Woman In China Held Inferior. Father, if asked number of children, will probably leave out girls. Woman in China occupies a totally different sphere from that of man; of necessity contact with men is inevitable at certain points, but she must keep herself as separate as possible. At the early age of seven, according to the practice of the ancients, boys and girls did not occupy the same mat nor did they eat together; and this custom is still carried on to such an extent that a woman's clothes must not hang on the same pegs as a man's, nor may she use the same bathing place. These are among the facts set forth about life in China by Commissioner Francis W. Pearce of the Salvation Army, in the War Cry. Most Girls Not Taught To Read. Of so little account is woman in China, that a father if asked the number of his children, will probably leave out the girls in his reckoning. In the very great majority of cases the girls are not taught to read or write, for the simple reason as the men would say, that it is useless for girls to learn to read. All the restrictive customs are based in the idea that woman is a being inferior to man. Until recent years slavery, mainly amongst girls, was firmly established in China. In 1912, a law was passed that no girl need remain a slave who desired her freedom. While very many girls availed themselves of their legal freedom, many others remained in bondage, probably willing slaves, inasmuch as their liberty would have left them stranded and without any means of earning a livelihood. Although the law still stands, it is a dead letter. Women and girls are more or less openly sold every day, some as wives or concubines, some as servants, others, frankly, to prostitution.