General Tcheng-Ki-Tong and his book on China--The monuments of
China--Those the Chinese delight to honour--A Chinese heroine--Ingredients
of the "Cup of Immortality"--Avenues of colossal statues and monsters
in cemeteries--Imperial edict in honour of K'wo-Fan--Proclamation
of the eighteenth century--The Emperor takes his people's sins
upon himself--Reasons for Chinese indifference to matters of
faith--Lao-Tsze, or the old philosopher--His early life--His book, the
Tao-Teh-King--His theory of the creation--Affinity of his doctrine with
Christianity--Quotations from his book.
General Tcheng-Ki-Tong, who lived so long in France and married a French
lady, although rumour says he already had a wife in China, wrote a very
interesting but far from exhaustive book, with the title, _The Chinese
described by themselves_. He said nothing in it of the worship of great
men and of certain animals in his native land, nor did he refer to the way
in which acts of virtue and of courage are rewarded there.
I will now endeavour to supplement the information given us by the learned
general. In addition to the statues erected in China, as in the chief
cities of Europe, to every man who has in any way distinguished himself,
triumphal arches are set up in memory of those who have done heroic
deeds, whether in the privacy of home life or in public. These arches are
known as _Pai-lans_, or Honorary Portals, and as a rule they have three
arcades, sometimes made of very fine stone worked with considerable skill,
and surmounted by a roof of varnished canvas with the corners gracefully
turned upwards as is the fashion in China. There are two kinds of
monuments in the Celestial Empire, one of very ornate, the other of simple
construction.
[Illustration: FIG. 22.--GENERAL TCHENG-KI-TONG.]
Widows who refuse to marry again; virgins who have kept their vows of
chastity till their death; men who have distinguished themselves in
science, literature, or philosophy; diplomatists who by their skill in
deception have mystified their colleagues as well as foreign ministers,
and thus won a reputation for great wisdom; soldiers who have fought
valiantly for their country; women who have committed suicide after a
lost battle; wealthy men who have given much away in charity; families who
have lived for many generations in one house; old men who can assemble
in the home of their ancestors four living and healthy representatives
of four generations, are honoured by the erection of Honorary Portals,
which are also set up in general commemoration of any victory or series of
victories in war.
In the centre of the larger and grander monuments are inscribed three
words, signifying Faith, Submission, and Justice.
[Sidenote: MONUMENTS TO WIDOWS]
The Imperial Government of China goes out of its way to honour certain
acts of abstinence, such as the refusal of a widow to marry again,
erecting a monument to her when she has been true to her resolve till she
is fifty years old, and has lived alone for at least twenty years. I must
add that the Emperor himself contributes forty piastres, or about eight
English pounds, to the expense of erecting monuments in honour of women
who have been true to the memory of their husbands; he also gives a roll
of silk to each inconsolable widow, and what is more, he has written a
poem on widowhood. Who shall say after all this that the Chinese are not
jealous of marital faithfulness? Monuments to widows are more imposing
than any others, and bear an inscription signifying Chastity and Purity.
An affianced couple, who, though engaged in early childhood, have been
prevented through some local rebellion, or through a foreign war, from
accomplishing their union before they are fifty years old, are honoured in
a similar manner.
A monument with the inscription "Chastity and Filial Piety" may be erected
to glorify a Chinese mother, who having borne one child, takes a vow never
to have another, in order to be free to devote herself to the needs of her
poor parents. Similar honour may be done to young boys or girls who allow
a piece of flesh to be taken from their arms or thighs, under the belief
that this flesh mixed with certain ingredients will do their suffering
parents good. The Imperial Government both approves and rewards the bloody
sacrifice, the motive of which is that filial love held in such high
esteem throughout the whole Celestial Empire.
On certain monuments with three arcades an inscription maybe read,
signifying, "Joy and Gladness to the Benevolent." Monuments such as these
are erected in honour of some Chinese who has brought up orphans as if
they were his own children, or of some rich man who has given a large sum
of money towards the making of roads or bridges. A kind-hearted employer
who pays poor men for collecting the bones scattered about the cemeteries
and giving them reverent burial, is also often rewarded by the erection of
a monument to his memory.
Those of the Celestials who distinguish themselves by charity, but who
do not spend large sums of money, receive tablets of wood, on which are
inscribed pious sentences composed by the Son of Heaven, that is to say,
the Emperor. Many of these tablets, which answer the same purpose as did
the Greek _stelæ_, are to be seen in the rooms known as the Halls of the
Ancestors in the houses of the Chinese, especially those of the wealthy
mandarins. They constitute regular patents of nobility, and are not won by
favour or intrigue, as are so many titles in Europe, but by real acts of
charity performed by their owners.
Three brothers, who have all passed their eightieth year and are still in
good health, can have a monument erected announcing this fact, and so can
husbands or wives who attain the age of one hundred.
[Sidenote: A CHINESE HEROINE]
At Amoy, in the province of Pecheli, are two monuments with arcades
erected to the memory of the Chinese women who flung themselves into the
wells of their houses when they heard the shouts of the English soldiers
and sailors entering the town.
This act of despair is explained by the fact that the Chinese themselves
give no quarter when they enter any place as victors; the men are
strangled, and the women become the slaves of those who take them
prisoners. In the very centre of Canton is a temple remarkable alike for
its size and beauty. It was built in honour of the memory of a great
Chinese lady, who in December 1857 committed suicide when the English
and French took the city. This heroine, the wife of Pun-Yu, one of the
chief magistrates at Canton, learning that the allies already occupied
the northern portion of the town, put on her most magnificent apparel,
and summoning all her servants, gave to each a parting present. She then
killed herself by drinking what the bonzes call the "cup of immortality,"
a very strong poison, containing amongst other ingredients opium and the
droppings of peacocks. This potent poison has often been given to emperors
under pretext of making them immortal, but really with a view to getting
rid of them.
There is yet another mode of honouring the illustrious departed. The
children of civil and military officers have the right of erecting avenues
of colossal figures opposite the tombs of their parents; these figures
representing giants or monsters. The length of the avenues and the size
of the figures is regulated by law, according to the grade of those they
are intended to honour. The state itself pays for these quaint memorials,
unless the necessary sum has been raised by voluntary subscriptions.
On the death of any illustrious soldier or politician whose firmness
has added to the stability of the throne, the Emperor always hastens to
give publicity to his grief at the public loss, and his gratitude for
the services rendered by the deceased. Here is a specimen of an Imperial
proclamation such as is frequently issued:
[Sidenote: AN IMPERIAL EDICT]
Imperial Edict.
"The deceased K'wo-Fan was a man of great knowledge, of varied talent, of
profound penetration, of stainless morality, and of incorruptible honesty.
He left the schools with the title of doctor; his merits were discovered
by the Emperor Tao-K'an, who promoted him to the rank of Chingerh
(colonel).
"In the reign of Hsien-Feng, he was commissioned to raise an army in
Hunan, and after the battles in which he was victorious over the Tai-Ping
rebels, he received the praises of the Emperor and the thanks of the whole
country. It was then that my predecessor appointed him to the vice-royalty
of the two Kiangs, and named him Generalissimo of the Imperial forces.
During my own reign I made him chief Secretary of State. He became to me
a second self; he was my life, my heart, and my backbone. I therefore
bestowed on him the title of hereditary count, and I authorized him to
wear the double peacock's feather. I had hoped that he would live long
for me to heap fresh favours upon him, so that the news of his death has
filled me with sorrow and dismay. I wish that according to custom three
thousand taëls[1] should be spent on his funeral. A jarful of wine shall
also be poured out on his tomb by General Mutengah, chief of the Manchu
garrison at Nanking. Two tablets of stone, bearing his name, shall be
erected, one at Nanking in the Temple of the Loyal and the Illustrious,
the other in Pekin in the Pantheon of the Wise and Good.
[1] A taël is worth about five shillings.
"I wish the life of K'wo-Fan to be written and given into the care of the
Imperial historiographers, that the memory of a life so beautiful may be
preserved in the national annals. His son will inherit the title of count,
and I give him dispensation from an audience.
"I appoint Ho-Ching, lieutenant-general of Kiang-Su, to be instructor of
the children and grand-children of the deceased. A token of my munificence
will be given to them, that they may know how my throne remembers and
honours a loyal servant.
"Let this edict be respected!"
The homage rendered to heroes, wise men, and philanthropists, has its
origin in the religious principles inculcated by Chinese philosophers.
These philosophers were very numerous in China in past days, and it is
only possible to give an account here of the most celebrated of them.
Some twenty-three centuries before the Christian era the Chinese simply
worshipped one Supreme Being, first under the vague name of Thian, or
Heaven; later under the more personal title of Ti Shang, or the Great One.
Gradually, however, this monotheism was succeeded by the deification of
the heavenly bodies, each with a priest of its own, whose business it was
to advise those responsible for the government of China. These priests,
who became in course of time extremely powerful, won their influence
through the study of astronomy; but as that influence sometimes ran
counter to the wishes of the emperors and bid fair to supersede their
power, they eventually suppressed the entire hierarchy. In Europe this
interference with the spiritual guides of the people would have aroused a
passion of fanaticism, and have resulted in massacres and religious wars,
but nothing of the kind occurred in China, for there the martyr's palm and
crown are never coveted, and religious zeal never produces the terrible
results with which the student of European history is familiar. Truly, the
Celestials are to be congratulated on the calmness with which they accept
what they consider the inevitable.
[Sidenote: A WISE EMPEROR]
The following characteristic epitome of the religious ideas in vogue
amongst the Chinese in B.C. 1760, is taken from a proclamation issued to
his people by the Emperor then on the throne:
"Shang-Ti, the supreme ruler, has given reason to man, and if he listens
to its dictates his spirit will exist for ever, but if he does not he will
revert to nothingness."
"The ruler of Hia," continues this old-world proclamation, "extinguished
in his soul the light of reason, and inflicted a thousand ills upon the
people in all the States of the Empire. Oppressed and unable longer to
endure such tyranny, the people made known to the spirits of high and low
degree, that they were unjustly dealt with. The eternal reason of Heaven
gives happiness to the virtuous, and misery to the vicious and depraved,
and this is why Heaven has visited Hia with all manner of calamities to
make his crimes manifest to all.
"As a result of this, all unworthy though I be, I have felt it my duty to
conform to the unmistakable and terrible decrees of Heaven. I dared not
leave such great crimes unpunished, but I did dare to take a black bullock
to serve as the sacrifice I felt bound to offer. I ventured to appeal to
the august Heaven and to the divine ruler of the earth.... To each of you
I have assigned the States he is to govern. Beware of obeying unjust laws
or adopting unjust customs. Do not fall into the mistakes which result
from idleness, nor yield to love of pleasure. By observing and obeying
wise and equitable laws, you will be following the commands of Heaven....
All is sifted in the heart of Shang-Ti. The crimes any or all of you
commit will be visited on me alone, but if I do evil you will have no part
in it."
In this quaint address is shadowed forth the beautiful idea that the
Emperor is responsible to God for his people, though they are not
responsible for him. A similar thought is apparent in the following
quotation from a kind of penitential psalm which the same Emperor is said
to have composed on the occasion of a famine which decimated China during
his reign. Feeling that he must have done something to arouse the wrath
of Heaven, he cut off the long hair and nails which are the special pride
of highly-born Celestials, and laying aside his Imperial robes, wrapped
himself in the skins of beasts. Thus disguised he went forth alone to a
mountain and vented his grief and remorse for having:
1. Neglected to instruct his subjects as he ought to have done.
2. For failing to win them back to their duty when they had departed from
it.
3. For having built grand palaces, and incurred other expenses by
unnecessary building.
4. For having too many wives, and loving them too much.
5. For caring too much for the delicacies of the table.
6. And lastly, for having lent too ready an ear to the flattery of his
favourites, and of certain high officials of his court.
[Sidenote: LAO-TSZE]
[Illustration: FIG. 23.--LAO-TSZE.
(_Univers Pittoresque._)]
Another significant and noteworthy fact brought out alike in the
proclamation and confession of this enlightened ruler is, that there
is no idea of any intermediary being necessary between him and God. It
is the same to this day, no priest intervenes between the Emperor and
Shang-Ti, and the bonzes who spend their lives studying the moral precepts
of Lao-Tsze and Confucius are merely thinkers who never interfere in
affairs of State or with the religious teaching of the people. Hence the
total indifference of the Chinese to matters of faith; they believe in
free-will, and act in accordance with that belief.
In the sixth and seventh centuries before our era the Chinese Empire was
in a condition little short of anarchy. The wealthy were depraved, the
poor were steeped in misery, and everywhere injustice and oppression
were the rule. The emperors frittered away their lives in their harems,
giving no thought to the welfare of their people. It was time indeed for
a reformer to arise, and the first to appear was the great Lao-Tsze, who
is supposed to have been born about 604 B.C., fifty years before the yet
greater Kung-Fu-tze, or, as he is called by Europeans, Confucius.
[Sidenote: LIFE OF LAO-TSZE]
The state of the Celestial Empire when Lao-Tsze first began to inculcate
his peculiar doctrines was corrupt in the extreme, greatly resembling
that of the Roman Empire in the time of Nero, when the disciples of Christ
preached equality and contempt for riches, striving to win souls from
the awful depravity and sensuality of the heathen world, and to teach
them to aspire to an ideal and divine love and to the immaterial joys of
the Christian heaven. Lao-Tsze, who was to inaugurate the great reform
completed later by Confucius, began his public career as curator of the
library of the King of the Tcheou, in what was then the city of Lob, not
far from that of Lob-yang in the present province of Honan. His real name
is supposed to have been Erh-Li, but that of Lao-Tsze, signifying the old
philosopher, has entirely superseded it. Whilst keeper of the royal books
he is said to have read many of the works of Indian philosophers, and from
them to have imbibed the principles embodied in his own immortal work,
called the _Tao-Teh-King_, the exact meaning of the title of which has
been so much discussed, but is generally translated the "Book of Supreme
reason and virtue." If, as may well be, the word _Tao_ is identical with
the Greek Θεος and with the Latin _Deos_, both of which mean God, then the
proper rendering of _Tao-Teh-King_ is the "Book of God and of reason."
However that may be, it is certain that its author was a true theist,
rightly considered the founder of Theism, which is one of the three
doctrines held in equal honour by the Celestials, the other two being
Confucianism and Buddhism.
Many legends have gathered about the memory of Lao-Tsze, and the young
Confucius is said to have met the old philosopher more than once. The
former is reported to have said after an interview in Pekin with his
forerunner: "To-day I have seen Lao-Tsze, and can only liken him to a
dragon who mounts aloft in the clouds, I cannot tell how, and rises to
heaven." Another story is that the older Chinese philosopher travelled in
India and there met Pythagoras, the great mathematician and believer in
the transmigration of souls; but if so, there is no trace of the influence
of the Greek in the _Tao-Teh-King_, which must have been written before
its author left China. As a matter of fact, very little is really known of
the life of Lao-Tsze, but some idea of his peculiar views can be obtained
from the following quotations from his book:
"God," he says, "is spiritual and material, so that He has two kinds of
existence. We emanate in the first instance from the former or spiritual
nature, to enter later into the second. Our aim upon earth should be to
return to the first, or spiritual nature. To succeed in this we must
refrain from the pleasures of the world, control our passions, and
practise boundless charity."
It is the advocacy of this boundless charity which justifies us in
comparing the doctrine of Lao-Tsze with primitive Christianity. Before,
however, we give proofs of this affinity it will be interesting to note
how the old philosopher proves his assertion, that all the material forms
of nature are but emanations from the divine.
[Sidenote: THE _TAO-TEH-KING_]
In the twenty-fifth section of the _Tao-Teh-King_ we read:
"Beings of corporeal form were made from matter which was at first
in a chaotic condition.
"Before the heaven and the earth came into being, there was nothing
but a profound silence, a boundless void, without any perceptible
form.
"It[2] existed alone, infinite, immutable.
"It moved about in the illimitable space without undergoing any
change.
"It may be looked upon as the mother of the Universe.
"I am ignorant of its name, but I call it the Tao, by which I mean
supreme and universal Reason.
"Constrained to make a name for it, I designate it by its
attributes, and call it grand, lofty.
"Having recognized that it is grand and lofty, I add that it is
all-embracing.
"Having recognized that it is infinite, I designate it as unlike
myself....
"The earth is ruled by Heaven.
"Heaven is ruled by the Tao or universal Reason.
"Universal Reason is a law unto itself"
[2] Lao-Tsze speaks of the Supreme Being as "it," not "he," and implies
that his Tao, whatever he signified by it, may have existed even before
God.--Trans.
These quotations cannot fail to give an exalted idea of the principles
advocated by the Chinese sage. They even shadow forth, to some extent, the
doctrine of the Gospel, which was not preached until 600 years after the
death of the author of the _Tao-Teh-King_; but the extract I give now
from the forty-ninth section of the book on Supreme Reason is yet more
strikingly significant:
"The heart of a holy man is not inexorable.
"His heart is in sympathy with the hearts of all other men.
"A virtuous man should be treated according to his virtue.
"A vicious man should be treated as if he also were virtuous.
Herein is wisdom and virtue."
Again in the sixteenth section we read:
"To be just, and equitable to all, is to have the attributes of God.
"Having the attributes of God is to be of the divine nature.
"To be of the divine nature is to succeed in becoming identified
with the Tao or the supreme and universal Reason.
"To be identified with the supreme Reason is to win eternal life.
"Even when the body is put to death, there is no need to have any
fear of annihilation."
So much for Lao-Tsze's belief in the immortality of the soul; now note
in what touching terms he expresses his compassion for the unhappy and
unfortunate:
"If the people suffer from hunger, it is because they are weighed
down by taxes too heavy for them.
"This is the cause of their misery. . . .
"If the people are difficult to govern, it is because they are
oppressed by work too hard for them. . . .
"This is the cause of their insubordination.
"If the people are indifferent to the approach of death, it is
because they find it too difficult to obtain sufficient nourishment.
"That is why they die with so little regret."