shining dome.
+
+In their helplessness the magpies came to their rescue. At
+early morn on the seventh day of the seventh moon, these
+beautiful birds gathered in great flocks about the home of
+the maiden, and hovering wing to wing above the river,
+made a bridge across which her dainty feet might carry her
+in safety. But when the time for separation came, the two
+wept bitterly, and their tears falling in copious showers are
+the cause of the heavy rains which fall at that season of the
+year.
+
+From time immemorial it has been known that the Yellow
+River is neither more nor less than a prolongation of the
+Milky Way, soiled by earthly contact and contamination, and
+that the homes of the Spinning Maiden and the Cow-herd
+are the centres of two of the numerous villages that adorn its
+banks. It is not to be wondered at, however, that in an evil and
+skeptical world there should be many who doubt these facts.
+
+On this account, and to forever settle the dispute, the
+great traveller and explorer, Chang Ch'ien, undertook to
+discover the source of the Yellow River. He first transformed
+the trunk of a great tree into a boat, provided himself with the
+necessities of life and started on his journey.
+
+Days passed into weeks, and weeks became months as he sailed up
+the murky waters of the turbid stream. But the farther he went
+the clearer the waters became until it seemed as if they were
+flowing over a bed of pure, white limestone. Village after
+village was passed both on his right hand and on his left, and
+many were the strange sights that met his gaze. The fields became
+more verdant, the flowers more beautiful, the scenery more
+gorgeous, and the people more like nymphs and fairies. The color
+of the clouds and the atmosphere was of a richer, softer hue;
+while the breezes which wafted his frail bark were milder and
+gentler than any he had known before.
+
+Despairing at last of reaching the source he stopped at a
+village where he saw a maiden spinning and a young man
+leading an ox to drink. He alighted from his boat and inquired of
+the girl the name of the place, but she, without making reply,
+tossed him her shuttle, telling him to return to his home and
+inquire of the astrologer, who would inform him where he received
+it, if he but told him when.
+
+He returned and presented the shuttle to the noted
+astrologer Chun Ping, informing him at the same time where,
+when and from whom he had received it. The latter consulted
+his observations and calculations and discovered that
+on the day and hour when the shuttle had been given to
+the traveller he had observed a wandering star enter and
+leave the villages of the Spinning Girl and the Cow-herd,
+which proved beyond doubt that the Yellow River is the
+prolongation of the Milky Way, while the points of light
+which we call stars, are the inhabitants of Heaven pursuing
+callings similar to our own.
+
+Chang Ch'ien made another important discovery, namely,
+that the celestials, understanding the seasons better than
+we, turn the shining dome in such a way as to make the
+Heavenly River indicate the seasons of the year, and so the
+children sing:
+
+ Whene'er the Milky Way you spy,
+ Diagonal across the sky,
+ The egg-plant you may safely eat,
+ And all your friends to melons treat.
+
+ But when divided towards the west,
+ You'll need your trousers and your vest
+ When like a horn you see it float;
+ You'll need your trousers and your coat.
+
+It is unnecessary to state that I did not go to sleep while
+the old nurse was telling the story of the Heavenly River.
+The child sat on his little stool, his elbows on his knees
+and his chin resting in his hands, listening with open lips
+and eyes sparkling with interest. To the old nurse it was
+real. The spinning girl and the cow-herd were living
+persons. The flowers bloomed,--we could almost smell their
+odor,--and the gentle breezes seemed to fan our cheeks.
+She had told the story so often that she believed it, and she
+imparted to us her own interest.
+
+"Nurse," said the child, "tell me about
+
+ " 'THE MAN IN THE MOON.' "
+
+"The man in the moon," said the old nurse, "is called
+Wu Kang. He was skilled in all the arts of the genii, and
+was accustomed to play before them whenever opportunity
+offered or occasion required.
+
+"Once it turned out that his performances were displeasing
+to the spirits, and for this offense he was banished
+to the moon, and condemned to perpetual toil in hewing
+down the cinnamon trees which grow there in great abundance.
+At every blow of the axe he made an incision, but
+only to see it close up when the axe was withdrawn.
+
+"He had another duty, however, a duty which was at
+times irksome, but one which on the whole was more
+pleasant than any that falls to men or spirits,--the duty
+indicated by the proverb that 'matches are made in the
+moon.'
+
+"It was his lot to bind together the feet of all those on
+earth who are destined to a betrothal, and in the performance
+of this duty, he was often compelled to return to
+earth. When doing so he came as an old man with long
+white hair and beard, with a book in his hand in which he
+had written the matrimonial alliances of all mankind. He
+also carried a wallet which contains a ball of invisible cord
+with which he ties together the feet of all those who are
+destined to be man and wife, and the destinies which he
+announces it is impossible to avoid.
+
+"On one occasion he came to the town of Sung, and
+while sitting in the moonlight, turning over the leaves of
+his book of destinies, he was asked by Wei Ku, who
+happened to be passing, who was destined to become his
+bride. The old man consulted his records, as he answered:
+'Your wife is the daughter of an old woman named Ch'en
+who sells vegetables in yonder shop.'
+
+"Having heard this, Wei Ku went the next day to look
+about him and if possible to get a glimpse of the one to
+whom the old man referred, but he discovered that the
+only child the old woman had was an ill-favored one of
+two years which she carried in her arms. He hired an
+assassin to murder the infant, but the blow was badly
+aimed and left only a scar on the child's eyebrow.
+
+"Fourteen years afterwards, Wei Ku married a beautiful
+maiden of sixteen whose only defect was a scar above the
+eye, and on inquiries he discovered that she was the one
+foretold by the Old Man of the Moon, and he recalled the
+proverb that 'Matches are made in heaven, and the bond of
+fate is sealed in the moon.' "
+
+"Nurse, tell me about the land of the big people,"
+whereupon the nurse told him of
+
+ THE LAND OF GIANTS.
+
+"There was in ancient times a country east of Korea which
+was called the land of the giants. It was celebrated for its
+length rather than for its width, being bounded on all sides
+by great mountain ranges, the like of which cannot be found
+in other countries. It extends for thousands of miles along
+the deep passes between the mountains, at the entrance to
+which there are great iron gates, easily closed, but very
+difficult to open.
+
+"Many armies have made war upon the giants, among
+which none have been more celebrated than those of Korea,
+which embraces in its standing army alone many thousands
+of men, but thus far they have never been conquered.
+
+"Nor is this to be wondered at, for besides their great iron
+gates, and numerous fortifications, the men are thirty feet
+tall according to our measurement, have teeth like a saw,
+hooked claws, and bodies covered with long black hair.
+
+"They live upon the flesh of fowls and wild beasts which
+are found in abundance in the mountain fastnesses, but they
+do not cook their food. They are very fond of human
+flesh, but they confine themselves to the flesh of enemies
+slain in battle, and do not eat the flesh of their own people,
+even though they be hostile, as this is contrary to the law
+of the land.
+
+"Their women are as large and fierce as the men, but their
+duties are confined to the preparation of extra clothing for
+winter wear, for although they are covered with hair it is
+insufficient to protect them from the winter's cold."
+
+While the old nurse was relating the tale of the giants I
+could not but wonder whether there was not some relation
+between that and the Brobdingnagians I had read about in
+my youth. But I was not given much time to think. This
+seemed to have been a story day, for the nurse had hardly
+finished the tale till the child said:
+
+"Now tell me about the country of the little people," and she
+related the story of
+
+ THE LAND OF DWARFS.
+
+"The country of the little people is in the west, where
+the sun goes down.
+
+"Once upon a time a company of Persian merchants were
+making a journey, when by a strange mishap they lost their
+way and came to the land of the little people. They were
+at first surprised, and then delighted, for they discovered
+that the country was not only densely populated with these
+little people, who were not more than three feet high, but
+that it was rich in all kinds of precious stones and rare and
+valuable materials.
+
+"They discovered also that during the season of planting
+and harvesting, they were in constant terror lest the great
+multitude of cranes, which are without number in that
+region, should swoop down upon them and eat both them
+and their crops. They soon learned, however, that the little
+people were under the protecting care of the Roman Empire,
+whose interest in them was great, and her arm mighty, and
+they were thus guarded from all evil influences as well as
+from all danger. Nor was this a wholly unselfish interest
+on the part of the Roman power, for the little people
+repaid her with rich presents of the most costly gems,--
+pearls, diamonds, rubies and other precious stones."
+
+I need not say I was beginning to be surprised at the
+number of tales the old woman told which corresponded
+to those I had been accustomed to read and hear in my
+childhood, nor was my surprise lessened when at his request
+she told him how
+
+ THE SUN WENT BACKWARD.
+
+"Once upon a time Lu Yang-kung was engaged in battle with Han
+Kou-nan, and they continued fighting until nearly sundown. The
+former was getting the better of the battle, but feared he would
+lose it unless they fought to a finish before the close of day.
+The sun was near the horizon, and the battle was not yet ended,
+and the former, pointing his lance at the King of Day caused him
+to move backward ten miles in his course."
+
+"When did that happen?" inquired the child.
+
+"The Chinese say it happened about three thousand years ago,"
+replied the old nurse.
+
+"Now tell me about the man who went to the fire star."
+
+The old woman hesitated a moment as though she was trying to
+recall something and then told him the story of
+
+ MARS, THE GOD OF WAR.
+
+"Once upon a time there was a great rebel whose name
+was Ch'ih Yu. He was the first great rebel that ever lived
+in China. He did not want to obey the chief ruler, and
+invented for himself warlike weapons, thinking that in this
+way he might overthrow the government and place himself
+upon the throne.
+
+"He had eighty-one brothers, of whom he was the leader. They had
+human speech, but bodies of beasts, foreheads of iron, and fed
+upon the dust of the earth.
+
+"When the time for the battle came, he called upon the
+Chief of the Wind and the Master of the Rain to assist him,
+and there arose a great tempest. But the Chief sent the
+Daughter of Heaven to quell the storm, and then seized and
+slew the rebel. His spirit ascended to the Fire-Star (Mars)
+--the embodiment of which he was while upon earth,--
+where it resides and influences the conduct of warfare even
+to the present time."
+
+"Tell me the story of the man who went to the mountain
+to gather fire-wood and did not come home for such a
+long time."
+
+The old nurse began a story which as it progressed
+reminded me of
+
+ RIP VAN WINKLE.
+
+"A long time ago there lived a man named Wang Chih,
+which in our language means 'the stuff of which kings
+are made.' In spite of his name, however, he was only a
+common husbandman, spending his summers in plowing,
+planting and harvesting, and his winters in gathering
+fertilizers upon the highways, and fire-wood in the mountains.
+
+"On one occasion he wandered into the mountains of
+Ch'u Chou, his axe upon his shoulder, hoping to find more
+and better fire-wood than could be found upon his own
+scanty acres, or the adjoining plain. While in the
+mountains he came upon a number of aged men, in a beautiful
+mountain grotto, intently engaged in a game of chess.
+Wang was a good chess-player himself, and for the time
+forgot his errand. He laid down his axe, stood silently
+watching them, and in a very few moments was deeply
+interested in the game.
+
+"It was while he was thus watching them that one of
+the old men, without looking up from the game, gave him
+what seemed to be a date seed, telling him at the same time
+to put it in his mouth. He did so, but no sooner had he
+tasted it, than he lost all consciousness of hunger and thirst,
+and continued to stand watching the players and the progress
+of the game, thinking nothing of the flight of time.
+
+"At last one of the old men said to him:
+
+" 'You have been here a long time, ought you not to go home?'
+
+"This aroused him from his reverie, and he seemed to
+awake as from a dream, his interest in the game passed
+away, and he attempted to pick up his axe, but found that
+it was covered with rust and the handle had moulded away.
+But while this called his attention to the fact that time had
+passed, he felt not the burden of years.
+
+"When he returned to the plain, and to what had formerly been his
+home, he discovered that not only years but centuries had passed
+away since he had left for the mountains, and that his relatives
+and friends had all crossed to the 'Yellow Springs,' while all
+records of his departure had long since been forgotten, and he
+alone remained a relic of the past.
+
+"He wandered up and down inquiring of the oldest people of all
+the villages, but could discover no link which bound him to the
+present.
+
+"He returned to the mountain grotto, devoted himself to
+the study of the occult principles of the 'Old Philosopher'
+until the material elements of his mortal frame were gradually
+evaporated or sublimated, and without having passed
+through the change which men call death, he became an
+immortal spirit returning whence he came."
+
+Just as the old woman finished this story, my teacher,
+who always took a nap after lunch, ascended the steps.
+
+"Ah, the story of Wang Chih."
+
+"Do you know any of these stories?" I asked him as I sat down
+beside him.
+
+"All children learn these stories in their youth," he
+answered, and then as if fearing I would try to induce him to
+tell them to me he continued, "but nurses always tell these
+stories better than any one else, because they tell them so
+often to the children, for whom alone they were made."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Chinese Boy and Girl
+
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