The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-18
STRANGE CUSTOMS OF THE CHINESE DESCRIBED

The Chinese are very fond of birds and
 one cannot go upon the street without seeing men carrying bird cages The
 birds are aired much as pet dogs are exercised in our country The favor- ite singing bird is the lark, and these are entered by their owners in con- tests. considerable sums being often placed upon a bird. The award is made by the birds themselves, one after an- other confessing defeat until but one songster is left upon his perch. The winner Is quite exuitant, while the others show as much humiliation as a Chinaman who has lost his face, and will not afterward sing.
 In another article I have referred l to the superstitions so widespread in China. There Is one form of supersti- tion which has interfered with both religion and commerce. The natives I have for centuries been the victims of sorcerers and fortune tellers who, pro- fessing a knowledge of terrestrial and celestial forces, style themselves l'Fungshuf' doctors and make living by selecting lucky burial sites. foreteli- ing the future, etc, There are certain spirits which are supopsed to reside over certain places, and any change Tn
 the conformation of the ground is thought to anger the spirits. A rail-
 road cut or fill is sometimes objected
 to for this reason, and church spire is, in the opinion of the superstitous, liable to endanger the peace and safety
 of community However. commerce
 is extending in spite of the 'spirits' and the Christian religion is gradually
 making headway against superstition. At Peking~I attended morning ser
 vice at the Methodist 5church where
 some 500 Chinese men and women lis
 tened to 8 sermon in their own Ian
 guage delivered by an American mis-
 sionary. On Thanksgiving day we ate
 dinner at the Presbyterian mission, and during our travels through China met number of ministers. physicians and teachers They all testified to the stimulus given to the spread of relig- ion by the fidelity shown by the Chinese Christians during the Boxer troubles.
 Professor Isaac T. Headland of the Methodist University at Peking, has published a volume entitled "Chinese Heroes in which he gives number of instances of consecrated devotion on the part of the Chinese to the Christian faith. and why should not China be a
 promising mission field? Buddhism has here done it's perfect work and cannot
 reasonably ask for a further trial; the
 philosophy of the sages has also been
 shown impotent for the harmonious de- deVOpmenL or the stnTeetOAu Aian. Chih1
 has followed an ideal and followed 1t
 with a diligence rarely exhibited, but
 that ideal has been weighed in the bal
 ance and found wanting. It is often said in defense of Confucianism that
 its founder gave to his disciples the
 Golden Rule, stated in it's negative
 form, but too little emphasis has been
 given to the difference between the doc
 Urine of Confucius. Do not unto others
 as you would not have others do unto
 you,~ and the doctrine of the Nazarene. whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them" There is a world of difference between nega- tive harmIessness and positive helpful ness. and Christianity could well afford
 to rest its case against Confucianism
 on the comparison of these two doc-
 trines.
 In the Analects of Confucius the phil
 osopher is asked: 'Is there one word
 which may serve as rule of practice
 for all one's life?" He was answered.:
 'Is not reciprocity such word?' Here
 we have the doctrine of selfishness as
 plausibly presented as 1t will ever be
 again. Life Is described as a balancing
 of favors, a nice calculation of good