Morning journal and courier., 1883-10-22
The World of Darkness.
Of she Dsad-Disn-Aveng-
 ing Spirits.

ing Spirits.
 From the Saturday Review.l
 The rudimentary form of all religion, Mir. Herbert Spencer tells us, is the propitiation of dead ancestors. It is well known that the worship of the dead is the principal religion of China, and that the other religious sys tems, having long vainly struggled against it, have finally given in, and are fain to serve as adjuncts to the faith which is followed by all classes. At certain seasons the propitiation of the dead forms the occasion of great public festival subscriptions toward which are made by every member of the communi- ty, from the richest to the poorest, each &C., cording to his capacity. Each family is ex- pected to look after it's own dead, and there is no slackness of piety in this respect, for the foundation of the worship is terror. Rich and poor, all of them live in perpetu- al fear, not only of their own ancestors, but of other peoples. A dead Chinaman passes from the world of light of the middle king dom to the world of darkness beyond, where, except fo4 the darkness, everything is the same as in the world of light. There is an Emperor, and there are mandarins with the regulation buttons, deep drinking HtefGti, and the prescribed annual examinations, Va mems, policemen and chuckle-headed soldiers who cannot pass the examinations This would be all very well if the spirits had the counterpart of the possessions they owned upon earth This, however, they have not. They are entirely dependent for all their comforts upon their descendants in the world of light. If the well-being of the spirits is not looked after they como up to inc world of light to avenge themselves. This yen- geance they naturally carry out upon their own relatives first of all but they are by no
 means particular if they come across any body else on the way. There are naturally a certain number who are neglected by i'm pieus descendants, as well as others whose e.- xusth all who are drowned at sea- or die in battle or in foreign lands and whose bones there fore cannot be deposited in the family rest ine-place, constitute 8 perpetual source Of peril to the entire community. Hence the public subscription festivals, the chief Of which, Chingming, falls about the beginning of April Sacrifices are then made all over China for the benefit of those whose burial places are not known, or, if known, have nobody to sacrifice to them. The hope is by this means to provide for and appease the lost, whose irEitAtioa might otharEisa andan= ger She peace of the whole country. The dead are of course invisible, except to those who by sustained fasting have approached to the condition of the more luckless among the spirits, or, moved by evil consciences, have seen the ghosts which come to warn them of their backslidfngs and niggardliness. To supply invisible beings the offerings them selves must be made invisible, otherwise they mIR0G snare tue 1bt0 or bn0 SAcE1uCC5 Ou tue Buddhist altsrs, which are eaten by the crows and the pariah dogs. Everything, therefore, ia burned. When man dies his best suit of clothes is forth1ith burned, to insurs his making respectable appearance down below. Huge models of houses, lem ples and furniture are consumed at the fune rals of rich men.
 Dien is the ordinary sacrifice at the three ereat-deceased ancestor feasts. This dien or money for the dead. is 8 substitute for sycee. It is thin rice-paper, coated over with tinfoil, and got up in the form of sy- ces. Richer people have 1t gilt and the poor use instead coarse yellow paper cut into the shape of cash. At the festival of Ching ming aud the other public charity solenniza- tions, immense quantities of dte1a are burned all along the streets, the rivers, the canals, on the bridges, at cross roads, jungle-psths, jetties. and in fact everywhere where 1t IS possible that . destitute spirit may be wan dering In want Of money to support him in the world of darkness. Tbis ancestral worship has c complsts hold on the Chi ness mind. If the Tsnist religion has not actually sprung from reverence for the dead, 1t is at least now it's most fervent supporter, and the priests of that faith make much profit by mGdistinS between the living and the dead. The Buddhist borzes, In self-defence have adopted the same tactics, and the flisl piety taught by the followers of Ccnfucius certainly does not tend to weaken the practical working of the doctrine of propitistion of the dead In China, therefore. we have the most ella borRte form of this Propitiation Of the dead but 1t Is not only there that 1t eI- ists Ancestral worship IS the most obvi ous characteristic of the religious notions of the American Indians. It formed prac. tieally the state of worship of Peru The living Incas Worshipped their dead fore fathera The village communities do rev erence to the first founder, or to soma famed warrior or dreaded sorcerer, and iR- dividual families seek for peace Of con science in making offerings to their remo- test ancestor, and hoard up dried corpses for the purpose of taking them round to see the crops. Dead oorpses, growing crops, and pious agriculturists all derive much benefit and peace of mind from the proceeding The method and philosophy of the Chinaman are wanting, but the idea is the same.
 It might be supposed that with these views ancestor worshippers would be as chsry of taking life as the most rigorous of Buddhists. This is, however, very far from being the case There is no more systematically bloodthirsty fighter than your spirit-fearing Chinaman. He scoffs at lily livered western soldiers who rather prefer wounding 8 man to killing him. That is not the Chinese Idea Of carrying on war at all When he has man down he makes sure of him and cuts his head of. Now this, in view of the worship of the dead, is most risky proceeding. These is no sursr way of getting into trouble In the king dom of darkness than appearing there with out any head. On the face of it this sug- gests misbehavior above ground, and the rulers below make such new conner coo lie, or a boatman, or even, if he seems to be @ particularly bad character, a policeman. Thus you have 50 many uneasy spirits crea- Fad fn vav Ii wiaoy humanity t0 the fnlfasf ax- tent of their sense of injury. Their re- mains above ground are probably tossed about anyhow, and not Q stis CT of dtefs comes their way once in twelvemonth. There cannot be, therefore, any doubt that such victims of the good old rule will do o-their ut most to revenge themselves for their nl-treat- msnt on folks In the world of light. And, as matter of fact. they do make them pay pretty penny, which. however, goes into the pockets of the Tanist priests, and not to the sole benefit of the heasless goblin. If man gets . fit of indigestion, or if loose window-pane gattles at night, or Deam creaks, he forthwith imaRines hungry de- mon dayisino mischief and summons priest next day to perform Koong tuh-meritor!- ous aervics-to quiet the sprite. feast IS laid out in vacant room, properties are burnt to any extent, and occasionally the hierophaut, besides supplying these things at ! his own price, sets the good man of the house | to make guy of himself, executing cuts and passes at particularly malevolent demons. | Nevertheless, In spite of all this additional trouble caused by beheading people, there Is I no hope for the Peace-at -any-Price society to establish Q working branch in the Celestial empire. There is no resisting the tempta I ton of cutting peoples heads of when one gets the chance. It is expensive, but is is l worth the money.
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