X. I B R ^ I^ Y (5f '5 Of THE Theological Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. 'O^sr f^i vision.. //jOL_yQ(3 Shelf Sec'Lic n . .* . .t c3,5 j^OOk No...; THE ENGLISH AND FOREIGN PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY. VOLUME VIII. RELIGION IN CHINA; CONTAINING A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE THREE RELIGIONS OF THE CHINESE: WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE PROSPECTS OF CHRISTIAN CONVERSION AMONGST THAT PEOPLE. BY JOSEPH "EDKINS, D.D. AUTHOR OF " A GRAMMAR OF THE SHANGHAI DIALECT," " OF THE CHINESE COLLOQlIAt, LANGUAGE, COMMONLY CALLED MANDARIN," " CHINa'm PLACE IN PHILOLOGY," "THE CHINESE CHARACTERS," ETC. SitttixCfi nd religious worship, and he declined to revoke the edict of persecution. The Jesuit missionaries wished to allow the converts to retain the practice of sacrificing to ancestors, as being a civil and not a religious observance. Missionaries of other orders held a different opinion. They viewed this practice as unquestionably religious, and they demanded that it should be entirely given up by all who professed to abandon heathenism. The Pope, to whom the dispute was referred, decided against the Jesuits, as he did on another point. For the missionaries of that order, when they pleaded with him for the adoption of the ancient terms Shang-te, Teen, and Heaven, as the equivalents of the word God, were unsuccessful, and the newly-invented term, Teen-choo, Lord of Heaven, the favourite with the other orders, was preferred by the Pope, and imposed authoritatively upon the missionaries and converts. A recent Chinese author, in an attack upon Christianity, says, " The religion of the Lord of Heaven, in not permit- ting men to worship the tablets of their ancestors, nor to offer sacrifices to them, tends to lead away mankind from the respect they have been accustomed to pay to their parents and forefathers." He condemns the religion of the West as being like the systems of certain ancient Chinese philosophers that were condemned by contemporary Con- fucianists as not orthodox. Yang and Mih, the men to whose doctrines Christianity is compared, had advocated universal and undistinguishing rectitude and universal and undistinguishing love as the principles of their re- spective systems. The followers of Confucius had said ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANITY. 155 that these doctrines were inconsistent with the duties of filial piety and loyalty, which require that greater re- spect and love should be rendered to some persons than to others. A Christian writer had said, "The follower of the Buddhist and the Taouist religions cuts himself off from the discharge of his duties to princes and parents, and he does not seem sensible of his duties towards Heaven. Even the disciples of Confucius are not without fault in this point." The Chinese critic gi'ows angry at these words. He defends the Buddhists and Taouists by saying that they honour the " dragon tablet " in temples, so proving their loyalty. The practice to which he refers originated in times of persecution. The Buddhists were compelled to place a small tablet to the Emperor imme- diately in front of the principal image in their temples, so that the worshipper, in bowing to the image, bowed also to the Emperor. He also quotes a passage from a Buddhist work, saying that to honour a thovisand Pratyeka Buddhas is not so good as to worship one's parents in the hall of filial piety. He proceeds to defend the Confucian system, and to bring coarse charges against Jesus, saying, among other things, that His crucifixion was because He had transgressed the laws of His country. These and many similar remarks are found in the recent work, " Hae-kwoh-too-che," usually known as " Lin's Geo- graphy." The chief compiler and composer of this exten- sive production — a work in twenty-four volumes, and which has gone through five editions in a few years — was Wei-yuen, who did not long survive his more celebrated collaborateur, Lin-tseh-seu. Both were sincere enemies of England and the English, the one showing his antipathy in his acts as commissioner in the war of 1842, and the other in his writings since that time. Another mode of assaulting Christianity, common among the Chinese literary class, is to express disbelief in its facts. I was visited several times by a scholar, very well informed in the books of his own country, named Chow- 156 RELIGION IN CHINA. teen-ming. Many men of inquisitive minds visit the foreign missionaries at tlie seaport towns where they reside, hoping to gain from them some scientific information. He was one of such. He was introduced by a native friend as being conversant witli the twenty-five histories, the great collection of the annals of the successive dynasties of the Chinese Empire. The conversation soon turned to the subject of Christianity. He said that the narrative of the death of Christ on the cross could not be earKer than the Ming dynasty ; for it was then (in the sixteenth century) that the Eoman Catholic missionaries entered the " Middle Kingdom," and first brought information of it. England, he said, was a new country, compared with China. Its his- tory as a nation did not extend back more than a few centuries. We could not know the course of events so long ago as Christ was said to have lived, with any certainty. It was to him quite clear that the New Testa- ment could not be so old as we said, for in that case the chief facts ii> the life of Christ must have become known in China much earlier. He was informed, in reply, that though the English nation had not been in existence more than a few centuries, we had an extensive body of old world literature transmitted in the ancient languages of Europe and Western Asia, and of an historical value fully equal to that of the classical literature of his own country. It was as old in time and as well supported by critical evidence. He professed assent, but with a look of in- credulity on his countenance. He was then asked if he had seen the Syrian inscription, which contained evidence that Christianity had been taught in China in the seventh century. This is an extremely interesting monument of the early spread of our religion in China through the labours of missionaries of the Nestorian Church. It was found accidentally by some workmen, two hundred years ago, at the city of Sengan-foo, in the north-west of China. Native scholars regard it as a most valuable specimen of the caligraphy NESTORIAN INSCRIPTION. 157 and composition of the Tang dynasty, that to which it belongs ; but they did not know how to explain its Chris- tianity till the Jesuit missionaries came to their assistance. My friend said he had seen it, but he did not think that the religion of this monument was Christianity. The fact of Christ's death was not clearly mentioned, and he thought that the sentence in it which spoke of the division of the world into four parts in the form of a cross was not an allusion to Christ's death on the cross, but only to the four cardinal points of the horizon. Other passages in the inscription were then pointed ovit to him, which spoke of the trinity of Persons in the Divine nature, mentioned the Syrian name of God (Aloho), and the number twenty- seven in speaking of the sacred books evidently referring to the New Testament. Other allusions to the weekly Sabbath, to the birth of the Saviour under the denomina- tion Messiah in the Eoman empire of the far West, and to other facts of Christianity, made it certain that no other religion was described in the monument. It was thus shown that his statement, that Christianity was no earlier than the time when the Eoman Catholic missionaries entered China, could not be sustained. It must be at least as old as A.D, 781, the date of the monument. The advocate of Christianity in China finds this cele- brated inscription very useful in meeting opponents like this man. To refer to the usual evidences, called the historical, is not conclusive to such persons, ignorant as they are of Judea and its history. In proving the genuine- ness of the Christian Scriptures, this monument is a most important stepping-stone to the era of primitive Chris- tianity, and it has been much used for this object in works published by Catholic and Protestant missionaries in China. The Jewish monuments at Kai-fung-foo help in China to sustain the genuineness of the Old Testament, just as the one now mentioned contributes to support that of the New. When this visitor asserted that we English were such modern people that we could not have books so old 158 RELIGION IN CHINA. as theirs, I took a Hebrew Bible, and told him that the English were accustomed to do what the Chinese did not, to learn other languages besides their own ; and that they read and preserved books with as much care in the ancient languages as in the modern, so that the late origin of the English nation could not affect the accuracy of their information on the books and events of 2000 or more years ago. Our Hebrew Bible was the same as that at Kai-fung-foo, except in containing not only the Books of Moses, but the remaining part of the Old Testament ; the written symbols used in both were the same, and it was from them that our own alphabet was derived. A com- plaint was made to him that he should have rashly ques- tioned the correctness of our testimony on the antiquity of our books. He said, "Do not be displeased. I do not wish to treat your holy religion with disrespect. We in this country belong to the religion of the holy sage Con- fucius, and how could I speak ill of another ? " He was informed, in reply, that he should prove his regard for the morality of the national sage by " showing good feeling towards men from afar." To question the correctness of statements made by Catholics and Protestants in China for two hundred years past, respecting the origin of their reli- gion, was to contradict this precept of the sage. He said that, as a literary man, he studied for himself questions such as this, upon the statements found in books, and endeavoured to sift them as best he could. We recommended him to learn foreign languages, and then he would be in a better position to criticise European literature. The same opponent, in attacking our religion, referred to the difference, as he described it, in moral tone between the Old and the New Testaments. On hearing from men of education in heathen countries superficial opinions upon the comparative excellence of the Books of God, there is a strong feeling of revulsion awakened, but it is impossible to force upon them the authority of God's Word simply upon our testimony. They look at the book as ours, not VIEW OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 159 as His. They must be brouglit by patient argument to admit that it is His, and they must be borne with while they read and judge. Nothing in the common course of things can lead an educated pagan to look on the Bible, when he first sees it, as other than a human book. This Chinese said he preferred the New Testament to the Old very much, and threw ridicule on some parts of the Old Testament. He was told that the wicked actions of men, when recorded in history, are as well adapted to promote virtue as their good actions. The aim of the writers in the Old Testament, in all they had transmitted in their works, was, to say the least, most unquestionably to ad- vance the cause of piety and virtue. If he continued to regard it as a human composition, he must see in this fact their perfect justification in preserving the memory of wicked actions. But more than this, it was the glory of history to be faithful, and in the classical books of his own country the conduct of wicked men was related along with that of the good. Chinese moralists did not, however, consider these books unfavourable to virtue on that account. They were held up as models, and universally placed in the hands of youth for their moral training. It had been found, that of all books the Old and the New Testament were the most conducive to morality. He did not like the high pretensions of Christianity as the only Divine religion. He thought that the authority of the Chinese classics was absolute for his countrymen and himself. When the conversation turned on the ques- tion whether the soul is single or divisible into two at death, he considered that its duality was certain, because it was stated in the classical books. " We have had these works," he said, " for three thousand years, and number- less productions of learned men in the interval from that time till now. Our Confucius was several centuries earlier than Jesus." The lustre of learning and antiquity ought, in his opinion, to carry the day in favour of the religion of China. He i6o RELIGION IN CHINA. was told, in reply, that the higher antiquity of Confucius would not constitute a sufficient claim to superiority, because Moses, the Jewish sage, was before him in time, and even before Wen and Woo, the two famous Chinese kings of the eleventh century B.C. "But," he retorted, " our wise Emperors Yaou and Shun were earlier than Moses." Our antiquity goes further yet, he was informed. The date of Yaou and Shun was not earlier than about 2300 years before Christ, but we have Adam, Enoch, and Noah, belonging to a still earlier period. He then pro- ceeded, in a good-humoured manner, to show in another way, since he could not rival our antiquity, the superiority of the East over the West. He alluded to the fact that the art of writing was borrowed by us from Asia, our alphabet being derived originally from that used by the Hebrew nation. Much of the opposition the Chinese feel to Christianity comes from national prejudice. They dislike the foreigner's religion because they dislike the foreigner himself. Many violent enemies of foreigners are found among the inferior officers of Yamuns. One such opponent I met in a temple at Shanghai, some years since. He began with asserting that our calendar was wrong. Our months did not coincide with the new and full moons, nor with the spring and neap tides. He was told that our calendar was formed so as to make the months agree with the motions of the sun rather than of the moon, for public convenience. He then said it was preposterovis in us to exhort them to virtue, for they had books that taught morality much earlier and better than ours. All our science and learning, he said, M-as brought from the East. Laou-keun, the Taouist philoso- pher, had gone, as history recorded, to the West, and, no doubt, communicated the wisdom of China to the people among whom he travelled. Others had followed him. Knowledge had spread from China to all the surrounding nations, and it was in this way that we had become civi- lised. He insisted that our statements respecting Jesus were unreasonable. How could He govern the universe MODE OF ATTACKING CHRISTIANITY. i6i alone? He must have inferior divinities to assist Him. We denied their existence; but they must be needed in the superintendence of the world. Our Matthew, he said, for he had read some chapters of the Gospel of Matthew, was a Chinese spoken of in the " Three Kingdoms " (an historical romance of the second century of the Christian era), whose name was nearly like the word Matthew in sound. If any one became a believer in Jesus, he would throw away his character for liHal piety, for he would not then be allowed to sacrifice to his ancestors. When re- minded that this practice, if forbidden by God, must be given up, he replied that it was undoubtedly right, because it was complied with by the Emperor himself This opponent was, as is clear from the account here given, not good at argument. He is an example of that unreasoning hostility which is often met with in China. Everything foreign is looked at through the spectacles of prejudice. An exclusive spirit marks the class of persons referred to, which leads them to regard as ridiculous all customs and opinions prevailing among the " barbarians." A favourite mode of attacking Christianity is to re- present it as derived partly from Buddhism and partly from the system of Confucius. "Why should you speak of heaven and hell?" an opponent will often say to the missionary; "we have that doctrine already. It is Buddhist, and it is notliing new to us." In fact, the Chinese have very minute descriptions of hell torments. The pictorial representations of them common among the people often reminded me of some of the plates in " Eoxe's Book of Martyrs," and of Koman Catholic illus- trated books for the use of the poor in Ireland. If descrip- tions containing variety and severity of torture were all that was requisite to constitute the doctrine of future punishments, the Chinese Buddhists have it among them in a very terrible form. This being the state of the case, and the missionary being compelled to use the Buddhist names for heaven and hell, objectors say that he is teach- 10 > L 1 62 RELIGION IN CHINA . ing tliem Buddhism. He then refers to the authority of Jesus as the Divine Eevealer of the future state, and the certainty that marks His teaching as compared with the baseless statements of Hindoo mythology, a purely human and fictitious system, not capable of bearing a moment's careful scrutiny. A Chinese work, published in the last century by im- perial authority, criticises one or two Christian books. It is a catalogue raisonne of Chinese works in the Emperor's library, with descriptive notes on all such as appeared to call for criticism. Very few Christian books have been allowed to remain in the imperial library, the greater number having been burnt long since by order of Govern- ment. One or two, however, remain. The critic speaks of some by the celebrated Jesuits, Matthew Eicci and Adam Schaal. He says of the " Twenty-five Sentences," a tract by Eicci, published in Chinese about the time of James I., that much of it is stolen from the Buddhists, but that the style of its composition is not so good as theirs. He adds that in the West Buddhism was the only religion they had. The Europeans adopted its ideas, and put them forth in an altered form. When they entered China they saw the books of Confucius, and began to borrow from them not a little, in order to impart an air of literary elegance to what they gave out as their own. With this new help, he proceeds to say, they extended their system in new works, and began to boast that it was superior to the three religions of China. The critic then gives his readers a description of a second work by Eicci, " The True Account of the Eeligion of God." As a supplement to this treatise, Eicci has col- lected passages from the Chinese classics which speak of the existence and providence of God. The critic says this was because the missionary felt conscious that he must not attack the religion of Confucius. Eicci also undertook to confute the Buddhists ; but in the opinion of the imperial critic, his views differ very little from the Buddhist belief CRITICISM OF CATHOLIC WORKS. 163 respecting heaven and hell, and the metempsychosis. He adds, that in regard to mankind being under a law of change, which compels us to live, to die, and afterwards to live again, and our also being under a law of retribution, which apportions happiness and misery to men according to their merit, there is little difference between the two religions. If the Christians did not believe in the meteni- psychosis, the forbidding to slay animal life, and the obli- gation of celibacy, it was because they wished to keep near the doctrine of Confucius. Some of the Christian books are, he says, like the liturgical works of the Buddhists, while others resemble those that treat of the contempla- tive life. He concludes a long criticism on Catholic books by observing that the Europeans are profoundly versed in astronomy and calculation, and cunning in mechanical con- trivances ; but when they come to speak of morals and religion, they are very heretical. Their writings on these subjects did not deserve to be placed in the list of books forming the national literature. They had, however, been included in the catalogue of new works contained in the history of the Ming or last Chinese dynasty, made by com- mand of the Tartar emperors. The compiler of that work had thought proper to class them among the books of the Taouist religion. In the new arrangement they were transferred to the class of books known as the miscella- neous division. So far the critic. This style of remark on foreign books translated into Chinese is very significant. It shows in the true light the feeling that literary men in that country entertain respect- ing them. The Jesuit missionaries laboured hard in the production of good treatises on science and religion in the language of that country. Though their books on science are sought after and valued, those upon Christianity are scarcely considered worthy of a place in the national literature. Perhaps, however, theirreal influence is greater than Confucian writers are ready to admit. They may i64 RELIGION IN CHINA. have helped, by their account of God, in His nature and attributes, to render the modern generation of scholars more willing to return to the doctrine of a personal God, and to abandon the notion, so prevalent before the Eoman Catholics anived, that He is nothing but an abstraction. Wei-yuen, the author before referred to, compares Mohammedanism and Christianity, and thinks they have both derived many of their peculiarities from Brahmanism or Buddhism. He had been reading the translation of the Bible by the Protestant missionaries, and he believes that he finds there evidence of inconsistency and folly greater than existed in those two Hindoo religions. The prohibi- tion of image-worship excites his indignation. Sacrifices to ancestors are forbidden, and yet the image of the mother of Jesus is adored by the Christians, and the cross is hung up in their dwellings. Why, he asks, do they trans- gress the law of their own religion ? The criticisms of this and other authors are very numer- ous. Some of them are extremely foolish, and prove nothino- but the i^rnorance of those who made them. The Chinese easily fall into errors on this subject, and all others relating to foreign nations. There is nothing they so much need as the constant and widely-extended sujDply of in- telligence on the world beyond them. It must be long before Christianity can become well understood by them. Missionary efforts must be greatly increased, and the agency of the press must be well worked, before they will be freed from many wild misconceptions. It is constantly said in China, that medicine in the form of pills is admini- stered to all Christian converts ; and that when a person is dying, his eyes are taken out by the priest. One writer sees in the works of healing performed by Jesus something similar to the cures effected by Hwato, a celebrated Chinese physician who lived in the third century, but entirely fails to notice that their object was to prove anything with recfard to the character of Jesus Christ. It never occurred NEED OF CHRISTIAN TEACHING. 165 to him to consider what a miracle is for. He therefore refuses to rank Jesus with the sages who have limited themselves to moral teaching. In that country a far wider diffusion of knowledge respecting the facts and doctrines of Christianity is needed to put the natives in a position to judge of its claims as the only Divine religion. ( i66 ) CHAPTER XIV. STATE OF ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS. The state of Eoman Catholic missions in China deserves to be studied by those who are interested in the spread of scriptural Christianity in that country. These missions have met with great success. Abbe Hue, in his work on Christianity in China, has given an interesting account of their commencement and progress to the reign of Kanghe. Many persons of rank became converts, and chapels and churches multiplied fast in the cities and villages. When times of persecution arrived and court favour was with- drawn, doctors of literature and masters of arts ceased to tread in the steps of Seu-kwang-ke and other Christian converts holding high office in the State. At present the work of the missions lies much with the humbler classes. There are indeed men of property among the converts still, but they are not known beyond the community to which they belong. In days of persecution, during the present century, there have been not a few among these men who have courageously endured banishment to Western Tartary, or loss of property, for the sake of their religious belief. The introduction of the Protestant religion has induced the European Catholic missionaries, who are about three hundred in number, to give certain precautionary directions to their converts ! They have told them that the religion of the English is only three hundred years old ; that their own is the true and ancient form of Christianity ; and that salvation is only to be found within the pale of the Catholic Church. Catholic converts frequently meet Pro- testant missionaries, and state to them that their religion CATHOLIC TEACHING. 167 began with King Henry VIII. of England. He commenced it because he was not allowed by the Pope to divorce his wife. Such is the account of Protestant Christianity which has been industriously disseminated far and wide among the converts in the province of Keangnan, with the state of whom I have had the opportunity of becoming best acquainted. Among the converts sometimes met with are inquiring men, fond of reading. Such a person came on one occa- sion to seek an interview with a missionary, who had recently arrived in his boat, in one of the interior cities in that province. He stated, in the conversation that then ensued, that he had read many Buddhist and Taouist books, although the " spiritual fathers " recommended the converts not to do so. He did not like this restriction, and, feeling confidence in himself that he could distinguish the true from the false, he did not fear to read them. He was asked his opinion on the Buddhist doctrine, that all things are mere emptiness, and exist only in imagination. He had evidently read Buddhist statements of this sort with the impression that they are metaphorical and not to be taken literally, for he answered that it was quite correct to hold that all in the Avorld is vanity and a dream. He then inquired if it was true that a king of England separated from the Church of Eome because he was not permitted to marry as he pleased. He was informed that the king did so, but it was on a different account that the people separated. The reason of their separating was, that they had become convinced from the Scriptures that they ought to do so. He then asked when our English religion really began, and was told that there had been a Christian Church in Britain from the second century, and that it was then and for long after quite independent of Piome and the Pope. He replied, that he could not see how this could be, his information being entirely different. He was also surprised to learn that celibacy for all priests was only required f(jr the first time in the Piomish Church in the 1 68 RELIGION IN CHINA. eleventh century. He had read the books of the early Jesuit missionaries, Eicci, Jules Aloni, and others, but not any of the writings of the Apostles. No translation of the Scriptures has ever been published in China by the Catholics. Although a professed Christian, he appeared to believe in many Buddhist legends. He regarded Kwan-yin as a real personage, the daughter of a certain king, as stated in one of the fictitious accounts of that divinity. The mis- sionary, seeing that he was to a considerable extent a believer in Buddhism, advised him not to read the books of that system, but ineffectually ; for he said he felt no danger, and wished, for curiosity's sake, to examine various religious systems. In the province of Keangsoo there are about 75,000 converts.^ A great portion of these are villagers. A small chapel is erected in villages and hamlets, usually in a retired situation. Service is held here on Lord's-day mornings. After this service, the poor are allowed by a dispensation from the Pope to work in the fields or at their other employments. Those whose worldly circumstances are good abstain from work on the Lord's-day. Foreign priests visit these village stations four or five times in a year. In their absence the service is conducted by natives. When these Eoman Catholic villagers are asked who it is that forgives sins, they will frequently reply, the priest. If the inquiry be made through whom it is that they ex- ' pect to be saved in heaven, some will say, through the aid of Mary; others, through the merits of Jesus Christ. They are taught to repeat the creed and a small catechism composed in a plain, unadorned style. On the walls of the chapels are hung fourteen pictures representing the sufferings of our Lord, after the usual manner of Eoman Catholic edifices. The altar is ornamented with artificial flowers and such-like appendages. Sometimes the relics of a martyr are preserved in the altar. There is often a 3 In 1858. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS. . 169 school in connection with these village chapels. The ordinary converts residing at the country stations are generally civil to foreign visitors, but if native ordained priests happen to be there, they are very hostile in their manner to those whom they find to be Protestants. They are able to speak a little Latin, taught them at Macao or at some of the seminaries for training native priests in the interior of the country, and they resort to that medium of expressing their ideas when they do not wish the neigh- bours to hear what is said in conversation. When encased in discussion on questions of theological controversy, they usually prefer the Latin language. In North China, when the converts in any heathen village raise half the money themselves for a church, the European priests find the other half, and a church is accord- ingly built. The Catholics have not a few well-conducted schools in China. That at Seu-kia-wei is well known to those who have visited Shanghai. It is seven miles from that place. Many of the pupils are taught the art of moulding images in clay, sculpture, &c. It caused us some painful reflec- tions to see them forming images of Joseph and Mary and other Scripture personages, in the same way that idol- makers in the neighbouring towns were moulding Buddhas and gods of war and riches, destined too to be honoured in much the same manner. With such exceptions as this, we could not help admiring the arrangements of the school, which appeared to be large and efficient. There is a hand- some modern chapel in connection with it. Another school that I saw with a friend at Ningpo was one of crreat interest. It was a school for deserted children of the female sex. There were seventy of them at the time enjoying its privileges. The buildings were new and very extensive. They were in an open situation outside the south gate of the city. Seven French Sisters of Mercy conducted the school. They received us most kindly, and permitted us to inspect the whole establishment. They I70 RELIGION IN CHINA. appeared to be much attached to the children, whose apartments were well supplied with crucifixes and pictures of the Virgin. The sisters wore their regular costume of black serge, which looked very uncomfortable and unsuited to the season, the hot weather not having terminated at the time of our visit. They showed us the graves of some of their companions in the adjacent garden. They in- formed us that they did not employ native schoolmasters or schoolmistresses to instruct the children in readinof, but they learned the Chinese written character themselves, and then taught their scholars. This is a proof of no little resolution and energy on the part of the sisters, for the acquirement of the art of reading Chinese is difficult, and it is the custom in Protestant and Catholic schools for boys to obtain native aid in teaching the pupils to read the native books. The sisters proved to us their competence by reading some passages in a simple Chinese style from the Christian class-books used in the school. Attached to the establishment is a free dispensary for the neighbouring poor. To assist in the training seminaries for native priests is one of the most important duties of the Catholic mission- aries. A large number only can meet the wants of their numerous stations, scattered through all the eighteen pro- vinces of the Empire. Most of the jDupils in the seminaries are received when very young. The consequence often is, that on growing up they are unwilling to submit to the restraints which the life of a priest would impose on them. I knew one who after receiving his education wished to marry, and not to become a priest. The European mis- sionary in charge of the seminary frustrated his hopes by inducing his intended wife to enter a nunnery. He left the Catholics after this, and entered the employment of Protestant missionaries as a teacher of the lanOTaoe. For this occupation his knowledge of Latin was of some advan- tage. He still continued to pray to Mary, although he professed attachment to Protestant views in most respects. CATHOLIC CONVERTS. 171 He was asked why lie did not give up the worship of the Virgin ; to this he replied, that he could not abandon it without a great sacrifice of feeling, having been always accustomed to it. " But," he was informed, " every being except God is forbidden to be worshipped." " In honour- ing the mother," he said, " I honour the Son." " You may honour her," said the missionary, "but you should not pray to her. She cannot hear prayers and answer them, as God can, and as Jesus can." In answer to this he related an anecdote, which led him, as he stated, to place _ great trust in Mary: — Wlien at the seminary he had been accused of a crime, of which the real perpetrator was one of his fellow-pupils. He prayed to Mary that the true criminal might be discovered in seven days, and his own reputation vindicated. The prayer was answered within the necessary time, and he felt such confidence ever after in the efficacy of prayers to the Virgin, that he could not think of omitting them in his morning and evening devo- tions. It was suggested to him that he ought to refer the interference on his behalf that had occurred to the pro- vidence of God, not to that of the Virgin. We were never told in Scripture to pray to her, nor could we expect her to answer prayer. He replied, that in this instance his prayer, which had been remarkably answered, was ad- dressed to Mary and not to God. "So," said the mis- sionary, " may the sailor say of his prayer to Tecn-liov\ the * heavenly queen.' He supposes that goddess to preside over the sea, and he supplicates her protection from storms. To her he ascribes his safety, though he ought to refer it to the providence of God." "But," he rephed, " Mary is the mother of Jesus, and has intercessory power with God, which Teen-how-shing-moo, ' the holy mother, queen of heaven,' has not. Jesus honoured His mother," he added, " on the cross, and we must honour her also." His attention was drawn to the second commandment, which forbade the worship of aU images; but he would not admit the inconsistency of the worship of Mary's 172 RELIGION IN CHINA. imaee with this commandment, becanse the kind of wor- ship offered to her was different from that offered to God. The numbers of the native Catholic commimity in China were kept up previously to the last fifteen years by teach- ing within the community itself. Few converts, compara- tively, were made from the surrounding heathen. The successive persecutions instituted by the Government checked the aggressive efforts of the missions, and chilled the zeal of those who were contemplating the adoption of the Catholic faith. As the missionaries arrived from Europe, they were conveyed secretly into the interior, under the care of converts, and passed their time after- wards entirely in the society of the members of the com- munity. Strangers were not permitted to know of their presence. The boatmen or chair-bearers who conducted them from place to place were native Christians. So also were their servants at the residences provided for them. On their reaching any station to perform their official duties, information was quickly communicated to all the residents who regarded them as their spiritual guides, and they then assembled to receive their blessing. It was and is indispensable on their entering the presence of the European priest, that they should perform a prostration before him. N"o one outside of the community was allowed to see the foreign priest till he had gone through a course of instruction under the native catechists and priests. When a heathen was ready for baptism he might have an interview with the "spiritual father from the Western Ocean," but not usually sooner. This circumspec- tion was rendered necessary by tlie state of the laws in China, which did not then permit the entrance of foreigners into the interior of the country. Very irksome was the restraint under which foreign priests were placed, for it was not considered safe for them to be noticed by any eyes except those of trusted friends. Sometimes when a rumour was spread of their presence in a walled city, they were conveyed in a sedan chair out of the gate, and OPINION AMONG CONVERTS. ^i^:, brought in again Ly the gate on the opposite side of the city. This was done to induce the belief that they had taken their departure. They usually, however, avoided cities altogether, and remained in the country, where accommodations were provided for them under the super- intendence of the converts. They were liable to ejection at any moment from their temporary lodging-place, should suspicion be excited and inquiry be made for them. Hue speaks, in his "Travels in Tartary and Tibet," of the enjoyment occasioned to him and his companion by their sense of freedom when they had passed beyond the Great Wall into Tartary, because there they could allow them- selves to be seen without fear of capture. In these cir- cumstances the gathering-in of new converts was neces- sarily left to the zeal and efficiency of the native converts. I had a discussion on one occasion with a shopkeeper who was on the point of becoming a Eoman Catholic. He was strongly prejudiced against Protestantism. He insisted, that in propagating a religion it was essential to have a visible earthly chief from whom to receive orders. Our system was defective, because it was a system without a head. It was stated to him that Christ was our Head, and that we did not need any man to wield supreme power in our religion, just as in the religion of Confucius it was not found requisite to have any person at the head of it. As to his assertion that our religion could not be spread without submission to some visible head, he should recollect that the religions of Buddha and Confucius were able to subsist in China in the same circumstances. He then inquired what authority we had to preach. He was in- formed that men are miserable, and in need of the Gospel to render them happy. Any one that knew the Gospel might preach it, and how could it be wrong to try to save men? He remarked, that if men undertook this office tliey ought at least to be self-denying enough to refrain from marriage. A passage was pointed out to him in the Gospel of Mat- thew, which showed that the Apostle Peter had a wife; 174 RELIGION IN CHINA. but be observed that he coiild not know the book to be correct. He was recommended to take it and examine it for himself; and he might ask his priest if it was a book to be trusted. He declined to do this, and insisted that Protestants were in the wrong. A few days after this, at a town not far from the scene of this discussion, I had an unexpected opportunity of ascertaining the strength of the Eomanists in country places in the province of Keangsoo. The Shanghai river, before it reaches that city, at twenty miles south of it, bends to the westward. Our boat, after proceeding up the stream fifteen miles beyond this point, turned up a broad canal which entered it by its right bank. In that great alluvial plain canals are very numerous. Tliey need no locks or sluices, the land being level, and if their course be followed, towns having a large population are found on the banks of all of them. Tliey are the market-towns for the produce of the neighbouring country, consisting of wheat, rice, cotton, beans, indigo, and other articles. On arriving at one of them, at a short distance from the junction of the canal with the river, we went ashore with Testaments and tracts for distribution among the respect- able inhabitants of the town. While thus employed, a French priest unexpectedly made his appearance, calling himself Pere . One or two native Ptomanists had noticed our arrival, and proceeded to report the fact to this priest. After a few words of ceremony, he asked us why we came there. He Avas informed that we wished to teach the heathen inhabitants of the town the truths of Christianity and the folly and wickedness of their super- stition. He replied, that he had resided there for many years, and it was not right of us to interfere with his labours. In answer to our inquiries, he stated that there were about 200 Christians under his care, while there were 7000 or 8000 inhabitants in the town. "We then stated, that the pagan proportion of the population being so large, there was great need of the public preaching of RENCONTRE WITH A FRENCH PRIEST. 175 the Gospel there, and we understood that he and his fellow-missionaries did not teach in public. Could it be wrong for the doctrine of salvation to be proclaimed there ? He said that this was not wrong ; but what authority had we to teach at aU ? He was reminded of the Saviour's commission to His disciples, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." A crowd of inter- ested listeners had collected around us, while this dialogue proceeded in the dialect of the place. The priest, observ- ing the attention which they paid to it, turned to them and said, " I have long been residing here ; you can trust me. Do not listen to a new doctrine which comes to you without authority. You should not believe in the teach- ing of these new-comers." He was requested not to be angry with us for trying to do good to the heathen. He then complained that a passage occurred in a book pub- lished by Protestant missionaries which spoke disparagingly of the Eoman Catholic faith. He was, however, unable to state in what book he had seen it, or what had been said. The passage had been shown to him several years before, and he had forgotten the particulars. I expressed regret that his memory did not serve him better, and offered him what books I had for examination, that he might convince him- self there was nothing in them derogatory to the Catholic religion. He declined this, and soon afterwards retired. The Catholic missionaries find themselves in a position of difficulty from then* not having the same literary stand- ing that distinguished their predecessors in China in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Perhaps it is thought that there is no need for new efforts in science, since the Chinese Government has ceased to employ Jesuits to super- intend the preparation of the calendar and to calculate eclipses and the places of the heavenly bodies. At any rate, the modern missionaries write no new works on science or religion, but content themselves with the use of the old ones. Fully occupied with pastoral work, they seem to devote little attention to Hterature, so tliat they 176 RELIGION IN CHINA. fail to obtain that place in public estimation that was held by many of the Jesuits whose names illustrate the early annals of the Catholic mission in Cliina. It would be an advantage to them in more ways than one if they had among them men of learning and literary ability. The Chinese are very reluctant to read what is not com- posed in an elegant style, and it is important to meet the taste of the readers, as well as can be done, by putting into their hands such works as will not offend their sense of literary propriety. A good knowledge of the written language is needed to give facility in conversation \\dth the educated, and in preparing new works. The old scientific treatises of their predecessors are based on obso- lete theories, and need to be superseded by newer and better. They taught the Ptolemaic system of the universe, instead of that of Copernicus and Newton. The natural philosophy promulgated by Ricci supposed the four ele- ments — fire, air, earth, and water — to be the original principles of all natural objects. Great changes have occurred in the mathematical sciences since the translations of the early Jesuit missionaries were published in China. With their present want of attention to these things, the Eomanist missionaries cannot acquire the status that they would otherwise have, and fail to exert an influence on that large class of persons in China who know anything of the student life. Under the new treaty now in force, according to which foreigners have the right of visiting whatever part of the country they please, as might have been expected, new energy has been infused into the Catholic missions. The missionaries have been able to abandon their strict incog- nito, and adopt new measures for increasing the number of their converts. Permission is enjoyed to travel and reside in all parts of the country, and this permission is practi- cally so interpreted as to render legal the longer or shorter stay which the Eomanist missionaries make in rotation at the stations under their charge. POLICY OF THE JESUITS. 177 They will scarcely attempt again to obtain power at court and among the literary class in Cliina. They suc- ceeded remarkably at first by this policy. But it was dangerous to trust to court favour. They felt the reaction to be very severe when honour and power were exchanged for the storm of persecution. Their scientific attainments kept them in their places in the imperial tribunal of astronomy till 1822. The last Jesuits employed at Peking were then sent from that city to Macao, and they were desired to return home, the services of foreign astronomers being no longer required by the Son of Heaven. Eeport says that the last three Jesuits who received the emolu- ments of office as servants of the Chinese Emperor, wanted the power to make themselves valued as men of scientific ability. This is another instance of the results of the worldly policy of the Jesuits. Their first splendid successes have almost invariably been followed by ignominious failure. They have prospered better in the more spiritual part of their work in China. While the scientific treatises written by the early Jesuits are becoming useless on accomit of their obsolete and erroneous principles, the converts they made among the poor have transmitted to their descend- ants a faith more or less enlightened in the Catholic form of Christianity. At the present time there are many in- structed and zealous members of their community, mixed, as might be expected, with not a few nominal Christians of a much inferior kind. 10 M ( 178 ) CHAPTER XV. MOHAMMEDANS, JEWS, AND WOO-WEI BUDDHISTS. The number of Moliammedans in China is mucli larger than that of the Catholics, or any other of the smaller religious communities in that country. They have been there during a very long period, for some of them arrived within a century after the era of IVIahomet. But it was principally in the Sung and Ming dynasties, a.d. iooo to A.D. 1600, that the colonies of these religionists entered China. They are most numerous in the North of China, where in some parts they form a third of the population. Their mosques are called tsing-chin-sze, " pure and true temple." The name of their sect is Hwei-hwei, which is derived from Ouigour. They call God Choo, " Lord," or Chin-choo, " true Lord." In race they are predominantly Turkish and Persian. Their avoidance of pork keeps them distinct from the other Chinese, and the habit they have in some northern cities of placing the words Hwei-hwei, " Mohammedan," or Kiau-mun, " religious sect," on their shop signs and over their doors, is an indication that they wish to be exclusive, and not to be regarded as one with the rest of the nation. This spirit of exclusiveness, and the opposition they always express to the idolatry prevailing among their neighbours, has not prevented them from entering into the service of the Government, The road to office is not in China closed to adherents of particular religions. There is no Test Act there. Roman Catholics as well as Mohammedans have held high office in China. But there are many duties to be CHINESE MOHAMMEDANISM. 179 performed by those who occupy most Government offices which w^oukl be an effectual bar to the acceptance of such offices by a conscientious Christian. The sacrifices to Confucius, the worship of the State gods, and many public acts which are encouragements to idolatry, direct and indirect, cannot be omitted by the resident officers in a Chinese city. Yet it is difficult in China to resist the temptation to imitate the tolerant and latitudinarian spirit of the Confucian system. The Chinese love, not uniform- ity, but conformity. Sects that have when they entered China been very exclusive, have gradually adopted the plausible liberality of the followers of Confucius, who may conform to the customs of other religions without at all compromising their consistency. Conscientiousness has no high value among them. It is not reckoned so good as the politeness that admits the excellences of other systems. The mosques are erected in the Chinese style of archi- tecture, mixed with Western peculiarities. The principal hall for preaching and praying is provided with a pulpit, and has five naves or aisles, separated by three rows of pillars. It is ornamented with Arabic and Chinese inscrip- tions painted on monumental boards. Behind it is the chamber for holding the sacred books. Service is performed every Friday at two o'clock. Not much use is made of translations among them. The Koran is read in Arabic, with which the native Moollahs are familiar. This language, as well as Persian, is studied in the schools attached to the mosques. The knowledge of the principal features of their religion is obtained by Chinese readers from treatises of greater or less extent in the language of the country. They keep up the practice of circumcision. This is made indispensable to admission to their religion. But they are certainly not so attentive to daily prayer as other ISIohammedans. I have met with many of them who altogether neglect this habit. They speak of Jesus under the name Urh-sah; but they i8o RELIGION IN CHINA. will not allow that He is more than one of the 48,000 prophets, or of the six great prophets, that preceded Ma- homet. Of course they deny His divinity. Wei-yuen, a Chinese author already cited, in giving an account of the Mohammedan religion, says that Adam, the first man, receiving the commands of the true Lord, transmitted them to Seth ; Seth to Noah ; Noah to Ibrahim ; ' Ibrahim to Ishmael ; Ishmael to David ; and David to Urh-sah. Urh- sah died, and with him the line of tradition was broken. The orthodox faith was lost. Heresies sprang into vigor- ous life. But after 600 years Mahomet was born. He alone stands in the highest rank, while Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus occupy the second class. When Mahomet was born, the words " Prophet of Heaven " were seen inscribed on his breast. He wrought many miracles, but his greatest work was to correct and repub- lish the inspired revelation from the true Lord, which had been corrupted during the long period of time between Jesus and Mahomet. The Chinese Mohammedans appear to be very much cut off from their co-religionists, and none now make the pil- grimage to Mecca. Yet the same Chinese author says that every believer in this religion is bound to do so. To what- ever country he may belong, he must, once at least in the course of his life, make the journey to worship at the Prophet's tomb, and touch the sacred stone. He condemns the Mohammedans for borrowing from the Buddhists, a fault of which they have not been more guilty than the Christians, whom he charges with the same crime. The Mohammedans, he says, are like the followers of Con- fucius in worshipping God; but they have copied their prayers and their abstinence from different kinds of food, their notions upon retribution in a future life, almsgiving, and such-like unimportant teachings, from the Buddhists. They were added as supplemental to doctrines of a higher class, and they certainly, so he thinks, do no harm to mankind. JEWS A T KAI-FUNG-FOO. 1 8 1 He points out what he considers faults and inconsis- tencies in Mahomet. He had given his daughter to Ms elder brother's son in marriage. This appears to the Chinese to be unnatural and sinful. It has been the invariable custom in China, since a thousand years be- fore the birth of our Saviour, to abstain from intermar- riage with a family having the same surname, even though there should be no relationship. The Mohammedans compare the prophets to a tree. They are the stem, branches, leaves, and flowers, while Mahomet is the fruit. He then ought to be perfect in wisdom and in virtue. We do not find this to be true, says the Chinese critic. When he went into the market-place of Medina and saw slayers of oxen there, he asked them why they did not change their trade. "Because," they replied, "we have no other means to gain a living." " Slay sheep," said he, " instead of oxen." They did as he advised them, and thus acting, they resembled an ancient king of Tse, who was so affected by the sight of an ox trembling at the prospect of death, that he ordered the animal to be spared and a sheep slain instead. Mencius, the well-known Chinese sage, was a witness of this incident, and condemned the king. Our Chinese author concludes that Mahomet, not being able to perceive that the life of sheep was equally valuable with that of oxen, could not be perfect in wisdom. The little colony of Jews at Kai-fung-foo is fast declin- ing, and has no influence in the country. They have almost forgotten their national traditions. I had oppor- tunities some years since at Shanghai of conversing with three individuals of this community. One of them was an educated man, a literary graduate, who would be well acquainted with the state of opinion among his fellow- religionists. It appeared by his statements that the know- ledge of a future state, and of the prophecies respecting the Messiah, have almost died out among them. It was not without reason, therefore, that the Jews of England and 1 82 RELIGION IN CHINA. America have recently attempted to open a communication with them for the purpose of educating some of their youths in Europe, inquiring into their condition, and, if possible, improving it. They number in all only 200 individuals, and are the solitary renmant of the Jewish colonies in China. The last among them that could read Hebrew died nearly a century ago. They evince no wish to recover the knowledge of that language, nor do they seem to have any idea of a future revival of their condition, which could occur only in the case that the Emperor may be induced to command their synagogue, called, after the Mohammedan style, " the temple of the pure and true," to be rebuilt at the public expense. The Jews have conformed not a little to the opinions of the Chinese, as is shown by the inscriptions on their tablets, as well as by the melancholy fact that they have no notion, except a Chinese one, of a future state. For God they use the word teen, " heaven," without maldng any effort to keep the distinction between the material firmament and the Euler of heaven prominent before the minds of their people. They say on one of their monu- mental inscriptions: — "Although between us and the doctrine of Confucius there are differences of no great importance, yet the object of the establishment of our religion and theirs is the same. They are intended to inculcate reverence for Heaven, veneration for ancestors, loyalty to the prince, and piety to parents, the five human relations and the five constant virtues." The whole of this phraseology is Chinese, instead of being Jewish. This says little for the independence and confident faith in the Divine origin of their religion that ought to distinguish the posterity of Abraham. One or two things they retain of their national charac- teristics, namely, reverence for the laiu and the seventh- day Sabbath. They had, till their synagogue was destroyed, an autumn festival, when they walked in procession round the hall of the synagogue, taking the rolls of the law with MOHAMMEDANS IN THE CHINESE ARMY. 183 them. It was called the festival for the circulation of the law. They had till recently twelve copies of the Penta- teuch ; but with some of these they parted, and they were brought to England a few years since. They do not appear to be very ancient copies. They have also many single sections of the law, and books containing the genealogy of their families. They were originally a large colony of seventy families, and they had communication with their brethren in Persia and in other cities of China. It was apparently in the Han dynasty, accordmg to the opinion of some, B.C. 200 to a.d. 220, that they first entered China, but they had new accessions from Persia at a much later period. The Mohammedans in China regard the Jews as almost a sect of their own religion. Their abstinence from pork, and the peculiarity of their origin and their religious belief, lead to this. The Jews distinguish themselves by the name Teaou-kin-keaou, " the sect of those that pluck out the sinew," and also by the colour of their turban or dis- tinctive cap ; at least, the Mohammedans say that their own turban is white, while that of the Jews is blue. Yet the Mohammedans in Peking wear a blue cap at their religious services. The common costume of both sects in China is the national Chinese dress ; so that this distinc- tion is only obvious in the religious attire of the MooUah and others of the two sects when they appear in their appropriate costume. The Mohammedans are most numerous in the north and west and at Canton. During the long siege of Shanghai by an imperial army a few years since, I conversed with some Mohammedans from the province of Sze-chuen, the most westerly part of China. They insisted that the Christian religion was like their ow^n. When they enter the Chinese army they are, of course, allowed to retain their own religious views and the practice with regard to diet to which they are accustomed. They feel a unity with us on the subject of opposition to idolatry, the worship of 1 84 RELIGION IN CHINA. the one true God, and the doctrines of repentance and future retribution. To judge from those I have met in the south, the Mo- hammedans of China are less bio-oted than those of other lands. This is the natural result of their living in a latitudinarian country, and it renders the prospect of their conversion to Christianity more promising than that of the followers of Islam elsewhere. One of the most interesting among the minor sects in China is that called the Woo-wei-keaou. It is an offshoot from Buddhism. The words Woo-wei mean " non-action." These words are in China a favourite philosopliical phrase, used by all schools of a contemplative or mystic tendency. The Taouists, who spoke of the Eternal Keason which underlies all existences, held that it could be understood and the perfection of our nature reached only by rest, by stillness physical and mental, by abstaining from external methods of improvement, and by disbelief in their ef&cacy. Tliis they called Woo-wei, " to do nothing." The esoteric Buddhists made use of the same term. They said that the worship in temples, the use of idols and particular vest- ments and ceremonies, was useless : real progress would be made much more effectually by the abstraction of the mind from outw\ard things, and the turning of the soul inwards on itself. This was the principle of Tamo or Bodhidharma, and his followers, the founder of the esoteric sects of Chinese Buddhism. The sect we are now describing was originated by men whose thoughts also led them in this direction. They were mystics who avoided the common idolatry of the country because they regarded it as mischievous. They say that the universe is a great temple. The fragrance of flowers is the incense of Nature to Buddha. The sinoing of birds is music spontaneously performed to the honour of Buddha. The roaring of the sea and the rushing sound of the winds is the voice of prayer and praise ascending to the same divinity. There is no need of an idol. Heaven OBJECTION TO ANIMAL FOOD. 185 and earth are the image of Buddha, present always and everywhere. This description reminds us of such passages in our poets as — '"Tis a cathedral boundless as our wonder, Whose quenchless lamps the sun and moon supply ; Its quire the winds and waves, its organ thunder, Its dome the sky." This sect does not figure in the national literature. Its name is not mentioned in books ; and the treatises of its founders and their disciples are not known beyond the boundaries of the community that regards them with reli- gious faith. It does not excite the attention of the literary class in the country, like the Buddhist and Taouist religions, or like Mohammedanism and Christianity. Its professors are humble in station, possessing little mental culture, mild in manner, and decided in their religious convictions. This sect has grown up and spread itself during the last three centuries in the eastern provinces of China, Its founders were persecuted as revolutionists in the province of Shantung, and some of them were crucified by the local authorities. I was conversing on one occasion at Shanghai with a knot of Chinese on some of the doctrines of Christianity, when a follower of this religion interposed a question: — "Is it not a sin to eat animal food? It is wrong to take life." Instead of meeting him with a direct answer, I inquired of him why fowls and swine were created, if not to serve as food for mankind. He did not assent to the doctrine that these animals were created to be eaten, for his sect is strictly vegetarian; but the rest of the by- standers expressed their approval of it. He then asked if eating beef was not unquestionably a great sin, because oxen plough the soil. He was reminded that if it is un- grateful to use oxen that plough for food, there are very large numbers of them that do not plough, and these cannot 1 86 RELIGION IN CHINA. be shielded from death on this ground. Besides, he was told, Confucius has oxen offered to him in sacrifice, and he also ate beef; so that, though it is a common notion in China that beef should not be used for food, it was not suj)ported by the example of the man whom his country- men venerate as the wisest of their sages. He was then asked if he worshipped images. " No," he said, " we adore the Buddha of empty space." "Why," we in- quired, " should you pay your homage to him ? He is not in the position of emperor or father to you. Why do you not worship God, who is both your emperor and your father?" He asked, in reply, for informa- tion as to how God should be adored. He was told, by feeling reverence for Him and addressing Him in prayer. He then remarked that the sect to which he belonged had two leaders who were put to death by crucifixion. This, he said, was a point of resemblance between their religion and our own. He was informed that the death of Jesus differed from that of others who had been crucified, in the circumstance that it was borne voluntarily for the salvation of others. It is the habit of the Chinese of all religions to seek out resemblances between their system and that of others, and when they have discovered such resemblances, they proceed to assert that the principles of the two systems are identical. In the halls used for worship by this sect there is a tablet set up, dedicated to heaven, earth, prince, parent, and teacher. Small loaves of bread, or balls of glutinous rice, are placed before this tablet, and also cups of tea ; and the names Bread-religion and Tea-religion, by which this sect is also known, have thus arisen. I once asked a believer in the Woo-wei-keaou how he performed his religious duties. He said he would feel no objection to show us. He then took his seat on a stool in a cross-legged attitude. At first he sat tranquil, with his eyes closed; but gradually he became extremely excited, though without speaking. His chest heaved, his VEGETARIAN CONVERTS. 187 breathing became violent, his eyes shot fire— he seemed to be the subject of demoniacal possession. I stood expect- ing some oracular utterance from him ; but after remain- ino- in this excited mood for some minutes, he suddenly brought it to a termination, left the stool on which he had been sitting, and resumed conversation as rationally as before. The bystanders said that this man was able to cause his soul to go out of his body and return when he pleased. This was their explanation of the phenomenon we had witnessed. The simple sincerity of the followers of this religion has attracted the attention of European missionaries. They exhibit more depth and reality in their convictions than is common in other sects in China. This, added to their firm protest against idolatry, has led to their being re- garded with interest by foreigners, and to some efforts to instruct them in Christianity. Among the Protestant converts are some of these men, but they have not all been persuaded to give up their vegetarian habits. They had been so long accustomed to a vegetable diet that animal food was extremely distasteful to them. They were informed that Christianity laid down no law as to food, and that they might continue to be vegetarians, if they desired it, so that they did not retain their old opinions that to partake of other fare was sinful, and a vegetable diet both meritorious and the only lawful one. The books of this sect are in the form of dialogue or of narrative. The principal speakers and actors are the three founders. They are written after the common Buddhist model. The teacher enters into discussion with his disciples, or w^ith some opponents of the doctrines professed by him, and the doctrines to be communicated are broudit forward in a conversational form. The late origin of this sect, and its extensive propaga- tion among the villages of Eastern China, shows that there are still some remains of life in Buddhism. In the orthodox Buddhism there is the appearance of unreality 1 88 RELIGION IN CHINA. and want of earnest faith in the majority of the monks. They adopt the peculiar garb and discipline of their sect merely as a profession, to gain a living by. When they enter on the monkish life, they of course abandon their secular occupations. For an hour or two in the day they are engaged in chanting their sacred books, and are idle for the rest of their time, except when called to perform services for the dead or on occasion of the great festivals. Such men contrast unfavourably with believers in a religion like the Woo-wei-keaou, who continue their respective crafts, wear the common dress of the country, and show strong faith in their religious creed. The ruling classes in China, however, refuse to give them credit for religious earnestness, and have never ceased to represent them as a political sect. They were persecuted as such by the last native Chinese dynasty, and they are still described as a secret political society in the Sacred Edict, where the people are warned by the Emperor against false and dangerous sects. ( i89) CHAPTER XVI. THE TAIPING INSURRECTION. In bringing tliese chapters to a close, some reference to the recent Christian insurrection in China cannot be omitted. When that remarkable movement commenced twenty-four years ago, the Western world was astonished to hear that Christianity was the adopted creed of a power- ful rebel party that was waging war in China against the reigning Tartar dynasty. Credible accounts were received, of the most interesting kind, of the existence of a body of mountaineers and others in the hilly districts near Canton, who met for prayer to " the Heavenly Father " in the name of Jesus, read Christian books, and made strenuous exer- tions to propagate their opinions. Attacked by persecu- tion, they met in lonely places, but afterwards took up arms to defend themselves. There is no reason to doubt the truth of these accounts. The informant from whom Mr. Hamberg derived the materials of his narrative, the best history published of the early part of tlie movement, appeared to be a sincere and simple-minded Christian. He was a cousin of Tae-ping- wang, the rebel leader, and spoke the same dialect, the Hakka, used in parts of Canton province, and also in Kwangse. Several missionaries knew him during many months, and felt convinced that he was a speaker of the truth. According to his testimony, there can be no reason- able doubt that this insurrection began in strong religious impressions derived from reading the Scriptures and tracts published by Protestant missionaries and Protestant native converts. IQO RELIGION IN CHINA. In the mind of Tae-ping-wang and liis first followers, a fanatic element very early united itself to the religious element. This led them into excesses from which they would probably have been preserved if missionaries had had access to them. They felt the power of Christian truth. They were impressed deeply by the doctrine of the atonement, the divine mission of Christ, the sin of idolatry, &c. But they were without guidance in comprehending the use of the Old Testament in Christian times. They wanted sober and enlightened explanations, such as would have prevented their deducing from the books of Moses that sacrifices are to be offered to the Trinity, that a war- spirit is needed to put down idolatry, and is a proper ac- companiment of Christianity, and that the polygamy of patriarchal times is a model for imitation now. The good that would have resulted from sincere faith — such it must have been — in our Bible and the religion it teaches, was very much counteracted and overborne by the unhappy intrusion of that enthusiasm which led Tae-ping- wang not only to draw these conclusions from the Old Testament, but to believe himself inspired. This led him to regard himself as the divinely-appointed Emperor of China, and changed into a fierce warrior one who would otherwise have been a zealous preacher of Christianity. There was no hope after he took this step that he would submit to have his opinions criticised and corrected, even if Christian missionaries could have obtained the oj^por- tunity of conversing with him. He was at the head of an army that reverenced him as honoured with revelations from God, and as specially commissioned to occupy the throne of a new dynasty in China. He would not now become the humble disciple of foreigners. He, and such of his followers as were animated by the same fanaticism as himself, would rather have died than give up the objec- tionable articles of their creed. The same fanatic energy that gave them their first successes and nerved them to accomplish their triumphant march to Nanking, kept TAE-PING-WANG. 191 them faithful to their adopted religious belief to the last. Although many critics of Chinese matters have preferred to call these men blasphemers and impostors, their prefer- ence has come from a view of the subject much more difficult to support than that here given. That Tae-ping- wang should have put forward pretensions to be the brother of Jesus Christ is much to be deplored. It was caused by fanaticism and want of proper instruction. It should be considered that he was just emerging from heathenism, and it could not fail to be difficult for him to transfer himself completely into the Christian sphere of thought. Whether he may fairly incur the charge of wilful blasphemy on his assuming such titles as those which are found in the rebel proclamations, is not easy to say. How was it with Mahomet in his claim to a divine mission ? To read the books written by him is to become con- vinced that he was sincere, so far as he knew it, in the acceptance of Christianity. In the work called the " Three Character Classic," he describes the creation of the world by God, and sketches the history of the Israelites. He then proceeds to relate the mission of Jesus, the Son of God, into the world. His death on the cross for the salva- tion of mankind. His resurrection and ascension, with His parting injunction to the twelve Apostles to propagate His doctrine and the book containing it through the whole world. He further states, that in the earliest ages the worship of God was practised by the Chinese as in foreign countries, and condemns the emperors who had helped to introduce the Taouist and Buddhist superstitions among the people whom they governed. It was Tsin-slie-hwang who, a little more than two centuries before Christ, was ensnared by the belief that then began to prevail in the existence of genii and of a method by which immortality for the body may be attained. He was imitated by Han- woo-te. Ming-te, their successor on the throne of China, was as assiduous in the encouragement of the Buddhist 192 RELIGION IN CHINA. religion as they had been in promoting the Taouist. He reserves his severest censure for Hwei-te, of a much later period, the eleventh century of our era. This monarch had given the ancient Chinese name Shang-te to a Taouist divinity Yuh-hwang. " Now," he says, " Shang-te, God, is the Great Father of the whole world. His name is most honourable, and it has been in use a long series of years. Who is Hwei-te that he should dare to change it ? " He then adds that a deserved retribution overtook liim for the part he took in spreading the practice of idolatry. It was on this account that he was captured by the Tartars, his foes, and, with his son, died in imprisonment. Although the book does not close without those fana- tical pretensions that show themselves in so many places in the writings of this man, there is enough to make plain that he understood something of the Christian doctrine of God, and of the salvation of mankind through the death of Christ, as also that he had become sensible of the mis- chief flowing from the introduction of idolatrous rehgion into China. In judging of the sincerity of these insurgents, who baptized one another in the name of the Trinity, and called themselves Christians, it ought to be remembered that the greater part of their adherents did not belong to the original nucleus of earnest, religious, or fanatical men through whose enthusiastic courage Tae-ping-wang won so many battles and took so many cities. Multitudes after- wards joined them of a far inferior mould of character, some impressed by force, others invited by hopes of plunder. The Christianity of such men was non-existent, and they were not fair examples of those who began the movement, nor were they such good soldiers. Many of the first adherents of this party had died. Those whose hair had not been shaven for seven years, who were the private friends of the cliief at the beginning, who joined him in religious meetings and marched with him to the field, before he shut himself up in seclusion within the THE TAIPING INSURGENTS. 193 walls of his palace, and knew liini intimately, had mostly disappeared. The character of the rebel army became on this account necessarily much less religious than it was, although they still maintained imperfectly the forms of Christian worship and the observance of a Sabbath. The Christian insurgents in China never had the confi- dence of any part of the nation. Their religious character was one reason of the unpopularity of their cause. If they had been crafty impostors, they would have chosen some other watchword than that of Christianity. Instead of fighting in the name of Shang-te (God) and of Yay-soo (Jesus), they would have waged war in the name of their ancestors, or they would have inscribed on their banners the titles of some of the national gods. But they chose for their religion one that must of necessity be extremely distasteful to most of their countrymen. Nothing could be further removed from the sympathies of the influential part of native society than a course like this. Their books were constantly spoken of as yaou shoo, " goblin books ; " and they themselves were, as might be expected, never honoured with any more respectful appellations than thieves and robbers. Their profession of Christianity did not obtain for them any better reputation among those who give the tone to society, and have influence and pro- perty. With the adoption of a religious creed coming from a foreign source, and introduced by the barbarians themselves at Canton within a few years back, they resigned in the estimation of their countrymen all title to be con- sidered patriots. This party had by the Chinese never been regarded as patriotic, and nowhere was there ex- hibited the intention or desire to co-operate with them in effecting a revolution, except on the part of those who had nothing in character or property to lose by it. The power of this party, then, did not consist in any sympathy felt with them, beyond the actual limits of the districts that they occupied. Their courage was admitted to be superior to that of the imperialist soldiers. Their 10 N 194 RELIGION IN CHINA. discipline is favourably spoken of by some of those natives who witnessed it for its rigour and for its moral tone. The fact that they had a sort of Christian worship did not win them favour with the general population. Now that this insurrection has disappeared by the de- struction of the actors in it, it may be asked what have been its results ? It shows that there is a susceptibility in the Chinese mind to receive Christian doctrine for which we were before far from giving them credit. They are, as a nation, usually represented as having only sordid aims in life, and as almost incapable of feeling reverence for God or curiosity respecting the future state. We see, by the history of this insurrection, that there are many among the Chinese who are prepared to receive these and other religious tenets in the spirit of an earnest and practical faith. They have shown themselves capable, to a degTce unexpected by the rest of mankind, of a re- ligious enthusiasm ardent enough to increase their bravery as fighting men, and make them capable of sub- mitting to a seK-denying discipline, such as cannot be very agreeable to a people trained in national habits like those of the ordinary Chinese. They are too slothful and sensual to consent to such a discipline with much satisfaction, were they not affected by an enthusiasm to which they have not been accustomed. There is hope, then, that the Chinese as a nation may take up the religion of the Bible with strong faith, and propagate it by their own exertions. We also see in this movement the effect of tlie distri- bution in that country of Bibles and Christian tracts. A reading population, such as there exists, can receive the knowledge of Christianity in this way without the pre- sence of the living teacher. They have reprinted some Christian treatises with slight alterations, and composed others modelled on those prepared by foreigners. One of the most important of their publications is an elaborate treatise by the late Dr. Medhurst, on the Attributes of Grod, composed at Batavia more than twenty years ago. JVA NG-FUNG- TSJNG. 1 9 5 The fact that they published many parts of the Scriptures is a striking one, and is strange to account for on any hypotliesis but that those who did so were sincere believers in the book. No political prophet could have foretold that a body of revolutionists in China would have spread their opinions by the printing and circulation of Christian books. We never expect to hear of Hindoos or Malays, when commencing a warlike movement, adopting Christianity and resolving to propagate it. To show that the effect of these books, and of the religion they teach, has been some- thing more than ordinary on the moral condition of these people, I shall detail an interview with a former follower of Tae-ping-wang, who was met l^y myself and others at Shanghai. His name was Wang-fung-tsing. He had come into the city to join the rebel force that then held it ; but he soon left them, dissatisfied with the state of affairs pre- vailing among his new friends. He conversed with me in one of the Protestant chapels, and told us that he had been baptized by Dr. Gutzlaff, seven years before. A convert at Hongkong had taken him in hand to instruct him in Christianity, had supplied him with a little money, and recommended him to unite himself to Dr. Gutzlaff's Chris- tian Union. He became a member of that body till the death of its founder. He then proceeded, by the advice of his old friend, the convert, in search of other members of the Christian Union, who had then joined Tae-ping-wang, and were engaged in organising an armed opposition against the Government. He joined them in time to be with the Taiping army on its march through the interior provinces to the important city of Woochang-foo. Favoured by a shower of snow, they took possession of that city, with the two adjoining ones, Hanyang and Hankow, and then descended the Yang-tsze-keang to Nanking. From this point he returned to Hongkong, and afterwards found his way to Shanghai. He told us, in answer to inquiries, that there is the administration of baptism in the Taiping army to men and women, old and young, by sprinkling. 196 RELIGION IN CHINA. They have the Lord's Supper every month, and not upon the Sabbath-day. At this ceremony they use wine made from grapes — a curious circumstance, grape wine scarcely ever being seen in Cliina ^ — showing the anxiety of these Christians to maintain as exactly as they know how the creed and j)ractice of Christianity. They admit new appli- cants to baptism after not more than a day's instruction. Twenty-four elders, or chang-laou, have assigned to them the office of preaching. There are also priests who super- intend the sacrifices. Tlie practice of offering sacrifices they have unquestionably adopted from reading the Old Testament without guidance as to what parts of it are and what are not intended for imitation by Christians. He told us that he met several men who had been baptized by Dr. Gutzlaff, holding posts of influence in the Taiping official staff. He denied, when asked, that he smoked opium, saying that it was forbidden strictly in the regulations of Tae-ping-wang. When the question was repeated, he replied, " How could I tell a lie, who am a disciple of Jesus ?" The effect of this interview was to strengthen our im- pressions of the extent to which the imitation of Christian practices was carried by these people, and also of the height of the moral standard that they set for themselves. The ordinary Chinese do not assume this liigh tone in vindication of their veracity. But a prolonged state of war is most prejudicial to moral- ity, and the greater part of the Tae-ping-wang forces, re- cruited as they are indiscriminately from the population of the regions through which they pass, of course do not share any earnest faith in religious doctrines to which they are obliged to conform, but which they do not really under- stand or believe. This movement in favour of Christianity, originated and 1 We learn from Mr. Lockhart, who in some of the interior provinces, hut took part in the interview here de- not near Canton, from whicli part the scribed, that wine is made from grapes rebels came. ERRORS OF THE TAIPING MOVEMENT. 197 carried on by the Chinese themselves, was injured by the political aims which were combined with it. It was the error of half-enliohtened minds to believe themselves called to overthrow, by force of arms, the Government that perse- cuted them and the idolatry which Christianity had taught them was a sin against God. Many of their countrymen have wondered at their crusade against images. When describing the mode of operation pursued by the adherents of Tae-ping-wang, they praised them for their discipline, and their avoidance of petty thefts and other excesses commonly practised by the soldiers in the pay of the Government; "but," they added, "they show an extra- ordinary hostility to the idols. They kill pooso." They showed no mercy to the images of the gods. We could have excused their iconoclastic tendencies if they had not also undertaken to accomplish a political revolution. By this course they have done harm to the cause of Christianity in China, and have given its enemies an opportunity to misrepresent it. We will hope that when the Chinese shall again take up our religion in an earnest manner, they will eschew other aims, and receive it as a spiritual king- dom, and not in the spirit of Fifth Monarchy Men. In this case the enthusiasm they have shown will be again exhibited, and will produce the happiest results. China is not so incapable of change as is thought by most persons. Her population is not so exclusively devoted to a gross and sensual life as to be proof against impressions of a religious nature. That tlie Chinese are capable of warmer religious feelings than was thought possible has been proved. There is, then, encouragement to be derived from the story of the Christian insurrection by those who are interested in missionary labours in China. There need be no fear for the ultimate success of Pro- testant missions there, when we have had so recent an example of the effect of the distribution of books. The first agents of Protestant societies who went to China to teach Christianity met Avith very little apparent fruit of their 198 RELIGION IN CHINA. labours. Few converts joined them. Much opposition was excited against them. They sowed the seed of truth in a hard soil, in the time of wintry winds and unkindly influences. Now, however, it has been shown that effects have followed whicli they had not anticipated. Not only have their books been widely circulated by the machinery they themselves organised, but for several years past a native Chinese party, in the midst of anarchy and inter- necine war, have been diffusing Christian truths in an extensive series of publications which they have widely scattered through the country. The Christian atonement has been in this way made known over regions much broader in extent tlian could be reached by the agencies set on foot by European missionaries. After making all the necessary deductions for imperfect instruction, the mingling of Christianity with political designs, &c., there still remains good reason to hope that not a few of the Kwangse insurgents may deservedly be called Christians. At any rate, when they die by the sword, if such is to be their fate, there will be many sincere, brave, and stalwart upholders of what they believe to be Christianity, who will meet death with an unflinching courage worthy of the name, and by the hands of far worse men than themselves. The converts under the immediate care of the Protestant missionaries differ widely in character from the men we have been considering. Eemaining where they received instruction, and where they became professed Christians, they are under no temptation to adopt revolutionary views or to imbibe the terrible war-spirit to which fanaticism has so often given birth. They are learning that calm, en- lightened, and domestic Christianity which spreads its silent influence in private life, converting first individuals, then families, then whole villages and larger communities. Christianity must in China be national to be powerful. It must take hold on the hearts of the people, and they must teach it every man to his brother, before our Protestant missions there can be said to have gained their object. THE PROTESTANT CONVERTS. 199 But while these evangelistic operations are so recent, it is far better that the native congregations of Christians should remain under the supervision of the foreign missionaries than that the converts should be left entirely to them- selves. That they have among them the elements of self- support, and possess a vitality that must ensure progress, is shown by the considerable number of catechists and preachers that have, in consequence of a few years' training on the part of the missionaries, become their helpers in teaching the doctrine of salvation. The Protestant converts were in 1859 still not many more than 1000.^ These were the remaining fruits of sixteen years' labour by about a hundred missionaries at the five treaty ports. While few in numbers, it is better for them not to be thrown entirely on their own resources. They might fall into error, as did the Kwangse Christians, who began so well and so zealously with reading the Scriptures and prayer- meetings. It was in an evil hour that they decided to take up arms. There was no one to tell them that our religion is peaceful, and that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. The zeal of these men, which, untempered by an enlightened prudence, led them to the brink of destruction, would have wrought wonders for the spread of Christianity if rightly directed. Among the lessons we may learn by their history is this, that in prosecuting the task of evangelising China, there needs to be careful instruction added to the possession of the Word of God. The Bible needs an expositor, and zeal needs a wise regu- lating prudence. We may still hope for those Chinese who shall incline to receive the Gospel, that the intelli- gence of the national mind will in due time give them knowledge, and that the enthusiasm exhibited in their religious history will give them zeal. When these qualities are combined they will produce a development of Chinese Christianity such as will Ijear a proportion to the very pro- 1 At the present time (1877) the con- as when the first edition of this book verts are about ten times as numerous was published. 200 RELIGION IN CHINA. minent position that China holds among the nations of the East. As great as they have been in the arts and in litera- ture, in education and in politics, so great may we expect them to become in the exhibition of an intelligent practical Christianity, when, in God's providence, and by His gracious influence upon their hearts, they come to accept it. The preceding examination of the religious state of the Chinese has shown that that in which they are deficient is not so much a system of morality as in clear and correct notions on God, redemption, and immortality. Only Divine revelation can meet this want, and Christianity, the religion of the Bible, must therefore eventually become the religion of China. In this instance the light of Scripture prophecy blends with the pre-intimations afforded by reason. They alike forbid us to doubt that Christian missions in that country can fail to be ultimately successful. But what is the probability that large masses of the population will soon become Christian ? Is any lengthened period likely to intervene before our religion shall come to be in any sense national ? The difficulty of answering these ques- tions suggests the words of the world's Redeemer, " It is not for you to know the times and the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power." Yet, certainly, the great political and social changes recently begun are in favour of Christianity. It is now a tolerated religion. Foreigners may teach it, while natives may profess it. The two idolatrous religions prevalent in the country are sufficiently worn out and weak to render the victory of Christianity not very difficult. If the fol- lowers of Confucius are self-sufficient and proud, their want of faith in Buddhism, and the circumstance that their own religion fails to satisfy the spiritual wants of man, favour the hope that they will accept Christianity. The universal use of one written language and of the art of printing are an immeasurable advantage to missionary operations, which ought not to be omitted in enumerating the circumstances favourable to the spread of Christianity. 20I ) CHAPTER XVII. JOURNEY TO WOO-TAI-SHAN IN 18/2 COMMENCED— PEKING TO LUNG-TSIUEN-KWAN. The excitement connected with the Emperor's marriage had been intense, and had arrived at a climax the night before our departure for Woo-tai-shan, when the bridal procession took place. The Chinese Government expects on such an occasion from the metropolitan population not joy but reverence. The Emperor and Empress are to be regarded as a sort of divinities, and as the most distant approach to familiarity is to be avoided, no one is allowed to be in the streets, perfect silence is maintained, and orders are even issued that none must look from the houses lining the route while the procession is passing. If a light were to be seen in any house it would call down instant punishment on the householder. Yet multitudes were looking out from the darkness of their dwellings on the street everywhere illuminated by red paper lanterns. For Peking society was agitated to the centre. Who would like to miss seeing this the most striking of all processions ? Singularly the new Empress's grandfather, Sai-shanga, has reappeared on this occasion as if from the grave. Many years ago he had been appointed generalissimo to conquer the Taiping rebels. Having failed, he was pro- scribed and deprived of all his influence and official duties. He was long supposed to be dead. Now unexpectedly he has returned to notice in connection with his grand- dauo-hter's elevation. Since then the imperial husband and wife are both 202 RELIGION IN CHINA. dead, and China has entered on a new period of infant sovereignty. We left Peking October i6, 1872, at half-past ten a.m., having been delayed by the shoeing of the mules. Only their front feet are shod. Five packed mules constituted our cavalcade with a pony. We were three in number, one American and two English missionaries, with a native catechist and a servant. Two muleteers, speaking the Siuen-hwa dialect, which is much the same as that of Shanse, completed our number. At this time we may expect in North China uninter- ruptedly fine weather. We can be more sure of the absence of rain than in an English October. What seem to be rain clouds pass away, and week after week goes by with unchanging sunshine. October is eminently a month for tourists in this part of the world. Our train passed along the 120 feet wide streets of Peking to avoid jostling the crowds which throng some of the narrower thoroughfares. Going by the gate called Hata-men we took an inclined road to Choo-she-kow, in the centre of the Chinese city, and from that point pro- ceeded westward to the execution ground and the gate known as Chang-ye-men. These five miles of continuous traffic before leaving the city give a considerable im- pression of the activity of life and trade in tliis metro- polis. We were pleased to notice proof of a good cotton harvest in several long trains of camels, bearing two- hundredweight bags of cotton from Pau-ting-foo, which met us on the way. Four days distant from Peking, this laro-e cotton reoion forms a most valuable element in the wealth of the province, and supplies the population of North Chihle and Shanse with blue cotton gowns in sum- mer and wadded clothing in winter. What an advantage to grow cotton at home, the inhabitants having so much need of it in the cold winters, when they need not only their long gowns and jackets, but tlieir stockings, trousers, PA FED ROADS. 203 shoes, teapot covers, door curtains, coverlids, cushions, mattresses, and chair and cart covers! We wonder what they did formerly without cotton, for they have only had it a few centuries. When we remem- ber the skins of innumerable flocks of sheep and goats scattered over the plains of Mongolia and the mountains of each of the northern provinces of China, we see how it was. But they have more comfortable clothing now, and a much larger population to clothe, than in those old times. Leaving the Chang-ye-men, we found ourselves upon the busy stone street which for twenty le, or seven miles, con- ducts the traveller towards the bridge Loo-kow-chiau. It is at certain seasons of the year the scene of immense trafiic. The coal supplied to Peking from Fang-shan and Ta-an-shan come this way, as also lime from Hwei-chang, and all the traffic of the west and south-west. Sometimes it presents to the eye an almost continuous stream of camels, mules, and donkeys. Many a slip do they make on the worn stones of this causeway. When a stone sinks below its neighbours, nothing is done to replace it or to fill the vacancy. To repair an imperial road or ruin witli- out an imperial order would be regarded as presumption and as a punishable offence. So the holes in the road are stumbled over in all weathers by each new train of loaded annuals, as they have been for very many summers and winters, and no one ventures to murmur. Year after year, while new generations slowly succeed the old, the mischief goes on increasing. Good vegetable gardens flank the causeway. A handsome pai-loio, or public archway, forms a terminus to this stone road. Three miles more of travelling over a waste tract, which was at some distant time perhaps desolated and changed to a wilderness by a flood of the rivers now at hand, bring the traveller to the bridge. We noticed that there are 280 stone lions on the parapets of the bridge, and that there were elephants pushing with 204 RELIGION IN CHINA. their trunks and tusks at the ends of the parapets to keep the fabric firm, Chinese symbolism loves to make the stronger animals subservient to man, and to represent them as laying aside entirely their natural fierceness under his renovating influence. The bridge crosses what is now a broad and rapid stream. The water coming from the hills is abundant and very muddy. The swelling tide rushing down the river channel looks as if it could do mischief. It might, if larger, break its banks. We were soon to see with our own eyes what it can do. It was late, and we stopped for the night at the busy town, Chang-sin-tien. Taking our lodging in an inn, a stroll from the night's quarters brought us to the locality injured by last year's inundation on the east of the town, which lies north and south. There was here a good strip of land, consisting, till the summer of 1 871, of rice fields. The river, a mile to the north, supplied wmter for the cultivation. The outbreak of the river occurred just at this point, and the rice lying low, the whole of it was covered by a broad swollen stream which rushed on to the south-west. It laid a deposit of stones and sand over the rice fields to the depth of three and four feet. This deposit is a mile wide at the point we visited, and pro- ceeds for eight miles farther, having completely destroyed farming operations all the way till it reaches another river. In the summer of the previous year I saw the river soon after it broke through, a mile and a quarter below the bridge. We walked along the sands to the spot. The land we then saw under the rushing current, strewn with the remains of trees and cottages, was the same which we were now examining. The villagers who conversed with us looked unhappy. One had lost a hundred mow, or seventeen acres, of good land, and had thirty mow remain- ins. Another who lives a few miles to the south told me the next day that he had lost fifty mow, worth to him as many taels of silver per annum. Of course he looked the picture of sorrow. This frightful devastation leads the A CHINESE INN. 205 Cliiuese, who are witnesses and victims of it, to pray to Heaven and the gods for their protection. At the gate of Chang-sin-tien was posted a proclamation from the military authorities, warning the people that at the review of artillery near the bridge conducted by great officers sent from Peking each year, they are not to raise the prices of vegetables on account of the arrival of the soldiers, nor are they to pick up cannon-balls or make disturbances. Our inn was very full of mule sedans and baggage animals. Fresh from Peking, and not having taken a journey for a long interval, everything diverted us. The inscriptions on our sleeping-room walls, written by pass- ing travellers, were of the usual style. They were such as Ki sheng mau tien yue, jen tsi pan chiau sliwang (" Cock- crow is heard in the straw-thatched inn in the moonlight ; footsteps are seen on the wooden bridge in the frost"). These two lines are very popular, and deserve to be so. They are evidently by some true poet. The words are few and excellently chosen. They make up a pair of pictures, one of the interior, the other of the exterior, of the traveller's lodging-place, remarkable for their brevity and effectiveness. The bad verses made by scribblers it is best to say nothing about. They would disfigure the narrative as much as they do the walls of mine host's furnished apartments. October lyth. — To-day we were detained by rain, which does sometimes fall in October. Left at eleven A.M., and reached Lieu-le-ho in the evening. This is an important place, as being the point from which the lime and coal of the western hills are conveyed to Tientsin. On the way to it our road began to pierce hills of loess, that dry, fine, uniform brown dust which distinguishes North China and forms the basis of its soil, as also that of Southern Moncjolia and Manchooria for several thousands of miles. It is found on both sides of the Tai-hang mountain range, across which we go into Shanse. If only found inside 2o6 RELIGION IN CHINA. the mountains, it might be called a lake deposit, but it lines the mountains on their eastern slopes just as much, and covers over in many places hills of granite and lime- stone in such a fasliion that Eichthoven's hypothesis of dust-storm agency seems the best. In positions on the plain, such as we saw to-day, where unstratified masses of loess form uniform heaps of a fine mould eminently suit- able for agriculture, Pumpelly's hypothesis of lake and river deposit seems inapplicable. The proper place for that hypothesis would seem to be the beds of old lakes, such as the valleys and plains of Slianse. The vertical cleavage of which Eichthoven speaks occurs everywhere in the regions occupied by this formation. We crossed the Tsing-ho, which comes out of the hills near Loo-kow-chiau, and noticed that it followed the line of road for some miles on the left. There is a bridge similar to that already mentioned, having elephants and lions on its parapet, at Liang-hiang, a city with a pagoda. The crops are good on the plain. The autumn w^heat is springing, and there is a large quantity of it sown. Before reaching Lieu-le-ho we travelled along a broad stone cause- way for nearly a mile. The large collection of water from brooks and hidden springs at Lieu-le-ho is the cause of this. Some of the rivers, as the Tsing-ho and Hwun-ho, flow down valleys among the mountains, and so reach the plain. Others rise from springs not far from the foot of the mountain range. (The same is true of some of the streams in the south part and beyond it.) The boats at Lieu-le-ho take upwards of four hundredweight of coal or lime. They bring back wheat and other cereals. The town has five hundred houses. October i8tJi. — Went on to Cho-chow to breakfast. When nearing that city we ferried over the Ku-ma-ho, a river which this year is very full. It comes from Kwang- chang, north-west of Yu-chow, and running eastward it passes the western imperial tombs on the north and pro- ceeds to Cho-chow. A busy scene. Crowds of passengers CHO-CHOW. 207 filled the i'enyboats. On them also were placed the burdens of the mules, which were coaxed to walk across through the water. A large party of soldiers, armed with foreign rifles and bayonets, passed at the same time. They were, they said, searching the roads for bandits. They carry their rifles each of them horizontally on their shoulders and a banner in the other hand. A red-balled oflicer was in charge of this detachment, or was travelling with them. Sellers of new dates and pastry were plying their trade on the river banks. Now and then a foolish donkey would fall behind his companions and hesitate to cross the river with them. The half-naked pilots had then the task of persuading the beast to proceed. Fish abounds at Cho-chow. We had the celebrated Le-yu (carp) for breakfast. A short walk from the ferry brought us to a handsome bridge, at the north end of which is a lofty open arch spanning the way. Its inscriptions state that the bridge and causeway are 2000 feet in length. It was erected by a public-spirited magistrate within the last half- century. The wall and gates of Cho-chow are imposing. Within the north gate are two pagodas of the Sung dynasty. The northern can be ascended by a staircase in the very thick and substantial walls. They are five stories high. The south pagoda has a carving of Buddha in relief on each face. As we passed on to Sung-lin-tien, six miles, and Kau- pei-tien, fifteen miles, we noticed on the road indications that we were in a country of old traditions. Who in China has not heard the story of Lieu-pei, who, in a.d. 221, succeeded in maldng himself Emperor of Western China by the aid of Choo-ko-liang, the wisest of coun- sellors, and Kwan-yun-chang, the most loyal of heroes ? It was a pleasure to the emperors and literati of the Sung dynasty to exalt these men to a higher place in history than they had held before. They made of one a model of an emperor who, belonging to the Han imperial family, showed in the struggle for power patience, sagacity, and 2o8 RELIGION IN CHINA. perseverance. The Manclioo dynasty has followed them in investing Kwan-te with honours, and encouraging his worship as god of war and the embodiment of loyal and military virtues. A monument on the roadside informs the traveller that the adjoining village is the home of Lieu-pei. Another indicates the former home of Chang- fei, his faithful friend and follower. It is the ancient Leu-sang, "the mulberry of the tower." The village of Chang-fei close by is also marked by a monument. Near it was the well from which the same old worthy drew water. So says tradition. Arriving at Sung-lin-tien, six miles from Cho-chow, we struck the Yu-chow road from the west. At fifteen miles we reached Kau-pei-tien. Here we were among the last of the cotton crops, interspersed with fields of young wheat. The cotton plants are kept short by the gi'owers that the yield of cotton may be increased. They are only eighteen inches high. Sahirday, Odoher igfh. — This morning we left the city of Ting-ling on our right. It has a small well-built wall. South of it was a monument to Tan-tae-tsi of the contend- ing states (Chan-kwo), B.C. 300. He belonged to the Yen kingdom, in the modern province of Chihle. He publicly invited able men to his service, and at the locality indi- cated by the monument entertained a hero, King-ke, in a tower called Hwang (yellow) kin (cloth, i.e., as here meant, turban) tai (tower). This hero undertook to assassinate the prince of Tsin, father of the Emperor, who burned the books. He wished thus to show his loyalty to the prince of Yen. While approaching with drawn sword to carry out his fell design he was attacked and slain by the ser- vants of the King of Tsin, We now passed the Ku-ma-ho, a river which flows from Kwang-chang, east of the Tsi-king-kwan, cuts the Great Wall, leaves the imperial western cemetery on the south, and proceeds by Lai-shui and Ting-ling, south of Cho-chow, to the lakes. We crossed it at Peiho, thirteen miles from SLOW SPREAD OF KNOWLEDGE. 209 Cho-chow. The water was here too deep to allow the mules to take over their burdens, which were intrusted to the ferrymen. The mules as tliey crossed were nearly swimming on account of the great depth of the water caused by the late floods. After breakfasting at Ku-cheng, a small town chiefly noteworthy for its inns, which are numerous, a little north of An-su, the city where we were expecting to stay during Sunday, we arrived at Pai-ta-tsun, a village with a handsome pagoda belonging to it. An-su is a busy town with a northern suburb a mile long, and having many monuments in honour of the most respected inhabitants. The Catholics have a school and mission twenty-three Chinese miles west from the city. They are spoken of as having a staff of bishop and clergy, schools for children of varying ages, church, and houses used as residences. Sunday, October 20th. — My companions went out to dis- tribute books and speak to the people. Having an ailment which prevented walking, I stayed in the inn to receive visitors. Soon there came some representatives of very good families. I spoke of the Christian religion and of the motion of the earth. After explaining the roundness of the earth and its diurnal and annual revolution, I asked them if they believed in it. The more talkative hesitated ; the quietest said, "Yes, we do." On asking if they had heard of " Cheng-cha-pi-ki," a work in three volumes published l)y the Emperor's first envoy to Europe, Pin-chun, now deceased, they replied that they had not. A work like this, elegantly written in prose and poetry, fails to reach far in (Jhinese society. The Chinese conductors of the book trade do nothing to push the circulation of new works. A few hundred copies are sold in Peking ; that is all. A few years hence it may be reprinted by some rich antiquarian in a distant city. None of my visitors had lieard of the motion of the earth. Our teaching permeates slowly among the reading class through the general poverty of the people, the deadness of trade, the want of news- 10 2IO RELIGION IN CHINA. papers, the stagnation of ideas, and the absence of rapid and regular traffic. The innkeeper also came to ask for books, and told me the position of my visitors. We found an odious peculiarity in An-su. Singing girls with guitars infest the quarters of travellers, and seem to be an institution in all the inns. They enter the doors of rooms uninvited, and if complaint is made to mine host, he laughs, and says it is impossible to prevent it. He is probably bribed to display this indifference. All the evening we heard their singing in the rooms in our vicinity with the guitar accompaniment. The singing was not good. It is merely a pretence by which to gain admit- tance to the inns. They say, " I wish to go and sing," and then enter with the air of professionals. In one of the most famous dramatised tales a Chinese girl, distinguished for filial piety and other virtues, begs her way to the capital in search of her lost husband with her guitar. On arriving she finds him distinguished for his scholarship, a Chwang-yuen, a court favourite, and his fortune made. This very popular story has surrounded with much respec- tability the notion of a girl singing with a guitar. But in the present day it is a sort of badge of the unprincipled to sing to the guitar. Monday, October 21st. — To-day we arrived at mid-day at Pau-ting-foo after first crossing the Tsau river, we taking a boat and the mules fording with their loads. Long before reaching the city we heard distant firing. This was at the Kin-tai, "golden tower," a review ground on the south-west of the city, the usual position for the military drill of cities. When cities are large and have available space within the walls, the exercise ground is inside. The walls of Pau-ting are only four English miles in circuit. It is small for its rank as chief city of the province, and will probably soon be reduced to the rank of an ordinary department. The governor-general since the Tientsin massacre has been ordered to remain nine months of the year at that far larger and more infiuential emporium. PILGRIM LAMAS. 21 1 A few years more may show the Government that even for the winter the residence of the governor-general at Pau-ting is not needed. Tientsin will then become the capital of the province. As we passed through Pau-ting the wall was under repair. We met an American friend in an inn. He was on his way from Kalgan and Yu-chow to Tientsin, and had come by Kwang-chang and Foo-too-yu to the north-west. Leaving this city, we changed our route to westward. As in the morning, the land appeared very productive. In addition to the cultivation of cotton, wheat, and other cereals, the people spin and weave. They also make new paper out of old, an art which is much practised all over this province. We stopped for the night at Pei-poo, and here we were said to be 500 h (160 miles) from Woo-tai. This is the ordinary route of Lamas from Peking, and along the road may occasionally be seen more than usually devout pilgrims prostrating themselves on the ground all the way to the sacred mountain. Their idea is this : Woo-tai is the favoured region of the Buddhas and of Man- joosere, its great Bodhisattwa. To bow down and fall at full length before the images is meritorious. To do this all along the road must be far more meritorious. The pil- gi'im says to himself : — " I will make a vow. I will there- fore prostrate myself at every third step. Though the distance is long, I shall arrive in a month, two months, or three, and I can walk back without prostrations on my return." It is only the Mongols that do this. We do not hear of the Chinese making this sort of painful pilgrimage. The Mongols are willing on account of their reverence for Woo-tai-shan and a wish to conform to a fashion that has grown up among them. The Chinese, however, have their cages of spiked nails, in wliich they stay three months without once coming out, and unless that imprisonment is easier to endure, we have in it an equivalent. We came on to Wan-hien to breakfast. It is a small city, with no people within the walls. Soon after we 212 RELIGION IN CHINA. passed jNIa-ri-shau, a hill standing alone in the plain with temple and pagoda upon it. It is shaped like a horse's ear, and is therefore called Ma-ri-shan. Beyond it, to the west ten U, is Tang-hien, the residence of the Emperor Yan before he came to the throne. Near it flows the Tano- river. From the river and country he is called Tang-yau. His mother lived at a neighbouring hill. But are we in these days to respect any old traditions ? The merciless critics of ancient China are not willing to leave anything remaining of that curious fabric of grandeur and dry details wdiich the Chinese call early history. The temple where Tang-yau is worshipped at present is farther south on the Koo-kwan route, and we shall not be near it. At Tang-hien we found the people collected from all the country round at a fair. The street w^as crowded. There were at least three thousand buyers, sellers, and lookers-on, clad chiefly in wadded cotton jackets and leather or cotton trousers. Announcing our books for sale at the usual unremunerative prices, we were beset with eager purchasers, and at dusk we closed our account with a heap of cash amounting to a dollar and a half, wdiich represents a very large number of separate selling trans- actions. That night, probably, in every village round, our books would be read by the flickering flame of the little oil lamp, with its tiny wick of rush pith, which has served the Chinese for so many ages. In out-of-the-way places candles are not to be had. After not many years, perhaps, the people here will all be using petroleum brought by railway from West China, where it abounds. It will be burned probably in iron lamps made by Shanse artisans following American models, and sold at a shilling a piece, a price which the people may be far better able to give then than now. If, however, they have to wait fifty years for such an improvement, it is very lamentable, and so much the worse for the people, who now certainly have very dark houses at night, except at a wedding, when candles made of mutton-fat brighten the scene. ROADSIDE SCENES. 213 We had a reminder that many Lamas pass this way in Tibetan inscriptions on the walls of the inn. We have been travelling on limestone at Wan-hien, and apparently sandstone at Tang-hien. We began to meet stoneware jars going on carts to Pau-ting-foo. They sell at 1 300 cash each, or a little more than a dollar. They stand in houses to hold water, and are called shui-kang. Wednesday, October 2yl. — Left Tang-hien at three a.m., and reached Ta-yang-tien at nine, forty le distant. The road is agreeably interspersed with pretty villages. The poplar grows abundantly, and forms a very gracefid. feature in the scenery. The brown soil is relieved by its tapering form and white bark, which is remarkably contrasted with its dark green leaves. Here may be seen houses of stone built up like fortresses. There, a team of heavy drays laden with cotton, corn, or large kangs of stoneware. Here a boy looks down from a bank forty feet high with mingled curiosity and fear, as he notices strange people with light eyes and large beards riding past. Who they are he knows not. He registers it in his memory as an unexplained wonder. We have now entered the hilly country. Clear streams of mountain water, tasting slightly of lime, pass over a sandstone bottom. Fine beds of cabbages swelling into a globular shape are now seen. They are not like the oblong Shantung cabbage called hwang-ya, " yellow bud," but like our home cabbages. They abound in Shanse. Date trees, their leaves all dropped, good beans, sweet potatoes, and the Chinese yam, frequently meet the eye ; with, here and there, an old barn partly ruined and open to the weather, but secured against storms by large bundles of straw and kau-liang stalks stuffed into holes, evidently adapted to induce the observant traveller to moralise on the faults of the lazy owner. Our mules, walking at a rate not exceeding three miles an hour, enjoy the approach of the hilly country, for they are accustomed to climb, to plant the foot carefully between stones, to turn round at a sharp angle, to go up steep paths. 214 RELIGION IN CHINA. to wade through rivers, and occasionally to be a little tricky and upset their riders. If in dusty soil the mule puts his forefeet down and kneels, let the rider know that he is bent on having a roll in that soft bed ; and if he can get him up again without losing his seat on the animal's back, let him do so. We crossed the Tang-ho river soon after leaving Ta-yang- tien. It flows through the Great Wall at Tau-ma-kwan to Ho-kien-foo, a prefecture to the south-east. There was a wooden plank bridge placed just below the junction of the river with the Siau-tsing-ho, a stream whose valley we now entered and ascended for several miles, crossing the river in various places, the water not reaching above lialf- way up the mules' legs. Leaving this valley, we mounted by successive terraces a tract of high country, presenting to our view everywhere nothing but broad and well-culti- vated surfaces of loess. At length at Ke-yu we reached the bed of another stream, the Sha-ho, the third river we have seen to-day. The first was the Tang-ho, deep and rapid, rushing swiftly over stones and sand, which we saw but once. The second was the Siau-tsing-ho, which we crossed six times while travelling as many miles. At each ford there is a plank bridge for foot passengers, among whom are many Lamas on pilgrimage. The planks are placed loose on strong piles, that they may be easily removed at the swelling of the river in summer and at its freezing in winter. The piles and planks are all removed when a flood is expected. The eight miles of high loess country which we passed before reaching the Sha-ho may be referred to as illustrating the probable origin of that formation. It appears to me to be an immense sandhill eight miles wide, lying between two rivers, and formed, as sandhills are, by wind. The winds of a few years (thirty, a hundred, or two hundred, we cannot tell how many) suffice to heap up sandhills round the walls of Peking, between the buttresses, to the height of ten, twenty, or more feet. The wall of the Temple of Heaven, where it MANUFACTURE OF STONEWARE JARS. 215 has an open exposure, affords examples. In tlie country a clump of trees or a village will be found affording sufficient shelter for the rapid formation of sand heaps of consider- able size. So I believe the ancient dust which forms the loess formation, and the excellent agricultural qualities of which have been described by Richthoven, was blown against the barrier consisting of the mountain range, Tai- hano'-shan, at the roots of which we now were. The result, after an immense lapse of years, was such heaps of that formation as we crossed to-day. Since then the rivers have been quietly undermining both the loess heaps and the sandstone, limestone, or granite on which they rest, and have carried away vast quantities of earth and stone to the plains on the east. Eichthoven seems to have seized on the right idea for explaining how hills of tliis kind were formed. In the Sha-ho valley we found what we had been ex- pectmg to see — the manufactory for large water-jars. It is at a place called Wa-le, or " tile village." Here we saw the process. The clay is caUed kmi-tsi-too, and is found close by. The kiln is cut in a loess hill which stands isolated in the valley. At the bottom of the kiln, which is excavated at the east end of the hill, is a long large furnace. Over it is spread a network of iron bars, and on this rests a pile of new jars, large and small, to the height of fifteen feet. The jars are placed carefully one over another in readiness to be fired. Next to the firing-house on the west were storehouses for jars kept in stock. These storerooms are cut deep into the loess, and their roofs and side walls are supported by wooden framework on the principle adopted in coal mines. Next was the potter's room, where two men sit, the potter and his assistant. The potter sits on a low stool with a large round flat stone before him, which revolves from right to left horizontally. He places his lump of softened clay, of a dark colour, well kneaded, on the flat stone. Inserting his fist in the lump, while the stone re- volves, a sort of flower-pot shape is given to it. He gradu- 2i6 RELIGION IN CHINA. ally enlarges the lioUow made by his fist till it becomes the interior of a two feet high and eight inches wide jar. The quantity of clay needed for a jar of a required size is previously known. He also uses in moulding a flat oblong piece of wood and also a round piece. By these he com- pletes the moulding of the jar, which shows gutters parallel with the base, which are not ornamented, and can scarcely be intended for any use. The wheel is turned by the agency of another man who is placed a few feet distant, and draws a handle in and out horizontally. This turns a wheel near the ground, round which is wrapped a band of hemp. The band turns the potter's wheel on which is placed the moulding board. The jar was made in about five minutes, and a hundred can be made in a day. Large quantities stood in the vicinity ready for sale. Jars spoiled in making are used in build- ing cottages. We saw several huts whose walls were thus constructed. The working wheel is called the water- wheel, shui-lun ; the other is the dry wheel, kan-lun. The boy who drives is the chiau kan lun tsi tih. This word chiau is the same that is used in turning a capstan on canals. Coal is brought twenty le down a valley which de- bouches at Wa-le near the pottery. It is anthracite, and not equal to that of the mines near Peking. We passed the night at Ke-yu. Thursday, October 24th — Wang-hwai. — This morning we saw signs of the inundation of last summer. Many trees lay on the sands of the Sha-ho, up which we were now travelling westward towards the pass Lung-tsiuen- kwan. Willows, poplars, and date trees abound in this valley. The people are beginning to carry away the fallen trees, some of which are dead and others still green. We were glad to find that vaccinators come to these mountain valleys in the spring. They charge 400 cash for girls and 800 for boys. The people will allow their little girls to take small-pox rather than pay as much for them NATIVE POLITENESS. 217 as for boys. A curious fact this, indicating a contempt for girls, which, though highly discreditable, is felt by the parents. In the village where we made the inquiry, about four hundred are vaccinated every spring. The fee for each is ninepence on the average. How much better taken care of are our own poor in England, who get vaccination for nothing, and will be fined if they neglect it ! We were told that yincj-tai or tsoo-po-tsi, known among us as goitre, occurs 200 le to the north of these valleys near Kwang-chang, but is very rare in this part, perhaps because the country here is open and the valleys wide. The great width of our valley is also a preservative against sudden floods. We noticed loess lying in many places in a thick deposit on sandstone or limestone. The road led us over several hills consisting of these three formations. Friday, October 2$th. — We slept last night at Foo-ping, a city built on the banks of the Sha-ho. We went in by a small gate, and reached an inn, where, as we lay, we could hear the rushing sound of the river a few rods away. At places like this the traveller must expect very small rooms and close quarters. One would not suppose that in a poor inn in a far-off place the people would care much for the rules of politeness, but wherever the Chinaman goes he takes these rules with him. As I took a cup of tea care- lessly from the inn boy with my hand over it, he checked me, saying good-naturedly that a cup of tea should always be taken with both hands placed beneath, otherwise there is a want of respect. How many times do we offend un- consciously the native notion of what ceremony requires, when an inn waiter in a little mountain town is piqued at the want of respect shown in an act such as this ! In the plains meals are paid for according to what is asked for by the dish. Each dish is charged. But among the mountains there is a fixed rate for a meal, the same for men and for animals. The rate is 140 cash, or about threepence, for each person or animal. This includes lodging. The mules receive straw but no corn from the inn. The 2i8 RELIGION IN CHINA. owner is expected to bring corn with him. Tlie food supplied for men is of a homely kind. No other can be provided, so that travellers having a dainty palate had better not go or carry a cook with them. Silver begins to be lo per cent, dearer. A tael only brings 1500 copper cash) instead of 1650. The scale used subtracts 8 per cent, per tael on the weight, and the number given for a hundred is 99. In this way it will be found that the custom in regard to exchange goes against the traveller in every particular. In Peking we receive 98 for a hundred. In Cho-chow and Ansi we had only 96. We use the market scale, while the people prefer the old smooth scale or Lau-kwang-kwang. One thing we were saved from on the route we took. There was no counting of 660 to the thousand. The system of counting 165 one ticm, 325 tw^o timi, and so on, is said to have been intro- duced by Chang-si-kwei of the Tang dynasty, subjugator of Corea. In South China 1000 coj)per cash count as a thousand. In the north 500, and in some places 660, are a thousand. The system of calling 660 a thousand exists south and east of Peking, but not to the west. Noon, at Lii-ying-'poo. — We came on forty U to this place. There is a large inn here. Bituminous coal is used, and is brought from a place forty le, east of Woo-tai city. Four hundred cash a pecul is paid for it here. The prosperity of the inn, which appeared evident from exten- sive building operations going on at present, depends on the traffic along the road, which consists of cotton bales and cotton cloth going to Shanse, and wool, Avater, and tobacco coming back again. It is on the trade route between Pau-ting-foo and the north part of Shanse, includ- ing Kwei-hwa-cheng, Coal is here called shi-tan, "stone charcoal." Ironware comes from Yu-hia, 300 le distant. Leaving the Sha-ho after following it ten le, we went up the valley of another stream, the Wan-nien-chiau-ho, which flows down its channel rapidly through boulders, pebbles, and sand. CHINESE TRAVELLING. 219 In the evening we were at Lung-tsiuen-kwan. There is a fort below the pass, and it is here that customs are collected. As we entered the collectors asked us to pay duty. They spoke in a bold and noisy tone. I said to an old man who showed the most violence of demeanour, " Do not be violent. We are going to an inn to stay the night. Come there and look at our passports." They then ceased to be noisy, and never appeared at the inn. Some more sagacious person perhaps told them that to demand duty from foreigners is irregular. We found evidence to-day that, though we had stopped a Sunday on the road and were travelling very slowly, we were going faster than many Chinese would do, for a party came up to us at noon that had passed us a day from Peking. Seventy U (twenty-three miles) a day contented them. A dissolute young man in a mule sedan was chief of the cavalcade. He seemed to have been made an invalid by a vicious life. As we stayed both a day at An-su and half a day at another town, we had gained one day in six as compared with the Chinese travellers ; yet we were im- patient and they were contented. The first point with the Chinese is not to be made uncomfortable; with the Anglo- Saxon the object is not to be slow. Our course now lay up a valley with vast granite boulders. It reminded us of the Nan-kow Pass near Peking. The water has immense force when increased by its depth. The hydraulic pressure thus caused works great destruc- tion. We saw its effects in the Siau-tsing-ho. An idol shrine, image, table, and offerings had been placed under a steep cliff. Helpless as Dagon the idols looked on the sand, leaving in their original station on a ledge of the rock no trace to show where they were formerly, except some rude painting made by devotees on the cliff. A cross inscribed on walls and stones excited our curiosity. It is for the protection of the harvest. The villagers form a club for mutual aid against robbery. A watch is kept by the members in succession. If a thief 220 RELIGION IN CHINA. is caught, he is brought before the club for punishment. A mark, such as the character +, is inscribed on the walls of enclosed lands guaranteed by the club. If any villager refuses to join the society, his land is not marked, and he has no guarantee against robbery. We were now beneath the Great Wall in a little fort. Here we passed a night in an inn. In the morning we were detained till gun-fire, which takes place at dawn. The gates are not opened till then. Saturday, October 26th. — Breakfast at Shi-tsui at eleven. This morning we went through the pass called Lung- tsiuen-kwan, which is very steep and high. On the top of the hill we found oatmeal and potatoes ready boiled for travellers. They are excellent after a steep walk up the hill. Foo-ping is in the province of Chihle. At Lung-tsiuen- kwan we left that province and entered the department of Tai-yuen-foo in Shanse. The wall separating Shanse and Chihle dates from the time of the contending states, Chan- kwo, B.C. 300. When the Chau kingdom separated itself from the Yen kingdom by a wall, Shanse was Chau, and Chihle was Yen. Afterwards, in the time of Tsin-shi- hwang, B.C. 220, of Sui-yang-te, a.d. 500, and of the Ming dynasty, particularly when extensions and repairs of the various boundary walls were made, this branch would receive attention. Such strength as it has now is owing to the exertions of the Ming dynasty to keep itseH" in security against the Mongols. Tsin-shi-hwang was the greatest builder among many builders who lived before him and after him. Like them, he found that mountain barriers formed the natural boundary of their country, and like them he thought it best to fortify the passes. The forts and gates at the passes were the essential idea. The ancient rulers of China thought, however, as the Eomans thought in Britain, that a continuous wall to connect these forts should be built to impart an air of greater strength and security. Tsin-shi-hwang only extended further the WORSHIP OF LOCAL DEITIES. 221 ideas of earlier rulers when he ordered Meng-kwa to build a wall all the way from Shan-hai-kwau, on the sea-coast, to the western end of Shense, west of the Yellow Eiver. Lung-tsiuen-kwan is not so important as Tsi-king-kwan and Ku-yung-kwan farther to the north. Wlien armies have invaded the province of Chihle, they have come by Ku-yung-kwan on the Kalgan road in three cases out of ten, and by Tsi-king-kwan near the imperial tombs in seven cases out of ten. This is partly caused by the easier travelling on the road which leads from Kwang- chang (and Yu-chow higher up) down the valley of the Ku-ma-ho to Tsi-king-kwan. Once past that fort, and a rapid descent down a good road brings the traveller to the productive plains of Yu-chow^ and Pau-ting-foo. The country now known as the Pau-ting-foo depart- ment was a battle-field for two centuries between the Tang and early Sung dynasties. Chen-ting-foo was the middle capital of the Kie-tan kingdom at a still earlier time. North China under that Tartar dynasty had then three capitals, one of them in Mongolia. At Lung-tsiuen-kwan we were probably 1000 feet higher than at Pa-ta-ling, the top of the Nan-kow^ Pass. It is twenty h from the fort to the top of the pass. At Nan- kow the distance is forty-five. The steep r^ses much more rapidly at Lung-tsiuen-kwan. A steep mountain, or any mountain at all remarkable, is supposed to have a special local spirit, who acts as guardian. The Chinese Government provides for maintain- ing certain sacrifices to the deities of mountains on a large scale for the Empire. But among the people the same religious belief exists, and leads them to worship the spirits of certain mountains in small shrines or temples on the roadside. In one such shrine on the way up to the top of tlie pass were placed five small tablets of wood. On the middle one was inscribed the " tablet of the spirit of the mountain." On the left were a tablet to the spirits of the five roads, and another to the spirit of local 222 RELIGION IN CHINA. fever. On the right side were a tablet to the Tsiang- kiun named Peh, and to the spirits of water, gTass, and corn. Tsiaug-kiun is a military title corresponding to our " general." Near this temple was another to a divinity, Liow-wang, who is in these regions prayed to for rain. Both shrines were newly repaired and gaudily painted. Not far away, and lower down the mountain, was a temple to Kwan-yin, who was called on the inscribed tablets, Ling-ying-fo, "the efficacious, prayer-answering Buddha." On both sides of the road were numerous tablets set up by admiring devotees. Here follow sundry specimens of the sentences inscribed on them: — Kivang-kio, "wide perception;" Me-yeio, "secret aid;" Hwa yu man /e?i^, " Flowers fall like rain over the whole mountain;" Tsi hang 2^00 too, "The ship of mercy universally saving;" TFbo-2?oo-2/Mi<7, " Never-failing efficacy;" Kioio-koo, "Saves from misery;" Nan hai ta shi, "Great teacher of the Southern Sea." ( 223 ) CHAPTER XVIII. JOURNEY TO WOO-TAI-SHAN CONTINUED — FROM LUNG-TSIUEN-KWAN TO WOO-TAI. After crossing the Tai-hang-ling, the summit of which separates the provinces of Chihle and Shanse, we soon passed a Lama monastery called Arshan-bolog, " the temple of the fountain of the genii." It was originally an ordinary Buddhist temple in the hands of Chinese priests or hos- hangs, and was founded in the reign of Wan-leih. When the Emperor Kanghe, of the Tartar dynasty, passed this way on the road to Woo-tai to worship there the images adored by the Lamas, he observed that the idols in this temple were broken and neglected. He was angry at the priests and gave it in charge to Lamas. There are now twelve Lamas there, who all came from Eastern Mongolia. This incident and the handsome style of the buildings show how great was the attachment of that Emperor to the Buddhist religion. Yet at one period in his life he was, say the Jesuits, nearly converted to Christianity. He Avas probably a man open to impressions, easily wrought upon, but not capable of being induced to aban- don the traditional etiquette of emperors by adopting the relioion of the scholars from the Western Ocean. The descent was slow and slightly inclined. We soon came to another handsome temple occupied by more than a hundred Lamas, who rushed out with great eagerness to see us. The temple is called Tai-loo-sze, " temple of the foot of the terraces," i.e., of Woo-tai. Twelve of the Lamas are IMongol and the rest Chinese. The valley leading to Shi-tsui goes south-west and con- 224 RELIGION IN CHINA. tinues its descent to Woo-tai city. We were to take a turn in a nearly opposite direction at Shi-tsui conducting us up the valley of a stream which fifty miles to the north flows past the monasteries of Woo-tai. We met a crowd of travellers at Shi-tsui. The inn was large and a good meal was provided. Among other things there were sweet cakes made of flour, sugar, and a little sesamum oil. They taste something like shortbread. Hear this, ye Scotchmen ; you can still enjoy in China the luxuries of home. There was also a dish of celery. The market was busy and the buyers and lookers-on numerous. A merchant came forward and said, "I have read your books." To the answer, "What book?" he repKed, "The Old Testament." Of this he had completed the perusal of two volumes (in all there are three). He showed himself to be tolerably familiar with Genesis. He had received the book from a friend who had obtained it from a Bible Society's colporteur. I gave him other books. We noticed in passing forward up the long Woo-tai valley the special customs of the people. As we are now high above the zone of wheat cultivation, oats are extremely common. A flail is used to thresh with. Two men stand opposite to each other, each with a flail, and beat the oats right lustily. The part held in the hand is round, while the flying stick is constructed of plaited willow forming an oblong flat piece of basketwork. The oatmeal is usually eaten in the form of macaroni or as porridge in a rice bowl. We passed an overshot mill which was at work pressing oil. The stream, which, to increase and steady its force, is collected in a dam, is directed upon a large vertical wooden wheel. Eound its circle are several small troucjhs which the stream fills with water. The weight of the water turns the wheel. A horizontal wheel is attached which revolves by means of cogs. The axle of this horizontal wheel is an upright shaft, which goes through the floor of a room above, and there turns the stone which presses out the oil. A MONGOL LAMA. 225 North of the mill, advancing up the valley of the little stream which joins the Siau-tsing-ho at Woo-tai city, vre found it necessary to ford the little river frequently. Many of the Lama pilgrims are pedestrians, and for them trees are laid across the stream. Mules ford by crossing the water, which is broad and shallow. The bridges consist of two, three, or fom' trees, sometimes slightly flattened with a hatchet, but oftener they are left in their original round shape. Travellers are expected to have good nerves and not to grow giddy on slight occasions. The soles of Clrinese shoes, being of cloth, are good for stepping along a prostrate tree laid across a stream. We passed several monasteries as darkness came on and afterwards. We were now near the Nan-tai, the southern- most of the five mountain peaks which make up Woo-tai. It was too dark to make inquiries. We proceeded steadily onward till we reached the town of Tai-hwai. Here, at a quarter to seven p.m., we arrived, and found an inn belonging to a monastery, where lodging was given to us. A visitor, who was a Mongol Lama, came in to see us while our evening meal was preparing. He belonged to the Harchin tribe. He took tea willingly, offered his snuff bottle, and professed friendsliip. This we reciprocated, and stated our belief in the common brotherhood of man- kind. To this he cordially assented, for Buddhism, as held either by Lamas or Hoshangs, teaches its votaries to look on universal brotherhood as a great truth. He was elegant in manner, and wished to consider himself as our friend in future. He could not read Mongol nor expound Tibetan, and is therefore without depth. Sunday, October 2yth — Tcd-hivai-Jdai. — A cold frosty morning. I went out to look at our surroundings. A few Lamas were stirring at an early hour, and were rapidly moving along the street in the cold air. Eound the town smoke began to rise from the various monasteries. Traffic was proceeding north, west, and south from our little town along the valleys that lie in those directions. Half a mile 10 P 226 RELIGION IN CHINA. to the north stands Poo-sa-ting on an eminence, the resi- dence of the chief Lama, and the richest and largest Lamasery. Beyond it towers up above its neighbour summits the North Tai. Over the south gate of the little town of Tai-hwai there is a small temple to Hormosda Tingri and Dara-ehe. Both are known to Chinese Buddhism, but in Cliina it is not usual to place Yu-hwang-shang-te (Hormosda) in a temple as guardian of a city gate. We were now in Lama-land, and must expect to see arrangements peculiar to Lama Buddhism. Hormosda was in this case just a Chinese Yu-hwang. He faced south. Dara-ehe is the Mu-fo (mother Buddha) of the Chinese, and Ehe Borhan of the Mongols.^ She has a Bodhisattwa's diadem, or, as the Mongols call it, a tidcm. On all of its five leaves there was a picture of Buddha. On each side of her is seen a tall branch of flowers, in this instance the lotus, reaching to her head. On her forehead is a spot or small elevation which the attendant Lamas told us sends forth a hair which, when Dara-ehe wishes, goes out for thousands of miles in an instant. This is an instance of the masfical miracle in which the Buddhist imagination indulges itself without limit. For what object is the hair extended ? To show the power of the goddess, in order that the worshippers may be filled with reverence for her. We conversed for some time with three or four Lamas in a court beside this temple, who kindly entertained us with tea. We discoursed on their religion and ours. They received our books gladly. I afterwards walked to the Shoo-siang-si, a monastery standing on the north-west of the town and south-west from Poo-sa-ting. A party of Mongol women, youths, and men were just entering, pilgrims visiting each principal shrine in rotation that they might prostrate themselves in each. Such in the Middle Ages was a great part of Chris- tian worship even in England. They proceeded to the great hall of Manjoosere, patron deity of Woo-tai. Here 1 She belongs to the Sivaistic element in Buddhism. WORSHIP OF CHI-CHA Y. 227 he is seen as a large gilt ligure seated on an immense lion. The lion is many coloured. The name Shoo-siang means image of Manjoosere or Wen-shoo. Round the image just mentioned is a representation of Tien-tai, constructed of moulded figures, Buddhist personages, trees, &c., occupy- ing three sides of the hall. It is erected on a high dais of brickwork and reaches to the ceiling. The object is to give in successive landscapes, amid rockwork and marine scenery, the history of the celebrated Buddhist establish- ments at Tien-tai in the province of Che-kiang. Lohans appear here to the number of five hundred. Some of them appear floating on the waves of the Southern Sea, others are seen on clouds and mountains. Near a temple of Yu-hwang appears Tamo the Indian patriarch, Bodhidharma, with his pupil Sheng-kwang, standing be- fore him. The pupil, a Chinese Buddhist, holds in his right hand his own left arm, which he has just cut off near the shoulder as a sign of his devotion and dominion over the body. This is said to have taken place in the fifth century. Beyond this group sits the Buddhist sage Chi- chay, with Lohans near him and four Yakshas raging round him, who fail to disturb his tranquillity. Among native Buddhist authors his writings have been perhaps the most e.\.tensive in influence. The priest who showed me these things was very frank and communicative. Two other Chinese priests led me into a room to take tea. The room showed signs of comfortable living and also of some literary industry. A manuscript on the table contained a collection of tracts on the doctrine which is " not dark," meaning Buddhism. When I told them of our religion, the abandonment of monasticism, heart- worship instead of image-worship, and the history of Jesus, they assented. Buddhism is an extremely tolerant religion. October 28th. — The Hoshangs in Woo-tai are almost all Shanse men. Natives of the south could not, they say, live in so cold a region as Woo-tai ; nor could Northern Buddhists live in the south. 228 RELIGION IN CHINA. The Lamas at Woo-tai are, if Mongols, almost ex- clusively from Eastern Mongolia, indicating the import- ance of that region in regard to wealth and population. We are surprised at the large number of Lamas who can read the Mongol writing. In Peking they can usually read only the Tibetan character. Here they receive our books cheerfully. Yet it is probable that in Peking if the number of the Mongols who can read were told it would not be small. They are more reticent and retiring there than here, because in that city a foreign costume is no rarity. On the east side of the valley from Shoo-siang-si is a monastery called Kwang-an-si. It has been recently re- paired and decorated. Eed and green paint and yellow silk and satin have been used in profusion. Hollow brass images, life-size, were very abundant and seemed quite new. We visited three tie,ii8 or chapels all riclily fitted. Tibetan pictures of the favourite mythological scenes and personages of the Lama religion hung on the walls. Out- side these chapels were stone and slate tablets com- memorating the work of restoration and chronicling the gifts of Mongol princes. Among them were the names of the Kalka-hans or chief princes, and several southern Wangs or princes. Odoher 2gth. — We, Mr. Wheler and I, went up a path on the eastern ascent leading to a monastery from which a fine view is obtained of the whole valley, here presenting a beautiful and busy scene. Large droves of camels are seen grazing over the valley. The bazaar close to Poo-sa-ting is full of life. Mongols are constantly here buying from the Chinese shopkeepers. The great monastery Poo-sa-ting stretches its immense length along a conspicuous hill just above. In the same group were some Tibetan monasteries where more than a hundred Lamas from Eastern and West- ern Tibet permanently reside. A boy Lama of ten years went with us as compagnon dc voyage. We were amused at liis tricks. When we spoke to Lamas he stayed at a dis- VISIT TO THE CHIEF LAMA'S RESIDENCE. 229 tance too far for recognition by them. He was afraid not of us but of them. He talked freely enough in their absence. To the north of Poo-sa-ting, a mile or more up the valley, we visited the monastery of the Seven Buddhas. The Buddhas here referred to are six legendary and one historical — that is, Shakyamuni liimself and the six who are said to have preceded him. They are placed from west to east in the order of time. Here we also saw a large figure of Ochirwani with three eyes and five skulls on his head. He held in his hand a vadjra, apparently a short sceptre, but really a symbol of magical power. It is believed to be thrown by the genius of the thunderstorm, and is therefore sometimes called a thunderbolt. This vadjra is the characteristic of the image. In Mongol this Sanscrit word has become ocliir, and hence the word Ochirwani. Behind the skulls are five wheels and five flames. He is one of the Hindoo Devas, and is regarded as having unconquerable strength, which is sym- bolised by the vadjra, in Chinese kin-hang, " diamond," " what cannot be broken." He belongs to the same class as the four gi-eat heavenly kings found in the entrance hall of Chinese monasteries. Behind Ochirwani w^as Shakyamuni, with Manjoosere and Samantabhadra beside him. Near them was a picture of Aryabolo, otherwise known as goddess of mercy. We went in the afternoon to the chief Lama's temple, the Poo-sa-ting, built on the flat top of a hill about 400 feet high. There is a flight of 109 broad stone steps at the' south end. A w^ell-clad Lama at the gate informed us that the chief Lama was employed in preparing for the cham-harail, or sacred dance, and could not see visitors. He lives in the south-east part of the monastery. We proceeded along the whole range of buildings to the north. At the back of the halls of the images were long ranges of lodging-rooms for Lamas, forming quite a little to\vn, for a crowd of them congregates here as at Yung-ho-kung in Peking. jMany Mongol women are seen in this part, pro- 230 RELIGION IN CHINA. bably all belonging to pilgrim parties, who find quarters in rooms provided for them. Many ranges of buildings have upper and lower verandahs. Elsewhere are seen Tibetan houses with their small square windows in the upper part of a strong high wall. Among the pilgrims and resident Lamas there was great eagerness for our Mongol catechism and tracts. Eeturning to the chief entrance, we found that the secre- tary and other chief attendants of the Jasah Lama, as the abbot is called {jasali means governing), were prepared to receive us in their apartments in front of his residence. Our entertainers were Tibetans, speaking fluently both Chinese and Mongol. They treated us to tea with milk, the soo-tai-chay of the Mongols. An elderly man with a long beard named Pan, and another, both from Lassa, had a good deal of conversation with us. They will soon return to their country. They knew well that India, the land south of the Ghoorka country, belongs to England, but did not seem to be aware of Hue and Gabet's visit to Tibet. The room was arranged as a Chinese room, with heated dais or hang, and cupboards opposite. It was kept warm further by a charcoal or coke fire without smell, and standing on a brass bason. A kettle is here kept hot for tea. The hot air ascending turns a praying wheel which is sus- pended for the purpose from the ceiling. We intrusted to our entertainers books for the abbot, namely, the Old and New Testament in Mongol, with catechism and tracts. He sent us in return by the hands of Pan Lama two bundles of Tibetan incense with several sentences of complimentary expressions, such as, were we comfortable in our inn, had we a pleasant journey, and how long we would stay. The incense is in bundles of twelve sticks, twenty inches long. The Poo-sa-ting was formerly called Chen-yung-yuen, " temple of the true face," which dated from the fourth century. The Tartar Emperor of the day, Hiau-wen-te, caused twelve temples to be erected round the monastery of the Han Emperor Ming-te, then in existence, and sent INSCRIPTIONS ON DOORS. 231 officers periodically to worship Buddha there. This gives an antiquity to the Poo-sa-ting of fourteen hundred years, if we do not take a change in name to be a disturbance of its identity. Nothing is now known respecting the locality of the other eleven temples, or of the original monastery erected in the Han dynasty, whose name was Ta-fow-ling-tsiow-si. Ashoka, monarch of all India, a little before the time of Alexander the Great, is said to have caused the spirits and demons of the air, the Kwei-shen, to erect 84,000 pagodas in all countries to receive the relics of Buddha. Among them was one at Woo-tai. Formerly there was some building which connected itself with this tradition. We did not learn anything of it. Three of the 84,000 relics were in China. I have seen one in the province of Che-kiang, in a temple near Ningpo. I wished to see another at Woo-tai, but was not successful. At the doors of houses where Lamas live it is usual to write lucky sentences in the Cliinese fashion. They are translated into Mongol from Chinese. Here follow some specimens : — " May your age be the same as that of the pines in the southern mountains." "May your happiness abound as the waters of the Eastern Sea." " Nasu anu umun agola ne narasun adeli Boy in anu jagon dalai ne nsu nieti;." The Chinese reads : — " Foo joo tung hai cbang liow shui, Show pe nan slian poo Ian «ung." Sentences of this kind keep poetical sentiments before the eye, and they may thus have a soi'tening and refining effect on the mind, but they aid suj)erstition as being founded on the doctrine of luck, and promoting its hold on the people. An old and young Lama came to our inn, the latter a boy of fifteen. He had been at Woo-tai four years. 232 RELIGION IN CHINA. They live in the temple of Hormosda Tingri, a short way down the southern valley. The boy is from the Ordos country and has seen there the tomb of Genghis Khan. x4.griculture is practised in the Ordos country, but not by members of his family. His brother attends to sheep and Jiorses in preference. I gave him a book to learn to read from. The old Lama said he would find some schoolmaster or lakshi to instruct him. We learned from these Lamas that we had passed the Ehen-omai ^ in coming to Tai-hwai on Saturday evening. It is an exhibition in a cave, near which is a temple, twenty Chinese miles south of the town. This morning (Tuesday) went to the temple of the Ubegun Manjoosere west of Poo-sa-ting. It is a mile up the side of a mountain. The image is that of an old man, one form assumed by Manjoosere, having a white beard three inches long. He is placed in a small shrine. Heaps of small silk kerchiefs on his hands and knees, placed there by enthusiastic worshippers, prevented the figure from being well seen. Eound the hall from floor to ceiling were ten thousand figures of Manjoosere, in- dicating the multiform shapes he assumes in his eftbrts to save men. In the great hall behind, Manjoosere appears again in company with Samantabhadra and Kwan-yin. He there wears the crown of a Bodhisattwa over the oyster- shell cap of a Buddha, and with no beard. All these per- sonages are supposed to assume various metamorphoses. Manjoosere carries a bow in his left hand and a sceptre in his right. In colour he may be red, white, black, green, or yellow. He very commonly has in his left hand a flower. When he is painted with eight hands, they hold a small umbrella, a thunderbolt, a wheel, and other things. If not seated on a lion he sits on a lotus dais with bare feet crossed, the soles turned up. He appears frequently, so it is believed, to the inhabitants of the valley, taking the shape of a blind man, a shepherd, a Lama, or some other personage. Once he appeared as a poor girl who left her ^ Womb of Buddha's mother. LOCAL LEGENDS. 233 liair to be buried at the spot now known as Wen-shoo-fa-ta, " the tomb of Manjoosere's hair." It is on the Chung-tai, "central terrace." In the reign of Wan-leih (sixteenth century) this tomb was repaired and the hair seen. It was of a golden hue and emitted a many-coloured light. In the twelfth century a shepherd named Chau-kang-pe saw a strange priest enter the Na-la-yen cave on the Tung-tai and leave an umbrella there. He erected a tomb in which to bury it. Not far from tliis tomb a woman \yith white hair was seen once washing her rice bowl. A monk named Ming-sin asked her whence she came. She replied, " I have come from Chung-tai begging food." Then in a moment she disappeared, and nothing was seen but a remarkable light illuminating the grove and the valley. A girl belonging to the adjoining city of Tai-chow refused to be married, and ran away to a spot called the " Cliff of Mercy," also at the Tung-tai. Here she ate the leaves of a certain plant and drank dew. Her father and mother came and tried to compel her to go home and be married. She then threw herself from the cliff, but when in mid-air she took wing and fled into the upper regions. Woo-tai is a large place. The valleys, caves, springs, rocks, brooks, tombs, gardens, images, are numberless. A legend is attached to most of them, and the marvellous things said to have been seen and done are all produced by the magic power of Manjoosere, the patron god of the mountain. The fountain where the silver-haired old woman appeared is known as the Wen-shoo-se-po-che, "the fountain where Manjoosere washed his rice bowl." It is his presence that causes this whole region to appear to the inhabitants to be instinct with legend. The maid that would not marry was a metamorphosis of Manjoosere. The live colours are distributed among the five moun- tains, and the flowers that grow on the Nan-tai are said to have the same five colours. These flowers are dried to make medicine of, and visitors to Woo-tai purchase little packets to bring away with them. They make a little tea 234 RELIGION IN CHINA. by infusing tliem in hot water, and think that they do them good. If the partaker does not perceive any benefit to his own health by these medicines, he consoles himself with the reflection that others are more successful in obtaining powerful aid from Manjoosere, by which their bodily ailments are cured. This was the way in which the matter was represented to me by a Liang Lama, a friend of mine at the Yung-ho-kung, who had himself brought some packets of medicine witli him from Woo-tai. The view of the sacred valley from the temple of the Aged Manjoosere is very fine. Just in front is the Poo-sa- ting. Up the north valley several other monasteries are seen. Beside them winds the road which leads up the Hwa-yeu-ling. The pass of this name crosses a shoulder of the North Tai and East Tai. Up the steep the road is seen to bend circuitously. Next day we were to leave Woo-tai by this route. To the south lay the little town of Tai-hwai, where our inn was, and in the near neighbour- hood of Poo-sa-ting was a cluster of monasteries, the Mongol bazaar, and a collection of buildings looking like a small town, where the animals belonging to travellers and to the monasteries are taken care of. These groups of buildings lent variety to the valley, which, on account of the brown appearance of the stunted autumn grass, needed this relief where it was not pierced by a silvery rushing brook which flows from the north down the valley till hidden by the hills of the southern landscape. To the west the view looks towards the North Tai ; to the east the East Tai is visible. We went on to the Dara-ehin-sum, " the temple of the mother Buddha." The worship of this divinity was intro- duced in the Tang dynasty, when Sivaism entered the Buddhist religion. The Hindoos, who from that time forward came to China and Tibet, seem to have been all propagators of Sivaistic Buddhism. It was from the seventh to the fifteenth century, anterior to Lamaism, and subsequent to the contemplative school, the clian-men, that IMAGE OF DARA-EHE. 235 this form of the Buddhist religion flourished. The festival of the hungiy ghosts, the magical movements of the hands, the use of iron and bronze mirrors, with Sanscrit charms, and an image of the Buddha mother upon them, belong to this age. We were now to see a temple specially devoted to the honour of Dara-ehe. There were two image halls. The first represented the twenty- one metamorphoses of Dara, all in sitting shape, arms and chest bare. The long right arm touches the lotus-flower dais on which she sits. A large hau-hwang (literally " hairy glory," in allusion to the parallel hair-like rays which are repre- sented upon it) forms a back screen for her body, and a coloured circle for her head. She assumes at pleasure the favourite five colours. Her head-dress is usually that of five tufts with a top-knot; but in this hall she wore the Poosa crown of six leaves. On her left is in every instance a standing flower. Behind her were the three Buddhas, past, present, and future. They hold the place of honour, while Dara-ehe is most prominent. New images, when introduced into the temples of Northern Buddhism, could not push out the older ones. They could only be placed in front of them or near them. In the other principal hall was Buddha, and in an ante- room Tsung-kaba, the founder of Lamaism, who lived only four hundred years ago. His form is repeated in several large pictures. The stools and cushions for daily worship were all arranged here, this being the hall for morning and evening prayer. A Lama, whom I met at Kalgan five years ago, pre- sented himself at this temple. He says that he has led here a moderately happy life for four years. When I saw him formerly he was employed by an American missionary at Kalgan as teacher of the Mongol language. I think he looks back with satisfaction to his more varied and interesting life at that place. The observance of the sacred dance, " Cham 1 harail," at 1 Cham, a Tibetan word, "to dance." 236 RELIGION IN CHINA. Woo-tai, a masquerade of Hindoo gods going in procession, is after the model employed at Yimg-ho-kimg in Peking. At Poo-sa-ting there are first ten days of chanting, from the 6th to the 15th. The dance and masquerade are on the last two days. The books used are the Kongso. The performers are about sixty in number, and they practise their parts for two months beforehand. The Lama from Kalgan told me that at Woo-tai it is the custom for boy Lamas to wear red. When young men they put on tsi, or purple-brown clothing; when old they wear yellow. He thinks there are two thousand Mongol Lamas in Woo-tai ; otliers think there are not more than seven hundred. Statistics are difficult to procure on account of the floating character of the population. Lamas are fond of wandering, and, if of frugal habits, can easily obtain a hospitable reception in temples. They flock in crowds to Woo-tai, and prostrate themselves at the various shrines with great apparent fervour. Of Buddhist priests, Chinese by birth, there are several hundreds. Then there are also many Chinese Lamas. The fashion is, when the Chinese become Lamas, for them to chant Tibetan prayers, and to have in their temples the same images and costumes which are customary in Tibet. I gave the Kalgan Lama at his request a Mongol Tes- tament. He wished it for some friend. He is himself greatly injured by opium smoking. Lamas coming on pilgrimage swell the number of resident Mongols greatly. So also the Mongol laity are very fond of visiting Woo-tai, especially women, to worship the images. We noticed some of them at the pagoda south of Poo-sa-ting. This pagoda is in appearance like that within the Ping-tseh-men of Peking. It consti- tutes a striking object on entering the Woo-tai valley from the south. It has at its base an impression of the soles of Buddha's feet cut in a block of marble and facing out- wards. His hands, also cut in the marble, are seen near. More than three hundred praying wheels are attached to PIL GRIM P URCHA SES. 237 p I -J — J Z\)C Best IRecent ^Fiction THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, Publishers 64-66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK A MAN'S WORLD. By Albert Edwards. Cloth, 121110, $1.25 net. The intimate story of a man's life, that is what A Man's World is. Arnold Whitman, Mr. Edwards's hero, is a sort of Probation Officer in the " Tombs," and as such is brought into relation with a certain stratum of New York City life of which the ordinary per- son knows little. It is while thus employed that he meets Nina, a woman of the streets, around whom the interest of the book centers. Nina has a soul, but it is undiscovered, and it is of its birth, of the development of a noble woman from one of the lowest, that the author writes with amazing strength and absolute frankness. THE IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT ISRAELS. By Frank B. Copley. Illustrated. Cloth, 121110, $1.00 net. This is the story of the impeachment of David Israels, President of the United States, as told by his private secretary. Instead of preparing for war to avenge the killing of four American sailors. President Israels persisted in proposals for peace, finally sending a fleet to Constantinople, to celebrate some Turkish anniversary, which act brought upon him the terrible stigma. All this, it might be explained, has yet to take place, for Israels is a future president. The effect of reality is well kept up by Mr. Copley, who incidentally introduces some very wholesome truths, notably that the way to realize universal peace is to refuse even to consider the possibility of war, that moral suasion is more forceful than physical threats and that a war resulting from mob panic and hate is only folly and wickedness. MY LOVE AND I. By Martin Redfield. Decorated cloth, 121110, $1.35 net. This is not an ordinary love story. It reads, on the contrary, more like an intimate confession of a man's life. Married to a woman whom he idolizes, Martin Redfield tells in his own words of his sad awakening, of the other woman who came into his life, and of how he dealt with the problem which confronted him. At all L'vents the book is a decided departure from stories which have dealt with the triangle before. Besides Martin and his love, there is intimately interwoven with it the story of Blake and Mary. An idealist, a poet, able only to earn a bare living, he forms a striking contrast to Martin, a practical man and a popular novelist. 238 RELIGION IN CHINA. tan are improvised by the use of movable furniture in a short space of time in front of temples, to be used for as many days as required. According to the Lama notion the hoto-mandal ^ represents the city where each divinity sits in state in Buddha's land. Sometimes the hoto-mandal supports offerings in front of the image of Buddha. The pilgrims are also conducted to see each marvel in the various temples. At the back of the large Dagoba is a revolving library, turned by two men, entering at the floor beneath it. It is sixty feet high and has eight sides. The Chinese copy of the Ganjur is inside it. The visitor sees the whole vast wheel turning slowly from east to west. All praying wheels should turn in the direction in which the sun moves. There was before the time of the Taipings a revolving library like this in the Ling-yin monastery at Hangchow ; I saw it about twenty years ago. There is also one at the Yung-ho-kuncj in Peking. The Mongol women are fond of buying. They appear in the shops discussing with the bazaar men the prices of articles. Almost everything they can need in tents is to be purchased here. The head-dresses of the women vary with their tribe. Pearls, coral, and silver are very profusely used by them, and often cover the whole head. Their black hair is put up in large rings, one, two, or more in number, and varying in position according to the recognised usage of their tribes. The Mongol women are very kind to strangers, and give the impression to travellers on their grassy wilds that they are less selfish than the Chinese. They part readily with milk and cheese, and will rise in the middle of the night to give up their bed to some footsore wayfarer. They keep a light burning in their tents, which serves a double purpose. It is an offering to the household gods and a waymark to travellers. The traveller pushes the tent door aside, enters, stirs the fire, and makes his meal while 1 In Sanscrit, man is "to worship;" mandari, "a town," "a temijle." Jloto, in Mongol, is a "city." DAILY LIFE OF LAMAS. 239 the inmates are in bed in the interior of the tent. In this abounding hospitality the Mongol women are animated partly by natural kindness of disposition, partly by religious motives. Being very fervent Buddhists, they believe that oood actions are meritorious, and will be the means of bringing upon them and on their families great happiness. The Mongol women rejoice in fast riding, and may be seen on their ponies with their husbands on their native plateaux riding neck to neck without ever showing signs of a desire to fall behind. Each tent has its little images. They are Shakyamuni Borhan, founder of Buddhism, Geser Han, champion of Buddhism, Galin Ejin, god of fire, the spirit who presides over cookery and the safety of the home. Their devotion to their religion renders them very will- iuo- to give up their sons to be Lamas, and also induces them to make long pilgrimages to Peking and Woo-tai in order to worship the sacred images and relics of their divinities. The richest monastery in Woo-tai is the Hung-tsiuen-si. It has a copper temple among its curiosities. The Poo-sa- ting is also very rich. It has landed estates supposed to bring into the treasury several tens of thousands of taels annually. The lands of the monasteries are in Shanse, but also in Pau-tiug-foo, Chen-ting-foo, &c., belonging to the metropolitan province. A large sum is conferred each winter by the Emperor on the Tibetan chiefs of the monas- tery during their visit to Peking, where they appear at the New Year festivities. The daily life of most Lamas must be regarded as monotonous. Their duties are chiefly reading prayers. Some are engaged in instructing young Lamas, taking care of buildings and property, arranging for special days of worship, and study of their own department of Buddhist theology. More than half the houses in Tai-hwai belong to them. The proprietorship of our inn was in a monastery, to which belonged a Lama who was constantly riding 240 RELIGION IN CHINA. about on a pony, engaged in matters connected with property. I saw one Lama printing a book of prayers from cut blocks, probably brought from Peking. The innkeeper who entertained us told me there are a thousand Mongol Lamas and two thousand Chinese Lamas and Hoshangs in Woo-tai. We saw many of them repeating prayers nemoriter with beads in their hands. They appeared to have the outward form of devotion. But our arrival disturbed their equanimity not a little. In a temple where there are about a hundred Tibetans we saw two of the same nation prostrating themselves with zeal. Another still more zealous entered, who, not content with striking his forehead, laid his whole body flat on the ground. He went very near the image in order to do this. He repeated this act of humility, and then turned round to look at us as we stood at a side door. A minute afterwards he came across the hall to feel our clothins' with a smile on his face. While feeling the foreign garments with his fingers he still continued his recitation of prayers or charms. We were surprised at the little real devotion manifested in the behaviour of this out- wardly zealous Lama. Woo-tai is a favourite place for burial. On the hill- sides the graves are exceedingly numerous. Cemeteries in the plain, in the vicinity of the monasteries, are also not rare. To be buried in so sacred a spot is considered great good fortune. The Gegens of the Yung-ho-kung monastery in Peking are brought here to find a final resting-place. White tombs, enclosing an urn which contains the ashes of the departed, are everywhere seen. Should the follower of Confucius go to Woo-tai, he will find his favourite sage occupying a comparatively insigni- ficant position. In the temple over the north gate of Tai- hwai there is an image of the great sage. It is very small, and stands beside a larger one of Wen-chang, god of litera- ture. On the south side is Chen-woo, who is a legendary IMPERIAL CONNECTION WITH WOO-TAI. 241 protector of the faithful Taouist from pestilence and other calamities. The jMiug emperors went frequently to Woo-tai ; the present line less frequently. But Kanghe interested him- self greatly in this seat of Buddhism. The imperial lodge where he resided is still there, but in a ruinous state. The description of Woo-tai in four volumes, which he caused to be written, is in full sympathy with Buddhism, and says not a syllable in condemnation of it. The object kept in view in maintaining the monasteries is, that prayers may be offered by the monks for the prosperity of the Emperor and the State. 10 ( 242 ) CHAPTER XIX. JOURNEY FROM WOO-TAI-SHAN TO PEKING BY WAY OF TSZE-KING-KWAN. October ^oth, 1872. — Eose at cockcrow and left the " clear and cool Woo-tai." Our course lay by the north valley and up the winding Hwa-yen-ling. The view became very fine as we ascended. Poo-sa-ting kept in view all the way up to the top. Prom that point the North and East Tai may be easily reached. The ascent is gradual, and is uniformly over a brown grassy sod all the way. Much snow was lying on the north face of the various moun- tains. There is ice there which does not melt in the hottest summer on the side of Chung-tai. On the top above it is a white pagoda. On Pei-tai the view is of overwhelming grandeur, as Mr. Gilmour told us, who ascended it yesterday, from the accumulation of peaks of more or less altitude all round. Next to Heng-shan the North Tai is the highest peak in this part of Shanse, and in fact through the province. Hence the large number of visible peaks, presenting the appearance of a vast waving sea of mountains, which impresses the observer at the top of the North Tai. Like it in grandeur is the scene from the East Tai, where at sunrise the sea can be seen far away on the east. The five mountains are called terraces because they are flat on the top. According to the theory of Pumpelly the valleys are all cut out gradually by the action of water from the plateau, which anciently extended far to the southward of its present limits. The Chung- tai, Pei-tai, and Tung-tai are linked in one; and perhaps also the Se-tai and Nan-tai. The only deep valley is THE WOO-TAI MOUNTAINS. 243 probably that by which we entered this sacred seat of Buddhism. The height of Woo-tai-shan is 10,000 feet, according to Eichthoven. The monasteries must then be 7000 or 8000 feet. The same traveller says that oats are cultivated to within 2000 feet of the summit. In support of this estimate it should be remembered that snow and ice remain near the top of the mountain on the north side all the year round. It seems therefore just to reach the snow- line. The top of the Pei-tai is a flat space about four Ic square. The ascent to the top from the valley of the monasteries is forty U in length. The lesser Woo-tai-shan on the north-east is also stated to be 10,000 feet high.^ The mass of mountains called Woo-tai-shan are five hundred U in circuit. The Poo-to river, rising at Ta-ying and winding south and east past Woo-tai city into the province of Chihle, forms their west and south boundary. On the north the Confucian mountain, Heng-shan, over- tops them in altitude ; on the east the Tai-hang chain, marked by the south extension of the Great Wall, forms the natural limit. The north, south, east, and west branches are all con- nected with the Chung-tai as their centre. Such is the native idea. The Nan-tai is the most beautiful, having a southern slope, which nourishes a sufficient number of flowers and shrubs to lead to its being called Kin-sieu- feng, " the embroidered mountain." The top of the Soutli Nan-tai is a U in circuit, and convex in shape; that of Tung-tai is three h, and that of Se-tai two h in circuit. Perhaps as the Chinese accounts make the circuits of the five mountain summits exactly one, two, three, four, and five le, they are open to question. Nature does not shape the dimensions of her mountain-tops quite so methodically as this. 1 Mr. William Hancock lately asceiided He found snow congealed into ice at this mountain, and estimates the height about 8000 feet on the north side in to be, as here said, about 10,000 feet, autumn weather. 244 RELIGION IN CHINA. One may easily imagine an enthusiastic Buddhist look- ing on Woo-tai with pride from this pass. " This," he would say, " is the ' cool and clear mountain,' where for nearly two thousand years our monks have never ceased to recite their prayers. It is one of the three most note- worthy Buddhist mountains. But neither Ngo-mei in Sze-chwen, nor Poo-to in the Eastern Ocean, can compare with it in the number of its monasteries, monks, and pilgrims. Here emperors order prayers to be made for their mothers and for the people. Kanghe himself was a frequent pilgrim at these shrines, commemorating his visits by monumental inscriptions at the chief temples. It is a fit spot for the professors of that religion which teaches purity of conduct and mercy to all living beings, which aims at ascetic self-denial and encourages sage meditation, which leads men to virtue, and calls them away from the companionship of vice. Well may those find a rest here who struggle after a pure life, far from the dusty world, where care, vice, and distraction perpetually reign. On that southern eminence our Manjoosere has on many occasions specially appeared, in the hope of persuading men to almsgiving and benevolence, to a victory over the animal nature by the monastic life, to the patient endurance of insults and wrong, to quiet medi- tation and lofty aspirations after superhuman wisdom." Kanghe, when he visited the mountain, thought in this way about it. Though a Confucianist, he looked com- placently on this nest of monasteries high up among the clouds. Such men have a habit of believing in two re- ligions at once. His father is said to have died a Buddhist. The panegyric on the ascetic life expressed in the pre- ceding paragraph is all extracted from his edicts. Yet neither he nor his father ever thought seriously of becom- ing a Hoshang or a Lama, or of retiring like Charles V. to some monastery as a refuge in old age. When the Mongol Lama arrives at the same spot, his feelings will perhaps be different. By the sight of Woo- EXPECTA TIONS OF PILGRIMS. 245 tai his inind is (illed with indistinct conceptions of the greatness of Borhan. Woo-tai is a chosen seat of Borhan, and therefore he must prostrate himself when at last he comes in sight of it. This he will do amid the wide scene of mountain ranges which meet the eye, while the north wind blows cold on his back. He wall prostrate himself before the sacred valley as a holy place, to see which is both a great happiness and a great merit. To him, as to the Mongol laity, Borhan is the possessor of boundless power and mercy. If he be religiously disposed, he goes to Woo-tai as to a spot where, by tlie fulfilment of vows, the offering of gifts, and the reciting of prayers and charms, he may obtain any desired form of happiness. And what do those Mongol women expect as the result of their pilgrimage ? You meet them in tlie bazaar traf- ficking with the bazaar-keepers, going the round of the temples to worship, pushing the praying wheels, or mounted on camels on their way home. They must each have an object. Probably it is some special matter, some trouble of their own, from which the mighty Borhan will free them for the asking, or it is an impulse which leads them to make this journey with an indefinite notion that it will be good for them, or it is doing as others do, in accordance with a custom which to them has the obligation of a law, or it is a wish to visit a mountain where Buddha has made every inch of ground sacred by his presence, where the images, the priests, the worship, the temples, the tombs, are all more holy than elsewhere. As we went down the pass in order to strike the plain of the Poo-to river, we saw Heng-shan on the north-west, a mountain very striking for its lofty horizontal line. To judge from its appearance, as we saw it, it might have a very broad flat surface at the top. The shepherds whom we met said it was higher than Woo-tai. Annual worship is offered here by officer^ whom the Emperor deputes to keep up an old practice. The worship of mountains was an element in the ancient Persian religion before the in- 246 RELIGION IN CHINA. trodiiction of the Magian system, and it is described in Herodotus. Our course was down a rapid descent. In the evening we were at the bottom, sixty U from Woo-tai, and just on the edge of the plain, at a village called Tung-shan-te, " foot of the east hill." Here we were two hundred and forty U (eighty miles) from Tai-tung and forty from the town called Ta-ying. Both are to the north. Wolves are spoken of as being very fierce here ; two or three persons in the village are said to have been not long since bitten by them. Wheat begins to be grown a little way out on the plain. The plain here is in fact a broad valley. Thursday, October 315^. — This morning we left our quar- ters at six, and crossed the plain in a north-easterly direction to Ta-ying. A great road passes down it lead- ing to Tai-chow and other cities, and bearing south-west. The river which runs through this valley is the Poo-to, which rises near Ta-ying and pursues its windings by Tai-chow to the south-west, afterwards bending round to the south-east and entering the province of Chihle near Chen-ting-foo. The loess formation here begins again, and occurs across the valley, forming hills which stand isolated, and also clothing the hollows of the mountains at their base. Being on a great road, we met many muleteers bringing loads from Peking. Some Imew our muleteers and greeted them. One as a mark of friendship gave my driver two newly-baked cakes, which, without a word of needless comment, were duly accepted and enjoyed. At Ta-ying it was market-day. A crowd of people pressed into our inn. As soon as we had arrived, a mili- tary officer from Ping-hing-kwan heard of us, and came to our inn to see who we were. I went out to meet him. A rather stern man on a horse stood in the inn-yard sur- rounded by the crowd and his underlings. After the first questions, I asked him for protection from the crowd, that would not allow us leisure to have our breakfast. He said SELLING CHRISTIAN BOOKS. 247 it was natural tliat the crowd in a new place sliould wish to see us. He would himself like to look at any ping-hu ^ we might have with us. He referred to our passports, which would be proof of our right to be here, I produced mine, which he read on his horse and returned to me. I said my two companions also had similar documents. He replied that one was enough for him to inspect ; he had while riding past just come in to see who we were. Here the catechist began to speak, when he said, " Oh, it is you that have brought these people here." This he said in a not very agi'eeable tone. I therefore called to the catechist that he should bring some books to give to the officer; they were graciously accepted, and given to a follower to carry. The officer then turned his horse towards the inn gate, and ordered his attendants to drive all the intruders out of the yard. On his leaving immediately after, it might have been supposed that the attendants would make some attempt to expel the crowd ; but nothing was fur- ther from their ideas ; they made no effort of the kind. The burden of controlling the crowd must fall on us, and we adopted the simple plan of selling books. We were too crowded in the inn. It was necessary for us to go into the street, each with a pile of books, to draw away a part of the idle onlookers. The innkeeper and his satellites would then be able to prosecute tlieir duties. In the street sell- ing the books was preferable to giving, because the crowd was thus prevented from disorderly snatching. At a market or a fair it is essential to sell our Christian books if we would secure order. Wlien you meet a small knot of Chinese alone, they will not, as a rule, buy books, Ijut they will take them thankfully if given. In a crowd, however, the laws of the human mind make a man willing to part with a sum of money for his book. He is excited. One man excites another. Example is infectious. If a man sees one buy he wishes also to buy. The Chinese become different in a 1 Both words mean " hold in the hand ; " hence "evidence," "proof." 248 RELIGION IN CHINA. crowd to what they are when alone ; they become eager to buy what in other circumstances they would not care for — in very many cases I saw them borrowing money rather than not buy. The excitement is too great for them. A Buddhist priest carefully examined a copy of Mark's Gospel. He thought much of it and decided to buy. Having no money, he went to a shop to borrow some. Coming back, he noticed that Acts was thicker than Mark, and wished to exchange. Although his money was two cash short, he was allowed on the ground of benefit of clergy. Another, after buying Luke, notices that it is labelled volume tliree. He wishes to change it for a Testament, as being a complete book, but is anxious not to pay more money. The unreasonableness of this is pointed out to him. He presses the exchange on the ground that Luke is imperfect. At last he brings the extra money and re- ceives the Testament. One poor man with a sickly-looking face came to ask for medicine to cure him of opium. He was told that we had none, but here was a book exhorting the victims of opium to abandon the habit, and containing a good recipe. "That," said he, "is the book I want." Others, hearing that this book is for sale for four small coins, seize it with avidity and carry it away exulting. The misery produced by opium is a lasting and everywhere present evil. Much opium is grown on the hills in this part of Shanse. We came on in the afternoon thirty more U to Ping- hing-kwan, a pass in the inner Great Wall. We first came to a fort. It is on a loess hill with large fissures in it seventy or eighty feet deep. Some of the party went up the hill, and others proceeded by a path at the bottom of one of the fissures ; consequently they speedily became separated by a considerable difference in altitude. We were for some time in a difficulty to find each other. One calamity will soon follow another. The petty officers of a THE LOESS FORMATION. 249 hiun-kic, u military mandarin^ came forward to insist that the mules and their riders should all go to the yamcn of their superior for examination. This was declined, and an answer was given that it was necessary for us first to go to an inn. In half an hour we met again at an inn outside of the north gate of the fort. The mandarin underlings did not again appear. Friday, November ist. — Starting before daylight, we left the neighbourhood of the fort, and ascended the pass above us to the Great "Wall. The wall is here very dilapidated, and a mere frame of thin spars serves for a gate. A few rods of wall on the east side were ready to sink on occa- sion of the next rainfall. A decayed tower on one or two of the neighbouring heights indicated how Kttle of the work of Tsin-shi-hwang now remains. The wall maintains a decent appearance only where it has been placed in repair within a few centuries, as on the roads leading from Mon- goha to Peking. Yet the Ping-hing-kwan might be well protected, for on the north side of it we came down a valley in the loess formation eight or ten miles in length, and in many parts the road is very narrow and flanked by deep fissures. These fissures would form a perfect bar to the progress of invaders if the road were fortified. They are evidently made by water loosening the loess, which then falls in avalanclies. In one place a broad gorge is crossed by a bridge which rests on a thin wall of friable soil five or six feet thick. Below is an arched water-way for the water of the fissure to escape by. Thirty feet above this arch is the road along the narrow wall. It is strengthened with stones above, but a part is cracked, and unless soon repaired, only three or four feet in the width of the road will be left. In many parts the road winds round the edge of a precipice at the end of one of the fissures. The action of water perpetually tends to lengthen the fissure. Damp rises from the bottom and rain falls on the top ; the whole structure is disturbed, and a new piece of the loess 250 RELIGION IN CHINA. falls. Then the road is broken in upon, and the people widen it on the other side by cutting away a new portion of the loess. The windings of the road, like those of a river, are in this way constantly growing larger. The sight from the fissure's top will shake weak nerves. You look down sixty, eighty, or a hundred feet of perpendicular depth. The loess is usually a fine mould, uniform in texture and very light, but occasionally strata of gravel occur, and also calcareous nodules. The gravel would come by water action during the time of deposition of the loess. The loess rests on various kinds of rocks, as if blown on them after they had assumed their present position. We are now on a higher country than yesterday. Our position is at the back of the ridge we crossed at Ping- hing-kwan. No wheat grows here. Oats, kait-liang, and black beans are the common produce of the soil. The land- tax is three fen per mo7.o, or about tenjDence an acre. At mid-day we had to brave the pressure of another crowd, violently anxious to see the strangers feed. It was a market-day. The place was named Tung-ho-nan, " the Eastern Honan" (lionan, "south of river"). We took advantage of the presence of the crowd to sell a few books. In the afternoon we came eastward along a beautiful valley to the city of Ling-kiow, which we reached after travelling thirteen miles. The valley was evidently an old lake, the waters of which found their exit at the south-east corner. On each side are loess terraces of moderate height, and beyond them rocky hills. It is the valley of the Tang-ho, the same river we crossed at Tang-hien, near Pau-ting-foo. In many parts the valley is left for pasture. We saw feeding there goats, sheep, oxen, donkeys, horses, and pigs, all in harmony. Saturday, Novemher 2d. — This morning we left at six A.M. the valley of Ling-kiow, where yesterday afternoon we sold a large number of books. Our road lay over the Yun-tsai-ling, "pass of many-coloured clouds." The STATE OF AGRICULTURE AND WAGES. 251 rock is limestone, which tends to form the most picturesque perpendicular crags and summit pinnacles, chiselled out, as local legend would say, by the hand of some giant or fairy, but in fact by the dissolving power of rain-water, continued through unnumbered years. The limestone is worked two miles away from the road. Though so late in the year, we noticed one blue flower among the abundant grasses. No small amount of traffic goes over this pass towards Kwang-chang. We were now not far to the north of Tau-ma-kwan, a pass by which the Tang river, whose name remains from the time of the Emperor Yau, B.C. 2500, flows into the great j)lain of Chihle. Reached Chau-pai at the breakfast hour. Poverty marks the appearance of the people. Prices are as follows : — Wages, 60 copper cash ^ per day and three meals ; cotton cloth, 40 cash per foot ; unspuu cotton, 250 cash per catty; oatmeal, 30 cash per catty; wheat flour, 60 cash; suit of clothes, including hat, shoes, and hose, 4000 cash, or one pound of English money nearly. The tax on land pro- duce is 440 cash for oats, 370 for tall millet, 280 for buck- wheat. Miscellaneous products are 140. Fuel, moun- tain brushwood, dry straw, and grass can be had for the gathering. No potatoes or wheat are grown here. There are cabbages and melons. In Peking a labourer gets from one to two pounds a month, if not found in food. In England a labourer possesses many comforts which the Chinese workman cannot afford. In the afternoon we crossed another mountain pass, Yi- ma-ling, or " horse-stage pass," to Ai-ho, " Artemisia river." The rock was limestone throughout, and there was the same appearance of cathedral-like architecture in the erect precipices, very various in colour and appearance, beside which the road wound. On the western ascent the valley was covered with minute stones for several miles. These 1 At present 1700 cash are exchanged taels go to an English pound. A cutty for a tael of silver, and nearly four is a pound and one-third in weight. 252 RELIGION IN CHINA. are all fragmeuts of limestoue rock reduced to a small size by water action. In parts large boulders occurred. On the east side of the pass there were traces of iron in red sand and red-coloured limestone. A red hill south of the pass seemed to be the spot where the iron might be found. The road was cut through some strata of mould and gxavel which seemed to have been gathered — the mould from loess hills not far off, and the gravel from the rocks above the deposit. The Chinese never fail to erect temples in passes ; they are intended to protect travellers from evil influences, robbers, and attacks from wild animals. I entered a temple dedicated to Lau-kiun, founder of Taouism. On the walls were painted twenty-five metamorphoses of this personage, consisting of scenes in his life, of course chiefly imaginary. Sunday, November ^d. — Came last night to a village where we are perched on one of the undulations of the loess formation. In front of us is a little river and a wide reach of cultivated land to the south. It is a branch of the valley of the river called Ku-ma-ho, along which we are now to travel eastward to Tsze-ldng-kwan. The situa- tion of the village is picturesque. Brooks of pure water irrigate the region for several months in the year. In summer, say the people, these rivulets dry up, and they are gTeat sufferers from drought. They are then obliged to draw water from very wide and deep wells. There is no goitre here, probably because the country is both high and open. The fields are aU ploughed in November to be in readi- ness for the millet, which is sown in spring. The country is too high for wheat. Winnowing and threshing are pro- ceeding vigorously. The people use a flail whose flying piece, of strong, flat basket work, is two feet by five inches in size. Visited a village a mile to the eastward. Went into a temple of Kwan-te, god of war. The pictures on the walls PICTURES OF KWAN-TE. 253 were scenes from the " Komance of the Tliree Kingdoms," A.D. 200, the time when Kwan-te, god of war, flourished. This hero was strong enough, and had sufficient energy and martial fire, to take a man's head off as he sat on his horse. In one case the body of one of his enemies re- mained (so the painter represented it) sitting on the horse when the head was on the ground at the feet of Kwan-te's steed. Tlie conventional face of Kwan-te is very red and very decided, honest, and brave. The eyes are long, narrow, and much deflected. In answer to an inquiry if they smoked opium, the people who pressed into the temple said they did not. They were then reminded that although they did not smoke opium, this temple was a witness that they had a fault of another kind. They forgot God who gave them the ploughing ox, the millet, the land, and the homes and families which made them happy. Our sleeping and living room at this village was not good. It was used as a barn and a storing house for mules' loads in wet weather. There was a large Icang at one end which we occupied. Not finding wheat, flour, or mutton, we regaled ourselves with white rice and sardines which had come in the baggage of some of our party. In these regions oatmeal is the staple of the people, and animal food is a rarity which the poor never see except at a wedding, a funeral, at the New Year, or at the feasts in the fifth and eight months. Monday, November afli, 1872. — Leaving Ai-ho in the dark, we continued our home journey partly on the river bed and partly through roads in the loess to Kwang-chang. Here I filled a small bottle with a specimen of loess to carry home for analysis. Kwang-chang is less important than Ling-chiow, but is in a valley of remarkably fine scenery. Limestone continues to be the prevailing rock. The road from Yu-chow to Pau-ting passes by this city. Our course lay on the south side through an extensive 254 RELIGION IN CHINA. suburb. Here I noticed a large wooden tablet over the door of a retired mandarin, sixty years of age. It was presented to him by Wo-jen and Kia-cheng, two chief secretaries at court. He had long served the Government in conjunction with these well-known ofi&cers of State, and this was the way in which they had shown their friend- ship and respect. His office was a tai-chau of the Han- lin-yuen. In Peking such a testimonial of regard would probably have been placed in the house of the person so honoured, and its position would be in the centre of the visitor's hall, under the roof facing the south. In these parts, as at Siuen-hwa-foo, it is the fashion to place them outside of the house, over the door facing the street — a position preferred in Peking by physicians for exhibiting monumental tablets presented by grateful patients. A little farther I noticed an advertisement issued by a Buddhist priest, stating that his temple needing repairs, it was his duty to solicit donations. The work of restoration was now complete, and the announcement was hereby made of the re-opening of the temple on certain days, three in number, on which occasion he respectfully invited con- tributors and others to be present. Those who had not already given were urged to do so on the ground that money should in itself be despised, and that great happi- ness would be secured by giving, or, as he expressed it, they should give that they might enlarge the field of their happiness, yi kicang foo tien. The dedication is called hai-kwang, " open light," a phrase which refers to the open- ing of the eyes of the image. Outside of the town on the east was a Tung-yo-miau, or " temple to the spirit of the eastern mountain," i.e., Tai- shan in Shantung. Beside it stands a pagoda of five stories. Passing down the valley, our mules crossed the river Ku-ma-ho, at first by wading; then, when the river became deeper, the mules crossed by bridges. The valley became narrow, and its scenery, as the sun shone through a mist, was very fine. The white spray of the rushing river TOWERS FOR ARCHERS. 255 shone upon by the sunlight was in lovely contrast to the dark waters beneath. The limestone cliffs cast a deep shadow. Above them were the towers of the inner Great Wall appearing at frequent intervals. Beneath flows the river, threading its way through a wide dry strand, over- spread with white and blue pebbles of limestone, large and small. Over them, once in every few years, comes down with overwhelming force a torrent from the mountains, which brings a new supply of stones, pebbles, and sand, wliich disturb all marks, obliterate all paths, and per- manently raze the old bed. We breakfasted at Foo-too-yu. The road from Yu-chow to Pau-ting-foo goes this way to the southward. Our course is east. Thirty towers are seen here, all belonging to the Great Wall. They are on both sides of the river, and would form a convenient refuge for soldiers armed with bow and arrow, but would be of no use in modern warfare. One of my fellow-travellers and I mounted one of these towers by holes in the bricks. They are intended to be ascended by ladders. The tower is built with three arched passages from east to west; there are four arched win- dows on the east and west sides, and three on the north and south. Upwards of twenty arches, large and small, meet the eye on entering. The structure is square, com- pact, and strong. Below there are four tiers of hewn granite stones ; above large bricks are used. The top is castellated. We ascended and found there a brick plat- form twenty feet from the ground and surrounded by a castellated parapet. An inscription of the Ming dynasty let into the wall stated that the erection of the tower was completed in the fourth year of Wan-leih, a.d. 1576, and is tlierefore three centuries old. Any such towers in the Great Wall near Peking may therefore be ascribed to the Ming dynasty with safety. It is not necessary to suppose that these square strong -looking structures have lasted through the summer rains and winter winds and snow- storms of two thousand years. Two great periods of 256 RELIGION IN CHINA. rebuilding and fortifying the more important forts and the more important portions of the wall have occurred, each after a Tartar dynasty. The Sui dynasty, following the Northern Wei, a Turkish race in the sixth century, thought it well to fortify the boundaries of the Empire on its north side. So the Ming also, after expelling the Mongols, deter- mined to produce an impression on the Tartar hordes by the same appearance of an impassable barrier. These towers are erected at each end of the plank bridge by which the Ku-ma is here crossed, and are also seen crowning the crags east and west as far as the eye can reacli. From Foo-too-yu we proceeded towards "Iron Pass" (Tie-ling), the road over which was repaired thirty years ago. The officer who superintended the work has erected a monument in commemoration of it; its date is 1835. In crossing this pass we also proceeded through a broad loess formation. We then came to the banks of the Ku-ma and followed it all the way to Tsze-king-kwan. This river is crossed in several places by bridges so constructed as to be movable at pleasure. Shrubs, twigs, bean stubble, fresh branches, and straw are laid across prostrate trunks of trees, which rest on inclined posts struck as piles into the river bottom. All are removed when the summer rains are approaching, for fear of their being carried away. Land-tax in this neighbourhood is eight or nine tow of the produce per mow; in bad years it is reduced to three or four tow} In the evening we stayed at Ta-yai-yu, " pass of the pagoda cliff." We passed the night in a partly ruined building. The large gaps made by bad weather coming from the north were partially covered by some rush mats. It rained during the night. Venturing out in the dark was found to be dangerous by one of our party, who slipped on some soft mud and Idssed his mother earth. Among our visitors in the evening were some men who had heard of the visit of the Eev. W. C. Burns to a town in this neighbourhood, Pan-pi-tien, several years ago, and had ^ A tow is ten pints. This amounts to sixty pints per acre. THE GREAT WALL. 257 seen books which he distributed at that time. This was an interesting reminiscence of a man whose example of devotion and self-denial was of the highest type. Novcmhcr ^th. — Left late on account of the rain. Here and there we met laden mules. Some carried wine, others cotton, or bags of sugar, or drugs, or pine wood, or cloth. We also saw many herds of sheep and goats feeding. Their bleat often reached the ear from far away, mingling with the jingle of the mules' bells. One pedestrian had gone to Kwang-chang to sell some merchandise, and was now returning with his yoke over his shoulder to his home at Yu-chow. Another having a heavy pack on his shoulder sat on a stone on the roadside immediately in front of another stone, against which he supported the pack while he rested himself. We now saw the last of the Great Wall. In many places it had dwindled to a mere heap of unhewn stones. But at Tsze-king-kwan we saw it in its best condition. As we approached, it became a very conspicuous object, mount- ing lofty heights, and presenting everywhere a castellated appearance. It is here built carefully with stone below and bricks above. Tsze-king-kwan is imposing. Inscrip- tions of the reio'n of Wan-leih abound. Several times hostile armies have come into Chihle by this route. It is much easier than that of Nan-kow. No vast beds of boulders like those at Ku-yung-kwan have here to be crossed. Great exertions have been made therefore to fortify it. In one inscription over the north gate of the fort it is called King nan te ye Mung kwan, "the first strong pass south of the capital." There are more than two hundred families in the fort. The walls and gates are strong and lofty. Customs officers are posted here, who were somewhat troublesome. They demanded transit duty. This we declined, on the ground that we were not merchants, but foreigners travelling with passports and without goods. After loudly vociferating for ten minutes that we must pay, they let us alone, 10 R 258 RELIGION IN CHINA. On the south side of the fortress we found ourselves at the top of a rapidly descending mountain road leading- through a most beautiful valley ornamented among other things with persimmon trees. These Avith their bright red fruit constitute a lovely feature in October both here and in North China generally, especially in hilly regions. The trees are larger, some of them, than the largest apple and pear trees, being thirty or forty feet high. There is a strong astringent element in the fruit when young. When quite soft and ripe, the astringent flavour deserts the pulp but remains in the rind. The persimmon is preserved dry by the Chinese, and in this form lasts till spring. The leaves fall before the fruit, and the trees we saw were at the time nearly bare of them. We stopped for refreshment at a small inn on the road- side, and enjoyed the view of the valley, richly coloured with autumn leaves, filling the eye with beauty before they fall to the earth and become again a part of that soil from which they were formed. We descended fast from this spot, and took notice of the rapid change in level from Tsze-king-kwan to the Yu-chow plains. There we were fifteen hundred feet higher than the plain, and yet we were apparently on a level with the Kwang-chang valley. Eichthoven went this way to Woo- tai, and doubtless the rapid elevation of level he here witnessed formed a large part of the elevation he assigns to Woo-tai-shan. A little river followed the road for some miles. The valley is bounded by lofty heights, among which many limestone crags are seen deeply indented by the rain-storms of bygone ages. My muleteer pointed to one of these limestone mountains, and with some enthusi- asm said, Che shan shi tsai chang ti yeu ya, " This mountain has certainly grown into a very rare and elegant form." But his attention was at once recalled from the poetry of nature to certain perverse exhibitions of temper on the part of one of his animals, which made it necessary for him to crack his loud whip, and urge him on by words A RAGGED POPULATION. 259 which the animal seemed to understand. At tlie bridges the river is thirty yards wide. Here and there it is diver- sified by faded green willows. Wheat and cotton now begin to appear. In the upper valley of the Ku-ma these crops are unknown. The field for the botanist seems ex- tensive in the valley which we traversed this afternoon. A great variety of trees and plants grow there. The acacias which overshadowed our inn and the temple near it were very fine specimens of their kind. Over the valley were various other trees shining in their autumn beauty. The people begin to look better dressed. In some of the mountain districts the clothing of many of them is insuffi- cient. A young man of twenty-nine, whose habiliments were somewhat ragged, told me he had no wife, not being able to pay for one. Many other young men, he said, whom he knew, were in the same position. A boy of fifteen stood behind him also raggedly clothed. This lad, though so poor, had had five years' schooling. Their ordi- nary food was, they said, millet. They have neither oats nor wheat. West of the Tsze-king-kwan, " purple twig pass," there are granite mountains as indicated by immense boulders in the river bed. They are rounded by constant attrition, and that very roundness attests their hardness. They present an irritating impediment to the rushing river, causing it to increase its dash and its spray as it roars past them. Eemarkable veins of quartz were noticeable in some of these large blocks. Some crossed others at right angles, others at any and all angles. Now we were to enter again a region of softer and more pliable stone. The Chinese passion for terse sentences arranged in couplets reaches even the mountains. There was there as everywhere a temple to Kwan-te. The words written on the door were Shan men pu so tai sine fewj, " The temple door needs not to be locked ; wait, and the snow will seal it up. In the old monastery why use a lamp ? the 26o RELIGION IN CHINA. moon shines into it." At the head of a list of subscribers to the temple funds was the sentence, Yin kwo puh mei, " Cause and effect are not concealed from observation." The idea intended to be conveyed in this obscure sentence is that virtue, almsgiving, and love to mankind cannot fail of recognition and reward. Or it may be that this list is intended to commemorate the charitable acts of the persons named. Buddhism makes much of this doctrine of cause and effect, and asserts confidently that moral retribution attends all actions, good or bad, with the regularity of a fixed law. Like other things in Buddhism, the doctrine is capable of being utilised in Christian teaching among a peoj^le to whom it is familiar. It is an example of the preparation for Christianity which we owe to the doctrinal system both of Buddhism and Confucianism, and in a less degree to Taouism also. THE END. ^^Amnjx -6? Date Due 1 t99t - i, A -' V Twmi' **^ ^B^SWSlSg