| | 1 | Author: | Kin, Yamei | Add | | | Title: | The Pride of His House: A Story of Honolulu's Chinatown  | | | | Published: | 1996 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Text collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | IN one corner of the picturesque city of Honolulu may be found a home
like so many other Chinese homes of men who have gone abroad to seek
a livelihood. Over the general merchandise and drygoods store of Li
Sing Hing is a suite of apartments reached by a flight of steep stairs,
scarcely more than a ladder. The first room at the head of the stairs is
quite large, and used for a reception room or parlor, and furnished
according to the taste and means of the master. One side was occupied
with an old-fashioned set of three straight chairs and a capacious sofa, all
upholstered in green reps. A grandfather's clock stood in the corner,
slowly ticking the time away. Various chromos such as Wide Awake,
Fast Asleep, Christ Before Pilate and other specimens of European art
adorned the walls, for Ah Sing had a fair knowledge of the English
language, and was considered one of the most enterprising merchants.
Several bright colored carpet rugs were spread over the cool, light
matting. But on the other side of the room Ah Sing had let his soul down
from the mazes of Western civilization which he was earnestly trying to
master by hanging up a couple of scroll pictures in the usual style of
Chinese water-color painting. The landscape scenes reminded him of the
hills around the village from which he had come, and where he hoped
some day his bones might repose beside those of his ancestors. Under
these scrolls stood a pair of beautifully carved teak wood Chinese chairs,
with a small square tea table to match between. The most highly prized
article was a long panel, on which was written a sentence from the
ancient classics. The firm yet graceful lines of the characters made
almost a picture in themselves, and showed a master's scholarly hand.
Every time Ah Sing read the sentiment, "The superior man preserves
harmony," he recalled the face of his old teacher as he amplified the terse
statements of the ancients, and with much note and comment revealed the
full extent of wisdom inclosed; how he had emphasized the duties a man
owed to his ancestors and the obligation to leave a posterity, which
should perform the same duties, so that the spirits of the departed should
not wander homeless and hungry without a son to offer sacrifices to
them. This was to be remembered in the midst of striving for the calm
and dignity that belonged to the superior man. But it was so easy to for-[illustration omitted] get in the new life he was surrounded with,
just as the old green rep sofa was the most natural thing to drop into on
entering the room, rather than the stately carved Chinese chairs. Sundry
pieces of bric-a-brac stood on brackets and what-nots around the room.
Pink and blue Dresden shepherdesses jostled mandarins in full official
costume. A group of the Eight Immortals smiled benignly at terra cotta
figures of dancing girls and a Dutch flute player. But the special article
of pride was a great glass chandelier hung in the middle of the room, full
of many sparkling pendants. These failed to relieve altogether the cold
whiteness which reminded one too forcibly of a funeral; hence, several
little red baskets filled with gay artificial flowers and with red and green
tassels attached, and in addition three or four [illustration omitted] rows
of pink flowered globes off a job lot of hand-lamps that he had bought at
an auction, so that when the chandelier was lighted up the bits of color
made it truly Oriental in effect. Under the chandelier stood a round,
inlaid table also handsomely carved, for the master had prospered in his
business and could afford much more display than he ordinarily made.
The windows overlooked a small back yard filled with rows of pot plants
and a few shrubs, but mostly boxes and things out of the store occupied
the available space. To the left a door ajar showed a kitchen with an
array of brass and copper sauce-pans and an earthen range with its big
hole for the rice pot, and smaller holes for the other things. Wood
chopped fine was piled up ready to stick into the spaces under the holes
to furnish heat to cook with. This was an improved range and had a hood
connected with the chimney in the back, so that no smoke could escape
to blacken the room, as with many of the common ranges. The pictures
of the kitchen god and goddess were pasted up as usual over a small
shelf, bearing an offering of rice and wine and lighted tapers floated in a
cup of nut oil. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
|
