The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1894-12-07
CHINESE SUPERSTITION.
Striking Illustration of the Credulity
and Ignorance of BIongolians.

a Striking Illustration of the Credulity
and Ignorance of 1IongoIians.
Crowds Of people assembled as we ar
rived at the inn, just before sunset, and
among others I spotted the fine head of
an olS Buddhist priest After long
CONTEMPLATION and few strings of cash,
which passed from my pockets into his
hands, | was able to induce him to sit
for his picture, and l dashed off 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,
nearly all over the east, that if an image
is reproduced 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 leash" on his lap while
being immortalzed on a wooden panel,
and had a curious twinkle in his eye,
as if he knew better, resisted bravely
for some time and sat like statue, but
finally had to give in.
'You will die, " cried an old woman
at him. Il saw your soul coming out of
you and go into the picture. did real
ly. saw it with my own eyes"
$50 did To- cried hundred other
voices in a chorus
By the time the priest had got up,
they had half convinced him that at
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 restitution of his lost
property afterward. He was a sensible
man. So was I, and knowing what was
coming the moment he had gone I
went into the room and packed the
sketch safely, then took another clean
panel and smeared it with the scrapings
of my palette to show him instead, in
case he would come back and wish the
picture destroyed Twenty minutes had
not elapsed when he was back again, Of
course without the "cash," holding his
stomach and complaining of internal
agonies.
81 am going to die, J." he cried the
llS SAW Inc. i gu have tdk6n
away half my soulP'
Certainly l have" said I sternly.
'You did not expect me to give you all
that cash for less than half your soul,
did your"
''Oh, no! but I wish it back, as 1 feel
so bad without it. "
''All right" said l. 81 shall go in
the room and DESTROY the image did
of you. Will you then be satisfied"
eyes. -
Here the other panel smeared with
palette scrapings was produced after
making pretense at destroying it 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 GER
tainly had felt it coming back again.
He could swear by it. He was now per-
fectly we'll again!
This wonderful cure gave us all a
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 pitiful
case of a poor child only few months
old was brought up, whose mother,
while busy stirring water in big cal
dron, had dropped the child in by mis-
take. He was so badly scalded that l
am afraid, though l tried to relieve his
pain, the poor child cannot have lived
more than a few hours. -Fortnightly
Review,