DH
memorandum. (for the use
زبرگر
$89.56h. 26.4.
M Ellis
Si E Grindle n M'Ormely
on 29 Seente, 4 State. Me/5
for
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the S. off. if que insaised on the Co. vote).(
MUI-TSAI
36
98
The
The traditional Chinese custom of Mui Tsa; common in some form or other to all parts of China,
has existed in the social fabric of Chinese life
in the Colony of Hong Kong. It arises out of two
causes, first the religion of China - ancestor
worship with the duty of preserving it in the hands of the male succession exclusively and secondly, the poverty of the vast majority of the population of China From the first cause arises the desire of Chinese parents to have as many male children as possible and from the second arises
the need to dispose of the female children.
Chinese custom of Mui Tsai has, in the course of
ages, been established for the disposal of such
girl children into domestic service and this is
of the girl effected by a formal transfer (deed of gift) to the employer. These deeds take many forms down to the most illiterate and have little in common
beyond the use of the word "sung" (a present) and
the avoidance of the word "mai" (sell). In theory
parents do not lose all control over the destinies
of the daughter on her becoming a Mui Tsai unless (and the custom is not common among girls) she is formally and fully adopted. The Mui Tsai is set
to ordinary domestic duties in her employer's
household and it is a recognised part of the custom
amongst Chinese that the employer is supposed in
due course to assist in finding her a suitable
husband.
Such briefly is the custom, in itself not a
form of slavery at all, but much more akin to
adoption. At its worst it is recognised that it is open to abuses which undoubtedly exist.
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