The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1879-01-02

heard;
Where pure hearts may dare to give pure feel
ings scope.
Without fear of the slanderous, vile-spoker
word.
CHINESE THEOLOGY.
The G cd. OF the Orienf-Philosophy
of C0nfucius.
A few days ago a reporter of the
Washington Post held an interesting
conversation with ex-Consul General
Murphy, who has lately returned from
China, on the theology of the almond
eyed Mongolian. Following is a re-
port of the interview:
"What about the religion of China?''
"Their religions are Buddhist, Tauist
and Confucian, the latter, however, is
purely moral, and has none of the par
aphernalia belonging to the others, con-
sisting of rules and ceremonies per-
tanning to sects and local religious
communities"
"What are some of their practices?''
swell, for example, the Buddhist
priests with steel die stamp the i'm
age of Budha on a thin piece of sheet
lead. These pieces they take out with
them to the fishing-grounds fifty or
more miles at sea. When the large
sea mussels common to that coast are
drawn up by the nets they manage to
place several of these lead impressions
inside the shell, and then throw them
back into the sea. Every once in q
while the fishermen draw them up in
ha coated with pearls. They then ex-
claim, Budha is god. We found him
in the bottom of the sea.". They have
thousands of titular deities, both great
and small, one for almost every con-
ceivable thing. For instance, there
is the God of Wealth. He is carved
out of wood, nicely jointed, dressed
richly, and placed upon the counter of
the merchant. If trade is slack the
merchant attributes it to the neglect of
Joss to attend to hiss business, and so
puts him out in the rain. This he re-
peats if necessary; but if trade still
continues slack he will put rope
around his neck and drag him square
or two, and thus will he continue to
punish him until trade revives, when
the merchant concludes that the God
Of Wealth has at last begun to attend
to business"
h0 off S<.sO
swers to our John Sherman, the idea
isn't such bad one, is it?"
"That is hardly fair question. The
Chinese are very practical, even in
their religion. A Hebrew in San Fran
cisco entered the store of China mer-
chant, and seeing a god of wealth on
the coanter, knocked it over. John re-
with his accustomed smile,
You no Mclean man; you killed that
mans God"
"Who is the Supreme d,-their
Jehovah"
"Chang-i is the Supreme God of all;
the principal of all that exist. He is
eternal and imniovable; all-powerful,
and Omnipresent. Heaven
and earth are under his government.
He is pure, holy and impartial; wick
edness ofends his sight. He is good,
merciful, and full of piety; he forgives
on the repentance Of the wicked. He
suffers Irregularities in the seasons to
occur in order to induce men to amend
and reform. The governing class,
though, are imbued with the philoso-
ply of Confucius and Mencius, who
wrote the four books Mencius only
the last one. All scholars are expected
TO know the three by Confucius by
heart. From them they derive their
principal oracles and what they be-
lieve to be eternal verities. The liter
ati follows them, and they hold in
their hands the emyloyments of the
nation. Confucius and Mencius ap-
peared at time when their people
were much given to idolatry, and when
The morals of the whole race were at a |
very low ebb. To raise and elevate
hem was what called from Confucius
MS system of morals. They are sub
ime, drawn from the purest fountains
If natural reason. Certainly philos-
,phy destitute of the divine revelation |
has never appeared exhibiting SO much |
and power. He has been
to Zoroaster, Mohammed,
md Socrates. He was not as great a |
legislator as the first, nor as good a re-
igious teacher as the second, nor as
profound a metaphysician as the third;
,ut as a moral teacher he has no supe-
.ior among the legions of philosophers
Who appeared before the time of our
SAVIOR"
"What do the Chinese knew of
lim?''
His family is the Oldest in the
world. His descendants are yet resid-
ng in the district of his birth, and !
,ave often since the death of their
,reat ancestor been the recipients of
'peeial favors. They pay no taxes,
md have at various times held trusts |
If Importance under the Imperial |
Many temples stillstand-
ng were built in cOmmemoratiOn of
lim. An instance of their practical |
- d --s---ssl.