Page:The World's Parliament of Religions Vol 1.djvu/243

 RELIGION AND FAMILY LIFE. 21 5 a day, saying a short prayer each time, he must untie and tie again the thread which was put upon him in childhood. Edu- cation of Parsee children includes girls equally with boys, and insists upon physical education not less than mental and moral. The health of the body is considered as the first requisite for the health of the soul, and in all prayer for blessings strength of body has a first place. The Parsee youth are taught per- fect discipline, obedience to parents, obedience to teachers, affectionate and submissive obedience, — obedience also to elders and to government. A Parsee mother prays that she may have a son who can take part in the councils of their com- munity and in public government. The wife, according to Parsee ideas, holds a very high place. The Parsee scriptures put women on a level with men, and the great respect shown to the female sex has played a large part in the unusual eleva- tion of Parsee life and culture. Marriage is highly esteemed. Of three chief forms of benefaction which are enjoined, next to helping the poor is put assistance to a man to marry, and then giving education to those in search of it. A husband should be wise, intelligent, and educated ; a wife wise and educated, modest and courteous, obedient and chaste. Better even than saying her required prayers three times a day, is the wife's expression to her husband, morning, afternoon, and evening, of her desire to be one with him in thoughts, words, and deeds ; to sympathize with him in all his noble aspira- tions, pursuits, and desires. The Parsee scriptures expressly advise marriage as better for happiness, for physical and men- tal health, and for virtue and religion, than single life, and to help others to marry is a very meritorious form of charity. A sacred Gatha text says to brides and bridegrooms : "May you two enjoy the life of good mind by following the laws of religion. Let each one of you clothe the other with right- eousness, because then assuredly there will be a happy life for you." In Japan, as stated on the sixteenth day by N. Kishimoto, the Confucian system is accepted, not as a religious system, but as a system of social and family morals enjoining obedience to