The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1883-08-18

Ii Oh ing turn to be surprised at find.
ing himself recognized. So he entered
the arbor and gave them low salute,
knocking his head on the ground. They
greeted him cordially and asked him II
he wished to return. He did not care
to. '.But if you live with u.s." they
said, ..you viii have neither fish nor
! flesh to eat; neither wine nor tea to
drink. Our food is fresh fruits and our
drink clear water If you think you
could live ON such diet, we should be
happy to have you stay with us Ii
Oh ing assured them he could live thus.
So they made him one of them.
The cave where they lived was lined
on all sides with books, and books of a
kind the philosopher had never seen,
telling about all manner of sickness,
their external manifestations, and tbs
cure, II durable He spent his days
porting over these books, having for re-
creation an occasional game of chess
in the garden arbor. with one of the
old men. Thus in simple. happy ways,
time slipped by for two months.
Then the old men said one day to l.
Oh ling: ave have matter of bust
ness to attend to. and may be gone 3
month. Sowe will leave You in charge
of affairs here. The boys will wait or
you and get You everything you need
You, perhaps. have noticed that this
cave has, beside the garden entrance.
four closed doors, one to the east, one
to the west, one to the south and one
| to the north. Here are the keys. Ii
you get lonely, you may open the
eastern or western or southern gate,
but on no account must. you open the
northern" Then bidding him fare.
well, they left him.
Lii Ching was happy for some time,
intent ON his new-found study. But
after about twenty days he began to
feel lonely and depressed and bethought
him of his keys He opened the south
ern gate. He saw broad and pleasant
landscape, and in the center, just due
south, great throne, and a gentle
| faced yet queenly woman seated upon
it. Then he knew it was the Goddess
of Mercy of the Southern Seas. He
stood gazing for a while; then went
back, shutting the door. After a few
days he thought he would try the
eastern gate He found this also opened
/ q
throne as central figure. On the
throne was seated an old man, the
Dragon King of the Eastern Seas. The
next time he felt touch of ennui there
was still the western gate. This opened
on something more glorious still, the
throned figure of ",Ju-Lai-Fo,o the
! great Bnddha of the Western Heavens.
But after that. what? In few days
the old restlessness and longing came
back. @! ii he could only open that
northern door aud see the beauties be-
yond. The very blackness and mys-
terry of that closed door seemed to sug-
gest beauties beyond thought. AT last
he could bear it no longer. He would
open it crack and take peep, He
saw nothing remarkable; so he opened
it wide and stepped out. Nothing but
an empty sky aud bare hillside; moth
ing worth seeing. So he would go
back. He turned to go, and on that
side, too, he saw an empty sky and the
bare hillside; no door at ali. But the
hill looked strangely familiar. Yes, il
was the very one near his house. Auto.
matically his steps turned in the direc-
ton of thc mouth of the pit. Yes, il
was there, to be sure; but all around
the mouth were broken tiles and bricks,
some old moss-covered ruin. He
thought this very strange. He would
go to the village and ask what it meant
Here fresh surprise awaited him. The
houses were all right, but the people
were so queer. Clothes of such strange
fashion, buttoned at the side, and their
hair in pig-tails down their back. And
he found himself equally an object OF
curiosity. He wondered where he could
be, and asked some one the name Of
the village. They told him it was
Oh 'ingville. Then he told them his
name, and asked them if no one remem-
bered him. One old man came and
said he had heard his great-grandfather
tell of man who went down in a cave
and never came up; so his sons had bull
a temple to him at the mouth of the
cave. But that was long ago, in the
time of the Ming dynasty -Four hun.
even the temple was in ruins. The last
descendant of the family was living in
the village. Sadly Ii Ching went tc
seek him, hoping to find home will
him. But he found him wretched old
beggar, vile and filthy. After month
or two he went and entered Taois1
monastery. He employed himself with
his healing arts. When they saw his
skill people came from far and wide to
be healed.
One day the temple-keeper came and
said to him that he wished to go tc
market, and wanted Ii Ching to keer
! the temple for him. But IN the markel
the first man he met was Ii Ching
himself. fastening home at once
fearing for the safety Of the temple, he
found Ii Ching standing at the gate
and entering the room, there was his
body sitting in a chair. Then he knew
that Ii Ching had reached the state O
Immortality. His soul had become Sc
fine and pure that its essence coult
leave the body at will. The body like
wise was immortal.
So they knew what he was, ant
erected temple to him, and have
worshiped him ever since as the Genius
Of Old Age
have told this story at some length
because it illustrates both the Buddhist
and Taoist religions, and how the two
are combined in the belief of the same
persons The divinities seen were
Buddhist, the ending Of the story il
pure Taoist. / do not understand it at
all, nor how the soul and body can
have an individual existence | asked
my teacher if in that case the soul was
visible and corporeal Eyes, he said.
And was the body without the soul also