The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-08-20
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HASKIN, Director,
Washington, D. C.
o1IANGEs .1N oH1NEsE CUSHIONS.

call to mind at mention of China abso-
lutely does not exist, according to PAX
Chu Chan, who has been studying
medicine and theology at American
universities.
al have been asked if all Chinese
are laundrymen.'' says Mr.. Chan in his
perfect English. land tho for ten
years it has been against the law to
wear a queue, I find that American
people do not understand that there
are no queues in China n
The queue was one OF the strona
traditions of the Empire days-one or
the apparent trifles which held CHINA
back in hers unprogressive civilization
The Chinese in this country long ago
found that the queue he so much
treasured interfered with his being
taken seriously as a business man. The
"pig-tail' of the China man was GER
tain to be subject of jest. Accord
ingly many Chinese had their queues
cut off, well aware that by this act
they made themselves exiles from
China. A queueless man in the en-,
nese empire was regarded as a rebel
against the state and the penalty was
death at the headsman's block.
To find the reason for this signif1-
canoe attached to the queue, Mr.. Chan
says, we must go back to 1644, when
America was still struggling with its
first settlements. The Manchus arose
and dominated China at that time. The
Manchu prince disarmed the Chinese
PEOPLE, but there were 100000 Man
churians against several hundred mil
lion Chinese.
So, further to insure submission. the
conouering ruler ordered all Chinese
to braid their hair into a queue. This
he made a sign of loyalty to the new
dynasty. 1t was useful, too, because
if a man tried to escape, he could
sometimes be caught by the queue
flying back of him. Some chinese
protested, but the penalty was death
Eventually the Chinese got used TO
the queue and became attached to it.
But when China opened her doors to
other countries, the queue became
troublesome. Diplomats and business
men wished to cut off the queue and
to wear western clothes. Many petit
tions were presented to the emperor.
Then the republic was established in
1911 and the new constitution of China
said that all queues must be cut. In
one province, Mr.. Chan remembers.
100000 queues were reported cut
in one day.
Helped the Hat Business.
It caused some amusing situations.
The men of China had worn no hats
as the queue bound about the head
was sufficient protection against cold
and the sun. Now, with short hair,
they must have hats. They did not
know what was to be the proper style
in head coverings for men, but in the
emergency they crowded into Ameri-
can merchandise shops to buy any,
thing-straw hats. caps, even women's
hats.
cat first a few old men wished to
retain their queues" Mr.. Chan recol-
lected with a smile. $50 they wrapped
the queue around the head and COW
cred it with a cap. But the police
are suspicious, and make any suspects
take off the caps. If the queue Is
there. the policeman pulls out big
knife and gives the man a free hair
cut"
Foot binding is another fashion as
passe in China as the wasp waist is in
America. The small feet" girl in
China now has difficulty in getting a
husband. The young men want large
feet wives. Nor can small feet"
girl go to the public or mission
schools. She is as unpopular as the
girl with unbound feet was a few
years ago.
Binding the women's feet according
to Mr.. Chan, is an even more ancient
practice in China than wearing the
hair in a queue. There are two stories
of its origin. One says that one thou
sand years ago, an exceedingly beau
tiful queen of the Tong dynasty had a.
deformity of her feet. To hide this
defect from the notice of the king, she
bOdlAN lAGL 1etl llSLlly anu
that she wishee-them to be very small
as mark of beauty, even tho it kept
her from walking. The other women
of the court, all eager for the honor
of being chosen as concubineS by the
king, followed the new fashion to
achieve beauty. And so foot-binding
spread over China.
The other theory is that the Chinese
men long ago found out that the best
way to keep a woman in the home was
to render her helpless. There would
| then be nothing to distract her from
her home duties and she would look
up to her husband as knowing so
much more about the outside world
than she knew. Thus the perfect wife
was created in China, and by the most
efficient method possible-making it
fhe fashion for a woman to cripple her
feet.
For ten centuries this unwritten
style held the Chinese women in its
wise. The Large feet girl could not
get married. She was socially a
| paria.h. Fifteen years ago, half a
dozen Christian native women met at
Annoy and formed an -foot-binding
society. China was awakening to the
outside world progress, and the society
easily stirred up public opinion. Petit
lions were presented to the queen
dowager, and she finally issued an
! edict to abolish the old custom.
MY sisters feet" says Mr.. Chan,
| were only three inches long. She
unbound them. All of her children
| have large feet. The older women
could not benefit by the new style.
After thirty years of age. the bones
are set in the cramped condition and
| can not relax. So now, small feet are
rarely found except on the old women
| of China and the women of far inland
provinces where customs take years to
| penetrate.
1.-THE new fashion made 1t possible
/ for Chinese women to become more
| active in affairs. They entered bust
! ness. and even politics There were
women in the first parliament of the
republic in 1912. In the most progress
sive province Kuang-tung. woman suf-
/ frage has been established. Nurses
and telephone girls have always
! been men in China, but recently girls