Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-07-24
Geographic News
Bulletins BY the
National Geographic Society
TOMB OF

TOMB OF CONFUCIUS
The tomb of Confucius, the Mecca
to which millions of Chinese pill
grims have ~journeyed, is said by dis
patches to be covered with weeds
due to a dispute between descend
ants of h great-sage, who ave in
herited the duty of caring for this
shrine of the nation.
The burial of the man who has
dominated Chinese thought for
twenty-five centuries is described, as
1t appeared a few years ago, in the
following communication from
Charles X. Edmunds to the Nation
al Geographic Society:
This Confucian temple, an enor-
nous and magnificent place, occu-
plying with its grounds the whole OF
n side of the town of Kufu, is the
model of the Confucian temples
found in all the cities of China. 1t
is almost certainly the growth of
ages.
Contains Image of Sage
within the main building, called
The Hall of Perfection sits the
canopied image of the great sage, of
which there r not more than two
or three duplicates throughout the
I VliPllC OlulidIlly, SoIlluCidh lCIH-
pies do not contain an image of the
sage, but a simple tablet before
which generation and devotions are
expressed.
THE statue is of wood, larger
than life size, and represents the
sage seated, holding in his hands
the imperial tablet or scepter as a
symbol of his sovereignty in the
realm of thought.
HE is clothed in nine different
silk garments, on which the twelve
imperial emblems are embroidered,
namely, sun, moon, stars, mountains,
dragons, ~pheasants, a~ltar-vessels,
water-lilies, flames of fire. rice, axes
and classic characters. While nine
of these were used for great princes,
as we'll as emperors, the first three
were exclusively imperial insignia.
Thus is denoted the high rank with
which Confucius has long been hon.
ored.
Duke is Descendant of Confucius
The temple grounds are separat-
ed from the rest of the town by the
street that marks the site of the an
cient village in which Confucius was
born, the actual site of the house
itself being marked by the Dukes
Palace, for there is still a duke in
Lu, the sev~enty-seventh lineal des-
cendant of the e7ge.
Besides the contributions from
devotees and appropriations from
Picking, estates of many acres are
devoted to the support of the tenn
pie and the supply of the great num-
Der of pigs, sheep, and cattle re-
quired for the sacrifices, for no SYM
bolism of cheap paper images as sub
%stitutes for the real article, so COM
mon elsewhere in China, is allowed
here.
The duke is also in charge of the
up-keep of the great Confucian
cemetery, which lies outside the city |
to reach which one goes from the
north gate of the city for about al
mile along a wide avenue lined with
cypress trees.
1.-The portal to Sheng-ling, built in
its present form in 1856 by the sew
enty-first lineal descendant of Con-
fucius, gives access to a park-like
enclosure of over 500 acres, contain
ing the sepulcher of the sage and all
of his descendants. The total is I'M
doubtedly several tens of thousands
of graves. When a family holds to-
gether for $500 years., it grows into
a big concern-about 70 per cent. OF
the population in these parts, even
the soldiers sent as escorts, claim
ing membership in the clan. The
park is cared for by 200 attendants,
whose families have inherited this
duty for many hundreds of years.
From the outer entrance OF the
Grove of the True Sage an avenue
of fine and ancient expresses, about
$50 on a side, leads to an inner in
closure, where are halls for worship
and monuments of imperial visits
from the Sunk Dynasty down.
Monuments MelIowed by Age
"As~one passes inward the monuSl
ments become more and more in
cient. The aspects of the park are
rather those of age than OF neglect.
Presently one to The Holy
Way closed in by walls like The
| Emperor's Way from n palace
to another, thu denoting the i'm
| perial ranking of the sage.
Finally. in very nearly the center
| of the whole Enclosure, the visitor
| comes to two hillocks that cover the
remains of C%onfucius and his son. In
| front of each is a simple stone altar
and an inscribed pillar, the one be-
fore that of the sage himself read
ing Most Holy Ancient Teacher
'It is said that the earth forming
the mound covering the body OF
| Confucius has been brought from
each of the eighteen provinces OF
the empire. However that may be,
it is certainly true that the influence
of the sage has been and still is felt
throughout the whole extent of the
great country; and the prophet him.
| self, while in these latter radical
| DAYS somewhat dusty, still bears on
his shoulders the vast common
wealth of China, whose moral basis.
| with all it's deficiencies, is surely a
great memorial to a great and Won
derful man."