CELESTIAL DOMESTICITY.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3939, 13 August 1881, Page 1

CELESTIAL DOMESTICITY.

The Chinese question is so agitating the public mind in Syduey that the Daily Telegraph has started a series of articles under the title of the " Mongolian In?asion," From one of them we take the following account of the method adopted by a Chinaman who resolves to import a wife :—" The Chinese women in Sydney are; as a rule well featured. They are pleasant-looking, and take pride in their personal appearance. The ' L lies of Delight,' as their cramped and crumpled feet are called, act as impediments to locomotion. They are always clad in splendid silken robes, and are resplendant with flashing jewels. With scarcely one exception these women are the wires of the lowest though wealthiest class of Mon-

Kolians.in Australia the Canton gamblers The next paragraph will describe how they are brought here, and the price of a Chinese woman. When a Chinaman accumulates some wealth, and cannot leave the Colony lie begins to consider what he had better do. Blase with the immorality which our city unfortunately offers too many opportunities for indulging in. He thinks of the ebon-haired, black-orbed, and. ochretinted daughters of the flowery Land. But he thinks of profit also. This is the modus operandi: A Chinaman when anxious to have, a wife of his own nation, sends a letter to an agent in Hankow. Your reporter has one of those epistles, but it is practically impossible to translate it into English. The following, however, is a condensed translation: 'I want a wife. She must be a maiden under 20 years of age. and must not have left her father's house. She must also never read a book, and her eyelashes must be half an inch in length. Her teeth must be as sparkling as the pearls of Ceylon. Her breath must be like unto the scents of the magnificent odorous groves of Jara, ond her attire must be from the silken weavers og KaLi-Ching, which are on the banks of the greatest river in the world — the overflowing Yang-tsiKiang." The price of a Chinese woman, delivered in Sydney is £38 ; but two only cost ±.52. Therefore, the heathen Chinese imports the women in couples. The importer never sees his women before they arrive, and then he generally selects the best-looking one .The other is shown round to a number of well-to-do Chinese, and after they have inspected her she is submitted to what may be called public auction. The writer happened to be present at one of these sales. A young girl, aged 19, was offered, and after some spirited biddings she was purchased by a wealthy Chinese storekeeper, whose place of business is in one of the leading towns of New South Wales, for £120. The melancholy aspect of the Celestial girl as she went away in company with the man who purchased her was deplorable to the last degree."