The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-15
COME CHINESE GODS.
.,- Names, Qualities, Character
20. .-.ics and Forms of Worship.

sH ,=+;cs and Forms of Worship.
From, the Ner YORK Star.
rvsry one has some general ideas con-
- the Chinese religion. but perhaps
ars even slightly acquainted with its
- ar the details Of the worship.
80 ara two features Of the Chinese re-
- which distinguish it from the faith
IT other heather nations. These are
nbSance of human sacrifices and the
so1f;cstion of vice. No sacrificial immo-
~. If man by his fellows has been
~ in Chinese annals in such shape as
49, the conviction that it formed part
.[s belief or practice of the people. No
Idle or Sakshmi occurs in the list Of
80 poddesses; no weeping for Than
no obscene rites OF the Durgapuga
~ ever been required or sanctioned
T. chinese priests; no Nautch girl as III
a., tamples. or courteSans as In Corinne,
lut ut in their sacred dwellings, nor does
- Mythology beam with disgusting re-
len If the amours Of their deities. On
~ Contrary. like the Romanists, they
IL and deify chastity and seclusion as a
S"rs of bringing the soul and body nearer
r the highest excellence.
T[sra are three forms of religion among
- Chinese of this countryside Lao-Tse,
- Shnng-Tse or Confucian, and the Fo
~ se was the great reformer of the
=SS;rese primitive religion, which was in a
o.sat degree a worship of nature He was
e. oeditative son of poor peasant, the
E hasis of his new teachings being that man
rnnst subdue and control his passions if he
-;sbas 10 obtain spiritual and physical hap
n;neSs Every faculty and sentiment was
f;van as good, tine manner of arranging
shem being to place on one side all those
hi nersonify the virtuous, proper and
&rIsasant. with their corresponding antago-
B pists opposite them. TIE priests practice an
zeDicurean philosophy, and the professors of
4 his creed are chiefly the rich and the
higher classes or society.
i The purpose of Confucius was to estab-
! lisb the primitive religion, his object being
moi so much 70 teach a new belief as the
inculcation of moral principles, and to in
duce his countrymen to lead a moral life.
His philosophy embraced three grades of
sacrifices--the great, medium and inferior.
The objects to which the great sacrifices are
offered are only four, viz. Tien, the heavens
4 or sky; ii, the earth; tai Mai, OF the great
temple of ancestors wherein the tablets OF
deceased monarchs of this dynasty are
placed; and lastly the SHE usih, or gods of
the land and grain.
The medium sacrifices are offered to nine
Objects The sun, or great Light; the
moon. or might light; the names of en-
perors and kings of former dynasties, the
ancient patrons of agriculture and silk,
Confucus himself, and the gods of heaven,
earth, and tue cyclic year. The mythology
which Confucius taught was that the sun,
day, warmth, and the higher heavens, or
perfect principle, were of the masculine
gender, and the imperfect principle, COM
prlsing the moon, earth, night and cold,
were Of the feminine gender. He attached
no idea of personality to the deity, but
ordered alteration paid to powers that
represented that celestial ruler.
The Chung-Tse, or as it is better known
in America as Confucianism, is the religion
Of the more learned classes.
The most popular religion. and that which
we see practiced in Mott street, and in fact
10 San Francisco, is that of Fo, or Bud
dhsm. Some of the doctrines of Con-
fucius have been Incorporated into it, but
the salient features are those of Samaism,
which have degraded it into a common
ilolatry. Many, if not most, of the idols
TO be seen in the various temples or joss
houses here, which are usually devoted to
the service of the patron deity of some one
particular company, are little more than
adaptations of Indian deities or the persons
Of remote ancestors invested with the char
scteristics of gods.
= OF all the saints in the Chinese calendar
Confucius is the chief, and with him are
the early kings Yao and Shun with
King Wau and his two sons, King WI and
Duke Chau.
The highest divinity is Nguk Kuong ST.
ong va. He is particularly prayed to in
times of business troubles or financial de-
preston, and is referred to as the producer
and governor of all things terrestrial and
celestial. The common people believe him
TO be the supreme ruler of all, who is to ex-
anime into the merits or dement's of NOR
tails, and reward or punish them according
to their deserts. The custom most in vogue
of approaching his august presence is by
nine genuhections and three knockings.
Tai Sang, or the deity controlling life
and death, is the object of special adora-
ton by the inhabitants of Chinese Tartary.
lie is the reputed grandson of Nguk Huong,
Sioog Ts, and reigns over the lower regions.
He is regarded as the deity who has charge
Of the portals of the hereafter, and it is
that he might more easily and effectually
draw his followers into his terrestrial abode
that the common queues are so much worn
by Cinnamon.
10 the Chinese joss house on Mott street
is figure labeled "Hieng Tieng Siong Ta,"
who is regarded by the almond-eyed Celes-
tails as the supreme ruler of the heavens.
de is also known as the water Ruler"
and is often prayed to to prevent confagra-
uons, as wind and rain are believed to be
ais special dispensations. Joss sticks are
burned IN his honor, and during the winter
sostlce, which is a great day OF Chinese
worship, he is ornamented with silk cloak,
cap and boots. When these garments are
about TO be taken off, all worshippers
present express their alteration of the idol
by splitting in its face nine consecutive
tunes. The dress is then removed, and
three joss sticks are placed at the foot of
the w alter Ruler" until the coming of the
next winter solstice.
There is but one of the numerous Chinese
gods before whose presence no red candles
OF joss sticks are burned, and that is Hue
olhg, or the god of fire. He is much rever-
enced and feared, because he is looked upon
as the ruler of the southern regions, and no
people are more enslaved by fear of the I'M
known than the Chinese. They have their
cIalrvoyants, fortune tellers and astrologists
IN Mott street and elsewhere, reaping
golden harveSts from the vast crowds
OF Mongolians who flock to Their dens,
anxious to get a glance into the
misty future. Strange as 1t may seem, the
Shlnese have day set apart for the special
nonor Of kuang Ing Hulk, or the goddess
VI Iecundlty, on whose birthday her wor-
snlpers eat only vegetables She is vega-
SaIlan, and is represented as half man and
nsH woman. Her image in the Mott street
JoSs house is made of coarse clay, upon
wnlch is Inscribed on white paper in large
Nhlnese hieroglyphics her name. Married
t4en whose wives and mothers are in China,
OF those who have rnarriad in this cOuntrv