The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1898-03-04

BY IT'S FLAVOR THE SIN OF FORSAK- N
ING ANCESTORS ONE NEVER SAW. =
FUNG-sHUI, THE DOCTRINE OF LUCK. =
WHY A RAILROAD WAS DEMOLISHED.
Rev Francis C. Bliss, who spoke last y
Sunday evening at the Congr gational 4
church on the 1.-The Superstitions of Chi
ma" gave a very interesting description !
of some of the strange things that are to 4
be found in that strange land. 1t is be-
coming more and more Of a conviction
with many, who study missions as the l
great means for advancing the Kingdom
of God, that present methods Of evapgel-
izati0n employed in China must be some
what charged; unique methods must be
applied t. a unique land. What the
speaker tc Id, proved this to be t ne. Rev
Otis w. Barker, the pastor of the church,
iu introducing Mr. Bliss said that If any
one had Travelled much in the southern
part of our country, he had become much
Interested in the negro race; he had
found much delight in their songs, their
cabins, their plantations, then stories Of
the olden times. This was the bright |
side of their life, but even the careless |
observer could see that the low supersti- |
ons the people cherished were great
bar to the entrance of gospel light. How
much more true must this be In China
A few Of the interesting things that
Mr. Bliss told were these: The Chinese
believe in two worlds, the world of light
and the world of darkness. The world
# light is China, and the world Of dark
less is the abode of departed spirits.
The dead need comt2It, food, home and
heller just the same as the living do
These are supplied through Oil, incense,
rice, fowl, pigs heads and tails that are
brought to the graves; but the dead get
The enjoyment of these offerings only
. through smelling their flavor. This Gus
tom of making offerings to the dead
gives rise to a great yearly festival,
which begins about the 9Th of April and
Il lasts for several weeks. After this food
d has been offered to the dead for the en-
t joyment of it's flavor, it is taken home
5 and eaten about the ancestral tablets.
o Thus you can see how hard it is for the
son of a family to become q Christian.
1t is pure unseliskness that leads him to
i remain heather; for, in becoming a
; Christian, he would abandon his ances.
a tors to a sad fate. No one would sup.
It ply them with comforts or food.
~ 1t is often asked, Why is China so un
progressive? An answer comes wher
we understand the Chinese doctrine OF
, Fung Shut, or luck, The Chinese infer
by seeing that soft winds and benifcen
Influences in nature come from the south
that the south is the quarter of gooC
luck and the north the quarter of bac
luck. Hence, they raise Instructions tt
- shut fl evil Influences coming from thu
If north, and remove Instructions to make
"a the path clear fer good Influences com
70 ing from the south, That lis the mean
y; ing of the great Chinese Wall. 1t wal
;e built not 50 much to keep out enemies
% as to keep out bad Fupg-Shul, or bac
ia luck. The graves are made ON tn.
% southern SLOPES of hills; thus the bill
a. acts as protecting genius for the de
If parted soul. Sometimes body remaiaI
unburied for years because the "luck
doctor" cannot find an suspicious place
of entombment. With a population OF
: 400 600 900, in land where, as Mr. Mott
n PRESIDENT of the Worlds Student Fedora
! ton, said, he was always in sight either
r Of the home Of living Chinaman or the
Y grave of dead one, the determining OF
!. the place of burial thus becomes a vex
! ing problem. The Roman Catholic ca.
/. thedral at Ningpo was higher than the
+ bell-tower, which stood at~the head OF
e Centipede street. The cathedral was
= surmounted by steeple, and the stee-
e pie by cock. The Chinese looked with
= great disfavor upon the cathedral be.
o cause they were told that cocks ate cen.
tipedes, and so they thought their city
was doomed. But the ''luck-doctoT s.
were equal to the occasion. They said
that wild cats ate cocks, and SO they
painted huge wild cat on the exposed
wall of a building opposite the cathe.
4 dral. The walls of the cathedral, hav.
ing been made Of bricks not sufficiently
dried, fell In. The Chinese were right
the wild cat had eaten the cock! By
ii much perseverance railroad was built
between Peking and Hongkong; but it
ran in front OF many Chinese dwellings
, and so intercepted much good luck that
might otherwise have come. The oppo-
! sition from the land owners and wealthy
Chinese was 80 great that in two years
the government had to buy In the rail
road and it was demolished.
is IT any wonder that China ID hard
Il s | Z