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Appen.
dix A.
3
(4) That no girl should be sold as a prostitute and this should apply to a
mui-tsai as much as to any girl.
(5) That by custom, when a mui-tsai is engaged to be married, if her parents be then living, the Master or Mistress should notify them of the fact and the circumstances attending thereto. If the parents desired to do so they would associate with the family of the girl's husband as if she had been married by them. In such a case the responsibility of the Master or Mis- tress would cease but if her parents be dead the girl, after her marriage. would be treated in her Master's house as a "quasi daughter" and her husband as a "quasi-son-in-law"; and all the thousand and one Chinese ceremonies relating to child birth and annual festivities etc., would be performed by and at the expense of the Mistress as a mother-in-law.
There is one point I omitted to mention in my memorandum to H.E. the Governor on the question of mui-tsai, that is (6) a mui-tsai wears mourning on the death of her Mas- ter or Mistress for the same period as that of a daughter. This is custom and is usually done but is not provided by law, as the law only prescribes the period of mourning of per- sons related to the deceased within the 5 degrees of consanguinity. This point is very important as it shows that a mui-tsai is treated by the Chinese as a foster-daughter.
Now I will proceed to answer the following questions.
Question 1.-Is the Document Exhibit "A" consistent with:-
(1) An intent that the child should be adopted as the daughter of first defen-
dant (Lei Wong Shi), or,
(2) An intent that the child should render to the first defendant services as a
domestic servant?
Or, is the document equally consistent with either such intention?
Answer: Exhibit "A" is the usual form of a document presenting a daughter to another family as a mui-tsai. With the explanation of the meaning and position of a mui- tsai in a family as above, a mui-tsai is neither an adopted daughter in the strict legal sense of the word "adoption" according to Chinese law, nor is she a domestic servant in the ordinary sense of a menial or paid servant. She is rather in the position of a foster- daughter liable to do such domestic service as a natural daughter might be called upon to do at any time. The amount or degree of household work to be performed by her de- pends entirely on the social position of the family to which she is attached. When there are plenty of paid servants in the house she is only called upon to do the very light kind of household duties. Therefore Exhibit "A" is equally consistent with the intentions of 1 and 2 in the question.
Question 2. Is it customary or usual among the Chinese to adopt daughters?
Answer: No. It is unusual to "adopt" daughters among the Chinese but they are in the habit of having foster-daughters. The word "adopt" has a special meaning in the Chinese law. There is only one kind of adoption in the Chinese law, that is, the adoption of an heir male (there is no such thing as a female heir in China) to carry on or continue the line of lineal descent for the purposes of ancestral worship. The law regulates the proper class of male persons to be adopted as an heir but no regulation exists to provide for the adoption of a daughter. To use the word adopt loosely and to apply it to females is rather misleading and confusing,
Question 3.-Would such adoption be usual for an elderly lady whose own only daughter had died? Would the fact that the lady had a son and several grandchildren affect the position?
Answer-To use the word "fostering". Yes. Particularly with old spinsters or old ladies whose children are all married-more so if the only daughter had died. The fact of having grand-children does not affect the position. The object of having a foster- daughter is so that the old lady might have some one constantly near her and that she might receive the little attentions, care and affection of some one like a daughter. When one foster-daughter is married, she would look for another.
Question 4.-If a daughter were to be adopted would it be customary or usual to adopt some female relative?
Answer-As answered in question 2 it is very unusual to adopt a daughter in the strict legal sense of the word. There is no object in adopting a daughter in the whole fabric of the Chinese Constitution. In the case of relatives, if the family of a relative be in affluent circumstances no daughter would be given to another man as an adopted or foster-daughter. If the parents of a relative be poor then they would ask compensation for "rice, ginger and vinegar money". If that happens, it at once places the child in the same position as a foster-daughter or mui-tsai. Besides, to adopt (using the word in a loose sense) a relative as a daughter one has to be very careful as she must be of a generation next below that of the adoptor, otherwise a person of a higher generation (that is, the Aunt Class) might inadvertently be made to become a daughter, which is punishable by law for upsetting the natural family relationship. With regard to strangers no such precaution is needed.
Question 5.--Would it be in accordance with custom to adopt the child of persons entirely unrelated to and unknown to the adoptive parent?
Answer: Yes. See answer 4.
Question 6.-Assuming that such an adoption was not contrary to custom, would the adopted child's surname be changed to that of the adoptive parent?
Answer: -As there is no legal adoption of a daughter in China, the change of surname is not absolutely necessary. Some do, however, and it all depends on the degree of attachment and affection between the adopter and the adopted.
Question 7.-Would it be in accordance with custom for the surname of a mui- tsai to be changed for that of its adoptive parent?
Answer:-A_mui-tsai is in the position of a foster-daughter and the answer to question 6 applies to this question.
Question 8.—Is it customary or usual in the case of bona fide adoption for a “rice, ginger and vinegar fee" to be paid to the child's parent by the adoptive parent?
Answer-As there is no legal adoption of a daughter in the same sense as that of an adoption of a son, it is usual in the case of a bona fide adoption of a foster-daughter for a rice, ginger and vinegar fee, to be paid to the child's parent by the adoptive parent.
Question 9.-Is such a fee ever or usually paid in the case of the adoption of a male child?
Answer: No. The adoption is done by law. The adoptive parent only decides the person to be adopted among the class of persons adoptable by law.
Question 10.-Is it customary or usual to insert in a document evidencing a trans- action of adoption double the amount actually paid for a "rice, ginger and vinegar fee?" Answer: No. The fee paid in such cases is nominal and not the ascertained ex-
penses.
Question 11.-Is it customary or usual in the case of bona fide adoption to have any document evidencing the transaction?
Answer: In the case of a bona fide adoption of a son, No. The announcement in the family of the decision of the adopter is sufficient. In the case of a bona fide adoption of a foster-daughter, Yes.
Question 12.-Is it customary or usual to stipulate that if the adopted child is found disobedient to instructions the adoptive parent shall have the right to present the child to any other person?
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