The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-07-26
CHINESE woMEN'S LITTLE FEET.
Why Missionaries Are Going to Build
Many New Churches in China.

One foot, linear measurement may be
IL inches, but one foot, pedal, may be no
more than four or five inches when that
foot belongs to Chinese woman
For centuries Chinese women have
bound their feet Ii was only a few
short years ago, through the influence Of
Christian missionaries IN the celestial
republic that law was passed prohibit
ing the practice of foot binding. Future
generations OF China's women will be
free from this curse, but the present gen
Grafton still suffers from it. The bind.
ing began in infancy and continued
through the years to maturity. The re-
suit was perhaps gratifying to the 0rien.
tai, but it had its vexations for the mis-
sionary and still has.
II may seem strange that missionaries
have any great concern over the feet of
Chinese women, but they haze indeed
for unless a church can be placed con-
veniently in any Chinese city it is i'm
possible to get the women of that eoun-
try to go to church Their feet won't
let them, for to.wslk four or five miles
TO church on feet only four or five inches
long is harder undertaking than it may
seem at a glance.
The Episcopal church now s trying to
find a way to meet this problem of tiny
feet. Manifestly the church cannot en-
large the feet of its feminine Chinese
converts, but it can build more churches,
so that little feet will not have so far to
walk, and through its nationwide cam
paign it is seeking to show the need of
more churches in China Just as it pro-
poses to enlarge its work at home.
In China more men come to church
than women. For one thing the feet of
the men never were bound But more
men could be attracted to the church if
there were more churches, for while the
missionary might persuade a non-Chris-
tian friend to stop business and walk a
block to service, it is well nigh impos-
sible to persuade him to stop business
and walk two miles to church
The churches all are not what they
should be to attract and hold the con
vert. Writing of Nsnchang, Rev. T. L.
Sinclair, a missionary of the Episcopal
church, gives this description;
Our church is large room in rent
ed building. On one side of the church
room there are pillars which shut off a
large part of the congregation. The
floor is brick laid in dirt; of some parts
we might truthfully say that it is laid
under dirt. The benches have no backs;
they are simply pieces of plank about
foot wide with four legs stuck in them.
Some might think that surely better
benches could be procured Well, the
benches are in keeping with the rest of
the building and the missionary hopes
and saves to put new benches in new
church. Ii some kind soul will give the
church to put them in, the missionary
will attend to the rest. To make mat
tiers worse, our church is situated on one
side of the city far from a number of our
Christians"
That's wheye the little feet of Chinese
women come in--or rather, don't come in
but when through the nation wide
campaign a new church is made possible
for Nanchang, the little feet will be able
to walk there.
Another difficulty in the conversion of
women in China is that bowling to Chi
nese custom it is necessary to have
women teach their women As there is
a scarcity of workers this is difficult.
Often the Chinese household consists of
a Christian husband and heather wife.
Or course, husbands. should teach their
wives. Some of them do; some don't;
some can't,-Kansas' City Star.