The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-08-24
FATHER MY KILL
SON OR DAUGHTER
Empowered To Punish Either
With Death If He Wants To
Before or After Marriage,
Sometimes Persons Are
Buried Alive; Law of Home
Often PrecedeS That Of Land
by the Associated Press) T..

Picking, Aug. 2l.-The Picking Ga
zette gives the following interesting
description of family life in China,
commenting that these conditions are
fast changing as a result of the alb
sorption of foreign ideas.
The Chinese family in its old fash
toned organism is a small kingdom
with the head of the family as the
king and ruler of all under his roof.
Except for the law of the country, his
words are law. In certain cases the
word of the family chief is even great
Ell than the law of the country. The
absolute power of control and punish
ment of the father over his sons and
daughters, the latter before their mar
riage, and the former even after their
marriage, is universal throughout tho
land. A proverb says: If a king
wishes his subject to die, he must die:
if a father wishes his o to be de-
stroyed he must be destroyed Such
is the severity of the family law. A
typical case of this sort came under
the notice OF the writer some ten years
ago even in such a Odern city as
Shanghai.
Christian Teachings.
"A certain family had only one son
between two brothers., and naturally
ne was considered the pearl of the
house. At the age of sixteen the boy
was sent to a mission school to study
and in due course he decided to be-
come a Christian. This was strongly
opposed by the whole family, s.
cially the grandfather. But at first
they smiled at the carefully advanced
hint by the boy, believing that he
would never dare to make such g
change. They were mistaken, for the
had applied for baptism at the mis-
sion but made it plain to his parent!
that unless their consent was secured
he could not be baptized. This So
aroused his parents that they shut hin
up in a small room and for fear tina
ne would escape, took every particl'
of decent clothing from him AM
clothed him in old rags. Undaunted
the boy crept through a window ar
{, interviewed the missionary, who o
course, counSelled him to be patien
and told him to return home to be al
'obedient SON The boy took the ad
vice, but not until he had secured
lot of Christian literature, which n
said he would read and distribut
among MS relatives at MS natlVe place
to which his parents had threatened t
send him If he refused to give UP hi
new faith. Finally the boy was sen
to his country HON in Ningpo to re
ceive disciplinary lessons to counter
act the Christian doctrine. The DO
promised TO write after his arrival a
his native place but no word has com
since. Although no one will eve
know what sort of lessons the be
received at the hands of his family
elders. it could not have been easy
for ii was the custom of the NingI
elders even to bury people alive f.
crimes unpunishable by state la,
This of course was an exceptional ca:
but such exceptions were not by al
means rare.
Condition Not Slavery.
ON the other hand it must not
Imagined that the sons and daughte
OF a family live under anything lii
conditions of slavery; for if the ath
feels it his duty to look after eve
detail of his family affairs and sees
1t that every member Of the hou
obeys his words, the sons and daug
ters feel equally du%ty-bound to plea
and obey his Instructions without a
feeling of discomfort or painful effo
The plain principle of living |
tween father and son is, thereto
this: The father should see to t
needs of his family. sons, daught,
and all, direct what they should
and how they should act, decide h
they should be trained and taug
whom to marry or wed, what prof
sions. If sons, to adopt. see that II
are obedient and happy and doc