The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864: Devoted To Literature And National PolicyVarious
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864: Devoted To Literature And National Policy
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
After eating, we must rank shaving as the second among Chinese
employments. They all wear the cue, even to the infant in arms, whose
mother shaves its head at three months old, and ties up the tiny cue
with a red ribbon, and from that day to the day of his death the child
and man must be periodically shaved; for, of course, no man can shave
his own head. Great is the barber in China, and vast his field of
operations among four hundred millions of people! They shave their
subjects everywhere, even sitting on a stone in an open field, and at
all hours of the day their shops are full. It is in the neatness of his
'shave' and the glossiness of his rich black cue that the Chinese dandy
is distinguishable. Men who cannot afford to shave every day, allow the
hair to grow until the head (always excepting the part which has never
known the razor or the shears) resembles that of a fire zouave just
after enlistment, or a penitentiary prisoner; while the exquisite has
his head shaved with the sharpest razor, giving a bluish cast or frame
for his yellow face. Occasionally the size or thickness of the tail
appears to be unsatisfactory, and a larger surface is spared from the
knife. The refractory hairs growing out in this supplementary patch
surround the genuine cue with a halo an inch or two in height. Lots of
these apostolical-looking Chinese are to be met with in every street,
and, as they rarely wear hats, they have a very comical appearance. This
question of hats is another of curious import among this curious people.
A Chinese gentleman rarely wears one in the streets, his mode of travel
being in a sedan, and his fan or umbrella answering all purposes of
protection from the sun. A mandarin, on the contrary, wears in the ball
of his cap his badge of office, and the time even when he changes his
winter for his summer hat is regulated by the Board of Rites. The poor
coolie is troubled by no such formality, and wears a great umbrella-like
head covering, that he perches on a little bamboo tower, six inches
above his crown, tying down the whole concern by a string that passes
behind his ears. When at leisure, he wears his long cue trailing to his
feet; when busy, it is snugly coiled around his head and out of sight
under his hat. The gentleman and mandarin, on the contrary, never ties
up the cue, its flowing grace, like his long finger nails, being a badge
of his superior condition in being above manual labor. No wonder, then,
that they attach so much importance to the pigtail, and that the man who
dresses it daily is so useful a character in the community. His tools
are unlike anything a civilized barber uses, and his razor, if its uses
were not explained, would hardly be recognized by the name. It is a
thick, broad instrument, shaped more like a cook's cleaver than any
instrument known to other nations; but it does its work well in the
hands of a good operator. After the head is shaved, it is washed with
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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