The appearance of the Chinese possess many of the characteristics of the Tartar, both nations being different branches of the same great family. The Chinese, however, are, as a rule, of a less determined and manly cast than the Tartars, and have about them a sort of effeminacy which accounts for the conquest suffered at their hands.
One of the chief peculiarities in a Chinaman’s appearance is his “tail.” This mode of dressing the hair was imposed upon the Chinese by the Tartars, and has remained in full force ever since. The Tae-ping rebels, however, viewing the “tail” as an ignominious sign of conquest, refuse to wear it, and allow the whole of their hair to grow.
With the loyal Chinese, however, the tail has become quite an institution, and they regard it with the same sort of reverence which is felt by an Arab, a Turk, or a Persian for his beard. It is scarcely possible to punish a Chinaman more severely than by cutting off his tail, and, though he may supply its place with an artificial tail curiously woven into the hair, he feels the indignity very keenly. Sometimes, when two men are to be punished severely, they are tied together by their tails, and exposed to the derision of the public.
The tail bears some resemblance to the scalp-lock of the American Indian, but it includes very much more hair than is comprehended in the scalp-lock. The Chinaman shaves the hair from his forehead and round the temples, but leaves a circular patch of tolerable size, the hair of which is allowed to grow to its full length. Sometimes, if the patch be not large enough to nourish a sufficient quantity of hair to produce a good tail, it is enlarged by allowing more and more hair to grow at each successive shaving. On an average, the head is shaved once in ten days, and no one would venture to go into good society unless the hair of his head were clean shaven. As for his face, he has so few hairs upon it, that he does not trouble the barber very much with his countenance.
Owing to the position of the tail, a man cannot dress it properly without aid, and, chiefly for this purpose, the peripatetic barber has become quite an institution in China. All the materials of his trade are carried at the ends of a bamboo pole, which the barber carries in yoke fashion across his shoulders. When his services are required, he puts down his load, arranges his simple apparatus in a few moments, and sets to work upon the cherished tail of his customer.
Very little capital is required to set up a barber in trade. There is the razor, a most primitive triangle of steel, two inches long by one inch wide, which cost, perhaps, three half-pence, or twopence if it be of the best kind. There is the linen strop, which costs a penny, and a bamboo seat and table, which cost, perhaps, twopence each. There is one expensive article, namely, the brass basin, but, as a rule, a Chinese barber can be well set up in trade at the expenditure of about six or seven shillings, and can make a good living by his business. This sum includes a supply of black silk, wherewith to supplement the tails of his customers, and a few locks of real hair, with which he can supply artificial tails in cases where they are denied by nature.
The customer always holds a sort of basin in which to catch the clippings of hair. These are preserved, not from any superstitious ideas, as is the case in many parts of the world, but are put aside for the hair collector, who makes his daily rounds with his basket oil his back. The contents of the basket are carefully utilized. The long hair combed from women’s heads is separated and made into false tails for the men, while the short pieces shaven from men’s heads are used as manure, a tiny pinch of hair being inserted into the ground with each seed or plantlet. In consequence of the universal practice of shaving the head and wearing a tail, the number of barbers is very great, and in 1858 they were said to exceed seven thousand in Canton alone.
The right management of the tail is, among the Chinese, what the management of the hat is among ourselves. For example, it is a mark of respect to allow the tail to hang at full length, and any one who ventured to address an equal without having his tail hanging down his back would be thought as boorish as would an Englishman who went into a lady’s drawing-room without removing his hat. When the people are at work, they always coil the cherished tail round their heads, so as to get it out of the way; but if a man of superior rank should happen to pass, down go all the tails at once.
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE.