Golden Lilies by Eileen Goudge

Author:Eileen Goudge [Goudge, Eileen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4532-2295-9
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

My daughter tossed her head and answered me that those were doubtless words of great wisdom, but they were written by a man long dead, and it did not affect her ideas upon the subject of her marriage.

We dare not insist, for we find, to our horror, that she has joined a band of girls who have made a vow, writing it with their blood, that—rather than become wives to husbands not of their own choice—they will cross the River of Death. Fifteen girls, all friends of my daughter, and all of whom have been studying the new education for women, have joined this sisterhood; and we, their mothers, are in despair. What can we do? Shall we insist that they return to the old regime and learn nothing but embroidery? Why can they not take what is best for Eastern woman from the learning of the West, as the bee selects honey from each flower, and leave the rest? It takes centuries of training to change the habits and thoughts of a nation. It cannot be done at once; our girls have not the foundation on which to build. Our womanhood has been trained by centuries of caressing care to look as lovely as nature allows, to learn obedience to father as a child, to husband as a wife, and to children when age comes with his frosty fingers.

Yet we all know that the last is a theory only to be read in books. Where is there one so autocratic in her own home as a Chinese mother? She lives within its four walls, but there she is supreme. Her sons obey her even when their hair is touched with silver. Did not your son have to ask your leave before he would decide that he could go with His Highness to the foreign lands? Did he not say frankly that he must consult his mother, and was he not honored and given permission to come to his home to have your blessing? Do you remember when Yuan was appointed secretary to the embassy in London, and declined the honor because his mother was old and did not wish her only son to journey overseas; he gave up willingly and cheerfully the one great opportunity of his life rather than bring sorrow to the one who bore him.

A similar case came to our ears but a few days ago. Some priests of a foreign mission came to my husband and wished him to intercede as governor and command the Taotai of Soochow to sell to them a piece of land on which to erect a temple of their faith. When the Taotai was asked why he was so persistent in his refusal, he told the governor that the temple where his mother worshiped was in a direct line with the proposed new foreign house of worship. His mother feared that a spire would be placed upon its rooftree that would intercept the good spirits of the air and keep them from bringing the blessings from the temple directly to her family rooftree.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.