The Chinese were ahead of the rest of the world in many ways, from religious philosophies to their writing and literature. They also were using fingerprints long before the rest of Europe.
The Chinese Way
It has been said that when China starts a progressive movement it takes a very speedy mentality to keep up with it.
Some years ago when the great Bertillion and his associates bethought themselves of the finger print system of identification they were elated at having found a new thing.
The Chinese, it was afterward learned, have been using finger prints for identification for perhaps thousands of years. Now that China has become a republic and established trial by jury among other modern improvements, it is probably that the divorce courts over there will be busy administering the new divorce laws.
Among the provisions of the laws will be found a very curious section which requires that the parties to the divorce shall not only sign the papers, but must also attach their finger prints. This would seem sufficient, but the Chinese have gone even a step further.
Not only must there be a finger print of each of the parties, but the judge requires a foot print also. So that a Chinese divorce paper recently filed contains the signatures, as shown in the illustrations, and the finger and foot prints of the applicant for material relief.
Source: The Day Book (Chicago, Illinois newspaper). July 31, 1912.
