Although the separation of the two sexes has raised the standard of morality, it has retarded economic development. Montesquieu says:

The society of the fair sex spoils the manners and forms the taste; the desire of giving greater pleasure than others establishes the embellishments of dress; and the desire of pleasing others more than ourselves gives rise to fashions. This fashion is a subject of importance; by encouraging a trifling turn of mind, it continually increases the branches of its commerce.'

From this statement of Montesquieu, we may understand why the economic condition of China has been stationary for so long a time. The chief reason for it is that the Chinese woman has been separated from the man, so that social life is dry and commercial development slow. Setting aside the question of right and wrong, woman is, indeed, the spice of society, and the promoter of economic progress. But the ancient Chinese, although they might have realized the economic advantage of letting woman share society with man, were afraid of the moral disadvantage, her possible loss of chastity.

We must understand, however, that the separation of the sexes does not mean that woman is not the equal of man. Of course, in a paternal society, woman inevitably suffers many disadvantages. But, as far as the separation is concerned, woman is equal to man. Though women cannot join the social gatherings of men, and so lose a great amount of social pleasure, on the other hand, men cannot share the social gatherings of women, and they, too, suffer the loss of such social pleasure. On this point, man never can have more privileges than woman,

1Spirit of Laws, vol. i, p. 318. Bohn's Library, George Bell & Sons, 1906.

although he belongs to the more fortunate sex and may enjoy some things which woman cannot have. Thus, the fundamental principle of equality is not altered by the separation.

Third, we shall see that Confucius has sanctioned the social intercourse of man and woman. According to his tsing tien system, during the winter, from the tenth month to the first, men and women should work together at weaving in the same street from evening to midnight. This is an extremely unusual example of the commingling of the sexes and the promotion of social intercourse. Moreover, during these four months, whenever men and women have any dissatisfaction, the two sexes may sing together to express their discontent.' This affords great freedom of social contact of the two sexes.

Again, according to the principles of Spring and Autumn, the queen and princess must have teachers and nurses. The teachers, who are selected from the old great officials, look after their conduct. The nurses, who are selected from the wives of the great officials, look after their physical welfare. This principle is quite significant. As soon as the old great officials can be selected as the teachers of the queen and princess, the separation of men and women is destroyed. Therefore, separation is not the ideal of Confucius, but only a necessary custom for the time being.

Fourth, the political rights of woman are given to her by Confucius, and these rights are indicated in the instance of holding office. This principle is one of the most valuable things mentioned in the Spring and Autumn. Under the tsing tien system of Confucius, if the women have no children at the age of fifty, they are to be given clothes and food by the government; and they are to be appointed

'The Annotation of Kung-yang, 15th year of Duke Hsüan. 230th year of Duke Hsiang.

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commissioners for the collection of poetry from the people.1 This shows that Confucius thinks that women are qualified to hold government office. Since the commission of collecting poetry is equal to the imperial commission of to-day, it is quite different from inferior service. Moreover, it implies that the education of women should be very high, otherwise they could not take the office and could not understand poetry. This principle will have great importance in the future.

Fifth, we may learn that the absolute independence of woman is the final stage of the doctrine of Confucius. We have already seen that in the Great Similarity there is no marriage, but we shall discuss this more fully here. The stage of Small Tranquillity accepts all the present institutions, but that of Great Similarity does not. The fundamental difference between these two stages is the independence of woman, and it forms the basis for the changes from Small Tranquillity to Great Similarity. Therefore, in the Small Tranquillity, Confucius mentions all the family relations, such as father and son, brothers, husband and wife. But, in the Great Similarity, he does not mention them at all, and says that "men do not regard as their parents only their own parents, nor treat as their children only their own children." Here Confucius does not use the words husband and wife, but uses the words man and woman. "Each man has his rights, and each woman her individuality safeguarded," are the two fundamental bases of Great Similarity. But how can this be? It is simply that they have to abolish the institution of marriage.

What Confucius means by " each woman has her individuality safeguarded" is that she is not the wife of any man. She has her individual personality, and in all things

115th year of Duke Hsüan.

depends upon herself. She does not lose any individuality on account of sexual relations to man. When she loves a man, it is simply like the act of shaking hands or dancing with a man, and she does not become the property of man. Kang Yu-wei, in the fifth book of his Book on the Great Similarity,' has given a very good explanation of this principle. His theory is something like this. The institution of marriage is changed to a legal agreement of love, and the names of husband and wife are abolished. Such an agreement must be limited to a certain length of time. When it expires, the contracting parties may either dissolve immediately, or renew it successively until the end of their life, or dissolve first and renew it again in later times. In fact, there is perfect freedom for them to do what they want in accordance with their true love. The time limit of an agreement is not longer than one year, nor shorter than one month.

If the tie of marriage is destroyed, however, the functions of the family must be handed over to the state. Therefore, the sixth book treats of the substitution of the state for the family. In the Great Similarity, the state is a world republic. All the people are cared for by the state. As soon as a woman is pregnant, she must go to the "school of gestatory education" in order to teach the child before he is born. At the age of twenty, the child's education is completed, and he is independent and may go his own way. After the age of sixty, he can live in the "house of old age" until he dies. Indeed, the state is the large family for everybody. Only in this way can woman get absolute independence.

Apart from the doctrine of Great Similarity given by Confucius, the ancient Chinese never talked of the abolition.

'This book has not been published yet, but Kang Yu-wei kindly sent the author a duplicate of the manuscript.

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of marriage. The only exception to this was Lieh Tzu, a philosopher in the period of Warring States. He describes a Utopian state called Extreme North, where everything is very happy and pleasant. As to the social relations, he gives the following four sentences: "The old and young live equally; there is no ruler, nor minister. The men and women ramble together; there is no matchmaker, nor engagement. This is a picture somewhat like that of the Great Similarity.

In conclusion, the position of woman is this: fundamentally woman is the equal of man. But, in the Disorderly Stage, the separation of the two sexes is advisable; in the Advancing Peace Stage, social intercourse between the sexes is suitable; in the Extreme Peace Stage, the absolute independence of woman is most lovely and just. All these are harmonious with the doctrine of the Three Stages of Confucius.

1 Bk. v.