CHINESE PIGEON WHISTLES 



WE ARE wont to speak of the 

 Chinese as a sober, practical, 

 and prosaic people, and to view 

 them throughout in that light. Im- 

 mensely rational they are, secular and 

 worldly minded, bestowing their efforts 

 on useful temporal aft'airs : but, never- 

 theless, they are by no means lacking in 

 purely emotional matters of great at- 

 tractiveness. 



As early as the nth century one of 

 their greatest poets sang: 



"Upon the bridge the livelong da> 

 I stand and watch the goldfish play." 



The domestication of the goldfish, the 

 first species of which reached England 

 only in 1691, and of the wonderful para- 

 dise-fish as well, is justly ascribed to the 

 Chinese, and it is remarkable to notice 

 that their attempts in tliis direction and 

 the amazing results achieved were not 

 prompted by any utilitarian views they 

 had in mind, as neither fish is of any 

 practical advantage. On the contrary, 

 their skillful breeding, so eagerly pur- 

 sued, is due solely and exclusively to the 

 aesthetic tendency of the Chinese in their 

 art of living and to their highly culti- 

 vated sense of beauty, which delights in 

 the bright coloration of the skin of these 

 fishes, the graceful form of their bodies, 

 and the restless motions of their long, 

 flowing fins. 



While the almost Darwinian experi- 

 ments to which Chinese breeders have 

 subjected the goldfish, and their un- 

 bounded admiration of this little crea- 

 ture in its hundred and one forms and 

 variations, illustrate Avell the intimate re- 

 lation of the people to the element of 

 water, their friendly associations with 

 the world of birds are not less close and 

 sympathetic. The lover of birds does 

 not permanently confine his pet in its 

 prison cage, but he takes it out with him 

 on his walks, carrying it on a stick, to 

 which one of its feet is fastened by 

 means of a thread long enough to allow 

 it ample freedom of motion. \\'here the 

 shade of some stately tree bids him wel- 

 come, he makes a halt and permits the 

 bird to perch and swing on a supple twig, 

 watching it for hours. 



One of the most curious expressions 

 of emotional life is the application of 



whistles to a flock of pigeons. These 

 whistles, very light, weighing a few 

 grams, are attached to the tails of young 

 pigeons soon after their birth, by means 

 of fine copper wire, so that when the 

 birds fly the wind blowing through the 

 whistles sets them vibrating, an.d this 

 produces an open-air concert, for the in- 

 struments in the same flock are all dift'er- 

 ent. On a serene day in Peking, where 

 these instruments are manufactured with 

 great cleverness and ingenuity, it is pos- 

 sible to enjoy this aerial music while sit- 

 ting in one's room. 



There are two distinct types of whis- 

 tles — those consisting of bamboo tubes 

 placed side by side and a type based on 

 the principal of tubes attached to a 

 gourd. Tliey are lacquered in yellow. 

 brown, red, and black to protect the ma- 

 terial from the destructive influences of 

 the atmosphere. The tube whistles have 

 either two, three, or five tubes. In some 

 specimens the five tubes are made of ox- 

 horn instead of bamboo. The gour<l 

 whistles are furnished with a mouth- 

 piece and small apertures to the number 

 of tvvO. three, six, ten, and even thirteen. 

 Cei"tain among them have besides a tnim- 

 ber of bamboo tubes, some of the prin- 

 cipal mouthpiece, some arranged around 

 it. These varieties are distinguished by 

 different names. Thus a wln'stle witli 

 one mouthpiece and ten tubes is called 

 "the eleven-eyed one." 



The explanation which the Chinese of- 

 fer of this quaint custom is not very 

 satisfactory. .Vccording to them, these 

 whistles are intended to keep the flock 

 together and to j^mtcct the pigeons from 

 attacks of birds of prey. There seems, 

 however, little reason to believe that a 

 hungry hawk could be induced by this 

 innocent music to refrain from satisfy- 

 ing his a]ipetite ; and this doubtless savors 

 of an after-thought which came up long 

 after the introduction of this usage, 

 through the attempt to give a rational 

 and practical inteqiretation to something 

 that had no rational origin whatever: for 

 it is not the pigeon that profits from this 

 practice, but merely the human ear, 

 which feasts on the wind-blown tunes 

 and derives aesthetic pleasure from this 

 music. 



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