Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 June 1895 — A Chinese School. [ARTICLE]

A Chinese School.

A Chinese school in full swing is a rather noisy affair, and rather startling to one who has only been accustomed to the quiet of a well-regulated English schoolroom. Eaoh pupil studies continually aloud —very much aloud—and probably from a different book. Among the wealthy classes a boy's life is one long succession of examinations, ps his social position and political advancement will depend entirely upon the degree of scholarship to which he can prove he has attained. Chinese children spend a great deal of time with their parents, and it was my observation that the girls were as well treated, as much petted and as well cared for as the boys. The daughters of the rich are taught to take care of their personal appearance, great pride in their garments and jewels, and to dress their eyebrows a very important part of any Chinese feminine toilet among the mandarin and wealthiest classes. In a rich family the feet of the girls are generally bound, and the seven-year-old daughter of a red-buttoned mandarin, though she may sob and cry bitterly during the cruel operation, would resent it more bitterly if she were left to walk through life on feet of natural size.