The National tribune., 1900-08-16
FUNG-sHUI,

he has yellow skin. straight why hair
a pig-tail, eyes cut on the bias, and 1
caved:in nose. Fung Shut is to the China
man all and more than all that God AL
mighty, the Constitution of the United
States, the laws of the Nation and State
his particular church, political party and
favorits physician are to an American
| Fung- Shut, the Chinaman believes, is the
power that brings him into the world, con.
trolls every step IN life, makes him rich
or poor, sick or well, lucky or unlucky,
his crops thrive or wither, his children
miserable. numbers his days, and finally
rules his sleep in the grave. Everybody
in China, high or low, literate or illiterate,
rich or poor, Confucian, Buddhist or Tao.
st. is slave to mass of superstitious
about Fung-Shui. Literally, it is "W1nd
and water" Gung, wind; shut, water); but
practically it means all the forces, malign
and benefcent, that can be imagined as
entering into the daily operations of life.
| The principal of these is an invisible dra.
gon, which flies about, near the ground,
breathing out blessings and prosperity.
| There must be nothing erected anywhere
| to interfere with this fight, nor the flow
of breath from his nostrils on the fortu-
| nate recipients. lie must be rropinated
by the sweet music of tom-toms, gaudy
| coloTs, fireworks, and inscriptions, and the
bad spirit is scared away by the same
| means. The priests, whom the Chinese
hate, fear, need and detest, bow down to
and cheat in equal measure, rule The de-
luded people with an iron rod by means
| of these superstitions. The priest is The
Chinaman's first thought when he intends
to do anything or aught happens to him;
and the priest works the Fung Shut On him
for all that it is worth, and 'squcezes"
the last miserable cash" that his hopes
or fears will make him part with.
The shape of hills and mountains, the
course Of rivers and roads, the form Of
buildings, even such trivial things as the
setting up of stone in a field, or the
way the bricks are laid in a house, affect
the Fung- Shut, and the priests must have
their say, and their say costs cash"
Famines, drouth, epidemics, and all man.
ner Of disaster to a wide stretch of popu-
lous country may follow SO slight change
as cutting down a tree or setting up a
pole or digging an irrigating ditch, which
may offend the Fung-Shui.
OF course the priests made the ut
most Of such fragrant offenscs against the
Fung- Shut as were committed by the
whites in running railroads across the
country according to engineering princi-
pies, traversing them with horrible shriek-
ing engines that frightened away the good
spirits by their unearthly noise, and spout
ed black smoke against the heavens; in
building bridges that obstructed the pas
sage of the benevolent spirits hlong the
streams, and round-hoUses and stations
that had the shape Of tortoise, the most
malignant Of animals. The missionaries
aggravated this by teaching that Fung-
Shut was degrading superstition, and
the priests merely greedy, unscrupulous
conjurers. The punishment Of the Tung-
Shut upon these blasphemies was terri
BILE drouth, which lasted all last Summer,
Fall and Winter, and until May Z. By
~. A. - IL
things in hand, kill Christians, commit
outrages, destroy railroad buildings which
had the obnoxious tortoise form, and tear
up tracks which ran against the Fung-
Shut. This seemed to propitiate the Fung-
Shut, for in the midst of a great demon
stration at the most revered shrine in
China, about 40 miles from Pc King, the
drouth was broken by a furious rainstorm,
which eliminated In fall of three feet
OF snow. This unusual occurrence for
that season of the year removed the last
doubt in the minds of anyone, and thence
forth the Boxers had 1t their own way
The Dowager Empress had planned for
when Russia would be sealed up by the
ice, and unable to make any move. The
Chinese were to treat her as friend and
ally until they had finished with the other
foreigners. when they would turn upon
and destroy her. The miracle of the rain
and snow fall gave such an impetus to
the Boxer movement that the Dowager
Empress was swept away in the tide, and
had to let the movement go on.
THE WORK OF THE PENSION BUREAU.
The work Of the Pension Bureau
showed a slight increase for the week
ending Aug. 4 over the previous week.
that ending July %. The total of certifi-
Gates issued was 1,S43, as against 1,779
the week before-an increase of Ga.
The total original allowances increased
from 666 to 69G-30. The army inyalids.
old law, fell from "a to %; under Act of
June q, from 26s to 24S, while the wild