Post by nzbc on Mar 29, 2016 21:06:14 GMT 12
CHINESE IN AUCKLAND HOW THEY LIVE.
AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW.
( Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, August 31. Although the sight of a Chinaman working industriously in his garden, reckoning his change with a moving accuracy in a fruit shop, or handing out the week's laundry is a very familiar one to New Zealanders comparatively little is known of the conditions.under which these sons of the Celestial Empire are living. There are at present about 400 Chinamen in Auckland, and perhaps 10 Chinese wives. Nearly all the others, however, have wives and children in their own land, and are patiently adding day by day to the little hoard that will some day enable them to go back to their homes and families. The family tie is a very strong one with Chinese, and their sojourn in foreign lands is usually but a stopping stone to a return home and a prosperity among their own folk that it would be very hard to obtain in the ordinary run of life In China. The ancient traditions of the Chinese still hold strong sway in some respects, but in others even tho manners and customs of the.oldest Empire are waning and undergoing change. This Is inevitable when the Occident and Orient come into close and continuous contact. The pigtail has gone, and quaintly trousered women with shy eyes and tiny sandalled feet have given place to smart young misses wearing tailored skirts and French heels. But the average Chinaman is still the frugal, industrious worker of tho age-old East. Even in prosperous Auckland he stall lives mainly on rice, although his needs in this respect have gone unfulfilled for some time past on account of the prevailing acute shortage. An inquiry made by a Herald reporter as to how the local Chinese residents were faring, in view of this dietary difficulty, resulted in some interesting information with regard to the general trend of life among the Chinese. In Auckland, as in other respects, Orientals are conforming more and more to European ideas with regard to foods, and, although rice still is, or was until recently, their staple diet, the white man's menu is gradually being adopted by Chinamen. A few traditional Chinese dishes are still regarded as great delicacies. Dried sharks' fins are in strong demand, and this luxurious fare is provided at the banquets occasionally held in Auckland. A glance at a list of delicacies forwarded from China for local consumption revealed some weird and. wonderful dishes. An item of dried shrimps and oysters looked more or less familiar, but sugared water melon rind, fishes' eyes in vinegar, onions in treacle, bamboo shoots in syrup, and bechede-mer (or sea slugs),. brought to mind visions of a banquet truly Oriental. The Chinese were not given to riotous living, but by all accounts the local banquets lack few of the traditional delicacies associated with these sumptuous repasts. There is in Auckland a strong branch of tho Chinese Nationalist Society, which receives all the newspapers and current literature of China. This is widely read by local Chinese residents, who follow occasionally the stormy course of home politics with keen interest. There are also two Chinese Freemasons' Societies in Auckland, in which the trend of politics is reflected, although party feeling is apt to be a little less pronounced than is sometimes the case with regard to local politics. That is to say, the celestials usually agree to differ politely. One interesting point mentioned by a well known Chinese resident was that the ancient dread of surgical operations is to a large extent dying out among the Chinese living abroad. A Chinese physician is traditionally a herbalist. Amputations were -unknown in China until students of tho present generation migrated to the west, where they learned western methods of healing, and the treatment of the sick. Consequently, Auckland doctors frequently tend Chinese patients and perform operations, and send them to the general hospital in a way that --would have been undreamed of among the Orientals of past generation. At the same time tho use of herbs is still very popular, and the only Chinese herbalist in the dominion, who has a shop in Wellington, does a fairly wide trade among his fellow-countrymen. Another point of interest, as showing the general acceptance of western ideas, is that the old tradition that the bones of every Chinaman must be taken back to his own land is not so inexorably observed as in the past. During the recent epidemic about 10 Chinese residents of Auckland died. Some of those were buried in the ordinary way, and will rest for ever in alien soil, but others were embalmed and provision was made for the shipment of the remains to China. This cannot be done, however, for at least one year, after interment, and even the "ultimate carrying out of the old tradition will depend very largely upon shipping conditions. Otago Daily Times , Issue 17718, 1 September 1919, Page 6
AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW.
( Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, August 31. Although the sight of a Chinaman working industriously in his garden, reckoning his change with a moving accuracy in a fruit shop, or handing out the week's laundry is a very familiar one to New Zealanders comparatively little is known of the conditions.under which these sons of the Celestial Empire are living. There are at present about 400 Chinamen in Auckland, and perhaps 10 Chinese wives. Nearly all the others, however, have wives and children in their own land, and are patiently adding day by day to the little hoard that will some day enable them to go back to their homes and families. The family tie is a very strong one with Chinese, and their sojourn in foreign lands is usually but a stopping stone to a return home and a prosperity among their own folk that it would be very hard to obtain in the ordinary run of life In China. The ancient traditions of the Chinese still hold strong sway in some respects, but in others even tho manners and customs of the.oldest Empire are waning and undergoing change. This Is inevitable when the Occident and Orient come into close and continuous contact. The pigtail has gone, and quaintly trousered women with shy eyes and tiny sandalled feet have given place to smart young misses wearing tailored skirts and French heels. But the average Chinaman is still the frugal, industrious worker of tho age-old East. Even in prosperous Auckland he stall lives mainly on rice, although his needs in this respect have gone unfulfilled for some time past on account of the prevailing acute shortage. An inquiry made by a Herald reporter as to how the local Chinese residents were faring, in view of this dietary difficulty, resulted in some interesting information with regard to the general trend of life among the Chinese. In Auckland, as in other respects, Orientals are conforming more and more to European ideas with regard to foods, and, although rice still is, or was until recently, their staple diet, the white man's menu is gradually being adopted by Chinamen. A few traditional Chinese dishes are still regarded as great delicacies. Dried sharks' fins are in strong demand, and this luxurious fare is provided at the banquets occasionally held in Auckland. A glance at a list of delicacies forwarded from China for local consumption revealed some weird and. wonderful dishes. An item of dried shrimps and oysters looked more or less familiar, but sugared water melon rind, fishes' eyes in vinegar, onions in treacle, bamboo shoots in syrup, and bechede-mer (or sea slugs),. brought to mind visions of a banquet truly Oriental. The Chinese were not given to riotous living, but by all accounts the local banquets lack few of the traditional delicacies associated with these sumptuous repasts. There is in Auckland a strong branch of tho Chinese Nationalist Society, which receives all the newspapers and current literature of China. This is widely read by local Chinese residents, who follow occasionally the stormy course of home politics with keen interest. There are also two Chinese Freemasons' Societies in Auckland, in which the trend of politics is reflected, although party feeling is apt to be a little less pronounced than is sometimes the case with regard to local politics. That is to say, the celestials usually agree to differ politely. One interesting point mentioned by a well known Chinese resident was that the ancient dread of surgical operations is to a large extent dying out among the Chinese living abroad. A Chinese physician is traditionally a herbalist. Amputations were -unknown in China until students of tho present generation migrated to the west, where they learned western methods of healing, and the treatment of the sick. Consequently, Auckland doctors frequently tend Chinese patients and perform operations, and send them to the general hospital in a way that --would have been undreamed of among the Orientals of past generation. At the same time tho use of herbs is still very popular, and the only Chinese herbalist in the dominion, who has a shop in Wellington, does a fairly wide trade among his fellow-countrymen. Another point of interest, as showing the general acceptance of western ideas, is that the old tradition that the bones of every Chinaman must be taken back to his own land is not so inexorably observed as in the past. During the recent epidemic about 10 Chinese residents of Auckland died. Some of those were buried in the ordinary way, and will rest for ever in alien soil, but others were embalmed and provision was made for the shipment of the remains to China. This cannot be done, however, for at least one year, after interment, and even the "ultimate carrying out of the old tradition will depend very largely upon shipping conditions. Otago Daily Times , Issue 17718, 1 September 1919, Page 6