Cuar.X.] POLITENESS OF THE CHINESE. i738 
dish on the table. Again and again the same opera- 
tion is tried, until the poor novice loses all patience, 
throws down the chopsticks in despair, and seizes 
a porcelain spoon, with which he is more success- 
ful. In cases like these the Chinese themselves are 
very obliging, although scarcely in a way agreeable 
to an Englishman’s taste. Your Chinese friend, out 
of kindness and politeness, when he sees the di- 
lemma in which you are, reaches across the table 
and seizes, with his own chopsticks, which have 
just come out of his mouth, the wished-for morsel, 
and with them lays it on the plate before you. In 
common politeness you must express your gratitude 
and swallow the offering. 
During dinner our host informed us that there 
were about a hundred priests connected with the 
monastery, but that many were always absent on 
inissions to various parts of the country. On 
questioning him as to the mode by which the esta- 
blishment was supported, he informed us that a 
considerable portion of land in the vicinity belonged 
to the temple, and that large sums were yearly 
raised from the sale of bamboos, which are here very 
excellent, and of the branches of treesand brushwood, 
which are made up in bundles for firewood. A 
number of tea and rice farms also belong to the 
priests, which they themselves cultivate. Besides 
the sums raised by the sale of these productions, a 
considerable revenue must be derived from the 
the devotees who resort to the 
as well as from the 
contributions of 
temple for religious purposes, 
