Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-24

wife. whose life is therefore sure to be any
thing but pleasant one.
Even the son Is expected to obey his
mother as long as she lives; the daughter
in-law must bow humby and u1question-
ingly to the mother-in-law's slightest wish.
Such thing the younger woman show
! ing the least opposition to the older ones
will is practically unthinkable, and TINS
the early years of the Chinese woman's
married life are often very unpleasant.
In time, however the mother-in-law
grows old, and at last she dies. Meantime
the daughter-in-law has borne sons of her
own; she is then entitled to the respect &C
corded a mother, and when her sons marry
is able to get some compensation In the
way she treats her own daughters-in-law.
Chinese and Japanese Women.
Americans who have studied both Chinese
and Japanese women say that the former
are much superior to the latter. The Jap
anese women may be more attractive
though their superiority in that respect is
said TO be largely a matter of clothes, TIE
Chinese woman's garb being not nearly so
fetching that of the Japanese woman'S.
The latter is often said to lack in all tho
solder qualities of womanhood, while the
Chinese woman Is said to excel in these
very qualities. She is modest and retiring
to a degree and makes II her special prov
ince as she is expected TO, to do every thing
In her power to restrain her husbands ten
dency to drink too much ramsber "a pop
uiar alcoholic drink IN China and TO smoke
too much opium 1t is the wife who strives
most to economic, and almost invariably.
her face is set q 5 a flint against immoderate
gambling In all these matters wife and
mother-in-law labor toward the same ends.
otherwise they would oftener be at swords
points.
Chinese women above the coolie class are
personally neat and clean Even the poor
est of them take exceptional care of the
hair, devoting much time To its dressing.
Their neatness does not often extend to
their homes however Many of the houses
of the well-to-do, especially when the
housewife has deformed feet, which makes
it hard for her to move about, are dis
tressfully untidy and dirty. In this re-
spect the japanese women, none of whom
bind their feet, show to especial advantage.
1t is quite probable that many OF the
contrasts unfaVoraDle to the Japanese
women. draw by serious-minded observ-
ers, are due mainly to the fact that while
the Japanese woman is allowed all sorts OF
freedom when young and attractive, It Is
not till she is old and her attractiveness
gone that the Chinese woman is privileged
to see and be seen.
BY this reversal of conditions the Japa-
nese woman is seen and known OF all the
world when she is most likely to be friv-
olous; the Chinese woman Is kept out OF
sight until the frlvolity OF youth has been
displaced by the good. hard, common sense
that experience creates. But surely, If the
stories told of the Japanese women during
the war with Russia, of their forttude,
their devotion, their willingness 20 sacrihce
themselves to their country and Its glory
are to be believed the daughters of chry-
santhenun land need not blush to be com
pared with the women subjects OF the dow
ager empress.