WINDOWS OF THE WORLD

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 306, 26 December 1936, Page 17

WINDOWS OF THE WORLD

International Scenes and Affairs.

THE NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS

Copyright—"Chicago Tribune" and "New York News» Services.

"GAOL" BY CUSTOM.

DOOMED CHINESE WIDOWS. NEW MOVE FIGHTS TRADITION. SHANGHAI. Six hundred and eighty widows, victims of China's ancient code of feminine virtue, are being confined 'under conditions amounting to virtual life imprisonment in a charity institution known as the Hall for the Encouragement of Chastity, in Hankow. The existence of this widow's prison has been revealed in investigations of the National Association for the Promotion of the New Life Movement Among Women, of which Mme. Chiang Kai-sliek is chairman. On instructions from Mme. Chiang, Miss Ivwan Mei-vung, executive secretary of the association, recently made a tour of leading Yangtse River cities to study the New L : .fe work among women, and during this investigation made public the conditions under which inmates of the Hankow institution for widows live. Those who enter the Hall for the Encouragement of Chastity, to all intents and purposes become prisoners for life. They may never remarry, and have no opportunity to communicate outside. Among the present inmates is a 60-year-old relict who entered the institution toward the end of the Ching Dynasty, when she was but 30 years old. For three decades she has honoured the memory of her husband-by renouncing contact with former friends and. relatives. Under the ancient Chinese code widows were not permitted to remarry, although some "became concubines. It was. considered a of unusual virtue if a wife committed suicide at the death of her husband, and such cases were by no means rare. On such an occasion the Government generally erected a memorial tabiet 011 which was inscribed the story of her life. In many cases the husband's family goaded the widow to suicide so that they might obtain the social distinction derived from the governmental memorial tablet. The. rules of conduct for a widow likewise applied to a girl whose fiance died before their marriage. In that event it was customary for thebetrothed girl to renounce her family and become a member of the household of her dead fiance, remaining unmarried the rest tff her life and serving her fiance's mother as a dutiful daughter-in-law. Nowadays enforced widowhood is frowned on by enlightened China, but it.: ; is still voluntarily practised.

I CORONATION ERMINE.

EDICT ORDAINS SIZE. BORDERS BY PEERAGE RANK. LONDON. Nobility who are to attend the Coronation of King George VI. are being told exactly how many inches wide the ermine, must be that borders their robes, according to their respective rank, how long their trains must be, and the exact pattern of peers' coronets. Instructions for the actual style of the Court dress, or kirtle —the oldfashioned word'for a petticoat or skirt — as distinct from the traditional mantle and cape, have not been issued by the Earl Marshal vet. It may be that the full traditional and ceremonial mantle with cape, kirtle and petticoat will be worn, as at the Coronation cf the late King George and Queen Mary;' or, on the other hand, peeresses may get the option, of wearing the traditional mantle and cape over the usual full Court dress. For the 1911 Coronation the kirtle was cut on the traditional lines—'"waspwaisted" with Elizabethan boned and pointed bodice. Every detail is set out in "The London Gazette" for the advice of peers and peeresses who will be summoned to the ceremony: "That the robe or mantle be of crimson velvet edged with miniver, the length of the train being decided by the peeress' respective rank. That the cape be furred with miniver pure (the white fur commonly known as ermine). The measurements continue: — "Baronesses, two rows of ermine (black) on the cape; the train of the robe, 3ft on the ground bordered with 2in of miniver. "Viscountesses, two rows and a half on the cape; train 1± yards, bordered with 2in of miniver. "Countesses, three rows on the cape; train li yards, with Sin of miniver. ••Marchioness, three rows and a half on the cape; train 1J yards, with 4in ' miniver. "Duchesses, four rows on the cape; train two yards, with oin of miniver."