Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-21

THE HEATHEN.
From the N. T. Times.
little over year ago there was an auction
sale in this city of idols of the heathen The COL
lection was one Of the most miscellaneous that
could well be brought together. It embraced
everything in idoldom that was grotesque, uni
que, hldeous, handsome, and vulgar. 1t re-
quired considerable persuasive power on the
part ofthe auctioneer to dispose of these gods but
1t was finally accomplished, and the figures of
stone. wood and bronze, and porcelain which
had received the homage of the Celestials, the
Japanese. and other children of the East found
their way into the parlOr of the rich and the
reiic-hunters. New Workers got all they wanted
at very reasonable prices, and the demand for
this class of objects has been 80 limited ever
since that dealers laugh immOderately when
asked what the quotations are to-day in the god
market.
Chinese merchant on Broadway was visited
by reporter on the hunt for heather gods an
statistics about the traffic in these articles their
price, manufacture, &c. The merchant was
affabe and appeared willing to throw great
deal of light upon the subject. He talked with
such rapidity, however, and the Is wobbled
around SO on his tongue, that it was with some
difficulty that his ideas could be firmly grasped
Melcans didn't take kindly, he explained,
even if he was carved out in the
most artistic manner. They didn't object
so much to invest in the five-cent gods, and out
of recent importation Of 200, only about 50
were left in the store. These miniature gods to
which he referred are of pottery and about an
inch in height. They represent favorite Chinese
divinities, dressed in the garb of mandarins who
are In various postures. Some are kneelng as
II IN prayer, others as if engaged in brewing some
compound in vessel that very much resem-
"a nrto ofvo
matchlocks over their shoulders These latter
are the war gods. so the merchant said They
are made In China and shipped hither in bran.
They are. he said, very fair representation of
some OF the better looking of the gods of his
cOuntrymen.' No attempt was made to COPY
some of the popular divinities, on account of
what white people considered their extreme
hideousness. But white people drew a fine dis
tinction between handsome and homely gods
such as never occurred to Celestials, who wor-
shipped both with equal fervor. The gods of
Chinese families were considerably larger than
these mimic gods of commerce, and all the way
from one to dozen constituted the outfit of a
man OF means. really good god of decent size
hadn't hadn't seen the inside of his shop for a
that there was any inquiry for them. This
depression in the trade the merchant
attributed largely to the missionaries
who. he believed either begged, bought, or
stole all the gods they could when the empire
sent the idols home to America and England in
such quantities that what was once rare curl
oslty had now become an everyday affair.
Asked as to his own belief in the influence
winch gods are popularity supposed to exercise
over men, the merchant expressed the opinion
that If Melicans had more gods they would be
different and far better than they are AS for
the New Yorker he had only one god, and that
was money. As for himself he devoutly be-
leved in his gods, and when he desired success
T. Cn0b for in,
m0ney-making or in love, he took his god into
closet and prayed vigorously unto him. How
mucn OF what the heather said is true, the re-
porter had no means of determining. There was
a curious twinkle in the almond-shaped eyes
when the religious branch of inquiry was
entered upon that was not, to say the least, re-
assuring.
To the store of the first Japanese manufacture
ing and trading company of Toxic the reporter
DetOok himself. Here was found an immense
dlspiay OF Japanese goods of every conceivable
description, but very few gods were included in
IT, lt was explained by the enlightened Japa-
nese who took charge of the visitor that only
the lower class of Japanese are addicted to wor-
shipns gods OF brass, bronze or stone, [This
statement may, perhaps, be disputed by mis-
sionarlesJ The upper classes have believed
in Deity, but have a different way of express
ing their belief. No. there wasn't much doing
In the god trade; 80 little in fact. that the COM
pany had allowed their stock to run almost
entirely out. He was sorry he couldn't exhibit
something choice in the god line. He could say
about them, however which might DOS
sibly prove interesting. The authentic history of
Japan. he said, extended back for 8, 53l years or
beyond that everything was shrouded
IN tradition. Ten3hOkodaiZin was the founder
OF Japan's long and uninterrupted line of rulers
the present ruler being the one hundred and
tWenty-hfth in the line. and was, according to
all accounts, pretty capable fellow. His
DRY was embalmed in the shape of statues, which
vnG in no Ton Tl,nt
man was not wOrshiped-that was, not the
term to use-he was respected and reverenced
IS Americans reverence Washington. No statues
OF Tenshokodazin had ever been brought to this
country tnat ne was aware .Znmu Tenno was
descended from TenshOkodaizin, and was the
hrst Emperor with whom authentic history had
any dealings. ZinkOku was the Queen VINO sub
dued COrea. and she is neld in high esteem to
this day. Then there was OZntennO, her son.
who gave the country wise and good laws All
these had representative figures on pedestals in
the temples HachmaR was the japanese war
god, while kami corresponded to the Anglo
saxon God and Akuma to the civilized type
OF the devil. Akuma was altogether a
clay or bronze The only one the
gentleman had heard Of in this country was CAP
tured by Connecticut gentleman for $12, after
having beaten down the Japanese importer
from $3.50. But of all Japanese gods, DakOku
was the greatest favorite because he repre-
sented wealth. DaikOku always appeared sit
ting on rice bags and holding mallet in his
right hand. The rice bags were supposed to
wealth and the mallet power to Gre
ate wealth by sending bounteous rice crop
Every family had its Daikoku. Katow
KiyOmasa was q famous fighting general,
who found considerable favor in the eyes Of
his cOuntrymen. "Of course" explained the
gentleman, 'you Americans can cast al
most as good bronze figures and make
almost as fine figures Of potter's clay and wood
as the Japanese hence there is necessity for i'm
porting them for you. When we do find any
thing unusually fine in the way of images we
purchase it. and have no difficulty in selling it
again to some gentleman who is making col
lection of curiOs. A clay image can be bought
OF us for 25 cents and upward. according to the
decorations and finish bronze image for 81,
and some have been sold for as high as 500. In
Japan they make these things very costly some
times. l know of one image in Toxic which is
valued at between 5000 and $1,000. If you
want to see idols in endless variety you want to
go among the Buddhists. They have more gods
than any other people ON the earth. As for
devils, they have them Of every shape and color
blue devils, green devils, red devils, yellow
devils. We haven't one in the store. or would
you" The demand for these idols
was SO limited. he added, that the firm seldom
imported them. Possibly the popular craze for