University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

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1 i CHILD LIFE 'HW' HINAV e .......-A NANKING CHILDREN--Some Pictures. AO-HSIANG and Mao-teo-r are strangely ignorant- of the geography of China and strangely wise about their ow11 little rented lialf-acre, Ev . , V. HA H fir.-ISlU.,tI Cry four weeks-six weeks in Xilllill-iIl1llC .1 new crop o 1 L 111 1 10 e , , . 0111111011 xegctuble green, grows under their hands. At all tnnes of day tl - - . 'C U10 small brothers llli1V be seen at work-setting out Dlants, hoeing, eq' . - V . . . ' nylllg V2'Lf01' from Stug11a11tpo11ds and spraying, cutting, unclbu11dl111gthe greclli or sta1rt1i11g oil to lll21l'li0t witl1 two baskets full across their shoulders. r y , U1011' futher is l'llCllll1EltlC and nsthinuticg their mother, of whom tl1e boys Ntlll Speak reverently und te11derly, d1ed flll'0C years ago. B130-llSiZll1g and 'Ia0'f0O-r are luds under fourteen, hut they f21l'1l1, cook, CHFI1 H10 eighteen douflls 21111111111 rent, and keep the family of three alive and happy. They have 11ot heen beyond Hsizt-kwun since they can l'ClllCllllJCl', they do not knflw i11 what direction Sllilllgllill is or 1'Cliillg 01' Clulffnl- AH1eI'icz1 is ll , Somewhere far off, But 13110 Qfgoks and turns of N:111k1ng streets and the 17121005 where their greens sell hesb HPC 017011 Scogmllily to tl1c111. YY lhey lmve never looked inside un aritlnnetie hook, 'Wt fhcy HPC Cxglerts III mental z1ritl1n1ctie und Chinese currency. H1111 HPC 1'H1'0ly cheated i11 m0l10y t1l'2'lllS2LUtlOllS. 1 The futher was o1-igilmllv from Hllllilll province, of Solid and respectable fll1'lllCI' class and can read qlliffl well, HS the well- tllUl11lJOCl old Chinese novels in his hut bc-ap witness. His futlierly ?tll1lJltlOll WHS stirred recently when his boys WC,-0 given u set of the Popular 1177

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16 CHINESE MUSIC It is interesting to note the great difference between Chinese music and the music of the West. The five notes of the Chinese scale sound to thc car of a foreigner monotonous and weird. We delight in extremes The Chinese musician is a true son of Confucius in his loyalty to thc Golden Mean. We demand harmony, To the Chinese harmony means a combination of instruments, never a combination of several tones on one instrument. A church organist in China finds it wise to play only the air of the hymn to be sung, for the congregation becomes hopelessly confused, not knowing whether the bass. tenor, alto, or soprano is the tune to be sung. ' The following is a typical popular air in China. Mrs. Richards suggests that this air, known as Ba Bam is sung by more people than any other one tune in the world. ., Chinese harmony, as has been said, is produced by a combination of instruments that are typically Chinese. All eight varieties may be heard among musicians to-day. In the time of the earliest music we find that stone instruments and jade flutes were used in state ceremonies. The musical stones, made like a carpenters square and suspended in two rows of sixes, are used in the temple services. Bells cymbals and gongs belong to a group of metal instruments used on many and varied occasions. The silk stringed instruments include the ever-present fiddle, the moon guitar, and the highly esteemed Chin, which is made by stretching seven silk strings over a curved board. This instrument is played only by the educated class and is reserved for state occasions. fOoncluded on page 1223

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18 CHILD LIFE IN CHINA Education textbooks, and under his private tutorship, they have mastered three readers in three months. Inside the simple thatched hut with its single room are numerous interesting objects,-the boys' old cradle, two bundles of lo-elrai-the tall dry reed used for fuel-a red pepper and an ear of red corn hanging on the mud wall, a bundle of dried leaves the color of tobacco supposed to be eflieaeious in killing bugs on the plants, matting GDB, v,,- 5 L I'l:oln hy .llisslou Pholo UIIVCIIII for repairing roof or wall, a little locked box of treasured pictures and trinkets, a varied assortment of mattocks, hoes, rakes and buckets. The little fellows are delightfully friendly and unusually honest. Their rough cheeks wrinkle and their eyes are full of 1llC1'l'lll1CDl2 as they look straight into yours. I ani tempted to give them many things because- strange again-they never ask for anything. They seem stolidly happy, they join now and then in games with neighboring boys, and the picture books which they are beginning to read open up a new world. Last Christmas a friend took them a basket of surprises and they listened with wide-open eyes and rapt attention to tl1e Christmas story. But what a narrow world they live in after all! Nevertheless, like the singing diabolo