Responsibilities of Mine Host and the Chief Guests at a Properly Conducted Dinner By R. W. Swanow Without a doubt the giving and partaking of feasts plays an extremely important part in Chinese Mife, and though foreigners are inclined to ook upon them as purely gastronomical exercises, involving the partaking of a seeming-endless succession of dishes, they' are in reality of much more' con~ sequence than this, and it may. safely be said that no political Dusiness transaction of "any kind takes place without being accompanied' by one or more of these festive gatherings, while they form. an integral part in all settlements Of quarrels or disputes, and are! Indispensible in healing the wounds those who feel aggrieved or who think they have been justly treated No matier how hard a. bargain has been struck or how bitter the struggle between the parties has been, all Is forgotten as soon as they gather at the festal board, and. for the time being everyone perfectly happy and the best " of friends.
Invitations are sent out on tong. pieces of red paper with the names of the guests in the order of their Importance. Surnames with oficial or other titles are used, and below these are given their addresses of the offices or bureaux to which they are attached.
ehlet guest writes under his name, ching prei_moa tsao "I will humbly look after your guests from the lowest seat," while the others fas a rule uso the words ching pei will humbly look after your quest,' Many, however, content themselves with simply writing chih Know." Those who are unable to accept the invitation say ching fotch "T thank you." Very often in addition to the long lst w separate Invitation 1s sent to each guest.
"The gathering together of the guests is often a matter of con-Siderable difficulty as from time immemorial it has been the custom for those invited to arrive at their own convenience rather than with, regard to the time stated in the invitation, and it was seldom that the feast began within two to three! hours of the proper time.
'AS the hour of the dinner approaches, special messengers are] sent out to remind the guests that they should proceed to their Aestination, this Is called tsut ching "the pressing invitation." Of late years the tendency has been to Day Tore attention to the time stated and this Is especially so at official inners, where attempts are being made to do away with the old habits of unpunctuality and indifference (0 the convenience of others.
The round tables used on such occasions can seat " twelve people. fand at the side furthest from. the Goer there are two special chairs for sents reserved for the chie!
os all Is ready the host asks one the guest To take the seat Mireur Sut he ill kway Uesine; and. wil ask one of the Girone ovat there. Tt often requires Sercerable pervasion before, he Sei Go. ey Ris hart requests 'The ame thing happens over the second SEE sta' one or two" of the others Tate it often taken several ralnutes Betere the wueets are Snally seated 'Should ihe occasion be an. portant ones the nowt wil pour out Borant fine' for each, guest and fain Stn his two Shands wit ask Mino sit down' in the place he Iicates, Ganerallz, however, the wine fo not poured out unt the Tess are. already seated foe frst cause consist of cold rma' and! various Kinds of fruit while these are being eaten the alor comes int and asks wat Gilles the quests would' ike, "The ER? guest ov invited to stale Shale bat modesty. declines, "87- ing that he notable 40 make fefiton, and would rather Jeave tshis host otto one. of the othe" fouett, "As. ar matter, of "fact rome' uite- well that, the prince Ghee such ay shane Ans, ce Suge fons of belle duck, and itt Feeds fave already been ordered, 20 Sher lus move pressure on the of the howl ne decides on somes Phe" that isnot expensive and cul prepared, so is. ash will Some, en hist ofthe extra courses, Spee oxy Sot ko fo een CRnonny walting Tu his choice he Beipea "by. the watt who call Gute tet. of aultable ates, 'The Sines" guests ace, than in turn 4 ited name a courant, and thous Taveadh cate they declare hey. a roc now what Yo say, theyre Crentually persuaded 89, give' Way.
"The reoponiblilies of "the."
hie piers are Not over "eh, 3 shortly after this the waiter brings a live fish and asks if it wilt suit, The guests all declare it is too big, but the host says it is too small, s0 It is accepted, and it is decided that it shall be divided into two parts (three if it is a specially large one), each of which shall_be cooked in a. different way. The lehlet guest after the usual display of diffidence will name one of the usual methods of cooking fish, suen fas Vang ssu liu "sweet sour mixture"
cha cheng "fried, and his fellow guest of honour then decides how the other half of the fish is to} be cooked.
Care must be taken when the sweets arrive that the chopsticks are washed in the water that 1s provided for that purpose, as the Chinese are very particular about this, and watch strangers closely see, that they do not forget to carry out Just before the end of the dinner the walter comes again and ask the guests {0 name one or two dishes to go with the rice or whatever ig the customary staple food fof the district, this Is known as fan taal "food (to eat) with the and once" again they declare [that there is enough, but the host Insists that It is not so, and orders one or two more dishes and an extra bowl of soup.
Tt is usual for the restaurant to add one or two dishes to the menu free of charge. These are generally bowl or two of soup and a sweet ish, Tt' sometimes happens that one oF Jmore of the guests may have beer Invited to two or even three feasts on the same evening. In such a Jease It is quite permissible for them to eat a few courses at one place and after making an apology to the host, leave the table and proceed to the place of the second invitation. depen company, for Te amount of drink consumed while there are a number of good Jdrinkers amongst the Chinese, many fof them are either teetotalers rink: very. litle.
The usual drink is Shaohsing wine, known amongst foreigners as samshui, and if the host can drink at all he fills three small cups and plays morra or the finger game with each quest in turn, Umiting hig losses 10. two drinks Wwith each perron, Should he not be able to Grink he generally asks the guests to excuse him or persuades someone to act as his deputy. Shaohsing wine is invariably heated before it is drunk and the best quality has 2 taste somewhat resembling sherry ind ike that wine improves with age. It is made from rice Shaohsing, a city in Chekiang, and Is exported all over China When the feast is over and the guests arite from the table, tea is Poured out for each person. It is Customary to leave shortly after this, the much prized after dinner conversation of foreign countries being practically unknown in China.
Tf the feast has been given in a hotel'or a restaurant it is not usual for the host to escort his guests to their conveyances, and should he attempt to do so he must be stopped at the door of the dining room and reminded that it Is @ public place, he fs not supposed to go out with his guests. He will, as a rule, agree to this and with many bows and expressions of thanks, the nests depart for their homes, conscious of the fact that they' have had a very good meal and that they ave been well entertained.
Ax purchased some years ago by Mr. A. E. Pappadopoulo, a well known Kobe amateur musician, has just proved to be 9 enulne Maggini, probably worth several thousand dollars. Though Mr. Peppadopoulo recognized it as of old allan make, it was so queer of form, and so' completely out of order, that he hesitated to have it tepalred, believing it only a museum piece, and of no particular interest. However, it was eventually repaired by one of Europe's foremost artists. and has proved to be a genuine Paolo Maggini. Though over 300 years old, ft still retains a superb, velvety tone, full of sonority and depth, 2 typical Maggini instrument. Paolo Maggini (1580-1640) was the per~ factor of the present day violin and the outstanding artist of the Brescia [School of violin makers and teacher several of the great artists of the Cremona school. In fame he ranks together with Stradivarius and Joseph Guarnerius and his Instruments are in a class by themselves for the rendition of the old classic works. Maggini Violins, being vers rare, are catalogued in America at from U.S. $4000 to $16,000.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.