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."[93]
In the one city of Peking alone, Headland collected more than seventy-five different games. In his pictures and descriptions of games played by boys are such as would call out much vigorous exercise. One of their favorite games was "Skin the snake." In this game the boys all stood in line one behind the other. They would then bend forward and each put one hand between his legs and grasp a hand of the boy behind him. Then they all would back and the rear boy would lie down and the others would back over astride of him and each would lie down in turn, thus bringing the head between the legs of his neighbor. When all were down then the last boy that lay down would get up and each would get up in turn, raising each one after him, until all were up and standing straight, when they would let go hands and the game was finished.
Gambling was, perhaps, the greatest sport of the Chinese, and it was indulged in by both men and boys. "A boy with two cash prefers to risk their loss on the throw of a die, to simply buying a cake without trying the chance of getting it for nothing."[94] One of their means of gambling was through cricket-fighting. In the season, the crickets were hunted by men and boys, who would go out to the hills and waysides to get them. They were cared for and trained and some would become such great fighters as to command high prices.
Dress.
The young women enjoyed wearing colors, pink and green and blue being the ones most preferred. The ordinary dress was a large-sleeved robe of silk or cotton over a longer garment, under which were loose trousers fastened round the ankles just above the small feet and tight shoes. They wore their hair hanging down in long tresses, and the putting up of the hair was one of the ceremonies preparatory to marriage. The eyebrows were blackened with charred sticks and arched or narrowed to a fine curved line, to resemble a young willow leaflet or the moon when a day or two old. Cosmetics were used quite freely, on grand occasions the face being daubed with white paint and the lips and cheeks with red, so that all blushes were covered up. They wore bangles, bracelets, and ear-rings of glass, stone, and metal. "A belle is described as having cheeks like the almond flower, lips like a peach's bloom, waist as the willow leaf, eyes bright as dancing ripples in the sun, and footsteps like the lotus flower."[95]
In some parts of China, if not in all, the baby in summertime wore no clothing at all. In the winter it wore quilted trousers with feet attached. In some parts the trousers of the baby were partly filled with sand or earth, so that it was a common saying that a person who displayed small practical knowledge had not yet been taken out of his "earth-trousers." The older children wore the same pattern of clothing and cut out of the same kind of cloth as their parents and grandparents.
Religion.
"I well remember the first time I was led to a temple and there told to bend my knees to the idol decked out in a gorgeous robe, its face blackened by the smoke from the incense. On either side of the room stood four huge idols, with stern and forbidding faces. One of them was especially frightful. It was the God of Thunder represented by an image having the body of a man and the head of a highly caricatured rooster. This idol had a hammer in one hand and a large nail in the other, with which he is supposed to strike wicked persons. This god made such an impression on me that I had a horrible dream about it that very night. I saw him clad in fierceness; he moved his hands threateningly. Almost choked with fright though I was, I managed to cry out and that awoke me."[96]