PEOPLE FROM FIVE SIDES By T. F. HSU

To all fordone'I'B who visit Shu'nfl/wi aml eve11 to manu wh.o live there pennanentlll ail the Chincse inhabitants of the dtll a'T6 si1nplJl "Shanghai ChineB6." But odd as it 11lCl.y Bcem, the na,ti'v6S of Shanghai actlwily form an almost 1legligibl-e fra,etion of th-e c01lt71mnity (lnd the outsiders aTe the backbone of th.e city'B Chillese population. Mr, BstJ., though born in Shwnghai and knowing it. inside ou,t" cOllsiders Mm~el.f (t 11l!t'ive of Ningpo, his ancestnd hO'llle.-K.M.

SHANGHAi AND NEW YORK mixed characteristics and speaking a mixed dialect, never forget that they The Chinese community in Shanghai are not natives of the city. They is composed of people, to use an old still believe that "a tree may be a expression, from "five sides" - the four hundred feet tall, but the fallen leaves corners of the country and from the return to the root"; hence, thougb city itself. A Shanghai Chinese today is they may prosper in Shanghai, they quite unlike a native of the Shanghai do not lose sight of their native place of a hundred years ago, when it was or ancestral home. still a mudflat on the Whangpoo; and modern Shanghai dialect differs radi­ cally from the real Shanghai dialect NATIVE GUILDS once spoken by the residents of the This loyalty to their native places fishing center which has grown in the gave rise to the establishment of course of a century into the sixth various native guilds, each represent­ largest city in the world. Today, a ing people from a certain province, typical Shanghai Chinese represents the city, or district, and working for characteristics of aU the provinces in their interests. The activities of a the Yangtze delta, if not all the pro­ native guild are many-sided. Under its vinces along the central and southern auspices, for instance, mass weddinp China coast. And modern Shanghai are held in which the sons and daugh­ dialect is a mixture of practically all ters of its members are married in a dialects of China proper. single impressive ceremony witnessed by a leading figure from the same Superficially one might be tempted district. It also cares for the poor to compare the Shanghai Chinese and sees to it that destitute perSOD8 community to New York with its from its district are repatriated. population composed of such varied nationalities and races. However, in The guild works for the welfare of 8pite of the intluence of so many its home district too. It may petition foreign tongues upon it, the New York the government for the removal of a dialect is very little different from magistrate whose administration has that of Chicago, whereas the Shanghai irked the home district. It may also dialect can hardly be understood in issue somewhat arbitrary orders fore­ Hankow. Nor are the national and ing undesirables from the mother racial differences in the population of district to leave Shanghai. A few New York as pronounced as the pro­ years ago, for instance, the Ningpo vincial distinctions among the Shanghai Native Guild in Shanghai used its Chinese, who, though showing some influence to force several Ningpo troupes PEOPLE FROM FIVE SIDES 141

specializing in popular music off the would "sleep" in a free coffin. The stage and air because it considered nominal payment technically enables their performances an unnecessary him to avoid the misfortune of being exposure of the shadier side of its buried in a donated coffin. home town. HOTELS FOR THE DEAD GUILDS AND COFFINS AND THE LIVING One of the most important activities On the outskirts of Shanghai one can of these native guilds, however, is to find imposing structures maintained by serve the dead. Some of the larger the various guilds. These are the coffin guilds in Shanghai maintain an elaborate depositories, where coffins may be kept and efficient system for the sole for a long period pending burial. purpose of serving bereaved families, Chinese like to be buried in their rich or poor. These funeral depart­ native place, which is not necessarily ments are usually subdivided into two their birthplace. They want to be laid sections, one handling the sale of to rest near the tombs of their ancestors. coffins and the other being in charge Hence the necessity for institutions of the coffin depositories. Both operate where the coffins may be kept for some on a non-profit basis, and their activi­ time until the preparations for shipping ties can well be considered the first the body home have been completed. example of a co-operative in China. Since the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war and the resultant interruption of The coffins are graded into several many lines of communications, these qualities for members of various deuositories have gained added impor­ economic strata. However, in order tance. to preserve the "face" of the poorer classes, these qualities are not identified The Ningpo Native Guild, one of the as first, second, third, etc. Instead they largest in Shanghai, maintains two such are identified by a sequence of charac­ depositories, each covering several acres ters taken from a passage in a Chinese of ground, on the southern and northern classic, thus hiding the grade of quality outskirts of Shanghai. and the economic position of the buyer. In a way the coffin sales department The depositories are hotels for the of a guild reminds one of Hollywood dead. Each has various grades of producers, as even the poorest quality accommodation ranging from what they have is labeled as "great" or might be. called "suites" to "flops." In "magnificent." a "suite" the "guest" has the privilege of a room to himself. Then there are The wealthier Chinese likes to buy his rooms shared by two, four, or six, and coffin during his lifetime. If he has a finally the "flops" where coffins are just son, it is the heir's duty to present his piled one on top of the other and raLh~r with a gool1 coffiu. He can go to crowded together to the capacity of the his guild and order a coffin many years large hall. in advance, so that each year a new coat of Ningpo varnish may be applied Although conducted like a hotel, the to his "future abode!' depository offers no such attractions as "bridal suites," because a clear line is For the poor the coffins sold by the drawn between the sexes. Not even guilds are much cheaper than those the coffins of a married couple are obtainable in the ordinary coffin shops. allowed to share a room. The female Most of the native guilds issue coupons ghost, it is argued, would resent the to their poorer members entitling them company of other male ghosts, even to coffins at a nominal payment of a when escorted by her husband. few dollars. Only rarely are the guilds called upon to donate a coffin entirely During the Tsing Ming (Tomb-Sweep.. free of charge, as no decent Chinese ing) Festival in spring, the Chung Yuan 142 THE XXth CENTURY

(All-Spirits) Festival in summer, and WHARF COOLIES, BANKERS, the Winter Solstice these guilds charter AND PAWNSHOP ASSISTANTS special steamers or trains for the trans­ Among the army of wharf coolies. portation of the coffins to their native who day after day carry heavy loads places where they are to be laid to to and from the multitude of steamers rest. calling at Shanghai, the great majority In addition to these activities the comes from Shantung. Almost all the native guilds also maintain hotels for fish hawkers are from Ningpo, while the living in the form of dormitories. the vegetable hawkers are mainly natives of Shanghai, having better COD­ "FACE" AND THE nections with the local farmers. BARBER'S COUSIN There are also pronounced provincial While the existence of these native distinctions in the higher professions. guilds encourages the provincial differen­ Natives of Ningro and Shaoshing, pros­ tiation among the Shanghai Chinese perous districts in eastern Chekiang, community, occupational differences also dominate the native banks and exchange contribute their part toward the main­ banks. Almost all pawnshop assistants tenance of such differentiation. are from Anhui province. The four These occupational differences may largest Chinese department stores in be attributed to the deep-rooted Chin­ the city are dominated by Cantonese, ese feeling of II face." New arrivals and their influence extends to the in Shanghai always go to their rel­ smaller ones as well. atives, however distant they may be, Even the domestic servants in foreign and the latter, to gain "face" by households show a clear provincial dis­ obtaining jobs for them, tend to tinction. Most of the servants in introduce the newcomers to their own European families are from Ningpo, profession. Thus a barber's cousin on while those in Japanese families are arriving in Shanghai will often land a either from Tsungming Island at the job in a beauty parlor; and a wharf mouth of the Yangtze or from north. coolie's nephew has a better chance to ern Kiangsu. In foreign restaurants follow in his uncle's footsteps than any one more often than not finds Ningpo other calling. waiters. Statistics compiled by the Shanghai Provincial distinction can also be Municipal Council reveal, for instance, found among the personnel on public that practically all of ~hanghai's vehicles. On a tramcar, for instance, thousands of rickshaw pullers come from the driver is most likely a native of a part of China generally known as northern Kiangsu, while the conductor "Kompe," or II north of the (Yangtze) comes from districts adjoining Shang­ river." A rickshaw puller's distant hai. The same applies to the busses, cousin has a greater opportunity of be­ where the tough-looking drivers are coming a "human horse" than a wharf mostly natives of northern provinces coolie because it is only in the former and the conductors are southerners. field that he can avail himself of con­ It will be generations before most nections. He has the best chance to Chinese can forget their native places learn his trade by running behind his and become entirely loyal to the city cousin's rickshaw, thereby becoming where they now live and earn their familiar with the roads, traffic regula4 living. As long as they follow the tions, and the delicate art of bargaining example of the falling leaves and return for a fare. to "the root" they will not easily Practically all the Chinese police forego the ancient custom of being constables in the International Settle­ buried near their ancestral tomb. ment of Shanghai are natives of Shanghai, this teeming city of millions, Shantung or Hupeh, provinces renowned will long continue to be called "horne" for their sturdy sons. by only a few hundred thousand Chinese.