Decoration: Man
Decoration: Road
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA.
LI-HUNG.LI-HUNG.
"W
ILL you please tell us to-day, father, something about the religion of the Chinese? I know they worship idols, but how do they believe in them?" Sybil asked, as soon as their "Peep-show," as the children continued to call their father's stories, began the next afternoon. During the morning she had sat and read to her mother, who still felt the motion of the vessel very much, and had therefore to lie down part of the day.
"I will try to do so," was the answer; "but I think what you hear may puzzle you a good deal, for they have very strange creeds."
"Did grandfather make many converts?"
"Very few indeed; but then he was one of our very first missionaries to Peking, so was most thankful for the very little which he was enabled to do.
A CITIZEN OF TIENT-SIN.A CITIZEN OF TIENT-SIN.
"I remember two men for whose conversion from Buddhism he often gave thanks. One was a citizen of Tientsin, where we landed on our way to the capital.
"This good fellow, who was then a very questionable character, was smoking his pipe in a most indifferent manner, when my father, through his teacher, first addressed him. Missionaries in China, you know, have teachers of the dialects."
"Shall you have one?"
"Of course. Well, this man would not listen at all at first, and was very angry at my father's interference; but after a while we met him again at Peking, and in time both he and his wife learnt to believe, and to long for Christian baptism, before receiving which they not only left off worshipping their family idols, but even destroyed them. A short time ago I heard that this man had become a native lay teacher, and was a great help to the mission, as he could, of course, always make himself understood to his own countrymen, who were also not unlikely to be won by his example."
"What was his name?" asked Leonard.
"Tung-Sean."
"And that of the other convert?"
"Li-Hung. He was a much older man, and was sitting, I remember, the day we first saw him, in a field, resting from his work, and as he caught sight of my father he began to call him all sorts of names, amongst which was to be heard very often that of 'foreign devil.' I believe he even looked for stones to throw at us. Your grandfather—always a very quiet, self-possessed man—just dropped some tracts at his side, translated into Chinese. We often saw Li-Hung again, and though he gave us much trouble, a month before my father died he had the happiness also of witnessing this man's conversion to the true faith."
"Grandfather must have been very pleased," Sybil said.
"He was; but I think now I have something rather interesting to tell you of our journey from Tientsin to Peking. We went in carts drawn by two mules, one in front of the other, and at night we slept at inns, where, I think, you would like to hear about our sleeping accommodation. It was winter, and as the Peking winter is cold, people there, to make themselves warm at night, sleep on kangs. As these were different at both inns to which we went, I will tell you about both.
A KANG.A KANG.
"In one the kang consisted of a platform built of brick, so much larger than a bed that several people could sleep on it at once. A kind of tunnel passed through the platform, which had a chimney at one end, whilst at the other end, a little while before bed-time, a small quantity of dry fuel was set on fire, when the flame passed through the tunnel and out of the chimney. In this way the kang was warmed, when felt matting was put upon it. Here we lay down, and were covered over with a kind of cotton-wool counterpane.
BOATS ON THE RIVER PEI-HO AT TIENT-SIN.BOATS ON THE RIVER PEI-HO AT TIENT-SIN.
"The kang in the other inn was warmed by a little stove from underneath, which also served in the day-time for cooking purposes, when the bed-clothes were removed from the kang, on which mats, and even little tables, were also sometimes put, until it became a sofa; so it was very useful."
The children laughed.
"We are not hearing about the religion yet, though," Sybil said.
"Oh, do let us hear just a little more about Peking and Tientsin first," Leonard answered. "How far is Tientsin from the capital?"
"Eighty miles. And do you know what river it is on?"
Leonard considered. "It must be an important one, I should think, as it carries things, doesn't it, from the sea-coast to near to Peking?"
"It is only a river of secondary importance, but the principal one of the province of Pe-chili. Now for its name." Sybil referred to her map.
"The Pei-ho, of course," they exclaimed together. "And I suppose there is ever so much traffic on it?" Leonard said; "with no end of ships to be seen?"
"Yes, a good many may be seen there. I have a picture of boats on the River Pei-ho."
"What sort of flags do Chinese boats have, father? I do not see any hoisted here."
"The Imperial Navy is divided into river and sea-going vessels, the former consisting of 1,900 ships, the latter of 918; and there are 188,000 sailors. Ships in the Imperial Navy generally fly a flag at the main, on which red lines are drawn, or sometimes a tri-colour is hoisted there instead. Red would, I suppose, be for safety, asthis is the 'lucky' colour of the Chinese. At the stern of the vessel I remember seeing the name of the official who directs and superintends the ship."
"Isn't Tientsin noted for something?" Sybil then asked.
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
"Yes; for the treaty of June 26th, 1858, between the Chinese and British, some of the terms of which were that the Christian religion should be protected by Chinese authorities, that British subjects should be allowed to travel in the country for pleasure or business, under passports issued by their consul, and that the Queen might acquire a building site at Peking."
"But now the religion, please, father," she said again.
"Very well; but you must pay great attention to what I say, or you will not understand. Most of the Chinese are either Confucianists, Buddhists, or Taouists, although there are also Jews and Mahometans amongst them. At one time it is supposed that the people of China had really a knowledge of the true God, and that when they worshipped, in much the same sort of manner as did the patriarchs, Him whom they call Wang-teen, or Shang-ti, which means Supreme Ruler, they worshipped God.
"But mixing with this an idolatrous worship of departed ancestors, they nearly lost sight of the Supreme Ruler, the jealous God, Who, we know, claims all our worship.
"About the latter half of the sixth century before Christ, Confucius, a great and clever philosopher of China, who was born 551b.c., wrote and put together books that held very moral and good maxims, afterwards called 'The Classics.'
"He taught that men must always be obedient to those to whom they are in subjection: people to prince, child to parent, filial piety being enforced before every other duty. He was very anxious to improve the manners of the people; but women he ranked very low. Confucianism is—but perhaps you will not understand this—more a philosophy than a religion. Its followers have no particular form of worship, and no priesthood. The Pearly Emperor, Supreme Ruler, is their deity, but worship is seldom offered to him, and then only by a few.
"Although Confucius disapproved very much of idols, after he was dead many of his followers worshipped him.
A MANDARIN.A MANDARIN.
"Confucianists do not believe in a future state of rewards and punishments, but think that their good and bad deeds will be rewarded here by riches or poverty, long or short life, good or bad health. Conscienceis to lead people aright, and tell them when they do wrong.
"The high mandarins and literary people are generally Confucianists; school-boys also worship an idol or tablet of the sage, in which his spirit is supposed to dwell.
"There is a temple to the honour of 'The Great Teacher' in every large town; and on great occasions, and always in spring-time and autumn, sacrifices are here offered, the Emperor himself, as high priest, presiding at these two ceremonies in Peking, the chief mandarins of his court giving him assistance. In temples of Confucius idols are very seldom to be seen.
"The Confucianists are taught that man was originally good, his nature being given by heaven, and that sin came through union of the soul with matter."
"What are mandarins, please, father?" asked Leonard.
"Chinese officials, of which there are many grades, and many in each grade, all of whom are paid by Government. To every province there is a viceroy, to every city a governor, and to the village a mandarin, who is elected to rule over it for three years; and all these, again, have many officers under them. There are also a great many military mandarins. A great mark of imperial favour is to allow mandarins, civil or military, to wear a peacock's feather in their caps, which hangs down over the back, and the ball placed on the top shows, by its colour and material, the rank of the wearer. Soldiers fighting very bravely are often buoyed up with the hope of receiving one of these feathers.
"Mandarins, who stand in a sort of fatherly relationship towards their people, although they do not alwaysbehave like fathers towards them, look for implicit obedience from them."
"Can a mandarin be punished when he does wrong?" Leonard asked. "And what sort of dress does he wear?"
A MANDARIN WITH PEACOCK'S FEATHER.A MANDARIN WITH PEACOCK'S FEATHER.
"He can be punished when he does wrong; and as well as I can remember, those mandarins that I saw, who were in high office, wore a long, loose robe of blue silk, embroidered with gold threads. This reached to their ankles, being fastened round their waists with a belt. Over this was a violet tunic, coming just below the knees, which had very wide, long sleeves, usually worn turned back, but if not, hanging over the hands."
"Will you please go on about the religion now, father?" Sybil then said. "You had just told us that the Confucianists were taught that man was made good."
"Yes; and their worship is paid almost entirely to their ancestors, which worship they look upon as a continuation of the reverence they had been taught to show them while on earth. I will tell you more about ancestral worship presently.
"Many people, as you can well understand, were not satisfied with Confucianism as a religion, as it could not satisfy their spiritual wants, especially as the Pearly Emperor, or Supreme Ruler, generally looked upon as the highest divinity worshipped by the Chinese, might only be approached by the Emperor and his court; so another sect sprang up, having a philosopher named La-outze, who was born 604b.c., for its founder. He thought that to grow perfect he must seclude himself from other people, and in his retirement was always looking for the Taou-le, the meaning of which you will hardly understand—the cause or the end of all things. His followers are called Taouists. This philosopher says in his book that 'it is by stillness, and contemplation, and union with Taou, that virtue is to be achieved'—Taou here meaning a principle and a way. He said that virtue consisted in losing sight of oneself, and that man should love even his enemies, and go through life as if none of his possessions belonged to himself. The Taouists say that 'Taou is without substance, and eternal, and the universe coming from him exists in the silent presence of Taou everywhere,' and that only those who become very virtuous are happy.
"La-outze is now worshipped by the Taouists as thethird of a trinity of persons, called 'The Three Pure Ones.'
"He is said, when born, to have had long white hair, and is therefore represented as an old man, and called 'old boy.' The Chinese assert that his mother was fed with food from heaven, and that when he was born he jumped up into the air, and said, as he pointed with his left hand to heaven and his right hand to the earth, 'Heaven above, earth beneath: only Taou is honourable.' The Taouist trinity are supposed to live in the highest heaven; and Taouists used to spend a great deal of time in seeking for a drink that they thought would make them live for ever. Subduing evil is by some of them supposed to secure immortality to the soul.
"Their priests are often very ignorant men, but they are believed in by the people, and are employed by them to perform superstitious rites."
"Oh, father! Isn't it a dreadful pity that they should believe so many things like Christians, even in a trinity, and the duty of loving one's enemies, and only be heathens after all?"
"It is indeed; but the more we see of heathens, Sybil, the more we shall notice how they cannot help feeling after truth and grasping some parts of it, which seem as though they were a very necessity to religion. These Taouist priests are often called in by the people to exorcise, or drive away, evil spirits, to cure sick people and commune with the dead."
"Oh, father! I do so like this Peep-show. Please tell us now about the people of the other sect."
A BUDDHIST PRIEST.A BUDDHIST PRIEST.
"They are the Buddhists, who also worship a trinity; indeed, Taouists are thought to have taken that idea from them. As early as 250b.c.Buddhistmissionaries came over from India to China, but the religion did not really take root until an emperor named Hing, of the Han dynasty, introduced it, in the first century of the Christian era, about 66a.d.This emperor is said to have seen in a dream, in the year of our Lord 61, an image of a foreign god coming into his palace, and in consequence he was advised to adopt the religion of Buddha, when he sent to India for an idol and some priests. Towards the end of the thirteenth century there were more than 4,200 Buddhist temples in China, and more than 213,000 monks. The Buddhist trinity is called Pihte, or the Three Precious Ones: Buddha Past, Buddha Present, and Buddha Future, and dreadfully ugly idols they are. The Buddhist's idea of heaven is Nirvâna, or rest, or more properly speaking, extinction. The Chinese Buddhist thinks that a man possesses three souls or spirits, one of which accompanies the body to the grave, another passes into his ancestral tablet to be worshipped, and the third enters into one, or all, of the ten kingdoms of the Buddhistic hell, into which people pass after death, there to receive punishments according to the lives they have led upon earth. From the tenth kingdom they pass back to earth, to inhabit the form of a man, beast, bird, or insect, as they may have deserved, unless during life a man has attained to a certain state of perfection, when he mounts to the highest heaven, and perhaps becomes a god or buddha. But even from the Western Paradise a spirit has sometimes to return to earth. Should a man have been good in all the various lives that he has lived, he is supposed to attain, I believe, to this Nirvâna, or extinction."
"What a wonderful belief!" Sybil said. "So they cannot believe at all in the immortality of the soul?"
"No, they do not."
"I should like to see a Buddhist priest very much," Leonard said.
ENTRANCE TO A BUDDHIST MONASTERY.ENTRANCE TO A BUDDHIST MONASTERY.
"I dare say you will see a good many when you get to China. They live together in monasteries, sometimes in great numbers, and these monasteries are prettily situated, surrounded by lakes and gardens. They consist of a number of small buildings, to the principal of which is a large entrance, that has inscriptions on either side of the gateway."
A MONASTERY.A MONASTERY.
"Are the priests very good men?" asked Leonard.
A GONG.A GONG.
"Very often, I am afraid, just the reverse; but this is not to be wondered at, for criminals in China, to escape from justice, will sometimes shave their heads, and seek refuge by becoming Buddhist priests. When they take their vows—some taking nine, some twelve—for each one a cut is made in their arms to help them to remember it. Some of the vows resemble the commandments setting forth our duty towards our neighbour. A Buddhist priest, in China, wears a wide turn-over collar; when he officiates he often dresses in a yellow robe made of silk or cotton,but he is only allowed to wear silk when he does officiate. At other times his garments are of white or ash colour, or he wears a long, grey cowl with flowing sleeves. Buddhist priests shave all their hair two or three times a month. They think it is of great use to repeat their classics very often to the gods, and keep an account of the number of times they say them on their beads. I fancy they use brooms wherewith to sprinkle holy water. There are four special commandments for Buddhists, both priests and people: not to destroy animal life, not to steal, not to speak falsely, and not to drink wine. In monasteries the refectories of the priests are very large, and they have all to sit at dinner, so that the abbot, who is at their head, can see their faces. They are called to breakfast and dinner by a gong, where they have to appear in their cowls. Gongs are very much used in China, and are to be seen at all the temples. When the priest, who presides, comes in, they all rise, and putting their hands together, say grace. After the food has been so blessed, some is put outside as an offering to the fowls of the air. During dinner the priests may not speak, and on the walls of the refectory are boards, on which are written warnings, such as not to eat too quickly; also the rules of the monastery."
"That would not have done for you, Leonard, when you thought you would be late for school, and gobbled your dinner anyhow," said Sybil.
"How many gods have the Chinese?" asked Leonard.
WORSHIP IN A LAMASARY, BUDDHIST TEMPLE.WORSHIP IN A LAMASARY, BUDDHIST TEMPLE.
"So many that it would be impossible to say, and the Celestials (as the Chinese are often called, from naming their country the Celestial Land) are notparticular how they worship them; Taouists, for instance, worshipping those who are peculiarly Buddhist divinities, and Buddhists invoking, in return, their gods. Indeed, the three religions have so borrowed from one another, and people have believed so much as they liked, that the Chinese themselves often do not know to which religion they belong, and are either all or none, pretty well as they choose. The Buddhism of China is not at all the pure Buddhism, and has been much corrupted by its professors."
"Who was the founder of Buddhism?"
"An Indian prince, of beautiful character, born 620b.c., and called Shâkyamuni Buddha, who left wealth and luxury to go about relieving suffering wherever he found it. After he died his followers believed that he was transformed into a god, having three different forms."
"Tell us some of the gods, please."
"A god of rain; a god of wind; a god of thunder; a god of wealth, the latter worshipped very much by tradesmen; a god of thieves; a goddess of thunder; a guardian goddess of women and little children, called Kum-fa, whose ten attendants watch over children, helping them to eat, and teaching them to smile and walk; a god of wine; a god of fire; a goddess of mercy; a goddess of sailors; a goddess of children, called 'Mother'; a god of the kitchen; a god of measles, a god of small-pox. Then the Confucianists worship two stars, who are supposed to look after literature and drawing, the former called the god of literature. And besides household gods belonging to every family, there are a god of the passing year, and numerous others. Many of the gods are deified persons who once lived on earth."
TEMPLE OF THE MOON, PEKING.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 principally 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 pass 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 gods 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 meetto 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 gods?"
"They have been trained to do so. They feel, I suppose, that they must offer worship, and until a real knowledge of the true God 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 nobody, except her own mother, in the whole world to compare with her father.
Decoration: Landscape
CHAPTER IV.
CHINESE CHILDHOOD.
"IFORGOT 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 goddess of children called 'Mother,' and thank-offerings are on this day presented to the goddess."
"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 passed 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.
YUEN-SHUH, A LITTLE STUDENT.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 pass, 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.
A CHINESE SCHOOL.A CHINESE SCHOOL.
His father, having promised to do so, went onto 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 therestof their lives."
"And they can never have an alphabet to learn," Sybil said, "when they first go to school, as there is not one."
A VILLAGE SCHOOLMASTER.A VILLAGE SCHOOLMASTER.
"No; instead of letters and words, they have to learn, and master, characters. In some schools children learn names first; in others they have reading lessons, where all the sentences consist of three characters. As soon as possible they are set to learn the classic on 'Filial Piety.'"
"Now, father, will you please describe a Chinese house to us?"
"Those of the richer classes are surrounded by a high wall, and composed of a number of rooms, generally on one floor. In large cities some houses have another storey; but the Chinese think it 'unlucky' to live above ground."
"The Chinese seem to think everything either lucky or unlucky," Sybil said; "it does seem silly. I do not wonder that you always told me not to say that word. I don't think I shall ever want to say it again now; and I used to say it rather often, usen't I? But I did not mean to interrupt you, so please go on now."
"Some houses are very large, which they have to be, in order to accommodate several branches of the same family, who often live together in different parts of them.
"There are generally three doors of entrance to a house, of which the principal, in the centre, leads to the reception hall, into which visitors are shown. I have seen the walls of rooms hung with white silk or satin, on which sentences of good advice were written. All sorts of beautiful lanterns hang from the sitting-room ceilings, sometimes by silk cords. The furniture consists principally of chairs, tables, pretty screens and cabinets, with many porcelain ornaments, and fans are very numerous in a Chinese household. Most houses havevery beautiful gardens; even the poor try to have their houses surrounded by as much ground as possible. Many houses also have verandahs, where the Chinaman likes to smoke his evening pipe. Indeed, women, even ladies, smoke pipes in China. I have a picture of a verandah scene in the south of China."
"Are these people rich or poor?" Sybil asked.
"Certainly not rich, but also not very poor."
"You were saying the other day, father, that Chinese people smoke something else besides tobacco?" Leonard then asked.
"Opium."
"What is opium?"
"The juice of the poppy, which, after being made into a solid form, is boiled down with water."
"Why did you say that opium-smoking was so dreadful?"
"You shall hear all about it, and then judge for yourself. The opium-smoker, whilst engaged with his pipe, thinks of, and cares for, nothing else in the whole world besides, and generally lies down to give himself up to its more full enjoyment. Holding his pipe over the flame of a small oil-lamp beside him, he lights the opium, and then gently draws in the vapour which proceeds from it. Sometimes people smoke in their own houses, and sometimes they resort to horrid places regularly set apart for opium-smoking. In Hong-Kong, where we are going, there will be many an opium-smoker who will buy this drug in quantities when he cannot even afford to purchase clothing.
FAMILY SCENE—AFTER DINNERFAMILY SCENE—AFTER DINNER
"If a man make a practice of smoking opium at stated times, even should these times not be very frequent, he so acquires the habit of smoking, that if, when thepipe be due it is not forthcoming, he is quite unable to do his work, and wastes all his time thinking of and longing for his pipe. The habit is sometimes acquired in less than a fortnight. Opium may first be taken in a small quantity to cure toothache; the small quantity leads to large quantities; the large quantities, or even small ones taken regularly, lead at last to the man becoming an habitual opium-smoker: and this means that the victim's health becomes injured, and that he is unfit for any work. If he then leave off his opium, he becomes ill, has dreadful pain, which sometimes lasts till he smokes again; he has no appetite for food, cannot sleep at night, and looks haggard and miserable. Sometimes if opium cannot be procured by him he dies.
"And these men make themselves slaves for life to this horrid drug, knowing before they touch it what it will do for them.
"Opium-smoking makes rich men poor, honest men thieves, and poor people even sell their children to obtain the drug."
"And can't they be cured, father?" Sybil asked.
"Medical aid has been brought in to help them, but it generally fails; and every now and then we hear of an opium-smoker becoming a Christian and then overcoming the vice, but this is also very rare indeed. And what does this teach us, children?"
They thought. "Never to acquire bad habits, I suppose," said Sybil, "for fear they should grow upon us."
HABITUAL OPIUM-SMOKERS.HABITUAL OPIUM-SMOKERS.
"Yes; and because they do grow upon us. Everything to which we very much accustom ourselves grows into a habit; therefore it is so very important for both Chinese and English, for both grown-up and littlepeople, to cultivate good habits. And more especially is this important in the case of young people, because so many of our habits, which remain with us and influence our whole after-life, are formed in our childish days."
"And do people really sell their children?"
"They do, indeed; and some children are so filial that they will even sell themselves for the good of their parents. There is very little that a Chinaman will not do for a parent. One of their superstitions is that if a father or mother be ill, and the child should cut away some of its own flesh to mix in the parent's medicine, a cure would be effected; and children have been known to cut pieces, for this purpose, out of their own arms."
"What would happen," Sybil asked, "if a child were to do anything very dreadful to a parent in China?"
"If a son kill a parent, he is put to death, his house is torn down, his nearest neighbours are punished, and his schoolmaster is put to death; the magistrate of the district would also suffer, and the governor of the province would go down in rank."
"How unfair!" Leonard exclaimed, "when only one person did it."
"Why does all that happen?" Sybil asked.
"To show how great the man's sin is. The schoolmaster is punished because it is thought that he did not bring up his pupil properly. Of course, it is very unfair, but the Chinese are often very cruel in their chastisments, and many criminals prefer death to some of the other punishments. A great many also suffer capital punishment; sometimes as many as ten thousand people in a year."
"Then, when children do wrong, their parents and schoolmasters are blamed?"
"Very often their faults are attributed to their bringing-up."
"Oh! oughtn't we to be careful, then, Leonard? Fancy when we do wrong people blaming father or mother!"
Leonard was then very anxious to hear more about Chinese punishments, so his father told him an occurrence that he had once witnessed.
"A very usual way of punishing small offences," he began, "is by beating with a bamboo; and whenever a mandarin finds that any one, under his jurisdiction, has transgressed, he can use the bamboo. Parents use it on their children even when they are thirty years of age. The poor Chinese culprits used to be subject to very horrible tortures, such as having their fingers or ankles squeezed until they made confession; but I believe a good many of the worst tortures have now been done away with. One in common use is the canque, which is a collar made of heavy wood, with a hole in the centre for the head to come through. It is fastened round the neck, and is worn from one to three months, preventing its prisoner from lying down day or night. The captive remains in the street instead of in prison, and is dependent upon his friends to feed him."
"What a shame!" Leonard said. "I'd like to be a magistrate in China, to put that sort of cruelty down."