File:Child life in Chinese homes (1885) (14774966251).jpg

Identifier: cu31924023253796 (find matches)
Title: Child life in Chinese homes
Year: 1885 (1880s)
Authors: Bryson, Mrs
Subjects: Children
Publisher: (London) : Religious Tract Society
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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. The performances of the Punch and Judy shows are Snuchappreciated by Chinese children, and many people are inclined tobelieve they were introduced into England from China. In any case,they were well known in that empire many hundreds of years ago. As for the pets kept by Chinese boys, some of them are identicialwith those which are prized by English children—such as rabbits,kittens, and gqid fish. Crickets are also very largely kept by boys, aswell as older people. Chinamen are so fond of gambling that it is nowonder we should see the children imitating their fathers, and theboys are very fond of placing two of these insects in a bowl or deepdish, and irritating them with a straw or stick till they begin to fightdesperately, each boy risking the few cash he may possess on thechance of the cricket he selects being the winner of the fight. They have many favourite birds, among others the canary andlark, and one very much prized is a sort of thrush, called the bird a s o » wO a ►3
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S8 CHILD LIFE IN CHINESE HOMES. with the flowery eyebrow. You may often see the boys walkingon the city walls or other open spaces, carrying their caged birdsout for an airing. Another little creature which affords themmuch amusement is the cicada, which they capture in the earlysummer time, while he sings his hoarse song on the flower stalks oramong the bushes. The poor insect is confined in a tiny cage ofbamboo, and is occasionally poked up by his juvenile owner, to droneout as hoarse and unmusical a ditty as ever he chirruped in the daysof his freedom. Hedgehogs and tortoises are also kept as pets : thelatter is believed to attain to a great age, and is used, with the stork, asan emblem of longevity. Few Chinese toys are of a durable nature. There are not manytoy shops, but cheap playthings are sold by an itinerant vendor ofsmall wares, whose approach is announced by the beating of a gong,which calls the children as quickly out of the houses as the musicof Hamelins Pied Piper is sa

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