The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-03
WOMAN'S LIFE IN CHINA
IN HER HOURS OF ACTIVITY 1T 10
VERY MUCH cIRCUMsCRBED.
She Is n Fond and Devoted Mother,
Respect OF Her Children.

enjoys the distinction Of having escaped
the admiration of foreigners. Her praises
are unsung In the verses Of other lands;
she is not enshrined on the canvas OF those
whose ideals Of outward being the world
has adopted: she has flashed no wit upon
the page Of romance or dazzled 1t with her
beauty. Everybody has agreed In letting
her alone from the ankles up. as though
her only possible claim 20 consideration lay
in her cramped and tortured feet, which
everybody pities. and about which nobody
ever does anything except pass resolutions.
Even at home she is under initial disad-
vantage. She starts I'm life handicapped by
her sex. No family ever wants a baby girl.
When the women go TO the temples they
always pray for boys and buy boy images
in the hope that the gods will remember
and favor them. II a girl results. she Is
tolerated rather than enjoyed. While hard
IN out of her babyhOod her feet must be
swathed, If she belongs TO a proper family.
AS she grows her liberty is restrained.
She knows nothing Of life outside the home
wall except such glimpses as she may catch
from a window, or from a covered chair In
which she may occasionally be carried TO
visit families in which there are other I'M
f~ortunates like herself. Thus she remains
a prisoner until ready for delivery to a hus-
band she has never seen. henceforth be-
coming the slave of himself and HIS par
ents. A brood of her own springs up about
her quickly enough. and by the time that
process ends she is a grandmother. Life
becomes easier for her as the children ma
ture, for the wives of her sons must be her
landmarks. and the children are bound to
.---;1. g. - 40 - the most cacrod
of their obligations and to respect her au-
thority as long as she lives.
Modern credulity is taxed to reconcile a
life so circumscribed with a conception OF
happiness as free agents understand it.
The difficulty lies in the appreciation Of en-
v~ironment. A Chinese woman knows no
life but this. Her aspirations are restricted
to it by traditions and customs that seem
TO her as immovable and as impenetrable
as the walls that hedge in and defend her
city. There is no one 10 suggest other
thoughts to her. The minds against which
hers brushes have limitations as narrow
as her own. She usually makes the best
of her lot cheerfully, and turns out a fond
wife and devoted mother. OF her wifely
duty she is rarely forgetful. A womanly
instinct TO please prompts her to make her
sell dilIdCllNC ~ Z hAfbdAA-
ings may not always be violent when the
man strays abroad and returns with other
women for his household. but they are Oft
e1. pathetic. Yet custom permits and the
wife must bow, whatever her feelings. Her
main comfort is that additional women
cannot be wives. she is alone IN that reia-
ton. Secure in her place. she has an innate
sense of its superiority and OF the dignity
-. = L. 49, - Innn.nu fHnf Dfrrn
are tolerant of the others and often provide
for them when husbands die and rear the
children they have borne.
SOME CONVERSATIONS.
This sketch of life. as found among those
OF good estate. in character as well as
means. is analogous to a summary applying
in Western homes where conscience joins
with custom in regulating social and do
nestle conduct. Circumscribed though the
life Of Chinese women may be and differing
so sharply in detail from accepted stand
ards elsewhere as to make 1t seem almost
intolerable, il has compensat lions OF some
weight. The privation. drudgery and SUBJ
ordination to which Chinese woman is
subject come when she has youth and
strength and buoyant vigor. AS these de-
part and she needs relief social and fam
lily custom provides it. and with advance
ing years her cares tighten. her comforts
increase and her afternoon is pillowed for
her.
When one at home looks after parents IL
is a matter of special and admiring COM
ment, as though the benefit. while not un-
deserved. was yet conferred by favor and
was specially meritorious. In China no
merit attaches TO a duty so obvious. II
children failed TO make comfortable the
declining years Of parents they would be
disgraced. Ancestral worship Is dictated
by motives that have regard Tor the welfare
OF ancestors immediate and living, as well
as for remote ones, and no obligation f. so
sacredly held or so faithfully observed by
the people at large. Theirs is a religion that
pays practical honor 10 age. Each genera
ton knows that the succeeding one viii
care for it while living and revere Il when
dead, as surely as the planets move.
In spite OF limitations, Chinese woman
is quite human. BY foregoing the pleas
ures Of courtship and selection she does not.
as a matter Of course, hut her heart to
romance. When at her marriage the gates
OF the world open 10 her a little wider than
before she puts her sharp little eyes TO the
uses for which they were intended. IL they
are looking for a Prince Charming and they
fall and linger on the husband TO whom
she is introduced there g. occasion for
thanksgiving. Should they light elsewhere,
love may find a way and scandal n pro-
moter even I'm China. IL happens. also. that
mild and yielding disposition IN a newly
welded pair is not invariably moro pro-
nounced In the woman. when one Of thar
sex Is assertive the imagination Is taxed
10 believe that che IL the subject party.
Man Is. OF course. supreme. but he not In
frequently finds IL poiidc 10 declare him.
self only In a ngurative way and for prac-
itcal purposes 10 appear to be- submissive.
The national costume, which puts the
trousers on woman and the frocks on man.
in China does not always seem misplaced.
The Chinese do not think IL worth while
20 name a girl. She r. Sister. and goes by
number. III her mother gives her n pet APP
peilation that Is their own dear secret. Tho
husband never learns OF H. To MIN she Is
the Chinese equivalent for M There or On
Say until tho babies arrive. when she be-
comes Chang's mother. or Is otherwise in
directly designated. That does not bother
her. for she knows no other girl except a.
the owner OF a certain number IN some
mans home. Yet mother a. a term OF love
49, .,...r .,.r -. a. ~..rk -. ~.