Cleveland High School - Beacon Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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The clothing worn by the Chinese is the best in the world from the standpoint of common sense. It varies in thickness and type of material with the different seasons of the year. Chinese men and women dress almost exactly alike. Their Wearing apparel differs only in their footgear and headdress. Blue is the tradi- tional color for civilians. Purple and yellow are colors of nobility, and red is worn on festivity days, expressing merriment and joy. Black is considered depressing. The Chinese girls of the upper class were still binding their feet only a few generations ago. Their feet were bound tightly in early childhood, so tight that they could not grow larger. After the long years of torture were over, the ladies with the lily feet tottered around as best they could. These Chinese girls rarely went out of the house, and heard of the outside world only from servants or visitors, contracting their circles of friends rather than enlarging upon them. The greatest holiday in China is New Year's Day, before which debts are paid and clothing bought. This is everyone's birthday, all the people dating their ages from this day. A child is considered one year old at birth. So, if a child is born twenty-four hours before New Year's Day, he is considered to be in his second year. , With China time flows on and on and on like a river-never starting, never stopping. There is never a yesterday, only a tomorrow. Today does not matter. All spend their daily lives planning for tomorrow. And so it has been since the remarkable civilization of China began. MILDRED WOLLSCHEIDT - TGTWL SGUGTL. 28

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ancestor spoken of as dead. On all feast days the family members send them, by fire, gifts symbolizing wishes for good fortune in Heaven. They are very much alive on the lips of their families. For sixty days after the departure of the deceased the family wears coarse cotton gowns, white shoes, and a white knot in the hair, while the deceased is on the road through Hades. After sixty days a gray gown is worn, black shoes and blue hair strings. The women may wear no orna- ments until the passing of one hundred days. Until three years have gone by they wear neither silk nor satin. No person who has passed on can dispose of any material thing he has accumulated, thus advancing the fortune of one relative over another, or preferring a friend above Family. The Family is a unit, and is heir to all the credits and all the liabilities of each and every member. If, on departure, the person wishes to be separately established, his earnings do not fall into the common fund, nor will his fortune ever be enlarged upon by any inheritance from the homestead. But if the person decides to continue of the homestead, then his dwelling place is kept ready to welcome him. One separately established has made a life decision and may not return. Much thought is given to the location of the graves and the ceme- teries. To be buried properly is the ambition of every Chinese. The possession of a handsome coffin is often the most desirable of assets, and is frequently a most acceptable present to elders or relatives. The dead are honored by banquets, and in the crises of life, ancestors are appealed to for help and direction. In ancient times human sacrifices were made at the graves of the dead. In social life there is a strict separation of the sexes. The prelimi- naries of marriage are taken charge of by the parents or professional match-makers, called go-betweens. Marriage is the most important act in life. A woman can demand that the Elders of her homestead negotiate a suitable marriage for her. Chinese cookery for the most part is wholesome. They have some peculiar dishes, however, such as soup made from a glutinous substance found in birds' nests, shark fins, deer sinews, and duck tongues. Their drink is brewed from rice and is a light amber in color, tasting somewhat like a mild beer. Liquor is drunk from tiny cups at mealtime. Tea is drunk before or after meals only, in cups that have no handles or saucers, but have covers which hold the draw. After partaking of a meal, the Chinese wipe their hands and faces with steaming hot towels. It is thought bad to put cold water in their stom- achs, so it is first boiled. The truth of the matter is that their water is not fit to be drunk without first killing the diseases which infest it. When a hostess lifts her teacup to her lips, the polite moment to say farewell has arrived, and then one should go no matter how much the hostess begs one to stay. 27

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