The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-02-20

holy, live on the aims of the pious. Here
are ''saints " with hands clenched years
ago and never opened since, the finger
nails coming through the flesh on the
other side. With legs and arms twisted
by self-imposed distortions, they subsist
on the charity of the pitiful. Thousands
of rich Brahmans come here to spend
their last days.
The Chinese holy places are countless.
All through Chinese Asia, Thibet, Mon
golia, Manchuria, Korea, AMMAN and
China proper, rise costly monasteries,
images, monuments, of the Taoist system.
Even more numerous and costly, perhaps
are the Buddhists holy places, the most
sacred of all, perhaps, being on Mount
Omei in Sz-Chuen, China's richest prov
ince. To this spot, far above the gorges
OF the Yang tse-Kiang, beyond the lower
peaks, myriads of pilgrims HE. Out on
the clouds, at favorable moments, they
see Brocken-like specter-the colossal
mirage of tn cir own persons-which they
supposed to be the manifestation of the
Buddha. Here bronze images, columns,
votive tablets and various offerings of the
faithful, with many strange creation of
Buddhist architecture, abound
Of the patriarchal religion, the holy
center is at Picking, within a vast area
surrounded by wall three miles in cir
conference and fifteen feet high Inside
On the various terraces are groves of
locust, pine and tir trees. Only the en-
peror can kpeel and worship in the center
of the upper plateau. The holy of holies
is round structure of white marble in
three stages or stories, each with a conf
cal shaped roof
Within the sacred enclosure are slaugh-
ter houses in which various animals await
their hour of sacrifice. The great furnace
is nine feet high and faced with green
porcelain, and is assembled on three of its
sides by porcelain staircases. The chief
burnt offering of bullock, entire and with
out blemish, is offered to Heaven. Space
does not allow us to describe in full this
wonderful center of China's patriarchal
religion, which in it's main details is so
much like that of the time and grade of
Abraham. DR.. Legge and many scholarly
missionaries translate Shangi-Ti of the
Chinese classics by the term Jehovah, or
God
Japan's national story also is glorious
both in the eyes of her own people and of
the student. In this island land we find
two or three spots that are the very
hearthstones of the holy fire on which de-
votion and patriotism feed themselves.
Nature worship was the religion of
these Asiatic Normans, and upon this
they grated ancestor worship learned
from China. They called their chief
Mikado, and, by and by, turned him and
their illustrious fellows and ancestors
into gods. Gradually grew up beauti-
full mythology, as exactly fitted to the
land out of which it sprang as the Hebrew
language fits Palestine.
Shinto, Japan's religion of the soil, is
unknown in any other land. Where are
its sacred places Right in the heart of
the main island, facing the Pacific Ocean,
is the province of lse In the town of the
same name are the sacred temples, which
still preserve in their architecture the
form of the primeval hut of the early col
onizers from Tartary. In these shrines
one sees no lacquer, paint, gliding or orna-
ment but only precious and unblemished
wood, with affairs on which are pendant
strips of notched paper, before which are
laid the fruits of the earth and the sea-
In the sacred treasure rooms are the
three holy symbols, a crystal sphere, the
shaped mirror. These are emblems of
the divine country Japan, and of the
Mikado's rule, which is that of the gods.
At intervals of twenty years the temples
are renewed. The priestesses are virgins.
The underlying ideas of Shinto worship
are freedom from pollution, purity Of
heart and life and loyalty to ancestors,
to the emperor, and to Japan
Idzumo, nearly two hundred miles to
the westward, facing Korea, contains the
second hottest shrine in Japan 1t is Wis
tied every year by twenty-five myriads.
''The sound of their hands clapped to
call attention of the deity is often as
strong and unhroSen as that of cata-
raet.n Here in Idzumo, the burden of
legend and story, or service and offering,
concerns itself with the moon-god. Fair
and lovely are the groves, beautiful is
the scenery and rich are the offerings.
Throughout all Japanese history, as
well as in art, decoration and money, one
can. trace the symbolism of the sun and
of the moon- Even on Japanese modern
gold coins one sees these two emblems of
former rival tribes long ago become one.
Then there are many holy islands and
mountain sanctnaries. One called Mira
jima is ian island without death. -
Neither birth nor death of man OF beast
is allowed on it,. Famous and beautiful
though the primevaf Japan's holy places
are, 1T is more true to say that, to a ma
tive, the holy place is Japan itself.
Yet, the Japanese also have three re-
ligions. Shinto teaches reverence of the
past and patriotism. Confucianism gives
rules of conduct. Buddhism we may also
call the maker and civilizer of Japan.
Bold, brave, self-denying, entefprising,
the Buddhist missionaries were early
carriers of culture and manifold blessings
to 1.-THE masses" In all parts of Japan
Buddhism has been like kind mother.
Her holy place is Nara.
What picture rises at this word !!
Solemn groves, lovely avenues, lofty pa
godas, rich temples, pretty gardens, the
chanting of litanies and sutlas from
scores of richly robed and shaver priests !
Almost all the things sensuous and sor-
geous, the images and paraphernalia of
costume and fnpnifu.a tbat