Where else in the world do the women wear swords and daggers of silver in their hair, Yet the Foochow women do, and there are some interesting legends in connexion with the custom. One is to the effect, that this form of head decoration dates from the period when the Chinese were conquering the aboriginal inhabitants of this part of China, and the women of Foochow used to carry actual daggers in their hair in order to have some weapon of defence in the case of too amorous oppression on the part of the invader. Another story has it that these daggers were carried by the women to furnish them with a means of protection against wild beasts when they went into the fields to work.
But the legend that captivates the fancy of the visitor to Foochow more than any other, tells of a time when China was divided up into a number of petty states and principalities, which waged constant warfare one upon another. It tells how that once the old city was beset. by enemies and the men went. out to fight. They were defeated and returned to the gates of the town a demoralized mob, whereupon the women, who were watching from the walls, rushed to their aid, and taking the swords from the nerveless hands of the warriors attacked the enemies with such vigour and determination as to drive them back into the hills from whence they had descended upon the city. And to commemorate this brave deed the dames of Foochow were aver after allowed to wear swords and daggers in their hair. As time passed the real daggers were replaced by silver ones, and to-day every woman who is a true native of this city and the immediate neighbourhood does her hair up in a knot at the back and top, and through it sticks three silver daggers, often beautifully chased with scroll design, each measuring about a foot in length end weighing several ounces. This peculiar head dress gives these women - a wild, half savage appearance, which contrasts strangely with their unusually gentle and pretty cast of feature,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.