CHAPTER XX.

CUTTINGS FROM THE AUTHOR'S NOTE-BOOK.

First impressions-Artistic effects-Taihoku, past and present-Woman's rights-The position of woman as mother-Woman a mere chattel-Ducks and drakes Birds and buffaloes-The pig lover-Methods of conveyance by land and sea-Athletics and colonization-Centres of social enjoyment -Chinese houses have their good points-Family arrangements-Formosa not an Eldorado.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

I FIRST set foot in Formosa on 7th June, 1904, having travelled by the Norwegian ss. Tonsberg, which made about twelve knots an hour. We reached Kelung about five o'clock in the afternoon and I immediately proceeded to the station. It seemed strange to find that most of the station officials were Formosans, with cues, and wearing dark blue cotton coats and socks, leggings, and straw sandals. The native postmen, too, all wore a similar dress. The station presented a scene of much good-natured confusion-crowds of natives talking loudly and rushing about here and there.

ARTISTIC EFFECTS.

Our train left for Taihoku at 6 P.M. On both sides of the railway native houses were to be seen, some apparently farmhouses, thatched with straw and surrounded with bamboo fences. The better class houses were roofed with red tiles, while those belonging, as we supposed, to the wealthy residents were further distinguished by front entrance gates, flanked by gatekeepers' lodges. All such buildings were built of some kind of red brick. The small side doors in the gate were painted green or blue, and the gate itself had a high roof not unlike the roof of an old Japanese castle, the whole in rather primitive style. The effect, however, was somewhat artistic, principally because

of the presence on all four sides of the house of evergreen shrubs resembling the ilex, except for saw-like spikes on both sides of the leaves. There were also low shrubs like azaleas, fresh and green as though trying to look their very best. Here and there, red flowers were to be seen growing out of the root of a certain plant, the leaves of which were so small as to be well-nigh invisible. I also caught sight of a tree very much like the rose mallow, with large red flowers rising boldly above the foliage, graceful and of majestic bearing, as if they and they alone were the acknowledged rulers over all other flowers. Queer trees and strange flowers indeed, on every one of which I was constrained to gaze with wonder! We could see, walking among the trees and flowers, barefooted natives, a loin-cloth their sole apparel, their copper-coloured skins plainly visible, carrying across their shoulders bamboo poles from each end of which hung several river fish. The whole scene reminded me of the pictures drawn in the period of Nanso1 (A.D. 1141-1278).

TAIHOKU, PAST AND PRESENT.

An hour's ride from Kelung brought me to Taihoku, the distance between these two ports being about the same as that between Tokyo and Yokohama. In spite of the fact that Taihoku was the last city in Formosa to be opened up, it was the seat of the Government when Liu Ming-chuan, the last Chinese Governor, was in office. The Governor-General's Office is here, and it now is the real centre of political and social life. The city is situated on the Tamsui River in the plain of the same name. The central portion, which now contains the Government offices and also the official residences, used to be surrounded by a wall twelve feet high and ten feet thick, built of stone and red brick. It could be entered through the four gates, one on each side-north, south, east and west.

The street, known as Daitone, runs north to the business quarter, where many English and American merchants reside. A street called Moko runs west for about two miles. It is on this street that most of the Chinese shops are to be found.

The city, like many other Chinese ones, was built after

1 Toba Sojo lived during this period, and he and his disciples distinguished themselves by painting comic pictures. (TRANSLATor.)

the fashion of a miniature walled-in provincial capital, the central and the most important portion being, so to speak, the citadel. At the time when our Government obtained possession of Formosa, there was much ground in the central part that was unbuilt on, being either under cultivation or else altogether unused. Indeed, the ground on which the GovernorGeneral's Office and the other official residences are built is said to have been formerly paddy fields. But now the old wall has been demolished, the old features of the city swept away, and the stones and bricks have been used for building a prison and other edifices, which give the city quite a European aspect.

Its sanitary conditions have been dwelt upon in another chapter. The regularly planned streets are wide and clean; and living is quite comfortable. In these respects it is superior to all but perhaps six or seven of the best known cities in Japan. Clearly, a new Formosa has appeared. Java has been called "The Public Park of the World," but if Formosa continues to progress as she is now doing she will, it seems to me, become "The Pleasure Garden of Japan" if not of the world.

WOMAN'S RIGHTS.

I had heard that the women of China were grievously oppressed, and I expected to find it the same in Formosa, but, after carefully investigating the facts, I have come to the conclusion that the Formosan women enjoy more freedom in many respects than is allowed to their sisters in China. The relations between the sexes prevailing in England are considerably modified in the colonies, the colonial women commanding more respect and the men becoming less masterful. In the same way, the practical morality which governs the home in China is modified in some degree in Formosa, owing it may be to the fact that in point of numbers the Chinese men in the island greatly exceed the women.

According to Confucius, there are seven grounds on which a man may divorce his wife. They are: disobedience, barrenness, lewd conduct, jealousy, leprosy or any other foul and incurable disease, talking too much, and thievishness. These seven reasons for divorce cause the greater part of the suffering

which comes to women in China; but though this precept is often talked of, the general feeling in Formosa is that it would be unwise to enforce it. In Formosa a married woman can hold property, such as paddy fields, tea fields, etc., in her own name; she can dispose of it in any way she likes, and can leave it by will to one or all of her children just as she prefers. Judging from this, we must allow that the rights of women in Formosa have reached a high level.

THE POSITION OF WOMAN AS MOTHER.

On one occasion I met a Formosan gentleman, and said: "People in Western countries assert that the Chinese women have no rights whatever. At the same time, I have heard from other sources that the women are treated with proper respect, it being understood that if a man respects his home he will also respect his wife. Not knowing myself how it is here in Formosa, I wish you would tell me which is true." He answered: "There is a measure of truth in both ideas; in fact, the actual condition of our women is a sort of compromise between the two. It is quite true that in Formosa, as in China, the rights allowed to women are in the eyes of the law very limited; but, on the other hand, there is in the home a distinct sphere in which the man must of necessity yield to the woman. This gave rise to the idea that women had certain rights.

"But even these limited rights are denied to unmarried women. They are absolutely under their parents' control and have no rights whatever. The married women are differently situated, especially when they become old and have a number of children. They, then, have a good deal of authority which cannot be taken from them, because in them the rights of the woman are united with the rights of the mother."

This, however, seemed to me to be a one-sided view.

WOMAN A MERE CHATTEL.

I have said that Formosan women have more or less freedom, but this freedom is useless, because under certain circumstances the husband has the right to sell his own wife. For instance, if she be disobedient to her father-in-law or unfaith

ful to her husband. In case of disobedience, the husband must divorce her, and he is at liberty to sell her if her own father fail to redeem her. In case of unfaithfulness, if the husband does not act, the Chinese officials can take his place and sell her by auction to the highest bidder. In case the wife deserts her husband, the husband may sell her to any one he likes. The husband is also allowed to sell his wife on account of poverty. In this case, however, the wife's consent is required.

Worse than this, the husband sometimes lives on the proceeds of his wife's prostitution. This is called the "Halfclosed Gate" (Imperfect Home). Again, the husband may be the principal consort, and by public agreement allow his wife to live with another man who supplies funds for the support of all three. This man, who in reality hires the woman, is called the "Guest Husband," and goes through a kind of secondary marriage with her.

These immoral practices are the result of considering wives simply as chattels, to be bought and sold at will. This idea appears to have originated in the fact that in arranging the marriage of a daughter the parents do not take her happiness into consideration, but only how much money they can obtain for her.

When arranging a son's marriage, the first thing his parents do is to send some money to the girl's parents. This is the general custom in good families and is called "Buying the woman outright". The lowest amount thus sent is sixty yen, but more often two or three hundred yen, and occasionally as much as eight or even nine hundred yen is paid. This is the legal method of marrying grown women, but sometimes the parents adopt another plan. They obtain a girl of eight or nine and bring her up as their son's wife, but even in this case they are obliged to pay for the girl.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the husband, having purchased the girl's body with money just like any other piece of merchandise, should regard it as such, and consider himself free to resell it whenever it suits his purpose.

It is noteworthy that most of the women in the Formosan prisons are there for murder, or attempted murder, of their husbands, the crime being the outcome of adultery, or having been committed in a fit of mad revolt against a loveless and