International studio (80.1925)

inCSRDAOOnAL

OFFICIAL CHAIR WITH FOUR BEARERS

shops; in these the dough is
beaten by two men with wooden
mallets in a manner similar to
that used for the polishing. The
see-saw method of polishing rice
looks like a lazy man's way of
saving his arms and back from
the strain of lifting the heavy
stone mallet. By shifting his
weight from foot to foot, [jack-
ward and forward, the while
balancing himself with his staff,
he accomplishes his task with a
minimum of effort.

work of getting the rice-bin stored full of grain for While walking the streets of a Chinese city,
the winter's use. A short stroll out along any of one is apt to be surprised to see the crowd sud-
thc country roads would soon bring us to a busy denly part like water before the prow of a ship,
scene in a village dooryard. The man of the house Then one sees the soldier escort stepping briskly
is "cranking the machine," that is, he is turning along clearing the way for a magistrate's chair,
the crank of the fanning box whose inner paddle- The number of soldiers in the front and in the rear
wheel blows the chaff away as the rice is sifted in will be determined by the rank of the individual
from the top. The mother and eldest daughter in the chair and also by the occasion of his riding
are very likely raking the drying rice over mats through the street. The bearers of the chair arc
on the ground or sweeping up the scattered grains liveried, and if it is raining they may wear the
around the winnowing box. The younger children new style oilskin coats and hats. Formerly the
arc told to keep the chickens and pigs away from curtains at the front and sides of the chair were
the baskets of rice. The chaff is usually mixed draw n, for officialdom did not care to expose itself
with a heap of cow manure; the heap is then set to the common gaze, but under the new regime
on fire, allowed to smoulder for a day or two, and the old custom is not strictly adhered to. Every-
is finally spread on the field for fertilizer. During thing must make way for an official; other chairs,
the winter the rice itself must be taken outside on ricshas, wheelbarrows and pedestrians, all must
sunny days and dried on the mats to prevent its hurriedly dodge aside, and, if the day happens to
mildewing. be a wet one, suffer discomfiture from dripping

The most muscular Chinese I have ever seen eaves while waiting for his honor to pass,
were pounders of rice. From wielding the heavy In contrast to the older-fashioned, closed sedan-
stone mallets their arms became
as brawny as a blacksmith's.
With rhythmic regularity each
man lifts his mallet above his
head and lets it fall with a thud
on the rice in the stone mortar
The blows loosen any stray
husks that may still be adhering
to the kernels after the winnow -
ing process, and also polish the
naked grains, limestone having
been sprinkled in to whiten
them. The Chinese themselves
rarely eat polished rice unless it
be in cakes of nong-mi, or else
ground up into fine flour for
making the far famed nyin-kao
or New Year's cake. Several
weeks before the end of the year
the stone mortars appear along
the streets in front of the eating

OPEN CHAIR AND BEARERS

three sixteen

JANUARY I925