The only persons exempted from this Chinese method of improving
their beauty are girls of the lowest class - that is, those who live
in boats; in families of rank they are all subject to the same fate;
while in those of the middle classes, as a general rule, it is
limited to the eldest daughter.
The worth of a bride is reckoned by the smallness of her feet.
This process of mutilation is not commenced immediately the child is
born, but is deferred until the end of the first, or sometimes even
third year, nor is the foot after the operation forced into an iron
shoe, as many have affirmed, but merely firmly compressed with
bandages.
The religion of the Chinese allows them to have a number of wives,
but in this respect they are far behind the Mahomedans. The richest
have rarely more than from six to twelve, while poor persons content
themselves with one.
I visited during my stay in Canton as many workshops of the
different artists as I could. My first visit was to the most
celebrated painters, and I must frankly own, that the vividness and
splendour of their colouring struck me exceedingly.
