Rome under Justinian, adulteresses, as in some instances in the present day in China, were scourged.

Before passing from the subject of this chapter, which I do with a sense of relief, I must not omit to add that the crime of adultery is regarded by the Chinese as more heinous when it is committed between persons who bear the same surname.

CHAPTER IX.

PARENTS AND CHILDREN.

THE birth of a child, like every other important social event in China, sets a long train of observances in motion. So soon as the midwife's care begins-for the Chinese consider that the obstetric art ought only to be practised by females1-some of the members of the family engage in the worship of Kum-Fa. In cases of severe labour, a Taouist priest is called in, who repeats certain prayers, and traces a mystic character with a new pen upon a piece of yellow paper. The scroll is burned, and the ashes of it are given to the patient in a cup of water. So soon as the child is born, the exact hour is noted, to enable the fortune-teller to cast its horoscope. The midwife puts the umbilical cord into an urn containing charcoal ashes, which is carefully sealed and kept. At the end of ten years, it is usually thrown away; but in some cases it is kept during the lifetime, and interred with the remains. Parents believe that if they were to commit any portion of the body to the ground, the interment of the child would soon follow. Should the child die shortly after birth, it is customary to expose the urn on a neighbouring hill, or in a cemetery. I have occasionally stumbled upon such urns in my walks near Canton,

1 There are a few accoucheurs in China, men who have resorted to this means of livelihood in their old age; but, as a rule, midwives are employed.

2 Sometimes the umbilical cord is baked, and given in the form of a powder to the infant as an antidote against small-pox. Several years ago a physician in Szechuen wrote a treatise recommending its use in this way.

made on the spot, that the poor woman had gone from home for two or three hours during the evening in question, to witness a religious festival. On her return her husband accused her of unfaithfulness, and, binding her hand and foot, deliberately flogged her to death. When I entered the house on the following day, I found the almost naked corpse of the poor woman stretched on the floor. It presented a very sad spectacle, the whole body, more especially the head, face, and shoulders, being very much lacerated. The mother of the murdered lady had stationed herself outside, on the opposite quarter of the street; and, in a state of frenzy, she continued to speak to the passersby of the brutal conduct of her son-in-law for several hours. The murderer was taken to prison, but not so much, I apprehend, in the character of a prisoner, as of one from whom the authorities were simply anxious to obtain an explanation of the circumstances attendant on the violent death of his wife. I was present at the police court when the wretch was undergoing his examination, and was not a little astonished when his discharge from further confinement was ordered by the magistrate.

Where a wife is taken by her husband in the act of adultery, the law authorizes him then and there to put the adulterer and adulteress to death. The law, however, is also very positive in directing that, if he shed blood, he must kill both of the offending parties. If, while putting one of the guilty couple to death, he were to show mercy to the other, the deed would not be distinguishable from murder, and he would be tried for this crime before the head tribunal of his native district. For should he kill the adulteress only, her nearest friends and relatives would decline to receive his bare assertion as valid evidence regarding the occasion of her death, and would demand his execution as a murderer. Were he, on the other hand, to kill the adulterer only, the relatives and friends of the latter would become his prosecutors.

A further condition is, that the husband shall receive no assistance in putting the guilty couple to death. Were he to do so, the person or persons assisting him would thereby render themselves liable to a charge of murder. There can be little

VIII.]

SUMMARY VENGEANCE.

225

doubt, however, that in nearly all such cases the event is premeditated, and friends of the husband are in ambush with the view of rendering assistance if necessary. The manner in which a tea merchant in Canton avenged himself upon his second wife and her paramour, presents a case in point. The merchant, whose name was Suen Lu, had reason to suspect that there was a liaison between Achaong, his second wife, a young woman of great beauty, and his adopted son, a young man called Wong aWan. On one occasion, therefore, Suen Lu took leave of his family, setting forth that it was his intention to proceed on a journey to the neighbouring province of Kwang-si, of which he was a native. Before leaving, however, he entered into an arrangement with two servants-whom he could trust-that, should the ruse deceive the guilty couple, they should place a long stick of burning incense at the front door. The signal was given, and the aggrieved husband, rushing into the chamber, slew with his own hands, it was declared, both Achaong and her paramour. On the occasion, however, of a visit to the residence of the merchant, I was distinctly told by a member of the family that the deed of blood was not effected by Suen Lu himself, but by the two servants. Suen Lu was taken before the magistrates in order that he might give an explanation of his conduct, and receive, not a sentence of death, but, as is usual on such occasions, the present of a roll of red cloth together with 20,000 cash. At the same time a nominal punishment of twenty blows was inflicted upon him to expel the murderous spirit from his breast. During my residence at Canton, two or three cases of a similar nature came under my notice.

1

This summary vengeance-slaying the guilty with their "crimes broad blown "-is not confined to the southern province of Kwangtung. The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal for July 1860 records a case which occurred in that year at Tientsin. In the course of the article the following remarks are made with respect to the point we have just been discussing:

It is affirmed that the husband did not avenge himself unassisted. According to some, his son, aged fifteen or sixteen years, urged him, and even assisted him, to put to death the

VOL. I.

Q

guilty persons. It is said the lad himself killed his own mother, and then told his father to cut off her head. Others believe that the husband's brothers aided him in his revenge. All agree in stating that nowadays the magistrate never thoroughly investigates the circumstances of a case of adultery and deaths, but, in order to save himself trouble, readily believes the assertions of the aggrieved husband who presents himself with two heads for his inspection. Many years ago a man, who brought two heads to the magistrate's office, and affirmed them to be those of his wife and her lover, in reply to the question whether he had any one to aid him in killing and beheading the parties, frankly admitted that he did receive assistance. Thereupon the individual who he said aided him, was arrested and prosecuted. After that, the husband, in every similar case in this place, has promptly denied having any assistance. It simplifies matters very much to believe undoubtedly everything that the wronged husband affirms in regard to the killing and beheading. While every one believes that one man could not slaughter two persons there is no official recognition of such an impossibility, and the investigation of the circumstances is just as superficial as the public form, or method of procedure, will allow. The husband is regarded in law and in public sentiment as only having done his duty in putting to death the guilty. His character is above reproachful comment."

But Chinese husbands do not always resort in such cases to so vindictive a course. The aggrieved husband is frequently content to summon his servants, and keep the criminal pair prisoners in the chamber in which they have been taken until he has received payment on the part of the adulterer of a heavy fine. Should the latter not have the required sum at hand, a communication is forwarded either to his parents or guardians, or to his agents, requesting them to provide the amount in question without loss of time. If the money is not forthcoming on so short a notice, they are not unfrequently called upon to hand over the title deeds of their own, or of the offender's property, as security for the payment of the fine imposed. The husband who exacts a fine is, I believe, expected to condone the offence of his wife, although doubtless she only

The sword is the weapon which Chinese husbands generally use on such cccasions. Among the boat population of Canton the guilty couple are sometimes, I believe, bound together and flung into the river.