Dealings with the Dead, Volume 2 (of 2)Sargent, Lucius M. (Lucius Manlius)
History
Dealings with the Dead, Volume 2 (of 2)
Sargent, Lucius M. (Lucius Manlius)
Death; Funeral rites and ceremonies; Funeral rites and ceremonies -- United States
The Kalif, Hakin, who founded the religion of the Druses, re-enacted this
law. De Pauw remarks, that the assertion of Plutarch might seem doubtful,
if a decree, prohibiting the manufacture of shoes for women, under the
pain of death, were not found, as it is, in the _Kitab-al-Machaid_, or
bible of the Druses.
Upon my first visit to Pwan Yekoo and her _suite_, in connection with
other visitors, I was not admitted for nearly two hours, after the
appointed time. Ample sleeping arrangements had not been made, for these
Celestials; and, for one night, at least, they had been packed, like a
crate of China ware, in a closet, or small apartment, contiguous to the
hall of exhibition. Yekoo was indignant, and refused to show her "golden
lilies." By dint of long importunity, she appeared, but in no gentle
humor. Indeed, when Yekoo came forth, followed by Lum Akum, I was
reminded, at a glance, of Cruikshank's illustration of Mrs. Varden,
followed by Meigs, with the Protestant manual. They soon recovered their
better nature; and some little attention, paid by the visitors, to the
Celestial pappooses, put them into tolerably good humor.
At the close of the exhibition, we were invited near the platform. It
would be superfluous to describe the Chinese costume, so commonly
presented, in various works. I was especially attracted by the hair of
Yekoo, and Lum Akum, who passes for her waiting woman. I examined it with
my glasses. It was jet black, coarse, abundant, and besmeared with a
stiffening paste or gluten, which mightily resembled grease. Upon the top
of the head a slender, round stick, about the size of a crow's quill, is
attached, projecting _aft_, in marine parlance, several inches, like a
small ring tail boom. The design of this is to support the hair, which is
thrown over it, and hangs, or is plastered, down with the shining paste,
assuming the appearance, seen _a tergo_, of a rudder.
The Chinese, in relation to the rest of mankind, are, certainly, a
contrarious people. In 1833, Mr. Charles Majoribanks addressed a letter to
the Right Hon. Charles Grant, in which he says:
"China may, in many respects, be said to stand alone, among the nations;
not only differing, but, in many instances, diametrically opposed, in the
nature of its laws, customs, and institutions. A Chinese, when he goes
into mourning, puts on white; the left hand they consider the place of
honor; they think it an act of unbecoming familiarity to uncover the head;
their mariner's compass, they assert, points to the South; the stomach
they declare to be the seat of the understanding; and the chief God of
their idolatry is the Devil."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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