"Children, even amongst seemingly stolid Chinese, have the faculty of calling forth the better feelings so often found latent.
Their prattle delights the fond father, whose pride beams through every line of his countenance, and their quaint and winning ways and touches of nature are visible even under the disadvantages of almond eyes and shaven crowns" (Dyer Ball).
A mother in China is given, both by law and custom, extreme power over her sons whatever their age or rank.

The Sacred Edict says, "Parents are like heaven.

Heaven produces a blade of grass.

Spring causes it to germinate.

Autumn kills it with frost.