THE CHILD IN CHINA
=Women and Marriage.= The Chinese have an old maxim that "a woman is
thrice dependent; before marriage, on her father; after marriage, on her
husband; when a widow, on her son." But this refers, no doubt,
principally to support and subsistence, as the mother was greatly
respected and had much authority for even "the emperor himself performs
the ceremonies of the _ko-tow_ before his own mother, who receives them
seated on a throne."[70] This power of the mother was carried to the
daughter-in-law, for after marriage the girl was no longer a daughter
but a daughter-in-law and for a considerable part of her life she was
under the absolute control of a mother-in-law. Cruel treatment was the
rule rather than the exception and the only way out was through suicide,
and suicide and attempts at suicide on the part of wives were so
frequent as to cause but little comment. Christianity requires a man to
leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, but Confucianism
requires a man to cleave to his father and mother and compels the wife
to do the same. The sale of wives and children was not uncommon. "It is
perfectly well known to those acquainted with the facts, that during
several recent years in many districts stricken with famine, the sale of
women and children was conducted as openly as that of mules and donkeys,
the only essential difference being that the former were not driven to
market."[71]
Modesty was deemed so essential in the female character that it was
considered indecorous in women of birth and breeding to show even their
hands, and the dresses were so made that the long sleeves usually
covered the hands when touching or moving anything. Yet there was
adultery, which was considered a most heinous offence, but instead of
bringing the offender before a magistrate many cases were dealt with in
private. The offender would be attacked by a band of men and sometimes
his legs were broken, sometimes his arms, and again quicklime would be
rubbed into his eyes, destroying the sight.
The laws of China did not sanction polygamy but they did permit
concubinage. The man could have but one wife, who was distinguished by a
proper title, while the concubines were inferior and their children
belonged to the wife. If the wife had borne sons, it was considered
somewhat discreditable for a man to take a concubine, and if he did and
brought her into the same home with his wife there was usually great
disturbance, which accorded with one of their proverbs, That nine women
out of ten are jealous. These concubines were generally purchased with
money and were from the lower classes, where poverty always prevailed,
making occasion for the selling of the girls. In a few cases,
concubinage in a family might have arisen through the wife's desire to
have women and children to serve her, as they would come under her
control.
There were seven grounds for divorce in China, being, barrenness,
adultery, disobedience to the husband's parents, talkativeness,
thievery, ill temper, and malignant disease. But divorce was not for the
wife, for no offense, of whatever kind, on the part of the husband, gave
a woman any right to claim a divorce from him. "Any of these, however,
may be set aside by three circumstances: the wife having mourned for her
husband's parents; the family having acquired wealth since the marriage;
and the wife being without parents to receive her back."[72] The family
of the woman was a great factor against divorce, not only on account of
the unjustness or disgrace attached to it but also because when the
woman married she gave up her home and no provision was made for her
further support and especially so if her parents were dead as the
property was divided among her brothers and she would be looked upon as
an alien. Hence a husband would not be allowed to divorce his wife,
except for a most valid cause.
It was considered disreputable for widows to remarry. But this was not
true of a widower as he could marry whomever he should choose, nor did
he have to wait for any length of time for the ceremony because of any
period of mourning for his first wife. If the widow herself should be
unwilling to marry, the law would protect her against those trying to
make her do so. One of the strong motives against marrying again was
that as long as she remained a widow she would be absolute mistress of
herself and her children. The widow was occasionally sold as a concubine
by her father-in-law, but this was rare, as it was considered a great
degradation and especially as she would be separated from her children.
"A reverse view of matrimonial experiences is suggested by the practice
of wives refusing to survive their husbands and, like the victims of
suttee in India, putting a voluntary end to their existence rather than
live to mourn their loss. Such devotion is regarded by the people with
great approbation, and the deed of suicide is generally performed in
public with great punctiliousness. The following account of one such
suicide at Fuhchow is taken from the Hong Kong _Daily Press_ of January
20, 1861:
"'A few days since,' says the writer, 'I met a Chinese procession
passing through the foreign settlement, escorting a young person in
scarlet and gold in a richly decorated chair; the object of which I
found, was to invite the public to come and see her hang herself, a step
she had resolved to take in consequence of the death of her husband, by
which she had been left a childless widow. Both being orphans, this
event had severed her dearest earthly ties, and she hoped by this
sacrifice to secure herself eternal happiness, and a meeting with her
husband in the next world. Availing myself of the general invitation, I
repaired on the day appointed to the indicated spot. We had scarcely
arrived, when the same procession was seen advancing from the Joss house
of the woman's native village towards a scaffold or gallows erected in
an adjacent field, and surrounded by hundreds of natives of both sexes;
the female portion, attired in gayest holiday costume, was very
numerous. A friend and I obtained a bench for a consideration, which,
being placed within a few yards of the scaffold, gave us a good view of
the performance. The procession having reached the foot of the scaffold,
the lady was assisted to ascend by her male attendant, and, after having
welcomed the crowd, partook with some female relatives of a repast
prepared for her on a table on the scaffold, which she appeared to
appreciate extremely. A child in arms was then placed upon the table,
whom she caressed and adorned with a necklace which she herself had
worn. She then took an ornamental basket containing rice, herbs, and
flowers, and, whilst scattering them amongst the crowd, delivered a
short address, thanking them for their attendance, and upholding the
motives which urged her to the step she was about to take. This done, a
salute of bombards announced the arrival of the time for the performance
of the last act of her existence, when a delay was occasioned by the
discovery of the absence of a reluctant brother, pending whose arrival
let me describe the means of extermination. The gallows was formed by an
upright timber on each side of the scaffold supporting a stout bamboo,
from the center of which was suspended a loop of cord with a small
wooden ring embracing both parts of it, which was covered by a red silk
handkerchief, the whole being surrounded by an awning.
"'The missing brother having been induced to appear, the widow now
proceeded to mount on a chair placed under the noose, and, to ascertain
its fitness for her reception, deliberately placed her head in it; then,
withdrawing her head, she waved a final adieu to the admiring
spectators, and committed herself to its embrace for the last time,
throwing the red handkerchief over her head. Her supports were now about
to be withdrawn, when she was reminded by several voices in the crowd
that she had omitted to draw down the ring which should tighten the cord
round her neck; smiling in acknowledgment of the reminder, she adjusted
the ring, and, motioning away her supports, was left hanging in
mid-air--a suicide. With extraordinary self-possession she now placed
her hands before her, and continued to perform the manual chin-chin
until the convulsions of strangulation separated them and she was dead.
The body was left hanging about half an hour, and then taken down by her
male attendants, one of whom immediately took possession of the halter,
and was about to sever it for the purpose of appropriating a portion,
when a struggle ensued, of which I took advantage to attach myself to
the chair in which the body was now being removed to the Joss house, in
order to obtain ocular proofs of her demise. Arrived at the Joss house
the body was placed on a couch, and the handkerchief withdrawn from the
face, disclosed unmistakable proofs of death. This is the third instance
of suicide of this sort within as many weeks. The authorities are quite
unable to prevent it, and a monument is invariably erected to the memory
of the devoted widow.'"[73]
The most essential circumstance in a respectable family alliance was,
that there should be equality of rank on either side. A Chinese lover
who should woo a young lady of good family would visit the house of her
parents, where he was expected to display his accomplishments,
especially in penmanship. There was romance and poetry in the wooing, as
may be shown by this love song, which has been sung in Cathay for more
than two and a half millenniums:
"How rises the moon in radiant glory!
And thou my lady, most charming and sweetest
Oh, listen kindly to love's story!--
Ah, poor my heart that vainly beatest!
"How rises the moon in cloudless effulgence!
And thou my lady, most winsome and purest
Oh, grant thy lover more indulgence!--
Ah, poor my heart what thou endurest!
"How rises the moon in splendor most brightly!
And thou my lady, loveliest, fairest
Wilt never for my love requite me?--
Ah, poor my heart what pain thou bearest!"[74]
"At the present day marriage is probably more universal in China than in
any other civilized country in the world. It is regarded as something
indispensable, and few men pass the age of twenty without taking a wife.
Chinese legislators have at all times encouraged early marriages as
having a pacifying effect upon the people. A man who has given hostages
to fortune in the shape of wife and children has a greater inducement to
follow the paths of steady industry, and is less likely to throw in his
lot with brigands and rebels, than a man who has but himself to think
of, and is without any immediate ties. Besides this the Chinese believe,
in common with the ancient Greeks, that the shades of the unburied
wander restlessly about without gaining admittance into Hades; so that
non-burial came to be considered by them the most deplorable calamity
that could befall one, and the discharge of the last service a most holy
duty. To die, therefore, without leaving behind a son to perform the
burial rites, and to offer up the fixed periodical sacrifices at the
tomb, is one of the most direful fates that can overtake a Chinaman, and
he seeks to avoid it by an early marriage."[75]
The two young people to a betrothal in China had very little to do with
it. This was arranged by means of a go-between, or match-maker. The
negotiations generally originated with the family of the boy or young
man. A card was made out containing data of the candidate, such as the
ancestral name, the hour, day, month, and year of birth of the young
candidate. At some time in the proceedings both parties had to make
known to each other if there were any bodily or constitutional defect,
what the true age of each was, whether born of a wife or a concubine,
and whether real offspring or only adopted. Provided with the card, the
go-between went to the other family and stated the object of the visit.
The parents or guardians of the girl would then make inquiries about the
other family, they would consult a fortune-teller to ascertain if it
would be fitting and auspicious for the two young people to wed. If the
offer was acceptable, then the go-between was furnished with a similar
card about the girl to take to the other family. If within three days of
the engagement an unlucky thing occurred, as the breaking of a china
bowl or the losing of some article in the house, circumstances were
considered to be sufficiently unlucky to warrant the instant termination
of the negotiations. The betrothal was not binding till certain cards
were interchanged between the families. The outside of the cards was
covered with red paper, on which was pasted a paper dragon for the one
and on the other a paper phœnix. Each card was adorned with two pieces
of red silk. The card with the dragon was filled out with particulars
relating to the family of the boy and retained by the girl's family,
while the one with the phœnix had particulars of the girl's family and
it was kept by the family of the boy. At the time of the exchange of
cards presents were sent. For the girl was sent a pair of silver or gold
wristlets and for her family articles of food, as pigs' feet, fruits,
fowls, etc. For the boys' family were sent artificial flowers, bread,
cakes, etc.
As usually in a family there was strict separation between the males and
females, there was but little opportunity for the bride and groom to
meet one another and often they would not have seen one another till the
day of the wedding. The difficulty was increased after betrothal, for it
was considered quite improper for the girl to be actually seen by the
family of the future mother-in-law. The girl had to maintain the
strictest seclusion. She must retire to the inner apartments when
friends called upon her parents, and when going out she was to use a
closed sedan chair. For this reason, most engagements were arranged
between parties not living in the same place.
The time which might transpire between betrothal and marriage varied
from a month or two to eighteen or twenty years, depending much on the
age of the parties. "There are six ceremonies which constitute a regular
marriage. 1. The father and elder brother of the young man send a
go-between to the father and brother of the girl, to enquire her name
and the moment of her birth, that the horoscope of the two may be
examined, in order to ascertain whether the proposed alliance will be a
happy one. 2. If so, the boy's friends send the go-between back to make
an offer of marriage. 3. If that be accepted, the second party is again
requested to put their assent in writing. 4. Presents are then sent to
the girl's parents according to the means of the parties. 5. The
go-between requests them to choose a lucky day for the wedding; and, 6,
the preliminaries are concluded by the bridegroom going or sending a
party of his friends with music to bring his bride to his own
house."[76]
In the spring was considered the most appropriate time for marriage, and
the month in which the peach-tree blossomed as the happiest time. The
following poem translated from the "Book of Odes," illustrates this:
"Sweet child of spring, the garden's queen,
Yon peach-tree charms the roving sight;
Its fragrant leaves how richly green,
Its blossoms how divinely bright!
"So softly shines the beauteous bride,
By love and conscious virtue led,
O'er her new mansion to preside,
And placid joys around her spread."[77]
Some time previous to the day fixed, the bridegroom was invested
ceremoniously with a dress cap or bonnet, and he took an additional
name. About this same time the bride, whose hair had hung down in long
tresses, had it done up in the style of married women of her class in
society. Usually, the day before the wedding, the bride tried on the
clothes she was to wear in the sedan going to the home of her husband,
and what she was to wear the first day upon her arrival at his home.
This was an occasion of great interest to her family, and the parents
invited female relatives and friends to a feast that they might view the
clothing and help to have things well prepared for the wedding-day.
On the wedding-day, the bridegroom or his best man and friends went with
an ornamented sedan, accompanied with musicians, to the home of the
bride. When evening came and the stars were just beginning to peep out,
the bride, with a thick veil over her head and completely covering her
features from view, entered the sedan and the procession, with music and
lanterns, took its way to the home of the bridegroom. On reaching his
residence, the bride was carried into the house in the arms of matrons
and lifted over a pan of burning charcoal on the threshold. The
bridegroom and bride seated themselves side by side, each trying to sit
on a part of the dress of the other, as it was considered that the one
who succeeded in so doing would rule the household. Then the bride
returned to her chamber and her outer garments and veil were removed and
she was dressed in her wedding finery and then with her husband she
entered upon the wedding-dinner. Often this was the first time in the
husband's life to behold the features of his wife. He could eat what he
chose of the good things but she, according to established custom, must
not take a particle, but must sit in silence, dignified and composed.
The door of the room was left open and about it gathered the invited
guests, the parents of the bridegroom and his relatives, all of whom
scrutinized the bride and observed her deportment and expressed their
opinions and criticisms. The cup of alliance was drunk together by the
young couple and pledges were exchanged. On the next day they worshipped
together the ancestral gods of the husband and paid their respects to
his parents and relatives. This was the wife's last time to be in public
with her husband, as husbands were never seen with their wives in
public. On the third day after the wedding, the bride paid a customary
visit to her own parents.
Whatever else might have been included in the marriage customs in China,
the wedding-feast was the main feature of the occasion. This might occur
upon the wedding-day or at some later time. Wedding and funeral feasts
would be quite impossible were it not for the "share" system which they
have worked out. Each guest, or each family, were not only expected but
really required by a rigid code of social etiquette to contribute to the
expense of the occasion. This was sometimes in food but usually in
money and there was a scale according to which every one knew what his
"share" should be.
"One of the most characteristic methods in which the Chinese lack of
sympathy is manifested is in the treatment which brides receive on their
wedding-day. They are often very young, are always timid, and are
naturally terror-stricken at being suddenly thrust among strangers.
Customs vary widely, but there seems to be a general indifference to the
feelings of the poor child thus exposed to the public gaze. In some
places it is allowable for any one who chooses to turn back the curtains
of the chair and stare at her. In other regions, the unmarried girls
find it a source of keen enjoyment to post themselves at a convenient
position as the bride passes, to throw upon her handfuls of hay-seed or
chaff, which will obstinately adhere to her carefully oiled hair for a
long time. Upon her emerging from the chair at the house of her new
parents, she is subjected to the same kind of criticism as a newly
bought horse, with what feelings on her part it is not difficult to
imagine."[78]
=Infancy.= "A Chinese baby is a round-faced little helpless human
animal, whose eyes look like two black marbles over which the skin had
been stretched, and a slit made on the bias. His nose is a little kopje
in the center of his face, above a yawning chasm which requires constant
filling to insure the preservation of law and order. On his shaved head
are left small tufts of hair in various localities, which give him the
appearance of the plain about Peking, on which the traveler sees, here
and there, a small clump of trees around a country village, a home, or a
cemetery; the remainder of the country being bare. These tufts are
usually on the 'soft spot,' in the back of his neck, over his ears or in
a braid or a ring on the side of his head."[79]
It was considered a deep disgrace if the children of a Chinese mother
were not all born at the father's home, and in their efforts to have
such occur women would do everything possible, even going to great
inconvenience and hardship. If this should be the first baby and a boy,
there would be great rejoicing in the whole household, but if a girl
there would not only be no rejoicing but along with depression the young
wife would be treated with coldness and often with harshness, and she
might be beaten for her lack of discretion in not producing a son.
On the third day after birth, the child was washed for the first time.
Friends and relatives were invited to take part and they brought
presents to the child. Immediately after the washing, the ceremony of
binding the wrists took place, which in some cases consisted of the
tying of one or more ancient _cash_ to each wrist by means of a red
cotton cord while with others only a loose red string was put around
each wrist. When the child was a month old, the mother and child left
her room for the first time and the ceremony of naming the baby and
shaving its head took place. All the relatives and friends were invited
and they were expected to take dinner with the child, and, which was
more important, to take presents.
"The presumption is that a Chinese child is born with the same general
disposition as children in other countries. This may perhaps be the
case; but either from the treatment it receives from parents or nurses,
or because of the disposition it inherits, its nature soon becomes
changed, and it develops certain characteristics peculiar to the Chinese
child. It becomes _t'ao ch'i_. That almost means mischievous; it almost
means troublesome--a little tartar--but it means, exactly _t'ao ch'i_.
In this respect almost every Chinese child is a little tyrant. Father,
mother, uncles, aunts, and grandparents are all made to do his bidding.
In case any of them seems to be recalcitrant, the little dear lies down
on his baby back on the dusty ground and kicks and screams until the
refractory parent or nurse has repented and succumbed, when he gets up
and good-naturedly goes on with his play and allows them to go about
their business. The child is _t'ao ch'i_."[80]
The baby in China has its toys to play with and it also has its Mother
Goose rhymes and Headland states that he collected more than six hundred
of such rhymes.[81] A few will be sufficient to give here to show their
resemblance to our own. The following is as popular in China as "Jack
and Jill" is here:
"He climbed up the candle-stick,
The little mousey brown,
To steal and eat tallow,
And he couldn't get down.
He called for his grandma,
But his grandma was in town,
So he doubled up into a wheel,
And rolled himself down."
This next one easily calls up "Lady bug, lady bug, fly away home:"
"Fire-fly, fire-fly,
Come from the hill,
Your father and mother
Are waiting here still.
They've brought you some sugar,
Some candy and meat,
Come quick or I'll give it
To baby to eat."
The following is said over the baby's toes very much as "This little pig
went to market:"
"This little cow eats grass,
This little cow eats hay,
This little cow drinks water,
This little cow runs away,
This little cow does nothing,
Except lie down all day.
We'll whip her."
The Chinese loved their children and yet infanticide existed with them,
but mostly only that of girls. The greatest cause was poverty. Being too
poor to care for their children parents thought best to kill them than
to sell them into slavery. This perhaps was not large over the whole
country and existed to a great extent only in certain parts, sometimes
as high as eighty per cent. of all girl babies born. The following
conditions as given as found some time before the year 1840, shows its
prevalence in certain districts at that time, as this refers to a small
village on the Amoy island. "On a second visit, while addressing them,
one man held up a child, and publicly acknowledged that he had killed
five of the helpless beings, having preserved but two. I thought he was
jesting, but as no surprise or dissent was expressed by his neighbors,
and as there was an air of simplicity and regret in the individual,
there was no reason to doubt its truth. After repeating his confession,
he added with affecting simplicity, 'It was before I heard you speak on
this subject, I did not know it was wrong; I would not do so now.'
Wishing to obtain the testimony of the assembled villages, I put the
question publicly, 'What number of female infants in this village are
destroyed at birth?' The reply was, 'More than one-half.' As there was
no discussion among them, which is not the case when they differ in
opinion, and as we were fully convinced from our own observations of the
numerical inequality of the sexes, the proportion of deaths they gave
did not strike us as extravagant."[82]
It is difficult to judge this matter correctly when such contrary
opinions are placed before us as in the following quotations, the first
by an American who spent many years in China and the second by a
Chinaman who spent many years in America. "Much has already been done by
those who have had most opportunity to learn the facts, toward
exhibiting the real practice of the Chinese in the matter of destroying
female infants. Yet no more can be safely predicted than that this is a
crime which to some extent everywhere prevails, and in some places to
such a degree as seriously to affect the proportion of the sexes. It
seems to be most common in the maritime provinces of the southern part
of China, in some districts of which it is by the Chinese themselves
regarded as a terrible and a threatening evil."[83] "I am indignant that
there should be a popular belief in America that Chinese girls at birth
are generally put to death by their parents because they are not wanted.
Nothing can be further from the truth. In a country like China, where
women do not appear in public life, it must follow that sons are more to
be desired, for the very good reason that family honor and glory depend
on them and ancestral worship necessitates either the birth or adoption
of sons to perpetuate it. I venture to say that in proportion to
population and distribution of wealth that infanticide is as rare in
China as it is in this country."[84]
=Boys and Girls.= The relative estimation that was placed upon boys and
girls in olden China is well expressed by a passage from one of their
oldest classics, The Book of Odes. In describing the palace of an
ancient king, the dreams of the king are treated and then comes the
following:
"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 (hereafter) resplendent with red knee-covers,
The (future) king, the princes of the land.
Daughters will 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.
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."[85]
The baby boy was greatly welcomed upon his arrival into the family,
while the baby girl might not only be unwelcomed but very greatly
undesired. This was mostly because girls counted for so little as they
would marry and then no longer belong to their family but entirely to
the family of their husband. Boys would not only become the support of
their family but they might have opportunity to acquire learning and
thus add dignity and honor to their family. Too, there was great need of
sons to carry on the ancestral worship and if not born into the family
they must be procured through adoption or by means of concubines.
Without a son a man would live without honor and would die unhappy. No
matter how good or how beautiful a girl might become, she could never
equal the very poorest and weakest boy.
=Child and Parent.= While his parents were alive, a son should continue
to obey them, was the doctrine of the classics, the laws, and the
customs of China. But a daughter, after she was married, was not subject
to her own parents but to her husband's parents. Although instances were
rare, parents had the right to bring their children before magistrates
for aid in controlling and punishing them. With all this, it would seem
that the children were not greatly disciplined nor did they give prompt
obedience to their parents.
Public sentiment, especially in the older times of China, was strongly
against the individual who would not accord to his parents due respect
and obedience. No matter how old, how educated, or how wealthy he might
become this respect and obedience was still due his parents. Confucius
taught: "That parents when alive should be served according to
propriety, that when dead they should be buried according to propriety,
and that they should be sacrificed to according to propriety."[86]
"If a son should murder his parent, either father or mother, and be
convicted of the crime, he would not only be beheaded, but his body
would be mutilated by being cut into small pieces; his house would be
razed to the ground, and the earth under it would be dug up for several
feet deep; his neighbors living on the right and the left would be
severely punished; his principal teacher would suffer capital
punishment; the district magistrate of the place would be deprived of
his office and disgraced; the prefect, the governor of the province, and
the viceroy would all be degraded three degrees in rank. All this is
done and suffered to mark the enormity of the crime of a parricide."[87]
=Deformation of the Feet.= The practice of footbinding among the Chinese
females was carried on by all classes of society, so it was not a mark
of rank. It was the fashion and all classes followed it, for in some
places women sitting by the roadside begging had their feet bound, and
in some places, where women worked in the fields, they would have to
kneel to do their work because they could not stand upon their mutilated
feet. But of course it prevailed most with the higher and wealthier and
more fashionable people.
The practice of the compressing of the feet arose in China, it is
thought, sometime during the ninth century of our era. It is only
conjecture as to how and why this originated. Some accounts state that
it arose from a desire to pattern after the club feet of a popular
empress; another story is that it gradually came into use because of the
admiration of small feet and the attempt to imitate them; and a third
suggestion is that it developed through the men wishing to keep their
wives from gadding. The Chinese women call their feet "golden lilies,"
which is accounted for from the popular idea that a certain empress was
so beautiful that golden lilies sprang out of the ground wherever she
stepped.
The age at which the binding began varied, being from six to eight years
of age, but sometimes the bandages were put on as soon as the little
girl was able to walk. The whole operation was performed, and the shape
maintained by bandages, which were never permanently removed or covered
by stockings. The bandages were of strong white cotton cloth, about two
yards long and between two and three inches wide. The end of the strip
was laid on the inside of the foot at the instep, then carried over the
toes, leaving the great toe free, then under the foot and round the
heel, and the bandage was so continued till all used up and then the end
was sewed tightly down. Each day the bandage was tightened and if the
bones should spring back into place upon the removal of the bandage,
sometimes they would be struck back into place with a blow from the
heavy mallet used in beating clothes. These bandages would finally cause
a bulge in the instep, a deep indentation in the sole, and the toes
would grow down under and across the sole and come out on the opposite
side, the great toe alone retaining its normal position, the foot
becoming from four to six inches in length and sometimes even three or
less.
The pain and suffering, as might be expected, was very severe and
continued so for about three years. In some families the child would
have to stay of nights in an outhouse or elsewhere away from the family
so as not to disturb them through the night, while in others the mother
or mother-in-law would have a big stick by the side of her bed, with
which to get up and beat the little girl should she disturb the
household by her wails. Toes would often drop off under binding and
sometimes the entire foot. When grown up the women could walk alone with
their maimed feet for short distances but usually they needed to be
supported by some one or something. "Don't imagine, however, that
Chinese ladies are unable to move. They can, most of them, walk short
distances. But it is true that the spirit is taken out of them by this
species of suffering, and that they are oppressed by a sense of physical
helplessness and dependence."[88]
=Amusements.= "The active sports of Chinese boys are few. There are
hardly any sports, so-called, that develop the muscles and render a lad
graceful and agile. The Chinese boy at sixteen is as grave and staid as
an American grandfather; and if he happens to be married soon after, he
throws aside most games as being childish. At the best, he has nothing
corresponding to baseball, football, cricket, bicycle-riding, skating,
sliding, or tennis. Nor is he fond of exerting himself. He would rather
sit for hours talking and joking than waste time in running and jumping.
He thinks it work if his play entails much perspiration. His elders,
too, frown upon boisterous games. They approve quiet, meditative lads
who are given to study."[89]
"Active, manly plays are not popular in the south, and instead of
engaging in a cricket-match or regatta, going to a bowling-alley or
fives' court, to exhibit their strength and skill, they lift beams
headed with heavy stones to prove their brawn, or kick up their heels in
a game of shuttlecock. The outdoor amusements of gentlemen consist in
flying kites, carrying birds on perches, sauntering hand in hand through
the fields, or lazily boating on the water, while pitching coppers,
fighting crickets or quails, kicking a shuttlecock, snapping sticks,
chucking stones or guessing the number of seeds in an orange, are plays
for lads."[90]
"Children's games are always interesting. Chinese games are especially
so because they are a mine hitherto unexplored. An eminent archdeacon
once wrote: 'The Chinese are not much given to athletic exercises.' A
well-known doctor of divinity states that, 'their sports do not require
much physical exertion, nor do they often pair off, or choose sides and
compete, in order to see who are the best players,' while a still more
prominent writer tells us that, 'active, manly sports are not popular in
the South.' Let us see whether these opinions are true."[91] And this
author goes on to give a large number of games, enough to bear out his
statement in the preface to his book that, "to the careful observer of
these different phases it becomes apparent that the Chinese child is
well supplied with methods of exercise and amusement, also that he has
much in common with children of other lands."
There were numerous holidays and festivals, giving abundance of
entertainment for the children. The principal time of leisure and
rejoicing was at the new year. On the night of the last day of the old
year everybody would remain up and at midnight a great time was begun
with an incessant firing of crackers and this was kept up for a number
of days. Another great time was at the Feast of Lanterns, in which was a
procession of men and boys with lanterns of all shapes and sizes, the
procession ending with an immense and terrible dragon, forty feet or
more in length, carried aloft on bamboo poles.
Kite-flying was a national recreation, indulged in by all ages and
classes. It was not an unusual thing to see an old gray-haired man
enjoying it in company of a young boy. All kinds of kites were used and
of all sizes. The ninth day of the ninth month, which comes in October,
was "Kites' Day." On that day the men and the boys would go out to the
hills and have a great time. Rank and size and age made no difference,
as all entered into the zeal of the sport just the same. The greatest
sport consisted in the cutting of one another's kite strings while the
kites were in the air, which was done by the sawing of one string on
another.
There were plenty of little shows and juggling and gymnastic feats for
the children and who might wish to see them. They had Punch and Judy,
trained dogs and monkeys, the whirling of plates, the tossing of knives,
juggling of various kinds, sword swallowing, and many other tricks and
performances.
The Chinese children had plenty of toys, which, as in all countries,
were suited to the wants of that country. The toys were not greatly
complicated in structure. There were rattles for the baby, dolls for the
little girl, and drums and knives and tops for the boys.
"There are not many games in which boys and girls play together. If they
do play together it is only while they are children, under ten or
twelve. Growing-up girls will have nothing whatever to do with boys,
though Chinese boys and girls are very sociable, each with friends of
their own sex."[92]
Girls have plenty of games they play among themselves--"Lots of them,"
which Headland says was the stereotyped answer that would come from any
Chinaman to almost any question he might be asked about things Chinese.
Several are given but one quoted here will be sufficient to show that
their games are as full of life as among girls anywhere. "This small
girl after some delay took control of the party and began arranging them
for a game, which she called 'going to town,' similar to one which the
boys called 'pounding rice.' Two of the girls stood back to back, hooked
their arms, and as one bent forward she raised the other from the
ground, and thus alternating, they sang:
Up you go, down you see,
Here's a turnip for you and me;
Here's a pitcher, we'll go to town;
Oh, what a pity, we've fallen down.
At which point they both sat down back to back, their arms still locked,
and asked and answered the following questions:
What do you see in the heavens bright?
I see the moon and the stars at night.
What do you see in the earth, pray tell?
I see in the earth a deep, deep well.
What do you see in the well, my dear?
I see a frog and his voice I hear.
What is he saying there on the rock?
Get up, get up, ke'rh kua, ke'rh kua.
They then tried to get up, but, with their arms locked, they found it
impossible to do so, and rolled over and got up with great
hilarity."[93]
In the one city of Peking alone, Headland collected more than
seventy-five different games. In his pictures and descriptions of games
played by boys are such as would call out much vigorous exercise. One of
their favorite games was "Skin the snake." In this game the boys all
stood in line one behind the other. They would then bend forward and
each put one hand between his legs and grasp a hand of the boy behind
him. Then they all would back and the rear boy would lie down and the
others would back over astride of him and each would lie down in turn,
thus bringing the head between the legs of his neighbor. When all were
down then the last boy that lay down would get up and each would get up
in turn, raising each one after him, until all were up and standing
straight, when they would let go hands and the game was finished.
Gambling was, perhaps, the greatest sport of the Chinese, and it was
indulged in by both men and boys. "A boy with two cash prefers to risk
their loss on the throw of a die, to simply buying a cake without trying
the chance of getting it for nothing."[94] One of their means of
gambling was through cricket-fighting. In the season, the crickets were
hunted by men and boys, who would go out to the hills and waysides to
get them. They were cared for and trained and some would become such
great fighters as to command high prices.
=Dress.= The Chinese did not use wool in clothing. In the earlier times,
before cotton was introduced, it is thought that they used for their
garments some other vegetable fibers, such as rushes. When cotton was
introduced into China, it became the chief material for clothing. They
did not use underclothing but padded the outer garments for winter use
and as the weather grew colder they would put on more wadded clothes
till in full winter they would become about double their usual size.
Their shoes were made of cloth and so they were a poor protection from
cold and moisture.
The young women enjoyed wearing colors, pink and green and blue being
the ones most preferred. The ordinary dress was a large-sleeved robe of
silk or cotton over a longer garment, under which were loose trousers
fastened round the ankles just above the small feet and tight shoes.
They wore their hair hanging down in long tresses, and the putting up of
the hair was one of the ceremonies preparatory to marriage. The eyebrows
were blackened with charred sticks and arched or narrowed to a fine
curved line, to resemble a young willow leaflet or the moon when a day
or two old. Cosmetics were used quite freely, on grand occasions the
face being daubed with white paint and the lips and cheeks with red, so
that all blushes were covered up. They wore bangles, bracelets, and
ear-rings of glass, stone, and metal. "A belle is described as having
cheeks like the almond flower, lips like a peach's bloom, waist as the
willow leaf, eyes bright as dancing ripples in the sun, and footsteps
like the lotus flower."[95]
In some parts of China, if not in all, the baby in summertime wore no
clothing at all. In the winter it wore quilted trousers with feet
attached. In some parts the trousers of the baby were partly filled with
sand or earth, so that it was a common saying that a person who
displayed small practical knowledge had not yet been taken out of his
"earth-trousers." The older children wore the same pattern of clothing
and cut out of the same kind of cloth as their parents and grandparents.
=Religion.= "In considering all systems of idolatry and superstition,
one significant fact stands prominent, _the utter neglect of religious
training of the young_. China's three great religions have nothing
answering to the Christian Sunday School. Of course, boys and girls pick
up some religious ideas in their intercourse with those about them. But
nobody ever deliberately sits down to tell them of this god and that
god, their origin, character and power. Only incidentally is such
knowledge conveyed. There are many religious books; but from the
difficulty of learning to read, they are necessarily sealed to the young
mind. If the young are told to worship this idol and that idol, they
never understand why and wherefore they should do this. In time they
comprehend that they do it to obtain favor and to gain merit.
"I well remember the first time I was led to a temple and there told to
bend my knees to the idol decked out in a gorgeous robe, its face
blackened by the smoke from the incense. On either side of the room
stood four huge idols, with stern and forbidding faces. One of them was
especially frightful. It was the God of Thunder represented by an image
having the body of a man and the head of a highly caricatured rooster.
This idol had a hammer in one hand and a large nail in the other, with
which he is supposed to strike wicked persons. This god made such an
impression on me that I had a horrible dream about it that very night. I
saw him clad in fierceness; he moved his hands threateningly. Almost
choked with fright though I was, I managed to cry out and that awoke
me."[96]
=Education.= Education in China is of long standing. The Chinese from
the earliest time, 2,000 B. C., or even earlier, held school education
of high value. The competitive literary examinations of candidates for
office was established about a thousand years later and about 700 A. D.
the whole plan was gone over and arranged as found in the last century,
previous to the changes of recent years. No other nation has so
venerated scholars and scholarship.
Nevertheless of this high esteem for education, there were no public
schools in the sense as with us as the government did not establish
schools, except, perhaps, for the most advanced students. Yet there were
a great number of schools, taken care of in a private way, and although
every village did not have a school, yet they would have liked such, but
mostly on account of poverty could not, for everywhere was the most
profound reverence for education. There were three classes of
undergraduate schools: "The primary, in which little is attended to
beyond memoriter recitation and imitative chirography; the middle, in
which the canonical books are expounded; and the classical, in which
composition is the leading exercise."[97] Because of the great number of
literary scholars who wanted to teach, the pay for the most part was
quite meager.
School usually began about six in the morning, and it continued all day,
with intervals for breakfast and lunch, sometimes running till dark. In
some of the higher schools the scholars would return in the evening to
their school work. School would continue throughout the entire week and
the year, except one month during the New Year's festival and a vacation
at wheat harvest and also at the autumnal harvest. If the teacher was
preparing himself for a literary degree, there might be a vacation of
about six weeks in the summer. The teacher was often not quite regular
in his attendance at the school and the pupils were still more irregular
than he, so that in a way made up for the lack of holidays.
There were scarcely any school-houses as such in China. The schools were
held as a rule in the hall of a temple or in a private building, usually
the ancestral temples were used for such purposes, and yet they might be
held in a shed, which scarcely protected from the weather, or in the
upper attic of a shop. In this room were placed a table, with an
arm-chair, for the teacher. The writing-materials, which consisted of
brushes, India ink, and ink-wells made of slate, were placed on this
table. About the room were tables and stools for the pupils. In one
corner of the room was placed a tablet or an inscription on the wall,
dedicated to Confucius and the god of Letters.
Whatever may be said of education in older China, the teachers were
educated men, the majority of them being unsuccessful candidates for
literary degrees, but many of them were Bachelors and not a few were
Doctors. For the work they had to do they were well prepared by a long
course of study and they were usually competent. "In no country is the
office of teacher more revered. Not only is the living instructor
saluted with forms of the profoundest respect, but the very name of
teacher, taken in the abstract, is an object of almost idolatrous
homage."[98] Yet, "as a matter of fact, the Chinese teacher is often
barely able to keep soul and body together, and is frequently obliged to
borrow garments in which to appear before his patrons."[99]
The first day of school was a great and noted day in the life of a
Chinese boy. He entered school in his seventh or eighth year. When he
was to enter school, a lucky day was found for him, and with his good
clothes on he started for school, feeling that this was the greatest
event that was to happen in his life till he entered the Imperial
Academy, which he was sure to do, so said all his friends. On entering
the school-room he saluted, by prostrating himself, the picture of
Confucius and next, with almost as much reverence, saluted his teacher,
for the teacher was held in very high respect.
The course of study for the schools of China was formulated a long time
ago and rigidly held to in all the schools of the empire. It was divided
into three grades of instruction. The Chinese language does not have an
alphabet but there is a different symbol for each word. In the first
period the pupil was to learn the most important symbols, learning also
to write them, and to commit to memory the nine sacred books, known as
the Four Books and the Five Classics. The Four Books are known as the
Confucian Analects, the Great Learning, the Golden Medium, and the
Sayings of Mencius; and the Five Classics are the Book of Changes, the
Book of History, the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Book of Odes, and the
Book of Rites. All this would take four or five years on the part of the
pupil. As these books were written in the old Chinese language they
would not be understood by the pupils and the second stage of learning
consisted in the translation of these books and classics into the
language of the pupils, and also there were lessons in composition. The
commentaries on these works were taken up and their meaning explained.
In the third stage of learning composition was entered upon and
consisted in the writing of essays and poems, imitating the style and
thought of the five classics and the better commentaries. A full
comprehension of the four books and the five classics and the
commentaries upon them and the use of this knowledge in the writing of
essays and poems was the desired end aimed at by the Chinese scholar and
which was all that was needed for the highest examination in the empire.
The methods of teaching with the Chinese were formal, being based upon
methods handed down from the ages, so that all teachers taught in the
one stereotyped way. In teaching reading the teacher would have the
pupils come to his desk, stand in line, each holding his book open
before him. The teacher would read aloud a line, the pupils would then
read this in concert in a loud voice, and this would continue till the
pupils could pronounce the line without the teacher's help. Then they
would go to their seats and commit this line to memory, each shouting it
out as loud as he could. "Every Chinese regards this shouting as an
indispensable part of the child's education. If he is not shouting how
can the teacher be sure that he is studying? and as studying and
shouting are the same thing, when he is shouting there is nothing more
to be desired."[100] When the pupil had learned the line, he would go to
the teacher's desk, lay his book upon it, turn his back to the teacher,
and shout out the line as rapidly as he possibly could do. This method
gave to the Chinese the phrase "to back the book" as we have "to learn
by heart." This method was continued till the whole book was committed
to memory.
The only other subject taught in the elementary schools was writing. In
teaching writing, the master would make a copy and the pupil would place
it under transparent paper and trace it with a hair pencil and then copy
it without the tracing till he could make it from memory. "In lieu of
slates, they generally use boards painted white to save paper, washing
out the writing when finished."[101] In China, writing takes the place
that drawing and painting do here, so all strive to become fine penmen.
For most of the boys, three or four years was the extent of their
schooling, but if higher education was desired they attended higher
schools. Here they were given lectures explaining the meaning of
classical authors, which lectures were greatly committed to memory. They
were also taught prose and verse composition, in which they followed the
thought, style, and meter of the sacred books or of great writers,
memorizing these writings for the purpose.
The Chinese teacher was very severe. The more severe he was, the better
teacher he was considered. Fear ruled in the Chinese school. That the
boy might ever be reminded of the necessity of studying, the implements
to help him were always kept in plain view, as, "a wooden ruler to be
applied to the head of the offender and sometimes the hands, also a
rattan stick for the body. Flogging with this stick is the heaviest
punishment allowed; for slight offenses the ruler is used upon the
palms, and for reciting poorly--upon the head."[102] Teachers carried
their punishments to extreme lengths. The bad pupils were the stupid
ones who did not get their lessons assigned in the given time. For such,
severe beatings were administered, so severe that in one case "a pupil
was so much injured as to be thrown into fits, and such instances can
scarcely be uncommon."[103]
Girls were not often educated in China, because the parents thought it
of no use as they would marry and leave them, also there was no such
incentive for girls as with boys, who might hold office, and besides
popular opinion regarded reading and writing dangerous arts in female
hands. Nevertheless here and there a woman came forth among the educated
and celebrated instances were sometimes quoted of women who have been
skilled in verse. When a woman did emerge with a good education, she was
highly respected for her attainments. The girls of the better class were
taught needlework, painting on silk, and music.
Education in China did not stop with the youth, as the manner of filling
the offices through literary competitive examinations kept many studying
even to old age. This system was very old, dating back to several
centuries before Christ. In these examinations there were three grades
of degrees conferred--"flowering talent," Bachelors; "promoted man,"
Master; "entered scholar," Doctor. Beyond this was yet another higher
honor, as the very highest became members of the Imperial Academy, the
"forest of pencils," at the court at Peking. The best and most finished
scholar of all was so designated every three years by the Emperor, the
very greatest honor. The only thing in history that seems to approach
this honor is the winning of the foot-race at the Olympian Games.
Chinese education appears to fulfill the saying heard in this country in
bygone days--Educate a boy and he won't work--for in China "the scholar,
even the village scholar, not only does not plow and reap, but he does
not in any way assist those who perform these necessary acts. He does
not harness an animal, nor feed him, nor drive a cart, nor light a fire,
nor bring water--in short, so far as physical exertion goes, he does as
nearly as possible nothing all day. 'The scholar is not a utensil', (a
Confucian saying), he seems to be thinking all day long, and every day
of his life, until one wishes that at times he would be a utensil, that
he might sometimes be of use. He will not even move a bench nor make any
motion that looks like labor."[104]
"There are among us who are enamored of state-systems which regulate
education down to its minutest detail, and leave no room for the free
play of mind: in China we have this indirectly accomplished and see in
it all its necessary rigidity, uniformity, and pedantry. There are who
advocate a secular system of education: in China we see this in full
operation. There are who think that all success in the education of mind
should be measured by external competitive tests: in China we have this
elaborated into an iron system. There are who cling by the dogmatic and
preceptive, and regard with suspicion the habituating of the mind of
schoolboys to ideals esthetic and spiritual, including even the simple
elements of humanity: in China they will find what they desire to see.
There are who hold that teachers and school-inspectors are heaven-born,
and are above the study of educational principles and methods (as the
Emperor Sigismund was _supra Grammaticam_): so China thinks."[105]
Whatever may be said of Chinese education, it has lasted through the
ages and it has sufficed for the needs of the nation. It may be that
when this old nation gets a system of education based upon European and
American ideas, and fills her offices with the most highly educated and
only the most highly educated, then may China lead the world.
LITERATURE
1. Barnes, Earl and Mary S., Historical ideas and methods of Chinese
education. _Studies in education_, I (1896-97), 112-118.
2. Carus, Paul, Chinese life and customs.
3. Davis, John Francis, The Chinese.
4. Doolittle, Justus, Sketches of social life in China. _Harper's
Magazine_, XXXI (1865), 429-442.
5. Douglass, Robert K., China.
6. Flower, William Henry, Fashion in deformity.
7. Graves, Frank Pierrepont, A history of education, Before the Middle
Ages.
8. Headland, Isaac Taylor, Home life in China.
9. Headland, Isaac Taylor, The Chinese boy and girl.
10. Laurie, S. S., Historical survey of pre-Christian education.
11. Lee, Yan Phou, When I was a boy in China.
12. Little, Mrs. Archibald, Intimate China.
13. Martin, W. A. P., The Chinese.
14. Martin, W. A. P., The lore of Cathay.
15. Smith, Arthur H., Chinese characteristics.
16. Smith, Arthur H., Village life in China.
17. Williams, S. Wells, The Middle Kingdom.