The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-07-11
THE WORSHIP OF JOSS.
INTERIOR or A CHINESE CHURC1
IN NEW YORK CITY.
How the Joss Houses Are Maintained
PRAYERS Must BE short or Else Paid i"r'
dos. sticks-A Prayer Translated The
Luck Book.

PRAYERS Must BE short or Elss Paid ior'
Hos, sticks-A Prayer Translated II
Luck Book.
There are two houses of worship hero in
Nee York. They are called Joss houses,
though what gave rise to the word joss IS not
Known. 10 IS not a Chinese word anu - pro
baby IA birth OF the pigeon English dialect.
The word meaning God in Chinese Is QuohS
Hea Say Gong. In the two joss houses, as
IN every other one all over Tie world, ne -
pictured r. the ceDtral point of attraction,
hanging. as the picture does, behind the al
tar. II u PAINTED with moro or loss magnii-
cence and reprcsel.tsa man of ideal beauty,
according to ChineS"s andardS, III the prime
Of life. On either side OF this picture, IN all
JOSS houses, hang portraits of tho great pow
ers of the universe, one rs the destructive,
represented 10y a hideous soldier armed to the
tooth. The other is the ideal productive wo-
man. bearing ia be: arms n sack of gold
and quantitie5 of flour and grain. In the
two JOSS houses in New York the central
! pictures are about SIX feet by four in dimen-
sion and arti,ticllly executed.
HOW THEY Il MAINTAINED.
10 TIC f-fEAliAiIilhhNh VI ~ W u tA
the wealthy Chinese and many OF the poorer
subscribe with more or less liberality. Every
one will take a flyer in fan tan or Il lottery
and pocket his gains or losses without
%scrupl.. and no one is bound by Occidental
notions Of chastity. They are very pious and
devoted men, according to the tenets of their
creed. They ~oiiiciate at the simple ceremo-
MES which obtain in these two temples with
! out pay unless the worshiper protracts his
devotious High Priest All Aloy said the
| other day: - man can say all the prayers
he reeds TO say in a minute. If he prOlOngs
the matter lac is simply what you would call
in English q PhariSee and II hypocrite. For
Injuries of this kind we make a charge, and
So if Il man remains before the altar more
than a minute ne must pay for the privilege.
One minute costs him nothing, the second
costs him twenty-five cents, the third fifty
cents. the fourth II, the fifth -, and SO on in
regular ratio
What the worshiper does is interesting,
although it is 50 brief. Entering the JOSS
house without ceremony he distributes a
quantity 81 joss sticks which tie has pur-
chased outside. There are six little bowls of
sand in which he sticks them, four are in
ilOl-l OF inc tlLtl, Oiic II illlticl a. liDAt III JIG
corner. and the sixth i, On a table OF stone in
another corner. In each he puts six sticks,
or a multiple OF six. according to the ferv-
cncy of his religious notions. Six is a sacred
number among this people. The first bowl
represents devotion; the second the past of
the w%Orshiper; the third his future; the
fourth the present Tor him and his relatives
and friends. The one under the table goes
Tor luck, and the last for his domestic rela-
tions. Having placed and ignited these sticks
ne kneeis upon the s)rayer cloth, which Is
spread before the altar, and there makes
twelve genuilexions.
A PRAYER TRANSLATED.
All this is done quickly, as has been stated;
but the ostentatious will remain reciting
prayers from the books of the Chinese
classics. humping their foreheads on the
ground and acting the Pharisee's part. The
short prayer that Is said may lie freely trans
lated as follows. Make me better; make me
moro courteous, make me kinder, bless my
parents and my grandparents; bless my
children and my wife; bless my cousins, my
uncles, my ancestors, my country, my ser
wants and my friends; keep away from all Of
them any disease aud give them all pros
perity. Amen.
The house itself or room deserves descrip-
ton, and yet 1t would be hard To give one
that would carry the picture to the readers
eye. Tinsel ornaments abound; Ornamental
ton IS profuse, but little or nothing Of real
value is to be seen. The room Is used not
exactly ~ a club house, but as a pleasant
place Of resort. Conversation, smoking, |
games at cards and d%ominoes, sometimes for
stakes. 20 on without "A question, and the
General air OF the small crowd that may be
found at any hour Of dag or night within
the walls Is that Of Jollity and social enjoy
ment rather than that Of what VI western
people call religion.
High Priest All Aoy said to a pretty act-
fess who visited his temple while studying
New York: You think that this - all IL
reycrent, and that We should not lray aud
laugh and sing in the house Of our God. Do
sou not believe in letting children enjoy
themselves wherever they arei You would
not send them away from home to play in a
bar room. We think the same. We are ali
the little children Of our God, and we enjoy
ourselves in his house rather than go away
Perhaps the most curious institution Ia the
JOSS house or temple Is the luck book, so
called. There are standing in front OF the
altar two vases, in each Of which are " OF
three hundred bamboo leaves. On each Of
these is Inscribed the number Of a page and
verse in the sacred book that lies on a table
near by. The worshiper, after paying a
small Zee, viii either shake the vase himself
or get the priest to do it until one OF these
leaves l. shaken up on top. This IS picked
out and the verse looked up, as it indicates
the fortunes OF the devotec.-New York
Graphic.