The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1907-12-06
that here - deLravity rerAfkabie
even for China

are famous for the deep tones In
which they chant their ritual daily, re-
cording, It Is said, lower register
than the human voice has been known
to attain elsewhere. Nothing manly
Is to be associated with these deep
voices, however. They are lot OF
degenerate mendicants, whom no Chi
nese is so low as to respect. There
are few visitors to the temple except
tourists. At every doorway-and one
must pass through at least dozen in
visiting the temple-one or two priests
stand with outstretched palm, de-
handing a fee. Others try to sell bits
OF bronze or chinaware. This is Bud
dhism at it's highest and worst.
One Of china's Great Sights.
The old Confucian temple at Pc.
king, although very shabby, and
manned at every gate by begging at
PENDANTS, commands respect for its
fine old trees, it's ancient royal tablets
on the backs of great stone turtles, it's
meteorite drums, of immemorial an
tiquity, and its tablet to the great
teacher and his IL disciples. 1t was
at the Confucian temple that l first
heard the sweetest sound in the east,
the pigeons with soft whistles fastened
to their backs, making, as they cir
cled and flew above one, music out
r1valing an Aeolian harp.
The greatest native religious spec
tacle in China, sublimer even than
the Shinto shrines at Ise, in Japan, is
the Temple Of Heaven, in Picking.
This is now open to visitors, although
formerly closed to alien eyes. Hither
the emperor, or his representative,
Journeys every year to offer sacrifices
to heaven. Smaller temples of heaven
exist in every provincial capital.
The Lost Jews in China.
One Of the many romances of China
has to do with the Jewish colony at
Kaifungfu, in Honan, the history Of
which has baff1ed all investigators, al
though many curious conjectures are
made. 1t is certain that here are to
be found a small colony of Jews, who,
while retaining certain Jewish char
acteristics, have so largely intermar-
ried with the natives that they are
now practically Chinese. 1t is certain,
from the inscriptions on the monu-
ments still remaining, that they came
to China not later than the early part
OF the twelfth century. They main
tanned a synagogue until within less
than so years, Dr. w. A. P. Martin
having visited it while in ruins and
having talked with the Jews who tore
it down, after it had fallen into decay.
The scriptures and the Jewish ritual
were also partly preserved. The man.
ner in which this mysterious remnant
kept alive their national and religious
identity through at least eight GEN.
turtles is one of the marvels of Chinese
history.
The inscriptions of the two monu-
ments still standing have been trans
lated by DR.. Martin. One monument
was erected in 1885, to commemorate
rebuilding of the synagogue, and the
other in 1912. Both summarized the
history of Israel, from Abraham down
to Adam being mentioned. The
Hebrew faith, as set forth on the tab
lets, is, however, tinctured by Confu-
cianism. ..
Mohammedanism widely exists In
China, its adherents numbering mill
lions. Mohammedan mosques and
pagodas may be seen in various parts
of the empire. The Mohammedans,
for one thing, are the butchers of the
nation,
Of all the faiths of China, except
Christianity, one is bound to admit
that they have deteriorated greatly
from their original character, and are,
in practice, little more than supersti-
tons, with scarcely any corrective in
f1uence upon character. This nation
is in need of new religion.
Will China Become christian7
Is that new religion to be Christian.
ity? Have the nearly 1000 Protestant
missionaries in China (the figures for
the Roman Catholic mission are not
obtainable) made such an impression
upon this nation of 400,000,0O0 that
the ultimate conversion of the whole
is to be predicted? Faith, rather than
facts, would have to underlie such an
assumption. The missionaries have
only begun to make an impression
upon China. Vast as have been the
treasures of human life and gold and
energy expended upon the Christiani-
cation of this inconceivably immense
empire, the visible return has been out
of all proportion with this expenditure.
there being to-day only about hun
dred thousand enrolled church mem
bers, not all of whom, it is to be
feared, are sincere Christians. Not un-
til within recent years has there been
anything approximating an organized
effort to administer Christian missions
nationally, or as unit; an effort in
this direction will be one Of the nota-
BILE characteristics of the Shanghai
centennial.
A greater degree of relatedness, unity
and cooperation has been one Of the
manifest needs of the missionary
propaganda in China. Lack of this has
been the cause of great waste of
-