260 HISTOEICAL KACES 



News furnished the following statistics : " I find that 160 Chinese 

 women, all over 50 years of age, had borne 681 sons and 538 

 daughters. Of the sons 366 or nearly 60 per cent, had lived 

 more than 10 years ; while of the daughters only 205 or 38 per 

 cent, had lived 10 years. The 160 women had, according to their 

 own statement, destroyed 158 of their daughters ; but none had 

 ever destroyed a boy. As only four women reared more than 

 three girls, the probability is that the infanticides confessed to 

 are considerably below the truth. I have occasionally been told 

 by a woman that she had forgotten just how many girls she had 

 had more than she wanted. The greatest number of infanticides 

 confessed to by any one woman is eleven." ' 1 Gray states that 

 infanticide prevails to a huge extent and gives an example of 

 a young husband who had had three sons and four daughters. 

 Of the latter three had been killed. 2 According to Douglas the 

 practice prevails among the poorer classes ' to an alarming 

 extent '. 3 Abeel speaks of infanticide in China as ' very common '. 4 

 * In Pekin,' he says, ' after deducting more than one-half for the 

 natural deaths the number of exposed children is, according to 

 Barrow, about 4,000 a year. ... In some Provinces not one in 

 three is suffered to live.' 5 The practice is said to be specially 

 prevalent in South China. 6 Milne says that in Canton ' infanticide 

 was rare. Dr. Williams, however, states that though the practice 

 is rare in Canton it is common in Amoy. He thinks that in 

 general the proportion of children killed is not great, but mentions 

 two provinces wherein the practice prevails to an atrocious 

 extent, twenty to thirty per cent, of the female children, therefore, 

 tfcn to fifteen per cent, of the total number of infants born, being 

 put to death.' 7 The important fact, upon which we shall comment 

 in the next chapter, seems to be that in China infanticide is 

 practised not so much as a regular habit as in times of distress. 

 Moule thinks that infanticide is connected with times of want, 

 and Douglas that it is in general only committed by the poorer 

 classes in times of distress. Norman emphasizes the fact that it 

 is chiefly committed by the poorer classes. Giles denies its 

 existence altogether. 8 It is therefore of particular interest to 



1 Norman, Peoples and Politics, p. 290. 2 Gray, China, vol. ii, p. 50. 



3 Douglas, China, p. 106. * Abeel, Journal, p. 108. 5 Ibid., p. 109. 



Douglas, however, says that infanticide scarcely exists in Pekin (Society in China,, 

 p. 353). Moule, New China, p. 179. 7 Sutherland, loc. cit., vol. i, 



p. 142. Giles, China, p. 97. 



