What do you think ?

The Chinese Ways

On a whirlwind trip to China from Shanghai to some other southern cities in the country, we were entertained to a myriad of tales and beliefs of my forefathers. My father would have fitted well into the soap stories but it had to take a lot of me and my girls to agree with them.

Some beliefs were hard to believe but they were confirmed to be practices of the day to the chagrin of Sara who kept ranting that she wanted to go back to Malaysia whenever some unacceptable songs were sang.

The main entrance to some mansions of the then rich and famous was designed to put people in their positions! The width of the entrance determined the rank of the entree.

Here is an example of the grand entrance.

The entry at the far end which was narrow was meant for the lowly and servants.

The middle entrance was for the ladies of the home.

The widest and central entry was for the master and male species of the family. So even at its entry the different categories of the human race were reminded of their positions. How can there be love and peace? You already fight before you enter the mansion.



This is the lady tour guide of SuZhou whom I would say is in a class of her own. She speaks Mandarin and a fair bit of English and her interpretations of the nooks and corners of this Chinese Mansion had us in stitches and scorn too at times.


She is seated in a position to denote the right way for a lady of the house to position herself when overlooking a pond of lotus while reading or probably thinking of issues of the day.



When she saw Esther, her eyes were pinned on her and kept asking her about her present status... what was she doing, where was she doing her tertiary education and her eyes sparkled as she mentioned about her 20 year old daughter who was in a local university. How much do you spend on your education overseas? She kept ranting and I could see she wanted her only child to go the land of the whites and 'zhuan zhuan sze chiet' (To have a taste of the world and its opportunities).

She related that at the main hall of this particular hall was a wooden panel that had writings that told of the works and renovations done to the mansion for her guests to decipher and probably also for records.




As one steps into the main hall, one has to cross over a ledge...and the richer the family,the higher this ledge would be. That was the saying behind 'kow kow phung chern' (for one to be part of a family especially in a marriage, one must be of the same status) ; that is why whenever a marriage is impending between a couple, this reminder will come into place. O the Chinese!

The pillars of the mansion ends in a bulky rounded stand ; to show strength and longevity. The stout end is a sigh of an everlasting heritage.


We then witnessed two settings in the hall which were separated by a partition.

The first setting was bright and had rosewood furnishings.




The tiles on the setting were in a hexagonal position seemingly telling her audience that some form of creativity and play was allowed. To our stupor, we were told that this hall which allowed colours and some form of play was meant for male guests and family members.




The second setting was slightly gaudy and dark.


Her floor tiles were placed squarely which denoted right behaviour and no play. This setting was meant for her female guests and members. The setting itself had underlying connotations for the expected behaviour of the different genders. How women thrived and survived in those days ; a gender to be trampled and scored at. How can my girls agree? They went wa , wa , wa...




The cherry blossom "mei wah" is cherished as it denoted spring and new hopes and all over the window panes were engraved images of the bloom and if a family was rich, the windows had glass panels; otherwise it would be in paper.




That which amused us a lot was the pattern of the floor tiles outside in the garden. The tiles were engraved in the form of the 'mei wah' and the Chinese coin.




This rounded emblem is a depiction of the then Chinese currency.



So the belief goes like this : when you step on the flower one says "wah" (spend) and when you step on the coin, one says "chien". When combined, it says "wah chien" meaning to spend money. When you have a compound full of flowers and coins it can only mean you will always have a lot of money available to spend on. Don't you think it is time to engrave such depictions on your compound now? O if only life was that simple.





But it cannot be denied that the blooms were lovely on that visit.




So ended round one of the many experiences that we had on the origins of my parents' homeland.


Of Chinese thoughts and ways.