ghthood upon him. After his death his biography was published and
read by thousands. All this is quite contrary to the spirit of the
Chinese who, no matter how clever a man may be as an actor, can never
forget that he is a pretender and that the cleverer he is the greater
care exists for guarding one's self against his tricks.

Actresses are no less respected and honored in the West, whereas in
China there are positively no respectable women on the stage. Yet in
the West it is a common occurrence to hear of marriages of actresses to
bankers, merchants, and millionaires. Even ballet-girls have become
duchesses by marriage. The stage is considered a noble profession.
Often, when a girl has a good voice, nothing will satisfy her but a
stage career. A situation such as this is very difficult for a Chinese
to analyze. The average Chinese woman lacks the imagination, the
self-abandon, the courage which must be necessary before a girl can
think of herself as standing alone in a bright light before a large
audience waiting to see her dance or hear her sing. Chinese actresses
were quite unknown until very recently, and the few that may be now
found on the Chinese stage were nearly all of questionable character
before they entered the theater. In the northern part of China some
good Chinese women may be found in circuses, but these belong to the
working class and take up the circus life with their husbands and
brothers for a livelihood.

The actresses of the West are different. They are drawn to the stage
for the sake of art; and it must be their splendid daring as much as
their beauty which induces wealthy men, and even some of the nobility,
to marry these women. Man loves courage and respects all who are brave
enough to fight for their own. In a world where self-love (not
selfishness) is highly esteemed, manhood, or the power of
self-assertion, whether in man or woman, naturally becomes a
fascinating virtue. No one likes to be colleague to a coward. The
millionaires and others who have married actresses--and as actresses
make plenty of money they are not likely to be willing to marry poor
men--meet many women in society as beautiful as the women they see on
the stage, but society women lack the supreme courage and daring of the
stage girl. Thus, very often the pretty, though less educated,
ballet-girl, wins the man whom her more refined and less self-assertive
sister--the ordinary society girl--is sorry to lose.