The life of the Chinese women one of perpetual servitude and obedience. 'She is practically with out any social rights and her legal ones are still fewer. Tradition re-Auires that, "she should obey' her parents daring her maidenhood, her husband during coverture, and finally her sons. at her old age." Her "duty Ties in a life long obedience and a total elimination of herself throughout. When she gets old, her husband and his parents being dead, she has no person to whom she may "lo homage, nevertheless, she must be obedient to her! own son. Custom, of course, re-nites the latter, and in fact imposes on him a' moral obligation fo be dutiful and obedient to the mother. She has absolutely nothing to say in the administration of the family estate and the business affairs, Even her consent isnot deemed necessary in their slienation and transfer.
Her social status, was laid: down by the ancient teachers, who, how-exer, didn't originate it." They simply. codified and. reduced "into writing 'a set_of rules sanctioned by custom which had already' been in Yogue from time immemorial. At an age when. an Occidental: girl wih be romping. in the' fields, catching. butterflies,. or: engaged.ia. bind her fect until she was completely crippled and could hardly hobble a few steps in her own bedroom. Whenever occasions arose for her to leave the house, which rarely occurred, a well-bred gir]
not supposed to be seen walking on the public streets as the modern girls do nowadays, but must travel in a densely covered sedan chair accompanied by an amah ready to assist her, has preyed on' the womanhood of China for 14 centuries was originate ed accidentally in the Tang period, One of the emperors of that house had a fair-looking concubine by the name of Yao Neang, who had some chronic sores.on her feet, for which. she had to bind them until they' became deformed. One day the emperor asked her to dance in his presence and was 0 pleased with the graceful manner in which she performed her part that she rose royal favour. The emperor admire ea her deformed for, expressing hie jon that it was due to them that the had been able' to. dance 80 well. She soon became the eny: fof the other court ladies, who, in their eagerness to attract royal' attention, imitated her example for they too began to bind their fee! With royal.patronage it in time developed into a fashion, starting among houses of nobility and officials, gradually extending to common people, and quickly follow-everywhere throughout the country. It became so popular that, thirty years ago a girl would be Unmarriagable unless she had small feet. Foot-binding in the old day' typified grace, delicacy, high birth and decency, whereas those possess ing natural feet were of low birth. The hypnotic influence of the practice upon the people has not yet been lifted, for in many parts of the country' women persistently refuse to unbind their feet. Small-footed women and girls are still common in many parts of China; only in larger and more progressive cities has. there been a partial abatement. A practice that has} crippled the mothers of the people for so many centuries must have produced most unwholesome effect} the vitality of the Chinese stock. No small credit must be given to the untiring efforts of the foreign Christian missionaries who were the pioneers in organizing the crusade against the national evil which had, had a very deep rooted stronghold on the people. So accustomed were they to it that they actually pretended to see beauty and grace in the helplessness of their women.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.