Monroe City Democrat. (Monroe City, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1915-08-12
HOLD SNAKES SACRED
CHINESE HAVE DEEP REVERENCE
FOR THE REPTILES.
Spirit of the Dragon King, Which Is
Worshiped, Supposed to Reside
49, Within Their Bodies-Rat
Is Also Honored.

II is not always safe to kill snake
in China 1t doesn't matter much
whether the snake Is of the water
species or of the land variety, for
within this reptiles body is supposed
to reside the spirit of what the yellow
man worships as the dragon king.
This latter is believed by the average
superstitious John" to have the pow
or of ruling over floods. This dragon
king represents one symbol in the
ritual of worship of the Chinese reli-
gion called Taoism.
China practically possessed three
different forms of religion until the
advent Of the Christian missionaries.
The first of these religions was in the
form Of a philosophy. This still ex-
lists to some extent and is known as
Confucianism. The second form has
been recognized as Buddhism, which
stili exists throughout China as sym
bolized in the worship of idols. AS
you travel through the country, here
and there you will frequently run
across idols of Buddha located on the
hillsides or other quiet and seques-
tered spots conducive to reverential
reflection. Plenty of worshipers yet
pay their homage to these Buddhist
idols, and you can see them conscien-
tiously observing the formal ceremo-
MES of their worship. But this form
Of religion is steadily dying a natural
death since the advent Of Christianity.
The third variety Of religious OBJ
eervance among the Celestials Is that
OF Taoism. This was started by an
old patriarch named Lao.tgu, who had
surrounding him a group of eight
ammortals" as his disciples. One Of
these latter was given the RESPONSE
bility Of representing the God Of Bar
hers. The Taoist worshipers have
temples erected in each native town.
In these temples are pictures portray
ang the horrors of the future life.
When the souls of the dead are buried
across the river Styx the artist has
painted a gruesome thought. Men and
women are depicted as climbing tow
ering mountains of ice, only to fall
back into gaping abyss as they near
ly reach the top. AS they fall their
bodies are revealed as being caught
upon spears and tossed backward and
forward by deft executioners. These
S-uesome pictures show the sufferers
- be finally ground up between mill
stones. Some of them show sharp
swords slashing to pieces the bodies
which have escaped the milestone
process, and little dogs are pictured as
running after the sufferers, tapping up
the blood On certain occasions after
@ death the family will proceed in a
body to these temples and will hold
public wall.
On the drum tower Of the Taoist
temple at Tientsin it has been COM
mon to see richly dressed native mer.
chants kneeling to an iron pot con-
tanning incense burned in honor of his
excellency the rat. Other similar dis
gusting procedures could be observed
It is hard to conceive that human be
ings can be so superstitious as to de-
Hberately endure such empty prac
tees of hallowed mockery. Yet this
as one phase of China, the China Of to
day. The few modernized Mongolians
surely have their hands full in etfec
lively combating this awful element
OF ignorance and bigoted superstition
and in holding their newly organized
republic to the main highway Of
progress.