Description:

China
Shanghai, China, June 3 & June 14, 1881
Missionaries in China,2 Outstanding 1881 Letters on Chinese Culture, Work, Marriage, and More!

A pair of letters from Chinese missionaries Rev. David H. Davis and his wife, Sara Gardiner Davis. Both measuring approximately 5" x 7.75", Shanghai, dated June 3 and June 14, 1881. Addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Hummel and their family. Reverend Davis's letter is a shorter letter [2pp], discussing the remodeling of the couple's house, while Sara Davis's letter [6pp] is a detailed and lengthy description of the land, death rituals, cooking, fashion, and more. Sara particularly seems to focus on the plight of the Chinese women in regards to their work, marriage, and societal expectations. Both letters have flattened mail folds with varying degrees of light toning and soiling. Very good overall with truly fascinating content.

Highlights from the letters:
Autograph Letter Signed "Sara G. Davis", Shanghai, dated June 3, 1881: "…The Chinese are very busy now planting the rice and cotton. The wheat is nearly all gathered. It would be a curious sight to you to see them work their land. The country all about here is covered with graves which are large mounds built up, and they work the land around between the mounds. It is also a very common thing to see coffins on top of the ground, either covered over with a little straw or entirely bare. Those are poor people whose friends were not able to buy land for a mound…You cannot imagine the ignorance of the poor women of China. Many of them have to work out doors all day then take the few cash they have earned, buy a little rice to take home and cook for their husband with whom they are not considered good enough to sit at the table but must first serve him then may take what is left if there happens to be more than enough to satisfy his appetite, and often times this husband is only a poor miserable opium smoker…They also make their own shoes which are about as long as your finger, but are embroidered with silk of different colors. It is very sad to see the pride which they take in their little feet which are so bound out of shape that you would not recognize them a human feet at all and many women suffer with them all their lives sometimes most excruciating pain…but this must all be done for fashion and I am afraid it is no worse than the tight lacing which is so common among ladies in Christian lands and perhaps less harmful in its effects…"

Autograph Letter Signed "D. H. Davis", Shanghai, dated June 14, 1881: "…I am writing to you before I go to look after the work of rebuilding the house. We thought at first it would be furnished ere this time. The contractors say now it will now take two weeks longer…I think you would be greatly amused to see the tools they use, some of the tools are very simple and remarkably convenient others are not so convenient. The painters are at work the inside is to be finished off with Ningpo varnish. This is put on with a horn ladle and then scraped off, leaving a thin layer…A Chinese contractor never built a house yet it is said but what he claimed to lose money. We cannot always believe everything a Chinaman says when he is talking about money…"

Sara Gardiner Davis (1849-1928) worked as a teacher before marrying Rev. David H. Davis in August 1872. For two years they dwelt in Alfred until Mr. Davis was graduated from the first theological class of the seminary, in 1874. In 1879, the couple accepted the call of the Missionary Board to go as Missionaries to China, setting sail in the fall of that same year. Sara and her husband spent the next thirty-six years as missionaries, until the death of David in 1915. She returned to the U.S. a year or so after the death of her husband and settled in New York. Sara's husband and one son were buried in Shanghai, China.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 5" x 7.75"

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