Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-08-29
An ARMY OF BEGGARs

~ - - -
Mendicants Here, There and Ev-.
eryWhere II China.
THE CHIEFS LIVE in ! luxury Z
They Rule Over Their Fortorn Subjects
Like King ard II ave the Power of
II Life or Death The Aristocratic I'M
periaI Paupers. 58
n In China beggars at once attract a
strangers attention. Around every
corner, along canals and creeks, In
market places, at the city gates, both /
outside and inside, and especially In
the temple yards, there are beggars
here, beggars there and beggars every
where, and a more pitiable sight one
cannot meet. Many Of them are Grip
pied or afflicted with leprousy and all
are dressed literally in rags. 3ss3fE
M j made a trip in a houseboat to 500
chow, moving through the numerous
canals in the city and stopping when
II wished to take a view. landed by
clean, fresh painted, large yamen, Il
spotlessIy white, with blue black tiles
on the roof, and placed my camera
against the wall to photograph a big
pagola on the other side Of the canal.
The usual Chinese crowd soon came
around me, and not q few beggars. @ /
asked an intelligent young Chinaman
through my interpreter who lived in
this fine big mansion, so unusually
well kept for Chinese house. was
not a little astonished when / was told
the heggar chief of Soochow. tas
This led me to make inquiry about
the system of begging in China, which
is wonderfully well organized under q
scheme that works admirably and is
Of course very ancient, like all other
institutions In the Middle Kingdom.
The chief has a fine residence, concu-5
bines by the half dozen and very fine
clothing, and he Is seen in the best Of
society, but only where he Is not
known. AS a mark Of his dignity he.
moves about with a, long stick, which
Is allowed him by the city authorities
He also has the power Of life and
death over his beggarly subjects and
Furnishes all offenses committed by
them. Il ss5st 3,5S l.s ISL Il 3.a s Oh III
The beggar chief is a regular at
tendant at the marriage ceremonies
and funeral professions of private fam
lilies, in order to get his pay for keep
ing away bis hungry crowd of beggars,
who otherwise would hinder the festi-
val or procession in a disagreeable,
noisy way. / was told that the beggar
chief of Soochow has an income Of.
about SIS, 900 a year. The billet Of the.
one in Shanghai city is worth about
$1,000. Most storekeepers have an
agreement with the beggar chief to
keep his staff away. They pay about
| ST. a year each, and In return for this
trif1ing amount the chief gives d print
ed receipt to the storekeeper, which
the latter pastas on his door, to the eff
feet that he has paid his tax and is
exempt from the demands Of beggars.
There ars different kinds of heggars.
Imperial heggars, or lao yen ting (the
words mean sold mans button'') have
probably no parallel In the world. as
some Of them are descendants of the
ancient Ming dynasty or distinctly re-
lated to the present reigning imperial
house. They ara scattered all over the
country, are said to number upward of
10000 and are specially numerous In
Peking Imperial beggars are easily
recognized because they are allowed
to wear garments of the imperial vel
low OF different shades. Characters are
painted in black on the back and front
Of their robes to denote their profess
sion.. They wear either a straw hatsor
| q velvet cap ornamented with q brass
button s.5 al s5ssE VI
| When first saw them I took them
| to be old degraded officials, for there
are hundreds Of then In Soochow.
They carry wooden bell In their
hands to announce their arrival AS a
4 rule they are over sixty years OF age
and have no family to support them,
and they are all allowed to beg for
more money than the ordinary craft
and are furnished with q license from
the magistrate. They are, Of course,
too aristocratic to be under the rule OF
4 the ordinary beggar chief
In Nankin there Is quite a select com
i pany Of them, the order having been
Instituted as far back ais the Ming
dynasty. Hung WI, the founder Of the
Ming dynasty was once a beggar him
self The rise from beggar to emperor
probably beats the record Of any dy-
nasty In Europe. In pious remembrance
OF his former profession Hung WI In
stituted this order. At present they
live In certain caves or recesses that
are made in the city wall. The largest
Of these recesses Is forty feet long by
i twenty feet wide; the inmates are very
4 comfortably lodged and are decentay
i dressed, but they are addicted To
4 opium smoking.
Besides seeking aims these imperial
beggars go about the country and OBJ.