Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-11
POSITION OF WOMEN IN TEE EMPIRE
Delinquent Members Of Household
Dealt With in Private.
THE CHILDREN OBEDIENT


which little or nothing Is known in this
country, are explained in an entertaining
manner. The writer OF the volume says
there Is very little resemblance between the
domestic life in Chinese home and in a
European household In many respects the
one is precisely the antithesis of the other.
As men and women grow older in western
countries they find themselves being grad
ually pushed out OF their place in the world
by the rising generation. Old age does not,
ipso facto, command universal respect.
Wealth. position and attachments are, in
the order named. the chief objects OF rever
ence with US; though in regard to the lat
ter We are equally Indifferent II success
has been achieved by merit or advertise
ment. Children do not invariably render to
their parents the obedience which Is taught
them in their catechism, while any idea of
docility on the part Of full-grown sons
daughters would be laughed to scorn and
considered unwarrantable interference
with the liberty of the individual
The Chinese hold opposite opinions on all
these points From the emperor down to
the humblest laborer they honor nothing
go much as old age. The homage paid to
a venerable elder by relatives. friends and
strangers is of the profoundest nature.
Advanced years are held in such esteem
that it Is a common act of courtesy In Chi
to pretend you think a person much
older than he really is. What Is your
honorable age?" you would ask, when in
troduced to a acquaintance. My in
significant years do not number more thar
thirty may be the modest reply. OH
1t Is polite to exclaim. in a tone Of great
surprise. II should have taken you to be
forty at the very least.' And the other,
even If woman will blush with pleasure
at the insfnuated fiattery.
A Greater Contrast.
Strange this may sound. a far greater
contrast to the customs of Europe Is pre-
sented by the family circle of the average
Cinnamon. The relations between husband
and wife probably remain much the same
all the world over. Woman. however she
may be regarded in theory. possesses
knack of asserting herself in her own home
with a recuperative power which will even
bear up against the costermongers fist. 1t
is the fashion in Europe to consider the lot
of woman who has not the same kind of
liberty that enjoyed by her sex in the
west as unbearab.e and Ubiquitous. Asiatics
take very different view of the
They think 1t deplorable thing that Euro
pean women should be every moment sub
ject to the intrusion Of the husbands. who
can spy upon and control their actions.
And that they are not allowed to have the
best part of the house exclusively to them
selves. where they can receive their female
friends and gossip without restraint.
The position of the Chinese woman in her
own household Is that which Is, ought
to be, occupied by her sisters in every cline.
She is left in absolute control Of all do
nestle concerns and Is given far more to
say in the expenditure Of the family income
than is generally the case among our
lower classes. 1t Is true she owes obedience
to her husband, but 1t must he recollected
that this is equally so In our country. The
obligation is probably much respected in
China it is here. Stories have been, and
always will be, told about the yoking of
women to plows and similar cruelties. but
it would be quite fair to paraphrase our
rAT1in ~ h,- cEati fAr
stance. that clogs are manufactured in
Lancashire in order that the operatives
may dance upon their wives or mothers-in-
law with more damaging effect.
Regarded as Autocrat.
The head of the house is autocratc and
almost possesses, like the Roman father.
absolute power of life and death over his
children In China the family is the unit
of administration, the state being theoret-
ically a federation of families under the
paternal government of common father
the emperor. There Is really no country in
which the administration functions are
more completely decentraliZed than is the
with China. Every official Is held re-
sponsible TO the one placed Immediately
over him. and at the same time the high
functionaries are answerable for every
thing that Is suffered to occur through the
negligence or incapacity of their subordi-
mates. The people. however, pay very little
are not unduly interfered with. They are
accustomed to manage their own affairs
and exercise a measure of local self-gov-
eminent which Is unparalleled elsewhere.
The mandarins may be regarded
the figureheads OF the political system. who
take credit or blame according to the tran
quillity or disorder of their district.
This leaves an enormous power in the
hands Of the people. but the prudence Of
the arrangement can hardly be denied in
the face Of the remarkable tranquility
which has. with few exceptions. been en-
toyed throughout the empire for many CEN
turtles. Local affairs are intrusted to vii
lage or district councils. and the most
worthy person for the office is elected
mayor by the suffrage Of the community.
These local authorities exercise far wider
range Of functions than Is comprised in the
fulfllment Of ordinary municipal duties
They act as arbitrators in commercial dis
putes. Prof. Douglas. a well-known writer
states that they grant divorces between
husband and wife. Criminal cases gen.
orally left to be dealt with by the public
tribunals; but even here the village COM
take the punishment of the culprit on their
own account.
Only the IncorriRibIes.
By far the greater number of delinquents
are. however. dealt with in family circles
and 1t is only the incorrigible offenders
who. having proved themselves to be I'M
amenable to domestic influences are
usually handed over to the district magis-
trates for more effectual correction These
family tribunals are much respected that
mandarin will almost invariably ask IL
the cases before him have already been
tried by them: and. where this has occur
red. he will take their judgments into as
much consideration as the present system
OF selling Justice will permit. 1t must not
be supposed, however, that the head of the
family always acts In arbitrary man.
ner and entirely upon his own Initiative.
The older members of the home circle pos
sess. at least. consultative voice in the
conduct Of its affairs. besides which, In
cases where the mother Of the family auto
crat is still living. the greatest possible
respect is paid to her opinion, which often
acts as salutary check upon masculine
despousm. The excellence OF this system
which does more toward the retaining of
malefactors than our method of ostracisin
them by the disgrace of constant imprison-
ment Is exhibited in the comparative rarity
of capital punishment In China. 1t is Gus
tomary to send criminals who have been
condemned to death to Pekin, where the
emperor investigates each case before sign
Ing the warrant for execution And in
spite of the fact that mere homicidal inten-
tiDn where g.%,