Chapter II: Part 2

The Basques, especially those living in the mountains, are proud, happy, and independent. They are easily angered and quick to fight. They love their old life and customs and dislike changes. They still use many old-fashioned things such as the clumsy ox-cart, with great, solid wooden wheels and heavy wooden axle. The old dress has disappeared in many places, but is picturesque. Men wear rather loose and baggy trousers, a close-fitting vest, a sort of blouse or jacket that reaches only to the waist, a wide, white collar turned down over the neck of the blouse, and a loose necktie with streaming ends. They wear a loose cap jauntily on the head. Men and women both delight in bright colors.

Their food is simple, but they are always ready to share it with guests. Strangers are welcome to the best the family has, which is generally corn bread and cider, with bean soup and boiled cabbage. They celebrate Christmas by killing a pig, the flesh of which gives the family a feast for a long time.

They are proud of their strange and difficult language, which _they_ call _Euskaric_. They call themselves _Euskaldanac_, which means “the speakers,” just as if other people using a different speech did not know how to speak at all.

The Basques have produced some famous men. The great sailor Magellan, who circumnavigated the globe and discovered the Philippines in 1535, was a Basque. So were Ignacio de Loyola and Francis Xavier, who founded the _Society of Jesus_ or the _Jesuits_. Within recent years many of the Basques have left their old home and gone to seek fortunes in new lands. In all more than two hundred thousand have migrated, some to Havana and Mexico, but many more to Montevideo and Buenos Ayres.

IX.
FINNS.

Finland, forming part of the Russian Empire, is bordered on the south and west by the Baltic Sea (Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia) and stretches as a narrow band almost north and south. There has been much discussion as to just what and who the Finns are. Some writers think them true white Europeans related to the long-headed, fair whites; others believe them Mongolians who have moved from Asia into Europe, where they have changed their color and appearance—partly by marrying with fair whites and partly by the influence of climate and other conditions—but who retain their old Asiatic language.

Whichever is right, the Finns are an interesting people. There are about one million and a half of pure blood dwelling in Finland. There are two quite unlike types,—the Tavastland and Karelian Finns. The Tavastland Finns are rather tall and large built, with a large and broad head, a long and large face, light skin, light hair, and large and light eyes. They are rather quiet, a little morose though kindly, and have a great love for their old life and customs. The Karelian Finns are darker, with dark brown or black hair and dark eyes. They were quite tall, but less strongly built than the Tavastland Finns; they have a longer head and smaller head and face; they are more lively, gay, and enterprising. It is the Karelians who more nearly resemble the Finns of Asia, Ostiaks, and Samoyeds. Both kinds of Finns, though differing in appearance, speak one language, which is not Aryan, and is related to the languages of Northern Asia. The Lapps, Turks, and some other peoples of Southeastern Europe speak tongues related to the Finnish.

In the cities and towns of Finland the people are much like their Swedish, German, and Russian neighbors. But in the small towns and villages and in the country they retain many old and curious customs. There they live in old-fashioned houses or even older-fashioned tents. The houses, built of logs, had low, broad, two-pitched roofs and consisted of a single room; there was one door and some small windows. Only recently have they used glass in the windows. The furniture is simple. Clothing and other articles are hung on pegs against the wall or over poles which are supported by hooks from the roof. Big, ring-shaped loaves of rye bread are hung up on these poles also. Outside the house are several small buildings used as store-rooms for treasures and the sweat-bath house.

The old tents are now rarely seen. They were circular, and their framework was made by setting poles in the ground so that their upper ends met; branches were worked in to fill the spaces between these and form walls, and moss and turf were tightly packed in to fill all openings. A doorway was left and a smoke hole.

The sweat-bath house is found everywhere. It is large enough to accommodate a good many bathers at once. Two sets of wide benches run around the inside of the house, one higher than the other: these are for the bathers to sit or lie upon. They reach the higher benches or platforms by means of a short ladder. In one corner of this sweat-house is a dome-shaped oven or fireplace built of stones. This is heated very hot, and then dippers of water are thrown upon the hot stones, until the steam fills the whole building. The bathers bask in the vapor, rub and strike themselves with bunches of birch twigs, and then dash cold water over themselves. They delight in these vapor baths, and every one—men, women, and children—takes them. _We_ would not enjoy it much, for there is much smoke mixed with the steam. Similar vapor baths are used in Russia, and recently “Russian baths” have come much into use among ourselves.

Like many other northern peoples the Finns make many articles from birch bark. Boxes, vessels, carrying sacks, and even shoes are made from it. The climate of Finland is rather bad; winters are long and severe. The people raise some plants, but their agriculture is simple and old-fashioned. They burn over the space to be planted, work the ashes and soil with crude tools, and plant the seed. Their crops sometimes fail and terrible famines result. At such times they have made bread from bark and roots crushed between rude grinding stones. Such bread is called _famine bread_.

The Finns love song and poetry. It is said that every village has one poet, or more, and that he prepares a new song whenever aught of importance occurs. Besides these new songs they have many ancient songs, of which they never tire. When they sing the songs of the olden time, two men seat themselves face to face upon a bench, join hands, and rock backward and forward in time to the song. First one sings a line or passage, and then the other repeats the same, and so they continue, rocking back and forth and singing the whole night through. Sometimes a third man plays upon the _kantele_, while the others sing. This kantele is somewhat like a zither; it has a flat sounding-body upon which are strung from three to eight strings of different lengths. It is usually picked with the fingers like a guitar. It is said that the first kantele was made of fish-bones, though it is not easy to see how that could be.

Until less than a hundred years ago, although these old songs were much loved, no one had written them down. They were learned by heart from father to son, and thus kept alive through the centuries. A man named Lönnrot became interested in them and copied many of them from the mouths of the singers. In 1825 he printed a book of them, and later he gathered and published still more. To this book of songs he gave the name of the _Kalevala_. It is one of the great poems of the world, and it tells of the life and doings and beliefs of the Finns of the old, old time. The style of the _Kalevala_ is lively and quite unlike most English poetry. In _Hiawatha_, Longfellow copies this style; so when you read _Hiawatha_ again, remember that it is like the old Finnish songs.

The Finns are very fond of the _Kalevala_ and their other ancient songs. They are jealous, too, of their old customs, and dislike to see them pass away. They have some societies the purpose of which is to keep alive a knowledge of the past of Finland. But though the Finns love Finland and its old life, they are not to-day an independent nation. They were invaded long ago by Sweden, and later on by Russia. For a time Finland was a half-independent kingdom under Russian control, but lately its power has been again reduced, and it is part of Russia itself.

What we have said of the Finns is true of the country people. In the cities things are much the same as in other European cities. In Helsingfors we should find one of the great universities of Europe, and many educated and distinguished men Finns by birth and language.

X.
LAPPS.

In the northmost part of the Scandinavian Peninsula and Finland live the Lapps. There are probably not more than ten or twelve thousand, all told. They have had much contact with the Finns, and speak a language related to Finnish. In many customs they resemble them. This is not strange, as the land they live in is much the same.

But while all Finns are tall, the Lapps are short. Most of the men fall below five feet. Little and thin, they are yet strong and quick in their movements. Their skin is dark, their hair black and straight. Their heads are big and broad, and they have good foreheads and projecting cheek bones. Their eyes often seem to slant downward at their outer corners. While they are really dark skinned, they are not nearly so much so as they appear, for they are usually filthy. When their faces are washed, some of the women have quite fair skin and rosy cheeks. Life is hard among the Lapps, but they often live to be old—sometimes even to one hundred years or more.

Those Lapps who live farthest away from the Finns, Russians, and Swedes still wear the old style of dress. In winter their garments are made of reindeer hide: the hair, which is left on, is worn next the body. Both men and women wear big mittens of skin. They have caps on their heads, and fishermen and herders may be distinguished by the style of these. Fishermen’s caps are pointed, while those of herders are square. In going out over the snow in winter, Lapps have long, narrow runners of wood fastened to their feet, and carry a pole in their hand. These runners are five feet or more in length, and only a few inches wide, and on them—aided by their poles—the Lapps glide along finely over the hard snow.

Some Lapps are constantly wandering. Others settle down in quite permanent homes. The wanderers build tents similar in shape to those of our Sioux Indians and of the Finns. A lot of poles are set up in a circle with their upper ends meeting. This framework is covered with a cloth or with turfs. The settled Lapps live in houses, the framework of which consists of posts set upright and poles lashed across. Small storehouses for food are built near by, and these are set up on four posts to keep the contents out of reach of dogs and other animals.

When they greet each other, the Lapps rub noses together. This mode of kissing is found also among other northern peoples, like the Samoyeds in Asia and the Eskimos in America. Mothers cradle their babies in a sort of trough hollowed out of a piece of wood. This they carry on their backs when they journey, and hang on a tree or set into a snowbank when they work.

Of course every one thinks of reindeer when Laplanders are mentioned. And it is not strange, because reindeer are useful indeed to these little people. They furnish three useful things,—milk, meat, and skins. The reindeer are kept in herds and form almost the only wealth of their owners. Some herds number perhaps a thousand reindeer. These herds must be constantly watched. Men, women, and children all help in the work, and the many dogs kept by the Lapps are chiefly helpful in guarding the herds. The women do the milking, and each of the reindeer cows is milked twice a day. They give little milk, hardly more than a cupful at a milking, but it is rich and thick and can be thinned with a good deal of water. Some of the milk is drunk fresh, and from the rest the women make a kind of cheese. When they wish to milk a reindeer, they approach the animal carefully, throw a lasso over its head and wind this around the snout so as to hold the animal quiet. The reindeer are also much used to carry burdens and to drag sledges.

Besides the flesh and milk of the reindeer the Laplanders eat its blood, which is boiled down into a sort of pudding. The meat which is not eaten fresh is dried and stored away. Fish are dried and smoked. Birds and their eggs are much eaten. Bread, much like the “famine bread” of the Finns, is made from roots and barks. Soup is made of pine bark mixed with fat and flour or meal.

The Laplanders who live in settled houses depend upon hunting during the fall and fishing during the summer. They hunt reindeer, squirrels, and birds. Wild reindeer they take chiefly by pitfalls: they dig a hole, or trench, in the path over which the reindeer is likely to pass, and carefully cover it with branches, earth, and grass. When the animals have fallen in, they are easily killed. Lapps are fond of the eggs of water birds, and to secure them they build nests for the birds in trees near the water, and then rob them after the eggs have been laid.

The Laplanders are great believers in spirits. To summon these they use drums or tambourines, consisting of a ring of wood over which a membrane is tightly stretched. This has jingling objects fastened to it which make a noise when the instrument is beaten or rattled. Upon the membrane are rudely painted, curious figures, usually in red. Thus the sun, animals, and human beings are pictured, and are believed to help the drummer. The Lapps greatly fear their god of storms. He is believed to drive the storms forth from his cave with a club and to bring them back with a shovel. They fear him most at the season when the young reindeer are born, and then pray to him not to let loose the storms, lest the little creatures perish. Through their sorcerers they secure from this god, storm strings with three knots tied in them. Each of these knots represents a storm. If one knot is untied, a little storm is let loose; if two are untied, a greater one; if three, there is a fearful tempest. These strings are used against enemies or those who have tried to do them harm. The neighbors of the little Lapps think these can do them much harm with their wind strings and other magic, and they dread and hate them.

XI.
TURKS.

With the Turks we pass from the peoples of Europe to those of Asia, for the European Osmanli Turks are only the most settled branch of a large group of peoples, most of whom lead wandering lives and live in Central and Northern Asia. All speak almost the same language. Formerly there was a great Turkish Empire, which stretched from the borders of China to the Caspian Sea. The present peoples of the Turkic group live within this area and in European Turkey. Among the most important of these peoples are the Yakuts, Turkomans, Uzbegs, Nogais, Cossacks, and Osmanli,—the latter being the Turks of European Turkey.

We shall speak only of the Yakuts, Turkomans, and Osmanli. The Yakuts occupy an area along both banks of the Lena River and extending west from it. They are wanderers and raise herds of cattle and horses. They live chiefly on the produce of their herds, eating horse flesh especially, and making much cheese. Like many of their neighbors they are fond of _koumyss_, a drink prepared by fermenting mare’s milk. Those living farthest north, near the delta of the Lena River, also hunt small animals for food. These wandering herders, living in tents, are not quarrelsome; they respect age, and the old men control affairs and determine the time for moving camp. Women are well treated by their husbands, but one man may have several wives. In such cases, the wives live each in a separate tent, and these tents are placed about the tent of the husband. Men pay the father of their wives, for these, with cattle and horses. When a man among the Yakuts dies, they dress him in his best clothing and place in the grave with him his knife, a flint and steel, some tinder, and a little food. The burial is always under a tree, and two graves are dug. In one the man is buried with his head turned toward the west. The man’s favorite horse is brought in his finest harness and loaded with presents: a fat mare is also brought. These are both killed and buried in the second grave that they may accompany their master.

The Turkomans, who live in Southern Turkestan and adjoining regions, are probably more like the ancient Turks in appearance, than any of the other Turkic tribes of the present. They are somewhat tall, with a broad, rounded head, broad face, prominent cheek bones, little slant eyes, a low nose, rather thick lips, and projecting ears. Their skin is yellowish, their hair is coarse and black, and they have little beard. They delight in bright clothing, and the women wear much jewelry. It is said that they wear so many jingling ornaments, that a party of passing women make a noise almost like the tinkling of bells. The Turkomans live in large, round, wall tents: the light framework of poles is covered with great pieces of felt. This felt is beaten by the women from sheep’s wool and camel’s hair. They are comfortable within. The floor is often covered with fine rugs or skins, and handsome woven stuffs are hung upon the wall or thrown over the sitting places. These fine articles are partly woven by the women and partly stolen from passing caravans—for the Turkomans are dreadful pillagers. Until very lately they were also slave-hunters and stole many Persian women to sell as slaves. The Russian government has almost put an end to this trade. The Turkomans raise horses, sheep, and camels. They eat the flesh of these animals and drink their fresh milk. Unlike the Yakuts, they do not care for koumyss. When an important man among the Turkomans dies, they raise a heap of stones over his grave. If he was a very pious man, they pay great respect to his grave and consider it a holy spot. A man who is ill or in trouble may visit this grave to pray there; if he has an animal that suffers from some disease, he leads it around the grave to cure it. Such ideas about a pious man’s grave prevail in all Mohammedan countries. All the peoples of the Turkic group are Mussulmans, though you would never think it from the way in which Yakut and Turkoman women go about unveiled.

The Osmanli are the true Turks of Europe. Probably you would expect to see only Turks in Turkey. That would be a great error, for really only about one-tenth the population of Turkey is made up of Turks. There are many Armenians and Bulgarians, besides Greeks and others. The Osmanli Turks do not look like Mongolians, but their language and real blood relationship are with the yellow Asians, rather than with the white Europeans. It is not strange, however, that they present so mixed a type; Turks have long married with white slaves, and there is much Caucasian blood—both European and Asian—in their veins.

Constantinople is one of the most beautiful cities of the globe, and is probably the most important Mohammedan city. The _mosques_, or places of worship, are everywhere and recognizable by their pretty minarets. Friday and not Sunday is the day of service. Daily prayers are required, and the hours for prayer are called by the _muezzim_. When the call is heard, no matter what he may be doing, a good Mohammedan stops his occupation, spreads his prayer cloth, faces the sacred city of Mecca, and goes through his prayers.

The Turk is _not_ industrious and lacks energy; he enjoys ease and amusement. Perhaps a part of this is due to his being a fatalist; he believes that what will happen, _must_ happen; that he cannot in any way change the course of events. So _why_ should he hurry and worry? He _is_ fond of trading, but even there is not in haste. In the bazaars the seller and buyer haggle a long time over the prices. The one never asks the price he expects to get, but one much larger; the other never expects to pay the price first asked, but one much lower. Mohammedans who can afford to keep them may marry four wives; they often own many female slaves beside. These wives and slaves live in a special part of the house called the harem, where no visitors except women enter. When Turkish women go upon the street they are closely veiled, and none of their face except the eyes can be seen. Mohammedanism permits polygamy, but it forbids wine-drinking. While not all Turks obey this command, they are usually temperate, and drunkenness is rare.

XII.
THE PEOPLES OF ASIA.

There has been much question as to _where_ man first lived. Some believe that the first men were white and lived in Europe and North Africa; others think the negroes of Africa are the oldest men; a few have argued that the American Indian was the original race; most, however, have thought that Asia was man’s first home. Whether this is so or not, Asia to-day contains a swarming population composed of many peoples, differing much in appearance, dress, life, and customs.

The Asian peoples belong chiefly to the Mongolic or yellow race. It is a well-marked type. Medium stature, broad and round head, flat face, with nose rather low, broad and high cheek bones, hair coarse and straight and jet black, skin yellowish, dark eyes apparently set slantwise in the face, are its characters. The yellow race includes the Chinese, Japanese, Coreans, the peoples of Indo-China, and most of the wandering tribes of Siberia. There are probably more of this race than of any other on the globe; next to them in numbers is the white race; then the negroes; then the island peoples; last and least, the American Indians.

Asia may justly be called the continent of yellow peoples. But it would be a mistake to think that no other peoples but Mongolic peoples live there. In almost every part of the great continent are peoples of white or Caucasic types. Thus, in the far northeast of Asia we have the curious Ghilyaks; in Japan, the Ainu; in China, various mountain tribes; in Southeastern Asia, similar peoples; in India, the Todas. All these tribes are white, bearded, with hairy bodies, rather long heads, and straight eyes. These tribes are small in numbers, rather quiet and timid, with little energy, and quite unlike European whites. They usually live in mountainous, out-of-the-way places, and it almost seems as if they are the scattered fragments of an ancient, white population, who occupied much of Asia before the yellow race was important, and who have been crowded back and almost destroyed by it.

In India, Persia, and other parts of Western Asia, are many white peoples who are like true European whites in their Aryan languages and in their forms and features. In Western Asia there are, and long have been, many dark white populations who are vigorous and active, with features much more European than Mongolian. These dark whites speak languages related to each other, but not Aryan. To these peoples, including the old Hebrews, and the modern Arabs, and many other ancient and modern peoples, the name Semites is applied. So you see that in Asia there are not only the yellow, Mongolian peoples, but three different kinds of whites,—the ancient feeble race, the Aryans, and the Semites.

Nowhere do we find more interesting ruins telling of past grandeur than in Asia. We think of Rome as old; of Greece as older; but in Mesopotamia are ruins far older than those of Greece and Rome. There are the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, so often mentioned in the Bible. Both are old, but lately explorers have found yet older ruins dating back six or seven thousand years. And these are not ruins of small and unimportant places, but of grand cities, whose people were already civilized, with fixed laws, curious religions, and many arts and industries. Nowhere in the world have ruins of older cities been found, and it is believed that the people who built them were yellow Mongolians.

In Asia most of the great religions were born. The oldest religious systems of which we know were those of Mesopotamia. In India Buddhism began. Buddha was a teacher who felt that the old religion of India, Brahmanism, was wrong. So he taught a new religion. There are more believers in Buddhism to-day than in any other religion. It is the chief religion of China, Japan, Tibet, Southeastern Asia, and Ceylon; but in India itself, where Buddha lived and taught, the people are _not_ Buddhists. In China there arose a great teacher, Confucius. He taught no religion, but to-day there are Confucian temples all through China. Judaism, the worship of Jehovah by the Jews, began in Asia. There, too, in Judæa also, Christianity was born. Christ dwelt and taught there, and there the first Christian churches were founded. But just as Buddha’s land is not Buddhist, so Palestine to-day is not Christian. It is a part of the Mohammedan world. Mohammedanism, too, is Asiatic, beginning in Arabia almost thirteen hundred years ago. Perhaps the original home of man, Asia has certainly been the first seat of civilization, and the cradle of religions.

XIII.
CHINESE.

Perhaps four hundred and twenty million people dwell in the Chinese Empire and are called Chinese. They are not, however, all _true_ Chinese. When the Chinese (or their ancestors) moved eastward into what is now China, four thousand or more years ago, they found many different tribes living there. Some of these were driven forth to seek new homes; many remained and have mixed and mingled with the Chinese.

So many Chinese now live in our country that you all know how they look and dress. The Chinese in America are mostly from the poorest and meanest class, and most of them come from Canton. Most of those here are laundrymen, but in some of our larger cities there are merchants and restaurant keepers, and in California hundreds of them are gardeners. They quickly learn our ways of doing, and many are employed in cigar-making, shirt-making, and railroad-building. They work hard and save their money, as they want sometime to go home to their own country. Chinamen who die here are buried only for a little time: later the bones are gathered and sent home to be buried in China.

The Chinese who come here are short or of medium stature. In the interior and north of China they are taller. They have yellow skin, black straight hair, and black eyes. Their eyes appear to slant or be set crookedly, the inner corners being lower than the outer; they are really almost as straight as our own, and the appearance is due to a fold of skin at the inner corner. The long queue that hangs down the Chinaman’s back is not composed entirely of hair; it is pieced out below with cord or strings braided in. This style of wearing the hair is _not_ truly Chinese. Formerly the Chinese wore their hair in a knot on top of the head, but at the time of the Manchu Conquest, two hundred and fifty or so years ago, they were compelled to wear the hair in the Manchu fashion. For a Chinaman to cut off his queue would be almost the same as declaring himself unloyal to his Manchu rulers.

Chinamen usually have three names. The family name, which we place last, they place first. Thus _Li Hung Chang_, the great Chinese viceroy, belongs to the _Li_ family. Few of the Chinese laundrymen in this country have their true names on their signs. The _Li_ family is one of the largest in China, but it is also generally poor and despised. Most of our Chinese laundrymen are _Lis_, and are related to Li Hung Chang.

In writing, the Chinese use a brush, which they dip into ink. A single character represents a word, though many Chinese words are written with compound characters, one part of which gives the sound, and the other part pictures the meaning. In Chinese many sounds have several different meanings. If the character with which the sound is written stood alone, it would not be clear which meaning was intended. Chinese books are printed on thin paper, which is folded back and forth like a screen or fan and then stitched at the back; this makes the pages double. The Chinese book begins at what we would consider the back and goes through to what we would call the front. The print goes from the top of the page down, in vertical columns, and the first column is the one to the right hand.

To be able to write well is considered of the greatest importance in China. The Chinese respect learning also, and no man can hold office in China unless he is educated and has passed his examinations. From the time when a boy begins study he must keep it up for many years, if he hopes for a government position. Often he is a middle-aged or old man before he succeeds in passing all the necessary examinations. To be able to write beautifully, to be able to compose a poem upon any given subject, and to know the writings of Confucius and the other old philosophers are the things the Chinaman must learn. The great examinations at the Capital are attended by thousands from every part of the Empire. The man who stands first is sure to have an important governorship given to him at once.

There are many curious customs regarding Chinese children. One takes place when a little boy is one year old. A great bamboo sieve, such as farmers use, is placed upon the table. Upon it are spread many articles—money-scales, shears, a measure, a mirror, a pencil, ink, paper, inkstone, books, the counting-board, objects of gold or silver, fruits, etc. The baby, all dressed in his best clothes, is then set in the midst of the objects, on the sieve. His parents and friends watch anxiously to see which of the articles he will grasp. They believe it will show what he will do when he is a man. If he takes the money-scales or the gold or silver, he will become a rich merchant; if he takes the book or pencil, he will be a great scholar, and so on.

Chinese money consists chiefly of round brass coins with a square hole in the middle. It takes from eight to sixteen of them to make one cent of ours. They are called “cash” and are often strung on strings for convenient carrying. Many hundreds of years ago the ancient Chinese used clothing and tools for money. When they began to make metal coins they made these in the shape of shirts, knives, and spades, and called them shirt money, knife money, and spade money.

In eating the Chinese do not use knives and forks, but a pair of slender sticks called “chopsticks.” These are both taken in one hand, and are used to pick up bits of meat or vegetables from the soup or to lift boiled rice or dumplings to the mouth. For eating soup they use little flat-bottomed spoons of chinaware, which will not fall over when set down on the table. In making tea the cup or bowl for each person stands on the table with tea leaves in it; it sets into a little ring-shaped saucer and has a little cover over it like a saucer turned bottom upward. The servant lifts the cover and pours boiling water upon the leaves and then replaces the cover to let the tea steep. The cover may be used to stir the tea for cooling it, and when held in proper position prevents the tea leaves from getting into the mouth of the person who is drinking.

But how many things are left that we cannot speak of! The busy work in the fields, the preparation of tea, the rearing of silkworms and making of silk, the trades, the government, the love and respect for parents, the respect for the graves of ancestors, the religious ideas, the life and teachings of Confucius—these things would need many books like this.

XIV.
COREANS.

Corea is often called the Hermit Nation, because it has wanted to keep foreigners away. In this respect it is what China, Japan, and Tibet have sometimes been; all of them have followed at times policies of exclusion. Still, Corea has had a good deal of contact with other nations; she has learned many things from China and has passed on much that she learned to Japan. Sometimes, too, Corea has been subject to China, sometimes to Japan.

The dress of Corea, while somewhat like that of China, and that of Japan, is still quite peculiar. The common people are all dressed in bluish white stuffs. Rich people dress in silks of the most gorgeous colors—blue, crimson, scarlet, orange. The chief garment worn by men is a long, loose gown that hangs from the neck quite to the ground. This is bound around, high above the waist, with a stiff, broad belt. No buttons are used in the fastening of garments, but strips of colored ribbons. The socks and shoes of the Coreans are like those of the Chinese, except that the shoe soles are thick-set with nail-heads. Nowadays these hob-nailed shoes are worn at all times, but formerly they were probably used only in winter to prevent slipping on ice and snow. About this the Coreans tell a story: long ago there was war between China and Corea, and the Chinese sent an army of eight hundred thousand soldiers; Corea’s army numbered but five thousand. It was in the midst of winter. The two armies met at a river, which was frozen solid, and the battle took place upon the ice. The Chinese wore their smooth-soled shoes, while the Coreans wore hob-nailed ones. When they fought on the ice the Chinese slipped helplessly, while the Coreans were able to fight well. The result was a great victory for the Coreans who, since then, have worn their hob-nailed shoes constantly in memory of their success.

But the most curious part of Corean dress is the hat. There are many different kinds. There are hats for young and hats for old, hats for out-doors and hats for the house, hats for people of different occupations. The commonest out-door hat is round, square-topped, and with the wide, flat, brim halfway up the crown. The hats worn at the royal court are like high skull-caps, with wide flaps or wings projecting at the sides. The straw hats worn by drovers and people in mourning are shaped like the top of a parasol and measure two feet and a half across.

Until lately people in Corea carried wooden blocks to show who they were. These blocks were carried by boys of fifteen and all older persons. They were called “name-tablets,” and were made of pear-wood or mahogany. They were about two inches long and a half inch wide. There was writing upon both sides. At the top on one side was the name of the ward where the boy lived; below it were the words “leisure-fellow,” meaning that he was not a servant; then came the boy’s name, and lastly his date of birth. On the other side was the date on which the tablet was issued, and the seal of the officer who gave it. When a boy was older his “name-tablet” was of box-wood; still later—after he had passed an examination—his tablet was cut from black horn; when finally he took highest honors, it was made of ivory. Poor people, of the lowest class, also carried tablets, but of a different sort; upon these the bearer was _described_.

In Corea there is much cold weather with ice and snow. Much clothing is needed for warmth, and several garments of one sort may be worn one over another. In the houses they have _kangs_ for warmth at night. Under the house, or under a certain part of it, there is built a sort of oven or furnace; above this is a floor of stones and, perhaps, earth upon which oiled paper is smoothly spread. A fire is built in the furnace and the sleepers stretch themselves upon the heated floor. It is not a satisfactory mode of heating, but is used not only among the Coreans but also among their Tatar neighbors.

Everywhere in Corea, Japan, China, and Tibet the people are Buddhists. But in all these countries we find also much worship of demons or bad spirits. Nowhere is there more of this than in Corea. They believe that there are spirits everywhere, some good, some bad. They are afraid of these bad spirits and do many things to ward off their mischief. Upon the roof of the king’s palace are a lot of ugly figures of bronze that resemble pigs and monkeys. All are different, but all are as terrible as their makers could shape. These are intended to frighten bad spirits away. No one but the king may have just these guardian animals; other important persons have two pictures fastened at the door; at the doors of the poor are hung a bunch of rice straw, and a bit of old rag. The two pictures represent two great generals, one a Chinese and the other a Corean, who were such valiant fighters against demons that their very pictures scare them. As for the things on the poor man’s door, it is believed that the spirits will stop to eat the grains of rice, and that they will think the rag the man’s clothing and will do their harm to it without entering the house.

Among the Coreans the tiger is much admired and much feared. They believe that bad men and evil spirits can turn themselves into tigers, and they have many strange stories of these tiger-men magicians. Thus they say that once a man was travelling through a lonely and desolate region. Toward evening he was surprised to come upon a fine house. Entering and asking shelter he found an old man living alone there. He felt sure things were wrong and that the old man was a tiger-magician. He was right; it was the king of all the tiger-magicians. If he had shown his fear he would have been torn to pieces, but he pretended to be brave. When the old man asked him who he was and where he was going, he boldly declared he was hunting for tiger-magicians, of whom he meant to kill two hundred, that he might carry their skins to the king. When the old man—who you remember was king of the tiger-magicians—heard this bold talk he was terribly scared. Secretly he called his subjects together and told them of their danger. They advised him to kill two hundred tiger-magicians who were in jail and give their skins to the hunter, begging him to spare the rest. The traveller gladly accepted, and taking the skins sold them for much money. This man had a cowardly neighbor who heard the story and determined to try the same trick. When he reached the tiger-king’s palace, however, he got scared, the tigers knew his fraud, and falling upon him they killed him.

XV.
TIBETANS.

Few countries are naturally so difficult of access as Tibet. It is a lofty plateau. To reach it from any side frightful mountains must be passed. Not only is the country itself difficult to reach, but the Tibetans do not like strangers. They do everything in their power to keep white men out of the country. Few travellers of our race have ever been to the heart of Tibet. Recently the American traveller, W. W. Rockhill, has visited that country and written interestingly of it, and later Walter Savage Landor claims to have had exciting adventures there. But the journey that is best known and has been most talked of was made more than fifty years ago by two French missionaries named Huc and Gabet.

Starting from China these gentlemen traversed Mongolia and Tatary and penetrated to the sacred Tibetan city of Lhassa. They returned to China over a different route. It was a fearful journey. The road led along the side of vast cliffs, over raging torrents where the bridges were composed of chains hung from bank to bank with boards laid crosswise of them, through snowdrifts, and over sheets of glacier ice.

The people of Tibet vary in stature, color, hair, and other characters, but all are Mongolic and all speak Tibetan. Some of the tribes are nomads—either herders or pillagers; others are settled and live by agriculture, notwithstanding the climate. In Lhassa itself they are tradespeople and traders. They are good weavers and make excellent woollen stuffs. They are skilled goldsmiths, and their fine wares go to decorate the temples and monasteries. They make the finest incense in the world.

The most important thing in Tibet is religion. Their religion, which is called Lamaism, is a sort of Buddhism peculiar to Tibet. Tibet might be called a _theocracy_, or a land where a god rules. For the ruler of Tibet, called the _Dalai-lama_, is considered no common man, but a real god on earth. Many centuries ago, in India, there lived a man named Gautama or Sakyi-muni. He was wise and good, and the new religion which he taught was a great improvement upon the Brahmanism of India. On account of his wisdom and goodness, he was called Buddha, but he never claimed to be himself a god. Since his death, however, many millions of people in many lands have worshipped him as a god.

All Buddhists believe that there may be many Buddhas—that Gautama was one Buddha, and that there were others before him and will be others hereafter. In Tibet, however, they think that there are always Buddhas on earth, and that when one Buddha dies his spirit at once enters the body of some little babe, who becomes a Buddha in his place. The Dalai-lama is the greatest of living Buddhas. There are many others in different parts of Tibet and Tatary, all of whom are worshipped as gods. The Dalai-lama lives in Lhassa, the sacred city, in a beautiful palace, and has many priests to serve him. He is the all-powerful being in the land.

But he does not trouble himself about governing his people. He appoints a _nomekhan_ to rule for him. The nomekhan has four _kalons_ who are appointed to assist him. These four appoint all the other officers, most of whom are lamas or priests. Really the lamas control everything in Tibet. Generally they live together in great buildings called lamaseries. These are to be seen everywhere in the land, and are often perched upon the summits of lofty mountains, from which they overlook the country for miles around. Some lamaseries contain but a few priests, others contain many thousands. The lamas are at once known from the people by their dress.

The lamas receive support from the common people, and when it is not brought to them, they go to gather it. Huc met two lamas on horseback gathering gifts of butter from the shepherds. “Their course is this: they present themselves at the entrance of each tent and thrice sound a marine conch.[1] Thereupon some member of the family brings out a small roll of butter, which, without saying a word, he deposits in a bag suspended from the saddle of each lama’s horse. The lamas never once alight, but content themselves with riding up to each tent, and announcing their presence to the inmates by the sound of the shell.”

Footnote 1:

A shell used as a trumpet.

When a Dalai-lama dies, search is made for the new one. Prayers are said in all the lamaseries, processions are made, incense is burned. Even the common people everywhere pray. There are certain signs by which a baby shows that the spirit of a lama has entered him. All parents who think their baby the one send word to Lhassa and bring their babies there. All are carefully examined, and the three who best show the signs of being Buddha are taken. After fasting for six days, the priests who decide the matter take a golden urn containing three little fish of gold, upon each of which is engraved the name of one of the three babies. The urn is shaken and one of the fish is drawn. The baby whose name is engraved on it becomes the Dalai-lama. To the unlucky babies before they are sent home a present of five hundred ounces of silver is given.

Every day near sunset in Lhassa, all the men, women, and children stop whatever they may be doing and gather in the public squares of the city. There, grouped by sex and age, they kneel and chant their evening prayer. This prayer would seem to us curious, for it asks for nothing. The commonest prayer is—_om mani padme hum_, which means “the jewel in the lotus.” By the jewel they mean divine power. The lotus is a water-lily. The prayer is about the same thing as calling on the name of God. This prayer they repeat over and over again.

To write this prayer where it will be seen is a good act. One may see it everywhere. It is printed on the flags that fly above the buildings. Pious rich men pay lamas to go through the country and chisel these sacred words on rocks and cliffs.

Tibet is the land of prayer wheels. Prayer wheels contain the prayer written many times: every time the wheel is turned, so many prayers are supposed to have been said. Prayer wheels are of all sizes. The commonest stand near lamaseries, and are set to turning with the hand. Some lazy lamas, however, find it too much work to turn the wheels themselves and so arrange them that they are turned by wind or water.

On the twenty-fifth of each month pious lamas “send horses to weary travellers.” On the roads there are many hardships, and travellers often become weary and perish. To help them the lamas send them horses, and the way they do it is this. Going to some lofty summit where the wind blows heavily, they throw strips of paper bearing pictures of horses into the air, and the wind carries them away. The lamas believe that by this sacrifice of paper horses they supply real ones to the needy travellers.

XVI.
JAPANESE.

It is a great mistake to think of the Chinese and Japanese as much alike; they are really vastly different. The Japanese is smaller, more delicately built, quicker, and more lively than the Chinese; he delights in novelties and borrows them from everywhere and from everybody. The Chinese language consists chiefly of words of one syllable; the Japanese have many long words of many syllables. While unlike in body, disposition, and language, the Chinese and Japanese are alike in many customs, arts, and ideas. For long centuries the Japanese borrowed much from China, or from Corea, which had learned from China. The Japanese owe their writing, the cultivation of tea, silk raising and weaving, lacquer work, porcelain, metal working, and many religious ideas to China. But lately, in their hurry to borrow all sorts of things from the European and American whites, they have become ashamed of many of their Chinese ideas and customs.

On the seventh day of a Japanese baby’s life, the little head is shaved clean except for a tuft on the nape of the neck. From that time on, the head is shaved until the boy goes to school, but tufts are left here and there, according to the fancy of the mother. After a boy begins school, his hair is left to grow. Japanese children have many sports and games, but they are quiet and gentle in them all. The older children carry their baby brothers and sisters strapped firmly on their backs. There are many interesting things for Japanese children to see on the streets. There is the sand painter; he sweeps a space clean and then opens several bags of different colored sand; he sprinkles handfuls of it here and there on the ground until he has made a pretty picture. There is the man who moulds and blows rice paste into all sorts of queer shapes, while the little buyers look on with delight; his sweet stuff is shaped into rabbits, foxes, monkeys, flowers, jinrikishas, fans, umbrellas, etc. There is the man who sells sugared peas, candied beans, and other sweets; he beats a drum and sings a song as he walks, so as to attract a crowd of children, and when he stops he tells a story, or does some trick, to amuse them. Then there is the little old woman of the batter cakes; she carries a little earthenware stove with a fire of charcoal in it; this she hangs at one end of a pole balanced upon her shoulder, and at the other end hang a griddle, ladles, cake turners, a jar of batter, and a sauce of salt and beans to eat with the cakes; the children pay five cents, and the old lady sets everything down, whereupon the children have great fun making their own cakes and eating them on the street.

Japanese children are ever gay and happy, but there are two days in the year of especial joy. The third day of the third month is _the Dolls’ Festival_. This is the day for the little girls. At that time dolls and all sorts of toy tools, implements, vessels, and dishes are for sale. The Japanese are fond of dolls, and in some families they have dolls that have been kept more than two hundred years. In some families they will have dozens or scores of dolls. Among these there is always one that represents the Emperor, another the Empress, and others the courtiers. At the time of the festival all these dolls are carefully arranged on a stepped platform. The Emperor and Empress are given the seats of honor, and the rest are grouped around them. With these are arranged all the toy objects. The fifth day of the fifth month is the Boys’ Festival. Then they are selling bows and arrows and other toy weapons everywhere. Everywhere they hang out great paper fishes, shaped like carp, and brightly painted. These are hung to tall bamboo poles of which there is one set in front of every house where they have a boy in the family. One fish is hung for each boy, and it is a gay sight to see the hundreds of bright fish waving and tossing in the wind. The reason why the carp is represented is because it swims _up_ the river against the current; so it is hoped “the sturdy boy, overcoming all obstacles, will make his way in the world and rise to fame and fortune.”

Japanese houses consist of a light framework supporting a heavy thatched or tiled roof. The sides of the house are wooden slides, which are usually removed in the daytime, leaving the sides open. In cold weather, slides consisting of frames covered with paper can be fitted in to form walls. The house is divided into rooms by sliding screens of paper, which can be easily removed so as to join two, three, or more rooms into one. There are no tables or chairs. The floors are covered with thick mats. At night quilts are brought in and laid down for beds; in the morning these are rolled up and stored away.

Japanese gardens are curious and beautiful. They may be small, and frequently they contain no flowers. Sometimes a pretty landscape is built of rocks and water: there are little mountains and hills, valleys, streams, waterfalls, lakes. Wonderful in such gardens are the dwarfed trees. They may be pine trees, fifty or one hundred years old, flourishing and perfect in form, but not more than a foot in height.