CHINESE WOMEN

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4230, 15 October 1935, Page 7

CHINESE WOMEN

MANY DISABILITIES China, once the country of perpetual calm, has in recent years become the land of magnificent disturbances. Not an unimportant factor in the changes that have lately taken place in the Flowery Kingdom has been woman. The lii si event in the life of most women in China, though at the time she does not realise it, is a sad one. There is usually scant welcome to the girl. Amidst the masses of the people she certainly enters upon a rough and weary way. She is reared in seclusion and ignorance Her little brothers, even, are not her companions. If she should have any association with them, she is little better than their servant. Her name does not appear upon the family register, since she is expected to belong to another family when she is old enough to wed (states ‘ The Queen ’).

In China there is no such thing as courtship. Girls spend their last days of maidenhood in loud wailing, and their girl friends go to weep with them Well may they do this, for after marriage they continue a life worse than slavery—slavery abject and heartless—to women who have been slaves to other women The Chinese mother-in-law rules her daughter-in-law with an iron hand, and the wife’s future depends much more upon the character of the husband’s mother than upon the husband himself.

That the coming of girls into the home is not so welcome an event as that of boys is quite natural,- for it is expected that at about 16 years of age the girl will become a member of another family, returning but occasionally to the house of her birth. Betrothals are sometimes made in infancy. But since such contracts are regarded as being quite as binding as marriage, wisdom usually prevails and the girls are generally betrothed a year or two before marriage, which in most cases occurs at about 15 years of age. Among the poorer classes, in order to avoid the expense ordinarily involved in betrothal, a mother will sometimes buy, or receive as a gift, an infant girl, who is reared as a wife for her son. Marriage, however, in China as elsewhere, is always regarded as a matter of deep concern in a woman’s career. But in China she has little share in the events which lead up to the wedding day. Proposals of marriage and the acceptances are often made without either party to the life union knowing about the transactions. Nor are the experiences of the nuptial day always joyous to the timid .young bride. Up to the time of her marriage, the girl has spent her days in comparative seclusion. Thrust suddenly among strangers, she naturally shrinks with a feeling almost akin to terror. This ordeal she must face with but little sympathy. Audible comments are made concerning her when slie is at length in the home of her parents-in-law, as they give vivid impressions of the newcomer. It is customary for the unmarried girls along the route to throw at the passing bride handfuls of hayseed or chaff, which adheres readily and conspicuously to her well-oiled hair. Married women seldom have names of their own. A wife may have two surnames, that of her husband and that of her mother’s family. If she have a son, she may be called “ Mother So-and-So.” Nor is she expected to speak to others of her husband directlv as her husband. She must use some circumlocution which does not directly state her relation to him. The birth of an infant works a marked transformation in a Chinese woman’s life. So long as she is childless she is expected to serve. When she becomes a mother she at once takes up the sceptre. Wives, therefore, pray to their Deities for the coming of a son: and when this object is realised, the sway of the woman over all the household, with the exception of her husband and sons, is complete. The wife is not seen upon the streets with her husband. Nor does she. as a rule, eat with him. After the men of the family have finished their meals, the women take their turn at the board. Too little is the sympathy they get in their ailments; for generally but scant attention is given to their suffering, and poverty often prevents a doctor’s care.

The greatest danger that besets a Chinese woman is at her birth. The custom of killing the female infant has gained ground. It frequently happens that if a Chinese mother has not been blessed with the birth of a boy, she will destroy her female offspring, with the idea that she will all the sooner have a son. If, on the other hand, she has one or more sons, she may allow two or three daughters to live. After this, many mothers will not hesitate to smother the girls at birth.

HORRORS OF INFANTICIDE

Chinese officials are earnestly trying to break this frightful custom of infanticide. During periods of rebellion and of dire poverty, so many desperate mothers throw their babies by the roadside for the dogs and birds of prey to devour, that “ baby towers ” were constructed at certain points, where the tiny dead bodies may be thrown.

( The dress of the Chinese women is ! very hygienic—in contrast to the in--1 sanitary condition of their homes, i often lioorless and windowless. The ' ordinary costume consists of two garments. The upper one is like a lady’s dressing jacket, only somewhat longer, with flowing sleeves, and is quite loose fitting, the fastening being along a eurvo from the neck to beneath the right arm and then in a straight line down the side. The lower garment is a pair of loose trousers.

There is little or no difference m the style of the outer and inner garments, more or fewer being worn according to the state of the weather. A skirt is seldom worn in the Canton section except by a bride at the time of her marriage. This custom, however, varies throughout the country. In Shanghai, women are seldom seen without skirts. The custom ol binding the feet is not so common as is often supposed. The feet of women of the agricultural classes are normal, but among the sections where this fashion prevails., the early suffering and later inconvenience are intense.