For this post I'm just going to make a list of interesting cultural differences I found in the reading.
- Tao Chi'en and the two black people aboard the ship don't have cabins and can't sit at the dining table. People of nationalities other than white are looked down upon. This is probably due to the fact that the "white man's burden" is an ideology floating around Europe at this time.
- Tao Chi'en finds the act of drinking milk repulsive. His reasoning for this isn't explained.
- Opium is used medicinally to ease Eliza's pain and make her voyage to America easier. Eliza (a British woman) thinks this will make her mad, but Tao Chi'en convinces her that if used sparingly it will ease her journey. The triangular trade of Opium to China popularizes the drug, so Tao Chi'en is very familiar with it.
- Besides using Opium, Tao Chi'en uses old Chinese cures. He uses herbs, teas, and acupuncture to cure her from her fever after her miscarriage.
- Tao Chi'en doesn't believe Eliza has a very good chance of finding her love or of marrying him. No one will want her for a wife after having a miscarriage. Today, many people overlook these faults when looking for a spouse. I suppose back then, however, a miscarriage meant the woman isn't a virgin. I don't understand how this is a problem though since Eliza's love is the one who got her pregnant in the first place. He is well aware that she is no longer a virgin!
- Tao Chi'en is persuaded to help Eliza once Lin (his late wife) appears to him. He believes this happens every once in a while, but never before this encounter was he positive she was visiting him. Tao seems to be a little bit superstitious.
- He also believes that if he lets Eliza die her ghost will haunt him for the rest of his life. Again, Tao's superstitiousness is revealed.
- Captain Katz doesn't like women aboard his ship. He doesn't explain his reasoning but I assume it has to with either bad luck or the fact that the women passengers are prostitutes.
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