sition of women in China today, and the rules which govern the
household of every orthodox Chinese, are the direct heritage of
Confucianism. The following translation by Professor J. Legge from the
_Narratives of the Confucian School_, chapter 26, is illuminating:

Confucius said: "Man is the representative of heaven and is supreme
over all things. Woman yields obedience to the instructions of man and
helps to carry out his principles. On this account she can determine
nothing of herself and is subject to the rule of the three obediences.

"(1) When young she must obey her father and her elder brother;

"(2) When married, she must obey her husband;

"(3) When her husband is dead she must obey her son.

"She may not think of marrying a second time. No instructions or orders
must issue from the harem. Women's business is simply the preparation
and supplying of drink and food. Beyond the threshold of her apartments
she shall not be known for evil or for good. She may not cross the
boundaries of a state to attend a funeral. She may take no steps on her
own motive and may come to no conclusion on her own deliberation."

The grounds for divorce as stated by Confucius are:

"(1) Disobedience to her husband's parents;

"(2) Not giving birth to a son;

"(3) Dissolute conduct;

"(4) Jealousy of her husband's attentions (to the other inmates at his
harem);

"(5) Talkativeness, and

"(6) Thieving."

A Chinese bride owes implicit obedience to her mother-in-law, and as she is
often reared by her husband's family, or else married to him as a mere
child, and is under the complete control of his mother for a considerable
period of her existence, her life in many instances is one of intolerable
misery. There is generally little or no consideration for a girl under the
best of circumstances until she becomes the mother of a male child; her
condition then improves but she approaches happiness only when she in turn
occupies the enviable position of mother-in-law.

It is difficult to imagine a life of greater dreariness and vacuity than
that of the average Chinese woman. Owing to her bound feet and resultant
helplessness, if she is not obliged to work she rarely stirs from the
narrow confinement of her courtyard, and perhaps in her entire life she may
not go a mile from the house to which she was brought a bride, except for
the periodical visit