The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1883-01-24
STREAMS OF GOOD AND BAD LUCE.



BuiIding Railroads Ia china.
DR.. d. Bethune McCartee, who for
thirty-seven years was engaged in mis-
sionary 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.
"To understand the opposition Of the
Chinese to 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. In their conception,
luck is sort Of material substance that
can have q course like wind or stream
For instance, 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 sign
will be put up TO keep the bad luck away,
such as:
''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 at all necessary
that piece Of the stone Of the sacred
mountain shall be there, for the Chinese
believe You can humbug the bad luck
by simply declaring that the stone In
there. Sometimes they put up bar
rier to Keep off stream Of bad luck. In
front of every mandarin's Office there in
a large wall called pih-ho- Chang, which
means the wall keeping of calamity.
Sometimes measures are taken TO divest
stream of bad luck. know Of house
where road came opposite the back
door and then came around the house.
1t 80 happened that several cases Of i'll
ness occurred in the house, and it wai
concluded that the trouble arose from
n stream Of ill.luck pouring down the
road into the back door. SO they closed
the door and made the road zig g.zag, sc
as to diminish the force of the stream.
"Good luck is supposed to flow in the
same manner as bad luck. II mans
ancestors are buried in a good place, O
stream of good luck flows down the fam
lily; if in bad place, then stream OF
bad luck descends. So careful are
Chinese in such matters that they will
keep q corpse unburied for several years
rather than take any risk. They make
their collins very thick, and put packages
OF quicklime in among the wrappings Of
the bodies so that they do not becom,
offensive. have many time slept in 1
room that had such coffin in it. Yol
must not think that these things ar,
merely the superstitions of the ignorant
Divination is a recognized science in
China The board of astronomers of the
empire fix the lucky days for marriage
house-building, or travel, and these or,
published in the official almanacs. An(
then there are innumerable Fungshwu
doctors, whose business is to decid
questions of luck. Fungshwui mean
literally wind and water, but the ide
is best represented in the English by tn
word luck. The direction of luck stream
are always considered in building, all,
hence it is that pagodas are always foun,
at the junction Of rivers, the forks G
roads, or the intersections Of valleys.
"Now, you can imagine how muc
trouble railway building would cause
China; what innumerable streams ,
good luck it would cut of, or streams
bad luck it would divert upon poor pc,
pie who had carefully put their hous,
out Of reach of such influences III
Chinese do not have cemeteries, IN
tombs are scattered in every directio
through the country. Nowhere could
railroad be laid down without desecra
ing the tombs and lacerating the feeling
Of the people. When an English con
pany built railroad from Shanghai
Woosung-only fourteen miles-peopl
stood on the track crying and beseechin
so that it was sometimes necessary I
stop the locomotive TO put them off. Th
company never would have obtained
charter from the Chinese authorities ha
its intention been known. Their appl
cation was for permission to build
horse-road, which was granted. I'll
protests Of the Chinese authorities wei
disregarded, and the company, sustaine
by Sir Francis Wade, the British an
bassador at Pekin, carried things with
high hand. There was no traffic for Il
+, road, and finally the company sold it
the Chinese government for good SUI
The railroad was then taken up"