o take food and wept bitterly, not with the
conventional tears of the Chinese girl bewailing her virginity and
begging that she may not be torn from the shelter of her maiden home,
but with a real horror of the fate which awaited her.

The day dawned when she was dressed in the scarlet bridal clothes, a
voluminous embroidered satin gown over all; this came with the sedan
chair which was to carry her to her future home, being hired for the
occasion. Scarlet shoes were on her feet, a high tinsel crown on her
head, and covering her tear-stained face was a scarlet veil. In
accordance with the custom which demanded that the forehead of the bride
must be perfectly smooth, her front hair had been dragged out by the
roots and left her with an aching head.

At last all was ready, and she was in the embroidered sedan chair and
caught the last glimpse of the familiar faces. They disappear, and alone
she meets a cruel, loveless, unknown world.

A Chinese village wedding is a terrible ordeal for the bride. Her life
until that day has been guarded from every contact with the outer world,
and she has never spoken with a man outside the family circle. Her
arrival at her mother-in-law's home is the signal for a wild rush of
rough men to surround her chair. The curtain is lifted, insolent faces
stare, her personal appearance is commented upon in vile terms, her feet
being specially noticed because the artificial compression of this
member has resulted in giving it sexual importance in a woman's
appearance. Ai Do had a normal, unbound foot, and had to listen to lewd
insinuations levelled at her on this subject. All the while she must
patiently sit and wait until the appointed women of the bridegroom's
family are ready to conduct her indoors. The waiting is often for a
considerable time, for these new relations are going to make her feel
that she is a most unimportant and undesirable person, and her
mother-in-law is not even going to see her until the next day;
moreover, the longer she waits, the greater her chances of longevity.

When at last she is told to leave her chair she is followed by a crowd,
and holding the end of a scarlet sash which is thrust into her hand, she
finds herself in a courtyard where the ceremony is to take place.

In accordance with the contract made by the middleman, she is not asked
to worship heaven and earth nor the tablets of her husband's ancestors,
but two cups of wine are placed on the table, and she an