The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-09
CHINA AND THE CELESTIAL.
Consecrated Ground often Given Up
for Little Money.
INrnr, plnni. md Nh..a

ttTom BLACK ana Nhite.)
THE Frenchman loves his mother. the
Englishman his uncle, and the Chinaman
his paternal great-grandfather" Whether
or not any characteristics of the first two
nations are hit off In this eplgram, there
can be no doubt that it describes a con-
spicuous trait of the Chinese. The wor-
ship Of their ancestors, arising though it
does from Dious and commendable senti-
ment. h; 5 become the bane of China.
1t is one of the strongest among the
upper classes. having a grip even where
Feng Shut is disregarded as mere super
stition. 1t is largely responsible together
with fear of losing their employment for
the opposition OF the literati to reform,
and. therefore. FIR the facts that the
China Government have not been abba to
! prevent the Boxer rising, with its terrible
results. and that so many Of the man
darins were implicated in it. Yet it must
not bethought that ancestral worship al
ways takes the form that one would ex-
pect.
There is q good deal of nonsense
talked. for example, about the violation
Of Chinese burial places. Railways, it is
/ said. are run through them, disturbing the
peace of the dead. and golf is played in
them. with the graves as bunkers. As a
matter of fact people are misled here by
! the custom of the West.
IN England 1t requires an act of par
lament to move a graveyard; in CHR !.
ii is only the matter OF a few cash +"
The Chinaman has no objection whatever
to moving the bones OF his ancestors from
one place to another. There is no such
| thing as consecrated ground in China: one
| place is as good as another to bury your
! dead in, provided, Of course. that the regu-
lations of the Feng Shut are observed.
Some Of the lower classes are not par
| ticuiar about burying their dead at all.
J They just put them out into the street
| in collins. This is due both to extreme
| poverty and to absolute disregard OF time.
1t Is no uncommon sight in the streets II
! Tfentsin to see the pariah dogs deyouring
human remains that have become exposed
! owing to the rotting away of the shell
in which they were placed. However, 1t
/ is customary for the better families 10
! keep some graves going somewhere, and
to go out on days Of ceremony and decorate
/ them with bits Of colOred paper.
There are other things which stand
much more in the way of railways than
| graves. There is, OF course, In the first
| place. Feng Shut, but the influence OF this
| is difficult to estimate. Experts differ, and
! the steam engine does not seem TO have
been universally identified with the red
! dragon. But there are other more TAN
| gible and obvious obstacles. The Empe-
ror's park is one Of these.
No locomotive Is allowed to traverse
| these sacred grounds. Another is. OF
course, the great wall. By the greatest
good luck a gap existed il the wall just
where the railway from Tientsin wanted
| to go through It. The gap was made by
| the tears of pious widow whose husband
was killed in building the wall. There is
temple to her in the neighborhood TO
attest to the truth of the story. The En-
| glish engineers are constant worshipers
| at her shrine; for II it had not been for
her the line would in all probability have
| had to be stopped at one side OF the wall
! and begun again at the otherl