WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
was established, with an empress as the sole wife, and a number of concubines.
The matriarchal influence is shown in the laws of inheritance. Lubbock and others state that property descends to the first-born child, whether a boy or a girl. A husband takes his wife's name when marrying an heiress; a wife assumes the name of an heir when she weds him. Husbands and wives stand as representatives of property.
Japanese marriage is undergoing changes, such as the granting of free choice to brides. But Mr. Douglas Sladen[1] tells us that women are far from sex-equality in Japan. Implicit obedience is enjoined upon women to fathers and husbands, and widows must obey the eldest son. The Japanese wife, in the view of this author, is simply a drudge for her spouse. Quoting from "The Daigaku Onna," Mr. Sladen writes:—
"The only qualities that befit a woman are gentle obedience, chastity, mercy, and quietness. … A woman should look upon her husband as if he were Heaven itself, and never weary of thinking how she may yield to her husband, and thus escape celestial castigation."
Also, the faults of women are "indocility, discontent, slander, jealousy, and silliness." It might be suggested that these are also the imperfections of men.
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