ny religious basis. The tribesman comes and lays himself at the feet of
the missionary, and says at once, "I do not know. Tell me, and I will
follow you. I want to learn." That is why it is that the Chinese stand
open-eyed and open-mouthed when they see the Miao making strides
altogether impossible to themselves, in proportion to their standard of
civilization, and this position of things will not be altered, unless
they cease to deceive themselves. I have seen a Miao boy of nine who
never in his life had seen a Chinese character, who did not know that
school existed and, whose only tutoring depended on the week's visit of
the missionary twice a year. I have seen this youngster read off a sheet
of Chinese characters no Chinese boy of his age in the whole city would
succeed in. I have not been brought into contact with any other tribe as
I have with the Hua Miao.[1]

But if the progress this once-despised people are making is maintained,
the Yuen-nanese will very soon be left behind in the matter of practical
scholarship. These Miao live the simplest of simple lives, but they wish
to become better--to live purer lives, to become civilized, to be
uplifted; and therefore they are most humble, most approachable, and are
slowly evolving into a happy position of proud independence. Education
among the Hua Miao is not lost: among the Chinese much of the labor put
forward in endeavors to educate them is lost, or seems to bear no
immediate fruit. The Miao are living by confidence and hope that turns
towards the future; the Yuen-nanese are content with their confidence in
the past. The Miao, however, were not like this always--but a few years
ago they were not heard of outside China.

The coming emancipation of their women, demands some attention. The few
Europeans who have lived among the multitudes in Central China would not
associate beds of roses with the lives of the women anywhere.

The daughter is seldom happy, and unless the wife present her husband
with sons, who will perpetuate the father's name and burn incense at his
tablet after his death, her life is more often than not made absolutely
unbearable--a fact more than any other one thing responsible for the
numerous suicides. She is the drudge, the slave of the man. And the
popular belief is that all the women of the Middle Kingdom are
essentially Chinese; but little is heard of the tribespeople--more
numerous probably than in any other given area in all the world--who