The age-herald., 1900-07-17

have been symbolized into tinseled images. Every element of nature Is represented by an idol. Before sending his cargo-laden junk to sea the merchant pays his respects to the storm god, whose favor he currles by liberal contributions of money. The loss of his junk in a typhoon does not shake the merchants faith in the powers Of the god. To the follower of Buddha the pres ent life is but a term of eXile--a time when the soul is suffering expiation for crimes committed in the spiritual world before US reincarnation. To the Buddhist there is nothing real except the unreal Man does not exist till he dies, and then he does not exist if he has committed any sins in this life the penalty of which is reincarnation. This is the Buddhism of the priesthood and is too abstract for the laymen, who are too practical to absorb these mystical dogmas
 Taoism is both a religion and ohiloso- phy. Spiritualism is its predominant fea- ture. Lao-tsZe, it's father supplied the philosophy and his disciples the spiritism. During the twenty and more centuries this religion has been in existence it has risen to great heights in public favor and just as often tumbled to as low depths. It has been used as a tool by charlatanS, who have resorted to tricks and chicanery for self-aggrandzement and profit. It has mediums who profess to be able to com municate with the spirit world These are the priests who exercise a remarkable power over their followers They have deified Lao-tsZe into "the Greatest Holy One" who is the god-head of the trinity the other two being 1.-the Perfect Holy One' and "the Highest Holy One" It is only fair to remark that Lao, who was good and wise man, would strenuously ob- ject to these blasphemouS additions to his religion. It is no uncommon thing for Chinaman to profess all three of these re- ligions, and he does it with no more en- thusiasm than he would do up shirt. He accepts their teachings as matter of course. They have been instilled into him from infancy and into his ancestors thous- ands of years before him. It is not possi- ble, therefore, to excite his religious emo- tions to a fighting point.
 The Chinese nature, however, is not with out its excitable points. There is no mem- Der of the human family so stuffed with pride as the Chinese. They are an old and from their standpoint an intelligent people, They are taught and do believe that the world is flat and is entirely occupied by China and that the other nations hang from the edges They claim to be the inventors of gunpowder, the compass and several other things which modern civilization claims were originated in the western world. They hate foreigners, but their contempt for them far exceeds their hate. They have been taught to believe that the introduction of railways, the telegraph and other modern inventions means death and starvation to millions of them. The crops and manufactured products of China are moved over canals and rivers by junks and over country paths by oxen. This slow method of transportation gives employment to millions of people. Suppant these, the ant1-foreign leaders teach, by the locomo- tive, and what will become of these mill lions? This argument is not without force to the ignorant Chinaman, who, while he will not do battle in behalf of his religion will in behalf of his stomach. Couple with this the warning that the foreign devils" are going to annhilate their empire and partition their country and it is not diffi- cult to see why Prince Tuan's horde of butchers increases with the days.