Peeps Into China Part 5

"A G.o.d of rain; a G.o.d of wind; a G.o.d of thunder; a G.o.d of wealth, the latter worshipped very much by tradesmen; a G.o.d of thieves; a G.o.ddess of thunder; a guardian G.o.ddess of women and little children, called k.u.m-fa, whose ten attendants watch over children, helping them to eat, and teaching them to smile and walk; a G.o.d of wine; a G.o.d of fire; a G.o.ddess of mercy; a G.o.ddess of sailors; a G.o.ddess of children, called 'Mother'; a G.o.d of the kitchen; a G.o.d of measles, a G.o.d of small-pox. Then the Confucianists worship two stars, who are supposed to look after literature and drawing, the former called the G.o.d of literature. And besides household G.o.ds belonging to every family, there are a G.o.d of the pa.s.sing year, and numerous others. Many of the G.o.ds are deified persons who once lived on earth."

[Ill.u.s.tration: TEMPLE OF THE MOON, PEKING.]

"What a number!" Sybil said. "But who, then, is the great Lama? You have not told us anything about him yet, and I heard you speaking about him the other day."

"There is another form of Buddhism, called Lamaism, and this, though it prevails princ.i.p.ally in Thibet and Mongolia, has also its followers in Peking. The Great Lama, or Living Buddha, is the head of this."

"And he is a living man?"

"Yes; but his soul is said never to die; therefore, when he dies it is supposed to pa.s.s into an infant whom the priests select by a likeness that they trace to the late Lama. I one day saw worship going on in a Lama temple."

"Have you a picture of it, father?" Leonard asked, who was getting a little tired of these descriptions, which Sybil liked so much.

"Yes, and I think it a very good one. In the centre, facing the worshippers, is a very large idol indeed of Buddha. To the right and left of the temple are smaller idols. Some G.o.ds in temples do not receive worship, but guard the doors. Incense is burning in front; the high priest, to the right, is lifting up his hands in adoration, whilst the people offer scented rods and tapers to Buddha. As they light their offerings they kow-tow, or hit their heads upon the floor. This is the Chinese way of reverent, respectful salutation. The devotees are grouped in squares.

"Then I forgot to tell you that the Sun and Moon are also worshipped.

Whilst in Peking, I went to a temple of the Moon. It was on the day of the autumnal equinox, when, at six o'clock in the evening, a very solemn sacrifice is offered, and the great ladies of the capital meet to burn their tapers. I approached this temple by a long avenue of beautiful trees. The temple was large; but I noticed that more women than men had come to attend the ceremonies."

"I thought the Chinese were clever people," Sybil said; "if so, how can they believe in so many G.o.ds?"

"They have been trained to do so. They feel, I suppose, that they must offer worship, and until a real knowledge of the true G.o.d can be planted in their midst, they will remain slaves to idolatry. Many of the more enlightened heathen, I believe, only regard their idols as representations of the Deity they are feeling after, and not really as the Deity Himself; although I fear many of the simpler sort, in different degrees, regard their idols with great religious awe. Then, many a Chinaman, again, will so often seem to have no religion at all!"

"Is it very difficult to teach the Chinese, father?"

"It is very difficult to find words, in their language, clearly to bring home to them the great truths of the Bible; and Confucius having for nearly twenty centuries held such a sway over their minds, they do not care to listen to new teachers."

"I am so glad the Bible is now translated into Chinese, and that you are taking some copies out with you. But how old these people must be!"

"The Chinese are a very ancient race, and had a literature 700 years before Christ. They are very fond and proud of their country."

"Do Taouists and Buddhists believe in, and read, the writings of Confucius?"

"To a great extent."

"And are there many Christians in China now?"

"The Church Missionary Society, at her six chief stations of Hong-Kong, Foo-Chow, Ningpo, Hang-Chow, Shaou-hing, and Shanghai, now numbers 4,667 native followers, and 1,702 communicants, of whom nine are native clergymen and 174 native Christian teachers. In China altogether there are 40,000 Christian adherents. But what are these, when we think that this vast empire alone contains 400,000,000 people, one-third of the human race?"

"They will listen to you, father," Sybil said, looking up very brightly.

Sybil was a child who thought that there was n.o.body, except her own mother, in the whole world to compare with her father.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER IV.

CHINESE CHILDHOOD.

"I FORGOT to ask you, father," Leonard said, about a week later--for during that time he and his sister had been otherwise engaged, and had therefore not come to hear anything more about the Chinese and their strange doings--"I forgot to ask you if Celestial boys wore pig-tails too. I have never, I believe, seen a picture of a Chinese boy."

"Some have pig-tails, but some parents allow just a tuft of hair to grow on a boy's head until he is eight or ten years old, and shave the rest.

Sometimes he wears the tuft longer; and I have also seen girls wearing it on one or both sides of their heads."

"Father, will you tell us something now about the children?" Sybil then asked.

"I know little babies of three days old often have their wrists tied with red cotton cord, to which a charm is hung, which is, I suppose, to bring it prosperity or drive away from it evil spirits. At a month old its head is shaved for the first time, when, if its mother does not shave it, a hair-dresser has to wear red in which to do it. A boy is shaved before the ancestral tablet, but a girl before an image of the G.o.ddess of children called 'Mother,' and thank-offerings are on this day presented to the G.o.ddess."

"What does the ancestral tablet mean?"

"It consists of a piece of wood or stone, which is meant to represent the dead. As I told you, one of the spirits of a dead man is supposed to enter the tablet, and the more this is worshipped the happier the spirit is supposed to be. On this tablet are names and inscriptions, which sometimes represent several ancestors. After a certain time (I think the fifth generation) the tablet is no longer worshipped, as by that time the spirit is supposed to have pa.s.sed into another body."

"Thank you. I understand that now," Sybil said. "Does anything else happen on the grand shaving day?"

"Presents of painted ducks' eggs, cakes, and other things are sent to the baby, and when it is four months old 'Mother' is thanked again, and prayed to make the child grow fast, sleep well, and be good-tempered."

Sybil and Leonard laughed. "On this day the child also sits for the first time in a chair, when his grandmother, his mother's mother, who has to give him a great many presents, sends him some soft kind of sugar-candy, which is put upon the chair, and when this has stuck the baby is put upon it, and I suppose his clothes then stick to it also."

"What a fashion to learn to sit in a chair!" Leonard said. "And what's done on his first birthday?"

"Another thank-offering is presented to 'Mother,' more presents come, and the baby has to sit in front of a number of things, such as ink, pens, scales, pencils, tools, books, fruit, gold, or anything the parents like to arrange before him, and whatever he catches hold of first will show them what his future character or occupation is likely to be.

[Ill.u.s.tration: YUEN-SHUH, A LITTLE STUDENT.]

"But the worst part has now to come. As soon as the poor little fellow can learn anything, he is taught to worship 'Mother' and other idols, before which he has to bow down, and raise up his little hands, whilst candles and incense are burnt in their honour. So it is no wonder that as he grows older he learns his lesson thoroughly. At sixteen children are supposed to leave childhood behind them, and there is a ceremony for this."

"Do Chinese girls learn lessons? or is it only the boys?"

"In some parts of China there are, I believe, a few schools for young ladies, and instruction is given to them by tutors at home; but although two or three Chinese ladies have been celebrated for great literary attainments, these are quite the exceptions, and there are only a very few schools for any girls in China, except the mission schools. Those for boys abound all over the country."

"Did you ever go into a boy's school, father?"

"Yes, into several, where I saw many a little intelligent-looking boy working very hard at his lessons. One little boy, named Yuen-Shuh, told me that he meant to get all the literary honours that he could. Chinese boys are not allowed to talk at all in school-hours. Each boy has a desk at which to sit, which is so arranged that he cannot speak to the boy next to him. Little Yuen-Shuh had been to school since he was six years old.

"Another boy was saying a lesson when I went in, and therefore standing with his back to his teacher. Boys always say their lessons like this, and it is called 'backing the book.' The teacher, as they repeat their lessons, puts down their marks. When learning their lessons they repeat them aloud. There are higher schools into which older boys pa.s.s, and the great aim of the Chinese is to take literary honours, as nothing else can give them a position of high rank; but even a peasant taking these honours would rank as a gentleman."

"Will you take me to see a school in China?" Leonard then asked.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A CHINESE SCHOOL.]

His father, having promised to do so, went on to say to Leonard: "Parents are very particular as to their choice of a schoolmaster, who must be considered good, as well as able to teach; and to qualify himself the master must, of course, know the doctrines of the ancient sages. After all has been settled for a boy to go to school, the parents always invite the schoolmaster to a dinner, given expressly for him.

Then a fortune-teller is asked to decide upon a 'lucky' day for the boy to make his first appearance at school, when he takes the tutor a present. No boy ever goes to school first on the anniversary of the day on which Confucius died or was buried. On entering school, he turns to the shrine of Confucius--an altar erected to his honour in every school--and worships him, after which he salutes his teacher very respectfully, hears what he has to do, and goes to his desk."

"And are there many holidays at Chinese schools?"

"At the new year and in the autumn there are always holidays, but children also go home to keep all religious festivals, to celebrate the birthdays of parents and grandparents, to worship their tablets, and at the tombs of ancestors. Very often schoolmasters are men who have toiled very hard at their books, and yet have not succeeded in taking a very high degree, but sometimes having done so, they choose teaching for their profession. Children are very much punished in China when they break school-rules. Perhaps the punishment they fear most is to be beaten with a broom, because they think that this may make them unlucky for the rest of their lives."