University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

Page 14 text:

12 CH1NA'S NEW YEAR The business men of China have eustoms different from those of the Europeans and Amerieans. O11 the fifth day of the mouth all clerks are invited to dine with their employers. The clerk who is going to be discharged is quietly given a cup of tea. In certain trades, if the manager is to be discharged, the fish is put on the table with the hr-ad pointing toward him. No word is spoken. l'llvlo IAN .lllsxiuu Vlmln lfIlil'I71lH ln the Lund of Lanterns Of all the festivities. perhaps the buying of lanterns is most enjoyed. The eighth, the thirteenth, the fifteenth and the eighteenth are set aside for their display. The lanterns are made of paper in the shape of horses, rabbits or fish. A street full of them is a gay sight indeed. After the fifteenth. work is resumed. An old Chinese saying is, After New Year, no man playsfl V lVritlvn. jbr 'l'nlc LING u1s'r by WANG YAo-T'1N1:, .-Al.9s1'sllII1l 1i1f'!lfl Tmclz er.

Page 13 text:

THE LINGUIST 11 gods are pasted in order to keep out evil spirits who might enter when the gate is ajar. On the door posts of newly married couples another sort of P10ture is pasted. It invites a healthy baby to enter there on the back of the CIFIT lin, a sacred animal. For the same purpose people Sometimes hang twigs of cedar on the bed posts. The little Chinese children eagerly wait- for the new year You will be interested in hearing them say Go nice, go nien lo, Money is given them by their parents to put under their pillow. It means that each child has added one year to his age. Not only the children and grown people arc made IWPPY, but also the spirits of their ancestors. The s a l101'traits of their ancestors are hung in the parlor, and P109 and vegetables are given them to eat. If on the eighteenth day when the riee is l'GlllOV6Cl any water is left in the bowl, Hoods are expected in the district. If ,.- ,,,, h m,,m,,,,m, 110 water is left, there will be a drought during the year. On the first two days of the new year most men stay at home. On the third day they may go to their friends and relatives to say Kon .sl1,'i, lcon shi as you say Happy New Year. Everyone, man or woman, glrl or boy, wears handsome clothes and shoes. Money is given to the children by all visitors. It is called Ta ho ts'-ian. Callers are welcomed, and the best fruits and tea are served. The servants also receive money f1'0Il1 the visitors. It is called lcon shi ts'1ien. In north China the custom 13 Somewhat different. Instead of personally going to U10 11011105 of their friends and relatives. they send a cart with nothing in it but a pair of shoes or boots, placed in the front of the cart. 'l'he driver leaves the card of his employer at each door he visits. At midnight of the fourth day the family worships the money god, in the hope that he will send them much money. It is Said that he will leave all the money he carries with him at the first house in which he is WCl00ll10Cl- This is the reason why some people stay awake- until midnight of the fourth day, It is also said f,ha,t he will take all the money from the other houses to the last house in W1 some people offer him candles on the morning of the mth day- lieh he is welcomed. Thereore

Page 15 text:

THE Music , Q v OLD I, , - CATHAY iqffw g ,.,.... O one who has recently come to China, Chinese music may mean the doleful wail of the bamboo flute, or perhaps the strange and frequent rendering of Hot Time in Our Old Town To-night by the band of some lJ04SSing funeral procession. As such, Chinese music fails to charm. But with music, as with much in China, our failure to appreciate is due to our own ignorance. A glance into the history and meaning of Chinese music discloses a fascinating field of studv We soon see that we of the West are indebted to this ancient people f01' 11111011 that iS essential to OUP own modern music. Legend gives us the story of the Emperor Hwang-ti who is said to have invented music. This emperor of long ago was pleased by the notes Of the Phoenix: so he commanded his minister to have Some bamboo reeds Clit which would produce an imitation of the twelve tones of the bird. The Six strong clear notes of the male are echoed by the answering n0t0S Of his matc. These twelve notes give US tho Cqulvfl-lem Of Ollr Chromatic scale. , Although this is but n legend, it is interesting to know mat it 0011108 '1Own to us from B. C. 2,600 fthe time of N0-will and is looked UPON with favor in Chinese histories of music. Much that we know of Chinese music in its begillllillgf lllllSt be learned from the traditions of the people. However, W0 do have some VCU' accurate and definite facts which must he accepted US hiswfy- FOP much Of this information we are indebted to a little boflli- Cllifmfe M'lLS'fC, Written SOYYIG YCZWS f1g0 by Mrs. Timothy Richards. MVS RiChfLI'flS has given us fl3l