74 



The National Geographic Magazine 



an increase in girth ; his walk becomes 

 stately ; his expression benignant and 

 kindly. He enjoys rich food and a good 

 deal of it. The Chinaman of wealth and 

 position clothes himself literally in pur- 

 ple and fine linen, and shows in every 

 action an appreciation of the good things 

 of this life. 



On the other hand, the Japanese, rich 

 or poor, lives sparingly, eats plain food, 

 and even with this limitation is gen- 

 uinely abstemious in quantity. He is 

 content with comfort without luxury, 

 and from end to end of the Mikado's 

 Empire it is difficult to find a fat man or 

 woman. 



The question is often asked why the 

 punishments inflicted in these eastern 

 countries are so barbarous and cruel. 



With the Chinese, as with us, in the- 

 ory, the two points kept in view in the 

 application of law to the criminal are : 

 first, to make the punishment fit the 

 crime ; second, to make a deterrent ex- 

 ample for those who, without the fear 

 of consequences, would tend to the com- 

 mission of crime. It must be acknowl- 

 edged that on both these points the 

 Chinese methods are typical, and if the 

 criticism is made that many punish- 

 ments are inflicted out of all proportion 

 to the offense, it is wise to remember 

 episodes in our criminal history when 

 witches were hung, burned, and done to 

 death in various cruel ways. We can 

 remember when the theft of a loaf of 

 bread in England sent the victim across 

 seas a transport for life. Even in our 

 own enlightened land it has frequently 

 happened that the theft of a horse meant 

 death to the culprit. So it may be wise 

 not to criticise the Chinaman too harshly 

 for trying to punish the criminal and in- 

 still terror in the evil-doer at the same 

 time. 



In all literature on China and Japan 

 the subject of morality, and especially 

 what may be called sexual moralit}', oc- 

 cupies a due proportion of space, and its 

 discussion is of great interest, but a clear 



understanding of the subject requires a 

 more careful study of morality in the ab- 

 stract than most writers can bestow. 



In this, as in many other important 

 questions, much depends upon the point 

 of view, and it is very difficult indeed to 

 make a correct and comprehensible pre- 

 sentation of the point of view of the 

 Asiatic upon such a vital subject as 

 sexual morality. Generalization based 

 upon incomplete knowledge is mislead- 

 ing and dangerous, and in connection 

 with this question rests the real status 

 of woman in China and Japan, a sub- 

 ject much too intricate to be presented 

 in the pages of this Magazine. 



Perhaps in no single direction do the 

 Chinese differ more from their Japanese 

 neighbors than in the official position of 

 woman. In China a man's wife is of 

 little moment in the public or, more 

 properly, the outdoor life of her husband. 

 She seldom appears on the street, she 

 has no male visitors presented to her, 

 and so far is this effacement carried that 

 to inquire after a wife is regarded as near 

 akin to an insult to the husband. 



On the other hand, however, it is as- 

 serted by old residents in China that in 

 matters of family economy, finance, 

 politics, and the conduct of affairs the 

 woman of the house has a wide range 

 of influence, and in spite of the fact that 

 female education is not recognized as 

 existent, a wife generally manages to 

 have her .say in matters of interest con- 

 nected with the family. 



In Japan, women, girls, and children 

 are ver}' much in evidence, and the con- 

 sideration with which women are treated, 

 the respect shown them in public and 

 private, and the freedom enjoyed by' 

 the women of this remarkable country 

 are in marked contrast with the practice 

 in all other eastern lands. 



Woman in Dai Nippon enjoys, so far 

 as can be understood by observation and 

 inquiry, precisely the same status as her 

 brother ; has the same freedom from 

 social restraints, has the same " right 



