Evening star., 1923-09-03
EAST is EAST
BY FRANK II. HEDGES

| living MS own lie as protest
| against the ancient Chinese system
of parental matchmaking. a young
apprentice technician at an American
medical college In Peking drank con-
fcsntrated carbolic acid. dying few
hours later from internal burns.
Chang Yung- -chien, twenty years old
and with bright future before him,
was informed in the summer by his
parents that marriage had been ar
| ranged by them and suitable bride
| chosen. He did not say much, for in
China the son is taught to obey his
parents above all else. but he was
not contented. He wished to choose
for himself the girl who was to be
his wife.
Shortly after the new year young
| Chang drank the carbolic acid which
caused his death, leaving seven let
| ters behind him. The letter to his
! parents explained his suicide as due
to nervousness but the one to his
| fancee babe her farewell. wished her
happiness: and advised her against
| rushing into a pre-arranged mar
| riage. The letter to his youngest
| brother contained the same caution:
| and he was particularly emphatic in
| writing his younger. sister. One let
ter merely told a close friend good
by, but the other two were addressed
to those who will be parents in the
| future and strongly condemned the
] parental arrangement of marriag ges.
1 He urged that engagements for mar
| riage should be free, that education
for children should be compulsory
! and that. all should work rather than
| depend upon inherited fortunes for
support.
Pledged In marriage to the daugh-
ter Of a friend OF the family while he
\ was still attending primary school.
another young Chinese bowed to the
| will OF his parents, but pleaded that
the wedding should be postponed
| until after he had completed his
higher education. Apparently agree
ing to his wishes. his father went for
ward secretly with the plans for the
| marriage shortly after his son reached d
! the age of sixteen. Two days before
the date chosen. for the wedding the
prospective bridegroom discovered the
plan and fed from .the home Of his
| father. leaving behind a written de-
nuncia ton of fhe evils of early mar
| riage.
| Disohedience Of parents in China is
\ q serious matter. more serious than
is generally understood In America
| Only desperation can drive right
| thinking son to such an act. The
| flight of the sixteen-year-o Chinese
| registered an emphatic protest
q gainst the system ne condemned. In
the United States. perhaps. young
| Chans's suicide would have been con-
1 - t,xr pi ~ G n
in the east where 1t is an old, old
custom TO give ones life as a final
protest against any system or deed
when arguments have failed. 1t is
| protest that carries tremendous
! weight with the sons of Asia.
That Chang. the medical student.
] should have been betrothed to the
| girl OF his parents choice and that
| the other Young Chinese should have
| been welded at the age OF sixteen
present nothing unusual For CEN
! turies upon centuries marriage al
| fairs have. been so handled in China.
| The choice of "A bride is the prerosa-
| tive of the parents, not of the SON
and their anxiety to see their chIldren
married early in life springs from
the very basis of Chinese society-the
| family system.
/ 1t is not as individuals whose fu-
tture happiness is at stake that
| Chinese Youths and maidens are mar
! ried and given in marriage. but as
units Of a family The family's first
| concern is TO assure succession IN
| the male line. The great sage Men,
! cfus taught that of the three unnna "a
sins Ito have no postsIiV AZ, - III nf
| q, eatest II becomes the duty OF
| 6arents saws a Chinese writer. to
see that early provision should De
/ made against such an eSentusLIE
I ,As consequence more thah nan IL rt
marriages in China take place ipelore
! aitber bride or groom Is twenty years
oIn chose cities. and treaty ports
! where Chinese come into contact WIZ
westerners many customs and insu,
tnt3ons of the past have suffered
j greatly from such contact. The cere-
monies and feasting that accompan!
an d-style Chinese wedding ias'
from three days upward. dependlne
largely upon the wealth or the ianlI-
lies concerned. Few sights are more
n;cturesuue than. the procession OIL
the BRIDE from the home OF her father
TO that of her future husband. Musl, !,
clans with curious Chinese musica
instruments, come first, -, if,esss ,fieia bTida ade
is borne along in closed palanquli,
of red and green. the co!ors OF JOY
IN China. the windows closely cur
tained that none may gaze upon her
face The wedding gifts have been
! sent before but they also were car
chinese in Peking. Shanghai and
other great cities. who have become
| nartlv westerniZed. often attempt 10
10 make them more modern" Somes !
l-times a foreign brass band tst'subs1-
| futed for the Chinese musicians,
/ which marches through the s'reets rec.
4 proudly playing over There FIhe
| Merry Widow Waltz" or any other
.
Sometimes the bride rides in a can
gailv decorated with paper flowers and
| streamers instead of the old sh
ioned sedan chair. 1t is seldom that
as great austerity is shown as was
| the case in the marriage of the son
Of the president of China. whose
father sternly forbade that any gifts
| whatsoever should be presented al
the wedding.
There seems to be no good rea son
why China should throw into the
discard all Of the customs and ihsti +
tutions of the past. The nation mas
! risen to greatness. and has endured
| while other countries perished, on the
! basis of the family as unit 1T is
| necessary that the Chinese who have
studied abroad and who hope to
| bring their country into more mod
! ern ways remember the material
! with which they must work. and most
! important of all that material Is the
! family system. Reforms are possible.
in fact. are desirable. but never
abolition.
| The death rate in China. for which
| there are as yet no official statistics.
F, is estimated as very high, as hlgh
| proportionately as the excessive
! birth rate of fifty to sixty to each
! thousand. Progress in public hygiene
and other life-saving activities should
/ reduce this death rate. and it Will
! then he practical to conduct wide
! snrcad camnaign against child mar