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STYLE OF MARRIAGE PROCESSIONS.

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family, wooden dragons' heads, titular lanterns, and other official insignia, are borne in the procession, which with all these additions sometimes stretches along for a quarter of a mile or more. some cases, an old man, elegantly dressed, heads the procession, bearing a large umbrella to hold over the bride when she enters and leaves her sedan; behind him come bearers with tablets and lanterns, one of which bears the inscription, "The phoenixes sing harmoniously." To these succeed the music and the honorary tablets, titular flags, state umbrella, &c., and two stout men as executioners dressed in a fantastic manner, wearing long feathers in their caps, and lictors, chain-bearers, and other emblems of office. Parties of young lads, prettily dressed and playing on drums, gongs, and flutes, or carrying lanterns and banners, occasionally form a pleasing variety in the train, which is continued by the trays and covered tables containing the bride's trousseau, and ended with the sedan containing herself. The ceremonies attending her reception at her husband's house are not uniform. In some parts of the country, she is lifted out of the sedan, over a pan of charcoal placed in the court, and carried into her chamber. After a brief interval, she returns into the hall, bearing a tray of betel-nut for the guests, and then worships a pair of geese brought in the train with her husband, this bird being an emblem of conjugal affection. On returning to her chamber, the bridegroom follows her, and takes off the red veil, after which they pledge each other in wine; the cups being joined by a thread. While there, a matron who has borne several children to one husband comes in to pronounce a blessing upon them, and make up the nuptial bed. The assembled guests then sit down to the feast, and ply the sin lang, "new man" or bridegroom, pretty well with liquor; the Chinese on such occasions do not, however, often overpass the rules of sobriety. The sin fujin, "new lady" or bride, and her motherin-law also attend to those of her own sex who are present in other apartments, but among the poor a pleasanter sight is now and then seen in all the guests sitting at one table.

In the morning, the pair worship the ancestral tablets and salute all the members of the family. The pledging of the bride and groom in a cup of wine and their worship of the ancestral tablets, and in some cases a united prostration to his parents, may be considered as the important ceremonies of a wedding, after

the procession has reached the house. Marriage processions are held at all hours, though twilight and evening are considered the most propitious; and the spring season, or the last month in the year, are regarded as the most felicitous nuptial periods. From the way in which the whole matter is conducted, there is some room for deception by sending another person in the sedan than the one betrothed, or the man may mistake the name of the girl he wishes to marry. Mr. Smith mentions one of his acquaintances, who, having been captivated with a girl he saw in the street, sent a go-between with proposals to her parents, which were accepted; but he was deeply mortified on receiving his bride to find that he had mistaken the number of his charmer, and had received the fifth daughter instead of the fourth.

The Chinese do not marry another woman with these observances, while the first one is living, but they may bring home concubines with no other formality than a contract with her parents, though it is considered somewhat discreditable for a man to take another bedfellow, if his wife have borne him sons, unless he can afford each of them a separate establishment. It is not unfrequent for a man to secure a maidservant in the family with the consent of his wife, by purchasing her for a concubine, especially if his occupation frequently call him away from home, in which case he takes her as his travelling companion and leaves his wife in charge of the household. The fact that the sons of a concubine are considered as legally belonging to the wife, induces parents to betrothe their daughters early, and thus prevent their entering a man's family in this inferior capacity. The Chinese are sensible of the evils of a divided household, and the laws place its control in the hands of the wife. If she has no sons and heirs, for daughters are accounted as nothing in this case, she looks out for a likely boy among her clansmen to adopt, knowing that otherwise her husband will probably bring a concubine into the family. It is of course difficult even to guess at the extent of polygamy, for no statistics have or can be easily taken. Among the laboring classes, it is rare to find more than one woman to one man, but tradesmen, official persons, landholders, and those in easy circumstances, frequently take one or more concubines; perhaps two-fifths of such families have them. Show and fashion lead some to increase the number of their women, though aware of the discord likely to arise, for they

LAWS REGULATING MARRIAGES.

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fully believe their own proverb, That nine women out of ten are jealous; in a few instances, the multiplication of concubines seems to be ascribable to the wife, who wishes to have a larger number of servants and handmaids to rule over and assist her, or of children to support her. The Chinese illustrate the relation by comparing the wife to the moon and the concubines to the stars, both of which in their appropriate spheres wait upon and revolve around the sun.

If regard be had to the civilization of the Chinese, and their opportunities for moral training, the legal provisions of the Code to protect females in their acknowledged rights, and punish crimes against the peace and purity of the family relation, reflect credit upon their legislators. In these laws, the obligation of children to fulfil the contract made by their parents is enforced, even to the annulling of an agreement made by a son himself in ignorance of the arrangements of his parents. The position of the tsí, or wife taken by the prescribed formalities, and that of the tsieh, or women purchased as concubines without them, are accurately defined, and the degradation of the former or elevation of the latter so as to interchange their places, or the taking of a second tsí, are all illegal and void. The relation between the two is more like that which existed between Sarah and Hagar in Abraham's household, or Zilpah and Bilhah and their mistresses in Jacob's, than that indicated by the terms first and second wife. The degrees of unlawful marriages are comprehensive, extending even to the prohibition of persons having the same sing or family name, and to two brothers marrying sisters. The laws forbid the marriage of a brother's widow, of a father's or grandfather's wife, or a father's sister, under the penalty of death; and the like punishment is inflicted upon whoever seizes the wife or daughter of a freeman and carries them away to marry them.

These regulations not only put honor upon marriage, but render it more common among the Chinese than almost any other people, thereby preventing a vast train of evils. The tendency of unrestrained desire to throw down the barriers to the gratification of lust must not be lost sight of; and as no laws on this subject can be effectual unless the common sense of a people approve of them, the Chinese, by separating the sexes in general society, have removed a principal provocation.

to sin, and by compelling young men to fulfil the marriage contracts of their parents, have also provided a safeguard against debauchery at the age when youth is most tempted to indulge, and when indulgence would most strongly disincline them to marry at all. They have, moreover, provided for the undoubted succession of the inheritance by disallowing more than one wife; and yet have granted men the liberty they would otherwise take, and which immemorial usage in Asiatic countries has sanctioned. They have done as well as they could in regulating a difficult matter, and better on the whole perhaps than in most other unchristianized countries. If any one supposes, however, that because these laws exist, sins against the seventh commandment are uncommon in China, he will be as mistaken as those who infer that because the Chinese are pagans, nothing like modesty, purity, affection, or love exists between the sexes.

When a girl "spills the tea," that is, loses her intended husband by death, public opinion honors her if she refuse a second engagement; and instances are cited of young ladies committing suicide rather than contract a second marriage. They sometimes leave their father's house and live with the parents of their affianced husband as if they had been really widows. It is considered reproachful for widows to marry; though it may be that the instances quoted in books with so much praise only indicate how rare the practice is in reality. The widow is occasionally sold as a concubine by her fatherin-law, and the grief and contumely of her degradation is enhanced by separation from her children, whom she can no longer retain. Such cases are, however, not common, for the impulses of maternal affection are too strong to be thus trifled with, and widows usually look to their friends for support, or to their own exertions if their children be still young; and they are assisted too by their relatives in this laudable industry and A widower is not restrained by any laws, and weds one of his concubines or whoever he chooses; nor is he expected to defer the nuptials for any period of mourning for his first wife.

care.

The seven legal reasons for divorce, viz. barrenness, lasciviousness, jealousy, talkativeness, thievery, disobedience to her husband's parents, or leprosy, are almost nullified by the single provision that a woman cannot be put away whose parents are

PRIVILEGES AND POSITION OF WIVES AND WIDOWS. 63

not living to receive her back again. Parties can separate on mutual disagreement, but the Code does not regulate the alimony; and a husband is liable to punishment if he retain a wife convicted of adultery. If a wife merely elopes, she can be sold by her husband; but if she marry while absent, she is to be strangled; if the husband be absent three years, a woman must state her case to the magistrates before presuming to remarry. In regard to the condition of females in China, the remark of De Guignes is applicable, "that though their lot is less happy than that of their sisters in Europe, their ignorance of a better state renders their present or prospective one more supportable; happiness does not always consist in absolute enjoyment, but in the idea which we have formed of it."* She does not feel that any injustice is done her by depriving her of the right of assent as to whom shall be her partner; her wishes and her knowledge go no further than her domestic circle, and where she has been trained in her mother's apartments to the various duties and accomplishments of her sex, her removal to a husband's house is no great change.

This, however, is not always the case, and the power accorded to the husband over his wife and family is sometimes used with great tyranny. The young wife finds in her new home little of the sympathy and love her sisters in Christian lands receive. Her mother-in-law is not unfrequently the source of her greatest trials, and demands from her both the submission of a child and the labor of a slave, which is not seldom returned by bitter revilings. If the husband interfere, she has less likelihood of escaping his exactions; though in the lower walks of life, his cruelty is restrained by fear of losing her and her services, and in the upper diverted by a sort of indifference to what she does, in the pursuit of other objects. If the wife behave well till. she herself becomes a mother and a mother-in-law, from being a menial she then becomes almost a goddess. The Chinese moralist Luhchau, mentions an indirect mode of reproving a mother-in-law. "Loh Yang travelled seven years to improve himself, during which time his wife diligently served her mother-in-law, and supported her son at school. The poultry from a neighbor's house once wandered

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