The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1882-04-29

aside from this another shrine, on which ar
three goddesses: Mother, the greatest OF all
being the middle divinity, having on herrigh
Mercy and on her lett the Goddess Of Sailors
These divlnities are of wood, painted IN darl
|colOrs, are about two feet high, OF no particu
liar expression OF countenance, but are pre-
lfusely decked with flowers, and having ricl
lrobe of red coored silk over her neck ant
shoulder bret, something after the STYLE
land decoration OF the Virgins altar as seen IL
most of our Catholic churcher on festival days
In inches on either side OF these dlvlnltics Du
in the same shrine, are the God OF Beasts, th'
God of War, the God Confessor the Divine
Tiger, the Stop Devil, 1.-The latter with bel
III hand to frighten away the evil Spirits and
the God of Fire. Near these are seated two
more gods, grim visaged and cast IN bronze
and wearing peacock feathers. A world OF
/ tinsel things are under, over and all around
them. Chey Sun IS the Rich Man, or. rather
the God of Wealth, richly arrayed IN silken
garments and profusely adorned with Jewelry
To him the poor appeal, bewailing their pow
erty and asking OF him assistance on theiI
way to wealth. On his right Is Waa Too, the
God of Health, called by the Cinnamon, the
Doctor He Is shown in the act OF taking a
dose of his own medicine-a thing our doc
tors seldow do nowadays. In niche In the
wall near the Doctor is one OF the Ten Kings
OF He'll grim idol, two feet high, with q
laughing face, who prevents EVIL spirits from
entering the temple and in little shrine on
his right on the floor is his policeman the
Little Devil, slender imp, two feet high, who
aids the King in excluding the evil ones
Spread out before these gods and goddesses
were roast chicken and pig, sweetmeats, cakes,
tea and burning lamps And here the skeptical
may wonder how The gods and gOddesses get
away with all the food, and If the large sup
ply of strong tea does not weaken the nerves !?
Bat it IS understood that the gods consume
only the immaterial and essential parts of the
Offering after which the meats, fruits, pyra-
mlds Of cake, rice and other articles are car
rled home to be eaten by the great joss and
other officers.
Around the various affairs are vases OF burn
ing punk, called incense, but which is more
suggestive of the conflagratiOn of a tan yard,
or burnt offering of horse hoOf parings in q
blacksmith shop. The walls are hung with
pictures pOrtraylng the terrors of future pun.
lshment and the rewards OF prospective par
adise. The Chinese hell was depicted by a.
sort of brick oven, with big folding doors, at
the side of which sat the devil. Subordinate
devils were driving the sinners toward the
spot, and the big devil viewing the procession
with satisfaction, was just reaching for his
forked spear with one hand and taking the
keys out of his vest pocket with the other.
Another picture represented the judgment.
An immense figure sat upon a desk, judging
the sinners at his left, and a man in red cast
them into furnace Of fire below, as a clerk at
the right checked off the names in big black
book. One picture represented woman beat
ing the devil over the head with a club, the
gods applaudlng. The joys OF paradise were
h. a ,I,nr ,,t oil
clouds OF glory and gOrmandizing over roast
pig, angels lowering about and fanDing off the
flies. On the sides OF the door were two a.
gantic figures about ten feet high, made of pa.
per. Each had one leg lifted IN the air, and
they looked like two Chinese gods dancing a
double clog, which Chlnaman said were
gods Of Fun They were funny pictures any
how!
A number of Chinese women we're in the
temple with their children, showing them pic |
lures of sinners being raked into the pits of
fire and the saving IN two of the goddess by |
the devils. In this way the orthodox Chinese |
mother leads her offspring along the paths of
and warns the heather "kld" of
the wrath to come.
The form of worship is peculiar. On enter
ing the temple the worshper makes the "kow-
tow" getting down on the knees and striking
the floor with the head three times In con.
sultlng the gods the "ka.pue," or divining
sticks are used, and also bamboo slips.
The "ka-pue" are pieces of wood Blk and
eight inches long, oval on one side and flat on
the other. Whichever god they wish to in
Peace, Luck or Wealth-they
kneel down before his shrine, elevate the ka-
pue above the head kiss the floor three times,
on the third time letting drop the kapue, and
as that turns 50 lnterprets their luck. Ii both
flat surfaces rest upon the ground, bad luck !"
both flat surfaces upwards, indifference" but
one flat surface on the ground and one up
wards, the favor of the god is assured There
are other methods employed but this Is the
principal one, and IN 1t the Chinaman thinks
he has great advantages over our religion, as
he has his gods at the temple and his gods at
home. a Chinaman remarked to one of our
party, "Chnaman religion heap better than
Mclean mans. You go church Sunday little
while; you go home, and alice week you lie
and steal and do heap muchec bad things.
Chinaman, he got gods a. home, see i'm alice
lime. Chinaman must always be good"
Passing below the cleaning rows of varle
gated lanterns that swing in front of the high
toned restaurant, which ilaunts itself from the
top story of the building, we arrive at
THE ROYAL HONG THEATRE,
which is the grandest o. IN the town. The
price OF admission varies with the time of
entrance. Early In the evening "barbarians"
are charged -four bits" fifty cents, but the
Celesials can go in at any time and occupy
the best seats in the house for 1.-TWO bitee."
Ascending the steep, narrow and rckety stairs
we arrived at the door where "a Celestial dis.
pensed hieroglyphlcally embossed bits of pa.
per In exchange Tor "Meican"lcoin this part
of the programme being satisfactory, we were
admitted into the body of the theater To
say that the place was crowded carries no idea
1T was jammed; the dingy wooden benches
were literally packed with monotonous ar
ray Of yellow faced, acknowledged Mongolians
There are no stage curtains, no flies or shifting
Of scenes; no decorations of any kind, but
simply platform on which all the acting
and heavy work. Is done in full view of the
audience If man Is slam in war or falls In
nassinn he Is not carried off the STAGE nor hid |