Honest labor, though menial, is not considered degrading,
and no American of education and refinement is above doing it.
In some of the states in the East, owing to the scarcity of servants,
families do their own cooking and other household work.
Some few years ago I was on a visit to Ashburnham, Massachusetts,
and was surprised to find that my hostess not only did the cooking
but also cleaned my room. I was invited to a formal luncheon by a professor,
and to my astonishment his two daughters waited at the table.
This is not unlike what occurs in some parts of China in the interior.
The members of families, although in good circumstances,
do their own household work. In some towns, not far from Canton,
wealthy farmers and country gentlemen hire out their sons as menials,
so that these youngsters, when they have grown up,
shall know the value of money and not squander the family wealth.
I cite a typical case of a millionaire who had only one son.
In order to make him appreciate the worth of money he took his boy to Canton,
and allowed him to be hired out as an ordinary servant.
The boy was ordered by his master to look after a certain part of the house,
and also to take care of a little garden. One day he carelessly broke
a valuable gold-fish jar much prized by the family.
His master naturally became enraged and reproached him for his negligence.
The young man coolly told him that if he would come to his father's house
he could replace the broken vessel by making his own selection
from his father's collection of gold-fish jars. This irritated the master,
who thought that the lad was adding insult to injury. However, ultimately,
his master was persuaded to go with him to his father's house,
and to his great astonishment he found there many gold-fish jars
which were more precious than that which the lad had broken.
Household work, however mean it may be, is not considered degrading in China,