The New York herald., 1922-06-25

my ChineSe mothers house after my
husbands departure. His father had
not come home for his semi-annual
visit, and the second son was away
again. Even the quiet hammered
third son, who looked just like his
mother, and who used to bring me
roses from the garden every day,
had sailed for the island port to take
his place in the family business. We
were under a benevolent matriar-
ehate in the snug compound among
the brown hills now Frightening to
springtime green.
Madame Liang was infallibly gen.
erous and kind. I never heard her
speak sharply except occasionally
to servants who had by their care
lessness caused something to go
amiss. impeding the smooth prog
ress OF daily family life. I used to
watch her with interest as she di-
rected the household affairs from the
throne Of her great bed. She rarely
gave her orders at first hand, but
would summon a relative or an up
per servant. who would receive and
pass them down to those for whom
they were intended. This impaired
to her orders an empresslike finality
and Importance. The servants gave
her complete allegiance.
She took great pride in conducting
me through the complicated struc-
ture where generations of Liangs
had lived and died. Extending back
from the main establishment was
a series of smaller ones like
it. each with its own courtyard,
its main hall containing the
family altar. its private chambers
opening on each side. Similar chains
OF ''homes within q hom." extended
east and west, at right angles to this
central chain. Mother showed me
the rooms she had occupied as a
bride. with the chamber where Chan
King was born, when the older Ma
dame Liang ruled affairs with a
firm yet kindly hand. / felt deeply
moved by all this, more than ever a
part of the family.
~.
l made many small mistakes. 1
know. in my effort to practice the
liberation, industry and courtesy ex-
emplified in that family group, but
Mother. unlike many of the over
sensitive. easily offended Chinese
women of her class, was divinely pa
tient. She never asked of me any
thing that she deemed uniting for
me, and she showed a wise discrimi-
nation in all the small tasks she as
signed. I sometimes accompanied
her to the temple or to the ancestral
graves. but only as spectator. Her
religious liberation required no COM
promise. She wanted ne to see
where grandparents and gr .at-grand-
parents were laid to rest. She knew
was interested and filled with re-
spect. To Madame Sprinetime fell
the task of caring for the family
altar and keeping up the daily devo-
tions before the sacred shrine
This young wife was in every way
so typical of the old fashioned Chi
uaea Wo-pap tyafpad h,,t not aa-,
Gated. disciplined but not broken,
that L found her a continual source
of interest. She was naturally shy
and silent. but after time we talked
a little. and one day she showed me
her bridal trunks of white lacquer
with red and gold decorations. filed
TO the top with her bridal fnery. ex-
quisitely folded. and the clothes for
her first child. which had been pro-
vided by her parents as a part of
her wedding outfit.
This latter custom of Chan Kings
native province appealed to me. 1t
was typical of The many simplicities
l found among my adopted people
Those small. brilliant colored gar
ments of padded silk ana brocade
and linen were symbols of hope. good
omens for happiness and a fruitful
marriage. Accustomed as / was to
falsely puritanic ideals concerning
the important realities of life-mar-
riage and birth-their frank atti-
tude toward fundamentals. their I'M
questioning acceptance OF the facts