BOY LIFE IN CHINA.
Hangchow, China.
My dear children: I think you will be interested to hear something about the life of boys in China. Well, to begin at the beginning, when a little baby-boy makes his appearance into the world he is welcomed very warmly. When he is a month old a grand ceremony is gone through; the child is washed, and its head shaved, all except two little tufts of hair on each side of the head behind the ear, which are tied tight and stick out at right angles from the head. He is dressed up very smartly, and a feast is given. Up to about six or seven years old, boys are allowed to do much as they like; but after that they are taken to school, and learn reading, writing and manners. They do not seem, as a rule, to be taught arithmetic; but the master is very particular about his pupils’ manners. In every school there is put up opposite the entrance a tablet in honor of Confucius, and all the pupils have to bow low before it, holding up their books with both hands towards it, both on entering and leaving school; they also bow in the same way to the master. The books which they learn at school are full of the sayings of the wise man Confucius, who was born 551 B.C., and lived about the time when the Jews were returning from their captivity in Babylon. Confucius himself did not write any books, but his disciples wrote down his wise sayings, and the boys at school learn them off by heart.
It is astonishing what memories these Chinese boys have, and what a number of pages they will repeat straight off, as fast as their tongues can go, and hardly stopping to take breath. They learn their lessons aloud, and consequently as you walk along the street you can tell when you are drawing near a school by the noise, which becomes simply a din if you enter; and you can only wonder how the children ever learn anything, and what the master has done to his ears to make them strong enough to bear all that noise. When the boys repeat their lessons they stand with their backs to their master, and, swinging their bodies from side to side, gabble off the words as fast as they can, without any stops except for breath. They are not expected to understand what they learn till they have been many years at school.
I dare say you wonder whether the Chinese school-boys play any games. They do not know anything about such nice games as cricket, foot-ball, marbles, etc. But at the new year they have a grand time of flying kites.
The streets at that time look quite gay with groups of people, dressed, not as at other times, in dark cotton clothes, but in silks and satins of crimson, green, blue, purples and various hues, often with beautifully embroidered sleeves, and jackets often lined with fur. The children look particularly smart, being adorned with gay caps and hats, ornamented with gilt figures or Chinese characters, especially the Chinese character which means “happiness.” The Chinese kites are very elaborate, and are generally in the shape of some animal—a gigantic butterfly, a centipede, a bird, a dragon, etc.; and it is a fine sight to watch such a kite rise, rise steadily in the still, clear atmosphere, till it becomes almost a speck. Sometimes they fly these kites at night, and send lighted lanterns up after them, which startle the unwary into imagining there are new stars appearing in the sky!
But you know, dear children, that these Chinese have evil hearts as well as we, which need the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Will you pray that they may receive this great blessing?—Mary Elwin in C. M. Juvenile Instructor.