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control over the destinies of their daughter who goes
out to work as a mui tsai unless (and the custom is not common among girls) she is formally and fully adopted.
In her employer's house the girl is set to ordinary domestic duties: she may have to do no more than attend on one of the daughters of the house, or
she may have a full share of the housework; but even
so the work will generally be less arduous than in
her parent's home, and will at least earn board • lodging, and clothing, and the chances of kindly treat-
ment will be no less than in a home where she is only
a very troublesome superfluity. As she grows up the custom is clear that the employer is supposed to
assist in finding a suitable husband: when married the
girl joins her husband's family in the usual custom with no stigma of slavery upon her.
The responsibility of the employers is by no means a dead letter, tho' the view taken of it ranges
from including proper attention to a mui tsai's
education to just her fair treatment as a domestic
servant; and neighbours are always ready to take more
careful notice of the treatment of a mui tsai than of
an own child. The custom gives obvious openings for abuse, and it is not surprising that advantage is
taken of them: but the efforts to suppress malpractices
and the prominence given to cases that are brought to
light can very easily strain perspective by obscuring
the wide background where the system is only beneficial
the
A
The statement is often seen that the mui tsai
custom is forbidden by law in China. The status of the
real
İ
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