The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1909-04-17
NEW AWAKENING Or
the EASTERN WOMEN
Feminist Movement in China and
the East Assuming Signifi-
cant Proportions.

cant Proportions.
According to the Review of Re-
VIEWS there is most remarkable
awakening among the women of Per-
STA, Turkey and Algiers. Now China
has to be added to the list Of coun-
tries the women of which are "strik-
ing TOR their rights" According to
M. Albert Maybon, in La Revue
(Paris) the signs are unmistakable
that Chinese family life is destined
at no distant date to undergo a COM
plete transformation. 1t must be ad-
United that the present condition of
woman in China cries aloud for amel-
'1oration. 1t is an axiom in the Middle
Kingdom. THE daughter is subject
to her father; the wife to her hus-
band; the mother to her son." The
family Is the basis of the state, and
the su:bordination Of the woman is the
fundamental law Of the family. The
ra1son d'etre of the legal marriage in
China is to give to the deceased mem
bers of the family male descendants
who shall care for their sepulchral ex-
1stence: In due course these descend
ants will celebrate the domestic rites,
and the entombed ancestors will be
made happy.
Status Of Daughter.
The daughter does not count for
anything. At eight years of age her
feet are defomned. She enters the
gyneceum. Or women's apartment,
thoughtless and ignorant. Between
twelve and thirteen she is married,
her husband having been selected
without consulting her. From this mo-
nent she Is free Of parental control
and devotes herself entirely to her
new life. If she presents her lord
with no children, he may repudiate
her. Commonly the husband pur-
chases other women, who become
wives of the second rank; and the
children Of these are admitted to esual
rights with those of the legitimate
wife. If the latter be childless, her
existence is an intolerable one. To
terminate it she generally has recourse
to suicide. In the case Of widowhood.
II she belongs to the poorer class, she
may remarry; if, on the other hand,
she mourns mandarin, she is con-
demned to widowhood for the rest
OF her days. and she must dwell with
her deceased husbands parents, of
whom she has become the property.
Only when woman has borne num-
erous sons does she attain to an envi-
able position; now she is honored in
respect of a long line of heirs through
whom the memory of their ancestors
will he kept green"
How Reform Started.
The feminist movement in China
may be said to haze originated with
K'ang Yeou Wei, who is known as the
modern Confucius," and who was the
author Of the revolution of 1898. II
1891 he published some exegetica]
works on the Chinese classics, and in
connection Herewith created no su.e :
surprise b participating "a demo = at
IN which the masses would partal<e @.
the responsible :cs Of government, Anc
III which the tWJ sexes should en;o'
equal rights" $ nee then tn, move
ment: has bs.en steadily growing. Ami.
footbindfng societies have been es:ab-
lished;, numerous young women's
clubs have been formed, and some o.
the members have boldly proclaimed
their own will At Picking ant
Shanghai a gazette for young worne1
and girls" has appeared; and in a re-
cent number of the pei king niu pao'
one reads the following:
20 We two hundred millions of Chi
niece, our sisters, listen! In China it i.
said that man is superior and woman
Inferior: that man is noble and wo-
man vile: that man should command
and woman obey But we are no.
under the domination of man. TIL,
nature, OF man and of woman is til,
universal sense of Heaven. How then
can one make distinctions and Sa,
{ that the nature Of man is of one SOY
! and that of woman OF smother? IL,
the celestia principle has enither focn
nor figure"
Population Of China.
Recently the second wife of the
| celebrated Yuan Cheek Bal, presiden
{ of the ministry Of foreign affairs, sait
! in the course of an address,:
tits stated that the population o.
China numbers 4oo,oO0,O0O. But Il
one deducts from this figure the Chi
: nese women and considers them a!
ciphers, China has but half of it's in