The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-08-11

many personal demons, which have to be ,
prcpitiated or beaten, as the case may be- 1t
Before each image stands a copper or Z
lesden box full of gray ashes, into which II
the worsh.per may thrust his 'joss-tick' II
to be set alight and burned down SO as to Ii
insure him luck in his voyage or venture
Buddhist services have everywhere even
in China, curious resemblance to Ro- s
man Catholic or Greek ritual.
1.-THE priests in red robes ana crowned
with miters, the attendants bearing long L
gi,ded stats, topped by some emblem of
worship, and the acolytes, with swinging |
ceLsers in their hands, are of quaint like
ness to the ceremonies of the Christian
churches, and there is no doubt that the |
Chinese themselves recognize and appre-
cate the resemblance. They like the gor-
gecusress of the Roman service, and they
identify the Virgin and the saints with |
their own deities. It is not unfair to say |
that Catholic priests make the most of |
this similarity. In fine church recently |
erected at Kiuk:ang the carving of the |
stone is entirely the handiwork of Chinese |
workmen, and all the human figures .on |
the columns are unmistakable Cinnamon. |
but the windows have been manufactured
in Europe. and it is noticeable that all
the scenes of Scripture are represented
as if the actors had been Chinese. 1t is
not altogether conducive to serious
thought to find that the most sacred cpl
scces and personages of the Gospel nara
tive have been thus translated into Chi
nese characters. a Chinese st. Peter is
a wonderful object, but perhaps, after ALL
he is not more intrinsically absurd than
an early Christian in the dress of
dieyal Flemish burgher In the temples
laGoration of the dead is everything, and
in them are tables or affairs covered with
paper figures of mounted men in absurd
attitudes, and fantastic cuttings of
houses, sor. ething like Christmas crack
crs. which the pious son burns in honor
o" in memory of his dead father or moth
er.
Both kinds of joss-house have other
rites of d peculiar character, and il is
needless to say that other sorts of an
cient worship have been introduced. If
the Buddhists have made their joss
houses unimposing and left them to fall
into decay and disrepute, they have al
ways chosen for their monasteries the
highest crags and cliffs that the hills of
China can boast. Many such are to be
ifeCnd, but, except on the borders of Tibet,
: there are none that command finer pros
lrect or fiji grander site than enc or two
: lopposite Ichang, at the mouth of the
Yangtse gorges. One of them that / Wis.,
lite9 was built upon narrow ledge with
a sheer drop of 100 feet on either side,
, connected with the hill by which it was
. approached by an open stone bridge about
Ere m the temple parapet could be seen all
\ the splendid scenery around the city, and
Y il the distance was the famous Needle
= of Heaven rising up In the middle of the
: first gorge. Equally well chosen is an
other place of worship and edtation, a
!, temple and monastery in one, called by
4 the name of the Dragons Mouth, at the
9 VERY entrance to the gorge. huge cav
lefn, with dark and winding recesses HIS
d been made into joss-house, and on the
. further side sheer drop overlooks the
6 river hundreds of feet below. These old
: RUddhists must have had everywhere 8
great sense of the solemnity of nature
- and of the harmony between ...e grand
r eur of mountain scenery and the bounding
impulses of religious emotion. 1t is diff
h cult to say whether the national sent
l. lment leans that way. The great teacher
r fConfucius, was pure agnostic, who, like
l. the Positivists of our day, preached {
s general philanthropy for it's own sake
Is and asked with others of like mind wha
: we can know of a future existence wher
o we know so little of the present. 1t is il
e the materialism that this leads to, coupled
h with the gross superstltions bred by age:
e OF an arrested civilization, that the Chi
s nese world moves and has its being.
!. IA RIVAL OF T2IE oBER-AMMERG AL
= PLAY.
n II is not generally known that at Eibes
n thai, in the sunny uplands of lower Aus
= tria, passion play, equally as fervid, i
n not as deliberately staged. as that d
Ober-Ammergau, is given by the peasali
N actors each year during the months o
r. July, August and September. 1t was orig
l. irally inaugurated as means of rebuild
lie ing the village church and erecting
lie gymnasium or higher school, and wa
thus prompted equally by a pure enthusi
asm for religion and education. Mar
lr.f. T,x.1A "a.
~ July 12), writes of this Austrian passion
re play as follows:
rs s.The villagers found able direction an
IN helr from the parish priest, Father Fran
a. tRiedling and the head-master of tn
~ school, Herr Rudolph Wedra- A tex
IS was prepared with stranscriptions of tn
OF Bible narrative, partly to be spoken b
~ the actors in the course of the drama
III partly to be sung by chorus of mike
voices between the tableaux. The part
US were assigned and studied for more tina
l year under careful training. Then fc
en- some final months they were placed undo
le- the care of Herr Jakob Schreiner, of I'll
op Royal Hof Theater of Vienna, in the bt
ol girning of 1898; and the play was give
~ fol- the first time in July of the followir
-, summer.
al 1.-THE little band of winners, gardener
u. and herdsmen give really wonderful e,
= hibition of naturalness and ease, so tn;
the spectator assists IN awe ana SOrTO
a., a., al this tragic story of the passion al
,. death of his Lord"
~ The play opens with scene at the ton
;e of Lazarus with Martha and Mary befo
~ it's entrance. Jesus enters: "a Sigh
M graceful figure of medium height wi
rb- the gentle, mournful eyes and soft brow
Tr beard of Hoffn1an's picture,P and rass
mr. Lazarus from the tomb, invoking bles
lon ing and prayer. The writer continue
ITe '"The silence is only broken by a strai
ed breath here and there, as If one HI
,ea really looked on the miracle and the Gu
IN tain falls before the sigh sof relief fin
or vent. From this on through ninete
nm tableaux, divided by two short interim
III sicns, the excitement grows more pal
ov- fully tense"
18th These tableaux, partly in music, par
an in Biblical paraphrase, trace the life
rb- Christ in a very realistic way to the c
18th max in the crucifixion scene, which h
nm the effect of aweing the people, who f,
no. as though transported 100 years back
nos Calvary. Every part is stuuied with gre
for fervor and devotion, and this year,
bla particular, great care has been take
lie Says the writer:
Fully 300 actors will take part in re