Pagoda Shadows: Studies from Life in China

“The Chinese have no firesides, but within the glimmer of the evening lamp … many stories not found in books, are told to the delight of young and old.”

Before people from the West travelled frequently into China, there were groups of missionaries that ventured into the largely rural parts of the country hoping to spread their doctrine. In some cases, these missionaries not only found enthusiastic converts but also people who were, in turn, ready to share their stories. This was certainly the case for Adele M. Fielde, the author of this collection of just such stories. During the ten years she spent in China, she used her knowledge of the language and the opportunities offered by her profession to witness and learn about many Chinese customs in general and the situation and status of Chinese women in particular. As explained in the introduction by Joseph Cook, women in China “have sorrows and disabilities, which Miss Fielde sets for with pathetic justness of statement … Miss Fielde, in this volume, endeavours to place the hand of women in the East in the hand of women in the West”.

Covering topics ranging from childhood betrothals, suicide, infanticide, and foot binding to the placement of ancestral graves, Chinese medicine and items found in an apothecary, and scholarly studies, each chapter in this book presents a stand-alone account from various European missionary women, Chinese missionary converts, and Miss Fielde herself. The autobiographies come together to form a factual account sure to delight and surprise readers interested in the culture of China in the late 1800s.