Understanding Management 8th Edition Daft Test Bank
Understanding Management 8th Edition Daft Test Bank
TRUE/FALSE
1. While Blockbuster has closed hundreds of stores and is likely to file for bankruptcy, Netflix expanded
its customer base to over 13 million.
2. Factors external to the organizations have been primarily the focus of management as a discipline.
3. The general environment and the task environment are the two layers of an organization's external
environment.
4. The outer layer, the general environment, is widely dispersed and affects organizations directly.
5. Customers and competitors are two important sectors of the economic dimension of a firm's general
environment.
6. Current employees, management, and especially corporate culture are part of an organization's internal
environment.
7. The international dimension of the external environment represents events originating in foreign
countries as well as opportunities for U.S. companies in other countries.
8. In recent years, the most dramatic change in the international environment is the shift of economic
power to Germany and France.
9. The technological dimension of the external environment includes scientific and technological
advancements in a specific industry as well as in society at large.
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10. The sociocultural dimension of the general environment includes societal norms and values.
11. The international dimension includes scientific and technological advancements in a specific industry
as well as in society at large.
12. According to Spotlight on Skills in Chapter 2, the Chinese concept of guanxi is a supportive, mutually
beneficial connection between two people.
13. According to Spotlight on Skills in Chapter 2, one of the rules of doing business in China is
remembering that relationships are short-term.
14. Economic problems in other parts of the world have a tremendous impact on U.S. companies.
15. The economic dimension of the general environment represents the demographic characteristics.
16. The economic dimension of the general environment includes consumer purchasing power.
17. An example of part of the legal-political dimension of the general environment is a government's
report on the decline of unemployment rate.
18. President Clinton's signing of the telecommunications bill in 1996 deregulating the industry is an
example of the legal-political dimension of the general environment.
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19. The task environmental dimension includes all elements that occur naturally on earth, including plants,
animals, rocks, and natural resources such as air, water, and climate.
20. Customers are the people and organizations in the environment who acquire goods or services from the
organization.
21. Recently, there has been strong concern about climate change such as global warming caused by
greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide.
22. McDonalds, Burger King, and Checkers are competitors since all three sell fast food to individuals.
23. The raw materials that organizations use to produce its outputs are provided by customers.
24. Other organizations in the same industry or type of business that provide goods or services to the same
set of customers are referred to as suppliers.
25. The labor market is made up by people in the environment who can be hired to work for an
organization.
26. If Johnson Lumber provides trees for Westvaco Paper Manufacturing, then Johnson Lumber is
considered a supplier for Westvaco.
28. An organization experiences high uncertainty when internal factors gradually change over time.
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band of music accompanied the Bramins, who superintended the ceremony.
The bower of death, enwreathed with sacred flowers, was erected over a
pile of sandal-wood and spices, on which lay the body of the deceased.
After various ceremonies, the music ceased, and the crowd in solemn
silence waited the arrival of the heroine. She was attended by her mother
and three lovely children, arrayed in rich attire, and wearing the hymeneal
crown. After a few religious ceremonies, the attendants took off her jewels,
and anointed her dishevelled hair with consecrated ghee, as also the skirts
of her yellow muslin robe. She then distributed her ornaments among
weeping friends, while two lisping infants clung around her knees to
dissuade her from the fatal purpose; the last pledge of conjugal love was
taken from her bosom by an aged parent in speechless agony. Freed from
these heart-piercing mourners, the lovely widow, with an air of solemn
majesty, received a lighted torch from the Bramins, with which she walked
seven times round the pyre. Stopping near the entrance of the bower, for the
last time she addressed the fire, and worshipped the other deities prescribed;
then setting fire to her hair and the skirts of her robe, to render herself the
only brand worthy of illuminating the sacred pile, she threw away the torch,
rushed into the bower, and embracing her husband, thus communicated the
flames to the surrounding branches. The musicians immediately struck up
the loudest strains, to drown the cries of the victim, should her courage have
forsaken her; but several of the spectators declared that the serenity of her
countenance and the dignity of her behavior surpassed all the sacrifices of a
similar nature they had ever witnessed.”
Such an event is deemed very glorious to the family of the victim, and
that of her husband. They are proud of her in proportion to the calmness and
heroism with which she meets her fate. If the resolution of the poor
creatures fail them at the last moment, they bring irretrievable disgrace on
their connections. If they try to go back, they are often put to death by
relatives, or expelled from their caste, and forever cut off from all
intercourse with relations or friends. But notwithstanding religious
enthusiasm, and the prejudices of education, they are not always resigned to
their cruel fate.
In 1796, the widow of a Bramin determined to be burned with the body
of her husband. It was dark and rainy when the pile was lighted, and when
she began to be scorched by the flames, she crept away unperceived, and
hid herself in the brushwood. It was soon discovered, and they dragged her
forth. Her own son insisted that she should be thrown on the pile again, or
else hang herself. She pleaded hard for life, but pleaded in vain. The son
said he should be expelled from his caste, unless the sacrifice were
completed, and that either he or she must die. Finding her still unwilling to
destroy herself, the son and his companions bound her limbs and threw her
on the funeral pile, where she quickly perished. The bones are carefully
collected in vases, and thrown into some sacred river. The next day the
Bramins sprinkle milk and consecrated water over the place, and sometimes
erect a chapel.
It not unfrequently happens that a number of wives are burned at once
with the dead body of their husband; and a willingness to make this
sacrifice is said to be still more a point of honor with mistresses than with
wives. When the chief Rao Lacka died, fifteen mistresses perished with
him, but not one of his wives offered to sacrifice herself. A Koolin Bramin
of Bagnuparu had more than a hundred wives, twenty-two of whom were
consumed with his corpse. The fire was kept kindled for three days, waiting
the arrival of the numerous victims. Some of them were forty years old, and
others no more than sixteen. Nineteen of them had seldom even seen the
husband with whom they consented to perish.
It is said the widows of Bramins less frequently immolate themselves
than women of the other superior castes, because the Bramins often take
wives without any inclination for the union on either side.
In 1819, a girl of fifteen determined to become a suttee.[6] The person to
whom she had been betrothed died when she was six years old, and,
according to custom, she had ever after remained unmarried. No entreaties
could prevail on her to consent to live. She asked for a fiddle which had
belonged to her betrothed, and jumped into the flames.
Among the Mahrattas, and some other tribes, whose custom it is to bury
their dead, the sacrifice is made in a different manner. The widow is
escorted to the grave by a solemn procession; having listened to the
exhortations of the Bramins, and parted her jewels among friends, she
places upon her head a pot filled with rice, plantain, betel, and water; then
with clasped hands she bids farewell to the spectators, and descends into the
grave by means of a bamboo ladder; she seats herself by the body of her
husband, the ladder is drawn up, and the music resounds, while the relatives
throw in a quantity of earth to suffocate the poor creature.
The Shaster, or Hindoo Bible, forbids a woman to see dancing, hear
music, wear jewels, blacken her eyebrows, eat dainty food, sit at a window,
or view herself in a mirror, during the absence of her husband; and it allows
him to divorce her if she has no sons, injures his property, scolds him,
quarrels with another, or presumes to eat before he has finished his meal.
Truly, in no part of the world does the condition of women appear more
dreary than in Hindostan. The arbitrary power of a father disposes of them
in childhood; if the boy to whom they are betrothed dies before the
completion of the marriage, they are condemned forever after to perpetual
celibacy; under these restraints, if their affections become interested and
lead them into any imprudence, they are punished with irretrievable
disgrace, and in many districts with death; if married, their husbands have
despotic control over them; if unable to support them, they can lend or sell
them to a neighbor; and in the Hindoo rage for gambling, wives and
children are frequently staked and lost; if they survive their husbands, they
must pay implicit obedience to the oldest son; if they have no sons, the
nearest male relative holds them in subjection; and if there happen to be no
kinsmen, they must be dependent on the chief of the tribe. Having spent life
with scanty opportunities to partake of its enjoyments, they become objects
of contempt if they refuse to depart from it, in compliance with a most cruel
custom.
The self-immolation of widows is of great antiquity. The natives have a
tradition that women many centuries ago frequently murdered their
husbands; and the Bramins, finding the severest punishments of no avail,
put an effectual check to it, by saying it was the will of the gods, that
widows should be burned on the funeral pile of their husbands.
The English government have made great exertions to abolish this
abominable practice, and it is now prohibited by law in every part of British
India.
The Hindoo character is proverbial for patient mildness; yet their
religious superstitions continually lead them to the most ferocious deeds.
Fond as the women are of their children, they make a great merit of
throwing them to the sacred crocodiles, and not unfrequently cast them
from steep rocks, in fulfilment of some superstitious vow.
They themselves undergo the most frightful penances, and willingly lie
down to be devoured by crocodiles, or crushed beneath the car of
Juggernaut. Among the lighter penances, is that of conveying a great
quantity of water from the sacred Ganges to a temple at some distance.
Women of the higher castes, being unwilling to appear in the streets, hire
others to perform this expiatory duty for them.
The Rev. Dr. Buchanan, in his description of the sacrifices at the temple
of Juggernaut, says: “At the place of skulls, I beheld a poor woman lying
dead, or nearly dead, with her two children by her, looking at the dogs and
vultures which were near. The people passed by without noticing the
children. I asked them where was their home. They said they had no home
but where their mother was.”
This bigoted attachment to customs so horrid and unnatural, is
remarkable in a people who are so tolerant of the opinions of others. It is a
singular fact that the Hindoos reverence the objects held sacred by other
nations; hence their women and children are frequently seen bringing
offerings of fruit and flowers to the mosque of the Mohammedan, and the
chapel of the Catholic. They say, “Heaven is like a palace with many doors,
and every one may enter in his own way.”
The custom of murdering female infants, which formerly prevailed
throughout several districts in India, is so unnatural that it could not be
believed, if it were not proved beyond all possibility of doubt. The horrid
act was generally done by the mothers themselves, either by administering
opium as soon as a child was born, smothering it, or neglecting the
precautions necessary to preserve life. Now and then a wealthy man saved
one daughter, especially if he had no sons; but the practice of infanticide
was so general, that when the young men wanted wives, they were obliged
to seek them in such neighboring tribes as their laws permitted them to
marry. The marquis of Wellesley, during his government in India, made
great exertions to have this abominable custom abolished; but the natives
were very stubborn in their prejudices. They urged the natural inferiority of
females, the great responsibility which attended their bringing up, and the
expense incident upon their marriages. The arguments of the English, aided
by the influence of certain solemn sentences from some of their sacred
books, did, however, at last persuade them to abolish the barbarous practice.
Colonel Walker was the British officer who, after much difficulty, prevailed
on the Jarejah tribe to relinquish the custom. A year or two after, many of
the Jarejah fathers and mothers brought their infant daughters to his tent,
and exhibited them with the utmost pride and fondness. Grateful for the
change produced in their habits, the mothers placed their children in colonel
Walker’s hands, called them his children, and begged him to protect those
whom he had preserved.
The gentle and inoffensive character of the Hindoos is not without
exceptions. Bands of robbers infest the more northern parts; and some of
them make use of a singular stratagem to decoy travellers. They send out a
beautiful woman, who with many tears complains of some misfortune that
has befallen her, and implores their protection. No sooner has the unwary
traveller taken her behind him on horseback, than she strangles him with a
noose, or stuns him with a blow on the head, until the robbers come from
their hiding-place, and complete his destruction. It is generally supposed
that these murderers came into India with the Mohammedan conquerors.
The Hindoos are very fond of shows and amusements; but in these the
women, especially of the higher classes, have little share. The female
pastimes consist principally of bathing, dressing, chewing betel, listening to
story-tellers, and playing a species of draughts.
In March the Hindoos keep a great festival called hohlee; and it is a
singular coincidence that during one of these holydays it is common to send
people on absurd errands, in order to create a laugh at their expense, just as
we do on the first of April. They likewise divert themselves with throwing
about great quantities of earth used in painting, and known by the name of
India red. The sport is to cast it into the eyes, mouth, and nose. Sometimes
it is powdered with talc to make it glitter, and then if it gets into the eyes it
is very painful. They likewise splash each other all over, with squirts filled
with orange-colored water, made of the flowers of the dak tree. These
frolics usually take place under the front awning of wealthy houses, or the
terraces of the gardens, but sometimes within the buildings. A rajah,
surrounded by his numerous wives, has a fair chance to get his full share of
powdering and drenching.
The hohlee is observed by all classes throughout Hindostan, with the
most boisterous merriment. The utmost freedom is allowed to all ranks.
Young men and old parade about the streets, singing indecent songs.
Sometimes an individual dresses himself up in the most fantastic style, to
personify the hohlee, and is followed by crowds throwing red dust and
orange-colored water. This custom, which is said to be connected with some
religious tradition, is very similar to the observance of the carnival in
Catholic countries. The Hindoo ladies have their share of the festivities; but
no one is allowed to join their parties except their husbands, or very young
brothers.
The wives of jugglers follow the same profession as their husbands. It is
a common sight to see young women walking on their heads, with their feet
in the air, turning round like a wheel, or walking on their hands and feet,
with the body bent backward.
A recent traveller thus describes one of the tricks which he saw
performed: “A young and beautifully formed woman fixed on her head a
stiff strong fillet, to which were fastened, at equal distances, twenty pieces
of string, with a noose at the end of each. Under her arm she carried a
basket containing twenty eggs. She advanced near us, and began to move
rapidly round upon a spot not more than eighteen inches in diameter, from
which she never deviated for an instant, though her rotation became so
exceedingly rapid as to render it painful to look at her. She absolutely spun
round like a top. When her body had reached its extreme point of
acceleration, she quickly drew down one of the strings, which had formed a
horizontal circle round her, and put an egg into the noose. She then jerked it
back to its original position, and continuing her gyrations with
undiminished velocity, she secured all the eggs in the nooses prepared for
them, until they were all flying around her head in one unbroken circular
line. After this she continued her motions with undiminished velocity for at
least five minutes, then seized the eggs one by one, and replaced them in
the basket. This being done, she stopped in an instant, without the
movement of a limb, or the vibration of a muscle, as if she had been
suddenly transformed to marble. She received our applauses with a calm
countenance, and an apparent modesty of demeanor, which was doubtless
the result of constitutional apathy, rather than refinement of feeling; for
these jugglers are generally among the most depraved of their caste.”
The reputed wealth and fertile soil of Hindostan have attracted foreigners
from all parts of the world. Some entered as conquerors, some sought
refuge from persecution, and others went there for commercial purposes.
The peculiar manners of these different nations have become too variously
modified to be particularly described. The Mohammedans, who obtained
certain districts by conquest, are extravagantly fond of pomp and splendor.
The nabob Asuf gave a proof of this in the wedding of his adopted son
Vizier Aly. The bridegroom was about thirteen years of age, the bride ten.
The prince could hardly move under the weight of his jewels. The
procession consisted of about twelve hundred elephants richly caparisoned,
of which one hundred in the centre had houdas, or castles, on their backs,
covered with silver. In the midst was the nabob himself, within a houda
covered with gold and set with precious stones. On both sides of the road
was raised artificial scenery of bamboo-work, representing arches, minarets,
and towers, covered with lighted glass lamps. On each side were carried
platforms, covered with gold and silver cloth, on which were musicians and
dancing girls superbly dressed. The ground was inlaid with fireworks, and
at every step of the elephants, rockets and fiery serpents shot forth, kindling
the night into day. Three thousand flambeaux were likewise carried by men
hired for the occasion.
The palanquins in which the wealthy are carried are sometimes very
magnificent. They are painted and gilded, ornamented with gold, silver, and
jewels, with cushions and coverings of crimson velvet.
The religion of Brama, as well as that of Mohammed, forbids women to
appear in public; but the lower classes of Hindoos do not attempt to comply
with the inconvenient requisition. The Mohammedan women, on the
contrary, are extremely punctilious on this point; even the poorest never
venture out of doors without being enveloped in a cotton veil made like a
bag, with a slight net-work over the eyes and mouth. Those who cannot
afford to travel in palanquins, ride astride on a bullock, which has a bell
suspended to the neck, and a bridle passed through the nostrils. A more
uncouth or unpleasant sight cannot well be imagined, unless it might be a
shrouded corpse thus mounted.
Mrs. Graham, in her very entertaining account of India, gives the
following description of a visit to the harem of a Mohammedan chief: “My
sister and I were allowed to enter, but we could by no means persuade the
cazy to admit any of the gentlemen of our family. We ascended to the
women’s apartment by a ladder, which is removed when not in immediate
use, to prevent the ladies from escaping. We were received by the cazy’s
wife’s mother, a fine old woman dressed in white, and without ornaments,
as becomes a widow. The cazy’s mother, and the rest of his father’s widows,
were first presented; then Fatima, his wife, to whom our visit was paid; and
afterward his sisters, some of them fine, lively young women. They all
crowded round us to examine our dress, and the materials of which it was
composed. They were surprised at our wearing so few ornaments; but we
told them it was the custom of our country, and they replied that it was
good. I was not sorry they so openly expressed their curiosity, as it gave us
a better opportunity of gratifying our own. The apartment in which we were
received was about twenty feet square, and rather low. Round it were
smaller rooms, most of them crowded with small beds, with white muslin
curtains; these were not particularly clean, and the whole suit seemed close
and disagreeable. Most of the women were becomingly dressed. Fatima’s
arms, feet, and neck were covered with rings and chains; her fingers and
toes were loaded with rings; her head was surrounded with a fillet of pearls,
some strings of which crossed it several ways, and confined her hair, which
was knotted up behind. On her forehead hung a cluster of colored stones,
from which depended a large pearl, and round her face small strings of pearl
hung at equal distances. Her ear-rings were very beautiful; but I do not like
the custom of boring the hem of the ear, and studding it all round with joys,
or jewels; and not even Fatima’s beautiful face could reconcile me to the
nose jewel. Her large black eyes (the chesme ahoo, or stag eyes, of the
eastern poets) were rendered more striking by the black streaks with which
they were adorned, and lengthened out at the corners. The palms of her
hands, the soles of her feet, and her nails, were stained with henna, a plant,
the juice of whose seeds is of a deep-red color.”
“Fatima’s manner is modest, gentle, and indolent. Before her husband,
she neither lifts her eyes nor speaks, and hardly moves without permission
from the elder ladies of the harem. She presented us with perfumed sherbet,
(a drink little different from lemonade,) fruit, and sweetmeats, chiefly made
of ghee, poppy seeds, and sugar. Some of them were tolerably good, but it
required all my politeness to swallow others. Prepared as I was to expect
very little from Mussulman ladies, I could not help being shocked to find
them so totally devoid of cultivation as I found them. They mutter their
prayers, and some of them read the Koran, but not one in a thousand
understands it. Still fewer can read their own language, or write at all; and
the only work they do is a little embroidery. They string beads, plait colored
threads, sleep, quarrel, make pastry, and chew betel, in the same daily
round. It is only at a death, a birth, or a marriage, that the monotony of their
lives is interrupted. When we took leave, we were sprinkled with rose-
water, and presented with flowers, and betel nut wrapped in the leaves of an
aromatic plant.”
Yet where talent exists it has sometimes found means to manifest itself,
even within the circumscribed limits of the harem.
Many beautiful designs for Cashmere shawls, embroidery, and printed
cottons, have been designed by these secluded women. Mherul-Nisa,
afterward favorite sultana of Jehangire, emperor of Hindostan, being shut
up with other slaves in a mean apartment of the seraglio, exerted her
ingenuity to increase her scanty support. She embroidered splendid tapestry,
painted silks with exquisite skill, and invented a variety of fanciful
ornaments. These being extensively bought, and much admired in the city
of Delhi, excited the emperor’s curiosity. He paid her a visit; and from that
moment she never lost the extraordinary influence which she suddenly
acquired over him. She became his favorite wife, under the title of Noor
Jehan, signifying the light of the world; her relations were placed in the
principal employments of the empire, ranked with princes of the blood, and
admitted to the private apartments of the seraglio; her name was stamped on
the coin with that of the emperor; and the most expensive pageants,
consisting of music, fireworks, and illuminations, were continually kept up
to please her.
The discovery of that exquisite perfume called attar of roses is attributed
to Noor Jehan. She had not only baths, but whole canals, filled with rose-
water, that she might enjoy its fragrance. One fine morning, walking with
the emperor along one of these canals, in his magnificent gardens at
Cashmere, she observed a fine scum floating on the surface. She took up
some of it, and perceived that it yielded a powerful odour. She caused the
chemists to examine it, and from it they produced the essence which has
ever since commanded so high a price. Noor Jehan gave it the name of Atyr
Jehangire, in honor of her husband, and introduced the use of it throughout
Hindostan.
Among the foreign nations settled in India are the Parsees, descendants
from the ancient Persians, who, like them, worship fire and sun, not as God,
but as his most perfect symbol. There are among them holy women, who
keep a perpetual fire burning before their habitations, and are very strict in
the observance of religious rites; these women are held in the highest
veneration.
The Parsees, like most other oriental women, are in the habit of bringing
water on their heads from the rivers and wells. They are well shaped, and
almost as fair as Europeans. They have large black eyes, and aquiline noses.
They are married very young, but generally remain with their parents some
time after the wedding. The Parsees are allowed to marry but one wife, and
she must be of their own nation.
The Hindoos in general believe in witchcraft. If the crops are blighted,
sickness prevails, or any unusual misfortunes occur, they write the names of
all the women in the village on branches of the saul-tree, and let them
remain in water four hours and a half; if any branch withers, the person
whose name is on it is decided to be a witch. Other superstitious ordeals are
likewise resorted to, and certain forms of investigation are gone through
with, which not unfrequently end in the death of the accused.
They believe in the existence of demons, and use various exorcisms to
expel them from those who are possessed. Women are almost always the
persons in whom these evil spirits are supposed to have fixed their
residence.
The Hindoos people the stars, the air, the woods, and the ocean with
deities; among which the goddesses are about as numerous as the gods. The
two most conspicuous are Saraswadi, goddess of literature and the arts, and
Parvati, goddess of time and of enchantments; the latter, like Venus, was
born of the foam of the sea, and is the mother of Love. The Hindoo Cupid is
called Camdeo, or Manmadin. His bow is of sugar-cane, his arrows made of
flowers, and pointed with honey-comb. He is usually represented riding on
a parrot, and is particularly worshipped by women desirous to obtain
faithful lovers and good husbands.
English residents are numerous in Hindostan, where they preserve their
national customs, slightly varied by climate and surrounding circumstances.
India has been a great marriage-market, on account of the emigration of
young enterprising Englishmen, without a corresponding number of
women. Faded belles, and destitute female orphans, were sure of finding
husbands in India. Some persons actually undertook to import women to the
British settlements, in order to sell them to rich Europeans, or nabobs, who
would give a good price for them. How the importers acquired a right thus
to dispose of them is not mentioned; it is probable that the women
themselves, from extreme poverty, or some other cause, consented to
become articles of speculation upon consideration of receiving a certain
remuneration. In September, 1818, the following advertisement appeared in
the Calcutta Advertiser: “Females raffled for. Be it known that six fair
pretty young ladies, with two sweet engaging children, lately imported from
Europe, having the roses of health blooming on their cheeks, and joy
sparkling in their eyes, possessing amiable tempers, and highly
accomplished, whom the most indifferent cannot behold without rapture,
are to be raffled for next door to the British Gallery. Twelve tickets at
twelve rupees each; the highest of the three doubtless takes the most
fascinating.”
The wives of respectable Hindoos are very rarely seen in the street with
their husbands, unless they are going a journey. When they see an English-
woman walk arm-in-arm with her husband, they are exceedingly shocked,
and exclaim, “Oh! ah! do you see this? They take their wives by the hand
and lead them about, showing them to other English. These people have no
shame.”
The Chinese women have broad unmeaning faces; small, lively eyes,
obliquely placed, with eyelids rounding into each other at the corners, not
forming an angle, as in Europeans; their hair is black; lips rather thick and
rosy; and their complexion is a yellowish brown; excepting some
inhabitants of the northern provinces, who are fairer. They generally paint
their faces so as to give a strong carnation tint to the whole surface. A foot
unnaturally small is considered a great beauty. In order to attain this, the
higher classes bind tight bandages round the feet of female infants, so that
none but the great toe is suffered to retain its natural position. This
compression is continued until the foot ceases to grow. It is then a
misshapen little stump, four or five inches long, with all the smaller toes
adhering firmly to the sole. The growth thus cruelly checked in its proper
place, increases the ankle to such a clumsy size, that it almost entirely
conceals the foot. When the ladies attempt to walk, they seem to be moving
on stumps, and hobble along in the most awkward manner imaginable.
Their little shoes are as fine as tinsel and embroidery can make them.
According to Chinese history, this custom originated several centuries go,
when a numerous body of women combined together to overthrow the
government; and to prevent the recurrence of a similar event it was
ordained that female infants should wear wooden shoes, so small as to
cramp their feet and render them useless. Some writers have supposed that
this singular practice originated in the jealousy of Chinese husbands, who
contrived this method to keep their wives at home; but this seems very
improbable. The Persians, who seclude their women with much greater
rigor than the Chinese, do not think it necessary to disable their feet; nor
would such a precaution be a safeguard against intrigues. The reason of
this, as well as other customs equally strange, may probably be found in the
caprice of fashion; and while unnaturally small feet are considered by
Chinese men as a charming indication of elegant helplessness, the Chinese
women will no doubt endure any degree of suffering to attain the enviable
distinction.
Chinese hands are exceedingly small. The ladies keep them concealed by
long wide cuffs, and consider it immodest to let them appear, even in
presence of male relations. Both sexes, among the wealthy, suffer the finger
nails to grow to an immense length, to show that they perform no labor.
Sometimes they are said to be from eight to twelve inches long. In order to
preserve them from being broken, they are obliged to keep them in light
bamboo cases. The ladies generally comb their hair back from the face, and
pluck out their eyebrows, so as to leave only a very thin arch. They wear
their robes so long as to conceal the person from the throat to the toes. The
garments of the higher classes are made of the richest materials, but are
clumsy and inelegant. The usual colors are red, blue, and green. Though the