St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-12-31
CHINA'S CONSERVATISM.
She Still Sticks to Her Ancient
Tradition.
Chinese Cling to Their Superstitiohs
Regarding Family Bones ana
Teach Parent Worship
with Iron Hand.

with Iron Hand.
MANY curious instances of the spread
of foreign customs and the absorption
of European ideas are found IN the
English and vernacular newspapers Oh
China. Reforms are adopted very slow
ly in China. The law remains as 1t was
1000 wears ago, and all the customs that
pertain to the worship of ancestors and
the upholding of paternal authority
cannot be altered by so much as mars
breadth without provoking storm OF
protest which not even the highest au-
thority could afford to ignore.
A case illustrating the remarkable
hold that superstition has even on per-
sons of wealth and intelligence comes
from place south of Canton. 1t seems
that the persistent ill-fortune of re-
spectacle family of some wealth was
traced to the fact that they had select
ed an "unpropitious' site for the burial
of the bones of the head of the house.
The Chinese custom is to exhume the
coffin after three years, and to wash
the bones and put them in large jar.
This jar is then buried in shady place,
usually under tree, and over it the
sons DO ancestral worship that assures
the happiness of the departed. The
son of this unfortunate family dug up
the two jars containing ancestral bones,
cleaned them carefully and then re-
buried them. But recently neighbor
by chance exhumed the jars while he
dug for something else. This was re-
garded as bad omen and the jars were
taken out and cleaned for another re-
moval.
The wiseacres of the town said that
several misfortunes which had befallen
the family were due to the unpropitious
site selected for these jars, and when
the European who records this incident
visited the village he found the relatives
and friends engaged in solemn discus
sion of tie proper place to rebury the
bones. This family belonged to the
respectable, educated class, yet be-
lieved in these gross superstitions as
fully as any ignorant coolies.
Paternal authority is still supreme in
China, and when the old family law
comes into conflict with the state law
it is the state that must yield An in
cident illustrating this comes from HUI
nan. A doctor named Liu was found
dead on the highway. All the evidences
of deliberate murder were present
But while an inquest was being held the
dead mans father appeared and coolly
declared that he had slain his son be
cause of the young mans unfiiial con
duct. 1t seems that the son had beaten
the father, as well as other members
of his family, and he had even chastiset
several elderly men of his clan who hat
gone to demonstrate with him. So tn,
father had killed him, as the law EN-
powered him to do. The magistrate
referred the whole case to the board o
punishments, as he did not feel author
lied to condemn the father especially
as the graybeards of the Liu clan test
fed that the son had received only hi
due.
Another recent case of the punish
ment Of rebellious son was recorde
in the Peking Gazette. In this cas-
the empress dowager meted out tn
penalty. The offender was Prince rs;
Shu, the eldest son of widow. II
showed open contempt for his mother
wishes by feigning illness when he
birthday anniversary festivities o
Cured. To cap the climax of his o
lenses, he failed also to return thanl
for the empress dowager's birthda
gifts to his mother. The matter was r
ferred to the empress dowager, wi
prescribed 80 blows with the rata
and the perpetual imprisonment of Il
undutiful son within the four walls
an empty room" The emperor co
frmed this edict, so the son will ha
ample leisure to repent of his offens
The Shantung Peninsula, on whi
were the Notifications of Wei-hai-w
and which was overrun by the Japane
in the late war, is the last place o
would look for evidences of forei
improvements or inventions. Yet |,
ter from Wei-hai-wei says that in t
interior of the province the bicyt
fever RACES among the wealthy nativ
and no fewer than 200 American whe,
have been imported. With great
genuity some native gunsmiths a
blacksmiths have turned out imitatio
of the foreign wheels, and these s
said to do good service. Instead of
pneumatic tires these Chinese whe
have solid tires of plated hemp cover
with rawhide.-N. Y. Sun.
Reforming Criminals.
81 nfAn e.,