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Gaornell Wniversity Library
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CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
COLLECTION
CHINA AND THE CHINESE

 

THE GiFT OF
CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
CLASS OF 1876
1918
Cornell University Library
HQ 1737.B67

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Chinese Womanhood
Chinese Womanhood

By
LUCINDA PEARL BOGGS, Ph. D.

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CINCINNATI: JENNINGS AND GRAHAM
New YorK: EATON AND MAINS
CopyRIGHT, 1913, BY
JENNINGS AND GRAHAM.
TO
The Gentle Chinese Dadies
WHO HAVE CALLED ME
A Friend
AND TO
The Ladies of America
WHO SENT ME WITH A MESSAGE OF
Hiendshp

TO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM
II.
III.
IV.

VI.
VII.

Contents

PAGE

WoMANHOOD, - - - - 15
Tue MOTHER, - - - - 34
THE WIFE, - - - - 47
THE PRIESTESS, - - - 64
ILLUSTRIOUS WOMEN OF CHINA, - 81
THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN, ~ - 96

WESTERN CIVILIZATION AND CHI-
NESE WOMEN, - - - 113
Preface

THE Lady with a Flower in Her Hair is my
epigrammatic way of thinking of the citizeness
of the Flowery Kingdom, for all women, from
the highest to the lowest, love to wear some
bright blossom in their coiffure. To me there
is a secret and indescribable charm about the
Chinese woman of to-day. With her stately
manners and simple, pleasing qualities, she
stands out almost as the contemporaneous an-
cestress of the whole modern world, for in
studying China we realize that the points of
difference are due more to differences of histor-
ical stages than to radical dissimilarity of race.

The attention which women are receiving in
the New China calls to mind this sentence
from a sympathetic writer on the position of
women: ‘‘The student of the history of women
is continually reminded of the fact that when

9
PREFACE

men lose their dignity and eminence, woman
disappears from the scene; but when they rise
into worth, she again comes upon the stage in
all her tenderness.”” Do not we women of the
West welcome the coming of the Chinese women
into their own?

The object of this little book is to help the
women of the East and the women of the West
to feel the common bond of womanhood, in
the hope that it will be their sweet reasonable-
ness which will join the peoples of the Orient
and the Occident in mutual understanding and
good fellowship. Having an ethical rather than
a scientific purpose in mind, free use has been
made of the selective principle, so that the
result is an impressionistic rather than a photo-
graphic picture of the women of China. In
this sketch, therefore, are to be found the
ideals of Old China as portrayed in odes and
annals of ancient days, together with facts and
observations collected by the author during a
stay of a year and a half in the Orient.

My apology for sending forth this slender

10
PREFACE

volume without years of research is that its
appeal is to the heart, which can learn more
in one of its ceaseless throbs than the trained
mind in a life-time, if the theme is one which
sets its strings trembling.

11
Chinese Womanhood
I
Womanhood

WHAT is womanhood? What is it to be wom-
anly? To be manly is to be strong—a con-
queror of himself and his environment; in a
word, to be a hero. To be womanly is to be
tender, sufficient in herself, and giving of her
own bounteousness to all in need—an angel.
Both hero and angel imply a certain high and
intimate relation to the divine. The first is
the heavenly appointed agent of the gods to
compel, to avenge, to fulfill; the second is a
ministering messenger sent to alleviate the woes
the gods can not prevent.

When the great English naturalist, Darwin,
first published his theory of evolution, he made
this process depend on the principle of the
survival of the fittest. This seemed a cold and

15
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

cruel law when applied to the development of
humanity, and it was John Fiske, the American
historian and philosopher, who propounded
another principle, namely: that the individual
or species survives which has the longest pro-
tected infancy. Now, not only does the pro-
tection of infancy allow the individual to grow
strong before being thrown on his own re-
sources, but it seems to lengthen the period of
plasticity, that is, the period most easily in-
fluenced by environment. Hence the period
of educability and progressive development is
lengthened and the child is for a longer time
susceptible, in a high degree, to the accumulated
improvements of the human race, which he
acquires through the process we call education.

It is generally conceded that this function
of the nurture of infancy belongs especially to
woman, and, indeed, this function of nurture
extends to the care of the sick and aged. Thus
from mere physical motherhood woman has
gradually assumed the duties of educator of
childhood and youth and of cherishing nurse

16
WOMANHOOD

of the weak. Wherever she is found, as teacher,
ruler, priestess, or healer, the characteristic of
ministry is strong. The worth and dignity of
ministry the world never understood until one
lived and wrought the perfect ministry of love
for the whole world, and said of Himself, ‘‘The
Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister.”

What has been the characterization of wom-
anhood from the beginning of time until now?
This is what the old, old ode from China’s
classical Book of Poetry says:

“Sons shall be born to him;
They will be put to sleep on couches;
They will be clothed in robes;
They will have scepters to play with;
Their cry-will be loud.
They will be resplendent with red knee covers,
The future princes of the land.

“Daughters shall be born to him;
They will be put to sleep on the ground;
They will be clothed with wrappers;
They will have tiles to play with.

2 17
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

It will be theirs neither to do wrong nor to do

good;
Only about the spirits and the food will they have

to think,
And to cause no sorrow to their parents.”’

Here is another bit of satire from the same
source, and also contrasting man and woman:

“A clever man builds a city,
A clever woman lays one low;
With all her qualifications, that clever woman
Is but an ill-omened bird.
A woman with a long tongue
Is a flight of steps leading to calamity;
For disorder does not come from heaven,
But is brought about by women.
Among those who can not be trained or taught
Are women and eunuchs.”

Likewise do the ancient Hebrews attribute
the introduction of evil into a perfect world to
womanhood, as related in the marvelous story
of Eden. The Greek legend tells how a woman,
Pandora, opened a forbidden box, thereby re-
leasing all the evils of poverty, hunger, dis-
cord, sickness, and depravity to prey upon a

18
WOMANHOOD

hitherto happy and innocent humanity. In
the following biting lines the great Greek
tragedian Euripides epitomizes this view of
woman and evil:
“Terrible is the force of the waves of the sea,
Terrible the rush of the river and the blasts of hot
fire,
Terrible is poverty, and terrible are a thousand
other things;
But none is such a terrible evil as woman.
No painter could adequately portray her;
No language can describe her;
But if she is the creation of any of the gods,
Let him know that he is a very great creator
Of evils and a foe to mortals.”

Tertullian, one of the greatest teachers and
writers of the Early Christian Church, hurls
this terrible anathema at women, which com-
bines the Hebrew superstition with Greek
logic and makes out a sorry case for half of
humanity:

“Do you know that each one of you is an
Eve? The sentence of God on this sex of yours
lives in this age: the guilt of necessity must

19
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

live too. You are the devil’s gateway; you
are the unsealer of the forbidden tree; you are
the first deserter of the divine law; you are
the one who persuaded him whom the devil
was not valiant enough to attack. You de-
stroyed so easily God’s image, man. On ac-
count of your desert, that is, death, even the
Son of God had to die.”’

The great Moslem sage, Sidi Hammu, gives
vent to his feelings in the one sulphuric sen-
tence: ‘“‘O you women, you seed of the ole-
ander tree, I should like to burn all of you, if
my mother were not one of you.”

That there are women in all nations who
have won the admiration of their world, many
passages show which might be quoted. These
lines from the Chinese Book of Poetry describe
the mother of the Chow dynasty:

“She grandly shone with virtue rare
That naught could bend. So did she share
God’s favor, and How-Tseih she bore
Without a pang, or labor sore,
Just when her carrying days were o’er.”

20
WOMANHOOD

Here is a stanza in praise of the young
woman of Han:

“The girls free ramble by the Han,
But will not hear enticing word.
Like the broad Han are they,
Through which one can not dive;
And like the Keang’s long stream,
Wherewith no raft can strive.”’

The very poet whom we quoted above,
Euripides, has written the tragedy of Alces-
tis, a woman who offered herself to die in her
husband’s stead, and has made of it one of the
greatest stories of self-sacrifice outside of Chris-
tian literature. Likewise there have been He-
brew heroines, and through the ideal of Mary,
the Mother of Christ, Christian peoples have
created an ideal type of womanhood whose in-
fluence has been strongly felt wherever Chris-
tianity has gone. Even in Buddhism there is
the beautiful story of Kwanyin, the Goddess of
Mercy, who left her place in heaven in order
that she might live as a woman on earth and so

21
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

understand and help womankind more sympa-
thetically.

But notwithstanding the fact that certain
distinguished women have been recognized as
worthy of admiration, it remains true that
womanhood has been branded as inferior and
fos to bear not only the ignominy, but the
burden of inferiority, for it is a well-known
fact that superiority exacts service and homage
from weakness. Just how women came to be
regarded in this manner, it is hard to say.
Perhaps when men were wandering about in
nomadic tribes from place to place, women,
burdened with young children at the breast,
were not able to keep up with the procession,
and so hindered the movements of the whole
group. Thus she was deemed weaker, and so
she was; not, however, because her strength was
Jess than the man’s, but because her burden had
become greater. In such a stage of civilization
weakness was regarded as an evil, as, indeed,
it was, when man could live only by his strength
of muscle; and it was in these early days that

22
WOMANHOOD

the religious and philosophical concepts be-
came fixed. Wherever a quality of good and
evil is the basis of their religion, the evil prin-
ciple is therefore declared to be feminine.

In China the two principles at the basis of
their whole cosmogony and religion are called
Yang and Yin—light and darkness, masculine
and feminine. Yang is all that is strong, pure,
and helpful. Yin is evil, dangerous, and in-
ferior. Yang is the sun from which emanates
all the good spirits who people the world.
Yin is the earth from which arises all the powers
which work harm to mankind. It is only
through the proper relation of the two elements
that the world and humanity exist. In Egypt
Osiris and Isis are names for the same prin-
ciples, and between them there is a constant
struggle for the supremacy of the world. In
the Greek mythology we find a modified form
of the struggle between good and evil as male
and female principles in the legend of Venus
and Adonis, which typify the decay and growth
of plant life. In the cold countries of Northern

23
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

Europe we have the struggle of good and evil
associated with day and night, summer and
winter; but here the sex element is lacking, for
both Balder, the beautiful, and the wicked
Loki are represented as masculine. It may be
a coincidence, but in the Teutonic races women
have found their highest and freest develop-
ment.

When the hunting and pastoral tribes set-
tled down to an agricultural life, women found
an outlet for their activities which made them
extremely valuable in the economy of the
group, and instead of their being a burden
they were regarded as so profitable that some
men were desirous of several women. Thus in
some countries polygamy arose, which is noth-
ing more or less than a species of slavery and
tended to offset the advantages which might
otherwise have bettered the standing of women.
As civilization advanced, spinning, weaving,
tailoring, tanning, and similar industries were
developed which could best be carried on within
doors, so that gradually woman came to be

24
WOMANHOOD

regarded as the creature of four walls, and her
freedom became more and more restricted.
To-day women are following the textile trades
out of the home to the factories, and thus one
of the factors in her early incarceration has led
to her release. But I would not say that
woman’s life has been entirely ruled by eco-
nomic conditions. These ideas arising from eco-
nomic conditions, as said above, tend to become
a fixed part of the ethics and religion of a people
long after the economic factors have disap-
peared.

Another reason why women have been con-
sidered evil is that they are innovators. In
ancient times, when tradition and precedent |
prescribed the exact method of procedure in
all the small and great circumstances of life,
nothing was so much feared as a departure
from the old paths. All of us are familiar with
the elaborate Hebraic rites and ceremonies
concerning matters of law, religion, health, and
morals as recorded in the book of Leviticus.
Now, if anything went wrong with the result,

25
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

it was rather the way of the menfolk to care-
fully scrutinize the process and find some flaw,
some deviation from the prescribed procedure,
as it did not occur to them that in the given
circumstances the procedure itself might be
wrong. Women, with a less exact knowledge,
perhaps, of the elaborate code and system of
rites, but with a keener eye for results, were
more ready to try new methods, whether
in religious worship or everyday occupations.
Hence many new religious cults have their
first converts among women. Hence nearly all
primitive industries and inventions are due to
women. She first tilled the land and harvested
and prepared the grains for food. In nearly
every country the deity of the harvests is a
Y goddess. Women were the first potters, house
builders, tanners, weavers, and tailors, as well
as farmers and cooks. After these innovations
had proved a success they were adopted by the
tribe, but by that time woman was inventing
something else new, and so remained ever un-
forgiven.
26
WOMANHOOD

Again, woman is regarded as an evil because
of her charm, which tempts men to spend more
hours in pleasure than is compatible with their
success in business or professions. But it is
said to be woman’s desire to please, which has
brought about the beautiful in music, literature,
and art, as well as the comforts of a well-ap-
pointed home. A few parasitic women there
are who, ministering to the lower pleasures,
destroy rather than build up the elements of
human nature in what we call recreation. We.
have not yet learned to distinguish clearly
between the charm that strengthens and re-
fines and that which cheapens and sensualizes.

What, then, is the task of womanhood in
making itself more effective in the upward
struggle towards truth and goodness, which
alone can remove the stigma of evil?

First of all she must increase her strength
of mind and body and learn how to use this
strength most skillfully in going through the
work which falls to womankind. Secondly,
she must have before her some desired result

Zé
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

which is to be achieved by the countless small
tasks which make up the days of most women,
and she must study to be wise in devising proper
means for accomplishing her end. Thirdly,
she must cultivate whatever talent has been
given her to elevate humanity through an ap-
peal to the love of the beautiful. Few are
gifted with music or art or poetry to charm an
admiring world, but every woman can make a
flower bloom where barrenness was before.
Every woman can speak the comforting words
of appreciation and cheer which fall like music
on the discouraged and weary. And always
may she remember that she is a ministering
angel to carry out the good will of God to those
who need her.

What does womanhood stand for to-day in
the various countries of the globe? It is gen-
erally conceded that it is in America that
woman stands highest. In this country all
occupations and professions are open to her,
and she has the same opportunities from child-
hood to womanhood that men have, though

28
WOMANHOOD

with slightly different adaptations. In religion
she has an equal place with men; in the eyes
of the law she is coming to have an equal status
with men as regards property, personal and
political rights; in the home and in social life
she is supreme.

In the countries of North Europe women
have been gaining privileges and rights steadily
for the last quarter of a century, though wher-
ever military ideals reign supreme, woman
does not have that recognition for which she
strives. Even in Southern Europe women are
awakening to the possibilities of a freer, richer
development through education and unrestricted
intercourse with each other. Miss de Selin-
court, who has spent many years among women
of the East and the Far East, writes:

‘‘Meanwhile there is a spirit of unrest
among women the world over, a reaching out
after a freer, fuller life: and it must never be
forgotten that a free, full life for women is an
integral part of the reign of God upon earth,
which our Lord came to establish. The mes-

29
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

sengers of the cross must accept and encourage
the highest aspirations of women, seeking after
the solution of apparently contradictory ele-
ments, in the light of the fundamental teaching
of Christ, that life comes through death, self-
realization through self-sacrifice.”’

To-day the women of the educated classes
in Turkey are begging to be allowed to lay aside
the veils; they want a clubhouse in Constan-
tinople where they can meet to discuss the
topics of the day, in which they take almost as
much interest as the men. They are writing
to plead their cause, and had even started a
paper of their own which, however, could not
outlive for one year the dead weight of public
opinion against the new ideals which it es-
poused. In Persia, also, it is rumored two
ladies are printing a paper in the interest of
women and their homes. About two years ago
Persian women were holding a conference to
discuss problems of education, for they realize
that therein lies their greatest hope.

In India many. women are studying for

30
WOMANHOOD

government examinations; they have clubs for
discussing temperance, hygiene, woman’s in-
fluence, etc. Some talented ladies are con-
tributing leading articles to popular magazines
and are editing magazines of their own. Even
in caste-ridden India and Moslem countries
women are beginning to make their influence
felt in a social and political way as never be-
fore, while at the same time raising their ideals
of home life.

In Japan the woman’s movement is an
assured success, although it has not yet run its
course. The example of Japan to the whole
East is invaluable in this respect, and China,
at least, has its eyes on its little island neighbor
with admiring wonder and approval. Chinese
women are therefore to be given greater liberty
in all their relations, and even, it is said, a
share in the political rights of the new republic,
to the extent of suffrage on the same basis as
men. A Chinese magazine calmly announces
that the suffragists of Canton have elected
their representatives to the provincial assembly.

31
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

As the property and educational qualifications
for suffrage are high, this will not affect a great
number of women directly at present, but it
will influence the whole life of China indirectly
with tremendous power, for in the new begin-
ning all ideas are bound to be discussed, and
all will color the final result.

Considering all this unrest the world over,
it has seemed worth while to discover, if pos-
sible, some characteristics of the women of the
last-named country, which has just declared
itself ready to enter into friendly and free re-
lation with the rest of the world. The women
of China have stood highest of all the women
of the old non-Christian world, and with one
bound seem to have reached the highest posi-
tion of any modern nation, so far as suffrage is
concerned. We wish we might know whether
China has made its women what they are, or
whether its women have made it. One thinks
of the saying, ‘‘A nation stands as high as its
women,’ and one wonders if China is to be
the greatest country of modern times, as it

32
WOMANHOOD

seems to have been of ancient times. China’s
disinclination to militarism augurs well for its
future, if only warlike nations will give it an
opportunity to submit all its differences to
arbitration.

Already a few Chinese women are studying
and teaching. They are nurses, physicians,
writers, and editors; but these few are a host
in enthusiasm, energy, and influence. The
political changes occurring in China just now
are said to be the most interesting phenomena
the world has ever seen, but still more inter-
esting are the social and domestic changes
which, moving more slowly perhaps, are never-
theless bound to come. In these changes
women are by nature foreordained to take the
most important place.
II
The Mother

“Gop could not be everywhere, and so He
made mothers.’ This bit of wisdom is from
the old Hebraic Talmud, and it has the same
ring as the words of our truest and greatest
American, Abraham Lincoln, who said, “All
that I am or hope to be I owe to my mother.”’
A Hebrew writer of New Testament times says,
when treating of the original transgression of
man (which, as we have seen, is always laid
at the door of woman), ‘‘ Notwithstanding, she
shall be saved in child-bearing, if they continue
in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”

A recent German philosopher summarizes
the modern view of motherhood in this terse
paragraph: ‘‘Men invent machines, women
bring men into the world; men shape weapons,

34
THE MOTHER

while in the arms of women soldiers are reared.
Men rule, but women render the highest service
to the nation, since only peoples with efficient
mothers push their way. Mothers are the
conquering element. When motherhood be-
comes weak in a nation, culture is no longer
useful. The sinking down of mothers is the
fall of the people, the descent into senility.”’

Chinese literature abounds in tributes of
honor to the mother, and I quote the following
from a Chinese book entitled the ‘‘Female
Instructor,” written by a famous essayist of
the last century:

“During infancy a child ardently loves its
mother, who knows all its traits of goodness:
while the father perhaps can not know about
it, there is nothing which the mother does not
see. Wherefore the mother teaches more ef-
fectually.”’

Here is an anecdote selected from the
“Records of Famous Women,”’ written during
the first century B. C. by Liu Hsiang:

“The famous Tai Jen, wife of Wang Chi,

35
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

was the mother of the famous King Wen, re-
puted founder of the great Chow dynasty.
She was the second daughter of Chih-jen. En-
dowed with many excellent qualities, she was
most exemplary in her conduct, and gained
the admiration of all by her conspicuous virtues.
So fearful was she of the dire effects of maternal
impressions on her future offspring that she
strove in every way to conduct herself in such
a manner as to obviate the danger of the foetus
in her womb acquiring an undesirable charac-
ter. She would not listen to disagreeable
sounds, nor would she look at anything un-
sightly; neither would she utter a word that
was improper. Her son grew up to be intelli-
gent and wise. Tai Jen taught him herself,
and she was delighted to find that when she
told him one thing he was able to deduce from
it all possible relations. Thus it was said of
her that she began to teach her child from the
womb. This son grew up to be the greatest
chieftain and the most learned scholar in the
troublous time of Chou-sin, the great tyrant,
36
THE MOTHER

who was ultimately disposed of by the son of
King Wen.”

There are also many folk-tales showing the
great esteem in which mothers are held by their
children, especially their sons. There is room
only for one, in a very condensed form, taken
from Norman Pitman’s ‘‘Chinese Fairy Sto-
ries: ‘“‘Once a poor widow made a vow in the
presence of a Buddhist priest that she would
abstain forever from eating meat. Her loving
son, observing how poorly his mother looked,
decided that it was from lack of meat, and as
it was the festive New Year season, he deter-
mined to make a dish in which chicken should
be cooked, but disguised by savories and vege-
tables in such a way that his mother would not
recognize what she was eating, and therefore
would not be guilty of breaking her vow. His
plan succeeded, but in the night, after having
partaken of the delicious stew, the mother was
seized by evil spirits and taken away to Hades.
Overwhelmed by a sense of guilt and also re-
morse for what his mother must be suffering

37
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

on account of his deceitfulness, he found a
way to go down to Hades through many perils
in order to take food to his mother, whom the
priest told him was starving. Three times the
food was snatched away from him by howling
demons, but another effort was successful, and
the gods, in order to reward such filial devo-
tion, allowed the mother to return to the upper
world with her son.”

Of the famous twenty-four stories of filial
devotion upon which every Chinese child is
nourished, by far the major part deal with the
relation of children to their mothers, and of
the remainder most of them deal with the rela-
tion to both parents. The following is an
especial favorite, and I give it as translated
by S. W. Williams:

“In the days of the Han dynasty lived
Koh Kii, who was very poor. He had ‘one
child, who was three years old: and such was
his poverty that his mother usually divided
her portion of food with this little one. Koh
says to his wife: ‘We are so poor that our

38
THE MOTHER

mother can not be supported, for the child
divides with her the portion of food that be-
longs to her. Why not bury the child? An-
other child may be born to us, but a mother
once gone will never, never return.’ His wife
did not venture to object to his proposal,
and Koh immediately dug a hole three cubits
deep, when suddenly he lighted upon a pot of
gold, and upon the metal read this inscription,
“Heaven bestows this treasure upon Koh Kii,
the dutiful son; the magistrate may not
seize it, nor shall the neighbors take it from
him.’”’

Rarely do the great sages Confucius and
Mencius speak of one parent alone, and it is
possible that great mothers and fathers must
exist together. Confucius says, ‘If in serving
his parents he can exert his utmost strength,”
“Let there be careful attention to perform the
funeral rites to parents.’’ His disciple, Men-
cius, writes, ‘‘Children carried in arms know
to love their parents,” ‘Filial affection for
parents is the working of benevolence.”

39
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

Likewise in the Book of Poetry both seem
to be equally honored:

“On their fathers all depend,
In their mothers have a friend.”

“O vast and distant Heaven, whom we
Father and mother call, on Thee
IT cry.”

“Father, from whose loins I sprung,
Mother, on whose breasts I hung,
Tender were ye, and ye fed,

Now upheld, now gently led.
Eyes untiring watched my way;
Often in your arms I lay.

How could I repay your love,
Vast as arched heaven above?”

Thus we see that as a mother, especially of
sons, woman is greatly honored in China. In-
deed, from my study of Chinese life and customs
it would almost seem that a woman is a crea-
ture of a higher order when she becomes a
mother of men. One of the most impressive
spectacles I had the pleasure of witnessing was

40
THE MOTHER

a great retinue of officials and soldiers escort-
ing an old lady to the train in the station at
Foochow. It is noticeable, however, that in
the five relations nothing is said of the relation
of the mother to the son, but only of the father
and son. These five relations are as much or
more to the Chinese than the Ten Command-
ments to the Hebrews, and as they must be
constantly referred to, I will briefly enumerate
them in this place, as the basis of them all is
the relation of parent to child. They are:
The relation of sovereign to subject, of father
to son, of husband to wife, of elder brother to
younger brother, of friend to friend. In regard
to the relations of the mother, perhaps it is as
Dr. Wu Ting Fang would have us believe, in
speaking of the second relation, ‘‘Honor thy
father and thy mother was, and is, as much of
a divine command with the Chinese as with
the Hebrews.’ That is to say, the mother is
included in the term father.

Like all peoples, the Chinese are prone to
describe the mothers of their heroes and sages

41
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

as marvels of virtue and piety, who have
thereby won divine parentage for their sons.
Such is the legend of the mother of the first
great minister of agriculture, who taught the
people the principles of husbandry, as related
in one of the ancient odes:

‘°T is to the famed Keang Yuen we trace
The earliest of our favored race;
And how this happened, let my verse
The ancient story now rehearse.
With offering pure and sacrifice,
And look directed to the skies,
She prayed that Heaven would take away
The deep reproach that on her lay
Of childless womb; and she trod
Upon a toe-print made by God.
Straight as she rested she was moved,
And, pregnant now, retirement loved.
A son, How-tseih, ere long appeared,
Whom with a mother’s care she reared.”

The mother of Confucius, we are told, was

a woman of remarkable nobility and strength

of character. Left a widow at an early age,

the training of China’s greatest philosopher
42
THE MOTHER

devolved upon her, and she furnishes another
instance of the effect upon the child of a mother’s
wise and careful guidance.. The ancient legends
say that many portents foretold the future
greatness of the babe at his birth. ‘‘Celestial
strains were heard, two dragons were seen in
the air, and the spirits of some of the glorified
heroes of antiquity reassumed their mortal
shapes and appeared to do homage to the new-
born babe.” Like Samuel in the Bible, he is
said to have come in answer to the pious and
unselfish prayer of his mother, and at an early
age devoted himself to the ritualistic services
which make up so large a part of Chinese wor-
ship.

Similarly the mother of China’s second sage,
Mencius, was left alone and was obliged to
look after the rearing of her talented child
alone. Several stories are told of her wisdom
and devotion in this task, and are found in
many of the school readers of to-day. At first
her home was near the market, and the little
Mencius delighted in seeing the pigs and sheep

43
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

slaughtered, and was constantly imitating what
he saw of this nature. Fearing that the heart
of her dear child might become hardened by
such contact, she removed to another house,
which was near a cemetery. Here he became
entirely absorbed in imitating the solemn cere-
monies which he saw the priests performing and
the scenes which the weeping relative daily
carried out before his eyes. His mother again
became uneasy, for she thought she perceived
that he was beginning to take lightly those
duties requiring the profoundest respect and
attention. She therefore took a third house
near a college, and was finally gratified by see-
ing her son following the example of the great
scholars who thronged its halls. Another story
relates how she took her shears and began
cutting in two a fine web of cloth in her loom
in order to impress on her son’s mind that by
neglecting his studies he was thus destroying
the powers of his mind. History says that he
took the rebuke to heart, and certainly his
own works prove it.
44
THE MOTHER

These are the stories of Chinese mothers.
These are the ideals of Chinese motherhood of
ancient times which are quoted all over China
to-day. They are portrayed as wise, loving,
tender women who are unselfish to the very
core and who are capable of commanding the
love and respect of their children. It is upon
them that the nurture and early training of
childhood depends, and upon whom, therefore,
the welfare of the nation rests. Without doubt
China would approve of these sentiments from
the pen of the brilliant Madame Key, of Sweden,
for motherhood doth make sisters of us all.
“According to my way of thinking, and that
of many others, not woman, but mother, is the
most precious possession of the human nation,
so precious that society advances its own
highest well-being when it protects the func-
tions of the mother. These functions are not
limited to birth nor to the nourishment of the
young child, but they go on during the whole
time of its training.”

Indeed, China, in speaking of new ideals

45
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

through the young men and women of China,
does assert that ‘‘woman has a peculiar mis-
sion, and in the determination of her qualifica-
tions as mother, of the present and future
generations, lies the future fate of the nation.’,

46
III
The Wife

WHILE the position of the mother seems un-
equivocal the world over, the position of the
wife varies all the way from slavery to queen-
ship. A woman may be sold or she may go
to her husband with a dowry; she may be
one wife or one of many; she may have the
right to hold property or she may not; divorce
may be easily obtained on the slightest pre-
text or it may be altogether impossible, es-
pecially on the part of the wife. The dishon-
ored wife is the most pitiable sight in the world,
for it involves the degradation of an innocent
individual with no means of redress which
does not make her shame a matter for public
comment. A beloved spouse enjoying the com-
plete confidence of her husband has little left
for which to wish.
47
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

No wonder that the women of the Orient
envy the women of Christian lands. A Chinese
woman relates a dream of being in heaven
where she and her husband were walking in a
garden together. In Moslem countries one of
the most coveted privileges is going about in
public with one’s husband, as is done in coun-
tries of the West. A Japanese lady said to me,
“Christianity has two things to teach the
Japanese: truth telling and a purer relation
between the sexes.’’ President Harada, of
Doshisha College, writes thus of the homes of
the Western missionaries in Japan, ‘‘The in-
carnation of a hitherto unknown ideal and
convincing evidence of the truth of their re-
ligion.””

In China the relation of husband and wife
is considered to rank third in importance of
the five ethical relations. Indeed, Mencius
says this in regard to marriage, ‘“‘That male
and female should dwell together is the greatest
of human relations.’”’ This is similar to the
Hebraic command in Genesis, ‘‘Therefore shall

48
THE WIFE

a man leave his father and his mother and
shall cleave unto his wife: and they twain
shall be one flesh.”

Although Confucius himself had a Socratic
conjugal experience and divorced his wife, he
seems to have had the highest ideals of mar-
riage despite that fact. In explaining his views
on this subject he says: ‘Marriage is the
natural condition of man, and the state which
best renders him capable of fulfilling his des-
tiny in the world. It is a state which dignifies
those who enter it, but it requires to be seri-
ously considered, in order that all the duties
pertaining to it may be scrupulously observed.
These duties are two-fold, viz., those which
are common to the two sexes, and those which
more especially belong to either of them.

“The husband, as master, has to command,
the wife has to submit herself and obey; but
both husband and wife are required, equally,
to act in such a manner as may best imitate,
and accord with, the relations which exist be-
tween heaven and earth, by which, and through

4 49
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

which, all things are created, sustained, and
preserved. The basis of this common action
should be reciprocal tenderness, mutual con-
fidence, straightforwardness, and a scrupulous
regard for each other’s feelings. The husband
ever leading and directing, the wife ever follow-
ing and yielding; whilst every act is kept within
the limits prescribed by justice, modesty, and
honor.”

Thus we see that marriage in the olden
times was held sacred, and despite the fact that
the bride and groom had never a word to say
in respect to the choice of a life-companion,
yet there seem to have been many happy
unions. The ancient odes often praise the
industrious, unselfish, and devoted wife who
diligently orders the household, performs scru-
pulously her part in the ancestral sacrifices, or
shows no jealousy of the concubines which the
husband may have seen fit to bring home.
Here is a stanza from a dainty little poem cele-
brating the young bride:

50
THE WIFE

“Graceful and young the peach tree stands;
How rich its flowers, all gleaming bright!
This bride to her new home repairs;
Chamber and house she ’Il order right.”

This is an ode which is probably the lament
of a wife whose husband is gone on official busi-
ness, and shows a heart-hunger as strong as
ever an Aryan wife felt for an absent lord:

“‘Away the startled pheasant flies,
With lazy movement of his wings;
Borne was my heart’s love from my eyes—
What pain the separation brings!

“The pheasant, though no more in view,
His cry below, above, forth sends.
Alas! my princely lord, ’t is you—
Your absence, that my bosom rends.

“At sun and moon I sit and gaze.
In converse with my troubled heart.
Far, far from me my husband stays!
When will he come to heal its smart?

“Ve princely men, who with him mate,

Say, mark ye not his virtuous way?

His rule is covet naught, naught hate;
How can his steps from goodness stray?”

51
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

An agricultural ode celebrating the various
processes in husbandry contains this stanza,
which certainly indicates domestic felicity and
greater freedom of manners than we are ac-
customed to in modern China, where husbands
and wives are not supposed to be seen in public
together:

“Hark, how the merry feast goes round,
The husbands’ hearts with love abound;
Their wives close to their sides are found.”

Owing to the peculiar organization of society
and the family in China, there may be said to
be three kinds of wives: The headwife, who is
the first or legal wife of the head of the house,
and upon whom devolves the duty of ordering
and ruling the whole household of women and
children; the secondary wives, or concubines,
who are entirely subject to the first wife; the
wives of the younger members of the family,
be they sons or brothers of the head of the
house, who are also subject to the first wife
until they have borne sons, when they acquire

52
THE WIFE

a certain dignity and partial independence in
the well-ordered household.

This extract, taken from the introduction
to the ‘‘Female Instructor,” referred to above,
is evidently describing the headwife: ‘Good
government of the empire depends upon morals;
correctness of morals depends upon the right
ordering of the family; and right ordering of
the family depends upon the wife. If the cur-
tain which divides the men from the women
is too thin to keep them apart, misfortune will
come to the family and to the State. Purifica-
tion of morals, from the time of creation until
now, has always come from women.”

That the headwife has no easy task is at
once apparent when we remember that each
son as he marries still remains under the pa-
rental roof with his wife and offspring. Then
there may be younger brothers and their fam-
ilies, or even more distant relatives. All this
great household must be provided for physic-
ally and kept in bounds of decency morally.
Added to this there may be concubines, al-

53
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

though it is not considered exactly courteous
to a first wife to take others if she has borne
her husband sons. If she has not, it is con-
sidered a man’s duty to do so, provided he has
not succeeded in finding a male relative to
adopt as his son, for, according to the ancient
sages, of all crimes, not-to have born a son is
the greatest of which a man can be guilty.
Just what is the real status of the different
women cohabiting with one man as a husband,
Dr. Wu Ting Fang, the celebrated Chinese jurist,
has set forth: ‘A husband is bound to treat
his wife with great consideration and courtesy,
and to cherish and provide for her, while the
wife is required to love and obey her spouse.
It is incorrect to say that the Chinese are
polygamous, since the marriage of more than
one wife is treated as an offense in statute law,
and is punishable by heavy penalties, and the
second marriage is declared null and void.
“As a concession to human weakness, how-
ever, and especially for the humane purpose of
providing for the unfortunate issue of unmar-
54
THE WIFE

ried women and securing the continuation of
the family line on the male side, the law, by a
fiction, recognizes the status of children born
in concubinage, and admits them to become
members of the families, as if they were born
in wedlock. This legal indulgence has, in the
course of time, led to much abuse, and has
given rise to the impression that a man can
have as many wives as he desires. As a matter
of fact, the so-called secondary. wife is not rec-
ognized by law, and has no legal status in a
Chinese family.”

This is undoubtedly true, and yet the ques-
tion of concubinage is one of the most vexing
which the Christian missionary meets. A man
is likely to become very fond of his concubines,
and is loath to give them up for sentimental
reasons. Sometimes the wife and the con-
cubines are very fond of each other also, and
more than one story is told of their living to-
gether like sisters. Mrs. Conger has related a
touching incident of a concubine in a high
official family in Peking who, feeling sorry for

55
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

one of her sister concubines who had no sons,
gave her one of her own, since she was blessed
with several.

But this is too good to be universally true,
and so the missionary is inexorable and refuses
to receive any man into the Church who retains
his concubines, or any concubine who can not
leave her lord. The only one of the family who
can be received is, of course, the first wife, for
it is generally conceded that she is no willing
party to the reprehensible arrangement. Many
stories have I heard of the grief of the first wife
on the introduction of strange women into the
home, for they often steal away the affection
of the husband by their youthful beauty and
charming accomplishments. The concubine may
have no legal standing, but she manages to
secure another sort of foothold, especially if
she is one of the girls bought as young slaves
and trained and educated to bring a fancy
price. But her lot is not a happy one at best,
and at the worst the less said about it the
better. Only in the bearing of sons is she

56
‘THE WIFE

honored, but even here her glory is shorn, for
her children are all legally the children of the
headwife.

The argument is sometimes made that the
arrangement of the secondary wives does away
with the prostitute, but a study of conditions
in China will show that this is not the case;
in fact, one is inclined to believe that it is much
worse than in those countries where actual
monogamy prevails. The New China is raising
a protest against the sale of female children
for immoral purposes, or, indeed, for any pur-
pose, as slavery in itself is wrong and has a
deteriorating influence on all concerned. Be-
sides, if the slave is not sold into public pros-
titution, she is likely to be a domestic one with
no consideration for her feeling whatever.

Then there is the child or girl wife who,
betrothed in infancy, is sent for by her future
mother-in-law whenever it suits her conven-
ience. In well-to-do families the marriage does
not take place until both bride and groom are
practically grown, and if the mother-in-law is

57
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

at all wise and amiable, and the girl docile and
clever, the arrangement need not be unhappy.
If there is any difficulty, the husband is not
supposed to interfere in his wife’s behalf, as
it will bring ridicule upon himself and more
wrath upon his wife.

In the families of the poor the little girl is
usually sent for as soon as the mother-in-law
thinks that she will be of help, and often the
child-wife fares little better than the slave.
The actual marriage may not take place for
some years after the child is brought into the
family, and during that period she may learn
to dislike her future husband as well as learn
to love him. Altogether, the practice of child-
betrothal and marriage is beginning to be
looked upon unfavorably, and in questions of
matrimony both the young girl and man are
determined to have something to say, and
sometimes the choice of a companion is made
by the young people before the parents are
aware of what is going on.

One of the greatest arguments being brought

58
THE WIFE

forward now for the education of Chinese
women is that at present there is such a dis-
crepancy between men and women in regard
to culture and education that they can not
hope to mate happily. One writer predicts
one of two dire results of further neglect in
this matter, either the educated young men will
find wives outside of their own race, or they
will refuse to marry at all and thus fail to per-
petuate the best type of citizens. Let us hope
a happy solution of China’s matrimonial dif-
ficulties may be found.

Considering the great difference in the cus-
toms of the East and the West in family af-
fairs, it may not be out of place to quote these
time-honored instructions on the behavior of
wives towards their parents-in-law:

“Wives must serve their husband’s father
and mother as their own. At the first cock
crowing they must wash their hands, rinse
their mouths, comb their hair, bind it together
with a net, fasten it with a bodkin, forming it
into a tuft; put on their frock and girdles,

59
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

fasten on their bags of perfumery; put on and
tie up their shoes. Then go to the chamber of
their father- and mother-in-law and, having
entered, in a low and placid tone they must
inquire whether their dress is too warm or too
cold; if the parents have pain or itching, them-
selves must respectfully rub or press the part
affected; and if they enter or leave the room
themselves, either going before or following,
must respectfully support them. In bringing
the apparatus for washing, the younger must
present the bowl, the elder the water, begging
them to pour it and wash; and after they have
washed, present them the towel. In asking
and respectfully presenting what they wish to
eat, they must cheer them by their mild man-
ner, and must wait until their father- and
mother-in-law have eaten and then retire.”
As everywhere in ancient civilization and
to-day in the Orient, the lot of the widow is
likely to be an unhappy one. ‘‘Custom,” says
Confucius, ‘“‘does not sanction a widow’s re-
marriage. On the contrary, it requires that
60
THE WIFE

she should remain in strict seclusion within the
precincts of her own home for the remainder
of her days.’’ Fortunately this rigorous rule
is not enjoined to-day, and many widows are
honored by being made the head of the house
if they show great ability in governing the
affairs of the family. Widows are sometimes
honored by having stone arches erected to them
by the order of the emperor. Among the
Christians, widows are often employed as phil-
anthropic and religious workers, and have the
respect of all the community for their good
works.

But, alas, the widow of the poor has many
hardships! Her husband’s relatives usually sell
her as soon as possible, and the writer person-
ally knows women who have preferred death to
remarriage under the imposed conditions. One
very handsome young widow overheard the
bargain being made to sell her to an official as
a secondary wife. She vowed that she would
kill herself by eating raw opium rather than
submit. Being resourceful, she was able to

61
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

escape from the house with her infant daughter,
and took refuge with the Christian missionaries,
who placed her in a school for women, and for
twenty years or more she has been a faithful
and efficient Bible teacher and preacher, going
about the streets on her mission of help and
cheer.

Another young widow, also educated in this
same school, and therefore worth a great price,
has constantly to be on the watch lest her
relatives seize her by force or intrigue and sell
her. She feels safe only under the immediate
protection of the foreign missionaries, whose
homes her tormentors dare not molest. There
is a law in China that no woman can be sold
against her will, but not all women know this
or are able to avail themselves of the law on
account of the corruption of the courts.

The bright spot, however, in the gloomy
picture of married life in China is that the
“prophets” are recognizing the evils of certain
customs, not only as affecting conjugal life,
but also national life. For example, early

62
THE WIFE

marriage is held to be responsible for over-
population, for infanticide, and for diminished
vitality. Again the question of the single
family or the composite family is a burning
one, at least with the prospective brides, and
an amusing story is told of a young lady who
chose between two or three eligible suitors the
one who had no mother. This meant no mother-
in-law and a separate household. Again, the
voices of the women of China are lifted against
concubinage, and, with their growing power
and standing, their voices will not be altogether
unheeded.

63
IV
The Priestess

ONE of the functions of woman from time im-
memorial has been that of the priestess, some-
times to their honor and sometimes to their
dishonor, if we read aright the history of the
temple services. In Rome the Vestal Virgin
embodied the highest ideals of purity and
worth. In Corinth and Egypt the priestesses
were servants of sensuality. In China the duties
of the priestess were performed in the privacy
of the house as the assistant of the husband.
It is her duty to prepare the daily sacrifice and
keep fresh flowers on the family altar. On
festal or anniversary days she accompanies her
husband to the Ancestral Hall and takes part
in the worship by burning incense and repeat-
ing prayers before the ancestral tablets erected
64
THE PRIESTESS

to both male and female progenitors. Like-
wise she goes with the family to make the
yearly offering at the grave of the dead, and as
a bride her first act is to worship the tablets
of the bridegroom’s ancestors.

Numerous references are made to the part
which the queen or princess takes in the sacri-
ficial rites in that priceless ‘‘Book of Poetry,”
and a short poem celebrating the diligence and
reverence of the young wife of an officer is as
follows:

“She gathers fast the large duckweed,
From valley stream that southward flows;
And for the pondweed to the pools
Left on the plains she goes.

“The plants, when closed her toil, she puts
In baskets round and baskets square.
Then home she hies to cook her spoil,
In pans and tripods ready there.

“In sacred chamber this she sets,
Where the light falls down through the wall.
*T is she, our lord’s young, reverent wife,
Who manages this service all.”

5 65
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

The Empress of China, as the wife of the
Emperor and high priest, is called the “‘in-
terior assistant,’ and holds the situation of
earth to heaven, being supposedly the mother
of the empire as the Emperor is the father.
The Emperor worships four times a year for
his people at the great shrines in Pekin, some-.
what as the high priest of the ancient Hebrews
did. The Empress annually offers sacrifice at
the altar of Yuenfi, the reputed discoverer of
the silkworm, in order to insure the successful
rearing of the silkworm, whose care devolves
upon the women and forms one of China’s most
important industries. The tablet of the Empress
stands side by side with that of the Emperor
in the imperial temples, thus showing the es-
teem and reverence in which the High Priestess
of the nation is held.

After Buddhism was introduced into the
Chinese Empire and sanctioned by the Em-
peror early in the Christian era, monasteries
and nunneries were founded somewhat similar
to the Catholic institutions of Europe. The

66
THE PRIESTESS

following is a brief account of the life of the
Buddhist nun: ‘Daily exercises are to be con-
ducted by her; the furniture of the small
sanctuary that forms a part of the convent must
be looked after and kept clean and orderly;
those women or men who come to worship at
the altars and seek guidance and comfort must
be cared for and assisted. When there is leisure
the sick and the poor are to be visited; and all
who have placed themselves under her special
direction and spiritual instruction have a strong
claim on her regard. That she may live a life
of seclusion and self-denial, she must vow per-
petual virginity. The thought of marriage
should never enter her head, and the society
of men must be shunned. On her death she
will be swallowed up in nihility.”

In nunneries of the better class the women
are taught to read their own liturgies and
sacred books, and also the great classics of
Chinese literature. Some become very pro-
ficient scholars in history, literature, and the-
ology. Others devote themselves almost en-

67
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

tirely to prayers and fasting, hoping thereby to
gain eternal happiness. They are always vege-
tarians, and, indeed, many of the women of
China abstain from eating meat on certain days
of the months as good Catholics observe Friday.
The head is shaven on taking the vow, and the
regulation robe is one of coarse gray cloth, and
is exactly like that worn by monks.

Many stories are told of the profligacy and
dissoluteness of the nuns and monks, which
has in times past occasioned the closing of in-
stitutions in certain localities. In one such
instance the paternal official found husbands
for all the nuns, thus insuring that the nun-
neries would never be reopened. Of course
abuses will creep into any institution, but the
original intention of the founders was great and
pure, and these retreats were no doubt often
sought by forlorn women, as were the convents
of the Middle Ages in Europe. The financial
support is usually obtained through soliciting
alms, the small fees charged for saying masses,
or by cultivating rich patrons. Sometimes con-

68
THE PRIESTESS

vents are founded and maintained by a wealthy
woman who desires to devote herself to good
works.

Such was the case of a certain lady of a fine
family in the city of Wuhu, whose story is
related below at some length, for it shows
certain characteristic features of Chinese life
in regard to women. It will also serve, perhaps,
to bring out points of resemblance and of dif-
ference in the Christian and the Buddhist re-
ligion, for Christianity must prove its superi-
ority over other religions before it can hope to
convert adherents of other faiths. This superi-
ority consists in the fundamental statement of
the nature of God, as it seems to the writer.
‘‘God is love,’ is the Christian’s definition of
Deity. ‘God is all,” is the cry of the Buddhist.

THe ABBESS OF WUHU

Li Chen Chu was born on a beautiful and
rich estate not far from the prosperous and
picturesque city of Wuhu, a trade emporium
on the banks of the mighty Yangtze, two hun-

69
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

dred miles from its mouth. Not only was her
father a man of wealth, but also of great learn-
ing, having received the coveted degrees which
raise a man into the ranks of the Chinese
gentry. Being a broad-minded man, he al-
lowed his little daughter to study with her
brothers under the private tutor whom he kept
constantly in the house, so that she became a
brilliant scholar. At the age of seventeen she
married a young man, also of great wealth and
scholarly attainments, with whom she lived
most happily for five years, pursuing her studies
with him, for they found one another very
congenial. About that time the great Taiping
rebellion spread to Wuhu, so that Madam
Wang, for such was her name after marriage,
and her family were obliged to leave their
home and take refuge in a Buddhist temple
situated in a secluded valley high up in the
mountains to the south and east.

Here they lived amid great privations, and
as her husband, Mr. Wang, was the head of
his family, he felt keenly the heavy respon-

70
THE PRIESTESS

sibility of providing for all of its members.
Their two beautiful children died, then a
younger brother, leaving heart-broken the young
couple. It was then that they became inter-
ested in the Buddhistic doctrines, which pro-
fessed to know about the future life; and in this
new religion they found much consolation, be-
lieving that their loved ones were happy in
another state.

At last, worn out by the anxieties and hard-
ships, for Mr. Wang never spared himself
where the well-being of other members of the
family was concerned, the young husband died,
and, by choice of the family, his wife was made
the head, as all recognized her ability and de-
votion. After the close of the disastrous war
she returned to her home to find all laid waste.
With great energy she at once set up a rice mill
and shop, and gradually brought the farms once
more into cultivation.

Having restored the family prosperity, she
decided to retire from its headship. She divided
the inheritance with her brother-in-law, took

71
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

her portion and erected a temple with a great
idol in a beautiful valley near Wuhu. In time
a band of women gathered around her, mostly
widows or those who had lost their betrothed
ones, and hence could not marry again. She
devoted her time to teaching them the Buddhist
doctrines, the care of the sick, and the relief
of the poor. Rich herself, she supported the
temple from her land, never asking the public
for a penny. As Abbess of the convent she
was renowned for her wisdom, charity, and
piety, and she never failed to make a yearly
visit to her aged mother-in-law and a pilgrimage
to the grave of her husband.

Now, one day when the Abbess was old and
full of years, a strange book fell into her hands.
It was the Gospel of St. John, which a mere
child had given to one of her nuns as she had
stopped one day to listen to the words of the
foreigner who was the child’s father. Eagerly
she read and re-read it, for it greatly resembled
one of the Buddhist holy writings, ‘‘The Lotus
Essence,’”’ with which she eagerly compared it.

72
THE PRIESTESS

Secretly she sent to the foreign hospital on the
cliff overlooking the broad Yangtze, and ob-
tained a copy of all the sacred writings called
the Bible. Shortly after this a woman mis-
sionary and her Chinese co-worker arriving at
the mission, it was deemed wise to send the
Chinese Bible woman, who was a cultured and
scholarly lady, to call on the Abbess in order to
explain to her the Christian interpretation of
what she had read. Mrs. Chi gladly consented
to go, and, ordering a chair, went in: fitting
though unpretentious state to the convent. Al-
though the reverend lady was confined to her
bed through sickness and old age, her mind was
as alert as ever, and on receipt of Mrs. Chi’s
long, red visiting card she at once ordered the
stranger to be brought into her presence.
The moment Mrs. Chi’s eyes fell upon the
face of the Abbess she recognized in her a
cousin whom she had not seen since childhood,
but of this recognition she have no sign. The
aged nun plied her with many questions con-
cerning the foreigner’s religion, and their morals
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CHINESE WOMANHOOD

and customs. Learning that she was from
Nanking, the Abbess said: ‘“‘There was a
woman in my aunt’s family who adopted this
strange religion, and when her husband died
his people would have sold her to a rich official
for a concubine. She ran away to Nanking
with her little daughter to a Christian school.
Have you perhaps heard of her?”’ ‘I am she,”
replied Mrs. Chi quietly; ‘“‘I am your cousin.”

The Abbess gladly renewed the long-broken
acquaintance with her kinswoman, and was
much impressed with her dignity, learning, and
spirituality. Said the Buddhist to the Chris-
tian lady:

“There is none of my disciples fitted to
take my place. Do you come and study with
me and take up the work I feel that I must
soon lay down.”

Mrs. Chi thanked her very sincerely, but
gently replied that she had found something
truer and better than Buddhism.

“Yes,” admitted the Abbess, ‘Christianity
is a true religion.”

74
THE PRIESTESS

“Then why not renounce Buddhism and
adopt the Christ doctrine?”

““Must I renounce Buddhism in order to
receive the benefits of the new doctrine?”

“Yes, the Christian religion is the renuncia-
tion and the fulfillment of all other religions,
for it is for all mankind alike, and is for time
and eternity.”’

“Ah, then,’”’ cried the Abbess, ‘I can not
believe and accept the doctrine. For what
should I do? Here are all my old pupils back
for my last instructions before I go to Nirvana.
No, it is too late to change. Would that I
had heard it in my youth, for it is true and so
beautiful. God’s love for the whole world, for
women and children as for men; for the igno-
rant as well as the wise; for the poor as well as
the rich, for there are no costly sacrifices to be
made. Yes, that is true. Each has a soul
sent out from God which longs to return to its
Maker.”

Before going the Christian lady offered a
prayer for the Abbess at her request, and then

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CHINESE WOMANHOOD

they parted—one a recluse in the beautiful
wooded temple, seeking peace and Nirvana;
the other a deaconess and evangelist going about
the crowded city streets and country lanes,
ministering to the daughters of the poor and
suffering, or cheering the sorrowing among the
rich. Another cycle of seasons had come and
gone before Mrs. Chi found it possible to re-
turn, and the Abbess had gone to find the
truth in the realm of spirit beyond this earthly
life.

Although numerically the Christians are not
at all strong in China, hardly three hundred
thousand Protestants and about one million
Catholics, yet they are bound to influence very
largely the future of China, because they are a
part of the progressive movement that has
come from the West. Especially have the
Christians made use of women in their religious
work, since men are not supposed to visit
women, and the women do not readily come to
public services held by men. These women

76
THE PRIESTESS

are called Bible women, because at first their
only work was to expound and teach the Bible
and Christian hymns and catechisms. As the
work of missions have grown, they have en-
larged the scope of their work until now they
are everything from the philanthropic and
social worker to the elementary school teacher
in the country towns.

Some of these women are from the best
families and already possessed of some educa-
tion before they enter the training-school, where
they are taught the Bible and methods of
Christian work. They have access to the best
homes in the community and are always wel-
come visitors, for they come from the outside
world, which the woman of wealth has little
opportunity of seeing. It has been my privilege
to know personally some of these women and
to accompany them on their visits to the houses
of high officials. Likewise I have gone with
them to the poorest home, and once to a large
municipal home for poor widows and orphans
in the city of Nanking. How glad the women

77
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

and children were to see us, and how much they
seemed to enjoy the lessons, the songs, and the
pictures! Once an official on the governing
board met a Bible woman coming out, and,
stopping her, commended her work and _ in-
vited her to continue it.

During the late revolution in China the
Bible women acted as Red Cross nurses in the
hospitals, and after the siege of Nanking was
over they did most efficient work among the
people left destitute by the fortunes of war.
Under the supervision of one of the foreign
missionaries they carried on a Home for poor
Manchu women and children in the city, and
received the entire financial support from the
rich merchants, who were delighted with their
methods of teaching the women to sew and
the children to read and sing. Others visited
among the poorest families during the day to
find out their needs, and after nightfall dis-
tributed the bundles surreptitiously, for it was
not thought best to let the recipients know

78
THE PRIESTESS

whence the gifts came lest the donors should
be besieged for help.

But, to relate all the deeds of these good
women who have taken upon themselves some
service to suffering humanity would take too
long. We must picture them as going about
doing good wherever they are called. Some
are from the poorer classes, and work among
the boat and field women, who receive the
message more readily from one who has been
herself as one of them. They accompany the
doctor on dispensing trips or go and nurse the
sick. They read to the patients in the hos-
pital wards or the dispensary waiting-room,
and pray and sing with those who will listen.
They hold prayer meetings and Sunday schools;
they help poor souls to break off from the opium
habit; they persuade girls and women to un-
bind their feet and to abstain from binding the
feet of little ones. Truly, ministering angels!

Thus we have seen briefly what part the
woman plays in the different religions of China,

79
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

A priestess through motherhood in the an-
cestral worship; a nun in the Buddhist religion,
which seeks salvation through renunciation;
in the Christian faith, a religious teacher and
social worker amid the suffering throngs of
humanity.

80
V
Illustrious Women of China

AS ONE reads the history of different peoples
one is struck with the many points of similarity
which marks the progress of their development.
One of these is that every nation has its great
women. There are great women rulers, schol-
ars, and poetesses of ancient and modern times
who rank not simply as great among women,
but as great among their masculine compeers.
One has but to mention the names of Deborah
of Israel, Sappho of Greece, Cleopatra of Egypt,
Elizabeth of England, Mrs. Lewes (George
Eliot), and the late Queen Victoria, and every
one knows their place in the galaxy of the
world’s great geniuses.

China is no exception to this rule, and in
its history, legend, and fiction the illustrious

6 81
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

women of China are revealed to us with all the
charm which writers know how to display when
the theme is worthy of their pen. Besides the
frequent allusions to women in history and
poetry, there is a book written about 125 B. C.
called ‘‘Memoirs of Distinguished Ladies of
Ancient Times,’’ which described women of
the highest virtue and attainments. It con-
tains most marvelous accounts of the extreme
modesty, courteousness, and filial piety for
which these ladies were noted, as well as of
their great wisdom and devotion to duty. It
is after these models that the young women of
China are supposed to pattern their conduct
in order that they may fulfill their proper place
in life. The following anecdote is characteristic
of the whole series:

“Chiang, the daughter of the Marquis of
Ch’i, was the queen of the King Hsuan of Chow.
Her wisdom and her virtue made her famous,
and it was said her words and acts were in
strict accordance with the demands of etiquette
and propriety. The ruler of Chow, her master,

82
ILLUSTRIOUS WOMEN OF CHINA

was, however, fond of the pleasures of the
palace, retiring thereto quite early in the night
and being constantly late in attending to his
duties the next morning. The queen, finding
remonstrance useless, removed her insignia of
state, and left the palace to live in a humble
dwelling, whence she sent messengers to inform
the king that she was awaiting orders for her
punishment, saying: ‘Inform His Highness that
his humble consort is a worthless woman and
has been the means of causing His Highness to
forget the rules of propriety so far as to be late
in arriving at the audience hall. This neglect
of regal duties is proved by His Highness’s de-
light in pleasures and want of attention to his
proper réle. Those who love pleasure will
glide into extravagance and will be reckless
in the indulgence of passion. Such extrava-
gance and indulgence will be the cause of dis-
order. I humbly beg His Highness to be pleased
to punish me.’

‘‘When the king heard this he said, ‘I am
wanting in virtue. I have been neglecting my

83
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

duties, and I alone am at fault. The empress
has no fault.’ And he forthwith sent for her,
and once more devoted himself to the affairs
of the government, getting up early and going
to bed late, so that he recovered any prestige
that he had previously lost and earned an im-
mortal name.”

The most celebrated lady of ancient times
was the great Empress Wu, who reigned over
a thousand years ago, strongly and brilliantly.
Wedded to a weak Emperor, she first gained
absolute control over him, and at his death she
became the reigning sovereign in name as well
as in fact. During her long period she extended
the limits of the empire and contributed mark-
edly to the welfare of her people. She favored
the education of women, established colleges
for them, and even granted them degrees, much
to the disgust of some of the learned gentlemen.
Women were allowed greater freedom than
ever before and, indeed, the great Empress was
severly criticised for a too great liberty of man-
ner and morals. But she was great in state-

84
ILLUSTRIOUS WOMEN OF CHINA

craft, and left her mark on the Chinese Empire
as few men have done. It was only when
weakened by age that she was forced by her
son and ministers to retire at the age of eighty-
one. To another great empress, the Empress
Lii, is credited that consolidation of power
which marked the rise of the Han dynasty.
Among the considerable number of poetesses
and scholarly women who grace the literature
of the great kingdom, none is more renowned
than Pan Chao who, upon her death, received
from her royal patron, the Emperor, the title
of the Great Lady Tsao. Her period is given
as that of the first century A. D., and as the
sister of a very celebrated court histiographer,
she was appointed to complete the work which
was left unfinished by her brother’s death.
She wrote also the first treatise on female edu-
cation in any language, it is said, and in her
late years she was appointed preceptress of the
Empress. Although such a brilliant scholar
herself, she places virtue above learning and
urges the elevation of female character. She
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CHINESE WOMANHOOD

emphasizes morals and domestic science as the
two branches to which women should devote
their energies, and does not advise the classics
and histories for the great majority of her sex.
The following extract from this work is after
Williams: ‘‘The virtue of a female does not
altogether consist in extraordinary ability or
intelligence, but in being modestly grave and
inviolably chaste, observing the requirements
of virtuous widowhood, and in being tidy in
her person and everything about her; in what-
ever she does to be unassuming, and whenever
she moves or sits to be decorous. This is female
virtue.”’

Another poetess, the Lady Pan, was also a
great favorite of the reigning Emperor, who
even invited her to ride by his side in the
imperial chariot. She had the good sense to
refuse, and replied, ‘Your handmaid has heard
that wise rulers of old were always accompanied
by virtuous ministers, but never that they
drove with women by their side.’”’ She was
later supplanted by a younger favorite, and

86
ILLUSTRIOUS WOMEN OF CHINA

gracefully acknowledged this by writing the
following verses upon a silken fan which she
sent to the Emperor:

“O fair white silk, fresh from the weaver’s loom,
Clear as the frost, bright as the winter’s snow—
See! Friendship fashions out of thee a fan,
Round as the round moon shines in the heaven

above,
At home, abroad, a close companion thou,
Stirring at every move the graceful gale.
And yet I fear, ah me! that autumn chill
Cooling the dying summer’s torrid rage,
Will see thee laid neglected on the shelf,
All thought of bygone days, like them bygone.”

Among the women of later times the late
great Empress Dowager stands pre-eminent as
the best known. At first she was a concubine
of the young Emperor who occupied the throne
about the middle of the last century, and by
her charm and ability and the fact that she
was the mother of the heir, won a tremendous
influence over her weak young husband, so that
she was virtually the ruler during the last years

87
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

of his life, and was thus able to attract to her-
self a following in the palace which stood her
in good stead later. On the death of the Em-
peror she caused herself to be made joint
regent with the first wife, but as the stronger of
the two she it was who swayed the destiny of
the Chinese nation at a time of peculiar peril.
Within was the great Taiping Rebellion and
without were the Western Powers making all
sorts of insolent demands on the Middle King-
dom. That she kept China together in these
perilous times and that she left the empire prac-
tically intact at her death was no small achieve-
ment.

To describe the Empress Dowager may not
be so difficult, but to judge her while the mo-
mentous events in which she was the central
figure are still so recent, is impossible. Pos-
sessed of a strong intellect, she had every ad-
vantage of education in her youth, and continued
to the end of her days the accomplished scholar,
essayist, and artist. A faithful student of his-
tory, she herself became a maker of history at

88
ILLUSTRIOUS WOMEN OF CHINA

a time when the most profound changes were
taking place in all departments of life, for the
last half of the nineteenth century saw epoch-
making changes in government, in science, in
commerce, and in education. How little this
royal woman was influenced by all these tre-
mendous events, shut up as she was in the seclu-
sion of her palace, we can see by the sympathy
she displayed for the Boxer movement. At
last, aroused by the danger which threatened
her country at that time, she apparently be-
came thoroughly converted to the principles of
constitutional government and to Western learn-
ing. An astute and autocratic monarch, winning
her way by charm or guile and enforcing her
will by intrigue, bribery, or violence, as best
suited her purpose, she was at the same time
a lover of luxury and beauty, and could be a
charming friend. Various estimates have been
made of her character, but probably no one
person had full opportunity to observe her ver-
satile personality and to see her as empress,
artist, and lady of leisure. Perhaps no foreigner

89
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

has summed up her dominant characteristics
better than Mr. Bland has done in the following
paragraph:

“Despite her swiftly changing and uncon-
trolled moods, her childish lack of moral sense,
her unscrupulous love of power, her fierce pas-
sions and revenges, Tst' Hsi was no more the
savage monster described by ‘Wen Ching,’ than
she was the benevolent, fashion-plate Lady
Bountiful of the American magazines. She was
simply a woman of unusual courage and vital-
ity, of strong will and unbounded ambitions, a
woman and an Oriental, living out her life by
such lights as she knew, and in accordance with
the traditions of her race and caste. Says Ching
Shan in his diary: ‘The nature of the Empress
is peace-loving. She has seen many springs and
autumns. I myself know well her refined and
gentle tastes, her love of painting, poetry, and
the theater. When in a good mood she is the
most amiable and tractable of women, but at
times her rage is awful to witness.’ Here we
have the woman drawn from life, without

90
ILLUSTRIOUS WOMEN OF CHINA

arriére pensée, by a just and sympathetic ob-
server, the woman who could win, and hold,
the affectionate loyalty of the greatest men of
her time, not to speak of that of her serving
maids and retainers; the woman whose human
interest and sympathy in everything around her
were not withered by age or staled by custom;
yet who, at a word, could send the fierce leaders
of the Boxers cowering from her presence.”’

Mrs. Conger, the wife of the American min-
ister at Peking at the time of the Boxer trouble,
enjoyed a friendly intercourse with the Empress
Dowager, and has only words of praise for her
gracious ways and kind heart. In her famous
“Letters from Peking,”’ she pays this tribute to
the royal lady of China: ‘‘The history of her
days mark the course of a strong woman’s
stepping. . . . Through this woman’s life
the world catches a glimpse of the hidden quality
of China’s womanhood.”

Although not famous, yet according to Mrs.
Conger and other American ladies in China,
there were many strong and educated women in

91
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

court and official circles in Peking. In one
place Mrs. Conger says: ‘‘I find they are in-
terested in the affairs of their own country and
also in the affairs of other countries. They
study the edicts and read the newspapers. At
times I refer to items and events to bring out
their ideas, and I find that they have much in-
formation to give.”

A number of women have distinguished
themselves in promoting education and pushing
various reforms. Celebrated all over China is
Dr. Mary Stone, who for years has had charge
of the American Methodist Mission Hospital
in Kiukiang. She has a large nurses’ training
class, and treats as high as 16,000 patients in a
year, besides performing a large number of oper-
ations. In addition to this, she finds time to
give a little supervision to the educational work
out in the country districts and also to the
Bible women at work and in training. During
the revolution she rendered signal service as a
Red Cross worker when the city of Kiukiang
was captured. Besides this, she is an excellent

92
ILLUSTRIOUS WOMEN OF CHINA

speaker, and writes very well in both Chinese
and English. She is a type of the modern
woman in China, which all friends of that
country hope to see multiplied.

Here is a story of a locally famous woman,
which is given almost word for word as it was
written in a report of a missionary at Nanking:

““Miss Chen is the granddaughter of a re-
markable woman, one of the first Christians
north of the river, who believed at the age of
seventy. It was a few years after this that she
sent her eldest granddaughter to school, as her
most precious gift to Christ. After two years
reverses came. Miss Chen’s betrothed died,
her mother died, and soon after that the grand-
mother, and then the father, which left her with
the burden of the family and the farm. She
struggled on bravely for ten years, until the
farm was in a prosperous condition and the
family able to do without her. During this
time she had kept the faith, though without a
Christian friend, and often with open hostility
from her relatives. She finally won the esteem

93
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

of her family and clan and was acknowledged as
the head of the family. She also purchased an
adjoining farm, and although an unmarried
woman, she was really the first woman of im-
portance in her village, and was known in all
the neighboring country as the ‘Christian girl
who managed a farm all alone and was the head
of a family.’ Not far from the home is a fine
stone monument such as is erected to the mem-
ory of honorable women. This had long years
before been dedicated by order of the Emperor
to the memory of her grandmother. But follow-
ing Christ’s call, she has given up all this to
preach the gospel, and has returned to the
school for special preparation.”

During the revolution several women became
noted for their zeal in the cause of their country’s
freedom. Pathetic stories are told of two young
women who lost their lives in the pre-revolu-
tionary stage. One a celebrated actress who
was making vast sums in her profession, sent
all her wealth to America to purchase arms and
ammunition for the revolutionists. Unfortu-

94
ILLUSTRIOUS WOMEN OF CHINA

nately, she was suspected in connection with
the sudden death of one of her many admirers,
and when the secret of the disposal of her
wealth was discovered, she was beheaded as a
traitor to her country. Another was a young
girl in Nanking who was left an immense fortune
by her father. While a student in Japan she
became an earnest revolutionist and devoted all
of her wealth to the cause, even engaging her-
self in the smuggling of dynamite and arms into
China.

The writer knows personally some little
Chinese ladies who joined the army and ran
away from their homes to throw bombs and
overthrow the dynasty. Women of all classes
were burning with patriotic loyalty and willing
to speak in public, pledge their jewels, nurse
the wounded, or shoulder a musket. With such
unselfish and dauntless spirits, China will not
lack for women to carry on the work of regen-
erating the people of the great empire, and will
undoubtedly furnish her quota of famous women
to the twentieth century.

95
VI
The Education of Women

THE aim of education in China for men has
been a noble one, that of preparing for the public
service of the State. As some one has said,
this system of education and official service is
the nearest approach to Plato’s ideal state,
where the wisest men should be the rulers.
Official places were not open to women, which
may account for the fact that so little was done
for the education of girls and women, and yet
as we pointed out in the preceding chapter, the
first book on the education of women was writ-
ten in China and by a woman. To be sure, all
the later educational books on this subject in
China have been modeled after this classic, and
all seem to agree that the great end of a woman’s
education is not an accumulation of classics and
96
THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

commentaries, but the practical arts of the
house and the wholesome morals of domestic
life.

Confucius gave this purpose for woman’s
education: ‘‘The aim of female education is
perfect submission, not cultivation and develop-
ment of the mind.’’ If I read aright the mean-
ing of the sage, in the light of the customs and
institutions of China, he does not mean mere
subserviency, but rather the observance of all
the rules and practices which go towards making
a large household, such as exists among patri-
archal families in the Orient, well-ordered. He
says, ‘“‘Let the household be rightly ordered,
and the people of the State may be rightly
taught.” The well-taught woman, therefore,
will fit into the régime of the household and be
obedient to the head of the house, whether it
be her father, her husband, or her son. Also,
she will know how to adjust herself to the other
women of the household, which may comprise
so many smaller groups.

But while these aims may seem diverse, yet

7 97
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

they both may be said to partake of one grand
purpose—the improvement of the human race.
This ideal, the improvement of the human race,
is so all-inclusive that there is room for the
specific ends of masculine and feminine educa-
tion, and also for scientific, moral, religious, and
practical education, for all go to make up the
complete, or, as the Chinese say, the superior
man. In their specializations, all go to make up
the well organized community which strives for
the well being of all of its members.

In regard to the need and benefit of educa-
tion, we read in the preface to the celebrated
book written in the early ‘part of last century
on “‘The Virtue, Speech, Personal Appearance,
and Duty of Women,” the following sensible
words: ‘‘Women are not all alike; some are
good and some are bad. For bringing them to
a proper uniformity there is nothing like edu-
cation. In old days both boys and girls were
educated. . . . But now the books used no
longer exist, and we know not the details of the
system. The education of the woman is not

98
THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

like that of her husband, which may be said to
continue daily through life. For he can always
take up a classic or history and familiarize him-
self with the works of miscellaneous writers;
whereas a woman’s education does not extend
beyond ten years, after which she takes upon
herself the manifold responsibilities of a house-
hold.”’

Perhaps the two most important subjects of
instruction for women may be said to be the
nurture of children and deportment, which in-
cludes ethics as well as etiquette. From a
primer for girls are these lines:

“Tn all your care of tender babes,
Mind, lest they are fed or warmed too much;
The childish liberty first granted
Must soon be checked by rule and reign;
Guard them from water, fire, and fools;
Mind them, lest they ’re hurt or maimed by falls.
All flesh and fruits, when ill with colds
Are noxious drugs to tender bairns,
Who want some license in their play.
Be strict in all you bid them do,
For this will guard from ill and woe.”

99
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

The directions to a rich man for selecting a
teacher for his offspring is highly characteristic
of China: ‘Choose from among your concu-
bines those who are fit to’ be nurses, seeking
such as are fit, mild, indulgent, affectionate,
benevolent, cheerful, kind, dignified, respectful,
whom you will make governesses over your
children.”

It has often been a matter of surprise to see
how readily the Chinese as well as the Japanese
have approved of the kindergarten and have
sought to introduce it into their system of edu-
cation. This is perhaps due to the fact that
they have always laid stress on the preparation
of women for the care and training of young
children before the school age. Considering the
large families which live together and the retir-
ing customs of the country for women, it would
seem an admirable plan to have young girls take
this training, in order that they might employ
it in their own homes. As yet there are but few
training schools for kindergartners in China, and
as there is so little literature on the subject

100
THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

translated or written in Chinese, the training is
too much confined to those who speak English.

Here is an admonition to Chinese ladies on
the subject of deportment dating from olden
times: ‘‘The deportment of females should be
strictly grave and sober, and yet adapted to the
occasion, whether in waiting on her parents, re-
ceiving or reverencing her husband, rising up or
sitting down, when pregnant, in times of mourn-
ing, or when fleeing in war, she should be per-
fectly decorous.”” To a foreigner, it is remark-
able how well a Chinese lady is mistress of any
occasion in which she may find herself. In the
novel and trying position of presiding at a
public meeting, she usually acquits herself with
credit and seems as capable as the practiced
club woman of America.

The employments to which a Chinese lady
may devote herself are as follows: ‘‘The rear-
ing of silkworms and working of cloth are the
most important employments of females; pre-
paring and serving up food for the household,
and setting in order the sacrifices follow next,

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CHINESE WOMANHOOD

each of which must be attended to; after them
study and learning may fill up the time.”

What proportion of women had any time
left for study, we do not know. In the novels
written in the later centuries the heroines are
usually depicted as educated women, who take
the greatest interest in the literary pursuits of
their husbands or lovers, and are a source of
inspiration to lead them on to the achievements
which mean success and fame. At the same
period in Europe a lady would presumably be
inciting her beloved to bloody deeds of valor,
while the Chinese lady is using all her persuasive
power and charms to keep her devotee at his
books. For promotion in China depended on
feats of memory at the famous examinations,
rather than on deeds of arms at the tourney or
on the battlefield.

In the main, however, we must conclude
that the women of China are not nearly so well
or so universally educated as the men, and for
much the same reason that the women of the
West were neglected. There was no profession

102
THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

or utilitarian occupation open to them, and
hence no inducement to pursue studies other
than the love of learning, nor were parents dis-
posed to spend great sums on a profitless pupil.
In the second place, the course of study has
never been adapted to the peculiar needs of
women nor to the problems of home life to which
women must give their time and energy. A
careful student of education and society to-day
would probably conclude that upon the recogni-
tion of these two factors depend the continued
success of woman’s education which seems so
hopeful to-day.

Since the coming of the missionaries wno
have established schools for girls, and since the
Japanese have given girls and women such ex-
cellent opportunities, the Chinese people are
very much in earnest concerning the education
of women. In the plan for universal education
girls are to be allowed to go to the same schools
as boys until the age of ten or eleven. In every
large city there is already one or more govern-
ment schools for girls, the studies of which ex-

103
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

tend over a period of eight or ten years. In
these schools little is taught besides reading,
writing, ethics, and a little work in numbers.
In a few cities normal schools have been estab-
lished for training girls to teach in schools or at
home. The subjects taught in these are, Chinese
classics, history, Wenli composition, geography,
domestic science, mathematics, English, paint-
ing, Chinese penmanship, music, and calis-
thenics. In some, algebra, physics, botany, and
the history of pedagogy and training in methods
are given.

The discussion of the higher education of
women is on in China, and it is treated in such
a broad and sane way by some of the young
men of China, that I can not forbear quoting at
some length from an article in the World’s
Chinese Student Federation Journal, written
by its editor and, we believe, endorsed by many
others.

“Yet looking at it from its broader issue, no
problem is more important in our present
national revolution, and consequently deserves

104
THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

more serious attention, than the education of
our women, which, after all, is the only solid
foundation upon which the structure of our
national power and greatness could be securely
built.

‘©The hand that rocks the cradle rules the
world,’ is no sentimental exaggeration, but ex-
presses a scientific truth, founded on solid facts.
History has demonstrated again and again that,
whether as regards the individual or the nation,
the fittest to survive in the keen struggle for
existence is that one which has been the best
equipped with the advantages of early influ-
ences.

“In the attainment of these ideals and in
the creation of healthy moral forces, the woman
has a peculiar and important mission, and in
the determination of her qualification, as mother
of the present and future generations, lies the
future fate of a nation. . . . In other words,
woman’s higher education should aim, above all
things, to produce ideal wives and mothers.”

The above writer suggests the following

105
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

branches of study as seeming to him the most
practical for the purpose in view, and we must
admit that he has no mean conception of the
qualifications of the ideal woman:

Theoretical—(a) General: (1) Chinese Lit-
erature, History, Ethics, and Philosophy; (2)
History, General and Modern; (3) Geography,
including Physical; (4) Mathematics, including
Solid Geometry; (5) Modern Languages. (0)
Scientific: (1) Physiology, Hygiene, Psychology,
Sociology, Botany, Physics, Chemistry, Po-
litical Economy, Domestic Economy, Practical
Biology; (2) Art; Music, vocal and instrumental,
Drawing, Painting, and Embroidery. (c) Prac-
tical: Housekeeping, Nursing, Cooking, Sew-
ing.”

There is something pathetic in this plea for
the education of women in this Oriental country.
Since it is not considered proper for men to
teach women unless, indeed, the former are very
old and sedate, and since there are few Chinese
women qualified to give anything but the most
elementary instruction, the problem seems to

106
THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

rest with the foreign women who are willing to
devote their lives to this tremendous undertak-
ing. In the course of twenty years or more
there should be a sufficient number of Chinese
women to carry on the work, with such assist-
ance from the men as custom will allow; but for
the present it seems to the writer that there
can be no modern definite, call to social and
philanthropic service than the education of the
women of the East by the women of the West.
When our own land is studded with colleges
scouring the country for students, one might
well wish to see some of this money and some of
this teaching force transplanted to those coun-
tries where such privileges are unknown.

What better tribute could the American
women of to-day win for themselves than that
earned by establishing fair college halls in India,
in China, and in Japan? Of all these, China is
the neediest. Of course, we have the beginnings
for institutions of collegiate grade which, if
properly equipped and supported, will soon be-
ccme colleges of strength and influence. Chinese

107
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

young women now go to America, which is very
expensive, compared with the same education
in China. And China is needing and calling
for these young college women, because there
is much to be done in adjusting the social con-
ditions of the new régime, which can best be
done by the educated young woman of that
country.

In speaking of the education of girls and
women in China, the first place ought perhaps
to have been given to mission schools, for it is
due to them that the desire for the education of
girls has grown so vigorous; but after all, there
is a strong indigenous touch in what the Chinese
are saying and doing which makes their work
seem a continuation of what the old Chinese at
least held as ideals.

The first mission school for girls was estab-
lished in Ningpo in 1844. So unwilling were the
parents to allow their children to come in those
days that it was customary to feed, clothe, and
shelter the child, to say nothing of free books
and tuition. From that small beginning have

108
THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

developed numerous schools of four types—the
elementary day school; the intermediate board-
ing school, with a very primitive high school
attached in some cases; the woman’s Bible
training school; and the nurses’ training schools,
out of which have grown two or more medical
schools for women. It has been after these
schools that many of the government schools
have been modeled, and it is generally conceded
that they are the best in the empire. Plans are
on foot in different centers, such as Peking,
Shanghai, Foochow, and Nanking, to establish
normal schools, kindergarten training schools,
and even a college; but the means and work-
ers are so inadequate that, judged from our
Western standards, there is little to show but
the ideals.

All of these schools are modeled after English
or American schools, and perhaps too closely.
Chinese classics are always taught and in some
a great deal of English, the higher subjects
being taught in that language. A few teach
Latin and higher algebra, and others give ele-

109
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

mentary courses in psychology and pedagogy to
the advanced pupils. As much is made of music
as possible, for this is‘a great favorite with the
Chinese and is in line with their old ideas re-
garding female education.

A word might be said in regard to the
woman’s Bible training school, which most
nearly resembles a deaconess training school,
but it takes only married women, widows, or
women over twenty or thereabouts. The reasons
for these schools are various. One is the need
of training older women to do public work in
teaching and preaching and in philanthropic
service for which young girls are not suited.
Sometimes the wives of married men are sent
here, in order that they may learn to be more
of a companion and helpmeet for the husband
in his work. In the best of these schools the
course is about equivalent to an eight-year
course for younger girls and some fine workers
have been turned out. In Nanking one graduate
of the woman’s school is the principal of a large

110
THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

day school for girls and boys, and has five
teachers under her supervision. It is said to
be one of the best mission day schools in all
China, and while there has been a little super-
vision by the principal of the woman’s school,
who is an American, yet all recognize that the
success is most largely due to the quiet little
Chinese lady who has devoted her life to this
work.

Surely the women of the West who are
hardly yet through their struggle for the privi-
leges of an education commensurate with their
ability and suited to their needs, will do every-
thing in their power to aid the women of the
Orient in the very beginning of the long struggles,
where the handicaps are greater perhaps than
the women of the West ever encountered. One
thing, however, has been proven, and that is
that woman is capable of taking as good an
education as man, and this once proven will
stand forever. Whether it is expedient that she
should be as highly educated and in what sub-

111
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

jects, may have to be decided according to
times and circumstances. But the last word is
that the women of the Orient want a modern
education, especially the women of China, and
are for the present more or less dependent on
the women of the West for it.

112
Vil

Western Civilization and Chinese
Women

IT goes without saying that as the men of China
have been profoundly influenced by contact
with the West, so have also the women, though
more slowly. Now what is the attitude of
men and women of the Orient towards woman’s
ways in the West? If we examine what it is
that the men are reaching out after it may help
us in the more recondite problem of the aspi-
rations of the women. The men of the Orient
wish, first of all, to attain to the same degree of
scientific knowledge and the same degree of
skill in industrial arts as the West. They wish
to understand sufficient military science to en-
able them to protect their own country from
aggressors, and they are fast learning the prin-
8 113
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

ciples of modern commerce. Most of all, they
want that spirit of nationalism, the stable force
around which all the material prosperity centers
and which holds the vast multitudes of citizens
to a common ideal and standard of conduct.
Loath to part with old morals, customs, and
religion of their people, they are seeking for
universal principles which shall enable them to
keep those features of their civilization most
peculiar to the genius of their race, and to
slough off those which are mere accidents of
certain stages of development which are anach-
ronisms at the present time. Such things as
idolatry and demonology in their religion all
progressive Orientals despise; female slavery,
concubinage, and punishment by torture, all
modern men recognize as unfit for any en-
lightened nation.

Now as the women of a country are sup-
posed to be the special custodians of the most
sacred customs of a country, the most strict in
their morals, and the most orthodox in their
beliefs, we can see how it is that women consti-

114
WESTERN CIVILIZATION

tute the most conservative element of a people.
They are more intimately associated with the
unchangeable features of the life than with the
more public and variable ones, such as science,
trade, and politics. The fact that they live
such secluded lives in the Orient and are for the
most part unable to read, militates against a
rapid change. One obvious manifestation of the
slowness with which women change is the mat-
ter of dress. The men will much more readily
adopt Western dress than will the women.

If the people of China were to be asked
whether they wish their women to become like
American women, they would undoubtedly give
a most emphatic no. They admire the trained
intellects and the executive ability of Western
women, but they believe that all this may be
acquired without the degree of self-assertiveness
which marks the free-speaking and acting Amer-
ican. A Japanese lady educated in America
said something like this to me: ‘‘The American
ladies over here conducting schools for girls
often shock our deepest sensibilities, while they

115
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

are very careful to conform in little things.
They do not know this because they can not
understand us. Careful parents are reluctant
to surrender their daughters entirely to the care
of foreigners on this account.”

The writer, in addressing a group of girls in
Foochow, China, said to them, .“‘Of course, you
do not wish to become just like American girls,”
but was somewhat taken aback by their ready
and rather indignant concurrence with the
statement. A learned gentleman and, in the
main, very progressive, speaks thus on the
danger of Westernizing Chinese women:

‘‘ As far as the habits and life of the Chinese
women are concerned, there are very few points
in common with those of her Western sisters.
No doubt there are many glaring faults in them,
but they also possess many virtues which it
would hardly be advisable to tamper with and
substitute with those from the West.
Western education, in all its entirety, as at pres-
ent constituted, is quite unfitted to the soil of
China. Certainly, it has not been an undis-

116
WESTERN CIVILIZATION

guised blessing to the women of the West. The
Chinese woman should be essentially Chinese,
but more highly evolved; 72. e., instead of being
the passive toy of her husband, sne should be,
in all respects, a true helpmeet.”’

And yet, despite these prejudices and con-
servative forces working against changes in the
Orient with regard to women, it is coming.
Three hundred years of Spanish rule in the
Philippines have put the women of the Islands
in a class by themselves in the Orient. They
go about the streets quite independently and
mingle in the church congregations with. the
men, as also in the market, the theater, or the
public gardens, with no more chaperonage than
is common in European countries. Since the
coming of the Americans co-education is be-
coming very common, and young men and
women teach in the same buildings under much
the same conditions that one would find in
America. In Japan there are many women
teachers in the public schools, and every pro-
fession practically is open to them. The long

117
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

occupation of India by the English has cor-
rected many of the terrible abuses from which
its women suffered, and to-day many brilliant
women have passed government examinations
and are helping their sisters to push aside the
curtains a little from their ‘“‘Purdah.” From
increasing intimacy in contact with Christian
nations, the Moslem women are lifting their
veils or making them thinner.

What is it that the Orient fears from us
women of the West? First of all, perhaps, they
fear the free and intimate companionship be-
tween men and women. They have not as
yet learned the true principles of chivalry, or
social protection for women, any more than we
have comprehended the spirit of the “family”
or ‘‘house,’”’ and their ancestor-worship. That
is perhaps the fundamental difference. We de-
mand honor and protection for potential mothers
of the community rather than for the actual
mothers of the family group. This springs
from our broader social ideals and practices,
which are just as binding on us as the regula-

118
WESTERN CIVILIZATION

tions of the family are on the Chinese or Jap-
anese. In the West the community feels as
much responsibility for the virtue and honor of
its women as does the family in Oriental
countries.

Probably no thoughtful Oriental student of
American civilization but would grant that
greater purity exists in the relations of the
sexes here than in Asiatic countries, and yet
unable to understand the fundamental principles
of social responsibility, they are inclined to
doubt its applicability to their conditions. And
they are right. Until the comprehension of
the greater possibilities of sociality, the respon-
sibility of all for one and one for all, women
should not be encouraged to seek freedom from
old customs more rapidly than social protection
is afforded them by the growth of chivalrous
ideals and practices.

Whence has come the social feeling which
permeates the West as subtly and pervasively
as the atmosphere we breathe? Probably there
are four influences whose effect can be clearly

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CHINESE WOMANHOOD

traced. First, the scientific and philosophical
thinking of the Greeks which freed human
reason from superstition, especially through
their three great apostles—Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle. Looking squarely at the phenomena
of the world without fear of gods, men, or
devils, they laid the foundation for clear, logical
thinking and proclaimed the presence of uni-
versal laws in the physical and psychical realms.

The second influence which socialized the
West was the establishment of the world-em-
bracing Roman Empire, in which Roman law
and Roman justice followed the victorious
Roman legions. The Roman citizen came to
feel a responsibility not to a monarch on a
throne, a mere man, but to a social whole which
they called the State. Thus Rome added to the
Greek concept of universal law in nature and
in the individual, universal law in man’s social
and political actions.

A third contributing factor is the Christian
conception of a universal and social religion as
opposed to a tribal or family religion. The

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WESTERN CIVILIZATION

absolute equality of rich and poor, Jew and
Gentile, men, women, and children, was pro-
claimed by the founder of Christianity, and has
been gradually making its way through the ages
until to-day Christianity is a highly socialized
religion. Its fundamental principle is a universal
God whose vital power is love for humanity.
All true worshipers must strive ¢o attain to this
love for one another and express it in social
service.

The fourth factor the great, virile, childlike
Teuton race has added—universal individual-
ism. Within the bounds of universal law every
man is free to work out his own salvation as
strongly and originally as he will, provided that
he does not interfere with the welfare of others.
“Freedom of speech,” “equality of rights,”
“‘personal liberty,” are the catch-words of this
spirit, which is inspiring even the women of the
West to-day.

It is in an atmosphere saturated with these
four principles that the woman of the West
walks to-day, unharmed, blameless, doing a

121
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

woman’s work in God’s world in her own way.
In the office, on the streets, in the home, woman
is hedged about by a thousand invisible guard-
ians of sentiment and custom which have sprung
up at the call of the spirit of the age, loving
service.

Is the woman of the Orient safe in an at-
mosphere of superstition and credulity? Is she
safe in a land of arbitrary justice? Is she secure
in a civilization permeated with demonolatry?
Can she walk unharmed in a land where family
subserviency rather than individual freedom is
the basis of social life? As the moral codes of
China and the spiritual aspirations of India are
revivified through contact with the science and
free spirit of the West, the woman of the East
will rise to her rightful position in honor and
security.

After the great primal fear of the improper
relation of the sexes comes the foreboding that
women will refuse to assume the duties of wife
and mother. Some few women may always
prefer the work which lies outside the home or

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WESTERN CIVILIZATION

they may be driven to it by circumstances, yet
the statistics in America show that, despite the
higher education of woman, most of them follow
the world-old path of home-making and child-
rearing, and that they are bringing to these old
duties a new meaning. The enlightenment
gained from study is increasing the possibilities
for good in the family and is helping to make it
equal to the demand which modern civilization
is making on it.

With the enlargement of vision which has
come with the educated woman in the home,
there is a new dawning in the realm of educa-
tion, and we are about to substitute a new aim
in education. We are saying that the improve-
ment of the human race is the goal of our teach-
ing and training, rather than objective achieve-
ment to be measured by material progress.
We believe that this new idea will find as ready
acceptance in the Orient as in the West. What
matters a country with great cities and rich
farm lands if the people are deteriorating?
Sages of every land have seen the importance of

123
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

the early years in the home, but it is only with
this century that we are realizing that the
mother needs a special training for the care of
the souls and bodies whose being has been de-
rived from her own.

We of the West have seen and feared this
tendency which the Chinese are now decrying,
but science and common sense are bringing us
to a saner view of how the evil may be com-
bated. Madame Key has stated the problem.
and its solution well, and from her book, ‘‘The
Century of the Child,’”’ we quote these lines:
“In our program of civilization we must start
out with the conviction that motherhood is
something essential to the nature of woman,
and the way in which she carries this out is of
value for society. On this basis we must alter
the conditions which more and more are robbing
women of the happiness of motherhood and
children of the care of a mother.”

No, the East has nothing to fear from the
best in Western civilization. It may well fear
that a wrong selection will be made or that a

124
WESTERN CIVILIZATION

partial adoption of certain customs will endanger
what there may be of good in it. What is it
that we of the West can most heartily recom-
mend to the women of the East?

The greatest thing that we of the West have
to give the Chinese woman is the Christian re-
ligion in its best interpretation. A religion de-
void of all superstition and stated in terms
which accord with the highest developments in
modern science and philosophy. All great
writers on religion seem to be impressed with the
fact that the fundamental truth of Christianity
can be stated in a few words or it can exhaust
the logic of the wisest minds. This religion,
with its wonderful message of loving service,
has certainly proclaimed the day of redemption
for womankind. Take, for example, the matter
of widowhood. In all Oriental religions widow-
hood brings disgrace and suffering to the poor
victim. In India she was formerly burned,
often against her will, and to-day she is little
better than a slave among the unenlightened
classes. To-day in China she is still in danger

125
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

if her husband’s relatives are disposed to misuse
or sell her. In the early Christian community
the widow was made the first charge of the
Church, and was employed in holy offices to
the poor and suffering.

In reply to the challenge of a young British
officer of the Indian service as to ‘“‘Why the
missionaries harry the poor people so,” the
writer asked him in turn if Christian missions
‘had not bettered the condition of women in
India. To this he responded frankly and
earnestly that Christianity had done much for
the womanhood of India. And so men who have
been in the East always reply to the same
question. However little they know about mis-
sions and however much they may be prejudiced
(and, by the way, the latter is always in an
inverse ratio to the former), all see the possi-
bilities in Christianity for Eastern womanhood.

Next to religion we must give them science.
Why science? you may ask. The curse of every
non-Christian country is superstitious fear. In
the early days of Christianity it was supposed

: 126
WESTERN CIVILIZATION

to be efficacious in exorcising demons, but to-
day the power is lost. In its stead we have
modern science, which is able to cure sickness,
prevent the spread of epidemics, and explain
many mysteries formerly attributed to demons.
Therefore science must be the handmaid of
religion in any missionary enterprise if we
would lay lasting foundations.

Again, the woman of the East needs to study
history and sociology, that she may know how
races have arisen and how they have fallen:
the traits that make for sanity and permanence
in the nation, and the institutions which make
up society and those which hurry a nation to
its decay. She must learn from the accounts of
other peoples how to be patient in the struggle
to raise herself and fellow-countrymen to a
standard which shall stand the test of ideals
which Christianity implants.

Lastly, music, art, poetry, and polite liter-
ature are needed to make up the well-rounded
woman who would be fittest for the service
awaiting her. It is not enough to know how to

127
CHINESE WOMANHOOD

think and to act; one must also know how to
think and act acceptably. Charm and accom-
plishments have their own power for good in
this world.

Let us of the West give them of our best,
thoughtfully and humbly, not forgetting that
there are many lessons to be learned of the
sweet-mannered women of Cathay. China is
entering upon her renaissance and, as is always
the case, the impetus seems to come from with-
out. Much of evil is still in our boasted civ-
ilization, and much finds its way across the
oceans and continents to the countries who are
reaching out for the things of the West, as
Europe once reached out for the things of the
East. Evil may only be overcome by good,
and it is within our power to send the alleviating
cure. How we blush with shame when we think
of the opium trade forced on China in the early
part of the last century by a Christian nation,
and we rejoice indeed that thousands of Chinese
women signed their names to a pathetic plea
which was sent broadcast over Europe and

128
WESTERN CIVILIZATION

America, beseeching the discontinuance of the
evil that was wrecking China’s manhood and
China’s homes.

Let us keep our ears open to hear every call
that comes to us from Cathay. Let us show
ourselves friends to those who need our friend-
ship and comradeship, and may the day soon
break when Cathay and America will be serving
under the same motto in the struggle for the
uplift of humanity—‘‘ Loving Service.”

9 129