On ice by moonlight may be seen
The wedded couples’ go-between.”
—A Thousand Character Essay for Girls.
Hence the common phrase “to do the ice (business),” i.e., to arrange a marriage.
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[355] This proceeding is highly improper, but is winked at in a large majority of Chinese betrothals.
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[TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE]
This book was published in two volumes, of which this is the first. The second volume was released as Project Gutenberg ebook #43628, available at [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43628]. Referenced content not present in this electronic text can be found in Volume II. Cross-volume links function correctly only when this electronic text is viewed online.
Obvious typographical errors repaired. Punctuation, spelling, hyphenation, use of accented characters and stylistic presentation standardized when a predominant preference was found in this book. Capitalization and hyphenation of Chinese personal names has been standardized. Otherwise left as printed.
Missing page numbers are numbered blank pages in the original text.
Footnote numbers were re-indexed in this electronic text, internal references renumbered correspondingly.