The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-20
CHINESE sUPERsTITIoNs.

1 Religion Plays a Small Part in the | Chinaman's Life but Odd Proverbs
 Control His Acts.
 | No rec in the wide world is more controlled by superstitious notions than the Chinese. They enter into every act of Chinamans life, and their influ- ence is more lasting than that of his religion He canont move hand or foot without their agency, and from the earliest moment of his life down to the last detail in connection with his burial their power and influence are the guiding motives of his acts. All i business and family matters are direct- | ly controlled by superstitious senti- | ments, both rich and poor, young and old, being slaves to their force. To the | average Chinaman his religion is a mere negative factor in his mode of 1 life, to be followed or disregarded at l will; but no true son of Han dares to ! act otherwise than In accordance with | the strict precepts of those spiritual | powers which directly control his life. l There are some amusing superstitions ! connected with Chinese entertainments. | A dinner party is an ordeal which once l experienced, is never forgotten. It con- sists of from forty to fifty distinct | courses, and occupies the greater par | tion of a day. During the whole of | these repasts, and notwithstanding the | endles variety of dishes served, the in- | vited guest retains the same plate | throughout. The explanation of this strange custom is an old proverb, which has now become a superstition, that he who changes the plates kills the l housewife"
 | Chinese proverbs explain several of | the superstitious notions with regard | to women It is considered unlucky l for a woman to fir with the builders l of house or other edifice during it's | erection; and to avoid any possibility | of one straying into the presimes all | approaches are safely guarded by | watchmen, and fence is erected around the proposed building as soon as it's foundations are laid. The explana- tion of this is the saying: Women mix i'll with wood and death lives in the house over whose foundations woman has walked" There is similar hor- TOT of the fair sex interfering with any public matter of national interest, or in any business transactions where men are concerned. Women tie knots" says the Chinese proverb; "let them re- main at home."
 No funeral can take place until as- trologers and professional fortune-tell
 CTS have been consulted. These un- scrupulous diviners decide the place of burial, and in the event of disagreement no final interment can take place. This accounts for the number of unburied collins which are seen about the coun- try districts in China. Sometimes the coffin is temporarily deposited in tenn pie, or kept in the house of the heir of the deceased; among the poor, as often as not, it is conveyed to some sheltered spot and covered with a mat. When in course of time (by the aid of addi- tional fees) the diviners can report that all objections to final burial are remov- ed, the funeral takes place amid re- joicing and profane excesses. The mode of propitiation generally pre- scribed by astrologers is the purchase of some stone or piece of iron, to which an elaborate ritual of prayer and sac- rifice is made. or, If the client is wealthy, the building of pagoda is suggested, in connection with which the mercenery fortune-teller doubtless reaps a large commission.
 The last species of superstition to which we will call attention forces us to place China among the half civiliz- ed and brutal nations. One of these superstitions is that the soul of dy- ing person takes possession of the bed and room in which the invalid is lying. To obviate such ac urse as this the relatives of the dying person, as soon as they perceive his end approaching, forcibly remove him from his bed and place him, almost naked upon board. If by chance a man should expire in his bed, it, together with all the furni- ture in the room, must be burned and many atonements offered before the room is considered fit for habitation again.
 Many strange and inhuman ideas are associated with the illness and death of children. If ac hild sickens and dies before the age of twelve years, it's last moments are hastened by the horrible cruelty of its parents. So long as hope is possible the parents do their utmost to save their child, but as soon as the doctors abandon hope, the child is stripped naked and placed against the outer door of the house. When the end