{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_63959/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_63959","id":"gutenberg_63959","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63959","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Gender & Sexuality Studies","Category: History - Other","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Sociology","East Asia -- Social life and customs","Women -- East Asia"],"text":"Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n file which includes the original illustrations.\n See 63959-h.htm or 63959-h.zip:\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/63959/pg63959-images.html)\n or\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/63959/63959-h.zip)\n\n\n Images of the original pages are available through\n Internet Archive. See\n https://archive.org/details/cu31924023537552\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s note:\n\n Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HARIM AND THE PURDAH\n\n\n[Illustration:\n\n DANCING GIRL OF JEYPORE.\n\n Frontispiece.]\n\n\nTHE HARIM AND THE PURDAH\n\nStudies of Oriental Women\n\nby\n\nELIZABETH COOPER\n\nAuthor of \u201cMy Lady of the Chinese Courtyard,\u201d \u201cThe Soul Traders,\u201d etc.\n\nIllustrated\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNew York\nThe Century Company\n\n(All rights reserved)\n\n(Printed in Great Britain)\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\n INTRODUCTION 9\n\n CHAPTER\n I. EGYPTIAN WOMEN OF THE PAST 19\n\n II. THE MODERN EGYPTIAN WOMAN 39\n\n III. MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, POLYGAMY 56\n\n IV. THE WOMAN OF THE DESERT 69\n\n V. INDIAN SOCIAL LIFE 85\n\n VI. INDIAN HOME LIFE 100\n\n VII. MARRIAGE\u2014THE GOAL OF WOMAN 113\n\n VIII. INDIAN MOTHERHOOD 130\n\n IX. WOMAN\u2019S SORROW 143\n\n X. HYDERABAD AND THE MOHAMMEDAN WOMAN 154\n\n XI. MOHAMMEDANISM WITHIN THE ZENANA 170\n\n XII. BURMAH 179\n\n XIII. BURMESE RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION 200\n\n XIV. THE LADY OF CHINA 211\n\n XV. THE RED CHAIR OF MARRIAGE 240\n\n XVI. WHEN CHINESE WOMEN DIE 254\n\n XVII. CHANGING CHINA 260\n\n XVIII. JAPANESE WOMEN AT HOME 271\n\n CONCLUSION 307\n\n\n\n\n ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n DANCING GIRL OF JEYPORE _Frontispiece_\n\n Facing page\n \u201cTWO WOMEN SHALL BE GRINDING AT THE MILL\u201d 9\n\n EGYPTIAN WOMAN OF THE LOWER CLASS 19\n\n RAMESES AND HIS WIFE 20\n\n A WATER-CARRIER 36\n\n THE TAILOR 44\n\n A WOMAN OF THE MASSES 64\n\n CHILDREN ON THE NILE 66\n\n BEDOUIN WOMEN IN FRONT OF TENT 69\n\n A HOLY MAN, BENARES 96\n\n CRADLE IN VILLAGE, BARODA 132\n\n INDIAN WOMEN SPINNING 148\n\n A CARRIAGE FOR WOMEN 154\n\n MOHAMMEDAN WOMEN, HYDERABAD 170\n\n HUSKING RICE IN A BURMESE VILLAGE 179\n\n BURMESE GIRL 180\n\n DANCING AT A VILLAGE FESTIVAL, BURMAH 183\n\n A BUDDHIST SCHOOL MANDALAY (SHOWING BEGGING-BOWL) 194\n\n BURMESE BOY WITH TATTOOED LEGS 196\n\n _EN ROUTE_ TO A FESTIVAL, BURMAH 198\n\n A BURMESE WOMAN AND HER CIGAR 206\n\n BURMESE WORKING WOMAN 208\n\n GOLDEN PAGODA, MANDALAY 210\n\n CHINESE WOMEN WARMING HANDS AND FEET WITH BRAZIERS 214\n\n CHINESE WOMEN AND CHAIR-BEARERS 218\n\n BOUND FEET OF CHINESE WOMAN 221\n\n AN OLD-FASHIONED CHINESE GIRLS\u2019 SCHOOL 224\n\n WHEELBARROW AND COOLIE\u2014USED IN PLACE OF WAGONS IN TOWNS\n AND COUNTRY VILLAGES NEAR SHANGHAI 236\n\n RAIN-COATS OF CHINESE WORKMEN 246\n\n RICE-BOATS ON CANAL, CHINA 260\n\n JAPANESE CHILDREN PLAYING 276\n\n AN OUTDOOR KITCHEN IN JAPAN 290\n\n[Illustration:\n\n \u201cTWO WOMEN SHALL BE GRINDING AT THE MILL.\u201d\n\n To face p. 9.]\n\n\n\n\n INTRODUCTION\n\n \u201cWhat thou biddest\n Unargued I obey. So God ordains;\n God is _thy_ law, thou mine: to know no more\n Is woman\u2019s happiest knowledge, and her praise.\u201d\n\n\nThis is the creed of the woman of the East to-day. It is the same as it\nhas been for centuries; it will continue the same for centuries to come.\nIndeed, it is a question whether the Oriental woman, with all her\nintellectual and social advance which is already beginning, will be able\never to free herself from those traditional and inherent influences\nwhich have been wrought into the very warp and woof of Eastern humanity.\n\nThe Eastern woman is primarily a traditionalist. She is more closely\nbound by hereditary tendency than the woman of the West. One of her\noutstanding characteristics has lain for years in her dependency and\npassive reliance upon her husband for economic support and protection.\nHer very seclusion means to her, not that which the word would connote\nto the Westerner, slavery or imprisonment; to her it is rather the\nmantle of protective care and interest thrown over her by her lord and\nmaster. It has helped to make her feminine, as it has naturally added to\nher inefficiency as far as any work is concerned that bears a similitude\nof masculine activity.\n\nWith the exception of the Burmese woman, and to an appreciable and\ngrowing extent the women of Japan, the Oriental woman has been\ninfluenced and moulded by her economic necessities. The Eastern attitude\ntoward woman, which in general has been to keep her ignorant and to\nconsider that her charms other than those relating to her physical\nattractions are minute, has brought about a feminine type peculiar to\nitself. The result is a woman who outside of the home has no power of\ngaining a livelihood, and who as a natural consequence has turned her\nwhole thought, emotion, and imagination upon her domestic affairs.\nFurthermore, we find in such countries of the Orient as Burmah and\nJapan, where women are solving the problem of self-support, that they\nhave also been able, not only to have greater freedom, but also, to a\ncertain extent, they have demanded the right to choose their own mates\nand regulate the laws concerning their home life. For instance, in each\nof these countries the wife has the right of divorcing her husband\u2014a\nright denied the woman of other Oriental lands. The property rights of\nwomen in these lands, where women are just beginning to be wage-earners,\nare also clearly set forth in their civil codes, giving justice to the\nwomen.\n\nThe realm of the Eastern woman is primarily the realm of the home. She\nhas the true spirit of the bee; she considers the collective good of the\nhousehold before her own. Her great vocation is to be a wife and mother.\nShe attends personally to her household duties, and domestic service is\nto her not a disgrace. Her children are to her a veritable life-work.\nShe looks after them personally, superintends their every act, and\nwatches closely their development. Even the high lady of the East does\nnot consider it demeaning to cook with her own hands that which she\nknows will appeal to the taste of her family. Cooking, indeed, is\nregarded as a fine art in the East, and recipes are handed down like\nheirlooms from mother to daughter along with the family jewels.\n\nThe Eastern woman is honoured by the honour of her household. It is her\nbusiness to make it possible for her husband and her sons to advance,\nand she shines in the reflected light of their achievements. She has not\nbeen taught, neither has she any suspicion of the Western ambition to\nmake name and fame for herself. There is a certain delight and\nsatisfaction in living behind the veil which one can hardly appreciate\nfrom the Western point of view. That this Eastern feminine regards her\nsuccess as domestic rather than social is abundantly proved to any one\nwho lives intimately in touch with the women of these countries.\n\nThe one great cry which goes up from the heart of every Oriental woman,\nregardless of place or station, in any home between Algiers and Tokio,\nis, \u201cGive me sons!\u201d It is this desire for men-children, and the belief\non the part of the woman that this is the primal and ultimate destiny of\nwomanhood, that has made marriage the universal custom for all women\nthroughout the East. Rarely indeed do you find an unmarried woman. In\nIndia marriage is assured by betrothal in early childhood; and even in\nthose countries where education and Western influence are raising the\nage limit of marriages one finds no diminution in the general feeling\nthat woman\u2019s world is the home, with her children about her.\n\nThis devotion to the purely domestic realm has left the woman a victim\nto ignorance, superstition, and the many evils that follow in their\ntrain. One finds the same superstition working in the minds of the women\nin Cairo, in Calcutta, and in Peking. The Egyptian mother dresses her\nboy in rags to guard him from the baneful influence of the \u201cevil eye,\u201d\nwhile the woman of China pierces her son\u2019s ears and places a ring\ntherein, to deceive the gods and make them think he is a girl. The woman\nof Algiers will buy charms and magic symbols to bring her the blessing\nof motherhood, while the woman of Japan visits shrines and holy places,\nwhere her faith and superstition are traded upon by those who understand\nthe weakness of their womenkind. She has so long been accustomed to rely\nupon her superstitions, her emotions, and to use her intuition in the\nplace of a brain, that the present beginnings in education have been\nhampered. That, however, she will prove herself capable in the realm of\nmental training is proven by the fact that, especially in Egypt and in\nJapan, modern schools for girls are becoming really popular movements in\nthe development of these countries. Every advance in the education of\nmen adds to the possibility of intellectual emancipation for women.\n\nDuring long ages Eastern women have been denied the right to think for\nthemselves and have been compelled to feel their way emotionally, and\ntheir power to feel thus has become abnormally developed at the expense\nof their power to judge or reason. The woman of the Orient is a woman\nswayed by emotions, by the heart instead of by the intellect.\n\nThere is a logical line of connection to be traced among the modern\nwomen of the East. Her phases of development have been the inevitable\noutcome of influences to which she has been taught to submit as a duty.\nHer religious sense\u2014the strong spiritual craving that is deep within the\nheart of all women\u2014has been utilized as a means of influencing her to\nyield implicit obedience to her mankind, whether he be father, brother,\nor husband. She has made him, in a certain sense, her god, and in\nyielding all to him she has ceased to think in the terms of her own\nindividuality, accepting the common opinion that the Eastern woman lives\nfor her home and the amusement and the material comfort of her husband.\nA mental deficiency bill was passed upon her centuries ago, and the laws\ncommand her husband to keep her under restraint. Her menfolks expect her\nto be deficient, and have carefully guarded her from opportunities of\nbecoming otherwise. Her husband has not associated her with any of his\noutside life, and she has found little or nothing in his conversation to\nstimulate or to broaden her mind. Considering her as a being who only\nunderstands her children and the petty gossip of the women\u2019s quarters,\nhe has deprived her of the mental possibilities which have reached the\nmen of the East. He has not only tried to teach her not to think for\nherself, but the Eastern masculine has endeavoured to make her\nunderstand that she cannot think. Nor is this tendency entirely\nabolished by modern education. The young girl fresh from her school in\nCairo or Calcutta, where she has caught glimpses of a new world, and\nwhere her brain has been slightly awakened, marries and goes into the\ntraditional home, where her faith in herself is gradually diminished by\nliving constantly in the atmosphere of ignorance and superstition which\nstill rules so largely in her woman\u2019s world. Finally, she gives up\ntrying, resigning herself to the standard of the man-made world in which\nshe finds herself, and her husband becomes her keeper in every sense of\nthe word.\n\nThe Eastern woman naturally tends in this way to lose her self-reliance,\nwhich she is not allowed to exercise. She often decides few matters for\nherself, even the small details of her daily life being settled by her\nhusband. The effect is insidious, but none the less relaxing, since the\nfaculty of responsibility, like every other faculty, is strengthened\nonly by exercise, and passes away with disuse.\n\nCan the woman of the East be awakened to an advanced development without\nharm to herself? Within her is found an enormous amount of suppressed\ncapacity for good and evil. This suppression, which has been her cue for\ngenerations, possesses great dynamic power. Force becomes dangerous when\nconfined; it should be directed, and unless properly guided and\ncontrolled, when it does burst forth, as it is bound to do with these\nwomen who are becoming educated and learning their power, it is likely\nto riot widely, with havoc for its effect. The Eastern woman who has\ntraded upon her emotional nature for her livelihood, who has used these\nsame emotions to keep her husband in a land where divorce is easy and\nwhere polygamy is practised by many, may be guided by her feelings\nrather than her intellect, using her new-found freedom to bring her\nlasting unhappiness instead of the joy which she now believes is lying\njust outside her doors. In India advance has come too rapidly at times,\nand the woman in her desire to slavishly imitate her sisters from the\nWest has shocked the conservative traditions of her nation, and thereby\ngreatly retarded her cause. The Egyptian woman when in England or France\nbecomes almost ludicrous in her attempts to be like the European woman,\nforgetting that she lacks the foundation of the years of freedom and\nequality with men which bring judgment and confidence to the woman of\nthe Western world.\n\nThe woman of the Orient is awakening and is setting herself the task to\nconsider what is best to be done. How can she remedy the deficiency of\nthe social life of her land? The case is not a hopeless one by any\nmeans, even though her capacities and wonderful possibilities have lain\ndormant for so long. Many of these women now see the things that are\nwrong; they see the iniquity of a system in which they are not allowed\nto choose their own mate; they see the crying wrongs of their antiquated\nmarriage and divorce laws, made for another period than the twentieth\ncentury\u2014laws which do not fit the present conditions, however successful\nthey may have been in other times. These women are learning to respect\nthemselves and their position, learning to appreciate and value the\nweight of their majorities, and some are having the courage to speak\nout. These bolder ones are being punished for their intrepidity; but it\ndoes not check them. The cause for which they are working is gradually\nbecoming more and more possible with the advent of education and Western\ninfluences, which are causing the present-day educated men of the Orient\nto require a certain amount of education in their wives and daughters.\nAs this new order comes to the land of the Nile and the Ganges, the\nold-time woman who passed her days lounging on the divans, eating\nsweets, drinking coffee, and gossiping with servants and friends as\nignorant as herself, will pass away. The new woman of the East will\nnever be a suffragette; she will never attend mass meetings nor carry\nbanners marked \u201cVotes for Women\u201d; indeed, it would be as incongruous to\nthink of these sheltered women doing such a thing as to imagine the long\nrow of mummies at the Museum of Cairo suddenly starting a procession\ndown the aisles of the museum. These women, however, are setting up a\nhigh standard for themselves, eager to accept all the Western world has\nto offer them by way of education and growth, while they feel that they\nhave the capacity to attain the objects of their new ambitions.\n\nIn all this change, will the Oriental woman remain the same as regards\nthe deepest things in her nature? Will she keep her innate sense of\nmodesty, her womanliness, her love of home and children, her feminine\nqualities which seem to us of the Western world almost a weakness, but\nwhich comprise her appealing charm? We cannot but feel that although the\nwoman of the East may change radically in the outward expression of her\nlife, inwardly she will remain the same. Indeed, it would be a great\nmistake if the Eastern woman became satisfied with any mere superficial\nimitation of her Western sisters. She would lose her birthright. She\nwould lose the consummate opportunity of being an Oriental in an\nOriental world, and bringing out of her treasure things new and old for\nthe benefit of the women of every race. Her message to the world of the\nWest in the devotion and the keeping of the home, in the love and pride\nof children, in her self-effacement for the good of the family, is a\nhigh message and in no period has it been more insistently needed. It is\nthis contribution which the woman of the Orient will bring in return for\nthe education and enlightenment from the Occident.\n\nIf the Western woman comes to the Oriental bringing in her hands the\nfair gifts of intellectual advancement and broadened life, her Eastern\nsister will not be her debtor if she, by example, presents in return the\neven more precious charms of obedience, modesty, and loyalty which\nfundamentally are the priceless jewels in the crown of the world\u2019s\nwomanhood.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n EGYPTIAN WOMAN OF THE LOWER CLASS.\n\n To face p. 19.]\n\n\n\n\n The Harim and the Purdah\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I\n EGYPTIAN WOMEN OF THE PAST\n\n\nThe word Egypt opens the Book of Romance to the traveller in the East,\nand he longs to come under the spell of its mysterious grandeur, and\ngaze upon the monuments which will speak to him of the power and\nsplendour of a people long since gathered to their gods. It is a land in\nwhich to dream dreams and see visions. The temples, broken columns, and\ngreat pylons call with a voice that must be heard even by the prosaic\ntourist, and the hands he sees painted upon the walls of Denderah or\nDeirel Bahari will beckon him when sitting in office, club, or home, far\nfrom the dazzling sands or burning sun of Africa.\n\nThe charm of the land of the Pharaohs is very real, and it is hard to\nspeak of Egyptian life in a calm and lucid style, or free oneself from\nextravagant descriptions.\n\nEgypt and its fascination are favourite themes for novelists and writers\nof travel, and yet in spite of a good deal of general knowledge we\nremain curiously ignorant of the Egyptian woman, from the point of view\nof her moral and mental development. In common with women of other\nOriental lands, she has been an object of mystery to the Western world.\nWe know that in the olden time, in the days of the Pharaohs, she held an\nimportant place in the life of her world. We see her pictures on the\ntombs, temples were erected in her honour, and we know that there were\nqueens who in their day governed their country with dignity and rare\nability.\n\nIn former days the purity of the blood of the royal line was assured by\nthe marriage of a brother and sister, the queen reigning equally with\nthe king. If a queen of royal birth took as her consort a male not\ndescended directly from a royal mother, even though his father might\nhave been a Pharaoh, at the death of his wife he was compelled to\nabdicate in favour of the son or daughter who could call the queen\n\u201cmother.\u201d This was shown when Thotmes I was compelled to resign his\ncrown in favour of that great Queen Hatshepsu, his daughter, who for\ntwenty years governed Egypt. Although her reign was a stormy one because\nof her half-brothers who claimed the throne, her name and features\nerased from all the monuments, and omitted from the official tablets and\nchronological records, yet enough was left to show that her power had\nbeen great and that she commanded the attention of the world. It is said\nthat Hatshepsu had herself everywhere depicted as a man, wearing the\ndress and even the beard of the stronger sex, perhaps hoping in this way\nto gain a greater allegiance of her people.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n RAMESES AND HIS WIFE.\n\n To face p. 20.]\n\nOne of the most interesting temples along the Nile is that of the first\nwoman ruler of Egypt of whom we have accurate knowledge. One rides over\nthe hot sands beneath a burning sun to a series of great terraces and\nbroken white columns against a background of tiger-coloured precipices.\nThis beautiful temple of the XVIIIth Dynasty, called by the Egyptians\n\u201cthe Sublime of the Sublime,\u201d was dedicated to Amen Ra and his companion\ngods, Hathor and Anubis, but it was really erected to commemorate the\nglorious reign of a great queen.\n\nAnother woman who influenced Egypt was the mother of Amenophis IV, the\ngreat reformer. He disestablished the State religion, some say at the\ninstance of his mother; confiscated the lands and destroyed the power of\nthe priests of Amon who were becoming all-powerful; and established the\nworship of one God.\n\nSolomon evidently held the Egyptians in high favour. He had many wives\nbefore he married a princess of Egypt, but we hear of no palaces being\nbuilt especially for any of them, nor of the worship of their gods being\nintroduced into Jerusalem. Yet we are told that a magnificent palace was\nbuilt for Pharaoh\u2019s daughter and that she was permitted, although\ncontrary to the laws of Israel, to worship the gods of her country.\n\nThen there was Hypatia, an Alexandrine, who established a school of\nphilosophy where learned men from all parts of the world came to listen\nto her words of wisdom; and in the British Museum there is a manuscript\nof the Old and New Testament, written on parchment immediately after the\nCouncil of Nice, by an Egyptian woman, which goes to prove that men did\nnot possess all the knowledge nor learning of their time.\n\nWe all know the story of Cleopatra and the part she played in the\ndownfall of her country, and history abounds with tales narrating the\nbravery, courage, and charm of Egyptian women.\n\nWomen are also associated with the religion of this old land. The\nworship of Isis was as general as the worship of her brother Osiris, and\nthis goddess is reverenced as the representation of true and loyal\nwifehood.\n\nAnother woman, Athor, the goddess of love, who was called the \u201cGreat\nMother\u201d and served as the protectress of earthly mothers, was good and\nbeautiful, lovely and gentle, the goddess of love and joy. Neith was\nworshipped as the goddess of art and learning. Maat was the goddess of\ntruth and justice; and in ancient times judges, when trying cases, held\na small figure of the goddess Maat in their hands, and touched the\npersons acquitted with it, to show that they had won their cause.\n\nThere was Taur, the goddess of evil, and Sekhet, typical of the\nscorching, destructive power of the sun, and many minor goddesses whose\nemblems, seen on columns and walls of the ancient ruins, tell us that in\nthose days woman was thought fit to represent Divinity.\n\nThe women of ancient Egypt were evidently not secluded, as is shown by\nthe story of Pharaoh\u2019s daughter who was going with her train of maids to\nbathe when she found Moses. The story of Potiphar\u2019s wife and Joseph\nwould never have been told in modern times, as a man-servant would not\nhave dared to go to the women\u2019s quarters.\n\nThis valley of the Nile has always been the home of mystery and charm.\nThe inscriptions on its tombs and temples have been deciphered and\nreceive much attention in modern days; but they are not more interesting\nthan is the woman of Egypt, who, as we have learned, enjoyed greater\nliberties and received more honour than is the heritage of her modern\ndaughters. It is difficult to understand her, as even yet she represents\ntraditions and the habits of dead centuries, fit to be relegated to the\npast.\n\nShe is the Sphinx of this Oriental land, and will not easily give to the\nworld her secrets.\n\n\n THE MOHAMMEDAN WOMAN.\n\nWhen first one visits Egypt, romance seems to peer from beneath the veil\nof each black-robed figure, and mystery lurks behind the intricate\ncarving that covers the windows where one is sure some languid beauty\nsits waiting for the moment when her lord and master will be gone, that\nshe may wave a white hand to the passionate suitor below. This idea of\nEgypt is generally derived from highly coloured and erotic novels which\nalways make this country alluring and often sensual. To one who has been\ngiven this highly seasoned food for his imagination to feed upon the\nmodern Egypt, with its great glaring hotels, its motor-cars, its shops\nthat might be in London or New York, is a great disappointment.\n\nIllusions will again be lost if one is permitted to enter the beautiful\nhomes on the fashionable drives of Cairo, for they are not Eastern in\nany sense, nor is there anything about them to indicate that their\nowners are Orientals. They express no individuality, and might belong to\nany person of means whether in the East or the West. The drawing-rooms\nare furnished in French fashion, with gilded chairs, a grand piano,\nhangings and curtains made in England or France. Great glass chandeliers\nholding the glaring electric lights express the cosmopolitanism which\nthe mistress feels she must show the world, in order that she may not be\nconsidered as belonging to the old school of Egyptian womanhood.\n\nOne hears the word harim and instantly conjures up an Arabian Nights\npicture of rare hangings, subdued lights, beautiful odalisques lounging\non soft divans, slaves, incense, and a general air of sensuousness\npervading the entire place. I read a book not long ago written by a\nwell-known woman writer who says, \u201cI am thankful to say that I have\nnever been within a harim except twice, and the memory of that dreadful\nplace will rest with me for many years.\u201d Yet she admits that on her\nfirst visit to this \u201cdreadful place\u201d she had no interpreter and could\nonly draw upon her imagination to give the women she saw their position\nin the elaborate household. This imagination was evidently a vivid one,\nas she believed that many women she saw were \u201cthe poor deluded slaves\u201d\nof the master of the house, while quite likely they were the innumerable\nrelatives and woman-servants that always throng the rich man\u2019s home.\n\nIn reality, in present-day modern Cairo, if one enters the harim of the\nbetter class, or of the official class, one is greeted by a hostess\ndressed in the latest French creation, tea is served, while the politics\nof the world are discussed easily in either French or English by the\npolished, up-to-date Egyptian women.\n\nThe word harim is much misunderstood by the people of the Western world.\nThe Arabic word harim simply means the women\u2019s quarters. The selam-lik\nare the apartments in which the men of the household have their business\noffices, receive their friends, and pass their time, while the harim-lik\nare the apartments reserved for the female members and children of the\nfamily. The literal meaning is exclusiveness, seclusion, privacy. In its\nrestricted sense it embodies the two meanings of the women of the\nhousehold and their exclusive apartments. In the wider acceptance of the\nterm we understand by harim an established social system deriving its\nsanction from a body of laws promulgated by the Arabian prophet\nMohammed. When a woman is harim it means that she is secluded, and we\nhear the expression in regard to schoolgirls. \u201cYes, my daughters go to\nschool,\u201d a mother will say, \u201cbut they are kept harim.\u201d\n\nIn Persia and Turkey the word zenana is used, and in India the common\nform of expression for the woman who is not seen by any male except\nthose of her immediate family is, \u201cShe is purdah-nashim, or simply\npurdah.\u201d The purdah is the screen that shuts her from the outside world,\nand the Oriental, whatever his race, whether in Egypt, Turkey, or India,\nwhether he calls it the harim, purdah, or zenana, speaks of it in his\nliterature and poetry as the \u201cSanctuary of Conjugal Happiness.\u201d\n\nOne can live years in the East and get little idea of the life of the\nMoslem woman of the better class. In Egypt ten million out of the twelve\nmillion inhabitants are followers of the prophet Mohammed, and to\nunderstand at all the Eastern woman one must learn something of the\nreligion that dominates the entire life of the Mohammedan. The actions\nof the Moslem woman, whether in India, Arabia, Egypt, Persia, or\nAlgiers, are controlled and forced to comply with the laws made by the\nArabian prophet of the seventh century, and even to-day his word\npractically governs each act of the domestic life as well as the world\noutside the home.\n\nBefore Mohammed\u2019s time there were no social, religious, nor educational\ninstitutions in Arabia, as we understand them. Unlimited polygamy,\nslavery, drunkenness, polytheism, gambling, child murder, and plunder\nexisted. He taught that there was but one God, forbade child murder,\nlimited the number of wives to four, forbade the use of intoxicating\nliquors, gambling, usury, and gave women a definite legal status.\n\nThe reforms inaugurated by this wonderful man effected vast and marked\nimprovement in the position of the women of the Eastern world. Her\nstatus had degenerated from that held in ancient times until her\nposition was extremely degraded. She was the chattel of her father,\nbrother, or husband, like his camel or his sheep, and could be bought\nand sold as any other chattel. She was an integral part of her husband\u2019s\nestate and was inherited by his heirs. The son inherited his father\u2019s\nwives and often married them. This Mohammed severely censured, and laid\ndown most exacting laws in regard to the women lawful for a man to\nmarry. He says:\u2014\n\n And marry not them whom your fathers have married; for this is a\n shame and hateful, and an evil way\u2014though what is past may be\n allowed. Forbidden to you are your mothers and your daughters, and\n your sisters, and your aunts, both on your father\u2019s and your\n mother\u2019s side, and your foster-mothers and your foster-sisters, and\n the mothers of your wives, and your stepdaughters who are your\n wards, born of your wives, and the wives of your sons, and ye may\n not have two sisters.\n\nHe is severely criticized that he authorized polygamy, but when one\nremembers the wild, lawless people whom he governed, it seems that he\nshowed extreme moderation in limiting the number of wives to four. He\nadded that a man might possess the slaves within the household, and his\nfollowers say he was compelled to put in this postscript in order to\nquiet the unrest that was caused by the new domestic regulation which\nwas so contrary to all ideas then controlling his immediate world.\n\nHe expressly stated that if a man could not deal justly and love equally\nall his wives, he must then marry but one. All true believers quote this\nas meaning that Mohammed really intended his people to be monogamous, as\nit was fully known that no man could love four women with equal ardour.\nThe husband is also enjoined to partition his time equally amongst his\nfamilies, and there is a saying that if a man inclines particularly to\none of the women of his household, in the day of judgment he will\nincline to one side by being a paralytic.\n\nHe allowed women to inherit property, although he gave a girl only half\nthe inheritance of a boy. A wife may inherit one-fourth of her husband\u2019s\nestate if there are no children, and one-eighth if there are children;\nif there is more than one wife, the eighth is divided equally amongst\nthem. A man may inherit one-half of his wife\u2019s property in the event of\nher being childless, but only one-quarter if she leaves children, and\nneither one can disinherit the other.\n\nYet the laws show clearly that a woman was not legally the equal of a\nman, as it takes the testimony of two women to equal that of one man,\nand the price of a woman\u2019s life was only fifty camels instead of the\nhundred camels demanded for the life of a man. There is a reason for\nthis other than the mere disregard of women. Those days were lawless\ndays, when tribe was fighting tribe and the non-fighting women were\nnaturally not held in such esteem as were the men who were needed to\nfight in the continuous tribal wars.\n\nMoslems claim that the Mohammedan woman is more truly protected by the\nlaws of Mohammed than are the women of Western countries. She can\ndispose of any property that she may receive, either from her family or\nher husband, as she sees fit. She is not responsible for the debts of\nher husband; she can sue and be sued; or she can make contracts or enter\ninto any business undertaking without consulting her husband; and she\nmay even take him before the courts if he does not live up to an\nagreement he may have made with her.\n\nYet this wily Eastern prophet did not believe in the absolute equality\nof women; as he says:\u2014\n\n Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God\n hath gifted one above the other, and on account of the outlay they\n make from their substance for them;\n\nand he warns his followers from making too large settlements on them or\nin giving them too many valuable gifts:\n\n And entrust not to the incapable the substance which God hath placed\n with you for their support; but maintain them therewith, and clothe\n them, and speak to them with kindly speech.\n\nA Moslem woman is supposed to share the responsibilities of life as well\nas its pleasures. In the case of destitute parents, sons are required to\ncontribute two-thirds towards their support, while the daughters must\nadd their third. This is a very wise law, because Egypt, like\npractically all Oriental countries, makes no provision from its public\nfunds for the maintenance of the poor or old. Each family must care for\nits own helpless.\n\nMany reasons are given for the laws compelling the women of Mohammedan\nlands to be veiled and to pass their life within the inner apartments\nreserved for their especial use. Some say that Mohammed caused women to\nbe veiled because of his jealousy of his young wife Ayesha; others claim\nthat the prophet, becoming enamoured by the beauty of his adopted son\u2019s\nwife, caused her to be divorced, afterwards marrying her, contrary to\nthe laws he himself had made; he wished to protect men from being\nsubjected to the temptation which had overtaken him and had brought upon\nhim the displeasure of his people. But the seclusion of women was found\nin Asia, in ancient Rome, in Syria, and even in Athens, long before the\ntime of Mohammed. It was in practice amongst many Oriental nations from\nthe earliest times, and quite likely Mohammed simply adopted the customs\nof the people with whom he came in contact on his conquering tours.\n\nThe seclusion of women, especially among the nomads, can be traced to\nthe warlike habits of the people. In times of war the enemy would first\nof all carry away the women, children, and cattle of the tribe with whom\nthey were fighting. In order to protect the helpless they were kept in\ninner rooms. The richer and stronger the family, the more secluded were\nthe women, and it became a mark of caste to be kept within the women\u2019s\nquarters, or protected. Thus what first originated as a necessity became\nafterwards a matter of aristocracy, and the man who could keep his women\nstrictly harim was looked upon as higher in the social scale than one\nwho was compelled, from economic reasons or otherwise, to allow the\nfemales of his household to come and go freely in the world.\n\nAn Egyptian woman, from the time when she is seven or eight years old,\nnever shows her face unveiled to any man except her father, her brother,\nor her husband. No chance is given the followers of the Arabian prophet\nto have the little flirtations that are so dear to the heart of many of\nher Western sisters. Mohammed says:\u2014\n\n And speak to the believing women that they refrain their eyes and\n display not their ornaments, except those which are external; and\n that they throw their veils over their bosoms, and display not their\n ornaments except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their\n husbands\u2019 fathers, or their sons, or their husbands\u2019 sons, or their\n brothers or their brothers\u2019 sons, or their sisters\u2019 sons, or their\n women, or their slaves or their children. And let them not strike\n their feet together so as to discover their hidden ornaments.\n\nThe present-day Mohammedan woman observes this law more strictly than\nwas at first intended, even to not being seen by the father of her\nhusband. I know an Egyptian woman who is never seen by her father-in-law\nexcept on the first day of the year, when he calls upon her to wish her\nthe joys of the coming year. She enters the room closely veiled and\noffers him the season\u2019s greetings, then leaves without further\nconversation. I was calling upon an Indian Mohammedan woman who could\nnot enter the room until her father-in-law had left it, as it would have\nbeen a serious breach of etiquette for him to see her.\n\nThis seclusion does not rest heavily upon the Mohammedan woman, as she\nconsiders it the desire of her husband to protect her, and she would be\nthe first to resent the breaking of her seclusion, as showing that she\nhad lost value in his eyes. She lives for no one except her family, is\nsupposed to be of no interest to any one else, it being a great breach\nof social decorum for any male member of a family to even inquire about\nher. A man would never say to another man, \u201cIs your wife well?\u201d He would\nsay, \u201cIs your household well?\u201d And the husband would never speak of his\n\u201cwife\u201d to another man, but would speak of his \u201chouse,\u201d which would\nnaturally include the female occupants.\n\nThe harim is the \u201cHoly of Holies\u201d in the Moslem world. Even a police\nofficial would hardly dare to penetrate the women\u2019s quarters in search\nof a criminal. When a man has retired to his harim he is free from any\ndisturbing influence from the outside world. If a friend or enemy should\ncall and servants would say that the master was in the harim, the caller\nwould be compelled to leave or wait until the master was disposed to\nenter again the selam-lik, or rooms assigned to the male members of the\nhousehold.\n\nThe greatest evil in the harim life lies in the dreadful seclusion and\nthe paralysing monotony. Many of the older women are unable to read and\nwrite, and they pass their days in weary idleness and a vacuous routine\nwhich is only broken by visits to women friends as mentally impoverished\nas themselves. Not being allowed the friendship of the opposite sex,\nthey are denied the stimulation of the mind which would no doubt result\nfrom the interchange of ideas with men who come in contact with the\noutside world. Naturally the intellectual development is restricted, and\nthis starving of the mentality of the women must have a result\ndetrimental to the rising generation.\n\nSeclusion also makes a woman very much more the actual possession of her\nhusband than she would be if allowed to come and go in the world, to\nknow her rights and the means by which to enforce them. Although the\nlaws are very much in her favour, in regard to property rights\nespecially, it takes a woman of more than ordinary courage and\nintelligence to break away from the walls which encircle her and parade\nher troubles in open court. We are told of the wonderful laws allowing\nthe woman to dispose of her property as she wishes; but we are not told\nthat she may give this property to her husband, and when once within the\nharim, pressure is often brought compelling the woman to give all that\nshe possesses to her husband, making her doubly helpless and wholly\nwithin his power.\n\nThey have a proverb that a woman must always answer the call of her\nhusband, \u201ceven if she is at the oven.\u201d Her happiness depends entirely\nupon the treatment she receives from him. His visits to the harim are\nthe only breaks in the monotony of her life, and he brings to her the\nonly touch she may have with the great man-world outside. By a few men\nthe wives are treated as if they were intellectual equals, but these are\nfew and far between. The average Oriental treats his womenfolk as if\nthey were upon a lower plane than himself, \u201cbrought up amongst ornaments\nand contentious without cause.\u201d\n\nOne would judge that, handicapped as they are, Moslem women would take\nno part in the political or social life of their country, but facts\nprove that they can rise to great heights and exhibit rare courage and\nexecutive powers in time of need. Ayesha, the favourite wife of\nMohammed, showed an instance of bravery and courage that might belong to\nwomen of any land. When Ali, the cousin of the prophet, rebelled against\nthe successors of Mohammed, Ayesha took the field against him,\ncommanding the troops in person at the \u201cBattle of the Camel,\u201d and in\nlater days they have shown that the restrictions of the harim do not\ndeaden the fires that burn in women\u2019s breasts when tyranny or oppression\nrules their land.\n\nIn Persia, where Mohammedanism in its strictest sect has sway, the women\nhave been known to rise in force and demand the rights of their people\nwhen all the efforts of the men have failed. In 1861, at the time of the\ngreat famine, foodstuffs rose to an exorbitant price, because of a few\ngreedy officials who were enriching themselves at the expense of their\nstarving countrymen. It was impossible to bring the matter before the\nShah by the methods generally employed, but the women rose, and one day\nthousands of them surrounded his carriage as he was returning from a\nhunting trip, and stating the wrongs of his people, demanded that he\nshould make an investigation. The Shah was thoroughly frightened at the\nsight of this unprecedented exhibition on the part of his usually unseen\nsubjects, and promised all they asked, and, what was more wonderful,\nkept his promise. The leaders of the party who were causing the distress\nwere beheaded, and the price of bread was diminished by half within\ntwelve hours. It is only a few years ago that the women of Persia\nconfronted the President of the Assembly in his hall, and tearing aside\ntheir veils and producing revolvers, confessed their decision to kill\ntheir husbands and sons and add their own dead bodies to the sacrifice\nif the deputies should waver in their duties to uphold the liberties of\nthe Persian people.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A WATER-CARRIER.\n\n To face p. 36.]\n\nThese Moslem women display a fortitude and courage that is almost\nfanatical in times of persecution. Thousands in Persia have given their\nlives for their faith in Baha Ullah, the leader of a sect of reformed\nMohammedans. They have been dragged from the harims to the public\nmarket-places, where they have been subjected to unheard of indignities\nbefore having the privilege of dying for their faith. They have also\nbeen compelled to sit in rows facing the public execution grounds while\ntheir husbands and sons were beheaded before their eyes, but even the\ntorture and death of those they loved did not cause them to waver from\nwhat they believed to be right. The story of one woman exemplifies the\nfanatical courage that will dominate such a shut-in woman, when in some\ndim, tragic hour she has been compelled to give her contribution in the\nlife she loved to her religious cause. In Tabriz one day a crowd of\nwomen were seated facing the executioner\u2019s block, and amongst them a\ndelicate, dainty woman who had been protected all her life within the\nharim of one of the prominent men of Tabriz, but whose death had left\nhis women helpless to bear the brunt of his enemy\u2019s wrath. Chance had\nmade this enemy the city Governor, and he remembered that the family of\nthe man he hated even in death were followers of Baha Ullah. On this\nmorning in June the mother was brought to see the death of her\nfourteen-year-old son, her only child. When the executioner had done his\nwork, the head was tossed into her lap, and she was told \u201cTake back your\nson.\u201d She stood up, and holding the loved head in her hands, held it\ntowards the sky, as if to give it as an offering to the God who seemed\nto have deserted her in her hour of need, looked long into the closing\neyes, then threw it to the official\u2019s feet, saying, \u201cI do not take back\nwhat I give my God!\u201d and turning quickly, took her place among the\nsorrow-maddened women.\n\nHer cousin, who told me the story and who was a witness to the scene,\nsaid to me: \u201cIt is impossible for a Western woman to understand a Moslem\nwoman. Perhaps because of our exclusion and the lack of means of\nself-expression, we have over-developed our inner emotional natures,\nwhich at times of sorrow burst forth like a hidden flame. We not only\ngave our lives in those dread days of Tabriz, but what is worse, we gave\nthe lives of those we loved\u2014and still lived on.\u201d\n\nThe women of Egypt have as yet had no reason to rise up _en masse_ and\nshow what they may do in times of national distress. It is unusual for\nthe women of any Mohammedan land to usurp the prerogatives of men. They\nare fundamentally intensely feminine, the home their only domain.\nSa\u2019adi, the Persian poet, said:\u2014\n\n No happiness comes to the house of him whose hen hath crowed like a\n cock.\n\nIt will be many years before the Egyptian woman joins the ranks of the\nmilitant suffragettes, and tries to blow up the Pyramids or deface the\nwalls of Egypt\u2019s famous temples in the spirit of emulation and zeal for\n_the Cause_.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II\n THE MODERN EGYPTIAN WOMAN\n\n\nThe conservative woman of Egypt prides herself that she never leaves her\nhome. I know several ladies well advanced in years who say they have\nnever been outside their homes since they were brought there as brides.\nAn Eastern household is composed of many people, and this seclusion of\nthe women does not cause such loneliness as would be felt by a Western\nwoman if thus closely confined always to the home. In the East the\npatriarchal life prevails, and the financially fortunate member of the\nfamily finds himself supporting an immense army of poor relations, who\nact in all capacities, from maids in the kitchen to the servants at the\ndoor. They expect little or nothing as wages, but they _do_ expect that\nthe prosperous member of their clan or family will provide clothing,\nfood, and a roof beneath which they may live.\n\nIn all Egyptian homes of the better class there are many servants. They\nare not the competent, trained servants to which we are accustomed, and\nit takes many of them to accomplish what one well-trained servant will\ndo in England or America. They have no system, each servant doing his\ntask in his own appointed time and in his own way. Within the harim the\nservants are generally women, and they are on much more familiar terms\nwith the inmates than are servants in the West. They take on a feeling\nof equality with their mistresses, taking part in the conversation when\nguests are present, entering doors without knocking, and generally\nconsidering themselves as part of the family. Mohammed taught that all\ntrue believers are free and equal\u2014the servant the equal of his master.\nThis is one of the reasons that the traveller is often surprised by\nhaving the donkey-boy offer his hand when saying good-bye. He does not\nintend it as an impertinence; he simply wishes to bid his patron \u201cGod\nspeed\u201d in the Western manner.\n\nThe women of the harims take much time to dress, and spend long hours in\nthe public baths, if they do not possess that luxury at home. They take\ngreat care of their skin, using all the arts to keep it soft and\nunwrinkled. They have not yet learned the charm of beautiful hands, and\nthe manicurist has not yet penetrated the harim, but it is only a\nquestion of time when she will arrive, as the Egyptian woman seizes with\navidity every means of improving her personal appearance.\n\nMany of them tint their straight black locks with henna, by making a\npaste which is allowed to dry on the hair for twenty-four hours, then\nremoved. This, when used not too freely, gives a charming glint of\nreddish gold to the thick hair, and utterly obliterates any trace of\nage. The henna-tinted locks are not seen as much as formerly, as the\ncustom is passing out with the advent of the newer generation, and is\nmainly to be seen on the older women or the women of the desert. In\nformer times the nails of the hands were tinted a deep orange, but this\nalso is being relegated to the \u201cthings that were,\u201d as the young girls\nare beginning to see that instead of a beautifier, it makes the hands\nappear most untidy. I have seen an old lady with her fingers stained a\ndeep brownish yellow to the first joint, the palms of her hands, the\ntoes, and even the bottoms of the feet coloured with the henna paste.\n\nThe house dress of the Egyptian woman is a long _n\u00e9glig\u00e9_ made in an\nempire form or what we used to call a \u201cMother Hubbard,\u201d with the\nfullness of the cloth gathered to a much-trimmed yoke, and ending in a\ntrain that sweeps the floor. The wearer may follow her fancy in the\nchoice of goods with which these dresses are made. The ordinary dress\nworn every day is of some material easily laundered, but the gown for\ngala occasions is often most elaborate, made of rich silks, satins, or\nbrocades with great figures in gold or silver. Many of them appear as if\nmade of cloth originally intended for furniture covering. If she has a\nwide range from which to select the material for her dresses, she also\nis not restricted in the choice of colours, as each woman indulges in\nwhatever shades she most admires, and a party of women with their red,\nblue, yellow, and mauve creations look like a party of animated dolls\ndressed for a fancy bazaar.\n\nThe hair is braided in one or two braids and allowed to hang down the\nback, sometimes tied with strings on which dangle gold coins or balls. A\nveil is always worn over the head, hanging down to the waist line. It is\nvery graceful and adds to the dignity of the Egyptian woman. With the\npoor this head covering is a large piece of cotton with a gay-coloured\nborder, and even ladies wear in the morning a cotton veil, but on dress\noccasions it is of chiffon or net elaborately bordered with gold or\nsilver, or in some cases sewn with sequins, very similar to the shawls\noffered by the vendors in front of the big hotels.\n\nThe feet are slipped into toe slippers that can easily be removed when\nentering the living-rooms or when sitting upon the divans. In the matter\nof footwear there is a wide range from which to choose. From the wooden\nbath clog to the tiny heelless covering for the toes, embroidered in\ngold or silver or even tiny seed pearls, the Egyptian woman\u2019s slipper is\na thing of beauty and dainty femininity. Stockings are considered a\nsuperfluity while in the house, except by those influenced by the\ncustoms of foreign lands.\n\nIf the lady wishes to make a call she dons a black silk or satin skirt\nwith a long train, and over it ties a piece of black goods shaped like a\nlarge apron hanging down the back instead of the front. The lower end is\nbrought up over the head and tied under the chin, acting as hat and\nshoulder covering, completely disguising the form. Over the face below\nthe eyes is tied a piece of white chiffon. This is really an addition to\nthe woman\u2019s charming appearance, as the present-day Egyptian woman is\nwearing the veil so thin that the shape of the features can be dimly\nseen, softened and refined by the delicate chiffon, until even a plain\nwoman takes on an appearance of beauty that perhaps vanishes when the\nveil is removed. She is allowed to show her chief attraction, her great\nblack eyes, which peer at one curiously over the folds of white. They\nare not so large as are the Indian woman\u2019s eyes, but they are very\nexpressive, shaded by long straight lashes, which are generally touched\nup by kohl, since even with the advent of modernism the Egyptian woman\ncannot be persuaded to relegate her kohl-pot to the lumber-room.\n\nThe woman of the labouring class, seen on the street, is dressed in a\nlong gown hanging straight from the shoulders, over which, when she\nleaves her home, she drapes a large black shawl covering her from head\nto feet. The veil of this class of woman is of black cloth, so thick\nthat it is impossible to distinguish the features beneath it, and often\nweighted at the bottom with gold or silver coins. Covering the nose is\nthe disfiguring piece of wood which holds the veil in place. The picture\nof this sombre-clad woman, with her ugly veil and grotesque nosepiece,\nis taken by the average tourist as representing the Egyptian woman,\nwhile, in fact, she represents only the lower class, such as the wife of\nthe labourer, the small artisan, or the petty merchant. These women may\nbe seen on the streets walking with the stately grace that is given to\nthe woman who carries a burden on the head, or five or six of them may\nbe seen sitting on a flat-bottomed cart drawn by a much decorated donkey\n_en route_ to visit relatives or watch the festivities connected with a\nmarriage, or going to the cemeteries. This last seems to be a favourite\nexcuse for an outing with women of this class, as it gives them a chance\nto have a good gossip on the way, and opportunity of strolling in the\nopen air, which must be a great boon to the poor in the large cities, as\ntheir homes are small, dark, dirty, and most unsanitary. Yet as one\nlives in the Orient and sees the conditions under which the great\nmajority of the population live, one grows to believe that there are no\nsuch things as microbes, else all these people would have been dead long\nago.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n THE TAILOR.\n\n To face p. 44.]\n\nEven in modern Cairo one rarely sees a lady except as she passes in a\nclosed carriage or limousine. Women do not go to the mosques, as\nMohammed said that women in places of public worship distracted men from\nthe real business which brought them there. They are also never found in\nrestaurants, hotels, nor coffeehouses. In fact, an Egyptian woman never\ngoes to a place where she might be looked upon by men other than those\nof her immediate family. Even the most modern product of the present\nsystem of education would hardly dare to be seen in any place that was\nnot harim. At the bazaars held for charity and other public functions a\nday is set apart when the women may visit them without danger of being\nlooked upon by men. An Egyptian woman told me that these men must be\neducated and elevated before Egyptian women will dare to go freely upon\nthe street. Even a foreign woman dreads passing the outdoor caf\u00e9s, where\nthe men turn noisily in their chairs and stare rudely at the woman who\nhas the courage to pass them. In the case of an Egyptian lady, I was\ntold that these men do not confine their rudeness to stares, but that\nthe low remarks made to her confirm the belief that the time is not yet\nripe for the Egyptian woman to try to enter the world, so long closed to\nher.\n\nThese harim women are just beginning to learn the joys of shopping.\nFormerly the husbands or fathers bought the goods for their dresses, or\nthe shopkeepers sent their assistants, who laid the gay stuffs and\njewels on mats within the courtyards, where the women could make their\nchoice. But now in some of the larger shops parties of veiled ladies may\nbe seen fingering the soft silks and satins, looking with curious eyes\nat the hats, and selecting the jewels with which they love to adorn\nthemselves. Cairo is the happy hunting ground of the Parisian jeweller,\nas Egyptian women are noted for their love of bracelets, ear-rings,\nnecklaces, and pins. The old-time heavy gold chains and hoops are losing\ntheir charm, and now the lady whose husband has a purse easy to open\nbuys long pendant ear-rings set with many diamonds, bracelets of pearls\nand rubies, rings of turquoise and sapphires, and necklaces of emeralds.\nQuantity, not quality, she desires, and the colour and purity of a stone\nare not so much to be desired as the size or number. The women who make\nno claim to modernism are still seen in the goldsmiths\u2019 shops in the\nnative streets, sitting in front of the tiny cupboard-like holes in the\nwall, weighing, pricing, trying on the great barbaric hoops of gold for\nthe ears, or the chains with large hammered pendants, made in the same\nform and with the same design as those worn by their mothers and their\ngrandmothers. The merchant does not need to originate new designs to\nattract the conservative Egyptian woman who still clings to her native\njewelry. It has been the same shape and design from time immemorial.\n\nAnother product of the West has penetrated the harims of Cairo\u2014the\nFrench dressmakers. Many of the rich merchants\u2019 wives and the wives of\nthe officials who cannot get their gowns direct from Paris, and who are\ndiscarding the straight empire pattern for clothes more _\u00e0 la mode_, get\ntheir dresses fashioned by these clever French women, who come to the\nwomen\u2019s courtyards loaded down with fashion books, tape measures, and a\nrunning stream of flattering talk, leaving with many orders written in\ntheir little books. It must be admitted that the Egyptian woman looks\nbest when dressed in her native costume, which mercifully disguises the\nover-abundant flesh with which most women who spend their lives within\nthe harims are blessed. Sweets, a sedentary life, and many sweetened\ndrinks conspire to make the lady of Egypt extremely fat, after the first\nflush of youth is past. This is not a sorrow to her as it would be to\nher Western sister, and when she has arrived at the age of thirty, and\nthe pounds that she feels should come with the advancing years have not\nbeen added to her figure, she sends to the chemist for a mixture to\nconvert her into the present ideal of Egyptian beauty. This ideal in the\nolden time, if we may judge of the pictures seen upon the walls of the\ntombs and temples, was that of a slight, willowy figure. But that ideal\nhas changed. The woman now seems to strive to be as wide as she is long,\nand because of this fact and also because stays are not looked upon with\njoy by the Egyptian woman, who has always been allowed an uncompressed\nfigure, the modern dress is not adapted to her style of beauty.\n\nWomen are not prisoners in any sense of the word, nor are they pining\nbehind their latticed windows as we are sometimes led to believe by\nwriters of fiction. They visit freely amongst each other, and their\nvisits are not confined to the passing of a few senseless platitudes\nthat generally mark conversation of Western women making afternoon calls\nupon each other. They do not \u201ccall,\u201d they go for a visit of several\nhours or even days.\n\nWhen a lady enters the home of her friend, she takes off the veil and\nthe cape-like covering of her head, steps out of the long black skirt,\nand stands arrayed like Solomon in all his glory. They dress as\nelaborately for their women friends as if to meet admirers of the\nopposite sex, and they spend hours drinking the delicious coffee,\nsipping sherbets, eating fruits or confectionery, and chatting over the\ngossip of the day. When time for serving the meal arrives, a large tray\nis brought into the room and placed upon a low stand, around which the\nwomen group themselves in comfortable attitudes on rugs. From these\ntrays they help themselves to the deliciously cooked mutton or chicken,\nthe vegetables and desserts with which it is laden. Pork is never\nserved, as it was forbidden by Mohammed. They eat with their fingers,\nusing only the right hand, as the left hand is ceremonially unclean, and\nafter the meal a servant pours water over their hands from a\nlong-spouted brass ewer, the water falling into a brass basin. Many of\nthe ladies smoke, but it is not a universal habit. If they indulge in\nthe habit with which we always associate the Eastern woman, it is by\nusing a large water pipe with an extraordinarily long, supple stem, the\nsmoke passing through perfumed water and becoming cool before reaching\nthe user\u2019s lips.\n\nThe Eastern woman loves perfumes and prefers them much stronger than we\nof the Western world think agreeable. A hostess will pass around the\nlittle wooden scent-bottles, and each guest may add as much as she\nwishes to her already over-perfumed body. The mixture is not always\npleasant to sensitive nostrils. Incense and sweet-smelling woods are\noften burned in little braziers and add to the congeries of odours.\n\nMany of the old-time Egyptian women cannot read; indeed, it is stated\nthat only three out of a thousand women could read ten years ago; their\nconversation is therefore confined to the gossip of the neighbourhood:\nwho is married, who is engaged; the social and financial standing of the\nfamilies involved; the presents and the trousseaux. Society is divided\ninto cliques, as in any other part of the world, and there is a decided\n\u201cWho\u2019s Who,\u201d especially in Cairo and in the larger towns.\n\nThe woman\u2019s life seems to centre around her children, since it is this\nevidence of Allah\u2019s blessing that makes her greatest happiness. A great\npart of their talk is involved in the discussion of their children\u2019s\nailments, the remedies, their children\u2019s education and life in general.\nThere are no nurseries in Egypt, and both boys and girls live within the\nharim until they are seven years old, when the boy, if he does not go to\nschool, has a tutor and lives in the selam-lik. When, as at present,\nGovernment schools are established in every small town and village in\nEgypt, both boys and girls go to school. The girl is kept strictly harim\neven in the school, and the teachers are women, who guard carefully from\nmen\u2019s eyes the girls who are entrusted to them for the day.\n\nBesides visiting with their friends or relatives, the Egyptian women go\nto weddings, where they look upon the dancing and hear the singing from\ntheir places behind the screens, or they make pilgrimages to the tombs\nof saints or holy men, where they pray for the health of their children;\nor, if they have not been so fortunate as to have children, they pray\nfor that blessing. They do not pray _to_ the saints, as even Mohammed\nhimself cannot answer prayers, but they believe that the austere lives\npassed by these holy men will intercede for them with the Great and One\nGod.\n\nAn Egyptian friend of mine, telling me of the efficacy of one of the\nplaces of pilgrimage in the cure of eye troubles, said:\u2014\n\n\u201cYes, I believe in these charms obtained at the tomb of some of the\nmarabouts, and I have been on several pilgrimages, although it is not\nmuch encouraged in our family. You saw my brother\u2019s wife to-day. She has\nvisited the tomb of every saint in the vicinity of Cairo, but it is just\nbecause she is restless and wants to get out. She cares no more about\nthe saints than you do, but it gives her an opportunity to get away from\nmy mother. My life, that you think so restricted, is wildly exciting to\nwhat it was when I was a girl at home. Mother is most conservative, and\nwill not even allow a man-servant near the harim. Her cook has never\nseen her, although he has been in the family since I was a baby. Here in\nthe country I have men-servants who see me unveiled, but they are the\ndescendants of slaves who were in the family of my husband for\ngenerations, and that is permitted if we are not too orthodox.\u201d\n\nI noticed while visiting friends in the country with this progressive,\neducated Egyptian woman that if we passed an ordinary fellah, or\nworkman, she did not take care to cover her face. If we met an overseer\nor a man above the farmer class, she very carefully drew her veil across\nher face, leaving only the eyes visible.\n\nThe women are very superstitious, and believe in the efficacy of charms\nand amulets for every known disease. Nearly every woman wears around her\nneck, lost to sight amidst the innumerable chains with which she covers\nthe upper part of her body, an amulet or charm of some kind. Perhaps it\nis a silver box containing a few words of the Koran, or a small piece of\nparchment with mystic letters written on it, guaranteed to guard her\nhousehold from harm. All Egyptian women know of charms and lotions and\nshrines or mystic words to give the wife who has not presented a son\nunto her lord. One of the first questions asked by Egyptian women is,\n\u201cHow many children have you?\u201d If the answer is \u201cNone!\u201d they cannot keep\nthe looks of pity from their eyes, nor the sympathetic words of\ncondolence from their lips. They are also most generous in giving\ntalismans to remedy this defect, and will wax enthusiastic over the\nbeneficial effects of some favourite pilgrimage, amulet, or prayer.\n\nI have a piece of sheepskin with the ninety-nine names of Allah written\nupon it in gold, intended to insure, not only the advent of a son, but\nalso, if bound upon his arm, to guard him from all danger throughout his\nlifetime.\n\nAt the opera in cosmopolitan Cairo one may hear rustlings and low\nlaughter from behind the closely screened boxes, and know that an\nEgyptian Bey or wealthy merchant is there with his family, allowing them\nto enjoy the play and watch the people in the house, themselves unseen.\nBut this joy is given usually only to the women of Cairo, as the smaller\ntowns have not as yet become sufficiently modernized that the women may\ngo to the public theatres. In the conservative homes, if a hostess\nwishes to entertain her guests with professionals, she sends for the\nsinging girls or dancing women to come to her home, and there they\nperform before the ladies, who watch them from the divans, and talk and\nlaugh with their entertainers, getting far more amusement from them than\nby simply looking at them on the stage.\n\nFortune-tellers are often brought into the women\u2019s quarters, and blind\nmen who chant the words of their sacred book, the Koran. This latter is\na popular form of entertainment, and even to Western ears the sad, minor\nmusic has a charm, although after a time it becomes monotonous to one\nwho cannot understand the Arabic in which the Koran is written.\n\nEven the conservative Egyptian mother is now beginning to see that she\nmust educate her daughter as well as her son, if she wishes her to make\na good marriage. The modern Egyptian youth does not care for an ignorant\nwife who can only entertain him with household gossip when he comes from\noffice or shop.\n\nThere is ample opportunity given the Egyptian girl to obtain an\neducation, as the Government has established schools in every city,\ntown, and village. One sees also a great number of private schools for\ngirls, supervised by every imaginable type of mistress. The Italian,\nSpanish, French, and English woman is taking advantage of this craving\non the part of young Egypt for education. Many of these schoolmistresses\nare unfitted for their work, but as yet her pupils are not able to judge\nof the quality of information they are so eagerly absorbing. The mission\nschools, next to those provided by the Government, are perhaps the best\nequipped with trained teachers from England and America. These latter\nschools are filled with bright-faced young girls, who are taking the\nnewer ideas to their secluded mothers, who shake their heads dolefully\nover the new spirit of independence so swiftly creeping into the lives\nof their children, and which they fear, but to which they must accede.\n\nEgypt, in common with the entire world, is experiencing vital changes,\nand her younger women, although walled in by custom, tradition, and\nhabit, are eager to get into step with their advancing sons and\nhusbands. It is only the older woman who is the implacable foe of\nprogress, as she fears a change may mean the destruction of her little\nworld. Yet she is fast losing the power as well as the wish to resist\nit, and the number of schools for girls shows that a real awakening to\nEgypt\u2019s greatest need is being felt and met. At first the mother feared\nher daughter would be led astray from the true Faith, but the English\nGovernment bore this well in mind when establishing the educational\nsystem. The Koran and the practical observances of its tenets are taught\nby faithful followers of the prophet in the schools, and this has\ninduced mothers to look with complacent eyes upon the new learning.\n\nInfinitely better daughters and prospective mothers come each year from\nthe Government and mission schools, if for no other reason than that\nthey are intelligently trained in domestic economy and in the laws of\nhygiene. The frightful waste of infant life which heretofore has been\ncaused by the ignorance of mothers will stop. The present training of\nthe young girl strikes directly at this huge infant mortality and in the\ncoming mother, educated and equipped for her duties, lies the hope of\nEgypt.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III\n MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, POLYGAMY\n\n\n SOCIAL LIFE OF EGYPTIAN WOMEN\n\nThe Koran enjoins marriage on all and calls bachelors the worst of\nmankind. Consequently there are few spinsters or bachelors in any Moslem\nland, and a woman who is divorced or widowed must have another husband\nfound for her as soon as possible.\n\nAlthough Mohammed believed that all men should be married, there were\nfour classes of women against whom he warned his fellows:\u2014\n\nA _Yearner_\u2014that is, a woman who has children by a former husband and\nwishes to get everything possible for them from her present husband.\n\nA _Deplorer_.\u2014One who is constantly deploring the loss of her first\nhusband and stating his virtues to the disparagement of the present\nincumbent.\n\nA _Backbiter_.\u2014One who is kind to her husband\u2019s face and behind his back\naccuses him of cruelty, miserliness, and ill-treatment.\n\nA _Toadstool_.\u2014A beauty who is lazy and tyrannical and uses all the\nsubstance of her husband to buy silks, jewels, and perfumes with which\nto adorn herself.\n\nThere is no courtship as we know it. The marriage is made by the parents\nor by a \u201cgo-between,\u201d and the parties most interested do not see each\nother until the night of the marriage, although they may have exchanged\nphotographs and have heard eulogistic descriptions of each other. But\nthere are no shy meetings, no gazing into the eyes of the loved one. A\ngirl would be considered as lacking in modesty and maidenly reserve if\nit were known that she attempted to see the man to whom she will be\ncompelled to owe all allegiance and who will practically own her, body\nand soul, as soon as she is his wife.\n\nDuring the time before the marriage the bridegroom, if a man of wealth,\nsends his bride-to-be many costly presents, generally in the shape of\njewelry, silks, fans, slippers, and boxes of sweets. Her gifts to him\nare cigarette cases, embroidered sleeping suits, a rich fez, or some\nother practical evidence of her affection.\n\nIn families of any social pretensions whatsoever, there is drawn a\nmarriage contract which stipulates the amount of dowry and whatever\nbusiness relationships are entered into by the husband and wife. If the\namount of dowry is not expressly stated in the contract, the woman is\nentitled to the customary dower of a woman of her class, which is judged\naccording to that received by the other female members of her family.\nThis contract can also contain a stipulation that the husband may not\nmarry another wife so long as the present wife is living with him, and\nit also often states that the wife may divorce her husband for certain\nexpressly stated causes.\n\nThere are two kinds of dower, one called \u201cprompt\u201d which is all paid at\nthe time of the marriage, the other where only part is given at that\ntime and the rest retained to be paid in case of divorce or on the death\nof the husband. In the latter case the dower must be paid before the\nother debts of the estate are settled. The wife has absolute rights over\nher dower and can refuse to go to her husband\u2019s home until it is paid.\n\nThe trousseau is provided by the father of the bride, and the articles\nshe takes to her new home in the shape of furniture, jewelry, etc., are\nher property and can be taken with her if she should return to her\nfather\u2019s home or if she should be left a widow. The bridegroom is\nsupposed to help pay the expenses of the elaborate feasting which lasts\nfrom three to seven days, and which is often a great drain upon the\nresources of both families. Custom has commanded that no parsimony shall\nbe shown at this time of rejoicing, and each family tries to outdo its\nneighbour in the form of entertainment offered to its guests.\n\nTheatrical entertainments are held in the courtyards, or in the large\nguest-room. Dancing girls dance and jugglers perform, while food is most\nplentifully provided, but there is no drinking of intoxicating liquors\nin the home of a follower of Mohammed. In the place of wines, sherbets,\nfruit juices, and coffee are served.\n\nThe culmination of the festivities comes when the bride in a gaily\ndecorated carriage is conducted to her new home. In the streets of any\nlarge city one often sees these processions, the band leading the march,\ndozens of singers preceding the carriage, and friends following, all\ntrying to show their joy in the happy event.\n\nAccording to Western ideals there is one great bar to the lasting\nhappiness of the Moslem woman, and that is the question of divorce. It\nis said that 90 per cent. of the marriages in Egypt end in divorce, and\nthat two people who live to an old age together without one of them\nbeing divorced are rarely found. Mohammed has been severely censured\nbecause of this great blot upon the progressive laws he made for his\npeople, but before his time there was no check on divorce; a man could\ndivorce often and for no reason, and a woman was helpless. This wise man\nlaid down laws far in advance of his time on this subject, and (what was\nthen an unheard of thing) allowed a woman to divorce her husband for\nexplicitly stated causes.\n\nIf they divorce for mutual incompatibility\u2014that is, if they both agree\nto it\u2014there need be no question of the courts; but if the wife wishes to\nbe free and the husband will not permit it, the woman may go before a\njudge and state her case, and if her charges are proven she will be\ngranted her petition. Often a woman will return her dower or agree to\nforfeit the part not yet paid, or in many cases make a money payment to\nthe avaricious husband in return for her liberty. A case not long ago\ncame before the judge where the husband treated his wife brutally in\norder to force from her a certain sum of money in exchange for her\nfreedom. The woman paid the sum demanded, then took the case before the\njudge, and proved that his cruel treatment would entitle her to a\ndivorce, and the courts compelled the man to return the money to his\nex-wife with an added gift.\n\nThe different sects have different modes of procedure. One requires the\nhusband to pronounce the words of divorce once in a single sentence and\nnot live with his wife for three months, when the divorce is\naccomplished. Another form requires that the words be pronounced three\ntimes in succession at the interval of a month, the divorce becoming\neffective when the last formula is pronounced. Another formula allows\nthe husband to say three times in succession, \u201cI divorce thee! I divorce\nthee! I divorce thee!\u201d and the legal separation takes place.\n\nA woman may say to her husband, \u201cGive me a divorce in exchange for my\ndower,\u201d and if the man will say, \u201cI do,\u201d a lawful dissolution of the\nmarriage is effected.\n\nWhatever the rule, divorce is very easy for the Moslem husband, and the\nwoman lives in constant fear that she will hear the words \u201cI am\ndischarged from the marriage between you and me,\u201d and will be compelled\nto return to her home. This insecurity of the marriage bond causes the\nwoman to hoard what money she may obtain, and takes away the interest\nshe might otherwise have in the affairs of her husband, fearing that\nprosperity may only mean that he will yearn for a younger and more\nbeautiful woman to share with him his riches. It also makes her try in\nevery way to preserve her beauty, buying cosmetics and talismans that\nclever merchants assure her will aid in retaining the love of her\nhusband.\n\nIn the event of divorce the woman is commanded to remain single three\nmonths, but the man may marry immediately. There is no especial disgrace\nattached to divorce, yet the woman\u2019s value is lowered to a certain\nextent, and quite likely she will not be able to make so good a marriage\nagain.\n\nNo child under two years may be taken away from the mother, as the Koran\ncommands her to suckle the infant for that period. Unless it is proved\nthat she is totally unworthy to bring up her child, or unless she\nmarries an unbeliever, the boy is entitled to live with his mother until\nhe is seven years old, and the girl until she is nine, when the father\ntakes the guardianship of them both. Often they are allowed to live on\nindefinitely with the mother, especially the girl, if the father marries\nagain and the new wife does not wish the care of the children of her\npredecessor. This makes the burden of divorce fall heavily upon the\ninnocent children, as the mother generally marries and her husband may\nnot care for the children of another man; consequently they are left in\nthe care of the mother\u2019s parents or other relatives, who quite likely\nconsider them a superfluous addition to an already overcrowded\nhousehold, although the father is compelled to contribute towards their\nsupport.\n\nIf divorce is prevalent in the Land of the Nile, that other great\ndomestic evil, polygamy, is slowly dying out, mainly for an economic\nreason. All the wives in a family are supposed to have equal support,\nand in these days, when the women of Egypt are beginning to know and\ncrave the luxuries of life, it is hard for a man, unless of the very\nwealthy class, to provide for more than one family. In a rich household\neach wife would demand, not only her own suite of rooms, but quite\nlikely her own house and staff of servants, and she would see that her\nhusband did not show favouritism in regard to clothes, jewelry, or\namusements towards the women and children in his harim. Often in poorer\nhomes one sees two wives living in peace together, but the man with more\nthan one wife is becoming rarer each year. It is said that not one man\nin fifty has more than one wife. The cynics say that it is because\ndivorce is so much easier and cheaper, but we believe that it is because\nof the higher ideals that are coming to the Egyptian along with the\neducation that he is receiving from the Western world.\n\nIt is easy for the Western mind to take exaggerated views of the\nunhappiness of the life in the harim. I found, among the better classes,\nwith whom I came into contact more than I did with the very poor, the\nsame average of happiness that prevails in any land. Seclusion which\nseems so dreadful in our eyes has grown to be a matter of caste, and the\nolder women, at least, have no desire to depart from it. The power of\nthe husband is greater than it is in foreign lands, but he is generally\na kindly man who leaves the women\u2019s department strictly alone, to be\nordered as his wife desires. It is she who has charge of the children\nwhile in infancy, teaching them or having them taught the Koran, taking\nthem with her on visits to friends, and being with them much more than\ndoes the average Western mother of the same class. A middle-class\nEgyptian woman does practically the same things as does the wife of a\nmiddle-class Englishman. She cooks, washes, mends the clothing, keeps\nthe house, and sews her children\u2019s dresses. If she is able to have\nservants\u2014and one is very poor in Egypt not to be able to afford at least\none servant\u2014the work of the household is superintended directly by the\nmistress. Of course she may not go to the market nor to the shops, but\nshe inspects the food when brought to the house by the vendor or the\ncook.\n\nThe care of the clothing is a great task if there are many sons in the\nfamily who dress in the native costume, which is made of light-coloured\nsilk; the long black cloak is prone to sweep up the dust of the streets.\nThe children of the poor wear only a short shirt until they are about\nsix years old, but the children of the rich don European dress, either\nmade in the house or bought in the shops. The ready-made clothing has\nfound its way to the harims and saves the mother much work, as the\nsewing-machine is not so well known there as it is in the homes of the\nWest.\n\nAlthough the Egyptian woman is not seen in the mosques, she is very\nreligious, and more zealous in the faith than is her husband, who has a\nchance to broaden his religious views by coming in contact with people\nof other beliefs. The wife does not observe the prayers as strictly as\ndoes her husband, but she has been taught her Koran in childhood and\nfollows its precepts to the best of her ability.\n\nThe woman, like women all over the world, is much more rigidly ruled by\nher superstitious beliefs than is the man. She attributes the\nextraordinary phenomena of Nature to the work of good or evil spirits\nand believes in placating them or controlling them as far as possible.\nThese evil spirits are liable to lurk in all places, in the ovens, the\nwells, and even in the market basket, which is covered to protect it\nfrom the evil eye of covetous passers-by, or to guard it from a\nwandering spirit who may be seeking a place of retreat.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A WOMAN OF THE MASSES.\n\n To face p. 64.]\n\nThe women in general are very ignorant in regard to all sanitary laws,\nand there is an enormous amount of preventable sickness within the\nharims. Children are allowed to eat what and whenever they wish, and\nsweets are indulged in at all times. All babies suffer from eye trouble,\nmainly caused by uncleanliness. A baby is not washed for eight days\nafter birth, then if the father or mother is suffering from any form of\nskin disease, it is considered fatal to put water on the child. Flies\nand mosquitoes abound, carrying contagion to all. Doctors are unknown\namongst the poorer class, and the mothers are in the hands of unskilled\nmidwives at the time of child-bearing, and the mortality is great.\n\nWhen the angel of death enters the household of an Egyptian, it may be\nknown by the wailing of the women. The custom of weeping and wailing,\nbeating of the breasts, and tearing out of the hair still prevails on\nthe death of the member of a family. The body is buried within\ntwenty-four hours. It is enclosed in a coffin which is covered by a rich\nshawl or piece of embroidery and carried to the cemetery on the\nshoulders of men, preceded by blind men chanting the Koran and followed\nby friends and relatives. The same ceremony is observed for the women as\nfor the men.\n\nThe soul is supposed not to leave the body for three days. The first\nnight an angel whispers in the ear of the deceased, \u201cWhat is your\nfaith?\u201d and the soul must answer, \u201cI am a Moslem.\u201d The angel again\nwhispers, \u201cIn whom do you believe?\u201d and the soul will answer, \u201cI believe\nin the One God,\u201d and the third question is, \u201cAnd who is your prophet?\u201d\nand the answer, \u201cMohammed is the Prophet of God,\u201d allows the soul to be\nleft in peace.\n\nThree days, seven days, and forty days after death memorials are held at\nthe home of the late deceased, when friends call and offer their\nsympathy, and food and money are distributed in great quantities to the\nbeggars. At times of festivity or mourning the poor come in crowds, and\nare never turned away empty-handed. There are practically no almshouses\nin Egypt, nor any organized charity, but Mohammedans are commanded to\ngive one-twentieth of their income to the poor. Whether they follow this\nlaw exactly or not, they are very generous to those in need, not giving\nwith much discernment, but always willing to drop a coin into the\noutstretched hand or to fill the empty bowl.\n\nOne cannot judge of the life of the average Egyptian woman by living\nonly in Cairo, where the note of modernism has sounded with such call as\nto reach even the inner rooms of the harim, but in the smaller towns of\nEgypt one sees the real Egyptian life, untouched by the customs of alien\nlands.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n CHILDREN ON THE NILE.\n\n To face p. 66.]\n\nI visited in a home on the banks of the Nile and watched with interested\neyes the life around me: saw the mother attend to her household duties\nin the morning, giving the servants directions for the day\u2019s work,\nmeasuring and weighing out the stores to the cook, and taking his\naccounts as he came from the market-place with the day\u2019s provisions. An\nold blind woman came in the morning to give the children their lesson in\nthe Koran. She would start a surah, then the children would repeat the\nremaining verses in a sing-song voice, the slightest break in the\nintonation calling forth a rebuke from the leader, whose nodding head\nkept time to the chant. At nine o\u2019clock the older children took their\nbooks under their arms and started for the village school, in the same\nnoisy manner as do our children at home. I watched the fellaheen as they\nlifted the water from the river to irrigate the thirsty fields, and saw\nthe black-robed women filling their water-jars and placing them upon\ntheir heads with a beautiful sweeping gesture, walk gracefully away to\ntheir little mud huts that could scarcely be distinguished from the\nsands around them.\n\nTrains of camels passed our wall on their way to the distant city, and\nthe shepherd boys drove their flocks of sheep and goats in search of\npasture. I remembered Browning\u2019s beautiful David, who sang:\u2014\n\n And I first played the tune all our sheep know, as one after one\n So docile they come to the pen door till folding is done.\n They are white and untorn by bushes, for lo, they have fed\n Where the long grasses stifle the water within the stream\u2019s bed.\n And now one after one seeks its lodging, as star follows star\n Into eve and the blue far above us\u2014so blue and so far.\n\nWe watched the little boys ride the great unwieldy water buffaloes to\nthe water side, slipping off their backs to allow them, groaning with\ncontent, to wallow in the sluggish waters, and when the hard white stars\ncame out in the sapphire sky, we looked far over the Libyan hills, which\nhad changed from the gold and opal of sunset to the grey blue that\nheralds the coming of the Egyptian night. The evening breeze that always\ncomes with the setting of the sun brought the smell of the desert to us,\nand the deep swish of the Nile came as an accompaniment to the cry of\nthe muezzin from the tiny mosque in the distance, and we saw its\nresponse in the fellah kneeling beside his waiting camel, lifting his\nhands to the heavens, as the clear, bell-like voice came over the\nevening air:\u2014\n\n There is no God but God, and Mohammed is His Prophet.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BEDOUIN WOMEN IN FRONT OF TENT.\n\n To face p. 69.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV\n THE WOMAN OF THE DESERT\n\n\n\u201cBehold the townsman,\u201d cried one of the Bedouins, \u201cthey have for the\ndesert but a single word, while we have a legion.\u201d\n\nThe desert, which in many eyes is a wilderness of desolation, has for\nthe dweller beneath the tents another aspect. It is the desert which he\nloves, where he was born, under the brown tents of his tribe where he\nhopes to pass his life, and in the sands where he wishes to be buried.\nHe loves each one of its many phases, from the sand burnt to powder by\nthe white fire of the noonday sun, to the cool breeze of the dying day,\nthat causes the smoke from the many fires to rise in blue-grey wreaths\nto the evening sky, which changes from violet to greyer blue, and then\nto the intense dark blue of the precious sapphire.\n\nThe Bedouin, to whatever tribe he may belong, sitting astride his camel,\npadding softly through the desert sands, sees before him the low black\ntents of a desert village, and knows that he may descend and find a\nwelcome. The host will say to him, \u201cEvery stranger is an invited guest,\nand the guest while in the tent is the lord thereof.\u201d He may sit before\nthe large round bowl of mutton and eat his fill, and when the stars have\ncome out, and seem so near that he may put up his hand and pluck them\nfrom their field of blue, he will be conducted to the guest-tent or to\nthe tent of the headman, and, wrapping himself more tightly in his long\ncloak, he will lie down secure, knowing that his life is safe so long as\nhe remains a guest of the tribe, having eaten of their salt and drank\ntheir water.\n\nThese Arabs of the desert are proud with a pride we do not understand.\nThey are proud of their long lineage, of the purity of their blood, of\ntheir unbroken traditions. They are an impulsive, restless people, who,\nwith their emotional temperament, give impetuosity to everything which\nthey touch. They are the real adventurers of the world, and their\nnervous, high-strung, daring characteristics have become so absorbed\ninto their very being as to have become permanent marks of their race.\nAt the seat of all troubles, in countries where the Bedouins are strong,\none finds them ready to do and dare anything that appeals to their\nimagination. At the rising of a Mahdi, it is the Arab of the desert who\nis his strongest support, who will die for him, who will sweep down like\na holocaust upon the people who do not share with him his beliefs in the\ncause, for which he throws his life away with a bravado that makes men\nof a more sluggish blood gasp in astonishment. This cause must appeal to\nhis emotions\u2014those same riotous emotions which never produce, but always\nruin. We are told that the Bedouin is the author of complete desolation,\nand that destruction follows in his pathway; that his effects are always\nsinister, and that this race brings ruin to any land where they have\nbeen permitted to have full sway. We know he is not a creature of habit,\nand that routine, a settled existence, a fixed round of duties, are\nthings which he does not understand nor practise. He does not reason and\nis not practical, yet it is the Arab that has succeeded in sending the\nfaith of El Islam around the world, and every movement of revival comes\ndirectly from the desert.\n\nFew people travelling in Egypt or Algeria see the real dweller beneath\nthe tents. There are Bedouins in the cities, and one soon learns to tell\nthem, with their keen eyes, their eager faces, and majestic stride, from\nthe more placid, self-satisfied Egyptian. But in the city he is not his\ntrue self, as life in the cities has a permanent and degrading effect on\nthe character and physique of the race; the fire of the desert dies\nwithin him. It is in the shifting sands beneath the tents that he is at\nhis best. There he carries out his tribal customs, and there he\npractises that wonderful virtue of hospitality that Mohammed, himself an\nArab, laid upon his people. He said, \u201cWhoever believes in God and the\nResurrection must respect his guest; and the time of his being kind to\nhim is one day and night; and the period of entertaining him is three\ndays; and after that if he does it longer, it benefits him more, but it\nis not right for a guest to stay in the house of a host so long as to\nincommode him.\u201d It is said that even a deadly enemy may come to the tent\nand demand water and salt, and it will be given him, and he will be\nallowed to rest for the night. In the morning he will be sent on his\nway, and his life is safe until he has passed the boundary of the\ntribe\u2019s dominions, then his enemy is entitled to follow him and kill him\nif he can.\n\nAll tourists passing through Egypt look forward to a few days passed in\nthe desert. The guide paints in glowing colours the wonders of the\nsands, the colours of the evening sky, the sounds of the hobbled camels\nas they wait for the morrow\u2019s march, and the traveller from the West\ndecides to see for once the life of which he had read and dreamed so\nmany years. In every soul is a cry for romance, a desire to leave the\nprosaic everyday life which he knows too well, and explore the mysteries\nof the unknown, hoping that there by chance he will find food to feed\nhis hungry imagination. A trip to the desert does this for many people.\nThere the broker or the banker, with the wife he has looked upon for\nmany years, sit in front of their hired tent, and watch the camel man,\nas with scolding voice he prepares the growling, surly camels for the\nnight. When all is quiet but the distant barking of the dogs, they sit\nin front of the evening fire and watch the stars come out in the sky\nthat seems a great inverted cup of blue above them. The camel drivers,\ndragomen, and guards sprawl in easy attitudes and chant mournful, weird\nsongs that have come to them from the Persian mystics of olden time.\nThese people from New York or London do not realize that they are not\nseeing the real desert nor the people of the desert. The setting is all\nstaged most carefully by the wily dragoman, who imports his Bedouins\nfrom the neighbouring villages, who dresses tents until they would cause\nthe man who calls them home to stare in blank amazement at their tawdry\nhangings. The only thing he cannot import is the wonderful dessert\nsands, the sky, the cooling breezes that always come when the sun has\nset. These are free for all, to the ragged camel driver as well as to\nthe man who scatters so freely the English gold.\n\nWe had the pleasure of knowing the chief of a large tribe of Bedouins,\nand from his castle on the edge of the desert were permitted to make\nmany visits to these picturesque people. Our first glimpse of the true\nman of the desert was obtained from the visitors in the guest-house,\nwhere any Bedouin could stop from one to three days as the guest of the\nchief, and every day about sundown strange white-robed men with guns\nstrapped across their back rode up on horses and dismounted at the gate,\ncraving the hospitality of the chief. There were always from ten to\nthirty guests within the rest-house, men looking like the Senouisses,\nwho cause so much trouble for the unbelievers of foreign lands. We were\ntold that many of them were going to join their brothers in Tripoli to\nfight against the hated unbeliever. They were not permitted by the\nGovernment to go openly, as Egypt was supposed to be neutral, so they\ntook the long caravan journey of thirty days across the desert to aid in\nwhat they considered an unjust war against the true faith.\n\nWithin the harim of my hostess were rooms set aside for travelling\nBedouin women, but they were seldom occupied, as the women of the tents\nare not wanderers like their husbands, unless the whole tribe moves. My\nhostess was a young, educated girl, to whom the confines of a Bedouin\nharim must have been very wearying. The laws concerning the women of the\ntribe were very strict, one being that a woman must stay within her\napartment until the birth of her first child. My friend was not blessed\nwith children, but had been compelled to conform to the usages of her\nhusband\u2019s family, in part at least, by remaining within her home for a\nyear. Now she went about freely among the villages of the Bedouins near\nthe castle, only taking the precaution of being veiled. These Bedouin\nwomen were quite another type from those seen in the cities. They had\nmagnificent physiques, tall and supple, and carried themselves with a\nstately grace. They were dressed in long, straight, cotton gowns of blue\nor black, and a many-coloured sash was wrapped around the waist. The\nonly foot covering was the anklets of silver that fell down over the\ninstep; and they wore over their hair, which was braided in many braids,\nand in which was plaited small gold coins that clinked as they moved\ntheir heads, a veil of black with a coloured border, or of dark red with\na yellow border. This veil adds to the dignity and beauty of a woman in\na most charming manner. At the time of feasting or of gaiety the plain\nveil is changed for one sewed with bright-coloured beads or sequins.\n\nFrom the lower lip to the neck, and lost in the covering of the dress,\nare three dark blue lines of tattooing. This is seen now only on the\nolder women, and is being thrown on the altar of modernity by the\ndaughters of the Bedouins who have peeped into the world and are trying\nto be like their more sophisticated Egyptian neighbours. The hair is\nstraight and black, and with many has been given a tinge of red by\nwashing it in henna. I saw no grey-haired women; because those who have\nbeen touched by the finger of time, kindly custom has allowed to dye\ntheir locks, and there were many flaming heads above wrinkled faces.\nWhile a guest with the Bedouins, they were quite determined to give me\nthe touch of red that to them is so beautiful. They say it keeps the\nhair cool and prevents it from falling out, protecting it from the\nburning sun. I resisted, although I watched the process, which was most\ninteresting. The henna powder is mixed with water until the consistency\nof a paste, and then the head is covered and left for the night, when in\nthe morning it is washed, and if not applied too thickly there is just a\nglint in the dark locks. Henna is also applied to the nails of the\nfingers and toes, and with many it practically covers the fingers to the\nfirst joint, making the hands look most uncleanly to European eyes. The\ninside of the feet and the palms are not forgotten by the Bedouin or the\nEgyptian woman who has conserved the customs of her mother, but the\nhenna-dyed hands are rarely seen now by the newer generation, who have\nrelegated the henna-pot to the lumber-room along with the tattooing-ink.\nA great mass of jewellery was worn, not the diamonds and rubies found in\nthe French shops of Cairo, but the true ornaments of a barbaric people.\nGreat hoops of gold were in the ears, one from the top of the ear,\nanother hanging from the lobe. The neck, even to the waistline, was\ncovered with chains formed of balls of gold or of coins, and on the arms\nwere bracelets. In writing coldly of the Bedouin woman, her tattooing,\nher henna-coloured hair, her kohl-blackened eyes, and her massive chains\nof gold and anklets of silver, it seems as if she were living in an age\nof barbarism, yet it is becoming to her rich colouring, and she is not\noverdressed. They all belong to the time and place, and are made for\nthese women, who need strong settings for their savage beauty.\n\nThe women of the desert are much more free to come and go than are the\nwomen of the cities, and it is only when they come in close proximity to\nan Egyptian village that the Bedouin expects his wife to be secluded.\nThey do not mix with members of the other sex as do the women of the\nWest, because that is contrary to the instincts of all Eastern women,\nbut naturally they cannot be confined so strictly within the tents as\ncan the women who live in houses. In each tent is a division or curtain,\nbehind which the women retire when men approach, but they may be seen\nsitting in front of their doorways, and passing to and fro in the\nvillages without veiling their faces. They pass their spare time when\nnot occupied in the household duties in weaving gaily coloured blankets,\nstriped red and yellow and black. These constitute the woman\u2019s fortune.\nMy friend took me to one tent in which there were forty of these\nblankets piled around the edge of the tent, and she said, \u201cFive or six\nof these in the possession of a woman and she is considered rich in this\nworld\u2019s goods. This woman is a multi-millionaire.\u201d She was an old woman\nwho seemed to be the leader of her village. It was she who met us and\nconducted us to the guest-tent, which was at least twenty by thirty feet\nin circumference, and which was hung with these beautiful hand-woven\nblankets. The sands were covered with rugs on which we sat, and on which\nthe large round tray was placed for the meal which the kindly hospitable\nwomen insisted that we should eat with them. There are no tables, beds,\nnor chairs. The Bedouin says that we can never understand the desert\nuntil we get close to her, rest our feet on her sands, and our head on\nher bosom\u2014\n\n But man is earth\u2019s uncomfortable guest\n Until she takes him on her lap to rest.\n\nOne thinks of a tent in the desert under the pitiless sun as a most\nuncomfortable place of retreat, but I found it quite the opposite, as\nthe strong wind, that seems to be always trying to temper the actions of\nits enemy, blew over the desert and entered the open flaps, and crept\nunder the turned-up edges of the tent, fanning into flame the fire of\nsweet-smelling woods that had been kindled in the tiny brass jar. Water\nwas hanging in porous bottles and in sheepskins in the draught, and when\nmixed with the perfumed syrups was cool and refreshing. Coffee with a\ntouch of ambergris in the cup was served, and melons were given us in\ngreat cool slices. These latter are a favourite fruit of the desert\npeople, I presume because of the vast amount of water of which they are\ncomposed, and water is the luxury of all luxuries to those who dwell\namong the sands. An old Arabian poet said: \u201cThere are seven things when\ncollected together in a drinking-room, it is not reasonable to stay\naway. A melon, honey, roast meat, a young girl, wax lights, a singer,\nand wine.\u201d Twice during our visit was perfume sprinkled over us, and the\nbrass brazier was often replenished with sandalwood, a small packet of\nthe latter being given us as we were leaving. The Arabs, in fact all\nEastern people, love perfumes, and they use them in far greater quantity\nand of stronger essence than we consider delicate. Musk and a heavy\nperfume distilled from jasmine and roses seems to be a favourite.\nMohammed himself loved perfumes, and speaks of them in his promises to\nthe faithful who shall fall in battle: \u201cAnd the wounds of him who shall\nfall in battle shall on the day of judgment be resplendent with\nvermilion and odorous as musk.\u201d We visited the smaller tents, and in\nsome it was impossible to stand erect even at the ridge pole. In one was\na young baby wrapped in white cloth and twined with yards and yards of\ncamel\u2019s-hair rope, only his tiny head and feet protruding to show that\nthere was a real baby in the bundle. He was bound practically the same\nas are the babies of our North American Indian. I took him in my arms,\nand he stared at me with great black eyes, and then he laughed and\ncooed, much to the delight of the young father, who stood proudly by.\nThe mother was quite a young girl, not more than fifteen years old, I\nshould judge, and in her shyness she retired into the security of the\ntent, resisting all my friendly overtures to have her picture taken with\nthe baby in her arms. Children abounded; there will be no race\nextinction of the Bedouins so long as they remain in their deserts.\nTheir little brown bodies snuggled up to us, and their black eyes\ntwinkled saucily as they shyly held out their hands for the gifts which\nevidently my friend always brought with her. They were a much better\ntype of children than are those in Egyptian villages\u2014strong, pretty\nbodies, and without the unhealthy eyes that are seen so much on the\nyoung in Egypt.\n\nIn every tent was hung a gun, as robbers are frequent visitors, and each\ndweller in the tent must protect his own. He keeps a fierce and noisy\ndog that sees a stranger far across the sands, and one is followed far\nbeyond village confines by these canine police.\n\nPolygamy is practised by the Bedouin more than it is by his city\nbrothers. I visited in the tent of a woman who was the second wife of\nher husband, the other wife living in a tent adjoining. She had two\nchildren, and the first wife one, and from what I heard there was not\nthe most pleasant relationship between them. Divorce is also one of the\nevils, and these primitive men take advantage of it to an alarming\ndegree. Nearly every one I met had been divorced some time or other. It\nwas such a common occurrence that it produced no feeling of shame in the\nwoman who had been divorced.\n\nThe Bedouins are so proud of their lineage that they wish to keep the\ntribal blood pure, and it leads to intermarriage. Cousins are frequently\nmarried, and often a whole tribe is related in some manner. I was told\nthat the Bedouin settled an argument with a scolding or recalcitrant\nwife by giving her a good chastising with a stick. While in Cairo I met\na most charming Bedouin who had left the sands for the gaieties of the\ncity. He was quite the polished gentleman to be found in any city, and I\nwas surprised when told that he had divorced his Bedouin wife because\nshe was not as progressive as his cosmopolitanism now required, and my\ngossipy friend informed me, \u201cThey used to quarrel dreadfully and he\nwould beat her most frightfully.\u201d I saw the lady in question, who had\nreturned to the tribe and remarried, and I rather admired the hardihood\nof the somewhat effeminate man who would dare to try to beat this great\nstalwart Bedouin woman, who looked as if she would take an active part\nin any chastening that might be passing around her tent.\n\nThere is no such word as \u201cprivacy\u201d in the Bedouin vocabulary; their\nprivate life must be an open book to all the tribe. Their one great\nblessing is the wonderfully clear, dry air, which gives them health and\nvigour and makes them immune to many of the diseases that afflict their\nEgyptian neighbour. But if they leave the desert and go to live within\nthe cities, they fall easy victims to the great white plague,\ntuberculosis.\n\nThe Bedouins are followers of Mohammed, but they put their faith in holy\ntombs and charms and sacred groves. They are not so strict in regard to\nprayers as are the people who live within call of the muezzin, and the\nreligion of the women seems to be more superstition than worship of a\nGod. They placate a God who may do them harm, and they have innumerable\ncharms and amulets for the guarding of their children. In the desert\nwhirlwinds they see sweeping across their sands are \u201cginns\u201d and evil\nmonsters; and at night, when a star shoots across the dark blue sky,\nthey believe it is a dart thrown by God at an evil genie, and they\nwhisper, \u201cMay God transfix the enemy of the faith.\u201d Around the naked\nchildren\u2019s neck is hung a small box containing some quotation from the\nKoran that will guard them from the evil eye, that curse most dreaded by\nall mothers of an Eastern land. For every evil that man is heir to, the\nKoran is the cure. A few words from its precious pages are bound upon\nthe arm of the camel driver, who feels that with this as guardian he\nwill not be lost upon the trackless sands. When ill, the wife will call\nthe astrologer, who writes a few words upon a piece of paper, and\nsoaking it in water, gives it to the wailing child, and the mother is\nassured that all will soon be well, because has he not drunk of the very\nfount of wisdom, the words that came from God?\n\nThe old custom of a life for a life prevails in the desert, and feuds\nare handed down from father to son. If a father or brother is killed, it\nis the duty of the son or brother to take the life of the enemy of his\nhouse. In the olden time there was blood money which could be paid,\nalthough it was considered a cowardly thing to accept it. A man\u2019s life\nwas worth a hundred camels, a woman\u2019s only fifty, but the man of honour\nasked the life. The chief of the tribe has the power to decide in all\ncases between his people, and the English Government does not materially\ninterfere in the life of the Bedouin.\n\nIn regard to the custom of taking a life for a life, there is a story\ntold of how in the early days the missions made a convert from\nMohammedanism, the only convert made among these tribes. In a blood feud\na man stabbed his enemy, but not fatally, and fleeing to the tent of a\nfriend he lingered there many days. This tent was one visited by the\nmissionary of the Christian faith, and while lying on his bed of pain\nthe wounded man heard of a faith that said, \u201cLove your enemies,\u201d and\nbefore his death he sent word to his tribe that they must forget his\ndeath and not try to avenge it. He even sent word that he forgave his\nenemy. This was so astonishing that neither could the man who killed him\nnor his tribe believe the fact, and secretly the enemy decided to find\nfor himself what had caused the unheard of message to be brought to his\ntent. He learned of the new religion that said, \u201cRevenge is Mine, saith\nthe Lord,\u201d and he became the only Bedouin convert to the Christian\nfaith.\n\nLiving in this home on the edge of the desert we saw the real life of\nthe tent people. We watched them as, weary and tired looking, they\nreturned from their long journeys. We saw the trains of laden camels as\nthey started for the distant cities. We saw the shepherd boys drive in\nthe flocks of sheep or goats, looking as they did in olden Bible times.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V\n INDIAN SOCIAL LIFE\n\n\nThere is no woman in the world who is so bound down by custom, so tied\nto the wheel of conventionality, as is the Indian woman, both Hindu and\nMohammedan. In the olden times the ancient law-makers realized the\ndanger menacing a people surrounded by an inferior race, as were the\nnatives of India compared to their Aryan invaders, and instituted that\nremarkable social system that peculiarly affects the women of the\ncountry, and is the cause of many of the evils that has made her life\none not to be envied\u2014caste.\n\nHindu society is divided into hundreds of communities consisting of\nseveral clans, each clan having its own peculiar customs and iron-bound\nrules. The clans are composed of families, governed by the family\ncustom, which in turn must obey the clan custom, and these must be\ngoverned by the rules of the community. If a person violates the custom,\nhe forfeits all the privileges which he or his family may have in the\nlife of the community. His social life is entirely cut off from other\nfamilies and from the protection of his people. No one of his community\nwill eat or drink with him, visit his house, or marry his children. The\npriest will not serve him, the barber will not shave him, nor the\nwashman wash for him. He will be absolutely alone and friendless in the\nworld, not able to get employment, even allowed to starve by the members\nof his own family, who dare not help him, knowing they themselves would\nbe outcasted. He may not have the solace of joining another caste,\neither lower or higher, because he must live and die in the caste in\nwhich he was born.\n\nOriginally there were only four great castes in India: the Brahmans, or\npriestly class, who held all the intellectual or cultural prerogatives;\nthe Kashatriyas, or warrior caste; the Vaisayas, or merchant caste; and\nthe Sudras, or working class. Below that still are the outcastes, who\nare almost slaves, and do the lowest menial services. Manu, the great\nlaw-maker, said that the Brahman issued from the head of Brahma, hence\nhis intellectual superiority; the warrior from his arms, the husbandman\nfrom his thighs, and the Sudras from his feet, thus exactly placing the\nman\u2019s social position in life.\n\nThe laws of caste as explained by Mr. Dutt, a Hindu writer, are as\nfollows\u2014\n\nIndividuals cannot be married who do not belong to the same caste.\n\nA man may not eat with another not of his own caste.\n\nHis meals must be cooked by persons either of his own caste or by\nBrahmans.\n\nNo man of an inferior caste is to touch his food or the dishes in which\nthey are served, or even to enter his cook-room.\n\nNo water or other liquid contaminated by the touch of a person of\ninferior caste can be made use of\u2014rivers, tanks, and other large sheets\nof water being held incapable of defilement.\n\nArticles of dry food, such as rice, wheat, etc., do not become impure by\npassing through the hands of a person of inferior caste so long as they\nremain dry, but cannot be taken if they become wet or greased.\n\nCertain prohibited articles, such as cow\u2019s flesh, pork, fowls, etc., are\nnot to be eaten.\n\nThe ocean and other boundaries of India must not be crossed.\n\nThese rules would not be so oppressive if there were only the four\noriginal great castes into which society was first divided, but now each\nclass is divided into thousands of subdivisions, whose members may not\nintermarry, nor eat together, nor even touch the food prepared by those\nof another community. Mr. Sidney Low has very well expressed the\ndifficulties caused by this very intricate social ruling in his \u201cVision\nof India\u201d\u2014\n\n\u201cTo get a loose analogy, we might suppose that everybody who could claim\ndescent from one of the old Norman families in England formed one caste;\nthat members of the \u2018learned professions,\u2019 who had never soiled\nthemselves with commerce, were combined in a second; and that others\nconsisted exclusively of bankers or moneylenders, or of pork butchers,\ncostermongers, bricklayers, and so on _ad infinitum_.\n\n\u201cAdd that a man born in the costermonger class would remain, or ought to\nremain, a member of that connection to the end of his days, and that he\nwould bring up his sons to the same business; that a greengrocer ought\nnot to eat food in company with a poulterer, that a baker might not give\nhis daughter in marriage to a cheesemonger, and that neither could have\nany matrimonial relations with a bootmaker; and, further, that none of\nthese persons could place himself in personal contact with a clergyman\nor a solicitor\u2014imagine all this, and you begin to acquire some faint\nnotion of the involved tangle in which the entire Hindu community has\nmanaged to get itself enwound.\u201d\n\nMr. Low quotes from the census report of Sir H. Risley further to\nillustrate what the caste system means in the matrimonial sphere, that\nsphere that especially touches the womanhood of India\u2014\n\n\u201cHe imagines the great tribe of the Smiths throughout Great Britain\nbound together in a community, and recognizing as their cardinal\ndoctrine that a Smith must always marry a Smith, and could by no\npossibility marry a Brown, a Jones, or a Robinson. This seems fairly\nsimple; there would be quite enough Miss Smiths to go round. But, then,\nnote that the Smith horde would be broken up into smaller clans, each\nfiercely endogamous. Brewing Smiths,\u201d Sir H. Risley asks us to observe,\n\u201cmust not mate with baking Smiths; shooting Smiths and hunting Smiths,\ntemperance Smiths and licensed-victualler Smiths, Free Trade Smiths and\nTariff Reform Smiths, must seek partners for life in their own\nparticular section of the Smithian multitude. The Unionist Smith would\nnot lead a Home Rule damsel to the altar, nor should Smith the tailor\nwed the daughter of a Smith who sold boots.\u201d\n\nIn its effect upon women the caste system has been most deleterious\nbecause of the difficulty of finding husbands within the same caste. It\nhas led to the making away with undesirable daughters, which was\nfrequently practised by the parents before the English Government\nstepped in and made female infanticide a crime and severely punished the\nculprits. Yet we are told that the disproportion of female to male\nchildren shows that the practice has not been completely stamped out,\nand that many fathers foreseeing the financial difficulties to be\nencountered in marrying their daughters, have deliberately made away\nwith them at birth. In the smaller villages the crime is difficult of\ndetection, but when the ratio of girls to boys falls particularly low in\na community, the Government quarters extra police upon the people,\nmaking all the inhabitants contribute towards the cost of their\nmaintenance, and the records soon show that girl babies are again being\nborn in the villages.\n\nLife in a high-caste Brahman family is much more complicated than that\nof the low-caste family, and many burdens are added to the already heavy\nones borne by the Hindu woman, because of the rituals and customs woven\naround this caste system. A woman told me that she had a friend who\nlived in the house of two maiden aunts who were most orthodox Hindus.\nThis woman was not allowed to touch a thing in the morning before her\nbath. Beside her bed was a long pole with which she must handle her\ntowels and clothing, and she was not permitted to enter the presence of\nher aunts until her uncleanliness had been removed by ablutions and\nprayers.\n\nThe mother-in-law of my friend has practically no social intercourse\nwith her son\u2019s wife because she has broken caste, eats with Europeans,\nand wears shoes made from leather. Her own mother at first felt her\ndaughter\u2019s disgrace keenly, and would not see her for many years. At\nlast love triumphed over custom, and now the mother will visit the\ndaughter if assured that a place will be made ceremonially clean where\nshe may spread her mat of holy dharba grass, on which she sits while\nchatting. She will receive nothing from the hand of her daughter,\nneither water nor food, and when she returns home she takes a complete\nbath and changes her wearing apparel that has become polluted by contact\nwith her daughter\u2019s house.\n\nOrthodox Hindus do not like sitting upon a mat of cloth or walking upon\na carpet. In many houses a wooden bench or board is kept for visitors.\nThe wife of a Resident in one of the Indian cities gave a reception to\nwhich came several ladies from the conservative Hindu families. They\ncarefully avoided walking upon the rugs, and sat upon the edge of the\nchairs, looking most unhappy. The wife of the Resident asked an advanced\nHindu lady why her afternoon was not a success so far as the Indian\nguests were concerned. She was told that the only thought that possessed\nthese little women was a desire to get home. They wished to be polite\nand stay as long as etiquette demanded, but they welcomed with avidity\nthe finality of the party when they might return and bathe and purify\nthemselves from the close contact of foreigners and Mohammedans.\n\nThe members of the Brahmo Samaj, that progressive offshoot of Hinduism,\nhave broken caste and allow their women to go about freely. I was in a\ntown of Southern India with a member of this sect, and we called upon\nthe head mistress of a large school for girls. She was at home with her\nnewly born baby, waiting for the forty days of uncleanness to pass\nbefore returning to her school. She was a very intelligent woman,\ntalking freely of the good and the bad of their social system. She said\nthat a school for girls such as that of which she was the head, where\nfour hundred young girls were being educated in modern thought, would\nhave the greatest influence upon the women of the next generation, but\nthat it would take time to eradicate the instincts of generations of\nignorance and superstition, so deeply woven into the very nature of the\nIndian woman.\n\nAt the close of the visit the baby was brought to me, and rather lacking\na subject for conversation I made the unfortunate remark to the baby,\n\u201cYou will grow up a good Hindu and stick to your caste.\u201d I was not\nprepared for the storm of protest it raised from my friend who had\nbrought me to the home. She turned on me furiously and said: \u201cHow can\nyou say such things, you, a modern woman? Caste is the ruin of India. If\nwe want progress we must break caste: it is our only hope.\u201d\n\nIt is not caste alone that makes the rules that govern the life and\nactions of the Indian woman, but from birth to the burning-ground every\ndetail of life is cast into a mould of ceremony and ritual, which in the\nhands of a less spiritual people would have degenerated into mere sham.\nOf the sixteen events in the life of a man, all are viewed from a\nreligious aspect, and accompanied by a religious ceremony. The most\nsacred prayers are said in the morning before partaking of food, and it\nis the husband, the head of the house, who is supposed to say the\nprayers for all beneath his roof-tree. \u201cNo sacrifice is allowed to women\napart from their husbands, no religious rite, no fasting; as far as a\nwife honours her lord, so far is she exalted in heaven,\u201d says the laws\nof Manu, yet the instinct of religion is strong in the Hindu woman, as\nit is in women all over the world, and they do perform a worship. At the\ntime of her marriage, at the marriage of her children, and at many of\nthe sacred feasts, the wife must sit with her husband during the time he\nis engaged in the performance of the acts of worship, though she takes\nno active part in the ceremonies. If a man has lost his wife, he cannot\nperform the sacrifice of fire.\n\nThe Hindu woman has her gods, which she keeps in the kitchen, the most\nsacred room in a Hindu household. In all the time I was in India I never\nsaw the inside of the kitchen of any of my Indian friends. I have been\ntold that it is divided into two parts, the smaller room used for the\ncooking and as pantry for the storing of food, and must be kept free\nfrom ceremonial defilement. The larger half of the kitchen of a\nmiddle-class household serves as dining-room, and in an alcove or in one\ncorner are the household gods and the utensils to be used in their\nworship. None of the images used by a woman are consecrated, but she\nlights her lamp and bows her head and prays for the safety of her dear\nones, then offers a bit of fruit or betel or a sweetmeat that she has\nprepared, and scatters sandal paste and coloured rice or the petals of\nsweet-smelling flowers over her god. There is generally in each tiny\nyard or in the kitchen a tulasi plant, around which the women walk while\nchanting a prayer. This plant is considered the wife of Vishnu, and is\nrevered by all. There are many blessings promised to one who attends and\nwaters one of these plants, and it will keep care and tribulation from\nits worshippers and grant pardon to the sinner who cherishes the tulasi\nplant. Yet it is more particularly worshipped by women. At one time, it\nis said, women were commanded to walk around it one hundred and eight\ntimes each day, which certainly was a blessing from a hygienic point of\nview, as it gave exercise to these shut-in women, who are restricted to\nthe four walls of their homes.\n\nAt night when the lamps are lighted the wife makes obeisance to the\nflame, saying\u2014\n\n The flame of this lamp is the supreme good.\n The flame of this lamp is the abode of the Supreme.\n By this flame sin is destroyed,\n Oh, Thou light of the evening, we praise thee.\n\nAt the time of the evening meal the men have an elaborate religious\nceremony, but the women say simply, \u201cGovinda, Govinda,\u201d a name for\nVishnu, before partaking of their food.\n\nThe devout mother teaches her children the tales of the gods, and at\nworship time when the bell is sounded they are taught to place their\nhands together in the attitude of prayer and bow their little heads to\nthe gods. It is the father who is expected to teach them the Vedic texts\nand the truths to be found in the Puranas.\n\nThe daily worship is held in the homes, but on feast days or for\nespecial acts of devotion, such as prayers for the blessings of a son,\nor the giving of thanks for favours received, the women go to the\ntemples. These are crowded on holy days or days of anniversary of the\ngods. No one ever goes to the temple empty-handed, and one sees the\nlittle brass jar of holy water, the wreath of marigold or sweet-smelling\nflowers which are supposed to give pleasure to the aesthetic senses of\nthe gods. Many women take a coconut to the temple, which fruit seems to\nbe generally connected with temple worship. The breaking of the coconut\nis said to represent the slaying of the sacrificial animal, which is\nonly done now in the temples dedicated to Kali, that goddess of terror\nwho delights in the blood of her victims.\n\nWhile in Benares I visited a temple dedicated to Shiva, in which were\nseveral enormous bulls, the animal sacred to this god. They were of a\nbluish grey in colour, and from long living in the temple had become as\nclever as the priests in looking for offerings from their worshippers.\nBut while the priests looked for silver or gold, the bulls had an eagle\neye with which to discern from afar the woman who carried a basket of\ngrain. They stood at the back of the temple and eyed each worshipper as\nshe entered. If the pious woman had only a brass water-pot in her hand\nthey did not move; but if they saw a basket, they immediately started\nfor her, and graciously allowed her to pour the grain into their open\nmouths, the woman taking care that she did not pollute the bulls by\ntouching their lips with her hand. A wreath of marigolds was then thrown\nover the neck of the bull, the holy water was poured on his shoulders,\nand he returned to his place. I saw an old lady lovingly stroke the back\nof one of these pampered beasts, ending with the tail, the end of which\nshe used to stroke her face, and afterwards lovingly kissed this\nappendage of her idol. The expression on her face was one of deepest\nreverence, and for her the great blue bull represented the god for whom\nher hungry soul was longing. The educated Hindu would say that she was\nstruggling to find a god as are we all, but that she was still a child\nin matters spiritual and required a material representative of her\nideal. They say that the real Hindu, the man who has studied the Vedas\nand understands the spirit of his religion, needs no images nor ritual.\nIn his prayer he plainly shows that to him God is a spirit. He says\u2014\n\n Oh, Lord, pardon my three sins. I have in contemplation clothed Thee\n in form, who art formless; I have in praise described Thee, who art\n ineffable; and in visiting shrines I have ignored Thy omnipresence.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A HOLY MAN, BENARES.\n\n To face p. 96.]\n\nIn many of the temples, besides the priests to minister to the gods, are\ndancing girls, whose duties are to dance at the shrines, sing hymns, and\ngenerally delight the gods. They are a recognized religious institution,\nand are honoured next to the priests. They are obtained when quite young\nby purchase or by gift. Often in times of famine a girl is sold to the\ntemple, that her price may save the rest of the family from starvation.\nOne is given that all may live. In other cases a girl is often a\nthank-offering given to the gods because of recovery from sickness or\ngreat tribulation. A rich man, instead of presenting his own daughter,\nwould buy the daughter of some poor family and present her. These girls,\nwho have no word to say in regard to the disposal of their persons, are\npublic women, and the gains of their profession go towards the support\nof the temple. If there should be children born to these professional\ndancing girls, they are brought up in their mother\u2019s profession, very\nmuch as were the children born to the priestesses of Aphrodite in the\ntemples of Alexandria.\n\nAll Indian girls must be married, consequently these temple women are\nformally married to a dagger, a tree, or some inanimate object, who, as\na husband, cannot object to the actions of his wife. Lately, in some\nplaces it has been made a criminal offence to sell a girl or give a\ndaughter to a temple, and it is only done surreptitiously. One is told\nin India that it is a thing of the past, yet in one large temple in the\nSouth there are said to be over one hundred dancing girls kept for the\namusement of the blas\u00e9 gods.\n\nThese dancing girls share with their sisters, the nautch girls, the only\nreal freedom given to Indian women. The latter are taught to read and\nwrite, to play musical instruments, and to make themselves attractive\nand charming to men. They come and go freely, mingling with both men and\nwomen. They are found at all feasts and public ceremonies, and have a\nvery definite and honourable place in Indian society. Whatever discredit\nmay be attached to her calling, she is considered a necessary adjunct to\nthe temple and the home. Her presence at weddings is considered most\nfortunate, and in some castes it is the nautch girl who fastens the tali\naround the neck of the bride, a ceremony similar to placing the\nwedding-ring upon the finger. She holds the centre of the stage at all\nentertainments given in honour of guests. While we were in a native\nprovince ruled by a prince who had the reputation of liking wine, women,\nand song even more than did the average ruling prince in India, we were\nedified by the dancing of a woman brought from Bombay at the expense to\nthe prince of nearly one hundred pounds a day.\n\nThe dancing is extremely modest, as the dancer is fully clothed, and it\nis the graceful, languorous poses of her slim body, the waving of her\narms heavily laden with bracelets, and the slow moving, gliding steps\nthat keep time to the tinkle of the anklets, that charm her admirers.\nThere is a proverb that says, \u201cWithout the jingling of the nautch girl\u2019s\nanklets, a dwelling-place does not become pure.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI\n INDIAN HOME LIFE\n\n\nAlthough the women are supposed to have no religious standing and are\nconsidered unfit to read the Vedas or touch the consecrated gods, still\ntheir entire life is influenced by religion or superstition, and the\nreligion and superstition of the Eastern woman, of whatever land, is so\ninextricably entwined, that it is hard to tell where one leaves off and\nthe other begins. Like her sisters of China and Egypt, she is afraid of\nthe evil eye. She firmly believes that if her jewels, her dress, or her\nchildren are looked upon with jealous or covetous eyes, much sorrow will\ncome to her, and she has many charms and ceremonies with which to\ncounteract the baneful influence of spiteful persons. It is never wise\nfor a visitor to regard a baby too closely or to admire its jewels or\nclothing openly, as, even if the mother is one of the advanced minority,\ninstinct will assert itself, and deep within her heart, bred there by\ncenturies of tradition, will be a little feeling that something _might_\nhappen to her dear one. Quite likely, when the unwise caller departs,\nthe mother will make a lamp of kneaded rice flour and fill it with oil\nor clarified butter, which, when lighted and passed round the baby\u2019s\nhead, will remove the dreaded evil.\n\nThe Hindu woman\u2019s life is ruled by omens to a far greater extent than is\nthe life of the woman of the Western world. If she is starting on a\nvisit to a friend, it is a very bad sign for her to meet a widow, any\none carrying a new pot, a bundle of firewood, a pariah, a lame man, two\nmen quarrelling, a leper\u2014in fact, there are about a dozen things she\nshould avoid, or else be under the necessity of returning to her home\nand saying a few prayers before daring to start on her journey again. If\nshe should sneeze once, it is most unfortunate, and should be followed\nby a second in order to avert the evil, but if the second sneeze is\nfollowed by others, the more the better, it is a most certain sign that\nher most ardent wishes will soon be granted. When one yawns it is polite\nto snap the fingers and say, \u201cGovinda, Govinda,\u201d as many believe that\nthe life may leave the body while yawning, and to avert this calamity\nfrom a baby the mother snaps her fingers and murmurs, \u201cKrishna,\nKrishna,\u201d in its tiny ears.\n\nMohammedan and Hindu customs are so much alike that it is often hard to\nsay that one is a Mohammedan custom or that another is purely Hindu. At\nthe marriages, and the return of the daughter to her home to give birth\nto her first child, at the birth of the children, and in many of the\nsocial customs of the Mohammedans are seen the influence of the Hindu\nreligion. It was the Mohammedans who brought the \u201cpurdah\u201d system, or the\nseclusion of women, into India. Before the invasion of these warlike\npeople the women of India went about freely, but now the Hindus are\npractically as secluded as are the Mohammedan women. In the North, where\nthe influence of the followers of the Arabian prophet made itself most\ndominant, the women are much more secluded than in the South, where the\nMohammedans did not come in such large numbers.\n\nIt is in the villages that true India is to be found, unchanging,\nlanguorous India. Here is a self-centered commonwealth, with little\ndependence for its welfare upon the outer world, and the people have\nremained the same as their fathers and their father\u2019s fathers,\nimpervious to new innovations and ideas. To look at one of these\nvillages is very different from ideas one may have formed of them by\nreading books of travel. The first impression received upon entering one\nis that of an enlarged barnyard, as cows and farm implements take entire\npossession of the narrow streets. The low, thatched mud houses are\nwithout doors, windows, or chimneys. The floor is generally plastered\nwith cow dung, which, when dry, leaves a hard shellac-like polish,\nconsidered by the natives most sanitary. It has to be redone every two\nweeks, and to Western eyes is a most unsightly operation, as it is done\nwith the hands of the housewife. It is said that when the Salvation Army\nsent its first volunteers to India, they required them to live the life\nof the Indian, and that this smearing of the earthen floors with the\nnational substitute for varnish was one of the chief causes why women\nwere not always ready to volunteer for service in the East.\n\nThere is virtually no furniture in the homes. The stove consists of\nthree or four bricks, around which the fuel, consisting of dried cakes\nof mud and cowdung, are broken, and which smoulder rather than burn. A\nfew earthenware pots and a large dish in which to serve the food, some\nbrass utensils, and a large jar for carrying water, complete the\nculinary arrangements. For plates, banana or plantain leaves are used,\nor, lacking these, small leaves are sewn together. This saves the\ndrudgery of washing dishes, as the leaves are thrown away after each\nmeal, and the fingers are used in place of the knives and forks of the\nmore aesthetic races. Chairs and tables are not needed, as the Indian\nsquats upon his haunches, as only an Oriental can; and in silence,\nregarding only his own food, to which he helps himself from the central\ndish, he eats his meal. When the lord of the household has finished, he\ngraciously allows his wife to eat from the same leaf. No Indian woman\nwho conforms to the customs of her race ever eats at the table with the\nmen of her household, yet this is not confined to the women of India.\nThe separation of the men from the women at the dinner-table is\npractised by all Orientals. The women of China and Japan eat with the\nyounger children when the master of the house has finished, and no\nEgyptian husband, unless one of the small class who have become\nthoroughly Westernized, would think of inviting his wife to share with\nhim his evening meal.\n\nIn the village homes the man shows his superiority also in the fact that\nthe only bed in the house of the peasant or workman is that for the\nmaster, if bed it can be called\u2014simply a rough framework of wood with\ncoir ropes strung across it. The extra wardrobe of the family, if they\nare so fortunate as to possess more than the one garment which they\nwear, is hung on a pole in a corner of the room, and need not take much\nspace, as the clothing of India\u2019s poor is scant\u2014a loin-cloth, a sheet\nfor the shoulders, and a long piece of cotton for the head suffices him.\nHis wife will only possess a tight-fitting little bodice, and six yards\nof cloth which she will drape gracefully around her body, making it\nserve both as dress and head covering. Yet the woman\u2019s arms are covered\noften with bracelets, anklets tinkle as she walks, and as she draws her\nsari across her face when passing the stranger, the glint of a nose-ring\nis seen, or the light flashes from a necklace that rests against her\nbrown skin. This jewellery may be of gold, silver, brass, or even of\nglass, but the woman of the village loves these aids to feminine charms\nas well as does her city sister. In the olden time the peasant had no\ntrust in banks, and when he accumulated a few extra rupees, he added a\nbangle to his wife\u2019s arm, or bought a nose or ear-ring. It served the\ndouble purpose of saving money which might be foolishly spent at the\nautumn fair, and also was easy to take to the moneylender in times of\nstress. There are many thousands of pounds of gold that go into India\neach year and disappear. The officials say it is turned into jewellery\nfor these wives and daughters of India\u2019s great middle class, who seem\nnever too poor to have a touch of gold or silver upon the persons of\ntheir womenfolk.\n\nThe village wife is relieved of the necessity of providing clothing for\nthe children, because until they are seven or eight years old an amulet\nstring or a silver anklet completes their wardrobe. There are many of\nthese little brown bodies around every doorway, looking like\ndark-skinned cupids. One rarely sees a child in India with a bad skin,\nwhich perhaps is due to the oil-baths which they receive in early\nchildhood. Mothers bathe their babies in oil, then wash it off with a\nvegetable soap, leaving the skin soft and shining as satin. This is a\nluxury indulged in by older people also, and the giving of oils for the\nbath is a favourite present among friends.\n\nIn the shade of the porch is often seen a cradle, a very simple affair\nmade of four pieces of wood with a hammock of cloth held between them.\nAround the top of the cloth is arranged baby\u2019s toys so that he may lie\nand amuse himself, which is quite necessary where the mother has as many\nhousehold duties to attend to as the Indian farmer\u2019s wife. In places\nwhere the woman is working in the field, the baby may be seen wrapped in\na hammock-like affair and tied to the limb of a tree; and it is a common\npractice among labouring women, I am told, to give the babies a drug to\nkeep them quiet while the mothers work. Opium is very generally used in\nIndia, especially among the higher classes, although forbidden by both\nHindu and the Mohammedan religion. It is supposed to invigorate the\naged, and an Indian told me that he thoroughly believed that all men\nafter they pass the age of fifty were better for the moderate use of\nopium.\n\nThe wife of the village man or peasant is not \u201cpurdah nashim,\u201d or\nsecluded, as is the wife of the rich man. She takes her share in the\nagricultural work, besides carrying water from the village well, making\nthe cakes of fuel and plastering them against the side of the house to\ndry, grinding the meal, husking the rice, washing the clothing, and\ncooking the meals. Yet with all her work the monotony of her life is\nbroken by many feasts and ceremonies in which she takes a part. Each\ndistrict and temple has its own particular f\u00eate day, and there are many\nfamily feasts where work is given up at the time of special rejoicing.\nRelatives and friends meet together, the houses are decorated, bright\nsaris are brought forth, and the time is spent in pleasure and\nmerry-making. There are eighteen obligatory feasts in the year for the\northodox Hindu, but only a few of the principal ones are celebrated.\n\nMany of the ceremonies in the home originated in sanitary laws, which\nwould not have been obeyed unless the people were made to believe that\nthey were of divine origin. At a certain time of the year when smallpox\nis rife, and the epidemic has passed, there is a worship of the\n\u201cMother,\u201d which requires the house to be thoroughly cleaned and\npurified, all the old vessels broken, all old clothing burned or placed\nin the sun for a certain time, before the women are permitted to go to\nthe temple to worship their favourite goddess. There is another spring\nfeast, when the women go down to the water dressed in yellow, and send\nsmall lighted lamps down the stream to the spring goddess. At the feast\nof the serpents the villagers take offerings to the sand-hills, and pour\nmilk and honey into the holes where the snakes are supposed to dwell,\nasking protection of these gods of wisdom, who especially guard the eyes\nof their worshippers. At another feast the women take red water and\nsprinkle it upon each other, rejoicing over the slaying of the giant god\nof evil. The girls take part in a pretty feast in the fall, when they\ndecorate their little brothers with flowers and garland the houses, and\nat night light innumerable little lamps, making a village look like a\nminiature fairyland.\n\nThe village women appear rather sullen, but when known they are found to\nbe as happy as is the wife of the average working man. If there is no\ndrought drying up the crops, if no disease comes to the cattle, if the\nmoneylender is not too avaricious, if a few pennies can be saved to buy\nbracelets from the bangle-man at the annual festival, and if the gods do\nnot disgrace her by sending too many daughters, she is happy. Yet the\nvillage woman and her family are always but half a step in advance of\nthe waiting wolf; famine comes with swiftness, and quick deaths from\nplagues to hundreds of thousands of these peasant people, who constitute\nnine-tenths of the population of India.\n\nThe life of the women in the small towns and villages is like life in\nanother world compared to that led by the women in the large cities of\nCalcutta or Bombay or Madras. Here the Indian lady seems to be trying to\nlose her national characteristics, and Indian society is very\ndisappointing to a visitor from the West who wishes to see something of\nthe life lived by the lady of India. It seems to be merely a copy of the\nlife of the English society woman, and her day is filled with teas,\nsociety concerts, and receptions. Their homes are thoroughly English in\nevery department, their drawing-rooms are filled with English\nbric-\u00e0-brac, they go to the entertainments in most luxurious motors;\ntheir children, dressed in European clothes, are brought down to see the\nguest by an English governess, and English is the language of the home.\nMany of the Indian women are members of clubs, musical societies, and\nare taking active part in the charities for the benefit of their people.\n\nThe Indian woman wields a strong influence over her husband, and has\nmore of a place in the life around her than we imagine, from the stories\nwe hear of unhappy days spent \u201cBehind Zenana Bars.\u201d We are apt to\nconsider the secluded, shut-in Eastern woman as a cowed, frightened\ncreature, afraid to say her soul is her own, while among the better\nclass, at least, it is quite the contrary. It takes a brave man to go\nabsolutely against the wishes of his womenfolk, as they have the\nadvantage of numbers in their favour. In every great household there are\ninnumerable women relatives, satellites, and servants revolving around\nthe personality of the mistress. These Eastern women have been schooled\nin the art of intrigue and understand thoroughly the efficacy of passive\nresistance. If the wife wishes to accomplish a certain object, and is\nable to enlist the women of the household on her side, the man will be\ncompelled sooner or later to submit to her wishes.\n\nThe older, conservative women are very tyrannical, and try their best to\ncombat the newer ideas brought to the zenanas by their sons and\ndaughters. Many of the younger generation are trying to break from the\npatriarchal custom of all the family living under one roof. They say it\nis very fine in theory, and has worked with good results in the\nvillages, but that it has many bad points, the chief of which is that it\nallows no expression of individuality. The personality must be sunk in\nthe family. When all the men will work and become producers and\ncontributors to the family fund, it makes for harmony in the home, but\nwhen some are drones and live on the toil of others, it makes the burden\ntoo heavy for the few and causes quarrels and dissensions.\n\nWomen are helpless in India in the earning of a living for themselves,\nand if widowhood comes they must depend for support on some male\nrelative of their own or of the family of their deceased husband. I know\na boy of eighteen who is the only support of his wife, his aunt, a\nwidow, his widowed mother, and his young sister. He was compelled to\nleave school and take a position in an office in order to take care of\nall these women, as he was the responsible head of the family. It is\nhard for a boy who is ambitious and anxious to obtain an education, when\nthere are many women in his household, as they care more for the\nimmediate necessities than for a prospective successful future. They\nfeel that his father and his father\u2019s father were able to provide for\nthe wants of the family, so why should the boys of to-day spend years in\nstudying books when they might be adding to the family exchequer?\n\nIt is the women who are compelling the younger boys and girls to conform\nto the old usages and traditions in regard to marriage. Many a boy\nleaves school and would like a chance to find a place for himself in\nlife before burdening himself with a wife. But this he is not allowed to\ndo. His mother believes that all boys should be married early in life,\nconsequently the boy is saddled with a family at about the age when the\nAmerican boy is taking his first shy look at the girl across the aisle\nin the schoolroom. These modern young men would also like to have a\nvoice in the selection of their wives, but that also is denied them.\nThey must conform to the traditions of their caste and the customs of\ntheir family. I know a boy who was compelled to marry his niece,\nalthough his education had taught him that these intermarriages were not\nfor the good of his race; still, he was helpless, and could not\nsuccessfully oppose the combined wishes of the women of his family.\n\nSide by side with these Indian women who guard jealously the customs and\ntraditions of other days are the Westernized society women, who seem to\nshare with their husbands in the spirit of imitation that has entered\ninto the very soul of the Indian people who have come into contact with\nthe English. The Indian gentleman feels that he must talk \u201csport,\u201d the\nschoolboy prides himself upon the knowledge of cricket and football and\ntalks the jargon of Eton and Rugby. Because the meat-eating Englishmen\nfrom cold, dreary England must exercise in order to live, the Indian\nalso devotes himself to a strenuous regime that is absolutely alien to\nhis habits and the requirements of his climate. The Indian lady, with\nher exaggerated English accent, and her costume that is neither of the\nEast nor of the West, is a paradox. She may well be zealous in borrowing\nwhat she needs from the English, but it seems hard for her to assimilate\nwhat she takes and make it a part of herself. The affectations which she\nuses to show her cosmopolitanism are palpably grafted upon her tree of\nknowledge, and we who wish to see the real India are only consoled in\nthe thought that these unusual conditions which prevail in the large\ncities are only the graftings, and that the tree itself is not affected\nby them. The real woman of India is bound to grow in knowledge brought\nby education and experience, but deep down in her heart she will be\nessentially the same for years to come. She will not try to exchange her\npersonality for another\u2019s, even in outward appearance.\n\nThe dawn of consciousness that has been preceded by long twilight is now\nawakening in the soul of the Eastern woman, and she will see by its\nlight that she has a strength and individuality of her own and that she\nneed not mortgage her birthright to borrow alien charms from the women\nof other lands.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII\n MARRIAGE\u2014THE GOAL OF WOMAN\n\n\nThere are three great events in a Hindu woman\u2019s life: first, her\nmarriage; second, the birth of her son; and third, if she should be so\nunfortunate, her widowhood.\n\nThese three events are of immense importance to all women, but as a\nwoman of the Far East is supposed to be created for one purpose only,\nthe rearing of sons to her husband\u2019s house, marriage and birth of\nchildren assume a larger place in her life than in the life of the\nWestern woman, where these two events are often merely incidents. Also\nwhen a Hindu woman marries she expects to stay married, as she cannot\ndivorce her husband, and he can only divorce her for infidelity. Even\ndeath will not open for her the doorway to remarriage, because if her\nhusband should die before her, she must remain true to his memory for\nlife.\n\nThe woman\u2019s inclinations are seldom consulted in regard to the choice of\na husband, because, quite likely, when she is not much more than a\nchild, her parents begin to look around for a suitable alliance for her.\nTheir choice must fall upon a man of the same caste, a relative if\npossible. The prospective bridegroom may be a young boy, or he may be an\nold man, a widower. The girl _must_ be married. There are no reasons in\nthe Hindu philosophy which allow a girl to pass the marriageable age\nwithout a husband being chosen for her. Men may become \u201csanyassis,\u201d that\nis, renounce the world and remain bachelors, but this is not allowed\nwomen under any circumstances, as they must fulfil their destiny, which\nis to be the mothers of men.\n\nIf a girl passes the marriageable age, if she should be twelve or\nthirteen without being settled in life, her family would feel that they\nwere disgraced, and she would have slight opportunity for marriage in\nany respectable family. Therefore, it is incumbent upon her parents to\nfind for her a husband as soon as possible, which leads to one of the\ngreatest crimes against Indian womanhood\u2014child marriages.\n\nThere are many preliminaries to be arranged before the final choice of a\nbridegroom is decided, but when he is found at last, the important\nquestion of the dowry arises. In some places the father of the bride\ngives a dowry with his daughter, in others the groom\u2019s father pays a\ncertain sum to the parents of the little bride, practically buying her.\nNearly every caste has a different mode of procedure regarding the\nexchange of presents and money.\n\nThe girl\u2019s personal jewellery and everything she receives from her\nfuture father-in-law, or that she takes with her to her new home, are\nmost clearly set down, article by article, in a document, and constitute\nher own personal property, which she may claim if she becomes a widow.\n\nMarriage is a most ruinous operation financially for the parents,\nespecially for the father of the bride. He must give a feast lasting for\nfive days to all friends and relatives, presents to all the contracting\nparties, and great liberality must be shown the Brahmans and priests who\nassist in the ceremony. If his new son-in-law is an educated youth, he\nwill demand a much larger dowry with his bride, in these days when\nWestern education is meaning so much in the life of the Indian youth. If\nhe is a \u201cfailed B.A.,\u201d he may only demand, we will say, one thousand\nrupees from his father-in-law. If he successfully passed his\nexaminations and is a full B.A., he quite likely would feel that those\nletters added to his name were worth at least two thousand rupees; and\nif he should by chance be a Doctor of Laws, his demands might be limited\nonly by the knowledge of the amount of gold the father of his bride has\nstored for this emergency.\n\nAfter the preliminary ceremonies have been concluded and the family\npriest has decided upon the most propitious day for the nuptials, the\nfamily begin to make preparations for the wedding. Invitations are taken\nto friends and relatives who are within visiting distance by the women\nof the household, who make upon the forehead of the invited female guest\nthe round red caste mark, and leave a small bundle of pan leaves and\nbetel-nut for the other members of the family. Often a little sandalwood\npaste is touched to the chin and between the shoulders by the bearer of\nthe invitation. Mohammedan ladies send a tiny mica box with a cardamom\nseed in it and a piece of confectionery, which is given with the verbal\ninvitation by the messenger, who must, if possible, be some member of\nthe family instead of a servant.\n\nIn the case of rich people the strong box is opened and the hoarded\nrupees brought forth with which to buy the gold and silver jewellery for\nboth bride and groom, the elaborate wedding garments, and the saris,\nwhich are given as presents to the women guests, and shawls for the men;\nthe store-rooms are examined to make sure that there is rice in plenty,\nalso wheat flour, butter, oil of sessaman, peas, vegetables, fruits,\npickles, curries, in fact, all the many foodstuffs necessary in the\npreparation of the elaborate feasts which are the main events of the\nwedding. Sandalwood powder is bought in great quantities, antimony for\nthe eyes, incense, the red paste which wives use on the forehead, and\ninnumerable numbers of the beautiful flower wreaths with which the\nguests are garlanded after the entertainments. Plenty of new earthen\ndishes are selected from the potters\u2019 store, for these vessels may never\nbe used the second time.\n\nIn the case of the poor man, now is the time when the visits are made to\nthe moneylender, because, rich or poor, prince or peasant, there must be\nno question of stint at this time of rejoicing.\n\nA wedding is a very gorgeous affair, being limited only by the means of\nthe contracting parties, but it is generally conceded that all Indians,\nof whatever class of society they may be members, spend far too much\nupon the nuptials of their children.\n\nEach one of the five days has its especial religious rite. One ceremony\ntypifies the giving of the girl by the father to the husband and the\nrenunciation of his parental authority. On another day the husband\nfastens the tali around his young wife\u2019s neck, which is practically the\nsame as placing the marriage-ring upon the finger of the new bride. This\ntali is a small gold ornament strung on a little cord composed of one\nhundred and eight very fine threads closely twisted together and dyed\nyellow with saffron. Before tying the tali it is taken to the guests,\nboth men and women, who bless it. Old ladies whose husbands are alive\nare specially requested to bless the tali, in order to insure the couple\na long married life. This symbol of wifehood is tied with three knots,\nthus trebly ensuring the marriage tie, and is never to be removed unless\nthe wearer is so unfortunate as to become a widow, when the cord is cut.\nThe most unkind thing one woman can say to another is, \u201cMay your tali be\ncut!\u201d\n\nAfter the tying of this emblem the newly married couple walk three times\naround a lighted fire, which is the ultimate binding of the marriage\ncontract, for there is no more solemn engagement than that which is\nentered into in the presence of fire. Rice is thrown over the pair, and\nthey throw it upon each other, signalling that they hope to enjoy an\nabundance of this world\u2019s goods and a fruitful union. Rice is used at\nweddings in nearly all Eastern countries as typifying prosperity and\nfruitfulness, and it is perhaps from the Far East that we borrow our\ncustom of throwing rice upon the newly married pair.\n\nMany Hindu women wear, in addition to the tali, an iron bracelet to\nindicate their marriage state. Among the rich it is gilded and,\nconsequently, not easily distinguished from the many bracelets that\nalways cover the Indian lady\u2019s arm.\n\nA young Hindu boy is not supposed to chew betel-nut nor put flowers in\nhis hair until he is married. On the fourth day of the marriage\nfestivities the groom is given his first betel-nut by his\nbrother-in-law, and his head is wreathed with flowers. In a few castes\nthe bride has her left nostril bored on the fifth day of the marriage\nand an ornament placed therein. After marriage in some parts of India\nthe woman wears a streak of red powder in the parting of her hair, and\nin practically all provinces she wears the little round mark of wifehood\nbetween the eyes, which, as age comes, is elongated, until gradually, by\nthe time that children and grandchildren cluster around her knee, the\nlittle red mark has grown into a straight line, losing itself in the\nwhitening locks. In Mysore and in some of the southern provinces a woman\ndoes not tuck up her dress in the back until she is married. Then an end\nof the long sari, which is twisted several times around the body, is\nbrought from the front to the back and tucked into a belt, forming a\nsort of trousers, and incidentally exposing more brown leg than we women\nof the Western world think consistent with modesty.\n\nAt the final feast the bride and groom eat together from the same leaf\nto show their complete union. This is the first and last time that the\nwife will eat in company with her husband, if he is an orthodox Hindu\nand not imbued with the new Western ideas. Always, in the future, she\nwill serve him his meal, and after he has finished she will eat with the\nother women of the household and the smaller children, using the same\nleaf which has done service for her lord and master.\n\nWhen all the religious rites are finished and the festivities have come\nto an end, there is a final procession, when the wife and husband,\ngorgeously arrayed in all their jewellery, are carried round the town to\nthe accompaniment of music, the explosion of fire crackers, the shooting\nof rockets, and the shouting of friends. Then, if the bride is still a\nchild, she returns home with her parents, who keep her secluded until\nthe time arrives for her to return to her husband\u2019s home and fulfil the\nduties of a wife. The day the husband and mother-in-law come to take the\nwife to their home is made another time of rejoicing. She remains with\nthem for a month when she revisits her old home, and often for the first\nfew years, or until she has children, she lives alternately in her\nhusband\u2019s house and in that of her parents. If she finds herself\nill-treated by her husband and tormented by her mother-in-law, the young\ngirl often seeks her father\u2019s home for shelter and protection, and\nremains with them until the husband or his mother come in person to\npersuade her to return home. Nearly always her family add their\npersuasions, if not their force, to compel the wife to return to her\nhusband\u2019s roof, as it is a great disgrace to all concerned to have a\nwife leave her husband. After the children come, the wife rarely leaves\nher house and devotes her time and energies to the rearing of the little\nones that fill all homes, from the mansions of the rich to the huts of\nthe poor peasants. There seem to be more little brown bodies in India\nthan in any place I have visited, unless I except China, where the\nstaple articles are rice and babies.\n\nThe new wife has to accommodate herself to the customs of her husband\u2019s\nfamily, and much of her future happiness depends upon the women members\nof the household. If it is a very aristocratic family, she may have all\nthe luxuries of life, beautiful gold-embroidered saris, jewels,\nservants, and slaves, but very little liberty. There is a saying that\nyou can tell the degree of a family\u2019s aristocracy by the height of the\nwindows in the home. The higher the rank, the smaller and higher are the\nwindows and the more secluded the women. An ordinary lady may walk in\nthe garden and hear the birds sing and see the flowers. A higher grade\nlady may only look at them from her windows, and if she is a very great\nlady indeed, this even is forbidden her, as the windows are high up near\nthe ceiling, merely slits in the wall for the lighting and ventilation\nof the room.\n\nThere are many rules of etiquette prescribed for the young girl-wife if\nshe would show that she has been properly trained by her parents. For\nexample, she must never speak of her husband by name, nor may she use a\nword with the same syllable as her husband\u2019s first name. A friend of\nmine has a husband whose name begins with the same syllable as that used\nin the word sugar. She always speaks of sugar as \u201cthe substance you put\nin your tea,\u201d and she generally refers to her husband as \u201che.\u201d Nor would\nthe man say \u201cmy wife,\u201d but \u201cmy house,\u201d or some word denoting the home. A\nman in Hyderabad met his doctor on the street and said, \u201cI wish you\nwould come and see me. My house has a boil on its neck.\u201d\n\nThis same wife would not sit in the presence of her mother-in-law or her\nhusband if others were present. It would show extreme lack of respect;\nnor would she speak if her husband were in the room. We called upon the\nwife of a high official of Bangalore, who came into the room with her\ndaughter-in-law and her young daughter, an extremely pretty girl. The\ndaughter-in-law would not sit down in the presence of her husband\u2019s\nmother, nor did she speak, and looked extremely awkward and\nself-conscious, as she stood with her sari drawn across her mouth and\nwatched us with her big black eyes. The little daughter played the\nveena, the national instrument, and as she sat upon the rug, gorgeously\narrayed in an elaborate red and gold sari, with jewellery on arms, neck,\nankles, toes, and with diamonds in each tiny nostril, she made a picture\nnever to be forgotten.\n\nIn some of the big households where the sons bring their wives to live\nbeneath the family roof-tree, the married quarters are not large enough\nto allow a separate room for each couple, and the women sleep in one\nroom and the men in another. The mother has the right of assigning the\ncouples who are to inhabit the married quarters for the week. But even\nthe eagle eye of the mother-in-law cannot always watch the young people,\nand many a girl-wife steals across the courtyard to find her husband,\nwho is waiting for her in the shadows. A crowd of young men in a school\nwere asked to give their idea of what was the most beautiful music in\nthe world. One answered, \u201cThe song of the bul-bul,\u201d another, \u201cThe\nplaintive strains of the zither,\u201d a third, \u201cThe cry of the night bird,\u201d\nbut a young bridegroom said, \u201cThe music of my wife\u2019s anklets as she\ntries to suppress their sound when she steals to meet me in the\nmoonlight.\u201d\n\nOne is amazed at the amount of jewellery worn by the Indian women, yet\nthis vanity is not confined solely to the women, as in some of the\nprovinces nearly every man has a jewel in his ear, and many of them wear\nmost expensive finger-rings. The women excel in the artistic use of\njewellery that on other people would seem tawdry and barbaric, but on\nthese dainty little women is most becoming to their rich, dark beauty.\nJewellery is not only worn by the lady, but women of every class are\ncovered with it. The village woman will have perhaps but one cotton\nsari, and her home would be merely a mud hovel, but she will clink as\nshe walks, and you know she wears silver anklets, and as she moves her\nsari to peep at you, you see the glisten of a bracelet. It may be of\nbrass or it may be of silver, or, if she be very poor, coloured glass\nbangles will satisfy her cravings for the beautiful, and her arms will\nbe covered with these ornaments from the wrist to the elbow.\n\nAt a railway-station near Baroda I saw women whose legs to the knee were\ncovered with huge brass bands that must have been most inconvenient and\nheavy to carry. In Poona we stopped to watch a merchant of toe-rings\nplace his wares upon his patron\u2019s toes which were held out to him for\nthe purpose. The rings were so tight that soap had to be used to force\nthem over the twinging toes. The operation was most painful to vanity,\njudging from the faces of the victims, but evidently the sight of the\nshining ring as they trudged down the dusty road repaid them for the\nsuffering they had undergone. In this same market were innumerable\nbooths for the sale of the glass bracelets that are worn by all the\nwomen of India, with the exception of widows. I watched an old woman in\nthe bangle bazaar working them over the hands of the women who sat on\nthe ground in front of her, prepared to spend unlimited time in\nacquiring these articles of adornment. The purchaser made her choice\nfrom the green or gold or red bangles piled carelessly upon the trays in\nfront of her, then the bangle-seller squeezed and manipulated the hand,\nslowly working, pushing, coaxing the bangle over the hand, until finally\nit was on the arm, where evidently it would remain.\n\nMy husband and I dined with a Mohammedan who, after dinner, asked me\ninto the zenana to meet his wife. The bareness of my arms shocked her,\nand she insisted upon presenting me with three bracelets for each arm,\nworking them on so skilfully that it did not pain me, but on arriving at\nthe hotel I found I could not remove them. I tried to persuade the\nIndian servant to break them for me, but he was horrified and said it\nwould bring me very bad luck, as only widows had them broken on the arm.\nI feared I would be compelled to wear them all my life as my husband\nwould not break them, having overheard the remarks about the widow.\nFinally I broke them myself, much to the detriment of my arms, which\ncarried the scars for many days.\n\nThere is an immense amount of money going into India each year that\nnever gets into circulation, as the gold coins are strung upon chains or\nmelted to make the bracelets for the women and children. Life could be\nmade much more comfortable for the Indian peasant if he would turn the\nmoney invested in jewellery for his womenfolk into comforts for the\nhome.\n\nThe Hindu woman has few legal rights. Any property which her husband\nwishes to leave her must be given to her in his lifetime, as she cannot\ninherit his estate, but she may claim maintenance from his heirs, and if\nshe should survive her son, she may become his legal heir. The male\nrelatives are supposed to provide maintenance for the women of the\nfamily.\n\nAn outsider looking upon the Hindu home does not see where real union\ncan possibly exist between a husband and wife. This is especially true\nat the present time, when nearly all the better class of India\u2019s sons\nare being educated, and are reading, listening, touching hands with the\noutside world. The women of the middle and lower classes, except in rare\ncases, are practically without education, few being able to read or\nwrite. The signs point to the fact that they will not long remain in\nthis ignorant state, because the young men are demanding educated wives,\nand a desire for education is abroad in the land, although an old\nproverb says that to educate a woman is like placing a knife in the\nhands of a monkey. The English Government is establishing schools for\ngirls in every town and village, and in Baroda enforced schooling is\ndemanded for girls as well as for boys. But because of the early\nmarriage of the girl, she has little opportunity of becoming a real\ncompanion to her husband, as he may continue his studies for years,\nwhile, when she becomes a wife, her schooldays are over.\n\nI met a gentleman of about fifty years of age in the South of India who\nasked me to call upon his wife, a young girl of seventeen years, who\nbecame his bride at the age of twelve. She was not at all what the\naverage girl of seventeen years would be in England or America. She was\nthe polite hostess, with no trace of self-consciousness or gaucherie,\ngraceful in her every movement. She was exquisitely dressed and covered\nwith jewels. Large diamond clusters were in her ears, diamonds in each\nnostril, and around her neck a chain of rubies with a large pendant of\npearls. Her manners were charming, and as we were parting she excused\nherself for a moment then returned to the room with a small tray on\nwhich was the red powder for the caste mark, betel-nut, fruit, and a\nsmall bouquet of flowers. She came to each of us and bowed, then with\nher right hand made the mark of wifehood upon our foreheads, and handed\nus the betel-nut and flowers. This gracious and pretty service is one of\nthe many little kindly acts that are always performed by the hostess\nherself, as it would not be polite to delegate it to a servant.\n\nI was charmed with this dainty little woman, yet I could not help\nthinking that she might be a pretty toy, but not a companion to the man\nwith whom I had been conversing a few hours previous, and in whose\nlibrary I had seen Emerson\u2019s \u201cEssays,\u201d Farrar\u2019s \u201cLife of Christ,\u201d\n\u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress,\u201d the works of Tolstoy, Epictetus, and lying upon\nthe desk, as if just left by the master, Maeterlinck\u2019s \u201cLife and Death.\u201d\n\nAccording to the ethical, moral, and religious standards of the Hindus,\nman and woman are equal. The Vedas teach\u2014\n\n Before the creation of this phenomenal world, the first born Lord of\n all creatures divided his own self in two halves so that one half\n should be male and the other half female. Just as the halves of\n fruit possess the same nature, the same attributes and the same\n properties in equal proportion, so man and woman, being the equal\n halves of the same substance, possess equal rights, equal\n privileges, and equal power.\n\nThis sounds very well in print, and learned Hindus quote us the Vedas to\nshow that in their country women and men are considered equal. They are\nmost indignant at the conception by the Western people of the treatment\naccorded the Indian woman by her husband. They say that books are filled\nwith the stories of the brutality of husbands who marry these girl-wives\nwithout love on either side, yet they point out that it is a well-known\nfact that there are fewer wife-beaters in India than there are in\nEngland. Manu, the great law-giver, says, \u201cA woman\u2019s body must not be\nstruck hard even with a flower, because it is sacred.\u201d\n\nIn the olden time we are told that women were well versed in the Vedas,\nalthough it is now claimed that they are forbidden to read them or to be\ntaught their truths. It is known that two of the famous songs of the Rig\nVeda were revealed by women, and when Sankaracharya, the great\ncommentator of the Vedanta, was discussing this philosophy with another\nsavant, a Hindu lady well versed in the Hindu scriptures was requested\nto act as umpire.\n\nWhatever may have been her position in former times, at present there is\nno woman on earth who reveals more true attachment and devotion to her\nhusband than does the Hindu wife. There is a beautiful saying, \u201cMan is\nstrength, woman is beauty; he is the reason that governs and she is the\nwisdom that moderates.\u201d\n\nIn the Mahrabarata we find this definition of a woman\u2014\n\n A man\u2019s wife is his truest friend;\n A loving wife is a perpetual spring\n Of virtue, pleasure, wealth; a faithful\n Wife is his best aid in seeking Heavenly bliss.\n A sweetly speaking wife is a companion\n In solitude, a father in advice,\n A mother in all seasons of distress,\n A rest in passing through life\u2019s wilderness.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII\n INDIAN MOTHERHOOD\n\n\nWhen it is known that the girl-wife is to fulfil her destiny by giving\nher lord a child, she becomes a person of importance in her home circle,\nand there are endless ceremonies to be observed. Feasts are given\nfriends, and many days are passed in rejoicing. One of the earliest\ncelebrations is given the children of all friends and relatives, when\nthe glass-bangle man comes with his wares, which are bought and freely\ndistributed to the guests. About two months before the baby is expected\nthe mother takes the daughter to her home, where she remains until after\nthe formal purification, which is forty days after the birth of a girl,\nand thirty should she be so fortunate as to give a man-child to the\nworld. At the end of that time her husband or his mother must come and\ntake her home again. It would be an insult to send a lesser person,\nunless it were absolutely impossible for either of them to be the\nmessenger. This custom of the young mother giving birth to her first\nchild under her own family roof-tree is followed by Mohammedans as well\nas by Hindus.\n\nThe midwife in the villages is generally the wife of the barber, and\nnaturally her knowledge of medicine is very much limited. She is ruled\nentirely by superstition and old-time custom. Her chief knowledge\nconsists in different prayers, and a woman who is an expert in this\nfield of obstetrics is always in demand, because there is no time when\nprayers are a greater necessity than at the birth of a child. Both the\nbaby and its mother are peculiarly susceptible to the evil eye, to the\ninfluences of lucky and unlucky days, and a thousand other superstitions\nthat make this time of a woman\u2019s life one of great danger. Happily for\nIndian women, the Marchioness of Dufferin, and the wives of other\nviceroys, have taken the cause of Indian womanhood to heart, and have\nestablished hospitals for women and supply nurses for the home. There\nare nearly two hundred and fifty hospitals and dispensaries throughout\nIndia, and women doctors with degrees from the highest institutions in\nEurope are giving their life to help the women of India. These doctors,\nwith their assistants, their native students, and trained nurses, during\nthe year 1903 took care of a million and a half of girls and women. Yet\nthere is a vast opportunity for the enlarging of the work, as I was told\nthat there are still a hundred million people who have no knowledge of\nthe blessings to be obtained from European medicine and surgery, but who\ndepend entirely upon the native doctors and midwives.\n\nMany hospitals are maintained by missionaries, who have always been the\nforerunners in work to help the helpless, and it will only be a question\nof time when the mothers of India will not be compelled to be sacrificed\nto the superstition and ignorance of the women who are the only ones\nallowed near them in their time of travail. Even the most advanced men\nin India to-day would hardly allow a man doctor to attend his wife at\nthe birth of a child. He would rather lose the life of the wife than so\nviolate the customs of his class.\n\nWhen the child is born, the date of the month, the hour of the day, and\nthe star that is in the ascendant are carefully noted in order that the\nguru, or family priest, may cast the horoscope. Many of these\nastrologers are astute humbugs, and impose upon the credulity of their\npatrons to an enormous degree.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n CRADLE IN VILLAGE, BARODA.\n\n To face p. 132.]\n\nThe house where a child has been born, as well as those who live in it,\nare considered impure for ten days, unless it is a rented house, when\nonly the room in which the mother lies is unclean, and into which no one\ncan enter except the midwife. The room is kept extremely warm, and\nincense is burned in it every day, and leaves are hung in front of the\ndoor to ward off evil spirits. On the eleventh day the linen and\nclothing is sent to the washman, and the mother, taking the child in her\narms and with the husband sitting beside her, goes through the ceremony\nof purification by the family priest, after which he purifies the entire\nhousehold and the rooms. Still the mother is not supposed to receive her\nfriends, and must keep apart from the rest of the family until the\nthirty or forty days are passed, when she passes through another\npurification ceremony, and then goes to the temple to offer sacrifice.\nEven the little baby is considered impure for twenty days, and must not\nbe touched unless clothed in silk or woollen.\n\nThe new-comer has a succession of ceremonies to celebrate his arrival\ninto this world of sorrows. On the twelfth day he is named; on a later\nday the first bracelets are put upon his arms and tiny anklets upon his\nankles. When he is six months old he is given his first food. Five kinds\nof syrup are made, and the baby is given a taste of each one, and rice\nis put into his mouth. The father offers sacrifice to the household\ngods, the first loin-cloth is tied on the little man, the women sing,\nmusic is played, and feasting is indulged in by all. Each event is made\nthe occasion of an elaborate feast, to which friends and relatives are\ninvited and presents are given to the guests and to the priests. In\nfact, the priests seem to be omnipresent at all occasions in a Hindu\nfamily. A woman whom I was visiting was complaining of the many\nceremonies that had taken place in her family during the past year, and\nshe said that she was thoroughly tired of the worry and expense\nconnected with them. I said: \u201cBut who benefits by these elaborate feasts\nand rituals that give so much trouble and cause such an outlay in\npresents and money?\u201d She said wearily: \u201cWho benefits? Why, the priests\nand the Brahmans. They always reap their harvest, whether we are born,\nmarry, or die. If we are wicked, we must ask them to intercede for us;\nif we are good, we must ask them to thank the gods for us; and if we\ndie, they must help us across the river of fire. We can do nothing of\nourselves; they are our taskmasters with ever-open palm.\u201d\n\nIf the newborn son survives the first two years\u2014and the mortality of\nbabies is frightful, especially in the cities\u2014he will quite likely have\nthe opportunity of having the tonsure made for the first time, and this\nevent is only rivalled by the entertainment given when, whether boy or\ngirl, the ears are pierced by the goldsmith and it is announced that\nbabyhood is passed. These endless feasts would be ruinous to the poor\nHindu were it not for the fact that it is practically the only time when\nhe entertains his friends. There is no promiscuous dinner-giving as\namong the Western people; friends are invited only in connection with\nsome religious rite or to inaugurate a special event in the family.\n\nIf a member of one of the higher castes, the mother who has watched her\nbaby grow from babyhood into boyhood, looks forward to the most solemn\nand important event in his life, the ceremony called \u201cthe introduction\nto knowledge,\u201d when he is invested with the sacred cord. This ceremony\nlasts from four to five days and is nearly as expensive as a wedding.\nThe father must provide many pieces of cotton cloth and small gold and\nsilver coins to be given as presents to the guests. He must have\nunlimited food and a great collection of pottery, because, as at a\nmarriage feast, the dishes are broken after their first use.\n\nThis cord may be seen on all Brahmans and on the members of a few of the\nhigher castes, hanging from the left shoulder to the right hip. It is\ncomposed of three strands of cotton, each strand formed by nine threads.\nThe cotton with which it is made must be gathered from the plant by the\nhand of a Brahman, and corded and spun by persons of the same caste, in\norder that it may not be defiled by passing through the hands of persons\nwho are ceremonially unclean. For a young boy the cord has only three\nstrands, but after he is married it is composed of six strands and may\nhave nine. It is symbolical of the body, speech, and mind, and when the\nknots are tied, means that the man who wears the thread has gained\ncontrol over these three organs that cause all worldly troubles.\n\nAt the end of the ceremony the guests accompany the boy, who is\nelaborately dressed and seated in an open palanquin, through the streets\nto the sound of singing, music, and merry-making. On his return to his\nhome, he, for the first time, performs the sacrifice of fire, showing\nthat he is now a member of his caste and a twice-born son of India.\n\nIf the mother belongs to a poor family, quite likely her boy will work\nto earn a few annas to add to the family exchequer, or if they are\nfarmers, his days will be passed in the fields frightening the greedy\ncrows from the ripening crops or driving away the animals that infest\nthe fields which are near the jungles. In Baroda, education is\ncompulsory; but many a mother gets around the law by paying the fine of\ntwo rupees a month, and selling her small boy\u2019s labour for five rupees,\nthus gaining a livelihood.\n\nEngland has established free schools in every town and village, and\nthere is little excuse even for the boy or girl of poor parents not to\nhave an education. Even members of the depressed classes, or, as they\nare called, the pariahs, have their schools. The question that is\nagitating the minds of the educators is what form of education should be\ngiven these sons of a people who have been practically slaves for many\ncenturies. Many contend that they should have only a technical\neducation, that the sons of the carpenter caste should be made better\ncarpenters, and that they should not be made barristers. A lady said to\nme: \u201cSaid, my sweeper\u2019s son, goes to school, and after getting an\neducation he naturally feels himself better than his father, a sweeper,\nor his uncle, who is my groom. He cannot affiliate himself with a higher\ncaste than that into which he was born, as they will not accept him, and\nhe has outgrown his own caste. What is he to do? He puts on a foreign\nhat and leaves his home, and in the next census, drops his name of Said\nFaruki and becomes John James Jones, a half-caste, and the census-taker\nwonders why there has been such an increase in half-castes. The\npopulation of half-castes grows from the lower castes who wish to raise\nthemselves, but it is kept down in the census returns by the half-castes\nwho wish to better themselves socially, and call themselves Portuguese\nor subjects of some other dark-skinned race of Europeans.\u201d\n\nThis question of the education of the Indian youth is a very serious\nproblem with which those who have the welfare of India at heart have to\ncontend. Many a boy when he returns to his home and his people says:\n\u201cWhy did they educate me?\u201d There are few avenues of livelihood open to\nthe Indian boy, as there is no Army or Navy or Church in which to enlist\nso many of the younger sons as in England or America. The main prizes\nare the Government offices, and failing these, the chief desire of all\nIndians is to be a lawyer. There are few places in the Government employ\nnow, and the country is flooded with impecunious barristers.\n\nThe Indian feels that he has a real grievance in the question of the\nCivil Service examinations. For the higher positions in this service it\nis necessary for the student to go to England and obtain his degree at\nan English university. The question of expense is a bar to the great\nmajority. One often hears of parents mortgaging their homes and\npractically selling themselves to the moneylender for life, that the boy\nmay have this one great opportunity. If he wins, they have not struggled\nin vain, but if he fails, life will be very grey and grim, because quite\nlikely his life and his son\u2019s, and his son\u2019s son\u2019s life will be given in\na vain attempt to get rid of the burden of debt which seems to always\nhang over the heads of India\u2019s poor.\n\nThe question of the education of the daughter is not so much a matter of\nthought to the middle-class Mohammedan or Hindu mother, because at the\ntime when, if she were in Western lands, she would be taking her books\nunder her arm and starting for her first day at school, in India she is\ngetting married. She may, if in a village, attend the school with her\nbrothers until she is eight or nine years old, but rarely, except in the\nhighest classes, does the little girl have a longer opportunity for\nstudy. In the cities the rich families are sending their daughters to\nprivate schools, and the Oriental home is the happy hunting ground for\nthe English governess, who is engaged to teach, not only the knowledge\nto be found in books but also the etiquette to be observed in English\nsociety, as it seems to be the main object in life of the educated\nIndian, both man and woman, to be more English in manner than are the\nEnglish themselves.\n\nIn all the better class homes the piano is seen, and seldom now does the\ndaughter of the house play upon the veena or any instrument of Indian\nmusic. In Calcutta I went to a reception given by a great Indian lady.\nWith the exception of the costumes worn by the pretty dark-eyed\nBengalis, and the absence of men, I would have thought I was in an\nEnglish house at an afternoon tea. English was spoken by nearly every\none, the music was European, the refreshments were from an English\ncaterer, and there was no distinct note of India in all the afternoon\u2019s\nceremonies. Most of the ladies wore high-heeled French slippers, and\nmany of them had their beautifully draped saris twined around bodies\nheld in place by the French corset, which must have been most\nuncomfortable for these people, used to untrammelled freedom in regard\nto their dress.\n\nTimes are changing so fast in India that it is hard to say \u201cThis is a\ncustom\u201d or \u201cThat is a custom.\u201d Education is opening the eyes of the\nyounger generation of Indian women to the fallacy of many of the\nold-time rites and superstitions. Still, many of the mothers are\nconservative and feel keenly their daughter\u2019s departure from the beliefs\nof her day, yet the pressure is so strong that many of these\nconservative mothers are sending their daughters to the schools, both\nmission and Government, where in the former they avail themselves\neagerly of the education, but are not influenced by the religious\nteaching. One devout Mohammedan mother said to me: \u201cYes, I send my\ndaughter to a mission school, as it is the best in our town. I feel that\nthey cannot hurt her, as she has had a good religious training in the\nhome.\u201d\n\nA great many of the mothers feel that the present system of education\nfor women in India is wrong, and that the text-books are not the ones\nthat should be adopted for the use of Indian children. The stories have\nlittle to do with Indian life, and the children do not understand them.\nFor instance, stories of snowstorms, ice, and things that are to be seen\nin a foreign land, are far above the understanding of the average Indian\ngirl. It is also said that the girl is taught of Joan of Arc and of\nEnglish heroines, but nothing is said of the heroines of Indian history,\nnor is anything taught of Indian history before the English occupation.\nThere is nothing given the child to inspire a feeling of patriotism, nor\nis she given any moral training except in the mission schools. She is\ngiven a certain amount of book knowledge, which quite likely she cannot\nassimilate, and is considered educated. I remember visiting a girls\u2019\nschool where the teacher asked a class of girls to recite Wordsworth\u2019s\npoetry, extracts from Shelley and Keats; they could tell the place of\nbirth and give the list of English poets and chronology of the English\nkings most glibly, but what actual good it afforded the Indian girl to\nhave all these interesting facts in her little head I could not see.\n\nThe Indian girl learns easily and is often most eloquent. There are no\nbetter public speakers than are the Bengali women, who seem to share\nwith their men in the alertness of their brain. A prominent educator of\nIndia said:\u2014\n\n I have come in contact with people from all over the world in my\n capacity as educator, but I believe there are no men of any country\n who can compare with the Indian in quickness of thought and in\n capacity to learn. Within the small round head of the Bengali is a\n dynamo of resistless energy, that is for ever working, either for\n good or bad, but which ever way it turns, we of England must\n recognize its power.\n\nThe crying need of India is the great teacher, both man and woman; the\nteacher who will really take an interest in his pupils and not feel the\nbar of race. This is the fault of the average man who comes to India,\nand if he does not have it when he arrives he soon acquires a pride in\nbeing one of the ruling race. The Indian boy and girl are extremely\nclever, and feel instantly this racial prejudice of the Englishman, and\nconsequently resent his attitude of superiority. Tennyson\u2019s indictment\nof English schoolmasters could be justly applied to many of the teachers\nin India to-day:\u2014\n\n Because you do profess to teach, and teach us nothing, feeding not\n the heart.\n\nThere are wanted teachers who will give the Indian boy and girl the true\nvalue of an education other than its advantages from an economic\nstandpoint. That must be considered also, and in a land where the crowds\nare great and famines many, it assumes even a larger importance in the\nlives of the boys who must become the wage-earners, than it does in\nWestern lands, where life is not such a fierce struggle for the\nnecessities. But along with the training for the making of a livelihood\nshould be given another training. These boys and girls of India who are\njust starting on the road that their Occidental brothers and sisters\nhave been treading for many generations should be given the broader view\nof education, its worth and meaning. They should be taught by loving\nteachers the true knowledge of which so beautiful a definition is given\nby Bishop Mant:\u2014\n\n What is true knowledge! Is it with keen eye\n Of Lucre\u2019s sons to thread the mazy way?\n Is it of civil rights, and royal sway,\n And wealth political, the depths to try?\n Is it to delve the earth, to soar the sky?\n To marshal nations, tribes in just array;\n To mix and analyze, and mete and weigh\n Her elements, and all her powers descry?\n These things, who will may know them, if to know\n Breed not vainglory; but, o\u2019er all, to scan\n God in his works and Word shown forth below,\n Creation\u2019s wonders and Redemption\u2019s plan;\n Whence came we, what to do, and whither go:\n This is true knowledge, and the whole of man.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX\n WOMAN\u2019S SORROW\n\n\nAbbe Du Bois says: \u201cThe happiest death for a woman is that which\novertakes her while she is still in a wedded state. Such a death is\nlooked upon as a reward of goodness extending back for many generations;\non the other hand, the greatest misfortune that can befall a wife is to\nsurvive her husband.\u201d\n\nDeath is a tragedy in all lands, but with the Hindus it is made doubly\ntragical because of superstition and the endless ritual connected with\ntheir religion. The idea of mourning is not so much sorrow as it is\nuncleanness, defilement.\n\nWhen death seems imminent the family priest is summoned to administer\nthe last sacrament. The dying person is lifted from the couch and laid\nupon the ground, which has been made ceremonially pure by smearing it\nwith cowdung and by placing the sacred dharba grass upon it. It is said\nthat if a man dies upon a bed he must carry it through eternity. It is\nmost important that a man should breathe his last upon the earth, and\nnot within the house, as there are certain phases of the moon when it\nwould be a serious annoyance for all within the house to have a death\nbeneath the roof. In fact, it pollutes the whole neighbourhood to have a\ndeath in the vicinity, and the neighbours share in the unclean state of\nthe family until the corpse is carried to the burning-ground. Often if a\ndeath occurs in a house in an unpropitious phase of the moon, the\ndwelling must be vacated until such time as the priest shall permit it\nto be purified; sometimes the ban cast upon the place lasts from three\nto six months.\n\nThe duration of the state of ceremonial impurity varies according to the\nage of the deceased. In the case of mere infants the time is about one\nday. In the case of a boy who has not been invested with the sacred\ncord, or a girl not married, the time is three days; and after that, in\neither case, the time is ten days. In the case of a married girl,\nwhether or not she has gone to live with her husband, her own people\nmust observe the ceremonial for three days. During these periods the\nnear relatives of the dead are unclean and their touch would defile any\nperson or thing. They must not enter their own kitchen nor touch any\ncooking utensil. The food must be cooked by some one not personally\nconnected with the dead, but of equal caste. If for some reason the\nmourning family cannot get any one of their own caste to cook for them,\nthey must procure kitchen utensils and cook their food in some place\nother than the usual kitchen, not using the utensils again. If a person\nin mourning went into a kitchen or storehouse, everything would have to\nbe thrown away immediately.\n\nThe wailing of the women tells the story of a death, as they abandon\nthemselves completely to their sorrow, tearing their hair, striking\ntheir foreheads, and uttering shrill cries to show their desolation. As\nsoon as the breath leaves the body preparations are made at once for its\ndisposal, as a corpse is never kept longer than twenty-four hours in\nthis hot climate. The eldest son, if there is one of suitable age, or\nthe father or eldest brother in order of nearest relationship, or the\nhusband if the deceased is a woman, must conduct the funeral ceremonies.\nThe body is washed and shaven and adorned with the marks of his caste,\nand placed in a sitting position, with the head uncovered, and the son\nor heir performs a sacrifice before it. Then the two thumbs and the\ngreat toes are tied together and the body is enveloped in a new white\ncloth and placed upon a bier, formed of two long poles with seven\ncross-pieces. With the heir at the head, carrying a pot of fire, the\nprocession starts for the burning-ground. This bier must always be\ncarried by relatives or members of the same caste. When a man is ill and\nit is necessary to tell him that he will soon depart from this world, it\nis broken to him gently by some one saying, \u201cYou will soon ascend a\npalanquin carried by bearers of your own caste.\u201d On the way to the\ncemetery the procession is stopped three times and the bier placed on\nthe ground, the face uncovered, and a prayer is said. If, as sometimes\noccurs, the person is not really dead and he revives, it is most\nunfortunate for all concerned, the revived man included, as he is\nconsidered as dead and not allowed to return to his home or to his\ncaste.\n\nArrival at the burning-ground, where the funeral pile has been prepared\nby men whose profession it is to attend to the dead, and who are always\nof the pariah class, the untouchables, the body is put on the pyre and\nthe sacred thread and loin-cloth are removed with the winding-sheet, as\nthe body must depart from the world in the state in which it entered it,\ncompletely naked. The head should be placed towards the south and the\nlegs towards the north. If near a sacred river, like the Ganges, the\nbody is laid for a few moments with the feet in the sacred water, and\nwater is sprinkled over it. The heir performs the sacrifices, and it is\nhe who sets the pile alight, while the priests repeat the prayers for\nthe dead. After the pyre is lighted the family retire to a distance and\nleave the body to the administrations of the men in charge. In some\nplaces the heir is supposed to break the skull so that the gases may\nescape and the body may not explode. I was told of one woman who wished\nto establish her right to a rich man\u2019s property; consequently at the\ncritical moment she dashed from the arms of her friends and with one\nblow of a stick broke the head of her late liege lord, thus clearly\nshowing her heirship, as only the legal heir is entitled to perform this\nlast kind office for the dear departed.\n\nI heard one rather peculiar story while in India in regard to the\ncremation of the dead. I sat at dinner beside an English official who\nhad been many years in the Government service of India. In the course of\nthe conversation I asked him what he thought about cremation. He said,\nwith a smile: \u201cWell, I am perhaps a little prejudiced in regard to the\ncremation of the dead. I had rather a peculiar experience.\u201d I settled\nback in my chair, hoping I was to hear one of the many stories of Indian\nlife which these old officials have to tell us if they find we are\ninterested in the lives of the people amongst whom they work. He said:\n\u201cI had an acquaintance once, a Scotchman, who died here in India, and\nasked in his will that I and another friend would cremate him, and not\nallow an Indian hand to touch him, but that we should personally attend\nto all the details. We were young then in things Indian, and made our\nfirst mistake in buying the wood for the pyre. Unfortunately for our\nfriend, the wily wood-merchant sold us green wood, and for the first day\nhe only smoked. By the second day the wood had dried out, and all would\nhave been well if we had known that the skull of a person burned should\nbe broken in order to allow the gases to escape. We did not know\nthis\u2014our friend blew up. We spent the remainder of the second day in\ngathering his remains and replacing them upon the fire. The third day\nthe work was fully accomplished; his ashes were collected and now repose\nin a beautiful urn in his family chapel near Edinburgh.\u201d\n\nCeremonies are held and sacrifices are made for ten days by the members\nof a family in which there has been a death. If the deceased was a\nmarried man, it is on the tenth day that the widow is degraded into her\nstate of widowhood. This rite is called \u201cthe cutting of the cord,\u201d\nbecause then the tali, the symbol of wifehood, is cut, and the woman has\nno more place in Hindu society. The relatives and friends come to the\nhouse and deck the poor woman in all her festive clothing; jewels are\nput upon her, flowers, and sandal paste. Her friends mourn with her for\na time, then her bright clothing is removed, her beautiful black hair is\ncut, and she must remain for ever close-shaven and clothed in a garment\nof white. She may attend no feast, is permitted to eat only one meal a\nday, and that should be prepared by her own hands, may not partake of\nmeat, and if she is so unfortunate as to be poor in this world\u2019s goods\nshe becomes the drudge and servant of her husband\u2019s family. She is\nconsidered unclean, a thing of ill-omen, so unlucky that if a man were\nstarting on some business venture and on leaving his doorway should by\nchance meet a widow he would return to his house and say a few prayers\nto counteract his bad luck.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n INDIAN WOMEN SPINNING.\n\n To face p. 148.]\n\nWhen the widow is a child, not yet arrived at the age of living with her\nhusband, the only ceremony at the death is the cutting of the tali cord.\nThe other ceremonies and degradations are reserved for the time when she\narrives at the full age of wifehood, when the whole ceremony is enacted\nas though the wife had been a real wife, and the little girl-widow is\ncompelled to join that great army of women in India, nearly twenty\nmillion strong, of whom a million are child-widows.\n\nI met a great many widows in India, and even among the Brahmo Samaj,\nwhich sect is now trying to break the tyrannical yoke of custom, I never\nheard of one who dared to brave public opinion and remarry. I knew one\ncharming widow\u2014I think the most beautiful woman I saw in India\u2014who had\npractically broken all class restrictions except this last. It was said\nthat she had been in love with a man for many years, and he had\nrepeatedly tried to persuade her to undergo the censure of her people by\nmarrying him, but she dared not do it. She was only thirty years old,\nbut she must remain until the end of her life a widow, almost an\noutcast.\n\nIn the cities and among the modernized people of India this state does\nnot hold such sorrow for women as in the villages and country districts,\nwhere the people have not come into contact with Western civilization.\nIn these purely Hindu towns, where all social life is controlled by\ncustom and the influences of superstition and religion, when the woman\ncan no longer wear the red mark of wifehood upon her forehead, her case\nis pitiable.\n\nThe Indian Government has made laws legalizing the remarriage of widows,\nbut even when it has the Government sanction, custom and tradition are\ntoo strong, and practically no woman will take advantage of it. It would\nmean not only lifelong disgrace for her, but also would reflect so\nseverely upon her relatives and the members of her caste that they would\nbe involved in endless disgrace.\n\nThere are many homes scattered throughout India for these helpless\nwomen. Pundita Ramabai has a place near Poona where she has nearly eight\nhundred widows in her charge, and they are a sad sight as they go in\nsquads of from two to three hundred to their work at the printing press\nor at the looms attached to the mission. Some widows had been with her\nfor years, and quite likely will remain for life, as no one will marry a\nwidow, and they do not seem to be acquiring a practical education with\nwhich they could earn their living in the world. The Gaekwar of Baroda\nis solving the widow question by educating them as teachers at the\nGovernment expense, only asking that in return for his care they devote\na certain number of years as school-teachers in his State.\n\nPundita Ramabai\u2019s home for widows is a very remarkable institution, and\nwell repays one for a visit. It is a faith mission\u2014that is, its members\ndo not receive a salary, but depend upon donations for their support.\nWhat remains after the expenses of the establishment have been met is\ndivided among the workers according to their needs. They are a very\ndevoted band, with an orthodox, old-fashioned brand of religion that\nholds the wrath of God and the terrors of hell over these emotional\nwomen, whose only outlet for their emotions is their prayers, and at\nnoon they are permitted to pray aloud and express their desires and\ntheir states of feeling. One day we heard a great buzzing, sounding from\nthe distance like an immense swarm of bees, and found it was the 1,350\nwidows, rescued street women, and children having their noonday prayer.\nSome of them worked themselves into a veritable ecstasy of religious\nemotion, swaying their bodies, the tears running down their faces as\nthey prayed for the forgiveness of their sins, real or imaginary.\n\nThe business manager was more interested in the practical than the\nreligious aspects of the mission, and looked at the whole question with\nthe eye of the man who has to provide for all these people who give\nnothing to the common good. When asked the outcome of it all, he said he\ncould not see what good was being accomplished except in the actual\nsaving of the lives. They could not marry, they could not support\nthemselves, they were helpless, and would be a burden on others\u2019\nshoulders so long as they lived. He said: \u201cNow look! There go four\nhundred women who should be married to-morrow; but who will marry them?\nNo Hindu would dare break his caste by marrying one of them. It would\ncompletely ostracize him from his community. And again, we would not\nwant to marry a Christian girl to a Hindu or a Mohammedan.\u201d\n\nI asked: \u201cAre there no Christian boys to marry them?\u201d\n\nHe replied: \u201cThere are not enough to go around, and even a Christian\ndoes not marry a widow.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you ever have any offers?\u201d I asked.\n\nHe laughed. \u201cYes, once in a while some man takes courage and comes here\nto find a wife, but he generally goes away without one. We seem here\nrather to go on the principle of getting rid of the speckled apples\nfirst, and if there is a girl with a hare lip, or only one eye, she is\nthe one trotted out for inspection. Naturally, the boy beats a hasty\nretreat, saying he believes he does not want to get married to-day.\u201d\n\nThe lot of the widowed woman in India is not so pitiable if she has been\nso fortunate as to have borne sons. In India, as in all Eastern\ncountries, filial piety, the respect for parents, is bred into the very\nfibre of the man\u2019s soul. When the mother becomes a widow and dons the\ngown of white, her son cares for her and cherishes her all her days. She\nis still the ruler of his household, and it would be a most unfilial\nson, on whom his world would soon cry shame, if he did not ask the\nadvice of his mother on matters of importance, nor heed her warnings in\ntimes of stress. Her whole life is given for others, as this world is\nsupposed to have no joys for her except the joy of service. For her\n\u201cthis world is but a dream: God alone is real\u201d; and her days are passed\nin caring for the many lives around her and in prayers and religious\nrites that will help her to more swiftly pass the time ere she may join\nher lost one. The woman of India who has lost her mate turns\ninstinctively to the gods for solace, because she has been taught from\nchildhood that \u201cthe religion of the wife lies in serving her husband:\nthe religion of the widow lies in serving God.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X\n HYDERABAD AND THE MOHAMMEDAN WOMAN\n\n\nThe city of Hyderabad seems to have been dropped to the earth from an\nOriental dream. It is the most Eastern city in this most Eastern land,\nand you are filled with a sense that it is not at all real, but\nespecially staged and set for your amusement, and when you leave, it\nwill all disappear. The gaily painted shops will be pulled down and put\nin the property-room, the goldsmiths who make the bracelets, nose-rings,\nand necklaces for the pretty, dark-eyed women within the zenanas is only\nwaiting for his cue to leave the stage. The men on the corners with\ntheir great wreaths of white flowers, with their marigolds and garlands\nto be hung about the necks of friends, or to curtain the doorways at\nsome feast or wedding, are there only for show, to add colour to the\npicture. These women passing by with saris of purple or crimson, with\ngleaming bracelets and tinkling anklets, with kohl-blackened eyes that\nstare at you wonderingly from above the closely drawn sari, or, what is\nmore peculiar to visitors from the West, the women draped in long white\ncloaks like winding-sheets, which cover them completely from the view of\nthe passer-by, seem part of the chorus; and the sheen of knives and guns\nand huge silver chains hanging over the shoulder of the man from the\nNorth, the elephant swaying slowly down the street, looking with keen,\ntwinkling eyes at the people who make way for him, are all a part of the\npantomime, or a mirage caused by the brilliant sunshine of this\nSouthland.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A CARRIAGE FOR WOMEN.\n\n To face p. 154.]\n\nWe are told that Hyderabad is the oldest and greatest native State in\nthe Indian Empire, and we have heard from childhood of the magnificence\nof the Nizam of Hyderabad, the man who seemed to outrival Solomon with\nhis palaces, his jewels, and his wives. His hospitality was given with\nOriental lavishness. Those who were fortunate enough to be his guests at\nthe great Durbar at Delhi, when King George was proclaimed Emperor of\nIndia, will never forget the gorgeousness and prodigality of his\nentertainment. For sixteen months he had an army of workmen clearing the\nground, making the lawns and flower-gardens, and erecting the tents that\nwere to accommodate his guests and the four thousand people he took with\nhim from Hyderabad. His women were lodged in an old palace at a distance\nfrom the tents of the guests and were unseen, viewing the spectacle from\nafar.\n\nEven those of the immediate circle surrounding the Nizam at Hyderabad\nknew nothing of his private life within the zenana, and only conjectures\nwere made in regard to the number of women within its walls. Gossip says\nthat when the late Nizam died there was a cartload of broken glass\nbracelets (the bangles that are worn by wives, but that are broken on\ntheir wrists when they become widows) taken away from the palace. This\nfortunate man was credited with a great many more wives than he actually\npossessed. Hyderabad is a feudal country, with many of the customs that\nprevailed in France under the old feudal r\u00e9gime. The Nizam is the\noverlord. His feudal princes when possessing a pretty daughter are\nalways anxious to give her as wife to the Nizam. He perhaps may accept\nher and send her to his women\u2019s quarters, never seeing her again. But\nher people are satisfied, as they have the honour of having a daughter\nin the Imperial zenana, consequently a friend at Court, as she will\nnaturally remember her family when Imperial offices or gifts are being\ndistributed. She receives a stated income, said to range from sixty\ndollars to four hundred dollars a month, according to her status, number\nof children, etc.\n\nThe Nizam was planning to give his first ball while I was in Hyderabad,\nand every one was on the _qui vive_ regarding those who should be asked\nand those who should not. It is remarkable how everything seems to\nrevolve around the ruler of one of these principalities. His Highness is\nan absolute autocrat concerning the life and actions of his people, and\nthe foreigners seem to have caught the infection, because in every State\nwe visited the name of the ruler was on all tongues. \u201cHis Highness\nthinks so and so,\u201d or \u201cHis Highness does not think so and so,\u201d was the\nultimate, final word for everything. His greatness and his Oriental\nsplendour seem to overpower the people and make them subservient. Yet it\nis not from any personal contact, as few of even the Nizam\u2019s ministers\nhave seen him, and his people never have that honour, unless at some\ngreat Durbar, where, arrayed in royal magnificence, he permits them to\nview him upon his throne, or when, as he is being swiftly whirled along\nin his motor, four shrill blasts from the whistles of the police notify\nthe populace that their ruler is passing.\n\nA native ruler seems to attract a genuine admiration and respect from\nhis subjects. He appeals to their instincts with his display. They love\nto hear the glories of his magnificence, to see his elephants, his\nguards, and his foreign motors. He can understand his people and his\npeople understand him; and even if the taxes are oppressive and he\ngrinds the faces of the people into the dust to get money to squander\nupon his favourites and to build great palaces, the peasant will bear it\nall and not complain, as he feels it is ordained, and his Rajah is the\nchild of the gods and entitled to his very life.\n\nThere is no fear in the State of Hyderabad that the present race of\nrulers will become extinct. When a child is born to the Nizam there is a\npublic holiday in the State, the schools are closed, cannon are fired,\nand every one is supposed to rejoice with the happy father. While we\nwere there the people enjoyed four public holidays within eight days\narising from this fact, and nine more were expected the following week.\n\nWhile we were in this State there arose a case that was causing a great\ndeal of comment. The son of a woman was killed and the murderer was\ncondemned to death. In this Mohammedan country the law \u201ca life for a\nlife\u201d prevails, and the death penalty cannot be revoked unless the heir\nof the dead man demands it. In some Hindu communities, where the saving\nof life is a meritorious performance, the village or city will often\nraise a certain sum and offer it to the heir in exchange for the life of\nthe condemned prisoner. Men, I was told, will sometimes take the money,\nbut women, especially if it was their son or husband who was killed,\nwill practically always demand the life. In this instance the woman, who\nwas a devout Mohammedan, took the money and sent it to help her\nfellow-Mohammedans in their war with the infidel Italians. Her religious\nzeal overcame the instinct for revenge, so deeply planted within the\nbreast of all followers of the Arabian prophet.\n\nAt tea at the home of a Mohammedan I met several ladies, who willingly\ndiscussed with me the difference between the social customs of our\nWestern land and those governing the life of the woman of the East. I\nwas told that there is no society life as we know it, no calling, nor\npromiscuous making of new acquaintances. The social life centres around\nthe three great events of Indian life\u2014births, weddings, and deaths. If a\nwedding occurs in a family, the mother will send invitations to all the\nladies of the same social standing as herself, and, dressed in their\nmost gorgeous saris and jewels, they come to the house, where elaborate\nrefreshments are served with much gossiping and merry-making. The guests\nstay hours or days, according to their relationship to the family. Also\nat times of death they go and offer their condolences to the bereaved\nfamily, and although colours are much more subdued at the time of sorrow\nthan at the time of rejoicing, it is often another place in which to\nshow off new finery. These secluded women feel like the little girl who\nstopped to see a friend on her way to a funeral. She was dressed in a\nbright pink sari, and when remonstrated with on wearing such a gay dress\non such a mournful occasion, said, \u201cWhy, how can I be sure that I will\nget another chance to show it.\u201d\n\nI said to my hostess in the course of the conversation: \u201cIf I were a\nMohammedan or a Hindu lady and came here to live, would the ladies whose\nhusbands perhaps had business associations with my husband come to call\nupon me?\u201d She said: \u201cNo, not at all. You would never meet the ladies\nunless at the time of some festivity you were invited.\u201d I asked the\nreason for this, and they answered, \u201cCustom\u201d\u2014the word that rules the\nwhole Eastern world. This lack of exchange of courtesies between new\npeople is traced in some cases to the attitude of the husbands, who seem\nafraid to allow their wives to make new acquaintances. They must decide\nwhom the wife shall visit. They must know that the house visited is\nstrictly secluded, that the hostess has no advanced ideas, and that the\nhusband is a man of standing before they allow their women to make new\nfriends. They say that it is the desire of protection, not deprivation\nof liberty, that causes them to take such care of their dear ones.\n\nAn Englishwoman ten years ago tried to meet the Indian ladies, and sent\nsixty invitations for a tea. Only three of the invited guests put in an\nappearance. She persisted, convinced the husbands that no male eyes\nwould gaze upon their secluded treasures, and now the original sixty\nhave come with nearly every high-class lady in Hyderabad, so that on her\nreception days the house is crowded.\n\nThere is a club where the Mohammedan and Hindu ladies meet once a month\nand play badminton, and eat much cake and gossip. Still, they are not as\nyet taking any active interest in social work, nor in what is going on\nin the world outside. Mme. Sarojinni Naidu, the Indian poetess whose\ncharming poems have been so well received in England, and who is herself\na social favourite in that country, has been trying to interest the\nladies of Hyderabad in social work among women. She has been specially\ninterested in reviving the old industry of silk-weaving, and the weavers\nthrough her efforts have been encouraged to do their best work. She has\nsold thousands of rupees worth of the beautiful silks to her friends\nwithin the zenanas, but it is rather discouraging work, as it has caused\nher to be looked upon with suspicion by many of the officials, who fear\nthat she may be using her influence with the people for some Socialistic\nmovement.\n\nWhile in Hyderabad I saw a great deal of this wonderfully attractive\nwoman, who looks like a young girl, but who is the mother of children\nnearly as big as herself. She herself is not \u201cpurdah,\u201d and she has\nviolated the customs of her caste by marrying a man of another caste.\nShe goes to public entertainments and lives the life of an Englishwoman.\nI went with her to see the \u201csports,\u201d that form of entertainment which\nalways follow the English wherever they go. They were held at the race\ntrack, and in the grand stand were the entire foreign community, with a\nmixture of Indian gentlemen. We watched the riders in the field below,\nand I must confess the Indian gentlemen easily carried the honours. They\nare wonderful horsemen, and are most picturesque. I think there is no\nhandsomer man in the world than the high-class Indian gentleman. With\nhis clear brown skin, his large black eyes, his stately carriage, and\nmagnificent physique, accentuated by the pugaree or turban on his head,\nhe is a picture that, once seen, cannot easily be forgotten. The average\nEnglishman looks either too fat or too thin, does not hold himself well,\nhas generally, if a resident in the East, a most unhealthy complexion,\nand in comparison with his Indian neighbour makes a very poor showing.\n\nMme. Naidu was the only Indian woman in the grand stand, and after tea\nwas served, she asked me if I would like to visit the Indian women. We\nwent upstairs to an enclosed room, which was filled with Indian ladies,\nwho could see all that was going on in the grounds below, but were\nprotected from view by the carved woodwork enclosing the room. They came\nto a side entrance in their carriages or motors; a screen of canvas was\nmade from their carriage to the entrance so that they could pass\nimmediately from their carriage to a covered stairway, themselves\nunseen.\n\nThere were about twenty ladies, dressed in most brilliant colours and\ndecked with an immense amount of jewellery. One woman had seven\npiercings in her ears, in four of which were set small buttons of\nturquoises, and in the others great hoops of gold in which were hanging\npearls about the size of a pea. In her right nostril was a diamond and\nin her left a ruby. Her arms were covered with bracelets, and there were\nfive necklaces of diamonds around her neck. Her trousers, the ugly\ntrousers of the Mohammedan lady, were of bright pink brocade, the tunic\nwas of white, and over it all was a long veil of light blue gauze. One\nwould imagine a glaring clash of colours, but all this riot of colour\nblends and makes the right setting for the dark beauty of these Indian\nwomen. They are extremely pretty, with the colouring of an Italian or\nSpaniard from the South; their big black eyes are shaded by long silky\nlashes, their noses are most delicate, and they have exquisitely shaped\nmouths. I do not think that I saw an ugly woman all the time I was\nvisiting the \u201cpurdah\u201d women of India. Some of them with age become a\nlittle too stout, but their dress disguises the figure if too well\nblessed with flesh, and softens harsh outlines if too thin.\n\nThe women in this secluded enclosure seemed to be enjoying themselves\nmuch more than the conventional Englishwomen below them. There was a\ntable with a varied assortment of non-alcoholic drinks, and many kinds\nof cakes and sweets. Each lady had her silver pan-box, and made pan for\nher friends, all chatting and laughing with the utmost freedom and\ngood-fellowship. They do not seem to feel it a deprivation at all to be\ncompelled to pass their lives with women. I am sure they would feel very\nill at ease if they thought that they could be seen by any man except\ntheir husband, brother, or immediate relative.\n\nI had an example of what instinct will do in the fear of being seen by\nsome one outside of the family circle. Mme. Naidu and I called upon a\nMohammedan lady who was strictly \u201cpurdah.\u201d We were taken into a\ndrawing-room furnished in European fashion, where the father-in-law of\nour hostess was chatting with another gentleman. The stranger left\nimmediately, but the father-in-law remained to talk with me while Mme.\nNaidu went in search of the mistress of the house. She returned soon,\nand said to the man, \u201cYou must leave,\u201d and after his departure the lady\nentered. When she sat down she noticed that one of the blinds of the\nwindow was open, and she drew her sari across her face and spoke to Mme.\nNaidu, who went to the window and closed the blind. Even that did not\nsatisfy her, and a servant was called, who saw that all the windows were\nsecurely closed and that no one could possibly look into the room from\nthe outside. It seemed a useless precaution to me, as the windows opened\non to a garden, and no one could pass unless some member of the\nhousehold. She laughed apologetically and said: \u201cI know what you think,\nbut I cannot sit here with any degree of comfort if I think some one, a\nservant or one of my husband\u2019s guests, might pass by. It is instinct; my\nmother and my mother\u2019s mother were \u2018purdah\u2019 women, and it is in the\nblood.\u201d\n\nShe asked us to come to her rooms and look at some new clothing. Her\nrooms were big and rather bare, as are most rooms in this hot country,\nbut the furniture was all European. Bed, dressing-table, and chairs all\nlooked as if made in England or France. She had a servant bring her\npan-box. This giving of pan is the first thing offered to a guest on\narrival and the last thing on going away. Her pan-box was of silver,\nabout nine inches wide by twelve long. It had a shallow tray in the top,\nin which was kept in tiny compartments the betel-nut and spices. In the\nbottom of the box, covered with a damp cloth, were the leaves. The\nhostess takes a leaf, covers it with a thin layer of lime, and with a\npair of scissors breaks a betel-nut into small pieces, puts it with half\na dozen different spices into the leaf, folds it up, sticking a clove\nthrough the leaf as a fastener, and hands it to the guest. The guest\nremoves the clove and places the leaf in the mouth, where it makes a\nhuge bunch on the side of the face until it is slowly masticated. It\ngives forth a juice which colours the inside of the mouth and the teeth\na dark red, but not permanently, as it rinses quite easily. The pan has\na spicy taste, and leaves the mouth feeling deliciously clean, I presume\nowing to the lime in it. Many of the great houses have a servant or\nslave whose only duty is to make pan for the inmates of the zenana. One\nsuch servant said she made five hundred a day and her wrist became quite\nlame from time to time caused by cutting the betel-nut.\n\nOur hostess had a box of clothing put in front of her on the floor, and\nshe showed us a beautiful collection of saris of woven gold cloth made\nin Benares, long tunics of embroidered chiffon-like gauze, and trousers\nof heavy gold and silver goods, almost like tapestry.\n\nI asked them to tell me the duties of a high-class lady of Hyderabad.\nMme. Naidu laughed and said\u2014\n\n\u201cAbout eight o\u2019clock in the morning my lady yawns, and a slave-girl will\nsay, \u2018Will not the Begum rise?\u2019 and the Begum will slowly get out of bed\nand allow her slave to brush her teeth with powdered charcoal and wash\nher face and hands. Then she would sit down upon a mat and have her hair\ndressed, while other slaves came in with articles of dress or of the\ntoilet. Soon the other women of the household would join her, and they\nwould chew betel-nut and talk and gossip until about ten o\u2019clock, when a\nlarge tray would be brought in with breakfast, consisting of rice and\ncurry and sweets. After breakfast, more friends or relatives come in,\nand the sewing women and higher servants, and they all talk and laugh\ntogether. In the afternoon the silk merchants may send their wares or\nthe jewellers their bracelets and rings and precious stones, which are\nbrought into the zenana by women. These shopwomen are great gossips, and\ntell all the news from other zenanas\u2014who is engaged and who married and\nwhat presents were given, etc. The women shop and haggle, and perhaps\nbuy and perhaps do not, and by the time the merchants leave it is time\nto eat again. In the evening the husband or the sons visit the women\u2019s\nquarters and brings the Begum the news of the world of men outside, and\nthen it is time to sleep again.\u201d\n\nA great many women\u2014nearly all Indian women, in fact\u2014attend personally to\ntheir households. For instance, I went with one of my friends, who\nbelonged to a very rich and powerful family, to call upon her mother,\nand found her and her daughter-in-law sitting in the courtyard preparing\nthe vegetables for dinner. All ladies know how to cook, and think it no\ndisgrace to prepare the dinner with their own hands. If a guest is to be\nespecially honoured, the mother or wife will prepare the meal for him.\nIn a Hindu community, where the food must be cooked by a person of their\nown or a higher caste, where no one of a lower caste is even allowed to\nlook into the kitchen, it might cause great annoyance if the women of\nthe household did not know how to cook, as even in India the mistress\nhas the servant question with which to contend from time to time.\n\nIn these old families in Hyderabad there are a great many people under\nthe one roof. The patriarchal family life prevails\u2014that is, the sons\nbring their wives to their father\u2019s home, and a large house shelters\nmany families. The mother is the head of the women\u2019s quarters and her\nword is law. Innumerable servants and poor relations are ever present,\nand to our Western eyes disorder and chaos seem to reign. There are some\nold families in this city that keep up the state of princes or petty\nkings. There is one great lady who is surrounded by a bodyguard of\namazons, women dressed as soldiers, who salute and present arms with\nmilitary precision when her courtyard is entered by a visitor.\n\nWe went from the house of our young hostess, loaded down with pan and\nfruit, to the home of a colonel in the Nizam\u2019s bodyguard. His wife is\n\u201cpurdah,\u201d but his daughter is allowed to be seen in public. In the\ndrawing-room was a man tuning the piano, and Mme. Naidu said to the\ndaughter, \u201cYour mother cannot come here. There is a man.\u201d The daughter\nreplied: \u201cOh, it is all right, he is blind.\u201d The mother had travelled\nextensively in Europe, Egypt, and Turkey. While abroad she went about\nfreely as any European, only becoming the secluded Indian wife while in\nher own country. Her daughter was to be married and she showed me the\nclothes for the trousseau. There were about fifty complete outfits, made\nof gorgeous Benares cloth, heavy with gold. This clothing lasts a\nlifetime, and is handed down from daughter to daughter, as styles do not\nradically change. The mother told me that the custom of giving so much\nclothing is dying out, and money is given instead, allowing the daughter\nto buy from time to time, according to her fancy.\n\nWhile we were talking the husband came in. He was dressed in English\nriding clothes, and was a very up-to-date man-of-the-world. The moment\nhe entered, the mother and daughter, who up to this time had been\nchatting affably and freely, became silent. They virtually did not speak\na word while he was in the room, but became at once true Indian women,\nsilent before that superior being\u2014the man.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI\n MOHAMMEDANISM WITHIN THE ZENANA\n\n\nWe are often told that Mohammedan women are not religious, that they\nleave all devotional exercises for their lords and masters, who are\naccountable to Allah for their salvation, and to whom they must look for\npermission to enter the abode of the blessed. It is a fact that the\nwomen followers of the Arabian prophet are not seen in the mosques,\nbecause no Mohammedan woman appears in a public place where she may come\nin contact with the other sex. Mohammed discouraged the worship of women\nin public by saying, \u201cThe presence of women in the mosques inspires men\nwith feelings other than those purely devotional.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\n MOHAMMEDAN WOMEN, HYDERABAD.\n\n To face p. 170.]\n\nAlthough restricted to the home in which to say her prayers, the\nMohammedan woman is very religious, and often more narrow and bigoted\nthan her husband, who has the opportunity of broadening his religious\nviews by contact with those of other faiths. The Mohammedan religion,\nlike those of Western lands, has its divisions and subdivisions,\ndiffering from each other on the subject of ritualism and the different\ninterpretations of the Koran. The two most important branches of El\nIslam are the Shiahs and the Sunnis. At the death of the prophet, Abu\nBekr was elected to take his place\u2014wrongfully, as many believe. They\nfeel that the mantle of prophethood should have fallen upon the\nshoulders of his son-in-law, Ali, who was one of his first disciples and\nhis cousin. The coterie who adhered to the election of the caliph\ninstead of the hereditary descent are called the Sunnis. All of the\nEgyptians, the Turks, and many Indians are followers of this party.\nThose who think that Ali was deprived of his just rights are called the\nShiahs; the Persians, many Arabs, and a few Indians compose the main\nbody of this division. Ali was finally made caliph, but was murdered,\nthe caliphate passing out of his family instead of descending to his\ngrandsons, Hossain and Hassan, who rebelled against the ruling caliph\nand were killed in battle. They are considered the great martyrs of the\nMohammedan faith, and their deaths are mourned annually by the Shiahs.\n\nWe were in Hyderabad, the great Mohammedan State of India, at the time\nof mourning, and I was fortunate enough to be asked to a \u201cmourning\nparty,\u201d given by the women of one of the old Mohammedan families. It was\nmost exceptional, as outsiders are never asked to these homes during\nthis time of religious emotion. Even their Sunni friends and their\nacquaintances in the Hindu faith, know that intruders are not looked\nupon kindly during the days set apart for sorrow.\n\nWe arrived at the home, which was surrounded by a great wall, in which\nwas a massive wooden door studded with iron nails. In the olden time\nthese homes were used as fortresses, and were made strong enough to\nrepel an invasion by the enemy. Within an embrasure by the side of the\ngate was a man on guard, with a gun beside him. It is true that the gun\nwas of an obsolete pattern, that would quite likely do the user more\ndamage than any one else, if the guard had been called upon to act, but\nit looked picturesque. The guard immediately turned his back when he saw\nthat the carriage contained ladies, and our servant went ahead to see\nthat all men-servants were out of sight before my Mohammedan friends\nwould enter the courtyard. We drove into what seemed an immense\nstable-yard. Bullocks were standing by the side of great lumbering\ncarts, horses were in their stalls, and stable accessories were\nscattered about in great disorder. A curtain was raised by a\nwoman-servant, disclosing a short stone stairway, ascending which we\nfound ourselves in the women\u2019s quarters. It was a courtyard, with rooms\nopening upon it from the four sides. These rooms were more like large\nalcoves, being separated from the court only by arches.\n\nAt one end was a large room, where about sixty ladies were sitting on\nthe floor in front of a strip of white cloth, that served as table and\ntablecloth combined. They were seated on the three sides of the room,\nleaving the open space in the middle for the servants to pass while\nserving the food. We left our shoes at the entrance and were taken to a\nservant, who poured water over our hands from a brass ewer, allowing it\nto fall into a basin in which was some finely chopped straw to conceal\nthe water. Our hostess seated us opposite her, and an old servant dipped\nfrom a central bowl of rice a generous helping for me, and then various\ncurries, unknown to me, were passed. I watched my friend, and took from\nthe dishes she favoured, mixing it with the rice upon my plate, making\nrather a sticky mess, that was conveyed to my mouth with difficulty.\nEating with the fingers is not so easy as it may appear to a casual\nobserver, but evidently practice makes perfect, because all seemed most\nadept, using only the thumb and three fingers of the right hand. No food\nmust be touched with the left hand, as it is, religiously, unclean.\n\nAfter my feet had so thoroughly gone to sleep that they ceased from\npaining me, I took the opportunity of looking around and trying to\nbecome acquainted with my neighbours. The ladies wore no jewellery, and\ntheir dresses were supposed to be of a subdued hue, yet every colour of\nthe rainbow was represented except red, which is the colour of joy and\nassociated with festive occasions. The Mohammedan dress is not so\ngraceful as is the Indian sari. The women wear a pair of tight trousers,\nmade of satin, silk, or brocade, coming to the tops of their embroidered\nslippers. Over the chest is a small sleeveless jacket, then a tunic of\nwhite or embroidered gauze, and over all a chiffon-like drapery which is\ndrawn over the head. All of these outer draperies were of so diaphanous\na material that they did not disguise the outlines of the figure.\n\nDown the centre of the strips of cloth which served as table were great\ndishes of rice and sweets, many curries, fruits, and an elaborate\nassortment of cakes. Servants were everywhere, and it was hard for a\nstranger to distinguish between some of the servants and their\nmistresses, as many of the former were very well dressed and covered\nwith jewellery. They wore bracelets, anklets, nose-rings, ear-rings, and\nnecklaces, mainly of silver or glass; but one often saw the glint of\ngold upon the neck of a serving-woman, and found she was the personal\nslave of some member of the family.\n\nSlavery exists still in Hyderabad, although in a modified form. No\nperson of good family would think of selling a slave, and the slaves\nthemselves feel the honour of belonging to one of the old families. In a\nquarrel with a servant a slave will draw herself up proudly and say,\n\u201cYou are only a servant\u2014_I_ belong to the family.\u201d Both servants and\nslaves are treated with a familiarity unknown in the West. They take\npart in the conversation, enter the rooms without knocking\u2014in fact, I\ndon\u2019t believe there is such a thing as a locked door in all India\u2014and\ntalk to the mistress on terms of equality. While at dinner a small boy,\nvery prettily dressed, came to the hostess and snuggled his head against\nher, while he stared at the peculiar-looking foreign woman opposite. I\nasked if he was her son. She turned his face up to study it more\ncarefully, then said, \u201cNo; he is the son of one of my sister\u2019s slaves.\u201d\n\nResisting all the importunities of my hostess to have my plate refilled\nwith the curry and rice, we rose and went again to the servants in\ncharge of the ewer and basin, and our hands were washed. We then\nadjourned to a courtyard, where many of the guests had preceded us.\nThere appears to be no etiquette in regard to leaving the table; when a\nguest has eaten her dinner she rises and leaves, not asking to be\nexcused, nor feeling that it is necessary to wait for her hostess.\n\nThe ladies were sitting on the floor of the alcoves in groups of six or\nseven, and pan boxes were much in evidence. Our hostess went into the\nopen courtyard and mounted a low, square table, over which was thrown a\nrug. We sat down opposite her and she proceeded to make pan for us, and\nwe remained there for perhaps half an hour, waiting for the servants to\nfinish their dinner. There were at least fifty servants and slaves, all\nrunning around aimlessly, doing whatever they found to do at the time,\nwith what seemed no system nor order governing their work. The mistress\nhad rather a shrill voice, and her orders could be heard very distinctly\nas she called to some one in another part of the court. I asked my\nfriend if Indian ladies generally had such loud voices and commanding\ntones, and she laughed and said: \u201cWell, if they have not to begin with\nthey soon acquire them, as they must be heard above the confusion always\nreigning in one of these great houses, where there are innumerable\nservants, slaves, and poor relations. It takes a strong-minded woman,\nand one with no mean executive ability, to keep peace and harmony in an\nEastern zenana.\u201d\n\nAfter every one had gossiped to her heart\u2019s content, we went to a large\nroom at the end of the courtyard, which was fitted up as a chapel. In\nfront of an altar were three pieces of wood wreathed with flowers to\nrepresent the tombs of Ali, Hossain, and Hassan. Facing the tombs were\nten girls, and the guests grouped themselves around them on the floor.\nWhen we were all seated they began to chant. One would sing a line, then\nthe rest would join their voices and sing four or five lines; then a\nshort pause, and the leader would again start the chant. The listeners\nwere absolutely quiet, and the music rose and fell in weird, minor\nstrains that sounded tragic even to ears that could not understand the\nwords. The whole story of the slaying of the martyrs was told, and this\nrecital of their passion play moved the hearers deeply. From one part of\nthe room I heard a sob, then from another, and soon there was not a dry\neye in the place. At a certain strain in the music all rose, preceded by\nthe women carrying the miniature tombs, and marched slowly into an outer\ncourtyard, where incense was waved over the flower-wreathed pieces of\nwood, after which a return was made to the room and the chanting\ncommenced again. We did not sit down, and the most dramatic part of the\nperformance began. All stood and beat their breasts in time with the\nmusic, and, as chorus to the verses, would cry, \u201cHossain, Hassan!\nHossain, Hassan!\u201d The servants beat their breasts so severely that it\nseemed they would seriously hurt themselves, and it is considered a\ngreat mark of piety to severely chastise themselves at this time, but\nthe ladies were more conservative and kept time with light taps.\n\nThis continued, with slight intermissions, for half an hour, some\nsobbing, others crying quietly. At the end each one dropped to her knees\nwith her face towards Mecca, and from outside the wall the voice of a\nman from the mosque chanted a benediction. It was most exquisitely sung,\nand added the final touch to a weirdly beautiful scene\u2014the moon shining\ndown into the courtyard, the flickering lights before the tiny\nflower-wreathed tombs, the dark-faced women in their pretty gowns, with\nthe tears glistening on their eyelashes, kneeling, while the unseen\nvoice cried softly, \u201cSalaam! Peace be with you! There is no God but\nGod.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\n HUSKING RICE IN A BURMESE VILLAGE.\n\n To face p. 179.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII\n BURMAH\n\n\nPassing from India to Burmah is in many ways like going from darkness to\nsunlight, from tears to gaiety. India is a land of tragedy; Burmah is a\nland of comedy. In India you see faces sad, worried, harassed, and life\nseems a bitter struggle for the great masses in their endeavour to keep\nthe hungry wolf from the door. But in Burmah you are greeted with\nsmiles, no one is serious, and no one except the Chinese seem to be\nreally working. The women in the little booths within the bazaars,\nsmoking their long cheroots, gossiping with their neighbours, and\nflirting with the youth passing by, give one the impression that it is\nnot business in which they are interested, but that they are there for\ntheir amusement and to pass a few hours with their friends.\n\nThe dress also shows the difference in the temperaments of the people.\nIn India the women\u2019s saris are made of dark reds, dark blues, and heavy\npurples. In Burmah the colours are light and gay; you rarely see a\ndarkly clad person. The long piece of silk wound tightly around the\nwoman\u2019s body is always of light blue, or pink, or yellow, or else a gay\ncheck composed of all three colours. The loose cotton or linen jacket is\nspotlessly white, and around the neck is thrown carelessly a piece of\nsilk or a handkerchief of contrasting colour to the skirt. The hair, of\nebony blackness, is well oiled and twisted high upon the head and twined\nwith flowers. Their toes are tucked into small heelless slippers, which\ntake a certain amount of dexterity to keep in place; but all young girls\nlearn early in life to give that flirtatious outward jerk of the heels\nwhich keep the slipper from falling, and also prevents the folds of the\nskirt from opening in front. The city belle when she starts forth upon\nthe street has well powdered her nose and often touched her lips with\ncarmine, and goes forth boldly to claim the admiration of all, not like\nthe Indian woman, who is compelled to hide her charms behind the sari.\n\nThe man of Burmah also dresses in gaily coloured silks. He wears a long\nsilk cloth around his body, tucks it in with a twist in front, and the\nremaining portion he allows to hang in folds or throws jauntily over his\nshoulder. He wears a short white cotton jacket, over which another one\nof darker cloth is worn for street wear. The old and wealthy when they\nare paying visits of ceremony or going to worship at the pagoda wear\nlong white coats, closed only at the neck and reaching to the knee. Men\nof all classes wear flowered silk handkerchiefs around their heads as\nturbans, but when age comes these are exchanged for simple ones of white\nmuslin.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BURMESE GIRL.\n\n To face p. 180.]\n\nThe women of Burmah have unlimited freedom as compared with the women of\nother Eastern countries. Unlike the women of India, China, or Egypt,\nthey may choose their own husbands and have a courtship such as we of\nthe Western world so thoroughly understand. From the time of the first\ngreat event in a young girl\u2019s life, the boring of her ears, which\nannounces to her world that she is no longer a child but a woman, until\nher betrothal, the Burmese girl looks forward to the finding of a\nhusband as the one aim of her life. Until her ears are bored she is a\nchild and may run and play with her brothers upon the village street,\nbut finally the day arrives when her friends and relatives bring with\nthem the ear-borer and the soothsayer, and the frightened girl must pay\nthe price of gaining maidenhood. Her cries are drowned by the music and\nthe talk and laughter that seem so heartless; but the pain is soon over,\nand she herself will make the hole larger by every means in her power,\nbecause until the hole is large enough to receive the great round tube,\nnearly half an inch in diameter, she does not feel that she is indeed a\nwoman. It is her initiation into womanhood, it corresponds to the\nentrance into the monastery or the tattooing of his legs of her brother,\nthe sign that he is no longer a boy, but may sit with men and chew\nbetel-nut and discuss affairs of the world with wondrous wisdom.\n\nAfter the ear-boring ceremony each man our maiden sees may be a possible\nhusband, and she copies the coquettish sway of the hips that is so\neffective in her older sister as she walks down the street with mother,\naunt, or married friend, who carefully guards her from all improprieties\nnow that she has arrived at marriageable age.\n\nWhen all these arts have had the desired effect and her roving eye has\nalighted upon the man of her choice, the Burmese girl may have her days\nof courtship. She can meet her sweetheart at pw\u00e9s, those festive parties\nthat seem to occur every night in Burmah, at which she may have a stall\nfor selling tobacco, or long cheroots, or flowers. This keeping of a\nstall is not lowering to a woman\u2019s social status, and numbers of\nwell-to-do women set them up at all places where crowds are liable to\ncongregate. There may be a reason for this besides the economic one, as\nit is said a stall or shop or booth within the bazaar is the quickest\nway of attracting a desirable husband. In the smaller towns there is\nscarcely a house where the women have not arranged a small shop for sale\nof betel-nut, coco-nuts, little looking-glasses, toilet articles, or\ncotton goods from Manchester. The profits of this little trade are given\nas pin-money to the wife or daughters. The English say that the Burmese\nwoman is a better businessman than her husband, and that in driving a\nsharp bargain her successes are far in advance of those of her less\naggressive husband.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n DANCING AT A VILLAGE FESTIVAL, BURMAH.\n\n To face p. 183.]\n\nPagoda feasts offer exceptional opportunities for lovelorn swains, and\nmany young couples have found their future happiness when gazing into\nBuddha\u2019s eyes. Evening-time is courting-time in all the world,\nespecially in this country, which is too hot during the day to permit of\nany useless expenditure of energy, even by an ardent lover. They also\nsay that the men of Burmah are influenced by the proverb that says: \u201cIn\nthe morning women are cross and peevish, in the middle of the day they\nare testy and quarrelsome, but at night they are sweet and amiable.\u201d\n\nIf the lover does not expect to meet his sweetheart at a festival or a\ntheatrical entertainment, he waits around until he thinks the old people\nhave retired for the night, and then with a friend or two as chaperons\nhe calls upon his adored one, and finds her with powdered face and\npretty dress awaiting him in the moonlit veranda. There is little\nprivacy in this courtship, because divisions between the rooms are often\nonly made of matting, and mothers in Burmah are proverbial for the\nquickness of hearing when it concerns the courtship of their daughters.\nThere is no lovemaking as we know it\u2014kissing, and holding of hands, and\nembracing\u2014which would be most shocking to the modest instincts of the\nBurmese maiden. Yet love has signs, and finally father\u2019s and mother\u2019s\nconsent is asked, the dowry fixed, and the astrologer consulted, who\nwill tell them if a boy born on Monday and a girl on Wednesday may wed.\nNo matter how ardently the match is desired by the interested parties,\nsome unions, judged according to their birthdays, would be most unlucky.\nFor example:\u2014\n\n Friday\u2019s daughter\n Didn\u2019t oughter\n Marry with a Monday\u2019s son;\n Should she do it\n Both will rue it,\n Life\u2019s last lap will soon be run.\n\nEach day of the week is guarded by an animal, and it naturally follows\nthat if a man was born on a day that was ruled by a serpent and a woman\non a day ruled by a mongoose, the serpent\u2019s deadly enemy, they would\nsurely not live happily together. But if the parent\u2019s consent is given,\nthe combination of birthdays are lucky, the dowry is satisfactory to all\nconcerned, then the propitious day must be found from the horoscope for\nthe actual wedding to take place. During June, July, August, and\nSeptember, the Buddhist Lent, all marriages are barred to the strict\nfollowers of Buddha, and it would be a very unregenerate son or daughter\nwho would shock his old father and mother by daring to ask to marry\nduring this time. Marriage is a very precarious proceeding, because if\nit takes place in certain months the couple will be rich, in other\nmonths they will always love each other, while there are unfortunate\nmonths that bring sickness and death to those tempting Hymen at this\ntime. Nevertheless, notwithstanding all the obstacles that seem to be\nplaced in the way of marriage, there are few spinsters in Burmah, and\nvirtually every man over twenty years of age has a wife.\n\nThe marriage ceremony is a strictly civil affair, no religious rite\nentering into the performance. The friends meet at the house of the\nbride\u2019s parents, where a great feast has been prepared at the expense of\nthe bridegroom\u2019s father, and the eating and drinking and publicity of\nthe affair make the marriage as binding as are any marriages in Burmah.\nContrary to all Eastern usages, the young couple take up their abode\nwith the bride\u2019s parents instead of going to the home of the groom\u2019s\npeople, which is the custom in India, China, and Japan. If the home roof\nis too small to shelter the new family, they may build a new home for\nthemselves. This is not an expensive affair, as the houses are extremely\nsimple. They are practically all of one story, because of the Burman\u2019s\naversion to any one walking over his head. The house is built on posts,\nthus raising the floor seven or eight feet from the ground, which is\nvery desirable in rainy weather. It consists of two or three rooms and\nan open balcony, where the family may sit of an evening or where the\ndaughter of the house may receive her lover, and not interrupt the\nslumbers of father and mother, who have spread their sleeping-mats upon\nthe floor of the main living-room.\n\nIn the rainy season the cooking is done in one of the rooms, but in the\nlong, dry months the yard at the back of the house serves as kitchen. In\nthe smaller towns the roofs are thatched with palm-leaves or with grass,\nbut in the cities the ugly iron roofs are now seen, with here and there\na more pretentious roof of tiling.\n\nMoving is not a laborious process, as there is little necessary\nfurniture in a Burmese home. A few rush mats, which serve for beds, some\nrugs and blankets for use when nights are cold, which during the day are\nrolled up and placed in an unused corner of the room, a cooking-range,\nwhich is simply a square box filled with earth on which the wood is\nlighted, some earthen pots for making curries and the cooking of the\nrice, a water-jar, ladles made of the half of a coconut placed on a\nhandle, the huge round lacquer tray, which serves as table, and the\nbowls for the curries and deserts.\n\nWith nearly every house there is a small yard, in which are found\nflowers if the wife is inclined to love the beautiful; but if she is\nmore practically inclined chickens hold sway within the small domain,\nuntil the evil day arrives for them when they pass into the curry-pot.\nThe strict Buddhist does not utilize the eggs, believing that they hold\nthe germ of life which it would be sinful to destroy. These Burmese\nroosters can take the place of clocks, as it is said that they crow\nregularly four times a day\u2014at sunrise, noon, sundown, and at midnight.\nThe story goes that in the olden time there was a great fire made of\nbooks that contained unlawful teaching. Among these books were those of\na famous astrologer, and after the fire the cocks came and ate the\nashes, thus taking into their very being the knowledge of the stars and\nthe actions of the sun.\n\nIf the wife lives in the city, she does not have the weary task of\nhusking the rice, as it is bought ready for cooking, nor does she need\nwaste much thought in planning the menu for the day. The two meals are\npractically the same\u2014the plain boiled rice upon the table-tray, around\nwhich sit the household, squatting upon their heels. No knives or forks\nare needed, as each takes upon his plate from the central dish the rice,\npours over it curry, arranges on the top the vegetables and condiments\nthat he loves, and eats it with the forks with which Nature has provided\nhim\u2014his fingers. The food is very good if too much dried fish, which is\na delicacy loved by Burmans, or garlic has not been incorporated in the\ncurries. Only water is drunk at mealtime. If the husband has acquired\nthe habit of tippling, which has come to Burmah with other foreign\ncustoms, he must go to the shop where it is sold to indulge in what, to\nevery good householder, is still a thing of which to be ashamed.\n\nAfter meals every one smokes\u2014father, mother, and children. It is said\nthat baby learns while at his mother\u2019s breast to take the long cigar\nfrom between her lips and puff it between alternate draughts at Nature\u2019s\nfont; but Burmese deny this most indignantly, and say that smoking is\nforbidden the children until they have learned to walk. I can quite\nbelieve this, because it would take a strong baby to manage the enormous\ncheroot smoked by all Burmans, although they are so mild that they would\nnot affect the nerves even of a child. The cigar seen in the homes is\nfrom six to eight inches in length and about an inch in diameter. It is\nmade of the pith of a plant mixed with chopped tobacco-leaves, wrapped\nin the leaf of the teak-tree, the ends tucked in and tied by a piece of\nred silk, where stiff pieces of pith keep the loose tobacco from the\nmouth. It splutters and scatters its fine fire in all directions, and\ncannot be smoked by an amateur without danger to himself and all about\nhim. These are often made within the home by the wife and daughters, yet\nthey may be seen in tiny booths at all festivities, where pretty girls\nsell them to admiring swains who are too lazy to roll them for\nthemselves.\n\nChewing betel-nut is also indulged in by both man and wife, and the\nstain it leaves upon the lips and tongue is not an addition to the\nbeauty of the mouth; yet it can be easily cleansed, as witness the\npretty teeth and rosy lips of the women one meets in the street. There\nis no furniture to dust, few dishes to wash, and little clothing to be\nsewn, and small care expended upon the children. Their daily bath\nconsists in throwing a few buckets of water over their naked bodies,\nwhich they learn early to do for themselves, and often around a village\nwell the tiny babies, dressed in only an amulet string, may be seen with\ncoconut ladle throwing the cooling water over their bodies and shrieking\nwith delight. The children of the poor go naked until about eight or\nnine years old, and those of the better class dress practically as do\ntheir fathers and mothers while in the street, although, even in houses\nof the rich, clothing is considered a useless luxury for the young.\n\nThe simple life leaves much time for the wife, which she employs in\ngossiping with friends, in attending pagoda festivals and pw\u00e9s until\nthat happy event arrives, the birth of the first child. From the moment\nit is known that the wife is to become a mother she is the recipient of\nmuch care and attention and presents from her family and from her\nfriends, and when she can say, \u201cI am the mother of a son,\u201d then, like\nall Oriental women, she has attained the great crown of womanhood. But\nbecause of the lack of medical skill in Burmah she has to face a most\ndreadful ordeal. As soon as her child is born the mother is rubbed all\nover with saffron, a fire lighted near her, and all the blankets that\ncan be begged or borrowed are heaped upon her. She is given a drink\nprepared by the midwife for the purpose of making her perspire. This is\ngiven her many times a day, and together with the large bricks that are\nheated and wrapped in damp cloths and placed in her bed conspire to have\nthe desired effect, and the poor mother passes seven days in a Turkish\nbath. Then on the seventh day, as a finish to this trying ordeal which\nshe has undergone, she is forced to go through a most elaborate steaming\nprocess, and if this does not smother her completely, she is pronounced\nwell. The midwife receives her mats, her allotment of rice and her\nshilling, and the woman returns to her household duties. In the larger\ntowns now the Burmese woman may call in the European-trained doctor, and\nthere are hospitals which answer the great need that the women have for\nproper care at this critical time of their lives. Yet I am told that the\nmortality at child-bearing is not so great as that in India and other\nEastern countries. The main effect upon the woman is to age her greatly;\nat the birth of her first child she changes from the pretty girl-wife to\nthe middle-aged woman.\n\nAbout two weeks after the birth of the child a great feast is given to\ncelebrate the naming of the new arrival, and on this day also the young\nman\u2019s head is washed for the first time. All the friends of the family\nand the neighbours are invited, and they come, bringing presents with\nthem to help pay for the feast. The mother sits down with her child in\nher arms, then some elder or relation of the parents suggests the name,\nand everybody accepts it at once, whereupon all adjourn to the feast,\nwhere they eat, chew betel, and smoke cheroots until nightfall. If the\npeople have sufficient means, there is a pw\u00e9, which lasts until morning.\n\nIt is a rule amongst families that a child\u2019s name must begin with one of\nthe letters belonging to the day on which it was born, and they all\nbelieve that the stars which were in evidence at the hour of birth\ndecide a man\u2019s character. A man born on Monday will be jealous, on\nTuesday honest, on Wednesday bad-tempered, on Thursday quiet, on Friday\ngarrulous, on Saturday quarrelsome, and on Sunday stingy. Each day also\nhas a particular animal which represents it. Monday is represented by a\ntiger, Tuesday, a lion, etc., and in temples one sees yellow and wax\ncandles made in the form of these animals, representing his birthday,\nplaced before the god by the man who wishes special benefits from lord\nBuddha.\n\nSwinging by a couple of ropes from the roof is a rude home-made basket,\nwhich is used for baby\u2019s cradle. Even this useful article of furniture\nin which the Burmese baby passes his sleeping hours is subject to the\nactions of belligerent spirits, and must be hung in such a manner as not\nto tempt the nats to use it for a resting-place. Burmese mothers, like\nmothers all over the world, croon lullabies to their babies as they\nswing them back and forth while waiting for the sand-man to come. I give\na verse of one of the popular lullabies known generally to all babies in\nBurmah\u2014\n\n Nasty, naughty, noisy baby,\n If the cat won\u2019t, nats will maybe\n Come and pinch and punch and rend you\u2014\n If they do I won\u2019t defend you.\n Oh, now please,\n Do not tease,\n Do be good,\n As babies should,\n Just one tiny little while;\n Try to sleep, or try to smile.\n\nWhen the son is eight or nine years of age he goes as a matter of course\nto the monastery school, which is open to all alike, the poor and rich,\nand which is practically the only thing that the priests, which flood\nthis country, afford the people in return for the food which is placed\nin their begging-bowls each day. Every Buddhist boy is taught to read\nand write, and he learns many of the formulas connected with the tenets\nof his religion and the stories relating to the existence and teachings\nof Buddha. Until the English came, all little boys went to the monastery\nschools, but now there are Government schools and Burmese laymen schools\nand many private schools, to which the more advanced Burmans are sending\ntheir sons; yet the schoolrooms in the monasteries are not vacant. The\nyoung Burmese are not so forced by the economic conditions to acquire\nthe foreign education as is the Indian boy, where life is much more\ndifficult and the Government certificate simply a means to an\nend\u2014Government employment. Until lately it was not thought necessary to\neducate the girls. To be pretty, to know how to take care of her\nhousehold, to smile sweetly, and be of a gay disposition were sufficient\nfor a woman; and as book knowledge would not help her in those\naccomplishments, book knowledge was, therefore, dispensed with. But now\nthe larger towns provide educational facilities for girls, and in\nRangoon and Mandalay there are many private schools for the daughters of\nthe better class.\n\nUntil a Buddhist has entered the monastery, joining the noble order of\nthe yellow robe, if for no longer than a day, he is nothing more than a\nmere animal. He has a name given him for worldly purposes, so has a dog,\na horse, or a cow; but until he has shown himself ready to leave the\nworld by retiring into the quiet and peace of the monasteries, he cannot\nexpect to reap the good that he has sown in the past life, nor would it\nbe possible for him to look forward to a happy future. At the beginning\nof the Buddhist Lent, all Buddhist boys from the age of twelve to\nfifteen don the yellow robe and carry the begging-bowl before the priest\non his daily rounds. On this most important day in his life his parents\ngive a feast, where the young novice, dressed in finest clothes, loaded\nwith all the family jewels, goes slowly through the village, preceded by\na band of music and his friends and relatives dressed in their gayest\nclothing. He calls at the houses of his friends and pays respects to the\nofficials of his village. Returning to his home, he finds, seated upon a\nraised da\u00efs, several priests from the monastery to which he is soon to\nretire. They hold before their faces the large lotus-leafed-shaped fans,\nso as not to see the row of pretty women, dressed in their pinks and\nblues and yellows, flowers in their hair, jewels and chains on necks,\nand bracelets on arms, and pearl powder softening smiling faces. The\nsolemnity of the ceremony commences when the boy throws off his fine\nclothing, and, binding a piece of white cloth around his loins, sits\ndown before the barber and permits that glory of his boyhood, his long\nblack hair, to be cut off close to his head. After he has been carefully\nshaved, water is poured over his body, and, dressed again in his bright\nclothing, he prostrates himself three times before the monks, begging in\nPali, which quite likely he does not understand, that he may be admitted\nto the holy assembly. Then the yellow garments are given him, the\nbegging-bowl is hung around his neck, and he is formally a member of the\nmonastery. With the departure of the priests and the novice feasting\nbegins, which, according to many Burmese festivities, lasts until dawn.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A BUDDHIST SCHOOL, MANDALAY (SHOWING BEGGING-BOWL).\n\n To face p. 194.]\n\nIn many cases, if the boy is working and his services are needed, he\nremains in the monastery only long enough to enable him to go once\naround the village begging from door to door in the train of the\npriests. Some stay seven days, some a fortnight, and others, if they are\nable, remain throughout the four months of Lent. Of course many of them\nenter the monastery for life, and there is no country in the world where\nthere are so many priests as in Burmah. The monasteries offer a refuge\nfor men in trouble, for those who desire to leave the cares of the world\nand lead a life of meditation and repose. And it is said that this\ndeparture from the world is made by many a man in this country, where\nwomen are noted for the strength of their characters and the length of\ntheir tongues.\n\nThe Burmese boy does not consider he has attained manhood until he has\nbeen tattooed. When I was first in Burmah, being rather nearsighted, I\nthought all Burmese men of the lower class wore short, dark, skin-tight\ndrawers, but when I became more courageous and examined them more\nclosely I found what I considered underclothing was the man\u2019s own skin.\nThis had been tattooed from the waistline down to the kneecap with a\nseries of pictures so closely set together that they could not be\ndistinguished one from the other, and melted into a background of blue\nand black, with here and there a softened red to accentuate the fading\ncolours of the darker dye. This is a sign of manhood, which, the Burmese\nsay, will probably not die out, because a Burman would be as ashamed to\nhave a spotless white skin without a mark of the tattooer\u2019s needle as\nwould the American boy to find no manly hairs upon his chin at the age\nwhen other boys begin to shave. And woe to the hapless youth if a\nwind-blown paso should show the girl he was courting a white and\nspotless leg; she would tell him that his place was in the women\u2019s\nquarters and offer him a woman\u2019s dress! Each figure in this mosaic has a\nmeaning, and there are charms for protection of the body, for the\ngaining of a loved one, thus assuring the wearer great riches, and,\nmixed with these, are figures of all kinds\u2014lizards, birds, and pictures\nof the Buddha. Sometimes women who wish to ensnare the object of their\naffection endure the pain of having a love charm tattooed upon the\ntongue or upon the lips. Often a few round spots tattooed with the\nprescribed formula repeated over it and placed between the eyes will be\nenough to bring back a wandering lover to her side. If this is not\neffectual or if the maiden sees herself drifting towards a lonely middle\nage with no lover in her view, she cuts off the locks of hair hanging\nover her ears, announcing to all the world that she is looking for a\nlover. They say in Rangoon that if a woman is tattooed it means that she\ndesires an Englishman for her husband.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BURMESE BOY WITH TATTOOED LEGS.\n\n To face p. 196.]\n\nIn olden days Burmah shared with Japan in the number of its women given\nin marriage _\u00e0 la mode_ to men of alien races. Nearly every English\nofficial and merchant had his house presided over by a little native\nmaiden. These arrangements were very happy and tragedies did not occur\nuntil the Englishman, longing for home sights and sounds, and the\ndignity of an English wife, went back home and returned to his station\nwith the woman of his choice. Then there was sorrow, and even the\nEnglish gold could not repay the little Burmese woman for the loss of\nthe love of the kindly, careless man who had been her master for the\nmany years. Often attempts were made to regain that master\u2019s love, and\nmany a time the attempts succeeded, because in the formality and dignity\nof his English home and the coldness of his English wife, the man\nremembered the happy days and nights spent under the Burmese roof and\nthe pretty little Burmese girl who shyly slipped her hand in his and\ncalled him master, lord of all her days and nights.\n\nThere is a story told of an English official in Upper Burmah who, when\ntime for leave of absence came, closed up his Burmese home, giving to\nits little hostess money sufficient to make her rich for life. On his\nreturn to Burmah he brought with him the girl from Devonshire to whom he\nhad been betrothed for many years. At dinner their first night soft\nsteps were heard upon the verandas, and curtains moved as if in the\nswaying of an evening breeze, but nothing could be seen. The next\nmorning when starting for his office the frightened horse shied madly at\na little mound of silk lying by the side of the gateway. It was the\nlittle Burmese wife, with a dagger through her heart. Pinned upon her\npretty dress was a letter for her lord, in which she said: \u201cI have\nlooked upon thy newly wedded wife and found her good. If I had seen\nwithin her eyes\u2014and love would quick have told me\u2014that she were not the\nworthy one, that she were not fitted to be thy mate through all these\nyears to come, I would have plunged my knife deep in her heart, but now\nI know it is better for me to go, as life without thee has no joy.\u201d\n\nOne can understand the charm that these happy, smiling, care-free little\nwomen have for the men who come from homes where levity and\n_laissez-faire_ are things to be condemned. The Burmese wife makes no\ndemands upon her lord and master; she is obedient, attendant to his\nevery want, and never scolding and discontented. As far as material\nwants are concerned, the native woman of any Eastern country makes an\nideal wife for the average European, yet they can never be real\ncompanions one with the other. There is more than the bar of language\nbetween them; there is the bar of instincts, customs, and traditions.\nThe entire life of each has been passed in different environments.\nPractically always the woman has little or no education, and knows\nnothing of the world outside the town where she was born. There is never\nany question of equality between the foreign husband and the native\nwife; he is always her lord, she is always his slave. To the\nlight-hearted Burmese woman, to whom the marriage tie even with a man of\nher own race is not a binding cord, these \u201cmarriages for a day\u201d are not\nalways things of tragedy, but the curse falls heavily upon the child if\nthere should be one. In all Eastern countries\u2014Egypt, India, Burmah,\nChina, and Japan\u2014the half-caste is a being set apart. Ostracized by the\nmembers of his father\u2019s race, unrecognized by his mother\u2019s people, he is\na social pariah, and one almost feels that, if society could enforce it,\nhe would be compelled to call out, \u201cUnclean, unclean!\u201d as did the lepers\nin the olden time.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n EN ROUTE TO A FESTIVAL, BURMAH.\n\n To face p. 198.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII\n BURMESE RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION\n\n\nJudging from appearances, the Burmese woman is deeply religious. We see\nher offering her flowers before the many shrines scattered throughout\nthe country, and hear the deep-toned bell hanging before the lord of\nlight as she strikes it three times to call the attention of the spirits\nof the air to her piety. On days of festival the pagoda is thronged with\ngaily dressed women, and at the greatest of all pagoda feasts, that of\nthe Shwe Dagon in Rangoon, women pilgrims from every part of Burmah come\nto lay their tribute before the greatest shrine in Buddha-land. They\ncome by train and boat and bullock-cart, and to many it is the most\nimportant event of the whole year. Girls look forward to the chance it\noffers to show their charms to the male world, old ladies count on the\nmeeting of friends and the discussion of the events of the past year,\nwhile to all it offers a chance to lay up merit for themselves and\nadvance a step on the long road that leads to Neban.\n\nNear the temple are marionette shows, and theatrical companies make\nthese festivals their place of greatest profit, while the merchants\noffer their wares for sale, and the sellers of incense, candles,\nflowers, and offerings for the different shrines reap their harvest. Yet\nover the whole joyous occasion, which would strike the casual observer\nas simply a holiday for these happy people, is thrown the veil of a deep\nreligious motive. In the fascination of the secular gaieties around\nthem, these spiritual women do not forget the real object of their\npilgrimage, and the prayers and protestations before the altars, and the\nconstant booming of the deep-toned bells, show that praise of the Lord\nof lords is not forgotten amidst the excitement and pleasures of the\nworld outside.\n\nThe Burmese woman may go to the pagoda on the duty days of each month,\nof which there are four, or she may stay at home. The only force upon\nher is that of public opinion, yet she generally goes, as it is the\nmeeting-place of all her world, and the care-free Burmese, both men and\nwomen, are always looking for a chance of amusement and a meeting with\nfriends.\n\nWhether or not she attends these duty days once a week is solely\ndependent upon her piety, or her love of companionship; but deeply\ningrained within her soul is a daily duty that no Burman, unless of the\nvery advanced class, neglects\u2014the propitiation of the nats, those\nspirits inhabiting the air, the ground, the water, and all things, both\nanimate and inanimate. Even the stones upon the roadside may be the home\nof spirits who may prove destructive or hostile at any time. To guard\nagainst the evils that might come with neglect of such powerful enemies\nto his happiness, the Burmese erects a shrine at the extremity of his\nvillage, sometimes no larger than a bird house built in the pipul-tree.\nThere he may offer food, and light his tiny lamps, and pour his\nofferings of water, and burn his incense.\n\nHe leaves the nats of the household to the especial care of his wife,\nwho covers all the posts within the rooms with white cloth, so that they\nmay be comfortable while sitting in their favourite places. To\ncounteract the effect of the evil spirits who may wish to take up their\ndwelling within the home, the careful housewife keeps near at hand a jar\nof water that has been blessed, and daily sprinkles floor and roof for\nthe protection of her family. It is believed that people who have been\nexecuted for their crimes or who have met a violent death become nats\nand haunt the place where they so suddenly departed from this world, and\nthis belief led to many cruel practices in former times. The burial of\nmen and women alive under the gates of a city originated in this desire\nto protect its inhabitants, as these spirits wander around the place of\ntheir death, and bring disaster upon strangers who may come with evil\nintent. It is said that under the palace gates fifty men and women were\nburied alive to protect those within the Imperial residence.\n\nThis belief in spirits leads to many evils, and the woman\u2019s life is one\nof constant fear for herself and for her loved ones. She naturally\nconsults in time of trouble with those who have a knowledge of spirit\nlore, or who have power to control them and make of no avail their wrong\nintentions. Consequently Burmah abounds in astrologers, necromancers,\nwizards, and witch-doctors, who impose upon the fears of the women to a\nmarvellous extent. These charlatans vie with the doctors in their\nignorance.\n\nA man of medicine in this land ruled by superstition needs no diploma,\nand he administers a mixture of herbs and nasty tasting condiments in\nsuch strong doses that they are bound to cure or kill. Quantity, not\nquality, is what the sick Burmese requires; and if after a medicine is\nadministered five times she is not better, another kind is tried, and if\nthe desired effect is not produced, another doctor is called, who\nperhaps makes a distinctly different diagnosis of the case, and the\ndosing is commenced all over again with another set of medicines. It is\nwell known by all that the body is composed of four elements\u2014earth,\nwater, fire, and air\u2014and derangement of these four properties may cause\nthe illness. Before medicine is administered, the horoscope must be\nconsulted in order to learn the proportions of the elements within the\nbody, when perhaps it is found that the sickness is caused by an evil\nact committed in a former life, or the seasons may be the cause of her\nmisfortune. It is always a most complicated affair, and perhaps the\ndoctor finds that the sufferer must refuse all food whose initial letter\nbegins with the same letter as that of the day of her birth. There are\nninety-six diseases that afflict mankind, and it often takes many\ndoctors and much medicine to decide with which one of the ninety-six\nailments the woman is contending.\n\nIf she should die, it is believed that the soul, in the shape of a black\nbutterfly, issues from the mouth, and dies at the same time as that of\nthe body which it inhabited. Although the Buddhists do not believe in\nthe actuality of the soul as we know it, this black butterfly is the\nreal spirit of the woman, and is with her constantly except at times of\nsleep, when it may leave the earthly body and go roaming over the world.\nIt can never visit places strange to its owner, as it might lose its way\nand not come back again, when both would die\u2014the body because its spirit\nwas gone, the butterfly because it had lost its earthly home. One reason\nwhy a Burman will not rouse one suddenly from a deep slumber is because\nhe is afraid that the butterfly might be on a visit and unable to return\nto its home upon the man\u2019s awakening, which, of course, would be most\nfatal. This roaming spirit takes many chances, as there are goblins and\nevil genii who desire nothing better than to eat black butterflies, and\noften they become so frightened that they return home in a great panic,\nwhich throws the owner of the soul into a fever. It sometimes happens\nthat the spirit is kept prisoner, and then the witch doctors are brought\nin and many incantations are gone through to induce the evil gnomes to\nrelease their hold upon the poor butterfly before it is too late.\n\nTwo souls who deeply love each other often wish to leave the world\ntogether, or a mother dies and wishes her loved one, perhaps her only\nchild, to join her in the other land, and her spirit calls for her\nbaby\u2019s butterfly, who will follow that of the mother unless frustrated\nby the machinations of some wise woman who understands the way of\nspirits. This woman comes to the house, and placing a mirror on the\nfloor by the dead mother or wife who is calling for her child or\nhusband, entreats the dead not to demand the soul of the living. As she\npleads with her she allows a piece of down to slip slowly on to the face\nof the mirror and catches it in a handkerchief, which is then gently\nplaced on the breast of the living, and the spirit comes back to its\nresting-place.\n\nSuperstition dominates the life of the Burmese woman as much as it does\nher Indian sister. She believes in love potions and philtres to bring a\nlonged-for lover to her side. She consults with wise men, who tell her\nwhether the waning love of husband is caused by the nat or guardian of\nthe house; or if she is not yet wedded, she finds that the horoscopes of\nherself and lover are not propitious and that he is not intended for her\nmate. She also uses this man of science to revenge herself upon a hated\nrival, and will cause an image to be made of clay, over which are\nchanted devilish rituals which will cause death or madness to fall upon\nthe unsuspecting person.\n\nNot only do the spirits of all worlds influence her, but each act of the\nthings around her has its meaning. If a hen should lay an egg upon a\ncloth, the lucky owner will receive a present; and if she is going on a\njourney and a snake should cross her path, her misfortune would be\ncertain. If a dog should carry a bone into the house, she blesses him,\nas great riches and honour will come to all beneath her roof. But she is\nhampered in her actions by the number of lucky and unlucky days that\ncontrol her destiny. There are days unfortunate for all the world, and\nothers that apply only to her, when she must act with exceeding care,\nand understand the lore of the stars which were in the ascendant at her\nbirth. Thursday is generally a good day for all, but if a woman was so\nfoolhardy as to commence a work on Tuesday it might be fatal and she\nwould lose her life. Friday is the day of days on which to commence a\nnew enterprise, as success is bound to follow. The hair should be washed\nonce a month, if possible, but never on Monday, Friday, or Saturday. A\ngood mother on sending her son into the monastery would see that the\nrite of cutting the hair did not fall upon Monday, Friday, or his\nbirthday, and it limits the choice of days, as this latter event, the\nbirthday, occurs once a week. There are also a few months especially\nunlucky for a woman born under certain stars, and no undertaking should\nbe commenced in those months. In fact, the Burmese woman is ruled by\nsigns and omens from her birth to her death, and when the necromancers,\nthe wizards, the doctors, and the witches are unable longer to keep the\nspirit, the little black butterfly, within the body, and she is gathered\nto her fathers, rules and traditions govern her laying away to her last\nresting-place.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n A BURMESE WOMAN AND HER CIGAR.\n\n To face p. 206.]\n\nIn former days the dead were all cremated, but now burying has come into\ngeneral use. When death comes to a family it means elaborate\npreparations and feasting from the time that the breath has left the\nbody and the coin is put into the mouth to pay the ferryman for the last\njourney over the lonely river, until the seven days of mourning are\nover. Yet it is hard to speak of these days as days of mourning, for\nmusic, dancing before the bier, and the feasting in the home would cause\nthe onlooker at a Burmese funeral to believe that he was witnessing a\nwedding-festival instead of a scene of sorrow.\n\nThe Burmese, like most Eastern nations, spend far too much upon their\nfuneral observances; and often a man goes into debt for life to pay for\nthe extravagances which custom and tradition make necessary to uphold\nhis standing in the community when the Angel of Death visits his\nhousehold.\n\nA new custom, or an old custom made more elaborate, has increased the\ncost of living for the hospitable Burman. When invitations are given for\nany festivity, the invitation is accompanied by a present, often a silk\nhandkerchief or a turban, but with the rich this present is growing more\nexpensive, until it is becoming a burden that is causing many of the\nconservative to complain. I was told while in Mandalay that when a\ncertain gentleman sent out invitations for his daughter\u2019s wedding, he\naccompanied each invitation with a gold sovereign, and as he bade more\nthan two hundred guests to the feast, his entertainment cost him a\ngoodly sum before the actual expense of the festival took place. This\nuseless expenditure falls heavily upon the small official who is trying\nto live upon his salary, as salaries are not large in Burmah. A\ngentleman with a sense of humour was calling upon us, and in the course\nof conversation we touched upon the servant question. He asked us what a\nChinese butler received for his services in America. I told him ten\npounds a month. He gasped, and then he laughed and a twinkle came to his\nblack eyes as he said: \u201cI am an official of the city of Mandalay, and I\nreceive just that amount. I think I will go to America.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BURMESE WORKING WOMAN.\n\n To face p. 208.]\n\nThe Burmese woman in her home is allowed much more liberty than any\nother Oriental woman. She is her husband\u2019s equal, although she is taught\nto look upon man as a superior being; still, that is only theoretical.\nIn actual life she is one with him in business, his amusements, and in\nhis religious life. He consults her upon matters of importance, and she\nhas proved worthy of trust and confidence, because she has a good mind\nand has been allowed to use her judgment in matters of business as well\nas in her own particular realm\u2014the home. She has domestic troubles with\nwhich to contend, but public opinion is helping her, especially in the\ncase of polygamy. This destroyer of woman\u2019s happiness is sometimes\npractised, but sentiment is against it, and it is a very brave man who\ncares to run counter to the general opinion of his village or city in\nregard to the number of women he shelters beneath his roof-tree. But if\nthe Burman may not marry more than one woman at a time, he may divorce\nas many wives as he wishes. As the woman also shares in this\nprerogative, the law is not so one-sided as it is in Mohammedan\ncountries. Manu, the ancient law-maker, allowed women to divorce their\nhusbands if they were too poor to support them; if they were lazy and\nwould not work; or if they were incapacitated by reason of old age, or\nbecame cripples after marriage. The husband may send his wife away if\nshe bears him no male children; if she is not loving; or if she is\ndisobedient. Divorce is purely a personal affair, and the marriage tie\nmay be dissolved at any time the parties concerned think fit, without\ncalling in priest or lawyer.\n\nThere are very definite provisions in the laws in regard to the property\nof the separating couple. In the event of divorce each party takes with\nthem the property brought by them to the new home, and what they\naccumulated since marriage is either divided by mutual agreement or by a\ndecision of the village elders who sanction the separation.\n\nI am told that divorce is not so common as one would believe,\nconsidering the ease with which it may be obtained. The Burman is a very\neasy-going man, the Burmese wife a clever woman who makes it her\nbusiness to understand her lord and master, and consequently she\ngenerally rules him. \u201cBurmah is the land of henpecked husbands,\u201d one\nBurman told me, \u201call the world knows our shame\u201d\u2014and then he laughed.\n\nEducation is coming more slowly to the Burmese woman than it is to the\nIndian or the Egyptian. She has not seen its need, consequently has not\ndemanded it. But it will come in time, and the intellectual broadening\nwill free her from the cloud of superstition that now surrounds her and\ncontrols her actions to a great extent.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n GOLDEN PAGODA, MANDALAY.\n\n To face p. 210.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV\n THE LADY OF CHINA\n\n\nIt is not easy for the woman of the Occident to understand the life of\nthe woman of the Orient. The woman of the West, in her freedom, her\ncomplex social life, her husband\u2019s love, looks pityingly upon the\nEastern woman in what appears to be a seemingly restricted sphere\u2014the\nhome. It is known that she is practically a prisoner, not by force but\nby custom and convention; that the wall of the compound are the walls of\nthe world to her. It is not realized, however, that there she is\nsupreme, and from within those compound-walls, she sways to a great\nextent the thought and life of China.\n\nThe Chinese lady does not lead a life of leisure or indolence. The\npicture of the Eastern woman sitting upon divans and eating sweetmeats\ndoes not apply to the women of this country. If she is the wife of an\nofficial or of a man of wealth, she has a large household over which she\nmust preside. If the husband has a mother living the mother is the head\nof the house, and her will is absolute. This was shown rather forcibly a\nfew years ago in Peking. The son of a Chinese official while abroad\nmarried a European woman. She returned to Peking with her husband, and\nwithin a few months fled to a foreign embassy and asked protection, as\nshe believed her life in danger. The mother-in-law had said: \u201cWhile I\nwas in Europe with you I was powerless, but here I am absolute. I could\neven kill you and no one would question the act. It is my right to do\nwith you as I wish.\u201d The minister could do nothing, as by her marriage\nthe girl had become a Chinese subject and was under the laws of China,\nwhich gave the mother of her husband absolute control over her life and\nperson.\n\nOften there are an incredible number of people living under one\nroof-tree, as all the sons bring their wives to their father\u2019s home\ninstead of establishing separate households. Sheng, the director of\nrailways, told me that there were 250 people who took rice each day\nwithin his compound. The walls of his garden enclosed a small village.\nThere was a large building containing his office and residence.\nRadiating from this there were rows of smaller houses, where his\nbrothers and married sons lived with their numerous families.\n\nA Chinese house, even of the very rich, is a shabby affair, judged from\nWestern standards. It is always surrounded by a wall, generally painted\nwhite. Within the entrance gate is a large wooden screen, placed to\ninsure privacy, and also to guard the doorways from evil spirits, which\nare known to travel only in straight lines and to abhor corners. If the\nfamily is large the home consists of a series of houses built around\ncourtyards. Across the first court are the master\u2019s rooms and offices;\nthen come the houses of the different families, as each wife has a suite\nof rooms for herself and her children. Some of the wives of the more\nwealthy Chinese occupy an entire building. The kitchen and the servants\u2019\nquarters are at the end of the last courtyard.\n\nThe floors of all the rooms are of rough boards, with great cracks\nbetween them, sometimes covered with a rug but more often bare. The\nwalls are composed of the same wide boards, with here and there an\nembroidered hanging or a scroll bearing the words of some honoured sage.\nThe furniture of the reception-room consists of small tables alternating\nwith straight-backed chairs, arranged with mathematical precision around\nthe three sides of the room. Opposite the doorway is the seat of honour,\nor an opium-couch. Often the furniture is elaborately carved or inlaid\nwith mother-of-pearl, but it looks formal and precise. The chairs, with\ntheir red embroidered cushions, are very uncomfortable for the\nWesterner, because of their straight, low backs and high, narrow seats,\nthat make one long for a footstool. There are no buffets nor sideboards\nin the dining-rooms, and stools are used in place of chairs. The tables\nare square, seating eight, and neither tablecloths nor napkins are\nconsidered necessary adjuncts to dining.\n\nThe bedrooms are small, and filled wellnigh to overflowing by an\nenormous carved bed, with red embroidered curtains hanging from the\nheavy canopy and long silken tassels draping the four posts. The Chinese\ndo not indulge in mattresses nor springs, sheets, nor pillow-cases. The\npillows are small bolsters, and the bedclothing consists of a series of\nwadded \u201ccomfortables\u201d made of silk or cotton. Their dislike of springs\nis very intense. A hospital for the Chinese was opened in one of the\ninterior towns, and the doctors, wishing to do the very best they could\nto make their patients comfortable, bought, at great expense, foreign\nbeds with springs. They found, to their disgust, that the patients, as\nsoon as the nurse turned her back, insisted on placing the bedclothing\nupon the floor and lying there, instead of in the nice comfortable beds\nthat had been provided for them. They claimed that the springs made them\n\u201cseasick.\u201d When Chinese ladies are calling upon a foreign woman, one of\nthe chief ways to amuse them is to take them over the house and permit\nthem to see the furnishings of the homes of the people from over the\nsea. They are always intensely interested in the beds and look at the\nsprings from all sides, sitting on them and pressing them down with\ntheir hands, finally shaking their heads, as much as to say, \u201cIt is past\nall belief what these strange people will have in their houses.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\n CHINESE WOMEN WARMING HANDS AND FEET WITH BRAZIERS.\n\n To face p. 214.]\n\nThe chief article of furniture in the kitchen is the stove, a huge\naffair made of brick. This stove has generally three holes, in which are\nset the iron cooking-pots, shaped like large washbowls and made of very\nthin metal, in order that the ingredients may cook with the smallest\namount of heat necessary, as the question of fuel is a serious one in\nChina. In the country around Shanghai, rice-straw and faggots are the\nmain fuel, while on every hillside in the country one sees women and\nchildren cutting the dried grass and gathering every available thing\nthat may be burned. Because of the lack of body in the fuel it keeps one\nperson busy feeding the fire while another attends to the cooking.\n\nThe food served at a feast, and which the average foreigner sees, is\nquite different from that eaten every day. At a feast there are often\ntwenty or thirty courses. Swallow\u2019s-nest soup, shark-fins, pigeon eggs\ncooked with nuts, ducks prepared in many ways, fowl, fish, and\ninnumerable sweets. Rice is served as the last course, while at the\nordinary dinner it is the principal dish. It is to the Chinese what\nbread is to the European or potatoes to the Irish. The food is cooked in\nvegetable oil, made from beans or cabbages, or, for the richer class,\nfrom peanuts. The chief meat is pork, which is cut into little bits and\ncooked with a vegetable. Beef is not used by the average Chinese. The\ncow is a beast of burden, and none of her products are eaten. I have\nseen a great official, on being told that the ice-cream he was eating\nwas made of milk, deposit upon his plate the contents of his mouth with\nmore haste than grace. One receives the impression from pictures that\nthe Chinese politely picks up a few grains of rice with his chopsticks\nand carries them slowly to his mouth. This is a picture of Occidental\nimagination rather than Oriental reality. He takes with his chopsticks\nsome vegetables from the dishes in the centre of the table, to which all\nhave access, and, after depositing the chosen morsel on the top of his\nrice, he lifts the bowl to his face and uses his chopsticks to shovel as\nmuch of the rice into the opening as its capacity will permit. The\nChinese are supposed to be a slow and phlegmatic race, but if one were\nto judge by the rapidity with which a bowl of rice will disappear, one\nwould easily give them a place among the most rapid and progressive\nraces of the world.\n\nFood used by the Chinese is very cheap. The Viceroy at Nanking, a man of\nunlimited wealth and power, told me that the food for himself did not\ncost more than twenty cents a day. The servants in the American\nConsulate had their food bought by the second cook, paying him five\nshillings each per month, which sum included food, cooking, and service.\nOn board a foreign houseboat the captain is paid four shillings per day\nfor the hire of six men, and they are fed by him out of this sum. It is\nmade possible by the cheapness of the vegetables. I have seen him buy\nthree bushels of a curly-leaved vegetable resembling spinach for\ntwopence.\n\nThe lady of China takes no part in her husband\u2019s business or social\nlife. Much of the business in China among the official and rich class is\ntransacted socially, and the dinners are generally given at a tea-house\nor restaurant, or on the pleasure-boats kept for that purpose. Even the\nvery finest of these entertainment-places are very shabby affairs, from\na Western standpoint. They are also extremely dirty. The floors are made\nof unmatched boards that have never seen the scrubbing-brush, and the\nguests throw their fish-bones, cigarette-ends, etc., under the table.\n\nThe Chinese understand the art of dining, and we who simply go to eat\ncannot appreciate the social side of this form of entertainment as does\nthe Eastern man. He eats a few courses, sheds a jacket, loosens a belt,\ntalks to a singing girl, smokes, then eats a few more courses, gambles a\nwhile, and really enjoys himself for four or five hours. When he enters\nthe room for the feast he is given a slip of paper, on which he writes\nthe name of his favourite singing girl and her place of residence. When\nall the guests arrive the slips are taken by a servant to the different\nplaces, and at intervals during the dinner the girls arrive. These girls\nare owned by men or women who bought them when they were very young, and\nhave trained them for singing girls or professional amusers. They sway\nin on their tiny bound feet, beautifully dressed, painted and powdered,\nand take their place behind the man who sent for them. They sit on a\nnarrow stool, chat with the man, have a few puffs from a water pipe, eat\nmelon-seeds (they never eat or drink anything from the table); then\ntheir maid brings them their musical instrument, and they sing, in a\nhigh falsetto voice, a song or two. If the song and the singer are\nadmired, the guests show their approval by loud \u201cHah, hah\u2019s.\u201d After her\nsong the girl arises, says good-bye to her patron, and leaves for her\nnext engagement. The girl\u2019s owner receives from four to sixteen\nshillings, according to the fame of the girl; she receives nothing,\nunless a present is given her by some admirer. Many of them have\nbeautiful bracelets and hair ornaments of pearls and jade, and many own\ngold water pipes that are very costly. They all carry little makeup\nboxes, and powder their noses whenever the desire seizes them. To\nWestern eyes they are not pretty, with their red and white faces. They\npaint their forehead, nose, and around their mouth white, the cheeks and\nunder-lip bright red, and to obtain the proper willow-leaf pattern for\nthe eyebrows their own are shaved and others more slanting are painted\nin their place. It is hard to see any charm in these little women. They\nsing through their noses, talk very little, and that the most inane\ngossip, powder themselves, then bow and go away. They seem to have\nneither ideas, expression, nor figure.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n CHINESE WOMEN AND CHAIR-BEARERS.\n\n To face p. 218.]\n\nWith each one of these entertainers is a maid, who supports her as she\nsways along on her little feet, and who sees that she does not try to\nrun away from her master. If the girl is popular and in much demand she\nhas a sedan chair and two bearers; if a very young girl, she is carried\non the shoulders of a strong, husky coolie. Many of them lead pitiful\nlives, and a singing girl\u2019s only hope of escape is to become the\nsecondary wife or concubine of a rich man; then, if she should be so\nfortunate as to bear a son for her husband she would hold an honourable\nposition, and nothing could be said against her because of her former\nlife.\n\nA Chinese gentleman is out to dinner practically every night, or else he\nis entertaining friends. He sleeps until noon, goes to his particular\nclub for amusement and to meet his friends in the afternoon, and returns\nto his home in the wee sma\u2019 hours of the night. The wife or wives stay\nat home and take care of the house and children. No Chinese lady ever\ndines at a restaurant; in fact, no Chinese lady ever eats at the same\ntable with her husband; he would \u201close face\u201d if he ate with a woman.\nAlthough a lady is never seen dining in public, she frequently gives\ndinner parties to her friends and relatives. The courtyards are then\nfilled with the chattering chair-bearers, who, squatting on their\nhaunches as only an Eastern servant can, drink innumerable cups of tea\nserved by the servants of the hostess. The guests are met at the\nentrance to the women\u2019s quarters by the lady of the house, and a great\nmany bows are made, varying in depth according to the rank of the guest.\n\nEach guest has a maid, who from time to time brings her mistress a\nvanity box, from which is extracted powder and rouge; and she, like her\nfrailer sister, the sing-song girl, applies a little more white to her\nalready whitened nose, or rouges her cheeks, or touches a little red\npaint to the lower lip. Paint and powder are not confined to the women\nof the amusement class, as the Chinese lady (that is, the younger ones;\nolder women do not make up at all) paints her face more than is\nbeautiful to foreign eyes. Even the hands are not forgotten, and within\nthe palms the rouge brush is used. The hands of a Chinese lady are\nbeautiful\u2014long, slender, and delicate, looking as helpless as a flower.\nIn the olden time long fingernails were worn as a mark of ladyhood, and\nwere often covered with jade or gold, telling plainly that the wearer\nbelonged to the leisured class and did not need to toil. In fact, the\nwhole expression of a Chinese lady is helplessness. From her exquisitely\ncoiffured head, with its mass of pearl and jade, to her tiny feet, on\nwhich she sways instead of walks, she impresses one as a dainty piece of\njewellery, too fragile for real life. The small feet accentuated this,\nbut now they are passing, and the new woman of China is not binding her\ndaughter\u2019s feet.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n BOUND FEET OF CHINESE WOMAN.\n\n To face p. 221.]\n\nThe curse of footbinding does not fall so heavily upon women who may sit\nand embroider, or if needs must travel can be borne upon the shoulders\nof their chair-bearers; but it is upon the poor girl, whose parents hope\nto have one in the family who may better their fortunes by a rich\nmarriage, and, hoping thus, they bind their feet. If this marriage fails\nand she is forced to work within her household, or, even worse, if\npoverty compels her to work in the fields, or add her mite gained by\nmost heavy labour to help fill the many eager mouths at home, then she\nshould have our pity. We have seen the small-footed woman pulling heavy\nboats along the tow-paths, or leaning on their hoes to rest their tired\nfeet while working in the fields of cotton. To her each day is a day of\npain, and this new law forbidding the binding of the feet of children\nwill come as a blessing from the gods. But it will not pass at once, as\nso many now loudly proclaim; it will take at least three generations:\nthe children of the present children will quite likely all have natural\nfeet. The people in the country, far from the noise of change and\nprogress, will not feel immediately that they can wander so far afield\nfrom the old ideas of what is beautiful in their womenkind.\n\nThe most noticeable thing about a Chinese woman, poor as well as rich,\nis her hair: it is jet-black, and made shiny and smooth with a paste\nuntil not a strand is out of place. At certain times of the year small\nwreaths are made from tiny yellow flowers and placed around the knot at\nthe back. The hair is never untidy, and the artistic disorder of the\nhair of the foreign woman is secretly much disliked by the Chinese. The\nlate Empress-Dowager once gave the wife of a foreign Minister a set of\ncombs as a present. The Minister\u2019s wife was delighted, as the gift was\nenclosed in an elaborate silver box, and she did not see the subtle\nsuggestion in the present, over which the Chinese of the province\nchuckled for many a day.\n\nA party of Chinese ladies presents a very gay appearance. They wear silk\nor satin, nearly always brocaded and often heavily embroidered. In the\nwinter, as the houses are not heated, many furs are worn, but almost\nentirely, except in the case of sable, as linings for the silken coats.\nOne garment is put on over the other until the right degree of warmth is\nobtained. Instead of speaking of degrees of cold, the Chinese say it is\nthree-coat weather or five-coat weather. The children are clothed in\nwadded garments, so thick that the overdressed babies look like little\nround balls and can scarcely move. In the summer the ladies wear\ndelicate gauzes over their undergarments of grass-linen.\n\nNearly every province in China has its own customs and peculiarities in\ndress as well as in everything else, but they all agree on the rich reds\nand blues, the purples and mauves for the making of their jackets, while\ntheir wide, skirt-like trousers are often of a much deeper colour than\nthe jacket and trimmed with a wide band of black. The mixture of tints\nsounds most incongruous to foreign ears, but Chinese women have the\nfaculty of weaving the most clashing hues into a work of harmonious art.\nExcept in the case of an old lady, black is seldom worn, and as white is\nthe colour of mourning, it is seen only on occasions of sorrow. A\nChinese lady can never understand why European babies are dressed in\nwhite. Children are the symbols of happiness, and it seems to them most\ninappropriate to garb them in sorrow\u2019s colours. All the gayest and\nbrightest colours of China\u2019s dye-pots are made to produce the clothing\nfor China\u2019s children.\n\nThe dress of the Chinese woman, rich or poor, is very modest, fastening\nclose around the neck, with sleeves coming to the hands and the loose\njacket formed so as to disguise the lines of the body. European women\nare severely censured in China because of their _d\u00e9colett\u00e9_ gowns and\ntight dresses, which seem to the Chinese the height of vulgarity. When\none of the Imperial princes was _en route_ to England, he attended his\nfirst foreign dinner in Shanghai. About twenty-five of the guests were\nEnglish and American ladies, dressed in their most elaborate gowns,\nwhich means extreme _d\u00e9colett\u00e9_. The attach\u00e9s of the prince had tried to\nprepare his highness for the sight he was to witness; but they had\nevidently underestimated its startling qualities, because when the\nprince arrived and gave one amazed look at his hostess and the line of\nwaiting ladies he was nonplussed. He looked pitifully for his\ninterpreter, and, not receiving aid from him, put down his head, shut\nhis eyes, and bravely stumbled around the room, groping blindly for each\nlady\u2019s hand, as he had been informed that he should shake hands with\nthem. This was another serious breach of Chinese etiquette, as no\nChinese man must ever touch a woman. The Chinese views in regard to\nmodesty connected with the dress of women has caused the missionaries in\nthe interior to expurgate from the magazines that may by chance fall\ninto the hands of Chinese visitors all pictures of lightly clad ladies\nwho are used to advertise soaps and powders and the underwear of our\nAmerican markets.\n\nThe Chinese are very fond of their children. They say, \u201cIn the children\nour parents return to us; in the children we live again.\u201d When ladies\nvisit each other they always ask for the children, who are brought in by\nthe nurses. With their jackets of red, their trousers of bright green or\npurple, their baby-caps with its rows of tiny brass Buddhas that shine\nand glitter like gold, and the mark of red paint on the forehead or on\nthe tip of the tiny nose, they look like brilliant little elfs. The\ngirls are dressed quite as richly as the boys, and it is to the interest\nof the nurse to make the children as attractive as possible, because the\npleased visitor generally gives her a small present of money wrapped in\nred paper.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n AN OLD-FASHIONED CHINESE GIRLS\u2019 SCHOOL.\n\n To face p. 224.]\n\nVisiting a high-class Chinese lady, one is impressed with the number of\nchildren and servants that seem to be swarming over the place. When one\nof a family has distinction or wealth, all the poor relatives come to\ndwell with him. Li Hung-chang built a home in Shanghai in which to live\nwhen he should retire from private life. When asked why he built so far\nfrom his home province, which was contrary to Chinese custom, he said he\nbuilt as far as possible from his native town, hoping that his poor\nrelations could not obtain the money with which to come to Shanghai.\n\nThe servants in a Chinese family are not expensive, so far as wages are\nconcerned, but they cost a great deal in perquisites. They rarely\nreceive more than eight shillings a month, but they are given their\nfood, and they help themselves lavishly to anything they may desire.\nThey dress themselves from the old clothing of the family, freely take\nthe hairpins and the toilet articles of the mistress, clothe their\nchildren from the common wardrobe, and, in fact, are a part of the\nfamily.\n\nThere is a peculiar democratic custom which servants may claim, but\nwhich is seldom used\u2014the right of reviling the family when discharged.\nThe youngest son of Li Hung-chang lived next door to me, and an old\nserving-woman was discharged for a reason that evidently did not appeal\nto her sense of justice. She sat beneath the gateway and for three hours\ncalled down curses upon the Li family at the top of her voice. This\nhappened on one of the principal residence streets of Shanghai, and the\npolice passed and repassed, but no one tried to stop her. The house\nsteward made two or three feeble attempts to persuade her to leave, but\nshe would turn her facile tongue upon him, and he would gather his\nskirts in his hands and start on a most undignified run for the house,\nevidently believing discretion to be the better part of valour. At the\nend of three hours, when she was completely exhausted, she was led away.\n\nThe Chinese lady and her servants gossip together as friends, rooms are\nentered without warning, conversations interrupted, and suggestions\noffered which, to the foreigner, seem to be of the grossest\nimpertinence. This intimacy is due partly to the restricted life the\nlady leads, and partly to the fact that many of the servants are distant\nrelatives. Practically the only news from the outside world that comes\nto the woman behind the walls is brought by her sons or by the servants.\nShe makes few visits, and these usually at the home of some relative,\nentering her closely covered chair within her courtyard and carried\nswiftly to the courtyard of the house where she is to visit. There is no\nsuch thing as \u201ccalling\u201d between the wives of men who are mutually\ninterested in affairs or who are business associates. The wife of a\nTreaty Commissioner called upon the wives of the Chinese officials who\nwere associated with her husband in conducting the treaty. They were\nvery polite and returned her call, but are still wondering _why_ she\ncalled.\n\nThe wife of a consul wished to give a luncheon to the wife of the Mayor\nof Shanghai. She asked the interpreter who was assisting her in the\narrangements if other Chinese ladies of the same rank might be asked.\nThe interpreter said, \u201cNo; a Chinese lady would rather not meet women\nother than relatives.\u201d\n\nThe Chinese wife lives entirely for her family and with her family. She\nrarely goes to a public place of amusement, although in some of the\nports, like Shanghai and Canton, entire families are seen at the Chinese\ntheatres. Theatrical companies come to the houses of the rich and\nofficial class for the amusement of guests, and story-tellers and\nmusicians, nearly always blind, go from door to door asking to be taken\ninto the women\u2019s courtyards to help while away the dreary hours.\nAstrologers and fortune-tellers pass along the resident streets,\nstriking their little gong to attract the notice of the women behind the\nwalls. They are extremely clever, and cast horoscopes in a manner\nsimilar to that of the Egyptians of olden times. They are very popular\namong the Chinese women, as are fortune-tellers with women of all races.\n\nWe are prone to sympathize with the Chinese woman because of the\nplurality of wives, but one sees little evidence of the need of our\nsympathy. The Chinese have a saying: \u201cThe head wife should cherish the\ninferior wives as the great tree cherishes the creepers that gather\nround it.\u201d I do not know whether this sage advice is always followed,\nbut I have seen the several wives of many officials, all friendly as\nsisters and all working for the common good of the home.\n\nI called upon the wife of an official and was met at the door by two\nladies. One of them was a very old Chinese lady, with the smallest bound\nfeet that I have ever seen; they could not have been more than 2\u00bd inches\nin length. She was partially supported on one side by a servant, and on\nthe other by a beautifully dressed Manchu woman. After I was seated in\nthe place of honour at the left of the elderly lady, and tea was\nbrought, I asked the usual question, \u201cWhat is your honourable age?\u201d She\nreplied, \u201cSixty-two\u201d; then, as always follows, I said, \u201cHow many\nchildren have you?\u201d She replied, \u201cFive.\u201d I asked their ages, and, to my\nastonishment, heard her say that the eldest was seventeen years and the\nyoungest two months. When I could find words to continue the\nconversation, I turned to the Manchu lady and asked her practically the\nsame questions. She replied that she was thirty-five years old, was the\nmother of five children, the eldest being seventeen years and the\nyoungest two months. Then I realized that the first wife had no\nchildren, but, according to Chinese custom, claimed as her own all\nchildren born to the secondary wives.\n\nThe custom was further exemplified by the wife of a magistrate who was\ncalling upon me, accompanied by the second wife. After the usual\nquestions in regard to age and health, I asked this lady how many\nchildren she possessed. She looked at me in a puzzled manner for a\nmoment, then turned to the other wife and, keeping track of the names by\nturning down a finger at each count, said: \u201cLet me see\u2014how many children\nhave I? Tsai-an has three, Wo-kee has five\u2014that is eight; Ma-lu has\ntwo\u2014ten; Sin Yun has four\u2014fourteen; Sih-peh two\u2014sixteen; and you have\nthree\u201d; then, turning to me, she said, \u201cI have nineteen children.\u201d\n\nI have a Chinese friend who lived in Canton until he became involved in\nsome political trouble that caused him to leave for Shanghai, where he\nwould be under the protection of the foreign settlements. He left behind\nhim his mother, four wives, and sixteen children. He became lonely in\nhis exile, and asked his mother to send him a couple of his wives. She\nwrote him that they were busy attending to the education of their\nchildren, and that they did not speak the dialect in Shanghai and would\nfeel like strangers; consequently it would be better for him to marry a\ncouple of women native to the province, who would be more contented. He\ntook her advice.\n\nThere is an American woman doctor in Shanghai who goes to the homes of\nthe rich Chinese in the practice of her profession. I asked her one day\nif she knew the wife of Mr. Lu, a prominent merchant who had a most\nbeautiful home on the smart drive in Shanghai. She replied that she knew\na part of her\u2014numbers one, four, seven, and eleven. A rich man is only\nrestricted in the number of wives he may possess by his ability to\nsupport them. Gossip says\u2014I do not know how true it is\u2014that Yuan Shi-kai\nhas the unlucky number of thirteen wives beneath the roof-tree of the\nPresident\u2019s palace in Peking.\n\nOne would naturally suppose that endless complications of a disagreeable\nnature, leading to quarrels and bitterness, would arise, yet there does\nnot seem to be more unhappiness in the average Chinese home than in\nthose of any other country. The first wife, she who has been chosen by\nthe parents, is the head of the household, and her word is law, the\nother wives practically occupying the position of servants. That is the\ntheory, but in actual practice she who is fortunate enough to be the\nmother of sons, or perhaps the last girl-wife, is generally the\nfavourite, and wields great influence over the master of the household.\nI said to a woman calling upon me one day that I should not feel so\nbadly after the first wife was chosen to replace me, but that the choice\nof my immediate successor would make me very unhappy. She looked\nastonished, and said: \u201cThat depends entirely upon the woman. If she is\nagreeable and pleasant, it is a pleasure to have her in the family.\nOften a first wife chooses a second.\u201d\n\nWe of the Western world look upon a great many wives as a luxury only to\nbe enjoyed by the very rich. I have a friend who is very intimate in a\nChinese family in which there are five wives. Since hearing her talk I\nhave changed my mind in regard to the luxury of the plurality of wives.\nIn this household the first wife lives with the husband\u2019s family at\ntheir country place; the other four live with him. The husband supplies\na cook for the common use of the family, and this cook provides rice,\nthe staple article of food for the household. Each wife is given a\nservant and one pound a month with which to buy her luxuries, and once a\nyear she is given a complete suit of silk or satin clothing, and if a\nfavourite, I presume she receives jewels, etc., from her husband. A man\ntold me that in the interior of China (Shanghai, Peking, and some of the\nlarger cities are much more expensive) he could support easily his four\nwives and fourteen children on an income of \u00a3200 a year.\n\nThere are many foolish women who marry attach\u00e9s of the Chinese embassies\nin England and America, or, more foolish still, who marry a Chinese\nmerchant. They are, in fact, marrying the romance of the East\nrepresented to them in the person of the suave little almond-eyed man,\nand they pay bitterly for their mistake if they ever return to their\nhusband\u2019s country. They are recognized by neither Chinese nor\nforeigners, have no social standing in any community, and lead an\nexistence that calls for pity.\n\nThere lived in Shanghai a man who had once been a secretary of the\nLegation in London. He had a great career ahead of him until he married\nan Englishwoman, when he was ordered home, degraded, and lived for years\nas the petty official in the office of the mayor of the city, at a wage\nscarcely liveable even for a Chinese. His wife, recognized by neither\nEnglish nor Chinese, became addicted to opium and drink, and died after\na few years of unhappiness. A woman doctor told me that she found the\nbody lying in an outhouse, on a bundle of straw, waiting for burial,\nwhere finally it found a resting-place in a Chinese cemetery.\n\nA few years ago a woman came to the English Consul in Nanking and asked\nfor protection. She had married a Chinese merchant in London, and on his\nreturn to his own country he met with business reverses that reduced him\npractically to the position of a coolie. She had been forced to go into\nthe paddy-fields transplanting rice. It is bad enough to see a Chinese\nwoman standing in the mud and water to her knees, doing this\nback-breaking work, but it would be heartrending to see a woman of our\nrace toiling alongside of the ignorant Chinese peasant, under the rays\nof the tropical sun, which beats down so pitilessly upon the exposed\nrice-fields. The Consul was extremely sorry for the woman, but could not\ninterfere in the domestic life of a Chinese subject. When she found\nnothing could be done for her, she took the little round ball of sleep\nwith which so many Chinese wives pass across the bridge of death\u2014opium.\n\nIf these women who think that it would be such a wonderful experience to\nlive in the glorious East, of which they have read most glittering\ntales, would realize that when the man returns to his homeland his\nparents have the right of choosing a wife for him, who is his real wife,\nand the poor foreign woman is reduced to the position of a concubine, I\nthink many of them would not take a step so fatal to happiness. Dr.\nBarchet, of the Baptist Mission near Ningpo, saw an American woman\nliving in a small village who was one of four wives, all occupying the\nsame peasant\u2019s cottage. When asked why she did not return to her\nhomeland, she said that she was ashamed to have her people learn of her\ngreat mistake, as she married against their wishes. The bad air and\ncoarse food were having their effect upon this delicately raised girl,\nand she was a victim to the great white plague that claims so many lives\nin China.\n\nSuicide is very common among the women of China. When the mother-in-law\nbecomes too oppressive, or life becomes intolerable from other causes,\nthe wife often takes the law into her own hands and takes opium or jumps\ninto the well. She then not only receives surcease from her sorrows,\nbut, according to Chinese superstition, her spirit will linger around\nthe home, haunting and tormenting the person who was the cause of her\ntaking the fatal step.\n\nThere is very little intercourse between foreign and Chinese women. The\nlatter do not seem to care about making the acquaintance of the women\nfrom over the seas. It is only of late years that the wives of foreign\nofficials in Shanghai have had any intercourse with the families of the\nlocal officials. Such intercourse consists simply in an interchange of\ncalls, and a luncheon given once a year by the wife of the senior\nConsul, and returned by the wife of the Chinese taotai or mayor. There\ncan never be any degree of friendship between the Chinese woman and the\nEuropean. Their lives are radically different; the Chinese woman\u2019s\nideals are not the same as those of her foreign sister. Their only\ncommon subject of conversation is in regard to their children; and even\nthere a bar is soon put across the conversation, as the Chinese mother\nhas different hopes and ambitions for the future of her children than\nthose of the woman from England or America. She knows nothing of the\noutside world, and her only subjects of conversation relate to household\ngossip, clothes, and the actions of her friends. In Shanghai a society\nis formed that is trying to bring the women of all nationalities into\ntouch with one another, but it is not a very great success so far as the\nChinese lady is concerned. She feels awkward and ill at ease in the\npresence of these women, who talk so easily on matters of which she\nknows nothing, and she much prefers the quiet of her courtyards, amidst\nthe life she understands.\n\nWhen a Chinese lady is persuaded to go into the world she is always most\ndignified, even under embarrassing circumstances. I once gave a luncheon\nfor the wife of a Governor of a province, to which the wives of the\nconsuls and a few other ladies were invited, about twenty in all. When\nthe guest of honour arrived all the other guests rose to meet her. As\nshe entered the doorway her tiny bound feet stepped upon a rug, which\nslipped from beneath her, and instead of swaying gently across the room\nshe sat down and slid to the feet of her astonished hostess. She was\nhelped to rise by the frightened guests, and turned and shook hands with\nthem gravely, without a flicker of the eyelids to indicate that sliding\nwas not the usual mode of entering a drawing-room.\n\nThe Chinese lady is trained not to show emotion of any kind. Her face,\nto be beautiful, must be absolutely placid, care-free, \u201clike unto the\nfull moon in its glory.\u201d They consider the foreign woman extremely ugly,\nwith their long, care-lined faces. They say that if it were not for the\nclothing they could not distinguish men from women. Their faces, with\ntheir prominent noses and deep-set eyes, appear to them coarse and\nunrefined. I have seen children when suddenly confronted with a foreign\nwoman scream in terror.\n\nThe Chinese do not impress the casual visitor as a nervous people. It is\nsaid that they can bear without murmuring the most severe punishments,\nand a torture that would reduce a foreign man to frenzy will elicit only\na groan from a member of this phlegmatic race. The women seem to share\nwith their menfolk in this lack of \u201cnerves.\u201d I once made a visit to the\nwife of the city magistrate, whose home was in the official \u201cyamen.\u201d She\nshowed me over her house, and on entering her bedroom I went to the only\nwindow in the room to see what kind of a view was to be obtained. What\nwas my horror to find that the window looked directly upon the\npunishment courtyard, where a man was then being held down upon his face\nand a bamboo vigorously applied by the lictor. The moans of the victim\ncould be faintly heard, and what it would be in the summer-time, when\nthe windows were open, could very well be imagined. I turned to my\nhostess and said, \u201cHow frightful! How can you stand it?\u201d She shrugged\nher shoulders and said, \u201cOh, one becomes used to it.\u201d\n\nThe Chinese woman is very devout, and observes all the feast days and\ndays of fasting. It is really the woman who keeps up the religion of\nConfucius and Buddha. An official who had just returned from sacrificing\nto the dragon who was supposed to have swallowed the sun at the time of\nan eclipse, was asked if he believed in this dragon. He laughed and\nsaid, \u201cOf course not.\u201d \u201cThen,\u201d the curious questioner continued, \u201cwhy do\nyou do it?\u201d He said, \u201cWhy do men in America go to church? Mainly because\ntheir wives wish them to go. It is the same here. It is the women who\nare the spiritual force of China. It is they who are devout, and it is\nthey who keep open the temples and preserve the belief in the gods.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\n WHEELBARROW AND COOLIE\u2014USED IN PLACE OF WAGONS IN TOWNS AND COUNTRY\n VILLAGES NEAR SHANGHAI.\n\n To face p. 236.]\n\nThe Chinese woman\u2019s religion is difficult of definition, but whatever\nshe is, a follower of the teachings of Confucius or of the Great Buddha,\nshe turns to her gods both in time of trouble and in time of\nthanksgiving. It is a real factor in her life. Buddhism has a great\nfestival in the spring, about the time of our Easter. Then the roads are\ncovered with processions of women going or coming from the temples. All\nranks are seen\u2014the lady borne swiftly along in her sedan chair with the\nspirit money hanging from the poles; the middle-class woman riding on\nthe passenger wheelbarrows with four or five of her friends, with her\nincense and candles in her lap; and the poor woman trudging along the\nstone-covered road, carrying her offerings in a basket of rice-straw\nwhich she has woven at home. When they arrive at the temple they are all\nof one great sisterhood. The spirit money of rich and poor alike is\nplaced in the great incense-burner in the outer courtyard, where it goes\nup in flames to the gods. Then the temple is entered, the candles are\nlighted, and the incense is placed before the particular deity whose\nkind offices they implore; the head is touched to the floor, prayers are\nuttered, and the woman returns to the courtyards, where she may pass the\ntime with her friends, feeding the carp in the ponds or admiring the\ngreat trees which are found within the courts of many of the big\ntemples. If a special boon is to be asked, or if there is doubt and\ntrouble, she takes a hollow bamboo vase, about the size of a quart\nmeasure, in which are a couple of dozen sticks of slit bamboo. She\nkneels three times, touching her head to the floor each time, then\nshakes the bamboo with a rotary motion until one of the sticks detaches\nitself from the others and falls to the floor. This she takes to a\npriest, who reads the number upon it and gives her a slip of yellow\npaper covered with Chinese characters, and from it she will find the\nanswer to her prayers. It takes considerable imagination to obtain\nsolace from one of these pieces of paper, as they are made to fit all\ncases, and carry about as much meaning as does the \u201cfortune\u201d on the card\nhanded one by the figure in the slot-machine for which we pay a penny.\n\nThe gods are not only worshipped at the temples, but religious adoration\nplays an important part in the home life. Over the kitchen stove, in a\nniche, reposes the household god. From that high place he watches all\nthat goes on within the household. He knows the sins of commission and\nthe sins of omission. Once a year he is taken down and with great\nceremony burned and sent up to the Great God to report upon the actions\nof the household for the year, and a new god is installed in his place.\nIn the meantime he is propitiated in various ways. The first thing in\nthe morning a small bowl of rice and another of water is placed before\nhim, and incense and candles are burned daily at his feet to gain his\nfavour.\n\nPriests are frequent visitors at the homes, and religious ceremonies\nattend all the great family events, like the first shaving of the baby\u2019s\nhead, or that most important day when the mother attains her fiftieth\nyear. This is a day of general rejoicing, when her children unite and\nbuy the happy mother the greatest and most precious present she can\nreceive\u2014her grave-clothes. They are presented amidst much feasting, and\nchanting of prayers, and burning of candles and incense, and the mother\nis congratulated by all her friends for the blessing of such filial\nchildren.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XV\n THE RED CHAIR OF MARRIAGE\n\n\nThe home must have its basis in marriage, and to that important episode\nin woman\u2019s life the greatest attention is given. In China, as in India,\nthe betrothal ceremony is as binding as the marriage, although I am told\nthat the \u201cnew woman\u201d of China is rebelling at the child betrothals and\nthe lack of freedom granted her in the choice of a mate. It is said that\nin Shanghai a couple who have been betrothed in childhood by their\nparents, on arriving at marriageable age, may go before a magistrate and\nrepudiate the agreement, and in many instances their cases have been\nupheld even against the protests of father and mother. This shows the\nmost extreme progressiveness of present-day China, as hitherto a child,\nespecially a girl, was simply a chattel to be disposed of according to\nthe dictates of the nearest male relative. Still, with the exception of\nthe foreign settlement of Shanghai, the old customs of betrothal and\nmarriage prevail, and the principals in the marriage have very little to\nsay in regard to the disposal of their future. Often children are\nbetrothed before their birth by parents, who, being good friends and\ndesiring to unite the families, agree that if a boy is born in one\nfamily and a girl in the other, they shall marry. Other matches are made\nby a professional \u201cgo-between,\u201d who is employed by the parents of either\nthe boy or girl to find a suitable alliance for their child. This\n\u201cgo-between\u201d is so thoroughly recognized that the Chinese have a saying,\n\u201cWithout a go-between no happy marriage can be effected.\u201d\n\nAfter the search culminates in the discovery of the bride and groom of\nequal social standing and endowed with the proper amount of this world\u2019s\ngoods, the names of the girl and boy are written upon a paper and taken\nto the necromancer, who decides whether the marriage will be fortunate.\nEvery child is born under the protection of some animal; if the\nprotecting animal of the daughter is a sheep and that of her fianc\u00e9 a\nlion, naturally they should not marry. But if the guardian animal of the\nbride-to-be should be a bird, they will live in peace with one another.\nThe girl must be thirteen or fifteen or seventeen years of age, as an\neven number would be most unlucky. Seventeen years is about the average\nmarriageable age of a Chinese girl at present, although formerly they\nmarried when hardly more than children.\n\nThe marriage customs are essentially the same all over China. The\nhusband gives a certain sum of money to the bride\u2019s parents, which\nvaries with the position of the families. Among the poor the girl is\npractically sold, although the money is supposedly used for the purchase\nof the wedding outfit. The bride\u2019s standing in the family of the husband\noften depends largely upon the trousseau and the furnishings she takes\nwith her to her new home.\n\nThe outfit a girl of the middle class should take with her, in order\nthat she might command the proper respect of her new relatives, should\ninclude three red trunks, one table, two chairs, one wardrobe, three\ntubs, two buckets, one washstand, one dressing-case, a set of scissors,\na footstove, a teapot, wine-pot, two candlesticks, a basin, sugar-bowl,\ntea-caddy, one set of cups, a complete set of bowls and dishes, two\nwadded quilts, two embroidered pillows, embroidered curtain for the bed,\nand a complete outfit of clothing.\n\nThis donation of the bride\u2019s parents to the formation of a new home is\ncarried before the bride in the wedding procession. Often musicians\nherald the coming of a bride, who, from her closely covered red chair,\nwatches with beating heart the procession taking her to her new\nmother-in-law, who can make of her future home a prison or a palace of\nlove. When she finally arrives at the house, that is decorated with red\nhangings and long scrolls of red silk and flowers, both real and\nartificial, she sees her husband for the first time as she steps over\nthe threshold. After the one quick look, they go before the ancestral\ntablet, and, kneeling, touch their heads three times to the floor. Thus\nshe shows that she is now one of the family, worshipping her husband\u2019s\nancestors instead of those of her own family; and after prostrating\nthemselves before her husband\u2019s parents and drinking from the same cup\nas a symbol of their unity, they retire to a room, where they sit upon\ntwo red chairs and the merry-making begins. Their friends come in, and,\nfacing them, try to make the bride laugh, showing that she will be a\nmost frivolous woman. There is much music, feasting, and playing of\ntricks on this joyous occasion, and for this little woman, dressed in\nred satin embroidered in gold, with a big crown upon her head and\nbead-fringe hanging over her face, the three days of the wedding\nfestivities are most wearying. But she realizes that she must enjoy them\nif she can, because after they have passed she settles down into the\ndaughter-in-law, which too often proves to be almost the place of a\nslave, or at the most a household drudge. One can imagine the discord\nand strife there is within a household where there are several sons who\nare married, each bringing his wife to his parents\u2019 home. I knew a\nfamily of grandparents, parents, and children numbering thirty-eight,\nall living in one modest house. We can understand the Chinese savant\nmaking the character for discord a roof with two women under it.\n\nOften in a rich girl\u2019s dowry are slave-girls, and although it is really\nagainst the law to own slaves, it is, in fact, one of the great evils of\nChina. These helpless people are owned by even the poor. The mother of\nmy maid possessed two slave-girls whom she had bought when very young.\nShe treated them well, and when they grew to marriageable age expected\nto find husbands for them, giving them an outfit of clothing and a small\ndowry. In times of famine girls are sold for very small amounts of money\nor exchanged for the more precious rice. This seems most cruel; but in\norder that the rest of the family may live, one must be sacrificed. When\neverything of value is sold, when the winter clothing is in the\npawnshop, when there is no rice to give to crying children, then there\nis but one thing left for the despairing mother, she must sell her\ndaughter. Chinese mothers are the same as mothers from all over the\nworld, and she only parts with her little girl as a last resort, to the\nmerchants who follow the disasters and fatten on the misery of the\nChinese peasant. When it has become known that a famine has made\ndesperate the poor of a province, the merchants from the tea-houses and\nthe brothels of the great cities go to the little towns and villages in\nthe track of the famine, and buy the girls from the fathers and mothers,\nwho can see nothing but death ahead for all unless they sacrifice one.\nThe clever, pretty girls are trained for the tea-houses, inmates of\nbrothels, or concubines of rich men. The ugly, stupid ones are\ndomestics, and often are most cruelly treated.\n\nThe owners prefer buying the girl very young, from five to seven years\nof age, when she can be more easily trained. If she is a pretty girl,\nher feet must be bound, and if this is a cruel operation under the\ntender hands of a mother, how much more dreadful it may become when\nattended to by some one whose only thought is to profit by the girl\u2019s\nbeauty!\n\nThe slaves in a rich family fare very well. Each child is given one or\ntwo personal servants, and when the children grow up and marry they\nfollow them to the new home. Often a pretty, attractive slave-girl\nbecomes the secondary wife of her master, and if she should be so\nfortunate as to bear him sons, she ranks with her mistress in the honour\ngiven her within the household.\n\nThere is a home in Shanghai for the rescue of little girls whose\nmistresses are more than ordinarily cruel. There is also a branch of the\nFlorence Crittenden work for the rescue of girls sold to tea-houses. It\nis very hard for the people who are engaged in this good work to obtain\nthe girls unless they are so badly treated that it comes to the notice\nof the magistrate, who may send the girl to the home for a given period.\n\nI saw a pitiful case at a hospital at Soochow. We were sitting in the\nclinic when a very pretty woman came in and threw herself on her knees\nbefore the doctor and began to cry. She said between her sobs: \u201cOh,\nforeign doctor, help me to get away, help me, help me!\u201d She was a\nrespectable girl from Ningpo who had been sold by her husband to a place\nin Soochow for four years. She loathed the life, and when for the first\ntime she had eluded the old woman who always goes out with these\nunfortunates to see that they do not get away, she had appealed to the\nonly hope she knew. Yet that appeal was useless, as nothing could be\ndone for her. She was nothing but a chattel of her husband, according to\nChinese law, and he had a perfect right to sell her if he wished. I saw\nanother pretty girl of sixteen who had been sold for eighty dollars to\nthe same place. She came to the hospital to have her back treated, as\nshe had been severely beaten with a brick because she would not make\nherself sufficiently pleasing to a guest.\n\nBut the average Chinese girl goes to her husband\u2019s home quite likely\nwithin a short distance of her girlhood village, and passes a most\nuneventful life, one day being exactly like another unless broken by the\nceremonies attending the births, weddings, and deaths of her husband\u2019s\npeople. Every village is surrounded by trees and is exactly like its\nneighbour, with its one-story, thatched-roof houses, or, perhaps, if the\nowner is especially prosperous, the pointed roofs may be formed of\nblue-grey tiling. Part of the front yard is beaten and made smooth to be\nused for threshing the rice, the front room of the house is used for the\nstoring of the farming implements, and the other rooms are given to the\ndifferent members of the family according to their needs. There is no\nlight and little ventilation in these rude village homes. Windows are\nexpensive and cold, as the houses are not heated in the winter. The\nmothers may be seen sitting in their doorways, holding in their hands\nbrass hand-warmers, in which are a few burning coals of charcoal, and\nunder their feet are the braziers which provide the only heat for these\npoor people during the cold months of the year.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n RAIN-COATS OF CHINESE WORKMEN.\n\n To face p. 246.]\n\nThe life lived by these village people is life reduced to its simplest\nform. The main food is rice and a little cabbage. Meat is an unknown\nquantity unless on special feast days. Beef is not used, as the cow is a\nbeast of burden, and the Chinese have the same feeling in regard to its\nflesh that we have for the flesh of horses. Ducks, chicken, eggs, fish,\ncrabs, snails, and clams are the poor man\u2019s luxuries. No hole is too\nmuddy nor water too filthy for a fish-net to be drawn across it, or for\nthe little crowd of boys who catch the crabs to help fill the family\npot.\n\nThe question of clothes is a simple one and easily solved. The father\nwears a pair of blue cotton trousers in the summer, while the mother\nwears the same style garment with the addition of an apron effect which\ncovers the bust. An amulet and a string are sufficient clothing for the\nchildren during the warm days, but when winter comes the wadded clothing\nmust be brought forth, often from the pawnshop, where it goes in the\nspring to obtain money to buy the seed for planting.\n\nThe great prayer which rises from the heart of all Chinese women, rich\nand poor, peasant and princess, is to Kwan-yin for the inestimable\nblessing of sons. \u201cSons, give me sons!\u201d is heard in every temple. A\nwoman is not honoured until she has sons to worship at the tablets of\nher husband\u2019s ancestors. One of the chief reasons for divorce in China\nis the lack of sons, and if the first wife has no male children, and the\nsecondary wife has borne sons to her lord, the lot of the first wife is\nvery bitter. In one of the foreign hospitals in Shanghai for Chinese\nwomen, the wife of an official in Tientsin gave birth, much to her\nsorrow, to a girl. She was inconsolable, and would not allow the\ndreadful news to be sent to her home, and the doctors feared that she\nwould take her life. But through a servant the unhappy woman saw a way\nto regain the love and respect of her family. At the same time that the\ndaughter was born to her a beggar-woman in the charity department gave\nbirth to a boy. She bought the boy and telegraphed her husband, \u201cThou\nart the father of twins.\u201d\n\nOne of the upper servants in a consulate, growing rich on the foreign\nspoils, took to himself a second wife, giving as his excuse that he had\nfour daughters and no sons. At the birth of a son to the new wife the\nfirst wife tried to starve herself to death, and failing that, took\nopium and gained her wish. She could not survive the ignominy of being\nonly the mother of girls.\n\nSons mean so much to a Chinese mother that she feels that the gods must\nbe jealous of her happiness, consequently she puts an ear-ring in one\near of her boy to deceive the god and make him think the loved one is a\ngirl. She also calls him her \u201cugly one,\u201d her \u201cstupid one,\u201d or simply\ngives him a number so the gods will not see how much he is loved and\ncovet her treasure. There is an economic reason behind all this love for\nthe man-child. A poor Chinese, a workman, cannot save enough money to\nprovide for even his simple wants in his old age. Try as he may, he can\nonly earn enough to live upon from day to day, but if he has sons he\nknows that when old age comes, and he can no longer work, that care will\nbe given him and he will not want. There is no crime so great as the\nlack of filial piety, and the State punishes severely the son who does\nnot provide for his aged parents. Indeed, of the five punishments of the\ncriminal code directed against three thousand offences, disobedience or\nneglect of parents is the most severe.\n\nAn illustration of this occurred not long ago in the interior of China.\nA man arose in the night at the sound of a burglar, and in the struggle\nin the dark the robber was killed. On bringing a light it was found that\nthe robber was the father of the man whose house he entered. He was\nknown to be a ne\u2019er-do-well, but the unparalleled act of killing one\u2019s\nown father aroused intense excitement in the whole province. The case\nwas deemed of such importance that it could not be tried by the local\nmagistrate, but it was transferred to the courts in Peking, which\ncondemned the man to death, not because he killed the robber, but\nbecause his father had evidently been compelled to rob for a living.\n\nAnother similar case came to the notice of the foreigners in Shanghai. A\nman accidentally hit his father with a hoe, causing his death. The whole\nvillage took the man to the city, but while on the road they met the\nmagistrate, who asked them not to bring the dreadful case before him\nofficially, but for the clan or village to mete out the punishment and\nthen report to him. They buried the son alive.\n\nMissionaries from a town in the interior asked the American Consul to\nintervene in the case of a boy nine years old, who, while in play,\nallowed a stool accidentally to slip from his hand, hitting his mother\non the head and killing her. He was condemned to death, but because of\nhis youth was to be kept in prison until he was sixteen, when he would\npay the penalty. The Consul did all in his power to save the boy, but,\noutside of friendly arguments, nothing could be done, as he was a\nChinese subject and came under the jurisdiction of Chinese courts of\nlaw.\n\nBecause of this necessity for the provision for the old age of parents,\nthere are no homes for the aged nor houses for the poor in China, unless\none excepts those established through foreign influence. Each family\nmust take care of its own helpless, and if a person is so unfortunate as\nto have no family, the begging-bowl by the roadside is the only recourse\nwhen the years are many and the once strong arms are weak.\n\nThe filial piety and respect for parents that are so strongly entrenched\nin the Chinese character causes the son to obey his father until the day\nof his death. I know a man fifty years of age who was offered the post\nof secretary of the Embassy in London, but who declined this very\nadvantageous position because his mother did not want him to go to a\nforeign land. He gave up willingly the chance of a lifetime rather than\ncause sorrow to his mother in her old age.\n\nA mission in a certain town was very desirous of buying a certain piece\nof ground on which to erect a church, and the plan was balked by the\nlocal official. The missionary conducting the negotiations could find no\nsuitable reason for the official\u2019s action in the matter, and finally\nasked the help of his consul. The taotai was firm in his refusal, and\noffered the mission land in another part of the city for their church.\nWhen pressed for a reason for his refusal he finally said: \u201cMy mother\npasses that place each time she goes to her favourite temple, and she\nobjects to a building holding a foreign god being erected there. She\nthinks it would pollute the good spirits of the air. I know it is what\nyou call superstition, but she is my mother and I must obey her wishes.\u201d\n\nFamily life has been from time immemorial the foundation-stone of the\nChinese Empire, and filial piety is the foundation-stone of the family\nlife. The Chinese is taught that the interest of the family is always of\ngreater importance than the interest of the individual. This respect and\nveneration is not only for the living, but also for the dead. The death\ndays of two generations of parents are kept sacred with solemn rites,\nand every home has its family shrine, to which all the members must pay\ndue reverence.\n\nThis respect and worship is paid by the woman to the ancestors of her\nhusband\u2019s family, as it is her destiny on reaching womanhood to go to a\nnew home and live in submission to her new parents, and burn incense\nbefore the shrines of her husband\u2019s people. When she marries she\npractically leaves her home for ever. If she is returned to it\u2014that is,\nif she is divorced\u2014\u201cshame shall cover her to her latest hour.\u201d Divorce\nis very rare in China, but there are seven reasons given for divorcing a\nwife. The first is disobedience to father- or mother-in-law, barrenness,\nlewdness, leprosy, overmuch talking, and stealing.\n\nThe woman is taught that her lifelong duty is obedience. Her husband\nmust be looked upon as \u201cheaven itself,\u201d and she must pay all outward\nrespect to his parents. Her first duty each morning is to bring a cup of\ntea to the bedside of her husband\u2019s mother, and to bow her head before\nher as a sign of submission and respect. She is taught that the only\nqualities that benefit a woman are gentle obedience, chastity,\nquietness, and mercy, and that the five worst infirmities that may\nafflict a female are indocility, discontent, slander, jealousy, and\nsilliness. Confucius says: \u201cThese five vices are found in seven or eight\nout of every ten women, and it is from these that arise the inferiority\nof the sex.\u201d\n\nGenerations of this teaching has made the Chinese woman into a modest,\nquiet, lovable woman, to be protected and cared for, appealing to all\nthat is chivalrous in her menfolk, her very weakness her greatest\nstrength.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI\n WHEN CHINESE WOMEN DIE\n\n\nIn a country where the worship of ancestors plays such an important part\nin the religion, death has a greater meaning than it has for those of\nWestern lands. The Chinese spend far too much upon the ceremonies\nconnected with death, rich and poor alike vying with each other in the\nelaborate arrangements for the disposal of their dead. I met not long\nago the funeral procession accompanying the body of a captain of labour\nto his last resting-place. He was many times a millionaire, who began\nlife as a boatman. The sons boasted that they spent twenty thousand\ndollars on his funeral. There were eight native bands in the procession,\nled by the European band of Shanghai, twenty men carrying banners and\numbrellas, about fifty men carrying scrolls, on which were written the\nname and rank of the deceased; there were over two hundred Buddhist\npriests, dressed in their sackcloth robes, and the wailing mourners and\nfriends in their mourning clothes of white, followed in sedan-chairs and\ncarriages. The enormous coffin was covered with red embroidered satin\nand carried by thirty chanting coolies. Within the home the walls were\ncovered with white, and there were long scrolls from friends telling of\ntheir sympathy and of the greatness of the deceased family. At twenty\ntables, seating eight each, feasting was carried on day and night for a\nweek.\n\nIn the summer-time there are hundreds of deaths, and the funerals of the\npoor pass our house daily. They are very different from the elaborate\nprocessions of the rich men. The coffins, instead of being made of the\nfinest teak or heaviest ebony, are nothing but plain, rough boxes, and\nthe mourners either are on wheelbarrows or they walk to the place of the\ndead, the weeping wife being supported on each side by a friend, who\npractically carries her as she stumbles along in her grief. Paper money\nis always scattered in front of the corpse in order to pay his way into\nthe new world; and often one sees either a live rooster or an imitation\none standing on the coffin to bring back to his home one of the man\u2019s\nthree souls.\n\nThe body is often kept months within the houses before a suitable day is\nfound by the necromancer on which to bury him, but because of the manner\nof preparing for burial it is not insanitary to keep a corpse in the\nhouse for a few months. The coffins are made of hardwood of four or five\ninches in thickness. First a certain number of bags of lime are placed\nin the bottom, varying according to the weight of the person; over that\nis laid a wadded blanket, if of a rich family it is of silk and often\nembroidered, if the person be poor it is only cotton; the body is laid\nin the coffin, dressed in as handsome a suit of wadded clothing as is\nconsistent with the means of the family; the ancestral tablet is laid\nupon the breast, paper money at the feet; he is covered with the blanket\nand the coffin hermetically sealed. The coffin is the most precious\npossession of the Chinese, and is often purchased years before death in\norder that they may be sure of a dignified last resting-place.\n\nWe often hear stories told at women\u2019s clubs of mothers who throw babies\nwithin the \u201cbaby tower\u201d to die. These baby towers are small, round\nhouses, situated on the outskirts of a city or a village for the purpose\nof permitting the poor to dispose of their dead children without the\nexpense of a coffin or a funeral. The interior of the house is partially\nfilled with quicklime, and a small door opening on to a slanting chute\npermits the poor mother to give her baby its final resting-place. I have\nnever heard of a case of a live baby being sent to these baby towers, as\nI found that a mother\u2019s heart is the same all over the world. My cook\ncame to me one morning with his eyes red from weeping. I asked him the\ncause of his sorrow, and he told me that his three-months-old baby had\ndied the evening before. He had no money with which to pay for its\nburial, so in the night, when the mother had at last fallen into a\nsleep, he softly arose and, wrapping the tiny body in a blanket, had\nlaid it upon the table with twenty cents beside it in order that the\ngarbage-man who came in the early morning might take it to the baby\ntower outside the city. I said to him: \u201cBut, cook, why did you not bury\nit properly? Does not your wife feel very badly?\u201d He shook his head\nsorrowfully, and said: \u201cYes, she too muchee cry, but what can we do? We\nmust buy rice for live babies.\u201d That is the great secret of the stoicism\nof the Chinese race. They must buy rice for the living, and what often\nseems to us as heartlessness and cruelty is simply the effect of the\ngreat economic pressure in a land where millions are on the verge of\nstarvation, and where the lack of a day\u2019s work means the lack of a day\u2019s\nfood.\n\nIn times of great epidemics rich Chinese and the guilds or clubs of\ndifferent forms of industry, such as the Bankers\u2019 Guild, the Tea Guild,\nor the Goldsmiths\u2019 Guild, provide coffins for the burial of the poor,\nand in times of famine these same guilds are most generous to their less\nfortunate brothers. Near Soochow is a tomb of a man who gave his entire\nfortune to relieving the wants of the people of his province during a\ntime of famine. He is buried in the most picturesque spot in the hills,\nthe road to which is bordered by a great many enormous boulders that\nrise straight up from the ground. The Chinese say that these stones\nstood up to show their respect for the great man when his body was\ncarried to its last resting-place and that they are waiting his commands\nto lie down again.\n\nThe dead are buried on the family estate; if there is not room for all,\na spot is leased from a neighbour. The interment is not beneath the\nsurface except in a few provinces; the coffin is set on the ground and\nthe dirt is heaped over it. Sometimes the fields are so thickly covered\nwith mounds that there is little room left for cultivation. Especially\nis this so in the country around Shanghai, which looks to the casual\npasser-by like one vast graveyard. Funeral expenses for parents are the\nmost sacred of obligations, and it is not uncommon for the sons to part\nwith everything they have in the world in order to render proper respect\nto the memory of their parents. A son is supposed to mourn three years\nfor his father, during which time all occupation is to cease. In the\ncase of a son holding an important official position, he often has to\nresign his post during the period of mourning, or else be called\nunfilial. Strict mourning for the mother only lasts three months,\notherwise the same honour is paid her memory as given to the head of the\nhousehold.\n\nWhen a woman is left a widow, she often vows that she will not remarry,\nand she spends her life in pious acts that cause her village or her clan\nat her death to erect a memorial to her honour. This is generally in the\nform of an arch, built of stone and erected near her village. In the\ncountry districts one can see many of these concrete evidences of the\nrespect which the Chinese have for loyal womanhood.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII\n CHANGING CHINA\n\n\nChina is changing so rapidly, and is becoming so thoroughly Westernized,\nespecially in the ports where the Chinese come in contact with the\nforeigner, that she can scarcely be recognized by her old-time friends.\nWe all admit that the change is for the better so far as the nation is\nconcerned, but whether it makes for the individual good is another and\nmore serious question. China is flooded with foreign adventurers who\nwant her untouched wealth, and who have cast their greedy eyes upon her\nmines of coal and iron and gold. These foreigners from all classes and\ngrades of society have brought dishonesty and corruption in business\ndealings to the merchant of China, whose word in the old time was as\ngood as his bond. In those days when a Chinaman said, \u201cCan putee book,\u201d\nit was known that the contract was settled and that he would live up to\nhis spoken word, whether it meant loss or profit to him. But when\ndealing with the foreigner the Chinese found that there were no old-time\ncustoms to bind the merchant from over the seas, except those of bond\nand written agreement. If he had any traditions of honour, he evidently\nleft them in the homeland, as nothing less than a court of law would\nhold him to his contract if it seemed expedient for him to break it.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n RICE-BOATS ON CANAL, CHINA.\n\n To face p. 260.]\n\nFor years the word \u201cChina\u201d meant to the adventurer of other lands a\nplace for exploitation, where money was to be obtained easily by the man\nwith fluent tongue and winning ways. Even foreign officials did not\nscruple to use their influence to enter trade. In one of the great\ninland cities there was no water nearer than a river several miles away.\nA foreign official, boring an artesian well upon his place and finding\npure, clear water, conceived the idea of boring wells throughout the\ncity and bringing water to the doors of the half-million of people who\nresided in its narrow streets. He interested the officials and raised a\nsum of money, and to doubly assure the Chinese that their money was safe\nhe signed the contracts, not only with his name but affixed to them the\ngreat seal of his Government. After a few months\u2019 trip to his homelands,\nand a few aimless borings in the earth in search of the water that never\ncame, he relinquished the project, but not the money, and the officials\ncould do nothing but gaze sadly into the great holes that had taken\ntheir silver. They learned that wisdom comes with experience and now put\ninto practice the proverb: \u201cWhen a man has been burned once with hot\nsoup, he for ever afterwards blows upon cold rice.\u201d\n\nAnother case in which the Chinese officials were duped by clever-tongued\nforeigners was in Ningpo. Three Americans visited that city and talked\nlong and loud of the dark streets, the continual fires caused by the\nflickering lamps of oil that were being constantly overturned by the\nmany children. They showed the officials the benefits of electricity,\nthat a light upon each corner would make it impossible for robbers and\nevildoers to carry on their work, which must be done in darkness. They\npromised to turn night into day, to give poor as well as rich the\nincandescent lamp at no greater cost than the bean-oil wick. They were\nmost plausible, and raised thirty thousand dollars as contract money.\nThey left, ostensibly to buy machinery; the years have passed; they\nnever have returned. Ningpo still has streets of darkness, men still\nwalk abroad with lighted lanterns, the lamp is seen within the cottage,\nand will continue to be quite likely until the hills shall fade, if\nelectricity depends upon the officials who once dreamed dreams of a city\nlit by a light from Western lands.\n\nThis is one of the most serious handicaps of the missionary in trying to\nChristianize China. The dissolute white man is in every port,\nmanifesting a lust, greed, and brutality which the Chinese, who are\naccustomed to associate the citizenship of a person with his religion,\nattribute to Christianity. It is no wonder that it is hard for the\nmissionary to make converts among the people who have business dealings\nwith men from Christian nations.\n\nBut there are other questions besides those of business integrity\nvitally affecting the Chinese youth to-day. Along with the slight\nknowledge which they have obtained of the manners and customs of the\nWestern world, they have absorbed many of its vices. With their\nrose-wine and their samshu the Chinese boy has learned to drink\nchampagne and brandy. I know the father of five sons who told me that he\nwould give all that he possessed in the world if he had not brought\nthose sons to Shanghai.\n\nChange is now the order of the day in China, educationally as well as\npolitically. We do not hear the children shouting their tasks at the top\nof their little voices, nor do they learn by heart the thirteen\nclassics. The simple schoolroom, with hard benches and earthen floor,\nwith a faint light striking through the unglazed windows, is no more.\nThe old-time examinations at Peking have gone, the degrees which have\nbeen the nation\u2019s pride have been abolished, the subjects of study in\nthe schools have been completely changed. The privileges which were once\ngiven the scholars, the social and political offices which were once\nopen to the winners of the highest prizes, have been thrown upon the\naltar of modernity. The faults of the old system of education lay in the\nstress it placed upon the memorizing of the many books whose contents\nwere not always understood by the young mind, and in the lack of\noriginal ideas that might be expressed by a student, who must give the\nusual interpretation of the classics. Now the introduction of free\nthought and private opinion has produced an upheaval in the minds of\nChina\u2019s young men, and they say what they think, even trying to show\nthat Confucius was at heart a staunch Republican, and that Mencius only\nthinly veiled his sentiments of modern philosophy. It is generally\nconceded that the newer education leads to the greater individualism\nwhich is now the battle-cry of China.\n\nThe Chinese, both men and women, are reaching out eager hands to obtain\nfor themselves the knowledge that is being brought from other lands. Yet\nthis thirst for education is not a newly acquired virtue, for in no\ncountry is real learning held in higher esteem than in China. It is the\ngreatest characteristic of the nation that in every grade of society\neducation is considered above all else. As a race they have devoted\nthemselves to the cultivation of literature for a longer period by some\nthousands of years than any existing nation. To literature, and to it\nalone, they look for the rule to guide them in their conduct. To them\nall writing is sacred, and the very symbols and materials used in the\nmaking of the written character have become objects of veneration. Even\nthe smallest village is provided with a scrap-box, into which every bit\nof paper containing printed or written words is carefully placed, to\nawait a suitable occasion when it may be burned.\n\nThe mission schools have been the pioneers in the education of the young\npeople of China, and if the teaching of Christianity has not as yet made\nmany converts, the effect has been great in the spread of higher ideals\nof education, and much of the credit of the progress of the modern life\nof China to-day must be given to the mission schools, which have opened\nnew pathways in the field of learning and caused the youth of China to\ndemand a higher system of education throughout the land.\n\nIt is said that practically all the officials in the new China are men\nwho have been educated abroad or who have been in one of the many\nmission schools scattered throughout the country. They are the ones who\nhave taken what they have learned of foreign lands and adapted it to the\nneeds of their country; but there are others who have been abroad only\nlong enough to acquire the veneer of Western education, and they are the\nyoung men who become the discontented ones of China.\n\nWhen Chinese boys go to a foreign land they have many difficulties to\novercome. They must receive their information and instruction in a\nlanguage not their mother tongue. They have small chance to finish their\neducation by practical work in bank or shop or factory. They get a mass\nof book knowledge and little opportunity to practise the theories that\nthey learn, and they are not clever enough to understand that their\ntextbook knowledge is nearly all foreign to their country and to the\ntemperament of their race. When they return to their home they often\nfind that they have grown out of touch with their people\u2019s ways and\ncustoms. They come back looking for employment, for a chance to use\ntheir new-found knowledge; but they feel that they should begin at the\ntop of the ladder instead of working up slowly rung by rung, as their\nfathers did before them. They feel that they are entitled to be masters,\nnot realizing that even with this wonderful foreign education acquired,\nexperience is necessary to make them leaders of great enterprises or of\nmen. It is these boys who are the teashop orators and preach the\nSocialistic dogma for which China will not be prepared for many years to\ncome.\n\nThe Chinese boys and girls are going too far and too fast in their\nthirst for the broader knowledge and teaching of the Western world. It\nis like the clothes that the Chinese girl is wearing, trying to imitate\nher sisters of the Occident. She has discarded the soft, clinging silks,\nthe gay embroideries, the jade and flowers in her black locks, for the\nstraight, dark skirt, the ugly coats, and the untidy manner of dressing\nthe hair seen with the European women of the coast towns. These do not\nbecome her, any more than the scientific degrees become the woman who\nhas been for centuries a woman of the home. We do not condemn education\nfor the Chinese woman any more than we entirely condemn the change in\nthe style of clothing; but they should both be adapted to the\nindividual. This new education seems to be too general, the personality\nof the boy or girl being entirely left out. The youth are being made\ninto a set of jelly-moulds, all looking alike, all trying to be formed\nupon the models brought them from England or America.\n\nThree things should be taken into account\u2014who the boy or girl is, where\nhe is, and where he is going. The mistake should not be made in China\nthat has been made in India\u2014that is, the turning out of a race of\nbarristers and clerks from her schools. China needs technical schools\nfor her boys and common sense applied to the education of her girls. I\nhave been in a school for the education of the daughters of the better\nclass of Chinese, where the main accomplishment for which the girl was\napplauded was her facility in rendering a piece upon the piano. I should\nhave said \u201cexecuting\u201d a piece upon the piano, because that is exactly\nwhat is done when a Chinese girl attempts to interpret foreign music. It\nis alien to her in every way, and generations of study will not make the\nChinese maiden a musician in the foreign sense, nor will they really\ncare for the foreign music. These girls who have wasted so many hours in\nthe practise of the piano will go to homes where they cannot have a\npiano, or if they did have one they would be the only persons in the\nfamily who would appreciate its music. It would be a conglomeration of\nbad sounds to father, mother, husband. Many feel that the young girls\nwould be better employed in learning a musical instrument understood and\nappreciated by her people and one that would give pleasure to her\nhusband at night, and perhaps be a factor in keeping him from the\ntea-house, and the singing girls who have a monopoly of the musical\ntalent of China.\n\nAnother thing that causes sorrow to the conservative fathers and mothers\nis the fact that as soon as their children receive a smattering of the\nWestern civilization they immediately begin to scoff at their own modes\nof acquiring knowledge and the text-books which have trained their\npeople\u2019s minds for so many years. They become proud of the fact that\nthey know nothing of the classics, and they quote Shelley, Byron, Burns,\nand Browning instead of their own beautiful poets. But, what is more\nserious for the youth of this Eastern land, this worldly knowledge seems\nto have freed his intelligence without teaching him self-control, and it\nhas taken him away from the gods of his fathers without replacing them\nwith others. He, like his cousin of Japan, is inclined to become\nagnostic and say, \u201cThere are no gods.\u201d\n\nWhether the religion from the West is the religion best suited for the\nOriental we cannot say, but whatever he receives from us must be adapted\nto fit the needs and conditions of his race and country. China must\nraise up leaders from her own people, both men and women, as her\nregeneration will come from within, not without. More and more the West\nmust see that the East and the West may meet, but they can never mingle.\nForeigners can never enter the inner door of Chinese thought or feeling.\nThe door is never wholly opened, the curtain never quite drawn aside\nbetween the two races. They are unlike in almost every characteristic.\nThe Westerner is much more a materialist than is the cultured man of\nChina. To him the taste of the tea is not so important as the aroma, and\nthe acquiring of wealth and honours is not so much to be desired as is\nthe ability to live the leisured life, the life of thought and\nmeditation, when he may sit apart from the noise and cares of the\npresent day.\n\nThe rush and worry of the Western world seem to have penetrated even to\nthe women\u2019s courtyard, and there is no doubt that the new China will be\nWesternized in every department of her being. But we who love China hope\nthat she will not change too rapidly, that she will take what is\nnecessary for her happiness from the knowledge and the mode of life of\nthe Occident, but that she will touch it with her own individuality,\nmaking it a real part of her and not simply becoming an imitation of the\nalien people by whom she is surrounded.\n\nThere is a charm about old China, and there is more than a charm about\nthe old-time secluded Chinese women, who have been protected and guarded\nfrom life\u2019s worries and battles, until they represent all that is most\nbeautiful and feminine and demand the chivalry of the men of the world.\n\nLet the West come to China with all its modern inventions and its\npolitics and educational policies, but let us always be able to find\nwithin its quiet courtyards the quiet, sweet-faced woman of China.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII\n JAPANESE WOMEN AT HOME\n\n\nI have been eight times to Japan, living in the big European hotels in\nYokohama, Tokio, Kobe, and Nagasaki, stopping for days at a time in the\nnative inns in the interior, or visiting at the homes of friends. I\ndecided that my ninth trip to the little island would be different;\nconsequently we planned a few months\u2019 stay in some out-of-the-way place\nwhere we could keep house and live _\u00e0 la Japonaise_. We had heard of the\nbeauties of Hakodate, the most northern port of any size in Japan, and\nobtaining a letter to the American Consul, we wrote him asking if it\nwere possible for him to find us a furnished Japanese house for the\nsummer months. We were delighted to hear a few days later that he had\nfound a place for us, the summer home of a rich merchant, situated on\nthe mountain-side, overlooking the sea, and surrounded by giant\ncryptomerias and pines. Needless to say, we were soon on our way to this\nparadise.\n\nThere were only four berths in the sleeping-car on the Northern Express,\nand we engaged two, but were not given the opportunity of using them. At\none of the stations a prince with his retinue came on the train and\npre-empted the entire car. He used only one of the berths, as no one\ncould sleep over him, nor evidently near him, and on all the long\njourney he selfishly occupied the room by himself, while we, in company\nwith the half-dozen men composing his suite, had to fit ourselves into a\ntiny compartment that should have only accommodated four. The men\nremoved their elaborate outer robes, curled themselves into comfortable\npositions, and smoked and chatted or slept until a station of any\nimportance was neared, when they donned their gowns, threw around their\nnecks a long, stiff piece of silk on which was embroidered the Imperial\nchrysanthemum, and prepared to receive the delegation of townspeople who\nwere always at the station to present an address to his Imperial\nHighness, or to send in an elaborate meal, served on beautifully\nlacquered trays.\n\nI had a good look at the prince on his entrance, and found him exactly\nlike the representations of the daimios of olden times that we see on\nthe fans and tea-boxes. He had the long, slim, pale face of the\naristocrat, absolutely different from the round-faced Japanese who\ncomprise the greatest proportion of the island\u2019s population. He looked\nas if he might almost belong to another race. I was told by one of his\nmen that he represented to many thousands of the people a god, as in his\nbranch of the family a certain godhead had descended from father to son.\nWhen the train stopped for any length of time at a station, the people\ncame in crowds and knelt, touching their heads to the ground, and one\nold lady kept bowing and holding up her hands, with the tears streaming\ndown her face at the joy of beholding so great a divinity. He looked at\nthem without seeing them at all, never showing by any motion or sign\nthat there was anything to be seen except the distant hills. I do not\nsee how it was possible for any human being to look so thoroughly\nimpersonal at a crowd of bowing, worshipping people, when he knew he was\nthe object of all the adoration. Yet he looked at them as if their faces\nwere windows and their back hair the landscape.\n\nTrain travel is interesting in Japan, if one will travel in the ordinary\nday coach and watch the people. The Japanese are great travellers, and\nthe clack-clack of their wooden clogs makes a deafening noise at the\nstations, especially on the bridges leading over the tracks. One sees\nwhole families going for an outing or on a visit to a distant relative.\nThey come on the train with bundles and packages\u2014most mysterious things\ndone up in large squares of cloth. They drop their shoes before the seat\nand curl their feet under them, and proceed thoroughly to enjoy\nthemselves. The seats run lengthwise of the cars, and often a little\nwoman gets tired of looking out of the windows or at her\nfellow-passengers opposite, and, turning her back on the car and sitting\npractically upright, will lean her face against the side of the window\nand go to sleep. The manner in which they can sit upon their feet for\nhours impresses a foreigner. At the larger stations tea in tiny pots,\nwith a little porcelain cup, is brought in by the salesmen, and \u201cbento,\u201d\nthe lunch of cold rice, pickles, and fish of some description, is sold\nin neat boxes, the dainty lunch only costing ten cents, including a pair\nof new wooden chopsticks. The Japanese masses, like their prototypes\neverywhere, enjoy eating in public, and the car is filled with the\ndivers and sundry odours of fruit, sweets, tea, and food. They are not\nnoisy, and always most polite, and because of the dainty clothes of the\nwomen and children, and the variety of their colouring, a few hours can\nbe spent quite well in studying travelling Japanese close at hand. At\none station a party of pilgrims came on, dressed in white. They belonged\nto some club in a far northern village whose members paid a small\nassessment each week, and each year lots were chosen to judge who should\nbenefit by the annual pilgrimage to some famous shrine or to Mount Fuji.\nThe lucky winners in the lottery joined other pilgrims, donned the\npilgrim\u2019s dress, and under the direction of a guide made the one great\nvisit of their lives, the wonders of which they would be able to tell\ntheir amazed neighbours when they returned. These would listen with\ninterest, as it might be their good fortune to draw the lucky number the\ncoming year.\n\nAt the end of our long train ride, Amorri, we went on the small boat\nbound for Hakodate, where we were met by the Consul, a jolly, big,\nwhole-hearted man, who took us, metaphorically speaking, at once to his\nbosom and became as a long-lost brother. His wife, much to our surprise,\nwas a tiny little Japanese woman, no bigger than a good-sized doll, and\nas pretty as a picture. They looked so incongruous together that one was\ninclined to smile. He weighed at least 250 lb., was over six feet tall;\nand I should think that when dressed in all her finery, Mrs. Consul\nmight have weighed 85 lb. She was a well-educated, well-informed little\nwoman, who needed all her charm and tact to keep her unruly family in\norder. It was a big one, the last, a boy, being the pride of the\nfather\u2019s heart, and as nearly spoiled as the clever mother would allow\nhim to be by his worshipping father. When I knew them better it was a\njoy to me to see how she managed these children. The father, who had\nbeen at one time captain of a sailing vessel, always spoke to them as if\nthey were at the top of a mast on a wintry night with a cyclone blowing.\nTommy, the irrepressible, would get up on the window seat, and his\nfather would hail him in a voice that could be heard by the boats coming\nfrom Kamschatka: \u201cTommy, get out of that window seat; you\u2019ll break your\nneck.\u201d Tommy would not move; again his father\u2019s stentorian tone would\noffend the evening air. The quiet little mother would turn and give a\nnod of her pretty head to Tommy, and Tommy would immediately climb down\nfrom his perch and proceed to behave himself as young boys should.\n\nThe Consulate was partly foreign and partly Japanese, and the children\nwhile at home in the morning dressed in kimona and wooden clogs, but in\nthe afternoon they were gay in \u201chome\u201d dresses and resplendent in hair\nribbons, only showing by the little turn of the eyes that they were\nmembers of their mother\u2019s race.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n JAPANESE CHILDREN PLAYING.\n\n To face p. 276.]\n\nSoon after our arrival we went to see the place that was to be our home\nfor the next few months. We did not see the house until we came to the\ngreat gateway with its pointed roof leading into a path shaded by giant\ncryptomerias, completely guarding the house from view of the passer-by.\nThis hillside garden contained about five acres of land, in which were\nwinding pathways, giant pine-trees, terraces of flowers, and here and\nthere a tori, a huge bronze stork, a grim stone lantern, or a calmly\nreposing Buddha to show us we were in the land of Nippon. We looked out\nover the northern ocean, dotted here and there with the sails of\nfishing-boats, or saw the smoke of a steamer coming from Kamschatka,\nSaghlain, or some of those mysterious northern ports, the names of which\nwere only places on a map. After listening for awhile to the murmur of\nthe surf, we visited the interior of the house, which contained five\nrooms. The furniture consisted of the matting on the floor, the sliding\n\u201cshojis,\u201d the fire-boxes, the cooking utensils, and dishes for the\nserving of the meals. It was necessary for us to buy our \u201cfutons\u201d\u2014that\nis, our bedding; but otherwise the home was completely furnished _\u00e0 la\nJaponaise_. The servant problem was easily solved, as the daughter of\nthe gardener wished to be our maid, the gardener would run our errands,\nand his wife would be the general superintendent of the place. I\nexpected to do the cooking, as the time would be too short in Hakodate\nto train a man in matters culinary. We were soon installed, and then\npassed pleasant days in _dolce far niente_, spending our mornings in\ntrips to the seashore, watching the fishermen come in with their\nboatloads of squids. Their arrival was the signal for all the women and\nchildren of the village to flock to the shore and unload the boats,\nthen, after cleaning and pressing these ugly fish, hang them upon lines\nto dry, making the whole ocean front as far as the eye could see a\nminiature wash-Monday. We were not allowed to climb the mountain-sides\nexcept to a certain distance, as the hills were heavily fortified, and\nat sudden turns we were met by great signs which stated plainly in\nEnglish, French, German, Japanese, and Russian that further explorations\nwere forbidden. We never tried to disobey the laws in Japan, as these\nlittle people are vigorous in their punishment of offenders, to whatever\nrace they may belong, and I feel that they have been justified in\nupholding the manhood of their people. In India and in China you see the\nwhite man treat the native with barbarous cruelty. While travelling once\nin India our servant was making up the bed in the compartment we had\nengaged on the train. A white man entered, and without one word of\nexplanation, grabbed our man and beat and kicked him and nearly threw\nhim out of the car. In reply to our indignant demands as to the cause of\nhis ill-treatment of our servant, he said that he thought the man had\nmade a mistake in the berth and was taking one for which he had paid. I\nsaid afterward to Ali, \u201cWhy did you not strike him when he treated you\nso brutally?\u201d Ali replied: \u201cOh, mem-sahib, he was a white man. If I had\ntouched him I would have lain many long days in prison.\u201d In China also,\non one hot day in August I saw a rickshaw coolie, naked to the waist,\nwith the perspiration running down his face in streams, running swiftly\nwith a heavy man inside his two-wheeled carriage. In passing by a\ncrowded corner, he brushed against a white man, who was having his\nafternoon stroll. The white man angrily turned, and, grabbing the coolie\nby his hair, beat him across his bare back with his cane until he\nstopped from sheer exhaustion. The panting, perspiring coolie was\nhelpless as he could not drop the shafts, and so was compelled to take\nthe punishment. His patron in the carriage, a richly-dressed Chinese,\ndared not interfere because he also was a native and understood there\nwas no court of justice when it was a question of a white man\u2019s word\nagainst that of the yellow man. They have a saying in China, that when a\nChinese walks along the sidewalk of his own city of Shanghai, he is\npushed into the middle of the road by the American, who only laughs at\nhim, by the Englishman, who swears at him, and by the German, who kicks\nhim, but\u2014he is pushed into the middle of the road. This could not happen\nin Japan, as the Japanese courts punish severely any one who dares to\nlay his hand in violence upon a Japanese, however lowly may be his\nstation or however strong may be the provocation. While we were in\nYokohama, an officer of an American ship had his hand severely hurt\nthrough the carelessness of a Japanese longshoreman. In his pain and\nfirst flush of anger he knocked the Japanese down, and for his\nimpatience was compelled to remain six months in jail. His captain and\nhis Consul tried their best to help him, but it was in vain, and he saw\nhis ship sail away without him.\n\nI came very near sharing his fate while in Hakodate. The fisherman came\nto our doors each morning with his enormous baskets of fish swung over\nhis shoulders. The maid, her mother, and myself, spent many interesting\nmoments in turning over the scaly contents of his baskets in order to\nmake our choice amongst the varied assortment he had for sale. I paid\nhim by the week, and one morning was called to the kitchen by an\nindignant maid, who said the fisherman had greatly overcharged me. The\namount was far too small, it seemed to me, to cause such keen\nexcitement, and I intended to dismiss the man, saying I would pay him,\nbut employ him no more. I went over to a bucket of water, and taking up\nthe long-handled dipper to take a drink, and not noticing that it was\nbroken, I gave it a little shake toward the fisherman, and said, \u201cOh, go\naway, and don\u2019t make so much noise.\u201d The cup part of the dipper flew off\nand hit the indignant fisherman in the eye, whereupon he immediately\nshouldered his baskets and started for the magistrate. Needless to say,\nI was frightened, and I immediately donned my bonnet and started for the\nConsulate. The Consul heard my story and sadly shook his head: \u201cIf you\nreally hit that coolie and he has you arrested, I can do nothing. It\nwill only make matters worse to have me to interfere, so the best thing\nfor you to do is to go with me and find that fisherman; offer him half\nof your estate, but don\u2019t get mixed up with the law in Japan.\u201d For two\nhours we haunted side-streets, where at last we found our man, and,\nafter a small money payment and a promise to take fish from him for the\nrest of the season, and practically binding myself to listen to his\ninsolence as long as I was in Hakodate, he grudgingly assented to\nwithdraw his charge.\n\nThese itinerant dealers make housekeeping in Japan easy. Men clad in\nblue cotton coats with great straw hats on their heads and baskets piled\nhigh with vegetables, come to the door each morning; one passing along\nthe streets both night and day can hear the cries of the travelling\nvendors, selling all that the average householder may require.\n\nHakodate is filled with crows\u2014monstrous, black, impertinent thieves, who\nwill come boldly into the kitchen and take the fish from out the\nfrying-pan. Mornings I would take a pan of corn, and in the rear of the\nhouse upon the hillside, and hitting upon the pan\u2019s side with a spoon,\nwould soon be surrounded by hundreds of these beady-eyed birds, that are\nalmost considered sacred in this province. They were so tame that they\nwould fight at my feet for the kernels, and I would be compelled to push\nthem from my lap and then, much to the maid\u2019s disgust, the greedy birds\nwould follow me into the house.\n\nWe used to play a game, the crows and I. I would pound on the pan until\nI had summoned fifty or sixty, then I would start the song, \u201cOnward,\nChristian Soldiers,\u201d and rapping on the pan for accompaniment, would\nmarch solemnly at the head of my serious, expectant army, up hill and\ndown dale, through the house, out again, down the small paths, until\neven the maid who considered the crows her enemies, would be compelled\nto laugh.\n\nSoon I found that if I was to live as the Japanese, I certainly should\ndress in the clothes of the country, as European clothes and shoes are\nnot comfortable in Japanese houses. All my friends were Japanese, and I\nfound I must conform to their customs so far as was possible if I would\nbe happy and not an object of curiosity. Consequently I went with the\nwife of our Consul and passed two delightful hours in choosing kimonas,\nwhich, if I had been allowed to exercise my taste, would have been far\ntoo gay for one of my years. I always associated kimonas with pinks and\nblues and riotous colours, but I found that, being a married woman, I\nmust confine my choice of colours to greys and browns and soft-toned\nmauves. I could indulge my love for ornamentation in the obis, as these\nmay be of stiff brocades in rose and gold, or purple and gold, or, in\nfact, any colour one may wish. I found also that the Japanese dress\nitself may not be expensive, but the price of the obis is ruinous to a\nsmall pocketbook. It is in these last articles of adornment that the\nJapanese lady spends her husband\u2019s money. She buys obis and puts them\naway in her treasure-chest, only bringing them to the light of day on\noccasions of festivity. The tying of the obi is by no means a simple\nprocess, and I could never learn its intricacies. The end must be of a\ncertain length, the big bow must be just so correctly arranged or else\nit shows that one is not _\u00e0 la mode_. My friends were always lengthening\nan end or tying a little tighter the roll that gave the obi the correct\ntilt at the back. I found it necessary to practise privately for several\ndays walking in the clogs before I dared try them in public. The\nJapanese have three kinds of clogs\u2014high ones raised by two pieces of\nwood three or four inches from the ground and with a piece of leather as\na mud-guard for use in wet weather; another pair of dress clogs were\nnecessary, with the plain wooden sole covered with fine matting; and\nstill another pair of sandals, which were for use around the garden or\nin places that did not necessitate rough walking. The two pieces of cord\nthat pass between the great and the first toe, and by which the clog is\nheld on the foot, compelled me to wear the Japanese sock, which is made\nof white cotton, like a mitten, the great toe being separated from the\nrest of the foot. These socks are short, only coming to the ankle, and\nare fastened by two or three metal clasps. The shoes are never worn in\nthe house, always being left at the doorways, the thick cotton sole of\nthe stocking protecting the foot. It would be as insulting to walk on\nthe clean matting of a Japanese house as it would be to walk on the\nsnowy damask of your hostess\u2019s dining-table. After a few falls and many\nawkward movements I found the Japanese foot covering most comfortable,\nthe foot being absolutely free; but I soon learned that my American\nstride did not conform to the close-fitting dress of the kimona, as with\nit the feet should not be set apart and one should slightly \u201ctoe in\u201d in\norder that the folds of the kimona do not fly open. In one way Japanese\ndress is not expensive, as the Japanese lady, whatever her rank or\nwealth, does not wear jewellery\u2014no necklaces, nor bracelets, nor\near-rings, nor brooches; even rings are an innovation brought in with\nforeigners. Her only jewels are the clasp of her obi fastener, generally\na piece of chased gold, and a couple of ornamental hairpins or a comb\nfor the hair.\n\nI did not attempt the hair-dressing, as that is a most complicated\naffair, and must be left to the attentions of a hair-dresser, who comes\nto the homes once or twice a week and makes the elaborate coiffures that\nadd so much to the beauty of a Japanese face. Each age has its coiffure,\nand a woman never tries to disguise her age in Japan, because by her\ndress and style of hair-dressing she frankly confesses the stage she has\nreached in life. There is the baby with her shaven head, then the little\nqueue tied on the crown; afterward the hair is cut square across the\nneck, like the little dolls we see in the London shops; then when she is\nten years old the hair is divided and made into a bow knot tied with a\npiece of ornamental paper. As she arrives at young ladyhood there is the\nelaborate \u201cshimada,\u201d which in the case of the young woman is very large,\nand, if Nature has not been generous, helped out with tresses bought in\nthe shops. The married woman has a special coiffure which grows smaller\nwith age, until, when she is a matron of forty, the age when the woman\nof the Orient considers herself an old woman, it is quite small. If the\nwoman is so unfortunate as to lose her husband, she cuts her hair, and\nthus shows all the world that she is a widow. The Japanese mature early,\nand old age comes to them sooner than it does to people from the West. A\nJapanese proverb says that man lives but fifty years, and rarely does\nhis span exceed seventy years. In former days old age began at fifty,\nand a man then considered himself unfit for business and made over his\nname and property to his son, passing the rest of his life in ease\nwithout the cares of business. Old age is not a burden to the Japanese\nwoman, but is a paradise to be looked for longingly. Then she, who has\nperhaps been subservient to the mother of her husband all her married\nlife, knows that she will be the head of her household, with her sons\nand daughters ready to obey her, and, because of her age and motherhood,\nrespected and holding a position in life denied her as a young woman.\n\nMany of these quiet, soft-voiced mothers of Japan were brought to call\nupon me by Mrs. Consul. They taught me how to serve the tea, the\nproper way of bowing, and even tried to make of me a good follower of\nthe Law by taking me with them to the temples and visiting shrines and\nholy places. One kindly woman brought me a tablet for my\n\u201caugust-spirit-dwelling,\u201d which she placed in a tiny model of a Shinto\ntemple and put above the inner doorway of the hall, where I was\nsupposed to burn before it each morning candles and incense, and keep\nthe little cups for rice and water filled. I was well provided with\ngods, as another friend gave me a Buddha for my household shrine, and\nall the paraphernalia of service with which to worship him.\n\nBelow us on the hillside was the swagger tea-house of the town, and the\ntinkle of the samisens and the singing of the pretty girls came to us\nfaintly until late into the night. This pretty music, mingled with the\nsound of the surf upon the shore, was always the last sound we heard at\nnight after the maid had placed the night-light, the tobacco-box, and\nthe brazier for the tea at our head, and then had knelt and said\n\u201cGoodnight.\u201d In the morning we were wakened by a softly murmured \u201cO\nHayo,\u201d and a tray of tea was respectfully slid across the matting to\ngive us strength to begin the morning\u2019s work.\n\nWhile in Hakodate I made the acquaintance of many Japanese ladies and\nlearned their customs and the manner of their life, which is controlled\nby thoughts and ideals entirely different from those entertained by\nwomen of the Western world. I think I much prefer the woman of the old\nschool, with her charming manners, her elaborate bows, and her\nantiquated superstitions and beliefs, to her daughter, who, like her\nsister of China, India, and Egypt, is trying too hard to wear clothes\nnot made for her, and to adapt customs and usages for which she is not\nformed temperamentally or physically. The customs of the modern world\nwill come to the woman of Japan, but they must be adapted to her\nconditions and not be taken _en masse_.\n\nOne of the most beautiful characteristics of the Japanese is their\nreverence for old age and their intense love for children. Japan has\njustly been called the baby\u2019s paradise, and certainly in no country does\nthe home life so thoroughly revolve around the children as it does in\nJapan. Like all Eastern women, the desire for children is the most\nardent wish of the Japanese woman\u2019s heart. The childless wife will move\nheaven and earth in her desire to gain the blessing of motherhood. She\nwill visit watering-places, offer prayers at temples, make long, irksome\npilgrimages, wear amulets, drink strange decoctions, and allow herself\nto be imposed upon and robbed by every charlatan who claims a knowledge\nthat will help her gain the craving of her heart\u2014a child. It will,\ntherefore, be imagined with what eagerness the arrival of a little\nstranger is awaited in the home, and the happiest day in the girl-wife\u2019s\nlife is the day on which they tell her she is the mother of a son.\n\nAs soon as the event takes place, a special messenger is dispatched to\nnotify friends and relatives while letters of announcement are sent to\nthose who are not so closely related in friendship to the family. All\nthus notified must then make a visit to the new baby and either send or\nbring with them a present. Toys or clothing, always accompanied by eggs\nor a fish to bring good luck, come in great profusion, and when baby is\nabout thirty days old, return presents must be made to all who\nremembered him at time of birth. When baby is seven days old he receives\nhis name, and when he is thirty-one\u2014or if a girl, when she is\nthirty-three\u2014days old, the first important occasion of his life must be\nobserved. He is dressed in his best and gayest garments, and,\naccompanied by members of his family, is taken to a temple and placed\nunder the protection of one of the Shinto deities, who is supposed to\nbecome the guardian of the child through life. This is a day for\npresent-giving also, and one especial gift must come to the child, a\npapier m\u00e2ch\u00e9 dog, which is always placed at the head of the child\u2019s bed\nat night as a charm against evil influences.\n\nThe infant should not walk until it is a year old; but if it is so\nprecocious that it commences to toddle before that time, a small bag of\nrice is laid upon its back, and it is made to stumble and fall. To walk\nbefore its first birthday is a sign that it will die young or else\nbecome a resident of a distant land. There are many superstitions\nconnected with the early life of a baby. If he sucks his fingers before\nhe does his thumb, he will be a help to his parents in their old age. If\nhe crawls out of his covers at night, he will rise in the world, but if\nhe snuggles down in the bed and is inclined to crawl towards the foot,\nit augurs that a downward course is his fate in life. If many of the\nchildren of a family have died in infancy, the nervous mother will make\nfor this last gift of the gods a dress composed of thirty-three pieces\nof cloth collected from thirty-three different families, or she will\nshave his head until he is seven years old, or give him a girl\u2019s name\ninstead of a boy\u2019s, thus deceiving the gods who covet her treasure. If\nbaby has prickly heat, the first egg plant of the season is hung over\nthe door; while suspending the empty rice-pot, still hot, over the\nbaby\u2019s head for a few moments will make him immune from that affliction\nof childhood, the measles. It passes its days tied to the back of little\nbrother or sister or nurse until it can walk, then when it is two years\nold the fifteenth of November is a great day for all the babies. They\nare taken to the temple and the blessing of the gods is invoked, and the\npriests purify their bodies by waving over them a sacred wand. This is\nthe occasion for showing new clothes and calling upon all friends, who\nmake presents to the child.\n\nAt three or four years children are sent to a kindergarten, and at six\nyears they enter the Primary Schools, where there is a six-years\u2019\ncompulsory course for both boys and girls. Then it only rests with the\nparents whether the child receives a higher education, as there are in\nall towns and villages a Middle School for boys and a High School for\ngirls. The average girl stops her education with the Primary School, or\nat most with the High School, but there is a University in Tokio where\nthe girl may complete her education and fit herself for a vocation. But\nif she has been six years at Primary School and four years at High\nSchool, she is sixteen years old, and of a marriageable age, although\nthe average girl does not marry until she is eighteen or nineteen.\n\nThere are a great many accomplishments which it is necessary for a\nJapanese girl of good family to know. The knowledge of needlework is so\ngeneral that it really is not considered an accomplishment. But the art\nof letter-writing must be known by all accomplished young ladies, and\nthe tea ceremony, which is the strictest and most complicated of all the\nceremonies which surround the cultured Japanese, must be thoroughly\nlearned by the daughter of the house. Each movement is regulated by\ncustom, and a mistake in turn of hand or position of the body or the\nomission of any of the minute details in regard to the bows and\nsalutations in offering, receiving, and returning the cups would show a\nlack of proper training. The young girl is taught the arrangement of\nflowers, which is an art by itself in Japan. In the sitting-room of a\nJapanese home there is a single vase of flowers sitting in the tiny\nalcove, and they would lose half of their attraction if they were not in\nsome manner symbolical in tone and colour with the picture upon the\nkakemono which hangs above them. The young girl is often taught to play\nupon the koto, a kind of zither, although the national musical\ninstrument is the samisen, which is played everywhere\u2014at home, in\nstory-tellers\u2019 halls and theatres, and at every tea-house party. Girls\nstart to learn this instrument at a very early age, because it is\nnecessary to learn it while the fingers are still pliant. It takes time\nto learn these instruments, as there are no scores and the tunes must be\ncommitted to memory. Women teachers come to the home to teach the girls\nin all these arts, and often the samisen teacher has been a famous\ngeisha, whose support now is teaching the music that once made her\nwelcome at the dinner-parties of gay Japan.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n AN OUTDOOR KITCHEN IN JAPAN.\n\n To face p. 290.]\n\nAfter mastering the accomplishments, her business in life is now to\nmarry, and few Japanese maidens think seriously of any other lot in life\nthan that of marrying and becoming the mothers of future Japanese. Japan\nis more progressive than any other Oriental country, if we except\nBurmah, in that it allows the girl to exercise a certain amount of\nchoice in the selection of a husband. There are never cases of love\nmatches, but if she positively objects to a man who is proposed to her,\nshe is seldom forced to marry him. It would be thought most immodest if\nshe refused to marry a man until she loved him, as love is supposed to\ncome with marriage and the advent of the children. Only simple\ntoleration is expected before the marriage. The offices of a go-between\nare asked to assist in the search for a husband or wife, unless the\nmatch is made by friends of the interested parties. When the future\nhusband has been selected, the go-between, who must always be a married\nman, as his wife takes an important part in the transactions, brings\nabout a meeting of the young couple as if by accident. They may be\nstrolling in a garden looking at the hanging wistaria, or meet at a\ntheatre, where the families are introduced, and the two most concerned\nhave a chance to take a good look at each other, and the next day, when\nthe anxious match-maker comes to the house to learn whether his choice\nhas met with favour, they will give their consent, or the match will be\nbroken off, and the go-between will start again the hunt for an eligible\nalliance. If everything is satisfactory, a lucky day is appointed for\nthe formal proposal, presents are exchanged, and then all look forward\nto the wedding. A couple of days before the wedding the bride\u2019s\ntrousseau and household goods are sent to her new home, and its\nelaborateness is only limited by the father\u2019s wealth. Yet there are some\nthings considered indispensable in the outfit of a bride, such as a\nbureau, a writing-table, a work-box, two of the little trays on which\nmeals are served, together with the full dining outfit, and two or more\ncomplete sets of bed furnishings. If she is of a rich family, quite\nlikely the clothing she will bring with her will last her entire life,\nas styles do not change so radically as to make gowns go so completely\nout of fashion that they cannot be worn. A wedding is a most expensive\nproceeding for the father of the bride, as each member of the groom\u2019s\nfamily\u2014father, mother, brothers, sisters, aunts, and cousins, even the\nservants\u2014must all receive a present to mark the joyous occasion. The\nwedding itself is in the presence of only a few witnesses, and consists\nin a few formal acts, the most important of which is the drinking \u201cthree\ntimes three\u201d cups of saki together. To make the marriage conform to the\nlaws of Japan, the bride\u2019s name is removed from her family register and\ntransferred to that of her husband\u2019s family.\n\nAfter the ceremony there are entertainments in the new home and at the\nhome of the bride\u2019s parents, and then the couple settle down into the\nmarried state for two or three months, when the ultra-smart give a\nseries of entertainments to the friends who had no formal announcement\nof the marriage.\n\nThe young wife does not have the happiness of setting up an\nestablishment of her own, but she must go to the home of her husband\u2019s\nfather. The mother-in-law question is a very serious one in Japan,\nbecause she is absolutely the head of the household, and the young wife\nhas to submit in all things to her mother-in-law\u2019s will. This is\nespecially serious for the modern Japanese girl, who perhaps has been\neducated in the Government school, if she is compelled to go to the home\nof a conservative old-time woman. Naturally, the mother cannot\nunderstand why the ideas with which she herself was brought up should\nnot be good enough for the other, and finds fault with, what are in her\neyes, outlandish ways introduced by the new regime. These conservative\nwomen are always loud in praise of the old state of things, and believe\nthat the world is going to ruin, socially, morally, and physically,\nbecause of the innovations brought into their homes by their progressive\nsons and daughters.\n\nIn addition to the parents of her husband, the wife has to win the\naffection of his brothers, sisters-in-law, and sisters, and her life is\noften made intolerable by the envies, jealousies, and petty\nfaultfindings of the many women beneath the new roof-tree. The\npatriarchal life prevails in Japan as in all Eastern countries, and the\nsuccessful man finds he must support a crowd of less successful\nrelatives, whose claims are not admitted by law, but whose appeals on\nthe score of kinship cannot be ignored, as custom allows those related\nby blood or marriage to look for help to the least unfortunate among\nthem. The new civil code forces the support of parents, brothers,\nsisters, and other near relatives upon the head of the household, in\naddition to that of his wife and children. Thus a man is handicapped in\nlife and has to spend the money he might otherwise use in educating his\nchildren in the support of uncles, aunts, and cousins, and perhaps a\nhost of his wife\u2019s relations. From the social point of view this is\nundoubtedly an excellent system, as it relieves the nation of the\nsupport of its poor, but it bears heavily upon the individual, and many\na young man\u2019s ambition has been shattered and his road to success\nblocked by the sordid cares and petty troubles caused by the necessity\nof maintaining a large household.\n\nThe great authority on the conduct of women who marry was written by a\nJapanese scholar, based on the teaching of the Chinese sages. In it the\nwife is told she must give unconditional obedience to her husband, who\nis in every respect her superior and the absolute lord and master of her\nbody and soul; whatever he does is right and she may not even murmur.\nShe occupies a position in her husband\u2019s household practically of an\nupper servant. She must not frequent public resorts, nor go sight-seeing\nwith the wealth her husband may obtain, and until she is forty years old\nis not to be seen in company, but to remain at home attending to her\nhousehold and her children. This sounds very well, but women are women\nthe world over; and although Japanese wives are gentle, docile, and\nobedient, yet they have a virility and strength of character that compel\nthe respect of their husbands, and in their own domain their word is\nlaw.\n\nIn the olden time each Japanese girl was supposed to know the precepts\ncontained in a book called \u201cGreater Learning for Women,\u201d written by a\nfamous scholar several hundred years ago. For nearly two hundred years\nit was one of the indispensable articles that a bride took with her to\nher new home, but the present modern Japanese maiden knows very little\nof the \u201cGreater Learning.\u201d I am afraid, indeed, that she is more\nthoroughly conversant with a parody of these famous precepts, which has\nbeen written by a young man of modern Japan. This is so radical that it\nis forbidden in the libraries of the mission schools in the fear that\nthe Japanese girl will imbibe too early the tendencies fatal to the\nhappiness of the Eastern woman, as she takes her first step from her\nsecluded doorway into the path that leads to the higher learning of the\nWestern world.\n\nJapanese women are womanly, kindly, gentle, and pretty, and perhaps they\nowe this gentleness and courtesy to the precepts taught by their old\nsages.\n\nAccording to Shingoro Takaishi, in his \u201cWisdom and Women of Japan,\u201d the\nfamous moralist left the following instructions to help women in their\nperilous journey through life\u2014\n\n\u201cSeeing that it is a girl\u2019s destiny, on reaching womanhood, to go to a\nnew home, and live in submission to her father-in-law, it is even more\nincumbent upon her than it is on a boy to receive with all reverence her\nparents\u2019 instructions. Should her parents, through their tenderness,\nallow her to grow up self-willed, she will infallibly show herself\ncapricious in her husband\u2019s house, and thus alienate his affection;\nwhile, if her father-in-law be a man of correct principles, the girl\nwill find the yoke of these principles intolerable. She will hate and\ndecry her father-in-law, and the end of these domestic dissensions will\nbe her dismissal from her husband\u2019s house and the covering of herself\nwith ignominy. Her parents, forgetting the faulty education they gave\nher, may, indeed, lay all the blame on the father-in-law. But they will\nbe in error; for the whole disaster should rightly be attributed to the\nfaulty education the girl received from her parents.\n\n\u201cMore precious in a woman is a virtuous heart than a face of beauty. The\nvicious woman\u2019s heart is ever excited; she glares wildly around her, she\nvents her anger on others, her words are harsh and her accent vulgar.\nWhen she speaks it is to set herself above others, to upbraid others, to\nenvy others, to be puffed up with individual pride, to jeer at others,\nto outdo others\u2014all things at variance with the way in which a woman\nshould walk. The only qualities that befit a woman are gentle obedience,\nchastity, mercy, and quietness.\n\n\u201cA woman has no particular lord. She must look to her husband as her\nlord, and must serve him with all worship and reverence, not despising\nor thinking lightly of him. The great lifelong duty of a woman is\nobedience.\n\n\u201cA woman shall be divorced for disobedience to her father-in-law or\nmother-in-law. A woman shall be divorced if she fail to bear children,\nthe reason for this rule being that women are sought in marriage for the\npurpose of giving men posterity. A barren woman should, however, be\nretained if her heart be virtuous and her conduct correct and free from\njealousy, in which case a child of the same blood must be adopted;\nneither is there any just cause for a man to divorce a barren wife if he\nhave children by a concubine. Lewdness is a reason for divorce. Jealousy\nis a reason for divorce. Leprosy or any like foul disease is a reason\nfor divorce. A woman shall be divorced who, by talking overmuch and\nprattling disrespectfully, disturbs the harmony of kinsmen and brings\ntrouble on her household. A woman shall be divorced who is addicted to\nstealing.\n\n\u201cAll the \u2018Seven Reasons for Divorce\u2019 were taught by the sage. A woman\nonce married and then divorced has wandered from the \u2018way,\u2019 and is\ncovered with great shame, even if she should enter into a second union\nwith a man of wealth and position.\n\n\u201cIt is the chief duty of a girl living in the parental house to practise\nfilial piety towards her father and mother. But after marriage her duty\nis to honour her father-in-law and mother-in-law, to honour them beyond\nher father and mother, to love and reverence them with all ardour, and\nto tend them with practise of every filial piety. While thou honourest\nthine own parents, think not lightly of thy father-in-law. Never should\na woman fail, night and morning, to pay her respects to her\nfather-in-law and mother-in-law. Never should she be remiss in\nperforming any tasks they may require of her. With all reverence must\nshe carry out, and never rebel against, her father-in-law\u2019s commands. On\nevery point must she inquire of her father-in-law and mother-in-law, and\nabandon herself to their direction. Even if thy father-in-law and\nmother-in-law be pleased to hate and vilify thee, be not angry with\nthem, and murmur not. If thou carry piety towards them to its utmost\nlimits, and minister to them in all sincerity, it cannot be but that\nthey will end by becoming friendly to thee.\u201d\n\nThere is a sword of Damocles always hanging over the head of the\nJapanese woman\u2014that is, the fear of divorce. Among the higher classes\nthe dread of scandal and gossip serves as a restraint upon the too free\nuse of the power of divorce, but even now one meets many respectable and\nrespected persons who, some time in their life, have gone through such\nan experience. Obtaining a divorce is not such a complicated affair as\nit is in America. It is enough that the parties agree to separate and\nmake a declaration, witnessed by two reputable witnesses, at a local\nmagistrate\u2019s office, and the divorce takes place by mutual consent. As\nin the case of marriage the consent of the parents or guardians of a\ngirl under twenty-five years of age and a man who is under thirty must\nbe obtained, so this consent of parents or guardians is necessary before\na divorce may be granted. Then the domicile of the wife is retransferred\nin the books of the registrar from the domicile of the family in which\nshe was married to that of her original family. If one of the parties\nconcerned refuse to give their consent to the divorce an application is\nmade to the courts. There are several grounds upon which judicial\ndivorce is granted\u2014first, for bigamy; secondly, the wife may be divorced\nfor adultery, but not the husband, unless the crime has been committed\nwith a married woman, when the unfaithful wife and her lover are liable\nto penal servitude for a term not exceeding two years, if the charge is\nbrought by the outraged husband. The man cannot be punished alone; the\nwoman must share his fate. As in many European countries, marriage is\nforbidden between the respondent and the co-respondent in a divorce\ncase.\n\nAnother, and one of the chief causes for divorce in Japan, are the\ncomplications that naturally arise from the many people living in one\nhouse. Either party may seek divorce if ill-treated or insulted by the\nparents or grandparents of the other, and mothers-in-law, with their\nhard tongues and bitter words, are the frequent causes of separation of\nhusband and wife. One provision of the law which serves to make most\nmothers endure any evil of their married life rather than sue for\ndivorce is the fact that the children belong to the father, and the\nmother returns childless to her father\u2019s house. In this country, where\nthe woman is economically dependent upon her menfolk, even if she were\nallowed to take the children, quite likely they would not be made\nwelcome in a home where there are always too many mouths to feed;\ntherefore the Japanese mother puts up with many brutalities and\nheartaches in order to keep with her the only bright things she has in\nlife, her children.\n\nThe Japanese wife leads a very busy life. In all but the very wealthiest\nand most aristocratic families the wife and daughters do a large part of\nthe housework. In a house with no furniture, no carpets, no pictures, no\nstoves or furnaces, no windows to wash, no latest styles to be imitated\nin the making of clothing, there is not so much work in the care of a\nhouse as there is in the Western world, where the rooms are filled with\na multitude of unnecessary articles that seem only made to give toil to\nwomen. But because of the lack of conveniences it takes time to properly\ncare for the rooms in a Japanese house. Every morning there are the beds\nto be rolled up and placed in the closets, the mosquito-nets to be taken\ndown, the rooms to be swept, dusted, and aired; and the veranda floor is\npolished several times a day as if it were a precious piece of silver.\nThe cooking and washing of the dishes take a great deal of time, as the\nformer is done over a tiny charcoal stove and the dishes are washed in\ncold water. There is not a moment of time that the wife is idle, as\nthere is always the family sewing to be superintended, the mats and\ncushions to be recovered, the wadding to be renewed in the bed coverings\nand the winter kimonas. Many of the Japanese dresses must be taken to\npieces whenever they are washed, and the wet breadths smoothed upon a\nboard and placed in the sun to dry. The careful housewife makes over the\nolder daughters\u2019 dresses for the younger daughters, and these clothes\nare washed, turned, dyed, and made over and over again so long as there\nis a shred of the original material left to work upon.\n\nThe Japanese believe that a woman passes through three critical stages\nin her journey through life. If she passes her nineteenth, her\nthirty-third, and her thirty-seventh years safely, she has a chance of\nliving to a good old age and seeing her children and her grandchildren\ngrow up around her. Her most critical year is her thirty-third, and not\nonly this year itself, but the years immediately preceding and following\nare considered inauspicious. Consequently there are three years during\nwhich period women will refrain as much as possible from acts which may\nappear like tempting Providence. When a woman attains her sixtieth\nbirthday it is an occasion for great festivities, when she invites all\nher friends to a dinner to celebrate this wonderful event. If a man or\nwoman should have occasion to celebrate their seventieth birthday, they\ndistribute among their friends and relatives large red and white cakes\nwith the character signifying \u201clongevity\u201d written upon them, and with\neach increasing year the old man or woman gain in the respect of their\ncommunity.\n\nWhen the last illness comes to father and mother it would be considered\nmost unfilial for any of the children not to be present at the parent\u2019s\ndeath-bed. When all is over the son or the wife wets his lips with\nwater, and so universal is this custom that the expression \u201cto wet the\ndying lips with water\u201d has come to signify the tending of a patient in\nhis last illness. One of the reasons why the Japanese believe that the\nwife should be younger than the husband is that she may be able to\nfulfil this last office for her loved one.\n\nIt is known that death is in the room by the placing upside down of a\nscreen before the bed, and the quilt covering the body is reversed, the\nfoot covering the dead man\u2019s breast. A white cloth is laid over the\nface, as its exposure would be an obstacle to the soul\u2019s journey on its\nroad to the other world. Everything done for the dead is the reverse of\nthat done for the living; for example, in the tub for the last bath cold\nwater is poured first, then hot water added until it is of the right\ntemperature. The head is shaved by touching it with the razor in small\npatches instead of running it continuously as in life. The burial\ngarment is made by two women relatives, sewing with the same piece of\nthread in opposite directions, and the kimona is folded from right to\nleft instead of from left to right as a man would wear it ordinarily.\nMittens, leggings, and sandals are worn, the sandals being tied on the\nfoot with the heel in the place of the toe, to signify that the dead\nmust not return, drawn back by the love of the world. Around the neck is\nsuspended a bag of Buddhist charms, and a small coin, or picture of a\ncoin, with which to pay the ferryman. If the wife dies, the husband does\nnot publicly mourn for her, although her children do; but if the husband\ndies the wife should mourn the rest of her life, and she often cuts off\nher long hair and places it in the coffin of her husband, showing that\nshe resolves to be always faithful to his memory. In a child\u2019s coffin a\ndoll is placed to keep the child company on its first journey without\nmother or father. The last rite is to cover the body with incense-powder\nor dried aniseed, and then it is ready for the funeral ceremonies.\n\nA funeral procession in Japan is an imposing affair. The corpse, in its\npalanquin or in the modern hearse, is preceded by men carrying large\nwhite lanterns on poles, bundles of flowers stuck in bamboo pedestals,\nstands of artificial flowers, and birds in enormous cages, which are set\nfree at the temples as an act of merit. The priests, friends, and\nrelatives move slowly and sadly to the temple, in which there is a\nservice, then the bier is taken to the crematory by the chief mourner\nand the near relatives. The ashes are removed the next day to their\npermanent home in the public crematorium or in the temple burying-ground\nof the family.\n\nFor fifty days after the death incense and lights are kept burning\nbefore the tablet of the deceased at his late home, and prayers are\noffered at the grave for the same length of time. A priest comes from\nthe temple every seventh day to offer incense and prayers with the\nsorrowing family, who believe that for forty-nine days the spirit of\ntheir dead wanders in the dark space that lies between this world and\nthe next. Every seventh day it makes a step forward and is helped by the\nprayers of loved ones left behind. The sorrowing wife is taught that the\nspirit cannot tear itself away from its old home and hovers over it, and\nunless it is absolutely necessary no loving woman would remove from her\nhome until the forty-nine days were past, for fear of giving sorrow to\nthe spirit of her husband, if he did not find her in the place where\nthey had passed together their years of happiness.\n\nThe dead are not quickly forgotten in Japan. Memorial services take\nplace the forty-eighth day, the hundredth day, and the first anniversary\nof the death, and services are held for even fifty years. Lafcadio Hearn\nexpresses the reverence which these people give their loved ones who\nhave gone before them by saying:\u2014\n\n\u201cIn this worship we give the dead they are made divine. And the thought\nof this tender reverence will temper with consolation the melancholy\nthat comes with age to all of us. Never in our Japan are the dead too\nquickly forgotten; by simple faith they are still thought to dwell among\ntheir beloved and their place within the home remains holy. When we pass\nto the land of shadows we know that loving lips will nightly murmur our\nnames before the family shrine, that our faithful ones will beseech us\nin their pain and bless us in their joy. We will not be left alone upon\nthe hillside, but loving hands will place before our tablet the fruit\nand flowers and dainty food that we were wont to like, and will pour for\nus the fragrant cup of tea or amber rice-wine. Strange changes are\ncoming upon this land, old customs are vanishing, old beliefs are\nweakening, the thoughts of to-day will not be the thoughts of to-morrow;\nbut of all this we will know nothing. We dream that for us as for our\nmothers the little lamps will burn on through the generations; we see in\nfancy the yet unborn, the children of our children\u2019s children, bowing\ntheir tiny heads and making the filial obeisance before the tablet that\nbears our family name.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n CONCLUSION\n\n\nThe ocean that geographically divides the East from the West is not more\nwide nor deep than is that invisible ocean between the minds of the\nwoman of the Orient and the woman of the Occident. A sympathetic\nunderstanding between peoples whose ideals have been so differently\nconstructed, and who have had such radically opposite training, is next\nto impossible. No matter what the Western woman may do in the hope of\ntouching the emotional life of the woman of the East, she soon finds\nthat further progress is barred, that a gate before unseen has closed,\nshutting her out from the inner life.\n\nI knew a very advanced woman in Southern India who had broken caste and\nwho went about freely, mingling with both Europeans and Indians with the\nsame freedom as an American woman would. She dressed in a costume\npartially Indian and partially European, wore slippers, and arranged her\nhair in the European fashion. One day I went to her house rather earlier\nthan the usual hour for calling. I hardly recognized her, as she was the\nIndian woman of the home, dressed in a sari, her hair hanging down her\nback in braids, and with heavy anklets over her bare feet. She blushed\nand said: \u201cOh, I do not want you to see me like this,\u201d and she did not\nunderstand me when I told her that I felt that I was seeing the real\nwoman for the first time.\n\nI thought many times in my long residence in the East that I had really\nentered into the life and understood the thoughts, hopes, and ambitions\nof the Eastern woman, when at some thoughtless word or action on my part\na wall of fog would come between us, with a thick, impenetrable,\nblanket-like mist, made up of custom, tradition, and the results of\nenvironment, and when it would lift we would find our little boats far\nfrom each other on a sea of mutual misunderstanding.\n\nDespite our incapacity to enter into the soul life of this ancient East,\nwe find ourselves fascinated and bewitched by the charm of these\nsecluded women of the Orient, who live a life of instinctive\nunselfishness, their days given to the making of happiness for others.\n\nWe say: \u201cMust there always remain the width of the world between the\nEastern woman and the woman of the West? Will the education which is\nbeing grasped so eagerly by the woman of the Orient lessen the distance,\nand will it break down the barriers?\u201d Only time will tell. The children\nof the present boys and girls in school and college will have had the\nfoundation of the three generations of intellectual training, and will\nhave learned to take what is best for them from Western knowledge and\nuse it as a means of breaking the iron bands of ignorance, superstition,\nand loyalty to old-time custom and tradition, which stands an immovable\nmountain in the pathway of true friendship between the woman of the West\nand the woman of the East.\n\n\n UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s note:\n\n 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.\n\n 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.\n\n 3. The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed\n in the public domain.","title":"The Harim and the Purdah: Studies of Oriental Women","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":75278}