By the Golden Gate; Or, San Francisco, the Queen City of the Pacific Coast: With Scenes and Incidents Characteristic of its LifeCarey, Joseph
History
By the Golden Gate; Or, San Francisco, the Queen City of the Pacific Coast: With Scenes and Incidents Characteristic of its Life
Carey, Joseph
San Francisco (Calif.)
handled their tools. It was work, work. They were doing their masters'
bidding like the genii of the lamp; and in the glare of the light in
which they wrought on their bench or at their stand the workers in
gold and silver, the makers of ornaments and jewelry, were like
some strange beings from another world. They work to the point of
endurance. They have their amusements, their holidays, as the Chinese
New Year which comes in February, their processions from time to time,
but their great indulgence is in the use of opium. Once or twice
a month the ordinary labourer or workman gives himself up to its
seductive charms, to its power more fatal to his manhood than
intoxicating drinks taken to excess. The Chinaman is so stolid and
impassive that it is hard to arouse his wrath. He will bear insults
without a murmur for a long time, but in the end he will be stung into
madness and he will give force to all his pent up fires of hate
that have slumbered like a volcano. He may wait long without having
punished his oppressor, but he will bide his time. So it was with the
Boxers in China whose story is so painfully fresh in the memories of
the great legations of the world in Pekin.
The men and women of Chinatown dress very nearly like each other;
though you do not meet many women. The Chinaman wears a blouse of blue
cotton material or other cheap, manufactured goods. This is without a
collar, and is usually hooked over the breast. There are no buttons.
Wealthy Chinamen, and there are many such, indulge in richer garments.
As a rule they have adopted the American felt hat of a brownish
colour. The shoe has the invariable wooden sole with uppers of cotton
or some kind of ordinary cloth. The hair is the object of their chief
attention, however, in the making up of their toilet. It is worn in a
queue or pigtail fashion as it is commonly styled. It is their
glory, however, this long, black, glossy braid. It is the Chinaman's
distinguishing badge. It gives him dignity in the presence of his
countrymen. If cut off he feels dishonoured. He can never go back to
the home of his ancestors, but must remain in exile. He wears this
mark of his nationality either hanging down his back or else coiled
about the head. When at work the latter style is preferred, as it is
then out of the way of his movements. Some of the men whom you meet
have fine intellectual heads. The merchants and scholars whom I saw
answer to this description. As a rule they can all read and write.
They have a love of knowledge to a certain point, and a book is prized
by them. The great desire of the Chinamen who reach our shores is to
learn the English language. They know it gives them an advantage. It
is the avenue to success. Sometimes they will become members of an
American Mission or Bible-class in order to learn the language. They
still, however, have their mental reservations with regard to their
native Joss-houses and worship. But they are not singular in this
respect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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