Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1901-07-05
WOMEN OF CHINA.
Misery and Degradation Are Their
Portion in Life.

matter do the Cnlnese display 50 nue..
the difference between themselves and
Caucasians as in their estimation and
treatment of women. Our placing of
women on a pedestal would be incom-
prehensible to a Chinaman-that is, If
be condescended to waste thought on
foreigners. His women are to him
merely chattels to be disposed of at
will. He is, however, quite willing to
allow them to work for him and, in
fact, expects them to do so. AS they
are absolutely under the control of his
will, they do what he expects.
This and the following remarks ap-
ply chiefly to the native mass of the
population. OF course among the high
er and wealthy classes the position of
Chinese women is much lighter High
class women are treated as pets and
have frequently some little education.
They have, in fact, risen in the past to
great power. The greatest power in
China today is an old woman, the en-
press dowager.
From their very birth Chinese wom-
en- are fated to an i'll destiny. While
IL
household with rejoicing, that of a
daughter is made the occasion of lam
entations or is passed over in silence.
The most convenient way to a China
man of getting rid of girl babies, es-
pecially If they come in too rapid sue
cession, is to kill them, and this he
does with great promptness either by
dropping them into a canal or river or
by exposure. In former times these
were the accepted and usual ways of
treating girls, but the missionaries
have by their Intervention. which the
Chinese are so vigorously resenting at
present. caused some amelioration of
such horrible practices. They are still
common, however, and the finding of q
dead female infant causes no comment
in China. but it must not be thought
that the practice of this crime is COM
mended by the Chinese themselves.
We must give them the credit faint
though it be- of considering it serious
evil. 1t can only be abolished by rails
ing the position of the adult Chinese
owomen of the mass of the population,
which seems at present hopeless task.
The greatest article of Chinese faith
Is ancestor worship, and from this wo-
men. as an inferior class. are vigorously
excluded. The Chinaman becomes an
ancestor and fit subject for future
veneraton only with the birth of son.
When. therefore. n daughter disap-
points him by being born, he turns his
rage against her. 1t is not always so,
the usual proportion of daughters al
lowed to live being about two to five
sons. y greater proportion is consid-
| cred undesirable, and infanticide is the
result.
1t is impossible for an American to
conceive the want Of natural affection
displayed toward Chinese daughter.
When a Chinese father is asked how
many children he has, he enumerates
his sons, his daughters being consider
ed as so much property. They are ar
ticles of commerce, and their value is
regulated by the law of supply and de-
mand. and when there is n superfluity
of girl babies their price is apt to drop
to point too low to pay for their
maintenance. This is another cause Of
|
| However, let us suppose that Chi
nese girl has survived her unhappy
birth and lives to grow up. She is
known by the designation of "ya-tou,"
which means "slave girl" which is
literally what she is and remains all
her life. The narrowness Of her exist
ence can scarcely he described or
imagined. She is compelled to work
from the moment she becomes able to
assist. be it ever so little, in the house
hold or in the business occupation of
her father. Chinese work is done al
most wholly by hand. and Chinese wo-
men of the lower classes do much OF
1t. especially in the cotton and silk in
dustries.
Such n thing as education for Chi
nese girl is unheard of and would be
derided II suggested. Some tentative
experiments in this line have been
made by missionaries, with doubtful
success. The supreme, overshadowing
idea of a girls parents is that she will
be the future wife of some one, and all
her life Is directed to that end. They
do not propose, therefore, to waste any
money or valuable time on educating
a girl who, when married, will be the
property of her husbands family.
Over anything that can be written
about Chinese women fall the sadden-
ing and frequently sickening shadows
of degradation and misery. What can
be said of a country where wife beat
ing is the rule and where women are
sold in open market2 Wherever we
turn, either to Chinese home life, to
Chinese business or to Chinese customs
Of marrying or buying for marriage, ii
is necessary to use the same sad tone
In referring to these poor creatures
Single life is unknown unless the Chi
nese girl is physically unable to work
But in this case she does not live to q
marriageable age. Suicide is among the
most common facts of Chinese native
life.
There is no such thing as love or sen
timent in low class or generally, in al
China. How can there be when the
marriage Is settled upon during the
childhood of the parties by their par
ents? Sometimes, indeed, Chinese par
ents, to use stockbroking term, dea
In futures" and Chinese matches are
made before the births of the contract
Ing parties, and they result in mar
riages. OF course polygamy is the nat
mol rac111t-fbot iS If man Can n Z