Alexander, William (2)
(getauft 1742-ca. 1788) : Englischer Arzt, Schriftsteller
Subjects
Index of Names : Occident
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Literature : Occident : Great Britain
Chronology Entries (1)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1779 |
Alexander, William. The history of women [ID D27259]. A native of China, who lately resided some years in England, acknowleged, that, for some time after he arrived here, he had much difficulty in restraining himself from attacking every women with whom he was left alone ; and a Nun, who had escaped from a convent, imagined that every man who had an opportunity would assault her virtue… We have seen that in France and Italy, which are reckoned the politest countries in Europe, women set themselves above shame and despise delicacy ; but in China, one of the politest countries in Asia, and perhaps not even in this respect behind France or Italy, the case is quite otherwise : no being can be so delicate as a woman ; in her dress, in her behaviour and conversation ; and should she ever happen to be exposed in any unbecoming manner, she feels with the greatest poignancy the awkwardness of her situation, and if possible covers her face that she may not be known… Such has always been the constitution of human nature, and mode of governing that the legislators of every country, except China, have constantly held out terrors to hinder from the commission of vice, but seldom or never offered rewards for the practice of virtue… The Chinese not only punish vice as in other countries, but to several of the more exalted virtues, they annex honorary, and even sometimes pecuniary rewards… The art of spinning, one of the most useful that ever was invented, is, by all antiquity, ascribed to women : the Egyptians give the honour of it to Isis ; the Chinese, to the consort of their emperor Yao… Some tribes of the Asiatic Tartars are of the same opinion with this reverend gentleman. 'Women, say they, were sent into the world only to be our servants, and propagate the species, the only purposes to which their natures are adapted' ; on this account their women are no sooner past child-bearing, than believing that they have accomplished the design of their creation, the men no farther cohabit with, or regard them. The ancient Chinese carried this idea still farther ; women, according to some of them, were the most wicked and malevolent of all the beings which had been created ; and a few of their ancient philosophers advised, that on this account they ought always to be put to death as soon as past child-bearing, as they could then be of no farther use, and only contributed to the disturbance of society… The ancient annals of China inform us, that Tchinfang, one of their first kings, taught them to prepare the skins of animals for garments, by taking off the hair with a wooden roller ; but even after the skins of animals were, by the various methods practised in different countries, rendered something more convenient, they were not naturally adapted to form a neat and commodious covering for the human body… The Abbe Lambert, in his account of the manners and customs of the East, observes of the Chinese women, that though they are certain that they can be seen by none but their female domestics, yet they every morning pass several hours in dressing and adorning themselves. Though the Chinese are perhaps the most regularly oeconomical people on the globe, yet the dress of their women, and particularly the ornaments of their heads, are strong instances of that love of finery and show which has ever prevailed in the East. The head-dress of their ladies commonly consists of several ringlets of hair variously disposed, and every where ornamented with small bunches of gold or silver flowers. Some of them adorn their heads with the figure of a fabulous bird made of gold or silver, according to the quality of the person, which has a grotesque though magnificent appearance. Ladies of the first rank sometimes have several of those birds fastened together so as to form the figure of a crown, the workmanship of which is exquisitely curious. Young ladies generally wear a kind of crown made of pasteboard, covered with silk, and ornamented with pearls, diamonds, and other jewels ; and on the top of the head a bunch of flowers, either natural or artificial, in the middle of which is stuck small wires with sparking jewels fastened on their points. Such is the attention these women pay to the dress of their heads, though secluded from all communication with the greater part of that sex whom they would naturally wish to please by it. The dress of their bodies is of all others the most clumsy and inelegant, though often made of the richest materials, and decorated, or rather loaded, with the most costly ornaments ; our readers, however, will form a better idea of it by looking at a Chinese figure, than we could convey by the most laboured description. The Chinese, a phlegmatic kind of people, fell an adulteress for a slave… The negroes purchase their wives, and turn them away when they think proper ; in China and Monomatapa, they observe the same custom… Widows are not, however, in all parts of Asia treated in this indignant manner. In China, if they have had children, they become absolute mistresses of themselves, and their relations have no power to compel them to continue widows, or to give them to another husband. It is not, however, reputable for a widow who has children, to enter into a second marriage, without great necessity, especially if she is a woman of distinction ; in which case, although she has been a wife only a few hours, or barely contracted, she frequently thinks herself obliged to pass the rest of her days in widowhood ; and thereby to testify to the world the esteem and veneration she had for her husband or lover. In the middle stations of life, the relations of the deceased husbands, eager to reimburse the family in the sum which the wife originally cost is, oblige her to marry, or rather fell her to another husband, if she has no male issue ; and it frequently happens, that the future husband is fixed upon, and the money paid for her, before she is acquainted with the transaction. From this oppression she has only two methods of delivering herself ; her relations may reimburse those of the deceased husband, and claim her exemption ; or she may become a Bonzesse ; a state, however, not very honourable, when embraced in an involuntary manner. By the law of China, a widow cannot be sold to another till the time of her mourning for the first expires ; so eager, however, are the friends often to dispose of her, that they pay no regard to this law ; but on complaint being made to a mandarin, he is obliged to do her justice. As she is commonly unwilling to be bartered for in this manner, without her consent or knowledge, as soon as the bargain is struck, a covered chair, with a considerable number of lusty fellows, is brought to her house ; she is forcibly put into it, and conveyed to the house of her new husband, who takes care to secure her. |
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Bibliography (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1779 |
Alexander, William. The history of women, from the earliest antiquity, to the present time giving some account of almost every interesting particular concerning that sex, among all nations, ancient and modern. Vol. 1-2. (London : Printed for W. Strahan, and T. Cadell, 1779). https://archive.org/details/historyofwomenfr01alex/page/n9. https://books.google.ch/books/about/The_History_of_Women_from_the_Earliest_A.html?id=8j0pAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y. |
Publication / AlexW1 |
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