Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-05-08

A writer IN CaSsellS Family Maya
zine makes the following interesting
extracts from the Picking Gazette, the
official newspaper of the Chinese en-
pire:
But If there are theftS, murders and
mlsdemeanorS, prisons, fearful execu-
tions and the bastinado, in the celestial
empire. there is also the virtue reward
office. and its reports are frequent in
the Peking Gazette What manner of
virtue is rewarded we shall CLEAN from
3 few examples. A petition with =
long list of influential names is sent up
to the throne, praying that monu-
ment be erected to immortalize the
name of Lady Ho.
Lady Ho had been married, ut eight
cen, 10 Lu Shu-yung. When he was
seized with his last illness, the lady,
although occupied every night in Sc
cretly burning incense and offering up
fearful prayer, maintained during the
day n cheerful countenance, that the
parents might not be overcome by de-
lection. For months she changed not
her raiments, but devoted herself sedu-
lousy to administering to the wants of
her husband; and finally, as last re-
flesh to mix with the medicine" But
it was all unavailing; I.u Shu-yung
died. Ho tainted several times with
grief. But she had already resolved
not to outlive her husband, and after
privately writing to her sister-in-law to
come and attend upon the two parents,
already advanced in years, she swal-
lowed gold ring, and at the age of
thirty-four thus sacrificed her life
And we should certainly add our stone
to her cairn but for that little business
of the ring, which, though prettily de-
vised and according to Chinese notions
Virtuously done, sounds badly to west
ern ears.
Another lady, by name Wu-chang, is
to have memorial arch erected to her
for similar suicidal sacrifice. Her
husband having died before one year of
marriage, she was dissuaded from kill
ing herself only by the hope of serving
his parents, which duty she carried out
with truly praiseworthy faithfulness for
many years, until after their death she
declared that she would follow her huS-
band, and refusing all food, died after
seven days. A third lady. by name
Wang, residing at Choh Chow, not
only chopped herself on all occasions
piled burning incense-sticks to her
arms, to provide cures for her rela-
tions. Under all these overcharged ex-
amples we must not be blind to the
true national virtue of the Chinese,
their devotion to parents and the ladies
who are faithful to Zone love in life,"
are worthy of all honor; but it troubles
us benighted westerners to read of the
fair wee-footed creatures burning,
starving, and cutting themselves, or
even swallowing gold rings. The
virtue reward office has often better
work than this to do; fidelity, filial de-
votion, the bravery of soldiers who die
in battle, the virtue of women who sac
rifice life rather than honor-there are
things to be rewarded with more than
posthumous titles and memorial
arches.
One of the strangest pages that yet
remain for us to glance over, is the let
ter and tribute of the king of Burmah
to the emperor of China, who was at
the time, we must not forget, however
patriarchal in official documents, in
reality mere baby of between three
and four oddly destined to have gray
ity, ceremony and splendor, instead of
natural childhood. Meng-tun, king OF
Burmah, sends letter written in gold
to be laid before the throne of the great
emperor of the heavenly dynasty. He
calls himself his vassal, his insignifi-
cant slave, and paints POLITICALLY how,
as the suntlOwer bows before the sun,
all mankind turns with alteration
towards the imperial person; and his
letter ends by wishing his imperial
majesty '.long life for ten thousand
for ten thousand thousand years" The
list of tribute presents which were to
be delivered at the palace gate, in
cludes this letter written in gold,
Burmese image of the god of longevity,
five tame elephants and an immense
pair of ivory tusks, rings and jewels,
thousands of sheets of gold-leaf and
silver-leaf, heaps of sandaI-wood; and,
in the same wonderful catalogue with
the elephants and jewels, fifteen pea
cocks tails, twenty bottles of scent and
pomade, several pieces of thick, heavy
shifting Ono doubt from Manchester),
and-last, not least, and decidedly use.
full for an EMPEROR twenty foreign
carpet-bags."