MODERNISATION OF CHINA

Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1928, Page 13

MODERNISATION OF CHINA

NEW M ETHODS INTRODUCED CAMPAIGN BY NATIONALISTS WOMEN UNBINDING FEET! By Telegraph—Press Assn. CopyiJght. Australian Press Association. Shanghai, Oet. 11. A. campaign aiming at the abolition Of old-fashioned customs and the introduction of modern social, educational and athletic. methods lias been started by the Nationalist Government, avowedly for the purpose of bringing China into line with th© Western nations. Thirty-eight thousand women and girls of mid-China during the past month have unbound their feet in accordance with Government instructions, which include a reference to th© ability of Western women to engage in th© Olympic sports, which foot binding prevents. Instructions have been issued to-day from Nanking that all provincial rulers should institute a campaiga against idol worship, superstitious beliefs and such-like customs. Christianity is not advocated, however, nor an alternative suggested. A ban has been placed on the sale of a gramophone record entitled “Sun-Yat-Scn has gone to heaven,” which was recently issued to South China and achieved popularity. Official orders declare: “The idea is foreign to th© truth, and greatly disrespectful.”