Ir has been well said that the estimation in which women are held is the teat of a vation's moral worth, "No reforms," says on enlightened Chinese writer, " would ba complete without the education of women and no nation can boast of superior civilization while one-half of its members are in dee ignorance and benighted supersti tion. The destiny of a nation is inextricably involved in the condition of the women." Though some writers have asserted that, in spite of their ignorance and superstition, the morals of the women of Chios are far higher than those of women in Europe, ud their manners incomparably superior, it needs bub superficial acquaintance with them to cause such statements to be regarded with a considerable degree of suspicion, Ib cannot be denied, however, tha the position of women in China compares favourably with that of their sisters in ohher Eastern lands, On the rare occasions, such as the celebration of great idolatrous festivals, when the better class Chinese women are to be seen in public, the impression conveyed to the mind of the observant spectator is not that they are living lives in which harsh treatment and oppression are the predominant features, bub rather that their existence is one of frivolous inactivity and monotonous routine. In Japan, it is true, woman holds a higher place in the social economy than she does in China.. She is not purchased im marriage and may be said to occupy a middle position between the degradation of the Mohammedan harem and the Christian plane of Europe and America, Whatever may be the virtues of Confucianism, and it is not denied phar it possesses some, it is certain that it degrades women, neglects her education and has been instrumental in keeping her in ignorance for centuries past. The claim has been made by some writers that the social position of many women has been improved by Buddhism; but this isa claim which we should be very slow to admit. Whatever merits may be possessed by the religious systems which have held tway from time immemorial in China the practical outcome, so far as women are concerned, is seen in the superstition and ignorance and the complete disregard for clean-lines of mind and body that have existed for centuries. As Mrs. Bishop has said, "They degrade ite degradation.
To those who are at all conver-sand with the Chinese written guage the ideographs of which it in composed speak eloquently of the position assigned to women in China. A recent careful observer writes, "From cradle to grave she is aba distinct disadvantage as compared with man. Women are spoken of as' moulded out of tanite," unworthy of equality with men; and it is only following in the footsteps of their sages that men look upon women with lofty disdain and credit them with much evil, not knowing or caring to discover, much less to cultivate, the good in them." A due appreciation of these facts is all that is needed to enable us to gain some adequate conception of the great changes that are taking place in the position and prospects of the women of China, And this change appears the more remarkable when the poverty and the squalid surroundings of the great major' women, together with the vitiated and enervated lives of the more istocratic and wealthier classes, into consideration, As China is unique among nations by reason of her long seclusion and isolation from the rest of the world, it would appear that she will be ry on account of the rapidity with which the long delayed transformation is now taking place. A generation ago the most acute observer could nob have predicted such a rapid movement on the part of an Empire which had remained stagnant for centuries, whilst other nations were pressing forward and leaving her hopelessly behind in everything that goes to build up a nation—in the march of civilization and in the enlightenment of the people. In nothing is this foch more conspicuously manifested than in the movement now taking place for the emancipation of the women of China, who have been so long held in the bondage of ignorance and superstition.
The extraordinary volte face observable among the Chinese in reference to female education is strikingly shown by the number of hois now in existence in Shanghai, nob to mention other places, for There are ab present, it n calculated, at the very lowe ab estimate, nearly 70,000 Chinese young women in the foreign Settlements. Of these about one thousand are students of Chinese and modern learning 80,000 are emi factories and features. The girls' boarding choels under Missionary control in Shanghai number six with over three hundred students, who begin to enjoy an unprecedented freedom of which their own mothers never dreamed. In addition to these Micsionary schools there are twelve others under native control which are very efficient and accom-pushing a solid work. im of these schools, generally speaking, is to bring about the mental, moral and physical improvement of women whilst the cultivation of a spirit of patriotism is not forgotten in some of them. That a large measure of success is attending the f|efforts pub forth is abundantly evident. Through their instrumentality, ib is no exaggeration to maintain, a mighty force is bolag sob in motion which will, in the near future, materially assist in the tion of the condition of the people us a whole. Ibis jo leaven which presently will leaven lump. Another factor which has to be taken into account in this connexion is the wonderful success that has attended the efforts of the anti-foot-binding Society which, organized and controlled for some time by foreign ladies, is now
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.