The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-09-16

syllabicaIly at each other. Wong was shy
at first. but gradually took bigger and big
ger share in the conversation Walters
turned TO me at last with another Of his
happy smiles and announced:
Wong is ready. Fire away
And here follow the ideas that Wong
gave me. What he thinks is worth know
ing What the Chinese diplomats at the
various capitals of the world have to say
is worth very little. What Prince Tuan or
the Empress dowager might say would
throw very little real light on the great up
rising of China. But Wong Ta's words
show the mental workings of the great ig-
norant masses of China, who have been
doing the lighting.
''Why are you poor people fighting US
foreigners" / asked.
Partly because we hate you
And why do you hate us?"
Partly because the foreign devils have
stolen so much of our country.
THE WORST DEVILS.
But YOU have other reasons?" 1 per-
sisted.
Eyes; the foreign devils are the worst
devils the Chinese know You have come
and laid long iron rails across our coun-
try. You have even moved our graves to
lay these rails down. Our ancestors are
angry at this dissertation; our ancestors re-
venge themselves upon us. We have floods
in one part of the empire and drought in
another The famines came almost every
year. 1t is because our ancestors are
angry with us over our weakness in allow
ing the foreign devils here. The Chinese
always revere and obey their ancestors"
Eyes"
"Yet you see that you have been beaten.
Our troops are here in full possession.
Your soldiers and Boxers ran away from
us after we had killed great many"
Wong Ia smiled in some derision.
"You have not whipped the Chinese" he
replied. Those you have met so far are
but as one grain of rice in a granary. We
can fight for years and lose every battle.
yet go on fighting. But we shall not lose.
Our ancestors and the gods will become
pleased with us as soon as they see that
we are in earnest in fighting the foreign
devils Then we shall go on killing and
killing until not one foreign devil is left
Wong delivered this declaration with a
good deal of vehemence. / have given the
words that Walters used in translating
The Chinaman stopped suddenly at this
point as if he were afraid he had said too
much. 1t required a good deal of Wal
ters's peculiar responsiveness to get him
to resume talking.
Don't you think it possible you have
made mistake about what your ancestors
| think of your asked.
mo, no." Wong was stubborn this
point. "Our people have been dying faster
u
| times and hunger. And it is not alone our
ancestors. You have been destroying
| Feng-shi On these iron rails you have
sent great iron dragons running along.
| These dragons have spit out smoke and
| fire. They have made a great rumbling
as they went along, pulling strange houses
| after them. All this noise and fire and
| smoke from foreign dragon has disturbed
| the nice balance between wind and water
| that is, Feng-shi''
---DIDN'F GET MUCH LIGHT.
| At this point it was necessary for me to
! ask Walters to throw little light on the
question of what Feng-shi really is. The
answer was none too satisfactory; probably
no explanation of this strange Chinese bug
aboo ever will be. The Chinaman is the
| oldest geomancer in the world. There is a
union of the winds and the waters that adj
| justs and controls all the affairs of life.
| The point OF the compass toward which the
/ front of a house should point, the selection
| of tree that may be cut down, the SOW
| ing of a field, the scene of picnic or cele-
| bration-all these and countless affairs in
| a Chinaman's life depend upon problems OF
| Feng-shi. If Chinaman can't decide for
| himself he hastens away to a geomancer,
| and has the question settled for him. Non
| sense though this seems to us, it is a seri-
| Gus thing to have the Chinaman believe
| that the railroads are utterly upsetting
Feng-shi in China, and that there is no
possible way of having railroads and a
benefcent Feng-shi at the same time. II
means TO the Chinaman something infinite
| ly worse than the "mere end of the world. y
"The foreign devils have been killing our
| children and using their eyes for medicine!
| exclaimed Wong, in a sudden burst of pas
sion. This is an old. old charge, but the
| lower Chinese classes fully believe it. "And
the iron dragon has walked over our peo-
| pie and crushed them," Wong went on
| 1.-The shriehs of our people who have been
mangled by a foreign dragon that the for
| eign devils brought here against our will
is fearful offense against Feng-shi. There
| can be no peace and harmony where this
| shrieking iron fiend carries hard times and
| death with 1t. Yet the foreign devils have
been trying to get more of the iron rails
| fastened to our earth
"And you Boxers have been destroying
our railroads lately. Was it because OF
| Feng-shi?''
"Yes; mostly. And because the more oil
these strange roads are built the more for.
| eigners will come here. With the gods, oul
| ancestors and Feng-shi all defied there il
no hope for US if We submit. Feng-shi is
our luck"
Here Walters explained that there are
500 words in the Chinese language that sig
Nifty luck Luck is really the Chinese idol
All his life ne struggles after luck, with an
| intensity OF devotion unknown to us. If hi
is satisfied that luck has finally and utter
| ly deserted him he prefers to die.
so you are fighting for Feng-shi2'
pressed him.
Eyes; and for luck-for luck is more thar
life itself. The Chinese must fight. The,
will fight Though at times you may thinl
We have stopped. the trouble will be sure
to break out again as long as foreigners re
main in China.
n,,-,,>- ~~rrkNcu- or rIu.nn