[284] Or “Director of Studies.”
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[285] The Chinese distinguish five degrees of homicide, of which accidental homicide is one (see Penal Code, Book VI.) Thus, if a gun goes off of itself in a man’s hand and kills a bystander, the holder of the gun is guilty of homicide; but were the same gun lying on a table, it would be regarded as the will of Heaven. Similarly, a man is held responsible for any death caused by an animal belonging to him; though in such cases the affair can usually be hushed up by a money payment, no notice being taken of crimes in general unless at the instigation of a prosecutor, at whose will the case may be subsequently withdrawn. Where the circumstances are purely accidental, the law admits of a money compensation.
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[286] Women in China ride à califourchon.
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[287] Which, although tolerably stout and strong, is hardly capable of sustaining a man’s weight.
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[288] The Chinese acknowledge seven just causes for putting away a wife. (1) Bad behaviour towards the husband’s father and mother. (2) Adultery. (3) Jealousy. (4) Garrulity. (5) Theft. (6) Disease. (7) Barrenness. The right of divorce may not, however, be enforced if the husband’s father and mother have died since the marriage, as thus it would be inferred that the wife had served them well up to the time of their death; or if the husband has recently risen to wealth and power (hence the saying, “The wife of my poverty shall not go down from my hall”); or thirdly, if the wife’s parents and brothers are dead, and she has no home in which she can seek shelter.
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[289] This elegant simile is taken from a song ascribed to Pan Chieh-yü, a favourite of the Emperor Ch‘êng Ti of the Han dynasty, written when her influence with the Son of Heaven began to wane. I venture to reproduce it here.
“O fair white silk, fresh from the weaver’s loom;
Clear as the frost, bright as the winter’s snow!
See! friendship fashions out of thee a fan,
Round as the round moon shines in heaven above.