194 MARRIAGE AND HEREDITY 



that is to say, matches are made by go-betweens, and 

 the nuptial ceremony has no sacred or binding char- 

 acter. In China women have no legal status. They 

 are the absolute slaves first of their fathers and 

 secondly of their husbands ; the father may sell his 

 daughter and the husband his wife, and a widow is 

 the property of her deceased husband's relations, who 

 generally dispose of her to the highest bidder.^ Con- 

 cubines live under the same roof as the wife. They 

 are bought and sold without any formalities, and are 

 often the first sacrifice made by a Chinaman who has 

 to reduce his establishment. Marriages are arranged 

 without any selection being exercised by either of the 

 parties ; and it is understood that, however ugly or 

 deformed a bride may prove to be, she cannot be 

 rejected by the husband after she has unveiled her- 

 self in his presence. 



In a recently published work in French,^ General 

 Tcheng-ki-Tong, military attach^ to the Chinese Lega- 

 tion in Paris, denies that his countrymen are poly- 

 gamous, but as he admits that the Chinese concubine 

 enjoys a legal status, his argument appears to be some- 

 what sophistical. The wife is obliged to accept the 



^ Cooper's Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce. 

 * Le Thedtre des Chinois, by General Tcheng-ki-Tong. 



