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Show CHINESE UUP.ANITY. CIRCUMLOCUTION THEY DISPLAY IN LETTER WRITING. The KJiicale.l nilnaniiiii Can (live the American I'olnts ou Politeness und Ue-Oneiuent Ue-Oneiuent in tlm Conduct of i:pltlry Correspond voce. It lilts j.rulmlily fallen t(i tlm lot (if . moht of us to lmvo mot coilo who, Witliont t Lav 'X('UM of mi liiicoimciidin h.'ibit, liiivt? tlio ktuwk of HKsortiiikt mi-lili mi-lili HH.int trullif. mid who vtilnu Iho iiti-jrr.icionn iiti-jrr.icionn )inctii'o as a hi.ti of honesty. .Tie to urn otiietx, mich as thu Cnakors of ly:'oiii days, who n'-fiiii'il rvery c.iros-Kinii c.iros-Kinii wliii'li may not ho in tttrict noi-onl-uiii'') wiih nli:xhitu trut h tin m in ft;-,'iiiii;st thfir t'niisrioncos. To such jiootilo tho Men of eilo-crildDic tlioiiisclvt'S "V'ours truly," or of liointiiiu: a hdior to a can:i:il iH'iiu.'unl.inci;, "Dear So and So," in iiblionvnt. Hut 'inblii; oidiiioti h;ia hi'cii too tilroiitj for tlioin, itiul wo wni-tiiiuo, wni-tiiiuo, iiinl nh.'tll I'ontiiint) so loncj as society so-ciety liol.li lonulher, to Hiltlresi olio iin-olher iin-olher in li-rttisgf etuli artnentninl it-.sieet wliiih niu tint M'ljnireil to corrcsjioinj Willi our si iitiineiilH. t irieiitalf) havo aui'iuirtseil us in Ihinru-Kai-(l im intb'h asi llw hfilliant Ktinsliiint to which they fire) acrnsloim-il excels tho mnrky iitmosiiherw of Knropo. Tho tlo-hcriptioiis tlo-hcriptioiis of ourselves and of our conn-iond:'nln conn-iond:'nln palo liel'.d'K tho j'Iowin ex-irerioiiH ex-irerioiiH of olijeeUvo inliniraUoti and jnihjectivo Bolf nhaneineiit which mloni Fiudorn ejiistlifH. Wo are content, to cun-fino cun-fino our wiHhes) nr I einiiiliiiit nls to tii present lifo; Vmt htteli limit is fur too narrow for an Asiatic, who delights in wishing that liis frien lfi may livo forever for-ever unit over, iind that tho itnce.stora of liis uneniieH may bo condemned to ever-liujtiiijf ever-liujtiiijf (liKirmeo. We aro BiiLislied to Hjieak of "I" and "You," hut mi oriental loves to heap adjectives ad-jectives of contempt upon liim.si If and of frloritication ujioii his correspondenli KI.EVATINd AM) IKM KANISii HIMII.K.S. In all cam's hti avoids tlio nso of the personal pronoun. 1'y a pystcni of cir- cnmlocution uocessitated by t h id omis-Bion, omis-Bion, ho descriU's himself iw "Your yonnircr brother," the) character representing repre-senting bis expression being written mall, and partly at tho wdo of tho columns col-umns ef words, and he designates hiiu-nelf hiiu-nelf and others conjointly as "Wo ants." Hut tlm person lis is addressing figures . us "Your excellency," ".My benevolent elder brother," or "Your honor." liter-fclly, liter-fclly, "You who aro nt tlio Htejis if the council chamber." His own house is "a mean dwelling," or, us tho parts of tho character dignify, "a stricken and broken dwelling;" but ho is mi.tl do to think of his correspondent's habitation as anything any-thing but "an honorable," literally "basliet-of-pearls palace." In tho name pirit of self abasement ho feels obliged to wind up his upist.lt with tho phrase, "Your stupid younger brother, Ko-Hiid-So, bows his head to tho ground." Tho character for "stupid" is drawn for us by two hieroglyphics, meaning "monkey "mon-key hearted." To bow to his friends is ' also pictorially expressed by a colloca-- f tioti (if "a head" and "turf," suggesting ! the act id' bowing tho held to the earth. If his correspondent proposes to call upon him ho hastens to astuira him that "at tho appointed hour, with bowing hands, ho will await tho time when his t'M'elliiicy ahull abase htuiwdt' by driving bis chariot to liis ollice." Ilia friend's letter is "tho revelation of his hand," and ho takes pains to makohiui aware that holding it "with washed hands ho hail chanted" its contents. Oa expressions of thanks particular emphasis is laid by tho Chinese, and with trim Oriental instinct, in their etlort af ter hyperbole, they are accustomed to givo a physical interpretation to their lueutal feelings. POWEiippi. liYi'icitnou:. For instance, a correspondent who w ishes to bay that lit" is profoundly grateful, grate-ful, writes, "Your kindness is very deeply engraved and euveined iu my heart." If ho hears of tho illness of a friend "ho cannot help being hung up in suspense," and tho symbol ho uses shows tothoeyes the heart of tlio writer tied up, while at tho name tinid ho urges him "to take care of his person U3 a pearl." And on the receipt of better news ho breaks out, "How shall I bear the joy and pleasure!" Having finished expressing tho object of his letter, ho winds up by "availing himself him-self of tho opportunity to wish his correspondent corre-spondent all tho blessings of the Reason, and," if ho is on tho road to honor, "all tha promotion lie deserves." Put, if not ferocious, a sufficient lati-tudo lati-tudo still remains to a Chinaman for tlio development of much plain speaking. It is as possible to "slit the thin spun life" with a stiletto as wit ha broads word, and in the most finished periods a Chinaman finds himself rjuito able to express either withering contempt or remorsele.ss hato. Hut ha lias other ways also of giving vent to his ill humors. Tho very punctilious punc-tilious rules of letter writing enable him to convey his dislike by omission as well as by commission. Chinese is, it may be explained, written writ-ten in vertical columns, lieginuing on fhe top right band corner of the page, lu ordinary circumstances each column is completed to the bottom of tho page; but long tisaire has established tho custom cus-tom that, if the unmoor attributes of tho person addressed occurs, the column is cut short, and the characters representing these, subjects of honor begin the neiit column atari elevation of the space of ono or two chararters, as flit) case may be, above the general level of the text. It will now be seen whata ready weapon lies to the hand of a Chinese letter writer. To write "Your Excellency" or the name of the correspondent's country or s;;ver-tigu s;;ver-tigu in the body of the column is to inflict in-flict aiiireiiisiiit upon him. and is equivalent equiva-lent to tho expression of tho bitterest contempt in European epistolary style. Loudon Saturday Review. |