The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-18

and the children must be content with the
selection made. When the wife Is taken
to the home of the husband she becomes a
member of his family and subject to her
mother-in-law, II the, husbands mother Is
still alive.
As other sons are married their wives are
brought in, and they are expected TO live
peaoeably together, an expectation which
ID not always fully realized. As law and
custom remit tie system Of concul image
1t Is not strang that the home is often the
ecere Of contention rather than the centre
Of felicity.
+. rs the duty Of sacrificing to ancestors
falls uron the son, the advent OF a boy Is
the signal for rejoicing, willie the birth OF
a girl is not considered a good omen.
80 unpopular was the female ba y thai In
some provinces many of then were for
.merly put to death, but child murder is
now on the deere Sc.
Z LOSING FACE"
No one can visit China without becoming
acquainted with a peculi ,rily Oriental
phrase called closing face One of the
first newsrarers that l picked up In China
described the attempted suici1e OF a man
who complained that hs had "lost his face
because a magistrate refused to com ence
q prosecution on his complaint.
In China there Ia a constant effort to keep
up appearances, and when this is no longer
possible the unfortunate one feels that
he cannot look any one else In the face.
Chinese life is saturated with this face doc
trine; II percolates through their disputes
and oozes out through the pores OF their
diplomacy.
Justice is Of less inheritance in the decid-
ing of q cont roversv TRAN the saving Of the
parties from the loss Of face. There are In
each community peace takers who make
4 business of 80 ad listing disputes that
neither party will seem to be In the wrong.
In dealing with China this national oharao-
ter must be borne In mind, and 1t 10 to DO
regretted that foreign nations have In their
negotiations sometimes initiated Chira an
stead of setting her q better O. ample. One
constantly meets over here with the theory
that the foreigner must conform to the
methods of the Orient, but this is always
advanced as an excuse for following q bad
custom.
IL Is impossible to convince China that our
ideal is q better one than here unless that
ideal IL embodied In action. When our
country admitted that Tire indemnity ool-
lected from aran after che Shimonosheki
affair was excessive and returned II, SIC
made q deep impression on the ,'aranese.
Il was several tim referred to by speak
ers during our recent vlslt To aran as an
evidence OF our country g desire to do Justice
to other nations. 1t Is Just as honorable
for O nation to acknowledge IN error as Il
is for an individual to do 90, and our nation
hes an opportunity to admit another er-
c~eeslve demand and return to China q Fart
Of the indemnity collected at the close Of
the Boxer trouble,
IMPORTANCE OF oEHRMoSY.
No nation has ever given more emphasis
to ceremony y an does China. Confuciuf
places proariety among the cardinal vlr'
tues, ard tn doctrire has been elaborated
until the vtcIc life ls fettered by formally.
Each rising generation Is drilled In the
performance Of certain rites required by
improved etiquette, and 1t would be humili'