Christian missions and social progress; a sociological study of foreign missions . gh inChina and Korea the singular concession is made that she may be-come a concubine and yet escape those depths of disgrace into whichshe would fall by becoming a legitimate In Southern China thisduty of suicide has been performed in the presence of an applaudingcrowd, with spectacular If the unfortunate widow shouldshrink from the ordeal, it sometimes happens that the surviving friendsof her husband will force her to the performance of the rash InKorea substantially the same inexorab
Christian missions and social progress; a sociological study of foreign missions . gh inChina and Korea the singular concession is made that she may be-come a concubine and yet escape those depths of disgrace into whichshe would fall by becoming a legitimate In Southern China thisduty of suicide has been performed in the presence of an applaudingcrowd, with spectacular If the unfortunate widow shouldshrink from the ordeal, it sometimes happens that the surviving friendsof her husband will force her to the performance of the rash InKorea substantially the same inexorable etiquette prevails,9 althoughin India the abominations of sati10 have now been legally prohibited. 1 Griffis, Corea, p. 245. 2 Ball, Things Chinese, p. 487. 3 f&id., p. 488. 4 Williams, The Middle Kingdom, vol. 1., p. 793. 5 Douglas, Society in China, pp. 191-216. 6 Ball, Things Chinese, p. 488; Griffis, Corea, pp. 254, 255. 7 Douglas, Society in China, p. 217. 8 Ball, Things Chinese, p. 489. 9 Griffis, Corea, p. 255. 10 Often written suttee, but more correctly as s >. 2 £ * ; u a h THE SOCIAL EVILS OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD 109 If, however, her husband lives, she must be prepared to welcomeother women to share her conjugal rights, as he may desire; not, to besure, as legitimate wives, but as concubines. The same rule prevails inthis respect in China, Korea, and Japan,1 while in India and through-out the Mohammedan world there may be several legal wives. InAfrica the universal rule is as many wives as a man can purchase, andthe more he possesses the greater his social dignity. The position of aconcubine is often one of bitter bondage not only to the husband, butalso to the first or legal If the hour of divorce comes, as it oftendoes at the whim of the husband, nothing is easier than the destructionof all her legal rights by a cruel and arbitrary decree. There is oneuniversal rule in this matter throughout the non-Christian world. It isas quickly and irrev
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