The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-04-20
CHINESE WOMAN IN AMERICA.
She is With Us, but n OF Of Us, and Retains
Her n Native Customs.

pass away GuelI lives, AZ oHoo ono
seeks not our companionship, makes
no attempt whatever to become ac-
quainted with us, pays no attention IN
the least to the American mode of
living, heeds not our dress and Gus
toms, and in fact is as distant as it
is possible for one to be. True, she
lives among us, but is as isolated as if
she and the few Chinese relatives who
may happen to be here were the only
human beings in the world.
IF one desires to become acquainted
with her, and wishes to CLEAN some
knowledge Of a type Of which so very
little is known, he must seek her, as
she is surely not looking for him.
She will be more than pleased with
your advances, and will greet you with
all the demure politeness possible,
but all eternity could pass and she
would not venture to seek you. Hay-
ing braced yourself up and made the
initiative bow, you will find that her
former reserve was due to the fact
that she was trained to be shy of all
strangers, but a few moments conver-
sation will clearly demonstrate the
fact that she is not so shy as she is
reported to be. You also find. de-
spite the popular idea that the Chi
nese woman is phlegmatic, that she is
brimfql Of feelings and Impressions,
and has sensibilities as acute as a
child s. That she is perfectly con-
tented to live narrowly, restricted en-
tirely to the companionship Of one
man and perhaps couple Of females,
does not prove lack of Imagination,
but merely that she is grossly ignor-
ant Of any other life.
She is born probably in Pekin, Can-
ton, or near that great city. Until
the age Of 12 she enjoys almost as
much liberty as the average American
child, butt China it is not consid-
cred just The proper thing for girls TO
haveboy companions after that age.
Then she was taught the rudimentary
elements Of sewing and embroidering,
how to do light cooking and how to
amuse herself by singing few bal
lads. She was also taught that while
with them obedience to her mother
and father was her very first duty,
and after marriage to, the parents of
her husband. She never had sweet
heart, but with her girl companions
she would while away the hours in de-
cribing the beauties and virtues of fu-
ture husbands.
In spite Of these seeming restraints,
which would seem so hard for the
typical American girl to endure, the
years passed quickly by, and the time
when she was to become an American
bride was at hand-for the Chinese
woman who comes to America general
" comes to be married. having been
sent for by some Chinaman, who has
been in the United States or Canada
for perhaps eight or ten years and has
an established business. She has
never seen her future husband, and
has, perhaps, never ventured out OF
her native village, yet upon being ap-
praised for that divine kingdom-the
expectant bridegroom, like Isaac Of
old, when courting Rebecca, would be-
stow many costly presents of both sill
yer and gold upon the mother and
father, or guardians Of his future wife
she must leave home, friends and
native land and, she cheerfully sets
about to prepare for her long journey.
She may shed few tears upon her
mothers breast: and might, perhaps,
show considerable fear at such long
and lonely trip, but on the whole she
is happy and contented.
Her friends and companions gener-
ally look upon her with envy, for
nothing but a well-to-do Chinaman
would ever think Of securing wife in
America. The chief reason is, how
ever, that the girl, when she comes
here to marry, is not subjected to her
mother-iD-law will as she is in her
native land. In that strange country
she is compelled to reside with hcl
husband family and act as their new
daughter, and unless she is a pleasant
ly disposed young miss serious trou-
bic may arise. If there is disagree
ment the son and father take the
mothers part, thus forcing the new
wife to acknowledge her mistake, and
maybe this wouldn't be a pleasant
task in this country The Chinese
woman who comes to America also has
the advantage in selecting her own