[39] Dawson, Australian Aborigines, p. 28.
In Nias the pregnancy of an unmarried girl is punished with death, inflicted not only upon her but upon the seducer as well.[40] Among the Bódo and Dhimáls of India chastity is prized in man and woman, married and unmarried.[41] Among the Tunguses “in irregular amours only the men are punished,” the seducer being obliged either to purchase the girl at a certain price or, if he refuses, to submit to corporal punishment.[42] Among the Thlinkets, “if unmarried women prove frail the partner of their guilt, if discovered, is bound to make reparation to the parents, soothing their wounded honour with handsome presents.”[43] In certain North American tribes the seducer is said to be viewed with even more contempt than the girl whom he has dishonoured.[44]
[40] Wilken, in Bijdragen tot de taal- land- en volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië, ser. v. vol. iv. 444.
[41] Hodgson, Miscellaneous Essays, i. 123.
[42] Georgi, op. cit. iii. 84.
[43] Douglas, quoted by Petroff, Report on Alaska, p. 177.
[44] Westermarck, op. cit. p. 66.
Passing to more advanced races, we find that chastity is regarded as a duty for unmarried women, whilst a different standard of morality is generally applied to men. “Confucianism,” says Mr. Griffis, “virtually admits two standards of morality, one for man, another for woman…. Chastity is a female virtue, it is a part of womanly duty, it has little or no relation to man personally.”[45] Yet it is held up as an ideal even to men. It is said that in youth, when the physical powers are not yet settled, the superior man guards against lust.[46] Though licentious in their habits, the Chinese exalt and dignify chastity as a means of bringing the soul and body nearer to the highest excellence;[47] one of their proverbs even maintains that “of the myriad vices, lust is the worst.”[48] Chastity for its own sake, when defended by a woman at the expense of her life, meets with a reward at the hands of the Government. “If a woman”—so the Ordinances run—“be compelled by her husband to prostitute herself for money, and takes her own life in order to preserve her chastity, or if an unmarried virgin loses her life in defending herself against violation, an honorary gate shall be erected in each case near the door of the paternal dwelling.”[49] According to the Chinese Penal Code, “criminal intercourse by mutual consent with an unmarried woman shall be punished with seventy blows,” whilst the punishment for such intercourse with a married woman is eighty blows.[50]
[45] Griffis, Religions of Japan, p. 149.
[46] Lun Yü, xvi. 7.