Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-11
THE WOMEN OF CHINA.
Some Instances of Their Devotion to
Husbands or Relations.

Some Instances of Their Devotion to
Husbands or Relations.
From the New York SIM.
Woman's influence in China is greater
than is commonly supposed. Records of the
f1owery kingdom are full of examples of
women famous for their learning, heroism
and high principles. Sometimes women
achieve absolute power over the household.
for there is a popular saying, She eats
rice with her husband" which is used to
describe the rule of the female tyrant. The
most astonishing instance Of feminine pow
err today is, of course, the career of the
empress dowager. AS an instance of the
empress dowagers power, 1t may be re-
called that she deposed her strongest vizier.
Prince Kung, in 1885, by a mere decree in
the Pekin Gazette because The overrated
his Importance.
In common with all other nations the
women of China represent the most fer
vent religious element. They are said to
support enthusiastically the Boxer move
ment and to be lighting with passion to
help rid the country of the missionaries
That the women of China do not lack
courage is proved by the fact that they
sometimes seek suicide as relief from I'M
happy marriages and uncongenial husbands
would frequently be murdered were II not
for special punishments, 'ignominious and
Slow devised for all women who attempt
homicide. The mere existence of this law
PROVIDES the necessity LOT Again, not
long ago fifteen young girls Of Canton
threw themselves into the river to escape
from marrying the husbands chosen for
them.
devotion of the Chinese women of high de-
gree. A daughter of the Chinese minister
to London. kwo-Sung-Taon, was married
at the age of seventeen. When her husband
died she tried to commit suicide out Of
grief, and would eat nothing but gold leaf
seeking thereby to induce death. 1t failed
to poison her, and she then starved to
DEATH Her sister-in-law Mrs Kwo a sis
ter of the Marquis Tseng, tried also to fol-
low her husband to the land of spirits, but
failing in her attempt at suicide she finally
took compassion on her children. agreed
to live and managed her father-in-law s
property while he was in London. Ii Hung
Chang penned memorial to the dragon
throne. requesting that these two women
should receive sign of imperial approval
Notwithstanding the degraded condition
of women of the lower classes, the fem
mime ideal is high in China, and the annals
of the past show long series of virtuous
and heroic women who have made an in
delible impression upon the national mind
The mother of the great sage, Confucius
is held as a model. The next philosopher
of Importance, Mencius, was also indebted
to his mother for the formation of his
character and mind, as well as his phioso-
ply.
Womans lot In China is, however, not an
enviable one. She is not received into the
ton. At twelve she is banished from all
companionship to become 1.-The young girl
who sits in the house, until her marriage.
when she weds some one she has never
seen. Then she must obey her husband
and her mother-in-law; she may not come
into contact with men or the outside world !;
and, rule, she cannot read. She may.
however, receive ladies and return their
calls. The patriarchal system is so uni
versal that the father is despotic ruler
over his family. and married woman
a1rf<,
family that she has to yield her obedience
to her husbands parents, who frequently
treat her more as slave than a daughter
in-law. The doctrine inculcated in the Chi
nese classics is that A woman has three
| stages of obedience. First, to her father;
second. to her husband, and third II her
husband dies, to her son when he reaches
manhood. The old proverb goes: "Men
wish their boys to be like wolves, and fear
lest they should be timid; their girls they
wish to be like mice. and fear lest tney
should have the boldness of the tiger"
The laws established 2 800 years ago are in
favor today, and among them no rules are
stricter than those for keeping the women
in bondage.
Chinese books of instruction for girls
consist chiefly of exhortations TO discharge
their duties as daughters. wives mothers
and daughters-in-law. The Girls Four
Books" to which two famous emperors
wrote prefaces, describe how the female
mind and character must be trained Mod
esty, gentleness, self-sacrifce wisdom. re-
spect for elders and a virtuous DISPOSE. /
must be a woman's equipment in life.
There is no pressing need for intellectual
education. However, about 100 in every
10000 women read, and that means read
with understanding the great books of
philosophy and literature, the works of
China's sages and poets. Such cases are
found among the aristocratic classes, and
men of letters frequently teach their wives
and daughters not only the art of reading,
but that of wri,.ng, and go so far as to
publish their literary effuSions