The south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1879-1883, 1881-10-06
STREAMS OF GOOD AND BAD LUCK



How a Curious BELIEF Interfcrcs win
Ill9 'Ruilding Railroads In shiaa. nc
DR.. D.. Bethune McCartee, who for
thirty-seven years was engaged in mis-
sionSry work in China for the American
board Of foreign missions, and is now in
the diplomatic service of that country,
has given some explanations in regard to
the attitude of the Chinese toward rail
| ways. si'-h ANF '','
''To understand the opposition of the
Ohineseto railroads, " said DIR. McCartee,
''you must know something about their
superstitions. In China, considerations
Of good and bad luck enter into every
transaction in life.A In their conception,
luck is sort Of material substance that
can have, course like a wind or a stream.
For instance, q house opposite to the
junction Of street, with the Street in
which it stands, is an unlucky position.
The bad luck that may happen to flow
down the opposite street will run right
into the house. In such a case d sign
will be put up 10 keep the bad luck away,
such as: i M ,e.ti SAW sd eanii s3',
The stone of the great mountain Is here.
"This refers to the sacred mountains
worshiped by the high dignitaries Of the
empire. Only the Emperor may wor-
ship the heaven. Officers of the highest
rank worship the sacred mountains, the
various powers OF nature are worshiped
by the lower official grades, and the
common people worship their parents
and ancestors, 1t isnot OF all necessary
that piece Of the stone of the sacred
mountain shall be there, for the Chinese
believe you can humbug the bud luck
by simply declaring that the stone is
there. Sometimes they put up bar
rier to keep off stream OF bad luck. In
front OF every mandarin's office there is
large wall called pih-ho. Chang, which
means the wall keeping off calamity
Sometimes measures are taken to diyest
q stream Of badluck. know of house
where q road came opposite the back
door aud then came around the house.
1t so happened that several cases Of ILL.,
ness occurred in the house, and il was
concluded that the trouble arose from
stream of illluck pouring down the
road into the back door. SO they closed
the door and made the road zig-zag, so
as to diminish the force VI the stream.
Good luck is supposed TO flow in the
same manner MS bad luck. II mans
ancestors are buried in n good place,
stream of good luck flows down the FAM
lily; if in a bad place, then stream Of
bad luck descends. So careful are
Chinese in such matters that they will
keep corpse unburied for several years
rather than take any risk. They make
their collins very thick, and nut packages
OF quicklime in among the wrappings of
the bodies so that they do not become
offensive, ! have muya time slept in a
room that had such o coffin in it. You
must not think that these things are
merely the superstitions Of the ignorant.
Divination isa recognized science In
China fhe board Of astronomers OF the
empire ft the lucky days far marriage,
house-building, or travel, and these are
published IN the official almanacs. And
then, there are inpnrnerahle, Fungshwui
doctors, whose business Is to decide
questions of luck. Fuugshyui means
literally wind and water, but the idea
is best represented in the English by the
word luck. The direction Of luck streams
are always considered in building, and
hencs it is that pagodas are always found
at the Junction Of rivers, the forks of
roads, or the intersections Of valleys.
"Now, you can imagine how much
trouble railway building would cause in
China; what innumerable streams Of
good luck it would cut of, or streams Of
bad luck it would divert upon poor peo-
pie who had carefullySput the;- houses
out Of reach Of such Influences. The
Chinese do not have cemeteries. and
torhbs are scattered in every direction
through the country. Nowhere could
railroad be laid down without desecrat.
ing the tombs and laeerating the feelings
Of the people. When an English COM
pany built railroad from Shanghai to
Woosung- only fourteen miles-people
stood on the track crying and beseeching
so that it was sometimes necessary TO
stop the locomotive toput them of. The
company never would have, obtained a
charter from the Chinese authorities had
Its intention been known. NTheir appliI
cation was for permission to build A
horse-road, which was granted. Tho
protests of the Chinese authorities were
disregarded, and the company, sustained
by Sir Francis Wade, the British am.
bassador at Pekin, carried things with a
high hand. There was no traffic for the
road, and finally the company sold it to +,
the Chinese government for good sum,
The railroad was then taken up"
4 I0l 95IfO9DCC0 .2Ql y.