File:THE LADY'S MAID.jpg

English: John Thomson: THIS maid is a slave girl, bought in childhood for a trifling sum from her poor parents, as female children are at a sad discount in many parts of China, where infanticide is still practised. This girl has been reared in the bosom of the family, and trained to wait on the ladies of the household, to attend to the children, and to make herself generally useful. In this picture she is represented on her way to market, the slave enjoying more freedom in going abroad than does her mistress. In her left hand she holds a small lacquered-ware case for cakes and confections, and in her right a huge fan to screen her from the sun. It is wonderful to notice how careful the poorest women in China are of their complexions, how they dread being tanned by the sun, and how universally the fan is employed as a sunshade, as well as for keeping down the temperature of the body ; excessive heat and cold being considered two of the leading causes of disease. Even the men delight in a pale skin, and may be seen during summer wearing the fan spread out to shade the face, and fixed to the head by means of the tail.