ely, the binding of their feet.
With the minds of her daughters cramped by ignorance, and their
feet crippled by the tyranny of an absurd fashion, China suffers an
immense loss, social and economic. Happily there are now indications
that the proposed enfranchisement will meet with general favour.
Lately I heard mandarins of high rank advocate this cause in the
hearing of a large concourse at Shanghai. They have given a pledge
that there shall be no more foot-binding in their families; and the
Dowager Empress came to the support of the cause with a hortatory
edict. As in this matter she dared not prohibit, she was limited to
persuasion and example. Tartar women have their powers of locomotion
unimpaired. Viceroy Chang denounced the fashion as tending to sap the
vigour of China's mothers; and he is reported to have suggested a
tax on small feet--in inverse proportion to their size, of course.
The leader in this movement, which bids fair to become national,
is Mrs. Archibald Little.

[Page 218]
The streets are patrolled by a well-dressed and well-armed police
force, in strong contrast with the ragged, negligent watchmen of
yore. The Chinese, it seems, are in earnest about mending their
ways. Their streets, in Peking and other cities, are undergoing
thorough repair--so that broughams and rickshaws are beginning to
take the place of carts and palanquins. A foreign style of building
is winning favour; and the adoption of foreign dress is talked of.
When these changes come, what will be left of this queer antique?

[Page 219]
CHAPTER XXX

VICEROY CHANG-A LEADER OF REFORM

_His Origin--Course as a Student--In the Censorate--He Floors a
Magnate--The First to Wake Up--As a Leader of Reform--The Awakening
of the Giant_

If I were writing of Chang, the Chinese giant, who overtopped the
tallest of his fellow-men by head and shoulders, I should be sure
of readers. Physical phenomena attract attention more than mental
or moral grandeur. Is it not because greatness in these higher
realms requires patient thought for due appreciation?

Chang, the viceroy of Hukwang, a giant in intellect and a hero in
achievement, is not a commonplace character. If my readers will
follow me, while I trace his rise and progress, not only will they
discover that he stands head and shoulders above most officials
of his rank, but they will gain important side-lights on great
events in recent history.

During my forty years' residence in the