Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-05-23

o-Au III III anu Lie OuSluSSS mdn zoe
everywhere he believes it possible TO
him to make money
We know that China never desired
treaty relations with the outside world
In fact, her objections to these were
stern, and such relations were forced
upon her so or more years ago. Il
was not special opposition to mis-
slonaries, but to foreigners. Mission
aries have had the confidence of thou
sands of Chinese, but there has been
a hatred Of encroachment upon their
territory and fear that the western
influence would injure China in some
unexpected way The Chinaman OF
today thinks as his ancestors did thou
sands of years ago, and change is
looked upon with suspicion. He can
not understand the need Of change and
the lear Of its effect is the bottom
secret of his hatred to foreigners.
AS a class missionaries have kept
within bounds in their dealings with
these people. Very few have inter
fered between their members and the
law; very few have ever tried to shell
ter man guilty of crime, the wise
man realizing that complications would
thus arise which must inevitably
shake his influence in the one thing
that brought him to this country. He
knows that political and civil func-
lions do not belong to him.
think recent events have proved
that there were no men in China who
foresaw the past summers situation
as did the missionaries, because they
lived among the Chinese and knew
them in every walk of life Their as
ISOLATION is with all sorts and condi-
lions, and hence they read the mind of
the people and see the undercurrent.
This explains the fact that these men
knew that China was moving for evil.
They knew the signs.
Odd Traditions.
1t is believed that every 500 years
heaven sends down a great man whose
strength and mental ability are far
greater than any other then living. At
the same time that he comes there
also appears a huge animal never be-
fore seen. So, two or three thousand
years ago, at the coming of a great
emperor (his name l do not know
there was an unheard of disturbance
Of the waters. The earth shook and
the skies were dark. A leviathan in
the shape of a dragon appeared and
the whole world (China) was in dan
ger. He grasped the sun and it was
not known whether the light would be
put out or not. However, the sea
monster was propitiated and he be-
came the symbol of universal domin-
ion The dragon was made the crest
to the emperor and gave his name
to the throne. I think he was not
his place under China, where he makes
known his anger by shaking his tail
and thus producing an earthquake.
The dragon of the throne has five
claws, and such a design is worn upon
the back and front of all officials in
court dress. Imperial yellow" is a
shade used only by the emperor 1t
is crime for any Chinaman to use
this yellow and a severe penalty is at
tached to doing it. I doubt if it was
ever done by any subject 1t is also
said that when the emperor goes
abroad all houses must be closed and
no one be found upon the street
Should any be found peeping, decapi-
tation is the result.
l am also told that there is a law,
now however dead letter, that no
subject may leave China, the penalty
being the loss of his head. 1t is a
proof Of the old objection to any for
eign intercourse. That the Chinese
have been totally ignorant of the ad-
vantages of western civilization does
not need to be repeated. China would
rather have continued to be the center
of her small world, h1ying for her
satellites her neighbors, Korea, Thib-
ct, Burmah, Siam, Anam, Liu Chiu and
Cochin China.
FiIiaI Devotion.
Filial devotion is the lesson every
child is taught. Perhaps l may say
filial piety is the religion of China. 1t
leads to the care of parents which
every son is expected to bear as soon
as he arrives at maturity. Wife and
children must give way for father and
mother. After the duty OF caring for
the living, comes the ancestral wor-
ship which every man in China must
NJ Mt a while "a Iiync Thnrnfnro
the religion of China is first the filial
obligation and next the worship of
those who are dead and gone.
l went to a Buddhist temple on the
Chinese new years day. During the
half hour l spent there there were
hundreds of all sorts who came to
make known to Budda their wants.
suppose much money was that day
passed into the treasury. But this
did not take the place of the ancestral
worship.
The Chinese language is without an
alphabet. Each character is a word
or perhaps 1 may say syllable. But
cannot distinguish the latter, fol
what I would call one chracter and sc
one word really represents severa-
syllables which make the word. The
language is written in columns from
top to bottom of the page and begin
ming on the right-hand side is reaC
from right to left. There are from %,
600 to $4,000 characters in the Chinese
language, of which the most learned
among them know and use about 10,
900. Nobody knows it all Many Of
these words or syllable characters are
obsolete. The labor of learning the
language is prodigious. Even after
years of study the best men still EN-