Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-12-04
THE CHINESE AND CUPID.



Below are given some extracts from
letter received from = correspondent Of
Kansas City paper In China:
yesterday we all went up to an I'd.
joining temple and called on some Chi
nese ladies. wife and daughters Of Chi
nese ofiicial OF high rank According to
Chinese etiquette man should never SCI
woman not his wife and it Is thought
to be especially improper for girl to be
the object OF q mans gaze. But the
mother likes Americans very much and
wanted her girls to sec us. So we all
went and took look at the beauties
and they had look at US, apparently tc
the mutual satisfaction Of both sides.
One girl was q, one 20 and another Is
years old. The two younger ones were
very nice looking but for the horrid paint
they always smear on their cheeks and
lips. girl or married woman always
has her cheeks painted red and her lips
painted deep cherry color To US. 1t Is
hideous. but they think they are not at
to be seen without it. It Is the fashion
or not
"A widow is the only woman who Is per.
mitted to 60 implanted. The reason IL
that woman once having been married
and her husband being dead, has no fur
ther reason for being attractive, and 50
out OF respect to her dead husband she
no longer paints.
But few Chinese widows ever re-
marry. 1t frequently happens, since a
girls engagement Is always fixed by her
parents when she Is quite young, that her
betrothed dies before the marriage In
that case it is considered mark Of great
virtue If the girl remains through life
unmarried, out Of respect to her flance.
1t happens. too, but not so frequently.
that girl is married to her fance on his
deathbed or even after his death, 30 that
she may have the title and dignity Of
widow.
1T is the rule among Chinese that the
engaged couple shall not meet or see each
other before the wedding day. There is
no love-making, no acquaintance, or any
thing Of that nature before the marriage.
II there is anything Of that nature at all,
1t comes after the wedding. It is consid.
cred great joke If young man gets q
glimpse Of his future wife. So there Is
little romance or sentiment among the
Chinese. Their system Of parental mar
riage precludes all love and sentiment
from their lives.
"And yet human beings all have more
or less sentiment In their makeup. The
Chinese. in order to satisfy this demand
Of their natures. have instituted the sys-
tenn of polygamy, often having a. many
as six or eight wives, the number depend
ing upon q mans rank and wealth. A
man selects these wives himself and so
the element Of love enters into these mar
riages much more frequently than the
first marriage. Wife No. 1 enjoys all the
social rank privileges and has power over
all the other wives. and has the dignity
of the household on her shoulders. but
she seldom has the affection Of her hus-
band. The system is great failure and
tends to reduce the level Of the family
life. Its evil effects are everywhere ap-
parent.
THE Manchu women DO not bind their
teet as the Chinese do, and a. result
they are more active and better looking.
The present dynasty being Manchurian.
foot-binding by that race IL prohibited
by law and they even have tried to induce
the Chinese to throw the vicious practice
aside. The suffering and agony Of the lit
tie girls while this process is going on is
terrible. but as girl with big feet can
scarcely get desirable husband. the
mother Is compelled by custom to thus
torture her child. Yet am glad to say
that the custom is gradually losing favor
and we all hope that In the next 26 years
or SO they will have stopped 1t alto
Rether."