The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-04-13

TERED in the ancestral burying ground,
that Chinaman's soul will not rest easy
in the spirit land but wander about like
"a ghost perturbed. Perhaps the great
est single manifestation OF the hold
which the somewhat platitudinous
teachings of Confucius have acquired
upon the multiplying millions of human
beings who inhabit China Is shown In
the veneration which Confucianism
commands to be paid by it's followers to
their ancestors. 80 far as can be dis
covered" our author informs U.S. this
worship of ancestors is as old as the
race. 1t is the most deeply rooted of all
form Of religion In the very fibre Of the
Chinese character and beyond ques-
tion, it will be the last of all forms Of
false faith to die out from among
them" The masses believe that the
spirits of the departed remain near the
home occupied by them during life, and
near the grave in which the body rests.
They believe that these spirits are
powerful to work good or Ill to their
descendants. and that hence they must
be propitiated by offerings. Thus It Is
customary for all Chinese families, upon
appointed holidays, to the accompani-
ment of exploding firecrackers, to place
rich feastS of baked meats, rice and
cakes, together with rare wine and rich
silks, upon the graves OF their departed
progenitors, in the hope that the spirits
of these departed ones will eat, drink,
clothe themselves and be induced to
view with favor their thoughtful de-
Scendants'i in the flesh. The spirits, of
course, do these things only in a spiri-
tual sense: and what is left when they
have satisfied their spiritual desires, Is
promptly disposed of by the more ma
terial providers thereof. This interest
ing rite explains, among other things,
why there are no bachelors in China.
For, unless one marry and have de-
scendants. how is one to be clothed and
fed after one is dead?
Secondary to Confucianism Is Tao
ism, jumble of complex superstitions
and idolatrieS difficult to be understood
or explained. Originally Taoism taught
asceticism. or that the study Of pure
reason and the modification of bodily
desires formed the sole duty of man,
But nowadays, Taoism has degenerat-
ed into a craft of mountebank priests
and astrologers, who play upon the
credulity of the ignorant masses for
purposes of their own. Buddhism is
also in general vogue, in corrupted
forms. Temples and Shrines to Bud
dha are numerous throughout the en-
pire. The worship in these temples is
always individual, there being no such
thing as joint or congregational service
known. A worshiper comes in, buys
from the priest, for a few cash, several
sticks of incense, which the priest lights
at the sacred flame. These are handed
to the worshiper, who places them in q
bronze incense-burner upon a table in
front of the image of Buddha. He then
prostrates himself upon a rug before
the idol three times, each time knock
ing his head thrice upon the floor, the
priest meanwhile beating a huge drum
or bell, to attract Buddha's attention
This done, the worshiper rises and goes
about his business. These Buddhistic
temples advertise for trade, like any
other species of business house; and
even employ priestly solicitors to drum
up cash-paying worshipers.
These solicitors, or professional beg
gars to be more exact, generally at
tract attention by some marked peculi-
arity of personal appearance. One had
circular holes cut through his cheeks
Through these holes am iron rod had
been placed, so that both ends
projected an inch from the cheek
A half-circle hoop of iron was loosely
fastened to either end of the rod and
passed around the back of the head
where it was attached to a log chain
several feet long. Another was boxed
tightly within a wooden overcoat, into
which spikes We're driven so as to pin
him fast. The fellow set up a great
bowling, and any one who sympathzed
with his condition could contribute to-
ward his relief by buying of a nearby
priest one Of the offending spikes
which upon payment of it's price would
be pulled out and given to the merciful
purchaser as a souvenir of his warmth
of heart Not all self-infiicted cruelties
are, however. calculated with view
to securing aims. The author tells the
following circumstance showing a sin
cerity of faith which, despite its idlocy,
has a touch of the sublime lone in
tolerably hot and dusty afternoon
was resting at wayside tea-house
to the southwest of Peking when
saw a man approaching and stirring
the deep dust of the highway in very
peculiar manner. The man would take
one long step forward from a certain
point, measure his length, face down.
ward, in the road, then place his feet
in the spot marked in the dust by his
forehead, take another step, measure
his length again, and so proceed, one
step and one prostration, as the
Chinese call it. At each prostration he
knocked his head three times in the
hn nd of
the measuring worm of childhood. In
answer to my questions, he said that
a year before, when his only son was
very i'll, he had made a vow that, If
Buddha would restore the young man
to health, he would make a pilgrimage
to Wu Tai Shan and back to his native
village, making the entire journey in
the manner above described. The dis
tance was nearly 1000 miles. and he
could measure only about three miles
a day. AS he was IS years old, frail in
appearance and about worn out, 1t
was easy to see that he would not live
to fulfill his vow. A callous lump as
large as an egg had formed upon his
forehead. Yet this man was shocked
and angry at suggestion that he
should abandon his useless pilgrimage.
and passed out of sight measuring the
road with his feeble body"
".
The Chinaman may be tolerant in his
ideas concerning religion, of which he
possesses little. but he does not carry
this liberal spirit into the domain Of
his supersttions. The entire mental
fabric of the Chinese nation, as Mr. Hol-
combe shows us, is saturated with SUPER
stitious notions which hold the people