Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-02-07

the union his suit is lost and b
moves away, but if she is willing b
marries her The marriage ceremon
in China
Images of the spirits Of the dea
are placed on a kind of pedestal. an
prayers are addressed to them morn
ing and evening. The king does no
NEEDLE with affairs of government ur
til he has beeo three years on tn
throne.
In former times the religion O
Buddha was unknown in this country
but in the fourth of the years tam
ing, in the reign of Hiao-wou-ti. of the
Soung dynasty, five missionaries from
the country Ki-pin went to Fusans
and there diffused the Buddhist faith
| They carried with them sacred books
and images;t hey introduced the rit
ual and inculcated monastic habits
of life. By these means they changed
| the manners of the people,
Prof. Otis T. Mason of the Smith
sonian Institution is disposed to think
it entirely possible that Cinnamon
may have found their way to Mexico
and Yucatan in very early DAYS. lone
before the first voyage of Columbus
If they did so it would be easy to
imagine that the Maya and Aztec
civilizations were upgrowths from the
culture brought by these visitors
from across the Pacific. Said Pro-
fessor Mason:
MANY plants now found in Mexico
are Enthusiastically derived from tba
orient, and, according to some author.
tiles the cocoanut is one of these
though that point is disputed. Tn
southern Mexico, in a region south.
ward Of the City of Mexico, are found
numerous aboriginal people who
call themselves the Otomi There are
about 100000 Of them and they DOS
sess the only true monosyllabic lang.
uage-a language resembling in struc-
ture the Chinese, that is to saw
found in that part of the world. AS
we know from their books of the
hieroglyphic characters used in writ
ing by the Mayas of ancient Yucatan
and Mexicoo somewhat resembled
those employed by the early Chinese
The Chinese characters of TODAY are
merely notifications of hiroglvnhs
which were more or less pictogranhic
'Ethnologists have learned that peo-
pies widely separated geographically
and without acquaintance with each
other are apt to develop similar Gus
toms and like methods of doing things.
Hence it is not safe to assume. for ey-
ample, that the rain cloak used since
ancient times in Yucatan and Meyico
is OF Chinese origin simply because it
is exactly like the Chinese rain cloak
and has precisely the same knot in
the weaving Of its fabric. Neverthe-
less, 1t is strange coincidence.
Authorities on the subject have found
other condolences in astronomical
ideas, games, and so forth. l myself
am conservative; l wish only to be
understood as finding no reason for
denying this alleged discovery of
America by oriental voyagers."
Naturally, the most striking remains
left behind by the ancient people of
4ucatan and southern Mexico are
architectural, some of the ruins being
IN a very fair state of preservation.
Many of the buildings look like Bud
dhlSt temples-yast caves of stones,
dark and windowless. They are
adorned with carvings, which, in
some cases, strikingly resemble
Chinese carvings. Even at the pres
ent time the descendants of the
Mayas Of Yucatan are not wholly
subJugated, some of the tribes still
holding the temples Of their fathers
as forts and defying all corners. Of
these strongholds the most notable is
that of Puloom, which is situated on
high bluff, facing the sea. It is in
reality fortress, and in early times
was the strongest place held by the
aborigines.
The fanatical Spanish priests burned
all of the old Maya books they could
lay hands on, thus destroying records
OF immense value which can never he
replaced.
A few volumes wer preserved. for.
tunately, and one striking thing
about them is that they are made ex.
actly like Chinese books, each one
being composed Of a long sheet, folded
backward and forward. like screen
or map, the sheet being bound oy at,
tachlng boards to the outer folds.
Like the Chinese, the Maya war.
rlors in battle wore helmets in the
shape of the heads of snakes, panth,
ers and other formidable animals
ana made themselves additionally
alarming by the help of grotesoue
masks. Some wore body armor pad
ded thickly with cotton-a kind of de-
tense for the person which has been
commonly employed in China. The
limbs were sometimes protected with
armpieces and greaves of thin ham
mered silver plate, while the feather
ed coats of the leaders were adorned
with gold and silver.
One finds in the carvings on the
ancient buildings of Yucatan and
southern Mexico a noticeable likeness
TO grotesque Chinese carvings. walls
and pillars being adorned with count
less human heads. more or less carl
catured, and with other fantastic de
signs. The artists of that vanished
race appear to have had a grea,
fancy for making masks for corpse,
and deaths heads Of incrusted work
Representations of snakes and mon
keys are numerous.
Like the Chinese, the Mayas had 9
I wonderfully elaborate calendar sys