The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-02-04

y
to do so. Most urgently COnfucius en-
joined. as chief Of all virtues, implicit ODE
dience to parents and reverence for ances
tors; receipts which ages before, no doubt,
had been the corner stone of the sOcia
structure, but to which be gave fresl
Impetus
In regard to the worship Of ancestors
beg to quote from Rev. DR.. Williamson :
book, very recently published in London
entitled Journeys in North China, Man
cbOOris, and Eastern Mongolia" whittier
he went to distribute trscts and the Bib,
and Testament in n. native dialect of th,
people: 4-
Their Eysrem of ancestral worship, thougI
affecting the people 10 different way from. tn,
I rmrr. (.ll4diug to the veueratOa Of the EN-
kPeror, .kfm they call by different namps, VI
the sali lry prioce,' 'the man Who tsnds b
himself 'wisdum's glnrv,' the son Uf heaven.
the holy ION Of beaver &c.) is no less a re
mendous barrier 10 tru- progress. What
stys Davis, in his work ON China, Vt IL only
harmless. if not a mrritOlious, respect for th
dad"
Ancestral worship :" says Fortune, in
bis Tea Districts OF China, "a considerable
portion of it springs from a purer and
higher source than mere matter Of form
aud the Chinese indulge the pleasing re-
Election that when they themselves are IL
their graves they will not be neglected OF
forgotten. Ancestral worship" shouts
whole chorus of journalists, lis a praise
worthy institution, indicative Of noble feel
ings. They know little about it. Ia the
first place, it is, though plausible, a most
uDequivocal form OF idoIstry, not 10 the
letter, tor there are no idols used in thu
worship, but in the spirit. They meet
salute, worship, and escort away the spl
Of their ancestors in the most profouq
religious way Of which their nature is Cd
BILE. Ii is the most thoughtful, collected.
aud reverensisl act of their lives. Now
this practice runs right in the tee b Of th,
first commandment in the Decalogue
Iheref,re, in It's present form. cauno; be al
lowed IN protesting Christians But fur
Iher, it involves an untTnth of the mOsi
serious aud fur reaching character, namely
bat the rpirlts Of the dead are at liberty I,
vs't their postrrity and It is also prUpt-
slt,On in meckery Of common 81 nse, name
", that The dead require ARTICLES OF food
clothing and furniture. elhereallzed by irv.
These Objectiuns, | am aware, are helu
very lightly by rome but there are otheI
eVlis which Iesult from this practice whIc
DO one can ignore. This system has .
most deleterious effect upon Chinese so
cIety.
Il is the great cause of early betrotbsl,
ON the sFt OF parrnIs . fruitful source O
female degradation, misery and iDtsnIlc de
Further, il Is the cause Of polygamy and u
It's attendant evils. The Chinese canno
bear the thought Of having 10 posterIty Il
provide Ihe sacrifces, and 20 they often
have NJ many wives as they Gan afford Il
malnsain. Again, IL Enni,lies the so-S,..
7 wny Chfuumeh never emlgrate as families,
only certain male members Of the famil,
IN any instance, leaving their native placer
and r',st only temporarily, with the pur-
pose and sIm to retain home as soon y.
they have acquired N store of The foreign
ers money. Prayers are pasted both On
the inside and outside of barrels, which
being turned round, the prayers are pre-
>eDied, ne they suppose. TO their god
Williamson, vol. 2, p. ll1.)
| may add, without fear Of successfu
contradiction, that, With rome three or -four
exceptions, The few hundred female Chi
nese OIL our shores are of the lowest of IN.
low and the Nilest Of the vile in their own
] "A tsA Al
quarters Of San Francisco for the proof Of
this assertion.
The theories Of these Der evolent but i'm
practical Chinese philosophers led to the
establishment Of an uDmitgated despol ism,
TO an army OF etfeminate, pedantic, and op
pressiye officials, and TO nation of abject
slaves, in whose minds became rooted the
most anomalous of superstitiOns, that of
looking entirely to the past instead Of to
the future.
10 the redHciiO Gd dbsurdGn1 Of the "a
triarcbal system the emperor was the com
mon father, aud Of every mans father Or
fathers father. He owns all the soil, all
the real estate, in China, from which, as
rent, be consents to receive q tithe. Dis
obedience to him or to bis mandate, or to
those to whom be has entrusted it, is tbe
greatest possible crime. Every man is
taught to act and think and feel as his pa-
rents or progenitOrs do or have done bef re
him, and SO to venerste his ancestry, their
remains and burial places, that as they re
cede from him be comes to worship them,
if be WOrshiPs anything at all and bis only
hope in the future is to lay bis bones
among them, to be in turn revered BY bis
pOsterity. That is bis future.
Some Jewish sectarians, taking that part
OF the law of Moses which promises reward
or threatens punishment through the chill
dren or cbildren's children of his people
ttougl d sbeleviDg IN a future state, held
that men might be kept virtuous BY that in
centlve. But even these Hebrew secta-
rams looked forward; only The Chinese
look back ward. Experience shows, how
ever, that the more anomalous bel ef III
s'ose hrmly il becomes planted. 1fn'
hough this is be subetratum Of 20 nese
faith, there renamed in the min1/ot large
portions Of the people some k<d OF rel'g'-
GUS ASPIRATIONS unsAtiAtied IN tnis oarren
heIief Of their htsrot. 1dence the intro
ductlou irom HIudg>$an and the RAPID
spread Of Buddbi.,,, with all the degrading
superetltions w,d Which i had become in
6, usted, besiss other monstrons Idolatries.
These the /rling classes tolerated through
utter insderity first permitted through in
d.fFersace, and next encouraged through
vetydliy.
| Thus the Chinese present the spectacle
!of men emiDenily superstltiOus without re
hgion all are lmbued with the superstI
! ,Ious reverence Tor ancestry amounting :"
worshrp. For the various rites aud eere
mon es at the graves Of their ancestors !
would refer gentlemen to the works OF Dno
hurle. Williamson, DAVIS, Fortune Good
rlrh, and Others. Some Chinese, ID add