The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1872-01-18
The Chinese DeIuge.

1AG &lll21CSC AJCAtkSSCs IL
Twenty Taousand square Miles submerg-'
ed-Superstition of the Natives
The Shanghai Budget of October 4,
contains letter from which we copy
as follows: as t 7o
b All who have heard of the terrible
floods III North China, consequent mp
on the overflow of the rivers, must
wish it wereEpossibie to investigate
fully the cause, progress and results of
an event which cannot but have sad
and far-reaching effects. But, unfor-
sunately, we have to guess agood deal,
as usual We can only collect and
compare the meagre and not very re-
liable evidence afforded by official
documents with fhe stories currents
among the people, and testimony, of
the few foreigners who have ha0 the
opportunity of making personal OBJ
servations. The country Immediately
about Pekin has escaped, and the crops
/ Whereabouts being above the average,
it is said that our friends in the capital
have concluded that the foundation is
local and quite unlmportant. For the
sake of the poor peasantry, every one
must hope that it is SO. But fear the
hope is deiusiye. According to the
most trustworthy information we can
get. tand it SO happens that we have
the testimony of three or four English
eye-witnesses from as many extreme
,pointsl it would seem that the sub
merged district is of vast extent
probably, at least twenty thousand
SQUARE miles To realize what this
means, we have eonly to remember that
it represents an area larger than one
third of England and Wales. The
mind is appalled, at the bare thought
of such calamity. Those upon the
spot, as they look down upon drown-7
ing villages and ruined crops, or listen
to the tales of desolation which reach
them from the interior, or see the
crowds of homeless and foodless ref
ugces pouring into the city from the
country, get some faint idea of the
kind of suffering it is causing, but
even they can have no adequate idea
of the amount. tafs 6
The story goes that before the river
actually broke at Tsz-chu-Iin, a mes
senger was sent from the Yanten to
inspect the. threatened spot. He found
a small hole, and every sign of the
a large fish. This was declared to be-
a god, and the conclusion drawn that
it would be impious to try to stop the
passage of the waters, as it was plain
lv the will of Heaven that the bank
should give way. Il
When the catastrophe had actually
occurred, and successive attempts to
fill the breach had failed-the rushing
stream having swept piles and reeds
aWay-the tale grew. It was then
said that there were two fishes, one of
which had gone up the country, while
the other remained about the opening,
and that of course it would be useless
to do anything till the wanderer re.
turned. A few days later I learned
that the Tau-tai of Tien- tsin, in his
capacity as conservator of rivers, etc.,
had gone to the break in the Eueho,
on the west of the city, to sacrifice to |
Y uen-s -shen, a fabulous tortoise or fish,
who is supposed to control the waters.
He went. IN great state, and was ac-
companied by other officials. Tables
were placed unnnthe river banks, al
tablet, fnsence arns, candle sticks, and |
all other necessary paraphernalia |
placed in their. proper places, and then
this straIge ceremony began. Z Not
having been present can only give |
the bare facts. Beside the actual wor- |
ship the principal business was long
prayer offered by the Tautai, who re-
counted the sufferings caused by the
flood, the fruitless efforts made to stop
the various breaks in the banks of the |
rivers, and besought the fish-god to 4
allow them now to- be repaired. The
works at this spotowefe then recon- |
Eaenced at once. bns ,z5fl ssssfs 1son5 ?
Unfortunately x uen-shen does not |
seem TO have been satisfied, for before |
long the waters again asserted their |
power and wept taway all the material
gathered to resist uthems Then the |
Tau tai grew angry, and paid anothefd
visit to the breach. But there was no I
worship on this occasion no incense,t
no offefin gs. Cannon took their place
and 'ehe magistrate roundly rated the |
god for his non -compliance with his I
wishes. ttsDidn't ]. tell you so and SO,
and YOU paid no attention? You
don't care for the trouble caused to SO
many thousands ofpeople;p etc. Bang!
bangl bangi the cannon was let fly at (
him, and, suppose the worthy magis-
trate went home feeling that he had
done his duty " There aean be oHttle /
doubt whether he has made sanys inn
pressienl on tYuen-Shen or not that |
he has to a certain extent succeeded in 7
eonxincing the people that lie is not |
responsible for the Hood and IN con-
firming the popular superstition.
Ess "a A. szs zs.Hss e.rf as.f-.f