Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-23

During the early part of October, Los
Angeles, Cal. was in the throes OF a
Yeast for the dead and n famine for the
living The enc was a celebration by
t!S Cinnamon OF the city: the other its
logical result Ter no son of the Flowery
Kingdom viii lay his hand 10 any kind
OF work while n religious festival is in
progress. Each festival comes like a
udai wave Into the Christian kitchen.
carrying or every Celestial. to be seen
10 more until the gayeties are over and
Chinatown restored to IT'S wonted calm
About the lSt Of September n little yell
Jew man emerged from a narrow China
town doorway, with paste pot and an
BTmful OF tGrkcS-red piacards, with
which he began 10 plaster the walls.
AS soon as each piacard was IN place a
group OF ca ser Cinnamon gathered round,
reading and chattering. and whatever
the news IL conveyed, great was the plea
sGTahle excitement ther'eat. After ques-
iioniug q number OF Cinnamon. who
could not or would not speak English.
end an equal number of English-speak-
ing ones who could not. or would not
Give the desired information. a friendly
and tFsnevclert-lcoiing old chap in front
a the Baptist mission was asked:
Charley. what's all the row about?'
90 big blowout-h;s as hell!'
That was the most explicit description
hat could be obtained until Chan Kiu
Sing WAS found, a short. dark Chinaman
IN American clothes-an intelligent court
Interpreter. From him it was learned
that the blowout" was the Feast Of the
Dead 10 be celebrated by the Taoists
and BuGdhists during the first weeks in
October and that the placards were
calls for contributions to the celebration
fund.
Now. as all the Los Angeles China
IN
or other Of these faiths. and all are
more than willing to give TO anything
that Will enable them TO escape the tor
!naDts OF puTgatory. at the end of two
weeks when the subscription books We're
withdrawn. over $1,000 had been pro-
missed
Besides the spiritual benefits, each
donation entitled the giver to various
things necessary 10 the proper celebra-
tion Of the feast. AS translated by one
Of the Cinnamon, part Of the placard
read as follows:
There Will tie given to those who
subscribe $500 and ahove-one large
roast Tig-one table cooked offerings.
one pair large tinsel and gilt decora-
tons with red silk strcamers, So
worth frecrackers.
From this the amounts ran down to
s.. and the returns were graduated until
ct the end they consisted of one very
email lantern and the privilege Of par
taking of the free food distributed at the
end Of the three days celebratton.
Twelve thousand dollars subscription
from a population of 35o0 Cinnamon may
seem very generous. but the response
can be explained by a short description Of
Sher religious beliefs. which. to say the
least are not Very comforting.
Every man. woman, and child IS be-
licved TO be followed by countless
6sviis-every evil deed brings fresh
=
doer. Every dead relative. instead of
becoming a guardian angel, is trans
formed into a tormenting demon. to
make lifs miserable for those left be-
hind. rendering the Taoist ancestor wor-
ship one of fear and not Of love. TIL"
chief end of the religion is 10 manipu-
late and outwit these related and unre-
lated demons and to throw them off the
mortal track that the living may enjoy
p certain neriod of peaceful life. An
other aim is to do enough good deeds to
nrcrba1ance the evil ones and thus get
through purCatory with as little suffer
tng as possible ard he born again upon
earth as a man. There is no thought of
Heaven. unless one can lead a life of
absolute virtue from the cradle TO the
graTe-doinE no sin-never weeping nor
shifting toward the north pointing at
The rainbow. looking long at the sun or
moon. or committing any other ileinors
crimes Of like nature: IN event Of reach
ing this in7Dossihe standard tho immac-
Irlate becomes. lrlrlortal. Failing this.
The most encouraging hone Is TO be re-
incarnated as man after p reasonable
amount of suffering in the lower world
II he has not been virtuous enough for
that he is rehaTr a beast or-w'tn
shame be IL written=-as woman. while
those too utterly wicked for even this
gre doomed to eternal darkness or ami
hflation.
&c IN ha
Of a great ocean III the bowels of the
earth, and consists of ten courts, each
presided over by a supreme judge. Each
court is subdivided into number of
sections where the different punishments
ar. administered. A mans sins are re-
corded in ali the ten courts. each one
Of which sentences him for a certain
class Of sins. The ninth court-a typical
cEample-offers tortues enough to satisfy
the most morbid mind 1t is presided
over by his internal majesty, Ping
Tang. and is subdivided into sixteen
wards. Here the wicked have their
muscles and tongue drawn, their heads
crushed in frames. their brains scraped,
and so on through the whole sixteen
wards Through all these fortunes the
victims are not allowed to fall into I'M
consciousness. AS one Cinnamon put H.
THEY no faint, no die-fcelum hip much
ala time
Facing such horrors. it is no wonder
that the Chinese take advantage of every
opportunity to propitiate and evade the
devils Even IN their funerals their chief
concern is TO get the body to the grave
before a devil can reach it. With this In
view. the mourners scatter on the way
70 Jhe cemetery thousands OF little scraps
uF ratTer perforated with small holes,
though every one OF which the demon
mast pass before he can resume the
pursuit.
To protect the sacred spirits in the