WOMEN OF CHINA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22960, 11 February 1938, Page 4

WOMEN OF CHINA

ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE BREAKDOWN IN FAMILY BREAKDOWN IN FAMILY SYSTEM ■The story of tho emancipation of the women of China, which is the best way of describing their entry into public life, is much tho same as that of tho English woman, but with this difference, that theirs has been a much bigfeer transition for they lived, before, a far more secluded life than the English woman did, states an overseas writer.

Nevertheless the Chinese woman was by no means unprepared to take up positions of responsibility for within the circle of her home she was a person of much" importance, and, like many .French women, she controlled the pursestrings. perhaps it is for that reason that when changing times caused tho break up of the old family system she found it easier than have some European women—supposed to lead a freer existence —to convince the men that she was capable of performing wbrk which only thej' had done before. Woman's Military Post

Tho revolution of IQJI more or less forced on her the opportunity of proving herself and now there are lew professions in which she is not found working to-day, even in that of banking, still very much a masculine lireserve in most other countries. A short time ago, too, a Chinese woman held an important post in the Chinese Embassy in London. But most remarkable of all, perhaps, is the fact that one of the highest military offices, that of the Chief of Aviation, is held to-day by a woman, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, in the war that is being waged with Japan. What of the ordinary, everyday life of modern China? In the olden days the family that lived in one house was very large for it contained usually three or four generations, as a man's sons continued, even after marriage, to live with him, and other relations might live with him as well. The teaching of Confucius, which is mainly a doctrine of peace and brotherly love—"What'you do not wish done to yourself. do not do to others"—and which is tho ethical basis of most Chinese education, must have conttfbutcd a great deal to the success of the system. Preserving "Face"

There is one thing that is particularly precious to the Chinese and that is dignity, or, as it is generally translated.' the importance of not "losing face." Though they have taken such things from western civilisation, a younger civilisation than their own, as seemed good to them, they have kept much of their individuality. Their new houses, for instance, though smaller than the older onerf, and probably with more scientific comforts inside, conform outwardly to the lines of Chinese architecture which, suits the landscape and the older buildings.