《Historic China, and Other Sketches》出版於1882年，是翟理斯對中國世情百態的一個描畫。全書從您能想到的各個方面介紹了外交官翟理斯眼中的晚清中國景象，從牙醫到過年過節，從女性地位到公會當舖，不勝枚舉。從前，我寫過翟理斯對於晚清中國殺嬰傳統較公允的討論，今天，偶然看到他在此書中對於晚清中國女性地位的討論，覺得值得在這裡整理一下。
閨閣中的「知」與「不知」
「女性地位」（The Position of Women）一章的最後兩句是這樣的👇
“One of the happiest moments a Chinese woman knows, is when the family circle gathers round husband, brother, or it may be son, and listens with rapt attention and wondering credulity to a favourite chapter from the "Dream of the Red Chamber." She believes it every word, and wanders about these realms of fiction with as much confidence as was ever placed by western child in the marvellous stories of the "Arabian Nights.”
——《Historic China, and other sketches》Herbert Allen Giles
