[Suso]

classes of Chinese
prostitutes of Hong Kong and the prostitutes of Europe amount
therefore to this, that Chinese prostitution is essentially
a bargain in money and based on a national system of female
slavery."

"It must not be supposed, however, from what is said above, that
the Chinese, as a people, view prostitution as a matter of moral
indifference. On the contrary, the literature, the religions,
the laws and the public opinion of China, all join in condemning
prostitution as immoral, and in co-operation to keep it under a
certain check. The literature of the Confucianists, which, as
regards purity and utter absence of immoral suggestions, stands
unrivalled by any other nation in the world, does not countenance
prostitution in any form.... The laws and public opinion ... agree
in keeping prostitution rigidly out of sight. Although the Chinese
are a Pagan nation, they have no deification of vice in their
temples, no indecent shows in their theatres, no orgies in their
houses of public entertainment, no parading of lewd women in their
streets.... In short, as far as outward and public observation
goes, China presents a more virtuous appearance than most European
countries."

The report goes on to show that nevertheless the practice of polygamy,

"leaving the childless concubines liable to be sold or sent adrift
at any moment, the law of inheritance neglecting daughters in
favour of sons," and "the universal practice of buying and selling
females combined with the system of domestic servitude," makes
the suppression of prostitution difficult. "This intermixture of
female slavery with prostitution has been noticed in Hong Kong at
the very time when the Legislature first attempted to deal with
Chinese prostitution."

We now understand the nature of this wretched form of slavery as
carried on at Hong Kong. There did not exist a class of women brought
to the pi