This analysis would not be altogether out of place in China any more than in Ireland; but as a matter of fact the balance of evidence is in favour of the "three men," which number, it may be remarked, is that which technically constitutes a crowd.
Whatever may be the literary view of the word "home," it is quite certain that to the ordinary Chinaman there is no place like it.

"One mile away from home is not so good as being in it," says a proverb with a punning turn which cannot be brought out in English.

Another says, "Every day is happy at home, every moment miserable abroad." It may therefore be profitable to look inside a Chinese home, if only to discover wherein its attractiveness lies.
All such homes are arranged more or less on the patriarchal system; that is to say, at the head of the establishment are a father and mother, who rank equally so far as their juniors are concerned; the mother receiving precisely the same share of deference in life, and of ancestral worship after death, as the father.

The children grow up; wives are sought for the boys, and husbands for the girls, at about the ages of eighteen and sixteen, respectively.

The former bring their wives into the paternal home; the latter belong, from the day of their marriage, to the paternal homes of their husbands.