The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-03-27

ucational opportunities furnished. it is
astonishing that she has produced any |
great men at all.
China has her religions, and they
have doubtless exerted Il moIding IN
fluence upon the people, but the in
fuence has not been an unmiXed good.
Take, for instance. ancestor Workship;
it contains a germ of good in that it
teaches respect and care for parents
but the spirit has been lost in the OBJ
Servance OF the letter until the wei
fare of the living is neglected that
SenSeleSS sacrifices may De made TO
the dead. Al Canton we visited (,
place called THE Place OF the Dead
1t is conn ected with q Buddhist TEN
pie and is just outside the city wall
There are some 400 rooms in the group
OF buildings. and nearly every room
contains q coffin. Here the Weil-to-dO
deposit the body of an ancestor aEG
keep incense burning as long as they
can afford to pay for it. Rent must
be paid for the rooms; the light must
re kept bright: food and drink must
be offered to the departed each day,
and the incense must ne paid for, As
some one has remarked, it costs more
to care for 4 dead ancestor than 4 live
one. We saw one coffin that he'd cost
So 600: it had been in the building for
! S years and had been moved from on
apartment to another. q cheaper on"
being chosen each time as the re-
sources of the family declined. In
some cases the families have become
so poor that they CAP neither pay rent
nor buy d bUIying plot.
There are also at canton an ances-
traI hall where for a specified sum the
name OF an ancestor may be Inscribed
on a little wooden tablet: incense i
also burned here. too. Foreign res
dents relate instances where servants
have spent three years income in
burying a parent, the money being
borrowed and gradually repaid froIf,
the earnings. Besides the 5lISt cost
Of burial there must be frequent pill
! 5rrimaeeS to the grave. It Is within
| the bounds of truth to say that the
money expended in elabOrote funerals.
| in sacrifices to the dead, and In pc
! rioGicaI pilgrimaGes to tombs would
| have gone far towards the educating
! and enlghteninG of each rising gen
! eratiOn-and who viii say that respect
! for the dead can better be shown by
| formal ceremonies than by proper
I regard for the welfare of the DESCENT
| ants?
The tOmbS OF the royal family are
/ always objects of interest to the tour
! ist The most famous Of these tomhs
/ are north of Peking and so near to lie
! great wall that they are usually VS.
! tied at the same time, three or EnuT
! daHs being required for lie trip. There
/ are other tOmbs of less rcnoWn stili
! nearer TO PeI<ing, while the tomb 81
/ the first emperor of the Ming dynasty
/ is iuse outside the city OF Marking.
| Some Of these tombs are mere masses
! of masonry now. but all were once
/ richly carved. The avenues leading
/ up to these tOmbS are lined with large
! stone figures of men and animals.
/ These are arranged in pairs. one on
/ either side of the Toad-tWo huge
warriors. two priests. two elephants
/ standing. two elephants l1neeling. two
/ camels standing and two kneclin@.
two horses standing and two kneciinS.
. and lions. bears and other animals in
| like positions. These figures are put
| near the tomb that the ruler may be
supplied with the things needful for
his happiness in the spirit world.
And Speaking Of tombs, the worship
| Of ancestors is destined to make China
a vast graveyard. if as now. graves
| cannot be disturbed. L viii be re-
| nlembercd that the Chinese govern
| mont cautioned the Russions and Jap
anesc not to trcspass upon the grave
| yards at Mukden. where number Of
| Manchu empcrcrS are buried. The
graves of the masses are as SacredlE
| regarded. although distinguished only
| by a cDne-shapeG mound. In the
nciGhhorhood of the large cities the
| cemeteries cover many square miles,
and as they are constantly added to
and never diminished, they occupy an
ever Increasing area. in The 22flcul-
! tural districts the buryiDg grounds are
scattered through the fields. each fam
lily having its own plot Sometimes
when the family has died cut. the
mound is neglected and the coffin is
exposed. At Shanghai and Nanl<ing
we saw number of collins standing