Evening star., 1907-06-23
ON THE TRAIL OF THE
AMERICAN MISSIONARY

priests, men and boys They are famous
for the deep tones in which they chant their
ritual daily, recording, 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 a lot of degenerate
mendicants, whom no Chinese 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 a dozen
in visiting the temple-one or two priests
stand with outstretched palm, demanding a
fee. Others try to sell bits of bronze or
chinaware. This is Buddhism at its highest
and worst.
The old Confucian temple at Peking al
though very shabby and manned at every
gate by begging attendants. commands re-
spect for it's fine old trees, its ancient royal
tablets on the backs of great stone turtles,
its meteoric drums of immemoral artiq-
uity, and its tablet to the great teacher and
his twelve disciples. 1t was at the Con-
fucian temple that 1 first heard the sweet
est sound In the east. the pigeons with soft
whistles fastened to their backs, making, as
they circled and flew above one, music out
rvaling Aeolian harp.
The greatest native religious spectacle in
China, sublimer even than the Shinto
shrnes at 1se, in Japan, is the Temple of
Heaven, in Peking. This is now open to
visitors. although formerly closed to alien
eyes. Hither the emperor. or his repre-
sentative, Journeys every year to offer sac
rifices to heaven. Smaller temples of heaven
exist in every provincial capital
There are none of the gewgaws of ordi-
nary temples here; all is spaciousness SIM
plicity, grandeur. The few plain temple
buildings are scattered over wide area
those containing the imperial tablets being
circular in shape, with gilt submits. The
center of all is the great white marble al
tar. circular in form and two or three hum
4 nr1c in 1ia of n
to the sky and in its lack of appurtenances
quite suggestive of spiritual worship. Here
a sacrifice of bullocks is made yearly as
also at the Temple of Earth, on the other
side of the city. The deified conception Of
heaven and earth. while not held by the
common people. is the highest Chinese
thought on religion.
X
One of the many romances of China has
to do with the Jewish colony at Kaifungfu,
in Honan, the history of which has baftied
all investigators, although many curious
conjectures are made. 1t is certain that
here is to be found a small colony of
Jews, who. while retaining certain Jewish
characteristics, have SO largely intermar-
ried with the natives that they are now
practically Chinese. 1t is certain from the
inscriptions on the monuments still re-
naming, that they came to China not later
".
They maintained a synagogue until within
less than fifty 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 scrip
lures and the Jewish ritual We're also part
ly preserved. The manner in which this
mysterious remnant kept alive their ma
tional and religious identity through at
least eight centuries is one of the marvels
of Chinese history.
The inscriptions of the two monuments
still standing have been translated by DIR.
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
The Hebrew faith set forth on the tab
lets is. however, tinctured by Confucian-
ism.
Mohammedanism widely exists in China,
its adherents numbering millions. Moham-
! medan mosques and pagodas may be seen
in various parts of the empire The Mo-
hammedans for one thing are the butchers
about taking animal life They are a
rather wild and turbulent people. Of course,
their Mohammedanisrl is greatly corrupted.
OF all the faiths of China, except Chris
tianity, one is bound to admit that they
have deteriorated greatly from their orig
inal character, and are in practice little
more than superstitions, with scarcely any
corrective influence upon character. This
nation is in need of a new religion.
Is that new religion to be Christianity?
Have the nearly 1900 Protestant mission
aries in China 0he figures for the Roman
Catholic mission are not obtanable) made