The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1877-05-18
CHlNA,s IsEI.IGtnN..

$50 CHlNA's RELIGION.
80 "a hnl8.F s.---=~ l.ls ID a.g., p.
In =. d. Primes "Arounl ~.
Wor'd'i .se the fsllowinacters Of
t .,on s' on the. religi8effesented in this
~. leop.e ne Buddhist missionary,
Wig Ching Foo:
fhe prevailing forms of religion in
China arc Confucianism, Buddhism,
and Tauism.. Tho former, which is
the faith Of the educated and influ.
entail classes, is more a system Of
morals than religion. 1t is found
ed OH the teachings of the great
Chinese sage who fo,lrished about
five centuries before the Christian
era, whose reputed writings con-
tain 8 vast amount OF practical wis
dom and Of pnre morality. The
Chinese owe much to Confncius, aud
they wOnld lie, IL mucl, better people
If they followed his preccpts more
closely. Buddhism is an importa ton
from India, where 1t had its rise, and
from which it passed over Eastern
Asia to the adjacent islands. 1t is
a mystic sort of religion, deals in in
cantatiens and astrology, and, like
spirituaHsn, DretendS to intercourse
with the departed dead as we'll as
with acknowledged evil spirist. The
priests are generally ignorant men,
and, through mystic art and by play
ing upon the superstition Of the peo.
pie, maintain their ascentlaHcN over
them.
There is no more striking or more
universal trait Of Chinese character
than it's intense superstition. The
religious element appears to he want
ing; they are simply superstitious,
and no nation is more so. The
spirits of the air, the earth and the
sea are u constant terror to them,
and their acts OF Worship are design
ell to ward off such influences rather
than to pay homage to any exalted
being. They ust, all sorts Of charms
to keel, OFT from their persons and
houses and farms the world OF evil
spirits wl,icl, in their belief are going
hither and thithcr. Ancestral wor-
ship is universal. No matter in
what part Of the world they live, the
Chinese wish to be brought home
when they die, and buried viii, the
generations that preceded them and
while they live they pay great re-
spect, reverence amounting to
worship, to their departed ancestors,
making pilgrimagcs to their graves,
adjoining their tOmbs, erecting tablets
to their memory il costly ancestral
halls, burning incense, .joss-stick, and
candies, and presenting offerings.
They reverence their dead grand
fathers more than their gods.
One OF the most common offerings
that. the Chinese make III their wOr-
~, Nsrtx
q sort Of counterfeit money, paste
board dollars covered with tin.foil,
representing silver dollars, and
marked accordingly. This is some.
times offered to = large amount,
counting it to it's nominal value, and
Il Chinaman will not only pride him
self on making an Offering to his god
or his ancestor of several Thousand
dollars, which cost him only II tritle,
but lie will fairly chuckle over the
thought that his stupid god, or his
dead ancestor, not knowing the diff
ference between the counterfeit and
the genuine, will give him credit for
the full amount in good money.
They have numherlesa inferior
gOds--the God of the Earth, the God
Of the Sea, tho God of Wealth, the
God of Letters, the God of Thunder,
the God Of War, the Kitchen God,
etc, etc, which are represented by
gloLesque images or pictures. The
thieves and the gamblers each have
their god. They make their appeals
to the gods by the use Of the lot,
every temple being provided with 4
box OF sticks OF straws for the pur-
pose. This a,lperstitious disposition
to rely upon the lot ia carried into
all the affairs Of liie. The Chinese
are all gamblers, gambling every
where and for everything. Even the
little boys, aa have often seen, in
going up 20 a truit-stand, almost in
variab}y cast the die to determine
whether they shall have double or
nothing for their money.
John Carter. only son of Il lahOrer