The herald., 1897-03-07

The Chinese New Year is again at
hand; the time of universal peace and
good will among all who owe allegiance
to the Flowery Kingdom" whether
they are living in their native land or
are scattered among foreign peoples.
The sacred lily of China is conspicu-
Gus feature of all celebrations of this
holiday season, of all festivities and of
all religious ceremonials. 1 intend 20
describe the origin of this wonderful
flower 1t is planted and grown by the
Cum Ying Fong family, In the county
of Chong Chow and the State of Foo
chien. Many years ago Cum Iing
Fong was only a mans name, but 1t is
now the name OF great ana wealthy
corporation, or company. The sacred
lily is grown in only one place, where 1t
has been growing for the last 500 years.
e Before that time this flower was never
seen. 1t has no seed. but grows from
the atmosphere, and must be grown
new every year. You cannot make the
same flower from the old root
Every year about September, there is
q big ralnstorm and then the water from
the mountains runs down into the stony
ground of the Cum Ying Fong ranch.
Here this flower originated in mystic
rious way, being present from the God
to a good man, and l shall tell you how
this came about. Five hundred years
ago Cum Ying Fong, good man, was
citizen of the county of Chong Chow
State of Foochien. When he was very
young his father died and he was very
dutiful to his mother. He had an older
brother named Cum I'll Fong. The fam
lily was fairly prosperous. Ying Fong
did not look very smart, but he was a
great student and fond of books, and
had more power than common in his
mind. He was very glad to see the Chi
nese Book of the Good Doctrine"
which is like the Bible, and Ying Fong
was good Christian, as his book taught
him to be.
After eighteen years his mother died,
and the property was divided between
Ying Fong and his brother I'll Fong.
The brother said that the property
should be divided into two parts. and
wrote numbers on two pieces of paper
and put them in a tube. Each was to
draw number which was to tell which
half of the property he should have
But the brother wrote the same thing
on two papers, each indicating the stony
part of the ranch. Then he wrote pa
per for the good part of the property
and put 1t up his sleeve. Ying Fong
drew a paper from the tube which gave
him the stony part of the ranch and
I'll Fong brought the paper from his
sleeve which gave him the good part of
the ranch. But Ying Fong was gener-
Gus and did not doubt his brother. So
he took the stony ranch and was happy.
just the same. but all the good property
belonged to the brother by the number
which he had.
So tt Fong became rich, but Ying Fong
could not make money from the stony
ranch, and he became poor after that.
Then friend explained to him the trick
to have him cause the brother to be ar
rested. but Ying Fong said that he would
not do so, and said: II saw my mother
when she was living: she allowed him
everything. and when my brother would
do some little bad thing she loved him
still and was very good to him. 1 want
to be of the same heart and mind as my
mother" So he let the brother go as
before. And when the New Year or any
holiday or birthday came he gave his
brother many good presents and said
that it was good. when his father and
mother were dead to see his brother still
living. The natural love he had for his
brother was like the love of child for
When I'll Fong saw that his brother
was so good to him his heart was
changed to love him and to give him
some money, but his wife, Mrs. TT Fong,
stopped him and said: Your brother.
Ying Fong, is ignorant, and he has no
mind for earning money. You cannot
tell him how to earn money but
let him try to earn money all the time.
His family Is too big. You can help him
a short time. you cannot help him all the
time" So the woman, by her smart
tongue. changed her husbands mind,
and he did not try to help his brother
But Ying Fong worked for other men
and was very honest. Everybody liked
him and paid him higher wages than
common. and when he earned money he
tried to help the poor and the sick peo-
pie all the time. He had married when
twenty years old a good wife, good-na-
tured. very kind and as good as he was.
And ten years after his marriage, one
September. he took cold. He had high
fever and could not work.
And after the sickness was better he
was lame so long that he could not
make money. and the food was all gone.
because he had all the time tried to help
poor people, and had not tried to keep
his money He had three children, two
sons and girl. who were crying from
hunger. His wife tried to cook sweet
potatoes for the children. and he and his
wife ate very little and let the children
eat more, and his wife said: Before this
you have helped the poor people. Now
you are hungry who will help you?"
And Ying Fong said: 81 see that my
children are much smarter than COM
mon, and that makes me so happy that
l forget my hunger; only it is hard for
you to stand being hungry. and 1 am
sorry for you" And his wife laughed
and said: 81 was only talking fun for
you. You can be happy even in hard
times. am very glad that you can,
and am happy. too"
While they were still speaking the sun
shone and Ying Fong went to the stony
ranch to find some wild vegetables 10