THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN CHINA 75 



anthropic work if they are Christians. Nor should one forget to speak 

 of the women in the church who go about as teachers of the Bible or on 

 errands of mercy to the poor and suffering. Some of these are ladies 

 of fine families and great learning, while others are poor country 

 women, whose chief qualifications are a tender heart and a sympathetic 

 mind rather than literary attainments. 



During the late revolution the women bore no inconsiderable part. 

 They were active in plotting and many women dedicated their fortunes 

 and their lives to the dangerous work of propagating revolutionary 

 doctrines or smuggling in arms from foreign countries. Young women 

 everywhere were determined to enlist as soldiers, and in a few places 

 " Amazon corps " were formed. Many others offered their services as 

 nurses and the trained nurses and Bible women are said to have done 

 effective work. Public meetings were held in all the large cities at 

 which women spoke in behalf of the revolution, and wealthy women 

 pledged their jewels to raise the much needed funds. 



One of the most hopeful signs of all is the fact that the government 

 promises to provide educational advantages for all girls in the same 

 schools with the little boys until the age of ten, and afterwards by a 

 separate system which is to end for the present in a higher normal 

 school for girls. There seems to be a really awakened conscience on 

 the matter of the education of women and there is something pathetic 

 in the pleas which the educated young men of China are making that 

 their wives and sisters may be educated. With their modern educa- 

 tion, they are beginning to realize what it means to a man to have an 

 uneducated woman for a wife or as the mother of their children. They 

 are not ambitious therefore for an education which shall fit women for 

 public positions so much as for good home makers. They realize that 

 in China's present condition woman's greatest work lies in establishing 

 new ideals of home life. 



China has always been a moral rather than a religious nation, which 

 means that the family rather than the individual sense has been devel- 

 oped. This may militate against the rapid growth of freedom for 

 women in public life, but in the end will give her a secure and honored 

 position. Perhaps the greatest problem in that country at present is 

 the struggle which is on between family loyalty and individualism. 

 It is hoped that this agitation will not so shake the moral foundations 

 of the people that it will bring on a demoralization before it has had 

 time to adjust itself to that broad socialism which is founded on indi- 

 vidualism rather than is opposed to it. In the trying time that is 

 coming, we believe that the women may hold the power to regulate the 

 pace of the change which is inevitable. For the women of China are 

 strongly moral, and the power of women in moral things has been 

 recognized by the Chinese. One writer says : " Purification of morals, 

 from the time of creation until now, has always come from woman." 



