2.
68
(a)
The mui-tsai was to be considered as a member of
the family. The word "ui-tsai" translated literally into English is "little sister", a polite term for servant girls.
This name in itself shows that the mui-tsai was expected to
be treated properly and, as a matter of fact, she occupied a better position in the family than did a paid servant.
(b)
The master or mistress was responsible for the care of her person, food, clothing and for medical attendance in
the case of illness.
(၁)
If the master or mistress sold a mui-tsai for prostitution, he or she was liable to severe punishment under the Chinese law concerning the sale of girls for prostitution. (d) When a mui-tsai was old enough to be married, it was expected of her master or mistress that they would see that she was properly married to be a wife or a concubine, as the
case might be.
(e) On the marriage of a mui-tsai, if her parents were then living, the master or mistress would notify the fact to the parents, and if the parents so desired they would associate with her husband's family as if she had been married by her parents, and the responsibility of the master or mistress would end. But if the mui-tsai had no parents living, the responsibility of the master or mistress still continued and she would be treated in her master's house as a "quasi daughter" and her husband would be treated as a "quasi son-in-law". Consequently, for a mui-tsai to elope
with a man without being properly married under the auspices of her master or mistress was deemed to be a disgrace to the family of the master or mistress. This disgrace might not be felt as strongly as in the case of a daughter of the house, but was nevertheless considered by the Chinese to be a loss of "face". In the case of a paid servant, no such stigma attached to the family.
(f)