﻿494 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  194 
  3 
  

  

  patrician 
  youth, 
  was 
  conferred 
  on 
  him 
  with 
  much 
  ceremony 
  in 
  his 
  

   ancestral 
  temple. 
  The 
  token 
  of 
  a 
  young 
  noblewoman's 
  reaching 
  

   marriageable 
  age 
  was 
  the 
  assumption 
  of 
  a 
  hairpin, 
  similiarly 
  

   bestowed. 
  

  

  Shoes 
  were 
  removed 
  on 
  entering 
  a 
  house; 
  and 
  bathing 
  seems 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  customary, 
  at 
  least 
  among 
  the 
  nobles. 
  Chairs 
  and 
  tables 
  

   had 
  not 
  yet 
  been 
  introduced; 
  hence 
  people 
  sat 
  cross-legged 
  on 
  the 
  

   floor 
  or 
  knelt 
  on 
  mats 
  or 
  cushions, 
  and 
  food 
  was 
  served 
  on 
  low 
  stands. 
  

  

  Food 
  and 
  drink. 
  — 
  Generally 
  speaking, 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  diet 
  among 
  all 
  

   classes, 
  nobles 
  and 
  commoners 
  alike, 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  cereals 
  — 
  millet, 
  

   wheat, 
  and 
  rice. 
  Nobles, 
  however, 
  in 
  contradistinction 
  to 
  the 
  peas- 
  

   antry, 
  were 
  also 
  great 
  eaters 
  of 
  meat, 
  especially 
  beef, 
  mutton, 
  and 
  

   game, 
  and 
  of 
  fish. 
  And, 
  just 
  as 
  today, 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  great 
  variety 
  of 
  

   sauces. 
  

  

  Dishes 
  were 
  of 
  earthenware, 
  wood, 
  and 
  bamboo. 
  Glazed 
  pottery 
  

   disappeared 
  with 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  the 
  Shangs, 
  and 
  true 
  porcelain 
  was 
  still 
  

   far 
  in 
  the 
  future. 
  Chopsticks 
  were 
  a 
  late 
  invention, 
  and 
  whether 
  

   they 
  had 
  yet 
  appeared 
  during 
  the 
  Chou 
  period 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  ; 
  they 
  

   are 
  mentioned 
  even 
  as 
  far 
  back 
  as 
  late 
  Shang 
  times, 
  but 
  this 
  may 
  be 
  

   an 
  anachronism. 
  

  

  The 
  diet 
  of 
  the 
  peasants 
  was 
  mainly 
  millet, 
  just 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  today 
  in 
  

   northern 
  China. 
  Their 
  flesh 
  food 
  was 
  chiefly 
  dog, 
  pig, 
  and 
  fowl 
  — 
  

   the 
  latter 
  apparently 
  more 
  highly 
  esteemed 
  than 
  duck. 
  

  

  All 
  classes 
  were 
  given 
  to 
  drinking, 
  usually 
  done 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  

   some 
  religious 
  or 
  other 
  ceremonial 
  occasion; 
  and 
  beverages 
  were 
  

   various 
  kinds 
  of 
  beer, 
  brewed 
  from 
  millet 
  or 
  rice. 
  The 
  ancient 
  

   Chinese, 
  like 
  the 
  peoples 
  of 
  the 
  west, 
  early 
  learned, 
  empirically, 
  that 
  

   water 
  was 
  unsafe 
  to 
  drink 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  risk 
  from 
  typhoid 
  ; 
  and 
  tea 
  

   was 
  as 
  yet 
  unknown. 
  As 
  among 
  many 
  peoples, 
  including 
  ourselves 
  

   not 
  so 
  many 
  centuries 
  ago, 
  drinking 
  vessels 
  were 
  often 
  horns 
  ; 
  those 
  of 
  

   the 
  wild 
  ox 
  were 
  especially 
  prized 
  by 
  the 
  ancient 
  Chinese, 
  perhaps 
  

   on 
  account 
  of 
  their 
  capacity. 
  

  

  Law. 
  — 
  As 
  we 
  have 
  already 
  remarked, 
  the 
  nobles 
  had 
  their 
  own 
  codes 
  

   of 
  conduct; 
  and 
  they 
  were, 
  moreover, 
  until 
  long 
  after 
  the 
  beginning 
  

   of 
  the 
  full 
  historical 
  period, 
  sole 
  repositories 
  of 
  the 
  regulations 
  gov- 
  

   erning 
  their 
  peasants. 
  These 
  were 
  committed 
  to 
  memory, 
  not 
  put 
  in 
  

   writing, 
  and 
  this 
  of 
  course 
  gave 
  the 
  nobles 
  a 
  great 
  advantage. 
  Hence 
  

   the 
  latter 
  vigorously 
  opposed 
  the 
  issuance 
  of 
  written 
  codes, 
  which 
  

   in 
  fact 
  did 
  not 
  appear 
  in 
  the 
  various 
  states 
  until 
  around 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  

   the 
  first 
  millennium 
  B. 
  C. 
  In 
  the 
  Near 
  East 
  advanced 
  codes 
  of 
  laws 
  

   had 
  appeared 
  2,000 
  years 
  earlier. 
  

  

  Witchcraft 
  was 
  much 
  feared, 
  by 
  high 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  low, 
  and 
  penalties 
  

   against 
  it 
  were 
  severe. 
  In 
  general, 
  execution 
  of 
  the 
  laws 
  was 
  harsh, 
  

   and 
  included 
  such 
  punishments 
  as 
  boiling 
  alive, 
  tearing 
  asunder, 
  de- 
  

  

  