giving him Chinese burns??? They had made jokes about his father’s death, about his accent (not posh enough), about his ignorance of ‘the ‘Three Rs’, whatever they were, about anything they could find to use against him. They had harried him from pillar to post, pinching and shoving and giving him Chinese burns. They pulled his grey flannel shorts down around his ankles – twice – in the toilets, and once one of the boys had waved a ruler about and said, ‘Stick it up his bum,’ and was probably only prevented from doing so by Matron putting her head round the door and saying, ‘Now, boys, enough fun and games.’ I would like to know what does "giving him Chinese burns" here mean. Thanks.