Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-07-31
TRIP TO THE ORIENT
Clarence e. EdwUrds Touring the
Eastern Countries.
He is OUR SPECIA CORRESPONDENT.
INTERESTINGLY WRITTEN IN WEEK
LY LETTERS, WHICH WILL AP.
PEAR IN THE RECORDER.

PEAR IN THE RECORDER.
Shanghai, China, March Sin
my letters from Japan | had much
to say about the temples, and the
manner in which they were kept.
Naturally one would imagine that
in China, the home of Buddhism,
the temples would be on a magnih-
cent order, consequently, | was
anxious to visit some of the places
Of worship AS ! passed along the
street l stopped at several Budd-
f'hist temples, but they so dirty and
dilapidated that any description of
them would fill my readers with
disgust, and if were to attempt to
describe them you would think |
was exagerating. These ancient
homes of the great god of the Chi
nese, which were built ages ago,
are going to ruin, and it is pitiful
to see these once splendid struc-
lures going to decay with not a
single effort made to preserve or
repair them.
One Of the most noted temples
I'm China is to be found here, and
in order to obtain an adequate idea
of how these places of worship are
cared for by the people, | spent
some time examining it, despite
the fact that my voyage OF discov-
cry was under the most trying diff
fculties. In general, the style Of
architecture, with great gateways
and huge carved dragons and fig
ures at the doorways, was similar
to those in Japan, but here all SIM
ilarity ended. Everything was di-
lapidated and extremely dirty. In
the inner court were some thirty
priests, chanting their various Of
fees, while a dozen Chinese stood
about, looking like so many curi-
Gus people gathered around some
strange rite. They were not
worshippers, nor did they seem at
!, all interested in what the priests
were doing.
The priests were dreary and dir
ty, their shoes, stockings and vest
ments dirty and bedraggled, and
the inclosure looked as if it had
: never been swept since the temple
was built. Sticks, stones and In
describable litter were strewn over
the floor, and pools of>stinking wa
ter were everywhere. Back OF the
temple was famous flower garden
:. in an equally dilapidated condition
Some curiously trained evergreen:
| in huge flower pots adorned the
, sides of the wall, and these were
f the most interesting things to b.
found. They were trained II
shapes resembling men or ANIMALS
or figures, such as fans, fruits o
flowers.
AS | wandered about a new seen
O assailed my nostrils, which, If 1t b
= possible, was even worse than an,
s of the others which | had com
; from, and in looking for its origin
f | came across the pen OF the sacre'
t hogs. Here, wallowing in filth
; were the sacred hogs, about twent
e of them, and l was told that non
k of them were ever killed, but the
g were allowed to die natural deaths
: The priests attended them an
: they were so fat they could nc
walk. They-were in a most horr
! BILE condition, as their pen had neN
er been cleaned. The wallowed
+ their filth and were covered wit
) swarms of flies, spreading over tn
n neighborhood a horrible stencil.
e In Japan the people pay niue
: attention to their temples, care fc
!, them and clean them scrupulously
d In China the temples are neglecte
IS and am sure that the people haH
n no thought of the religion whic
they symbolic. / noticed sewers
O Chinese coming out of the temple
is looking very much bored, yawnir
: and stretching themselves as if the
e THE REMEDY THAT DOES.
II CDR. Kings New Discovery
- 4 IL ltp