The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1894-11-07
CHINESE SUPERSTITION.
A Strange Notion That Prevails
Generally in the East.
The Sitting Of Buddhist Priest Coz His
Picture--"Restoring His SouI-Et-
feet OF This Wonderful Mir
acle by the Artist.

feCt OF IQlS WOuOCIluA HAAA
acle by the Artist.
Crowds of people assembled, says
o writer in the Fortnightly Review,
as we arrived at the inn, just before
sunset, and among others spotted
the fine head of an old Buddhist
priest. After a long confabulation
and a few strings of cash which
passed from my pocket into his
hands, l was able to induce him to
sit for his picture, and l dashed oil
a sketch in oils before he had time
to change his mind. Unfortunately
the large crowd that had gathered
round, especially the women folks,
seemed to scold him and talk angrily
at him for his Stiffness In sitting,
owing to the strange notion that
prevails in China, and, in fact, near
" all over the east, that if On image
is reproduced, a soul has to be given
to it, and that the person portrayed
has to be the supplier of it at his
own expense. The venerable old
Buddhist priest, who was nursing
his ''cash" on his lap while being
iinmortalized on o wooden panel,
and had q curious twinkle in his eye,
as If he knew better, resisted brave
" for some time, and sat like o
statue, but finally had to give in.
"You will dic," "cried an old woman
at him; IT saw your soul coming
out of you and go into the picture. l
did, really, I saw it with my own
eyesl"
$50 did l." cried hundred other
voices in q chorus.
By the time the priest had got up
they had half convinced him that OF
least half his soul had really gone
out of him; but had the soul gone or
not, he would go and take the cash
for safe keeping to his home first,
and complain and ask for the restltu-
tion of his lost property afterward.
He was q sensible man. So was /,
and knowing what was coming, the
moment he had gone I went into the
room and packed the sketch safely,
then I took another clean panel and
smeared it over with the scrapings
of my palette to show him instead,
In case he would come back and wish
the picture destroyed. Twenty min
utes had not elapsed when be was.
back again, of course without the
"casn," holding his stomach and
complaining of internal agonies.
"i am going to die, be cried, the
moment he saw me; "you have taken
away half my soull'
"Certainly I have, said I sternly.
"You did not expect me to give you
all that cash for less than half your
soul, did your"
"Oh, mol but I wish 1t back, as l
feel so bad now without 1t. !"
SAIL right" said I, II shall 20 in
the room and destroy the image l
did of you; will you then be satis'
fied2"
"Yes."
Here the other panel smeared
with palette scrapings was pro-
duced, after making pretense at de-
streying 1t with a knife, and never
in my life have 1 seen an expression
of relief to equal that of the priest.
He had not felt half his soul so much
going out of him, but he certainly
had felt it coming back again. He
could swear by it. He was now per-
fectly well agalnl
I This wonderful cure gave US oil o
very busy evening. All the villagers
who had complaints OF any sort
came to us to be restored to health.
A leper who had lost all his fingers
wished me to make them grow
again; and 6 pitiful case of o poor
child, only o few months old, was
brought tup, whose mother, while busy
stirring boiling water in o big caul-
dron, had dropped the child in by
mistake. He was so badly scalded
that am afraid, though tried to
relieve his pain, the poor child can
not have lived more than few hours.
Birch Rods for Students.