The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-01-27
TOMB OF CONFUCIUS.
CHINA W.T. RESIST FOREIGN lNvA-
SION OF A SACRED SPOT.

New and Important Factor In tho Present
Oriental Question - Emperor william
Has Chosen Dangerous Place For His
Army of Occupation The Duke of Kuny.
No greater mistake could possibly be
made than 10 imagine that the Chinese
people VIII ever acgalCSCe in Gcrmany's
occupation OF hiao Chou bay and of the
adjacent territory Averse us they are to
concession Of any of their soil to the de
tested foreigner, they would gladly con-
ccde TO the kaiser some infinitely richer
and more advantageously situated port IL
he would only consent to withdraw his
troops from Kiao Chou bay, for i'm the i'm
mediate vicinity Of the latter and within
the sphere claimed by Germany Is situated
temple which the Chinese regard as the
most sacred spot in the whole of their vast
empire Ii Is the temple in which lies en-
tombed in double coffin and arrayed i'm 12
different costumes the body of Confucus,
the founder of that religion. or, rather,
school of philosophy upon which the entire
system OF Chinese civilization, science.
literature and mode of life is based
1t Is IA spot so sacred that no provincial
governor, no mandarin, no official digni-
tary of any importance ever enters upon
his duties without having first made
pilgrimage to it, tho small town i'm which
the tomb of Confucius Is located being re-
garded with tho same degree of veneration
by the Chinese as Mecca is by the Moham.
medans and as Jerusalem used to be in
olden times by the Christians.
The Chinese arc not what can be called
religious people, but they have fanatic
reverence for the tombs not only of their
ancestors, but Of the great men of their
nation. and the idea that the last resting
| place of the great Confucius should be de-
filed by the presence or propinquity of the
abhorred foreign devils is exasperatiDg
popular feeling throughout China tn such
degree against the white races in gen.
eral and against the Germans in particu-
lar that European and American massacres
may be looked for at any moment to add
still further comp lications to the situation.
| The coast line of China Is not hundreds
but thousands of miles in length, and IL
the kaiser had searched from one end to
the other thereof he could not possibly
have picked out spot the occupation Of
which would DO more likely to exasperato
the Chinese than Kiao Chou bay. BY caro-
fully tanning this evaporation, and at tho
same time by training and equipping the
soldiers of tho Emperor Kwangsu. the
Russians may yet find it possible to force
the retreat of the Germans from Kiao Chou
| bay without being themselves compelled
| to draw the sword.
The family of Confucius, who died nine
years before the birth of Socrates, and
| therefore about four centuries before
| Christ, is still in existence and the only
l In hot hao h. 10 Of dr,l-
or rather, the Chinese equivalent thereof.
1t was but the other day that an edict in
the Imperial Gazette at Picking proclaimed
that "inasmuch as through wars, floods
and rcbellions tho lands granted for the
support of the dukedom of Kunz have be-
come alienated and lost, the imperial
government has decided to make to the
present duke and to the future bearers of
the title an annual allowance equivalent
to the sum originally yielded by the ducal
estates at tho time when they were grant
| cd.
The present duke Is tho seventy seventh
in direct line from Confucius, and strange
to relate, his face and figure bear a
striking resemblance TO the portraits that
| the old craven stones still present of the
! founder of Chinese civilization. The duke
bears the hereditary title of Yen Shing
Kung, which means lever sacred duke, >
and like all his 76 ancestors before him
has lived in palace situated in the imme-
diate vicinity of the tomb and memorial
| temple of his illustrious ancestor.
| 1t must be thoroughly understood that
anything which can possibly be construed
as PROCLAMATION of this tomb will fill the
hearts of at least two-thirds of the 400,
600, 900 members of the Chinese race with
such feelings of horror and fury that they
will cheerfully sacrifice their lives in order
to be revenged for the indignity upon the
first foreigner they encounter If call
the attention of readers to this circum-
stance, it is because it Is destined to be-
come very important factor in the pres
ent situation in China, is certain to inilu-
ence the policy of the Chinese and has
been entirely lost sight of until now
| 10 bIourav, N T,or,io Globa- lap,Ocrat