32 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 1 42 



BIRTH, ENGAGEMENT, MARRIAGE, DEATH, AND BURIAL 



For most people, irrespective of race, nationality, or religion, the 

 outstanding events of their lives are birth, marriage, and death. It is 

 to be expected, therefore, that many religious rites and ceremonies 

 are bound up with these and related events. Although there are many 

 resemblances in these customs as they appear in various parts of 

 China, there are also many differences. The same is true also of the 

 different localities in West China. There are both resemblances and 

 differences. 



The social and religious customs in West China are apparently a 

 blend of the Chinese culture with the cultures of other nations and 

 ethnic groups — India, Tibet, the Miao, the Lolos, the Ch'iang, the 

 Shan or Tai, and others. It cannot always be determined which bor- 

 rowed from the other, but the main and strongest influence has been 

 Chinese. 



A very strong and almost universal desire among the Chinese 

 people is for a numerous posterity. Though daughters are generally 

 welcomed, the desire for sons predominates. When a daughter is 

 born, it is called a hsiao hsi, or a little joy, but when a son is born, it 

 is called a ta hsi, or a great joy. The reasons for this and the methods 

 used to obtain sons will be described later. 



A woman's prestige in her family and in society is much greater 

 after she has given birth to a son. Failure to give birth to sons is 

 sometimes, though rarely, a reason for divorce. More often it results 

 in her husband's taking a concubine, who is called a little or lesser 

 wife. But if the concubine gives birth to one or more sons and the 

 principal wife does not, the prestige and position of the concubine in 

 the family may become greater than that of the principal wife. Of 

 course there are jealousies and rivalries for the affection and attention 

 of the husband. 



In China to be unfilial is one of the worst of sins. There are several 

 ways to be unfilial, but the worst of all is not to have sons to continue 

 the family line and to continue to perform the ceremonies of venerat- 

 ing and commemorating the ancestors. 



It has been affirmed by some and denied by others that infanticide 

 has been practiced in China. There is probably no better authority 

 than Olga Lang. She asserts that it has long been practiced in China, 

 mostly, if not exclusively, with girls, and that she found evidence of 

 it during her fieldwork in China in 1935 to 1937. Sometimes it is 

 accomplished through poor food, poor care, and ill treatment (Lang, 

 1946, pp. 46-47, 150, 151, 152, 253, 332). 



