Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-07-16

1t Is admitted by most of the writer's
who have studied the life. and character
1stics OF the Chinese people. that what
to westerners appears the idolatrouS at
titude to the family is one of the great
est obstacles In the way of understand
ing and trust between the Chinaman and
the foreigner. Even the most enlightened
missioparics have differed in their opin-
ions as TO the ,proper treatment of this
important fact. Some have sternly an
tolerated and even commended 1t. Lord
Salisbury. In recent speech which at
tracted much attention, spoke of the mis-
understanding between the Chinese and
foreigners engaged in religious propagan
da as largely avoidable and Unnecessary.
The Chinese, he observed. are not relig-
fous fanatics. but rhpst tolerant people,
rather indifferent to religion, and ii APP
preached in a certain way they would Of
fer no objection to missionary work. He
referred especially to family worship as
something which should be carefully
judged and dealt with. Let us see what
some of the competent writers on China
have to say on this subject.
For example, Mr.. Colquhoun, in his adj
mirable book on "China in Transforms
tion," declares that the family idea is
the fundamental principle of the national
and private life of China. and that TO cali
il idolatry is to beg the question. The
authority of the ancestors, he believes,
is the power which keeps the nation to-
gether. The ancestral tomb is the family
altar and in every sense the ancestors
are at one with their posterity. They
assist at the family council and sanction
it's proceedings. The effects of this cult.
in political and commercial life, are
neither wholly good nor altogether bad.
There is collective responsibility for
the behavior of each member of the fam
lily, and order is generally maintained
without the aid of the police and the
soldiers. The members must support one
another, and one rich man often is bur-
dened with the ;sustentation of large
number of poor relations. While this is
Al preventive of public pauperism it dis
courages enterprise ana the pursuit of
wealth. 1t is, so far as 1t operates. a
drag on private property. But Mr.. Col
quhoun concludes that the family idea is
too firmly rooted to be successfully at
would cooperate with the Chinese for
their elevation to reckon with it and
modify it by spiritual means instead of
provoking bitter enmity by condemning
il as degraded superstition. He too
testifes that the Chinese are not bigoted
in their religious relations. and only ask
that their institutions shall be respected.
1t may seem paradoxical to begin wi,il
a quotation from Carlyle. for he is hardly
TO be viewed a qualified writer on chi
ma. But with his usual insight into the
deeper aspects of character he remarks:
He (the EMPEROR and his three hundred
millions visit yearly the Tombs of their
fathers; each man the tomb of his faith
er and his mother; alone. there. in 81
lence with what of worship or of other
thought there may be, pauses solemnly
each man; the divine skies all silent over
grave, all silent under him: the pulsings
of his own soul, if he have any soul;
alone audible. Truly: it may be a Kind
of worship. Truly. if a man cannot get
some glimpse into the eternities. looking
through this portal-through what other
need he try it?" This, it is clear. ascribeS
to the ordinary Chinaman emotions and
ideas which only the most spiritually de-
veloped can possess. 1t is not OF what
family worship might be or ought to be;
but of what it is that missionaries and
western propagandists have to think. 1t
il well to remember that, in the words
of recent writer. lit is scarcely possible
for foreigner to conceive how complete
Iy their (Chinese) lives are enveloped III
cobwebs of necromancy. geomdncy,
witchcraft, animal worship, luck evil
eye. and thousand influences which
seem to us grotesque and childish Even
the most worldly Cinnamon are under the
dominion of sorcerers and fortune tellers
Under these circumstances family wor-
ship with the great majority, cannot be
free from superstition of the most abject
kind. But recognizing this. does it fol,
low that the custom should be derided
and undermined? The opinion of all sec
ular inquiries is very decidedly against
such heroic treatment.
Archibald Little. greater authority,
holds that the Chinese system of ethics.
based upon filial piety and custom works
well. and endeavors to upset II produce
at first much harm whatever the ult.
book, devotes two chapters to the reilg-
ious and missionary question in Chlnd
lie cOmDdtS idea tndt tnt lHllieSc
are Indifferent to religion. They are, he
says. Indifferent to the nominal creeds or
the country and to the existing scots, but
all sacrifice to ''Shangti, the supreme
lord, and perform the ancestral rites. AS
long as they insist on maintaining an
offensive crusade against the ancestra!
cult" says Mr.. Gorst, 1.-THE natives Will
remain implac bly, opposed to the pres
ence of the foreigners. and ii is album
dainty clear that by maintaining their
present attitude of uncompromising hos
tiity to Chinese institutions the mission
aries will only succeed in permanently
defeating their own ends.
But in any event the outrages upon mis-
sionaries and foreigners are the work of
the literati who constitute the ultra-con-
sentative element. and who hate the West
and it's religion and customs. To lnfiane
the populace they spread shocking stories
of immortality and iudecency against the
Christians Mrs Bishop gives specimens
of these inventions in her new book on
THE Yang-Tse Valley and Beyond
The literati are using the masses for
their own purposes and it is upon them
that the guilt falls. The missionaries
have made mistakes, but the best testi-
mony is to the effect that their methods
have vastly improved.