Norwich bulletin., 1919-05-30
IN THE DAYS NEWS
China Not to Lose Shrine.

Reports that China loses her his
 torlc shrine, birthplace and home ot
 Confucius, by transfer of the German
 concessions on Kiaochau bay to Japan
 are incorrect, according to bulletin
 from the Washington headquarters of
 the National Geographic Society.
 The tomb of Confucius, China's Mt.
 vernon, is in Shantung, the bulletin states, But out of the 55970 square
 miles in the Shantung province the, concession leased to Germany ad now
 transferred to Japan comprises only l2o square miles. In addition Japan is given control of the railway line from Tsingten to Tsinan-fu, Shan tung's capital, with certain rights to
 develope mines along the right of way and to build branch lines.
 Tn other words, the area of Shan tqng province is comparable to the combined area of Pennsylvania and Vir- glnia, and the portion ceded to Japan Is only fourth larger than the ter rItory originally cut out from Mary land and Virginia to form the District l Of Columbia, the southern triangle of which later was returned to Virginia. 'The completion of the Tien- Tsin- l Pukow railway in 1912 opened direct communication with the sacred places l of Shantung. in a sense. One express train week to Pukow sufficed for superior travel, but absolutely no at l tention to meeting or encouraging the | tourist travel was made
 | "One goes to the home of Confucius | now, as Marco Pelo might have gone. 1 Express trains do not stop at Gnu fou station, 3S miles south of Tsinan-fu save when great officials pass that way. The station is six | miles from the town, and there is no nC to alaf To | numbers of travellers at either place. | Unless an official command opens the stone-fioored yamen rooms to one | bringing his bed and board with him, l the trip is not to be recommended in | the twentieth century, years after the
 opening of the railway.
 1 "The road from the station to the 1 town where nearly all the inhabitants
 are descendants of kinfolk of Confu- l cius, could not be called a road else where, and the springless Pewing cart or a sedan chair are the only vehicles 1 The Duke Kung direct descendant and l present head of the great clan, ex- 1 pressly stipulated that the railway
 should not come any nearer to Gnu
 fou and motors and jinrikisha are un- | dreamed of.
 Beside the many temples in the city l to visit. there is the grave of the philosopher and his descendants in a | walled park a mile beyond the city | walls The public cannot pass be- yond the first gate, only officials and
 distinguished visitors with official let ters being permitted to view the greer mound and it's tablets in the last en- closure. But, says the guide book . 'admittance may. however. be obtain. ed by tipping the guardian For cen. !. turies the officials have been from Pc king to make annual offerings at tht
 grave of Confucius, but one does no t see crowds of scholars, nor the streal of pilgrims that might be expected T at this oldest shrine of the empire o 3 4oo,o0o,000 people.
 3 "Taian-fu, 45 miles from Tsinan l flu, is the station for pilgrims mak si ing the ascent to Tai-shan, the Grea ] Mountain. where worship has beel ' continuous for 2400 years. One leave l the train and is carried to the sum
 init in sedan chair in six hours H
 descends in three hours and gets ava,
 by another accommodation train, a
 there is no fit shelter for a Europeal ll in the town or on the mountain. 6 "A series of neglected and decayin oj temples that were once splend f shrines mark the ascent along a ston path worn by the feet and the flood h of centuries. Inscribed tablets are O. s every side, odes and poems lifting tn a soul of the scholarly pilgrim all tn : way to the summit temple. besid | which is a tall tablet marking tn |. place where Confucius stood and fel r the smallness of the world below"