BUDHISM--TOMBS OF ANCESTORS--CEREMONIES--ORIGIN
OF TUMULI OR TOMBS--SACRIFICES TO
CONFUCIUS--PAN-HWNY-PAN--INFANTICIDE--CHARITABLE
INSTITUTIONS--GOVERNMENT GRATUITIES.
[Sidenote: BUDHISM.]
Having given a description of the principal temples, &c., I shall now
state some particulars relative to the introduction of the Budhism
religion into China, and show what are the principles professed by its
disciples, at the present day.
In the sixty-fifth year of the Christian era, the emperor Ming-te
invited the first priests; they were probably natives of Ceylon.--The
invitation was given in consequence of dreams, which informed him that
the “Holy One” was in the West.
The ancient Chinese worshippers retained some knowledge of a Supreme
Being, yet the worship they paid to the visible heavens, the earth,
rivers, bulls, and above all, to dragons and the gods of lands, was
open idolatry. Subsequently, Confucius arose; he inculcated the
necessity of reverencing those whom the ancients had worshipped.
His wish was to promote the social happiness of his countrymen,
independently of the influence which religion exerts over a nation; his
great aim was the introduction of decorum and order into all the duties
of life; and to the strict observance of _external_ ceremonies, he
reduced the whole of religion. His system being found very deficient,
Taou-tze, the mystic philosopher, stepped forward to supply the wants
of the multitude by his abstruse speculations. According to his system,
all nature is filled with demons and genii, who constantly influence
the fate of man. He increased the number of idol gods to an enormous
amount, and attempted to define with scholastic precision, their nature
and offices. His demonology wanted perspicuity and contained too many
palpable absurdities to be generally received. Some of the emperors,
though declaring themselves believers in Taouism, could never introduce
a general acquiescence in doctrines which no one understood. China
wanted a creed which every man might understand; and the Budhists
supplied the desideratum;--accommodating their doctrines to all
existing superstitions, they opened the door to every description of
convert, who might retain as many of his old prejudices as he chose:
they were not rigorous in enforcing the obligations of morality; to
expiate sins, offerings to the idols and priests were sufficient. A
temple built in honour of any idol and richly endowed, would suffice
to blot out every stain of guilt and serve as a portal to the blessed
mansions of Budha. When death approached, they promised to each of
their votaries, speedy promotion in the scale of metempsychosis until
he should be absorbed in Nirupan or Nirvana--nonentity. With these
prospects, the poor deluded victim left the world. To facilitate his
release from purgatory, the ghostly hypocrites said mass, and supplied
the wants of the hungry departed spirit with rich offerings of food, of
which the latter enjoyed only the odour, while the priests devoured the
substance. As Confucius had raised the veneration for ancestors into
idolatrous worship, these priests were ready to perform their pious
offices before the tablets of the dead. Thus they became ingratiated
with the credulous multitude, who were too happy to avail themselves
of their cheap services. But notwithstanding the accommodating spirit
of their creed, the Chinese government has at times disapproved of
it. As the sanctity of marriage has been acknowledged in China from
time immemorial and almost every person at years of maturity has been
obliged to enter into that state, the celibacy of the priesthood of
Budha was considered as a very dangerous custom.
Budha regarded contemplation and exemption from worldly cares, as the
nearest approach to bliss; his followers, therefore, in imitation of
their master, passed and inculcated lives of indolence, and practised
begging, as the proper means of maintaining themselves. This mode of
livelihood was diametrically opposed to the political institutions of
China, where even the emperor does not disdain to plough. It was also
in opposition to the actual condition and wants of the people; a system
of idleness, in the immense population of the empire, would have been
followed by actual starvation, and a consequent serious diminution in
the number of inhabitants; for it is by the utmost exertion that they
are able to subsist. These serious objections to the foreign creed,
furnished its enemies with weapons by which to destroy it. It was
proscribed as a dangerous heresy, and a cruel persecution followed; but
it had taken too deep root to be easily eradicated. Among some of the
emperors too, it found abettors and disciples. Yet it never became a
religion of the state, nor were its priests ever able to exercise any
permanent influence over the populace. The Chinese are too rational
a people to believe, implicitly, all the Budhistic fables, nor can
they persuade themselves that the numerous images are gods. When we
add to this, their national apathy towards every thing connected with
religion, they being entirely engrossed with the things of this life,
we can easily account for their disesteem of Budhism. Nor can we wonder
that they worship at one time, the divinities they despise at another,
for ancient custom bids them follow in the track of their ancestors,
without inquiry or doubt, even when they cannot but ridicule its
absurdities.
The priests of Budha are a very despised class, and spring chiefly
from the lowest and most ignorant of the people. Their morals are
notoriously bad, and pinching poverty has made them cringing and
servile. They wander abroad in search of some trifling gift, and often
encounter a very harsh refusal.
Those temples which are well endowed by their founders, are crowded
with priests, so that only a few among the higher orders of them
can be rich. Stupidity, with a few exceptions, is their reigning
characteristic; neither skill nor learning is to be found among
them. Budha seems to have intimated that stupidity brings the votary
nearer to the blissful state of apathy, and therefore a knowledge
of his institutions is considered as the only requisite to form an
accomplished priest. The Budhists have no schools or seminaries, for
the instruction of their believers, seldom strive for literary honours,
and are even excluded from the list of candidates, so long as they
remain priests. Few among them are serious in the practice of their own
religion; they are in the most complete sense of the words, sullen and
misanthropic, and live a very secluded life. But religious abstraction
and deep contemplation, with utter oblivion of existence, appear to
be out of vogue. The halls of contemplation are the haunts of every
vice. Such effects must follow where the mind is unoccupied, and the
hands unemployed in any good work. The nuns are less numerous and more
industrious than the priests. It is a general observation that nearly
all the temples of Budha are in a dilapidated state; the contributions
of devotees not meeting the expenses of repairs. These erections are
very numerous; there is scarcely a small village that has not one, and
few romantic and beautiful spots can be found free from these seats of
idolatry.
The similarity of the rites of this superstition with those of papacy,
are striking: every one who visits the monasteries can at once discover
the resemblance. That they should count their prayers by means of a
rosary, and chant masses both for the living and the dead, live in a
state of celibacy and shave their hair, &c., might perhaps be accounted
for by a mere coincidence of errors into which men are prone to fall;
but their divine adoration of Teenhow, “the queen of heaven,” must be a
tenet engrafted upon Budhism from foreign traditions. We are unable to
fix the exact period at which this deity was adopted. There is a legend
of modern date among the people of Farh-keen, which tells us that she
was a virgin of that province, who, in a dream, saw her kindred in
danger of being wrecked, and boldly rescued them; but this affords no
satisfactory solution; neither is “the queen of heaven,” among the
deities which the Siamese Budhists worship, though they possess the
whole orthodox code of demons. It is probable that some degenerate
Nestorian Christians amalgamated with their faith and ceremonies, the
prevailing errors of China, and persuaded the priests of Budha to adopt
many of their rites.
Though the Siamese priesthood resembles the papal clergy, it does not
exhibit so striking a similarity as the Chinese. Moreover, the Budhists
of China have received all the sages which have been canonized by the
emperors or by public credulity. Mr. Gutzlaff says he saw, in one
instance, a marble bust of Napoleon, which they had placed in a temple,
and before which they burned incense; hence it would not be surprising
if they had also adopted among their gods so conspicuous an object
of worship as the “virgin,” who was adored by so many millions of
Christians. The present dynasty seems to have declared itself in favour
of the great Da-lai-lama of Thibet. As the Mongols on the northern
frontier are much devoted to the rites of Shamanism, and worship its
presiding deity, it was perhaps with a view to conciliate the good
will and keep in subjection these wild hordes, that the preference
was manifested. The religion of these barbarians being a modification
of Budhism, we might expect that the Chinese government would equally
extend its benevolence to the Budhist of China. Such does not appear
to be the fact; they are tolerated but receive no stated support from
the government; to some temples the emperors may extend his individual
charity, but this is not governmental patronage. If the high offices
of the state occasionally favour this sect, they never openly avow it;
such a disclosure would derogate from their fame and expose them to the
ridicule of their colleagues. In the midst of all these difficulties
a numerous priesthood do find subsistence. On certain festivals the
temples are crowded to excess, and the exclamation, “O-me-to-fuh” is
familiar to the ear of every one who visits them. I have thus given
a sketch of Budhism, a religion which strikes at the root of human
society, in enjoining celibacy as the nearest approach to perfection,
and in commanding its disciples to abandon relatives and friends,
without fulfilling their duties as citizens, parents and children.
We are bound to concede that this unnatural restraint is the source
of vice and crime; at the same time we must in justice admit that
Budhism does not sanction shocking rites, or Bacchanalian orgies, like
other idolatrous systems in Asia; nor have we to complain of that
indecency in its idol exhibitions, which is common to the religion
of the Hindoos; the wooden deities are hideous, but never repulsive
to the feelings of modesty. The temples are open to all, and serve
occasionally for theatres, gambling-houses and taverns. The Chinese
Budhists are a temporizing sect; their abstinence from animal food is
not very strict. They seldom defend their idols, or appear much annoyed
when they are treated with contempt;--their toleration arises from
indifference; all religions, with them, are equally safe, but theirs
is the best. They have no desire to proselyte, their numbers being
already too great, and are far from spiritualizing their idolatrous
systems. They talk of hungry demons and of the spiritual presence of
the idols in their statues, but this is all. To assert they adore one
Supreme Being in their idolatrous representations of his attributes, is
to state an opinion that never found a place in their thoughts, or in
their canonical works. They are without God in the world, and estranged
from the divine life, worshipping the works of their own hands, to the
disgrace of human reason.
[Sidenote: CEREMONIES.]
Having previously alluded to the superstitious rites performed by the
Chinese, at the tombs of their ancestors, parents and friends, I here
give a more detailed description of this idolatrous custom, together
with an account of the gluttonous and drunken feast, which is the
finale of what is misnamed a _religious_ observance. The description is
translated from an original Chinese composition:--
That this custom did not exist anterior to the age of Confucius is
inferred from the words of Mericius, who affirms that in the preceding
ages men did not even inter their deceased kindred but threw their
dead bodies into ditches, by the roadside. As they had no tombs there
could be no sacrifices performed at them. Confucius directed _tumuli_
to be raised, in order to mark the place of interment; this is the
first intimation of tombs, given among the Chinese. In raising these
_tumuli_ there was probably no other intention than that of erecting
a mark to the abodes of the dead. It is also known that children, in
that early age, would remain in temporary sheds, for years near the
grave of a parent, to “sorrow as those without hope.” But we proceed to
exhibit the _present_ state of these ceremonies as being all that is
of practical utility, in deciding the question at issue. The Chinese
visit the tombs, twice a year, in spring, and in autumn. The first
visit is called _tsing-ming_, “clear bright,” in reference to the fine
weather, which is then expected: the second is called _tsew-tse_, “the
autumnal sacrifice.” The rites performed during _tsing-ming_, are
those most generally attended by the Chinese. Their governors teach
that the prosperity of individuals and of families depends greatly
on the position, dryness, and good repair of their parents’ graves.
Therefore, “to sweep” and repair them, to mark their limits, and to see
that they are not encroached upon by others, are the objects of visits
to the tombs. When there are large clans, which have descended from
the same ancestors, living in the same neighbourhood, they repair in
great numbers, to the performance of the sacrificial rites. Rich and
poor, all assemble. Even beggars repair to the tombs, to kneel down and
worship. This usage is known by the phrases _saou-fun-moo_, “sweeping
the tombs,” and _paeshan_, “worshipping the _tumuli_.” To omit these
observances, is considered a great offence against moral propriety,
and a breach of filial duty. The common belief is that good fortune,
domestic prosperity, honours and riches, all depend on an impulse
given at the tombs of ancestors. Hence, the practice is universal; and
when the men are absent from their families, the women go to perform
the rites.
On some of these occasions, even where there are two or three thousand
members of a clan, some possessing great wealth, and others holding
high rank in the state, all, old and young, rich and poor, are summoned
to meet at the _tsoo-tsung tsze-tang_, “the ancestral hall.” Pigs
are slaughtered; sheep are slain; and all sorts of offerings and
sacrifices are provided in abundance. The processions from the hall
to the tombs, on these occasions, are formed in the most grand style,
which the official rank of the principal persons will admit--with
banners, tablets, gongs, &c., &c., &c. All present, old men and
boys, are dressed in the best robes which they can procure; and thus
escorting the victims for sacrifice, and carrying wine for oblations,
they proceed to the tombs of their ancestors, and arrange the whole
in order, preparatory to the grand ceremony. There is a _choo tse_,
“lord of the sacrifice,” appointed to officiate as priest, a master of
ceremonies, to give the word of command, and two stewards to aid in the
performance of the rites. There is also a reader to recite the prayer;
and a band of musicians, drummers, gong-beaters, &c.
After all things are in readiness, the whole party stands still till
the “master” gives the word. He first cries with a loud voice: “Let the
official persons take their places:” this is immediately done, and the
ceremonies proceed.
_Master._ “Strike up the softer music.” Here the smaller instruments
begin to play.
_Master._ “Kneel.” The priest then kneels in a central place, fronting
the grave, and behind him, arranged in order, the aged and the
honourable, the children and grandchildren, all kneel down.
_Master._ “Present the incense.” Here the stewards take three sticks of
incense, and present them to the priest. He rises, makes a bow towards
the grave, and then plants one of the sticks in an immense vase, in
front of the tombstone. The same form is repeated a second and a third
time.
_Master._ “Rise up.” The priest and the party stand up.
_Master._ “Kneel.” Again the priest and all the people kneel down.
_Master._ “Knock head.” Here all bending forward, and leaning on their
hands, knock their foreheads against the ground.
_Master._ “Again knock head.” This is forthwith done.
_Master._ “Knock head a third time.” This is also done. Then he also
calls out: Rise up; kneel; knock head;--till the three kneelings, and
the nine knockings are completed. All this is done in the same manner
as the highest act of homage is paid to the emperor, or of worship, to
the supreme powers, heaven and earth. This being ended, the ceremonies
proceed.
_Master._ “Fall prostrate.” This is done by touching the ground with
his knees, hands and forehead.
_Master._ “Read the prayer.” Here the reader approaches the front
of the tomb, holding in his hands a piece of white paper, on which
is written one of the sacrificial forms of prayer. These forms are
generally much the same; differing slightly according to the wish of
the composer. The form states the time; the name of the clan which
come to worship and offer sacrifice; beseeches the shades to descend
and enjoy the sacrifice, to grant protection and prosperity to their
descendants, that in all succeeding generations they may wear official
caps, may enjoy riches, and honours, and never become extinct, that by
the help of the souls in hades, the departed spirits, and the living
on earth may be happy, and illustrious throughout myriads of ages. The
prayer being finished, the master cries: “Offer up the gold and the
precious things.” Here one of the stewards presents gilt papers to the
priest, and he bowing towards the grave, lays them down before it.
_Master._ “Strike up the grand music.” Here gongs, drums, trumpets,
&c., are beaten and blown to make a noise as loud as possible.
_Master._ “Burn the gold and silver, and precious things.” Here all
the young men and children burn the gilt papers, fire off crackers,
rockets, &c.
Such is the sum of a grand sacrifice at the tombs of ancestors. But to
many, the best part of the ceremony is to come, which is the _feast_ of
the sacrifice. The roast pigs, rice, fowls, fish, fruits, and liquors,
are carried back to the ancestral hall; where according to age and
dignity, the whole party sit down to eat, drink and play. The grandees
discuss the condition of the hall, and other topics connected with the
honour of the clan; the young men carouse, and provoke each other to
“drink deep.” Some set out for home with a catty or two of the divine
flesh, which had been used in sacrifice; others stay till they wrangle
and fight, and night puts an end to the entertainment.
Those who live remote from the tombs, or who have no ancestral hall,
eat their sacrifice on the ground at the sepulchres. The poor imitate
their superiors, at an humble distance. Although they have no hall,
no procession or music, they provide three sorts of victims, a pig, a
goose, and a fish; some fruits, and a little distilled liquors--for
spirituous liquors are used on all these occasions. After presenting
these at the tomb, they kneel, knock head, and orally or mentally pray
for the aid of their ancestors’ souls to make the existing and all
future generations of descendants, rich and prosperous.
In these rites there is some difference in the wording of the prayer,
according as it is presented to remote ancestors or to lately deceased
parents or friends; but the general import is the same.
[Sidenote: SACRIFICES TO CONFUCIUS.]
Further to illustrate the modes “in which the Chinese worship Confucius
and the deceased,” we subjoin the following extracts, from the
_Indo-Chinese Gleaner_:--
From the Shing-meaou-che, volume first, page second, it appears that
there are, in China, more than _one thousand, five hundred and sixty_
temples dedicated to Confucius. At the spring and autumnal sacrifices
offered to him, it is calculated in the above-named work, that
there are immolated (on the two occasions) annually, six bullocks,
twenty-seven thousand pigs, five thousand eight hundred sheep, two
thousand eight hundred deer, and twenty-seven thousand rabbits.
Thus, there are annually sacrificed to Confucius, in China, _sixty-two
thousand, six hundred and six victims_; it is added, there are offered
at the same time, _twenty-seven thousand, six hundred_ pieces of silk.
What becomes of these does not appear.
[Sidenote: CHINESE WOMEN.]
It has justly been remarked that a nation’s civilization may
be estimated by the rank which females hold in society. If the
civilization of China be judged of by this test, she is far from
occupying that first place which she so strongly claims. Females have
always been regarded with contempt by the Chinese. Their ancient sages
seem to have considered them scarcely worthy of their attention. The
sum of the duties they require of them is, to submit to the will
of their masters. The lady, say they, who is to be betrothed to a
husband, ought to follow blindly the wishes of her parents, yielding
implicit obedience to their will. From the moment when she is joined in
wedlock, she ceases to exist; her whole being is absorbed in that of
her lord; she ought to know nothing but his will, and to deny herself
in order to please him. _Pan-hwny-pan_, who is much admired as an
historian, composed a book of instructions for her own sex, in which
she treats of their proper station in society, the deportment they
should exhibit, and the duties they ought to perform. She teaches them
that they “hold the lowest rank among mankind, and that employments
the least honourable, ought to be, and in fact are, their lot.” She
inculcates entire submission to their husbands, and tells them in very
plain terms that they ought to become abject slaves, in order to become
good wives. We cannot expect that these doctrines, inculcated as they
are, by a _lady_, who ought to advocate the cause of her sex, and by
one held in so high repute as is _Pan-hwny-pan_, will be overlooked by
the “lords of creation;” especially as they accord so perfectly with
their domineering disposition, in China.
Confucius, the prince of letters, _divorced his wife without assigning
any cause for so doing_; and his followers have invariably adopted
similar arbitrary measures in their treatment of females. The price
which is paid to the parents of the bride, constitutes her at once a
saleable commodity, and causes her to be regarded as differing little
from a mere slave. In the choice of a partner for life, she is entirely
passive, is carried to the house of the bridegroom, and there disposed
of, for life, by her parents.
The birth of a female is a matter of grief in China. The father and
mother, who had already hoped in the unborn babe to embrace a son,
feel disappointed at the sight of a daughter. Many vows and offerings
are made before their idols in order to propitiate their favour, and
secure the birth of a son. The mercy of the compassionate Kuan-yin,
especially, is implored to obtain this precious gift; but after they
have spent large sums of money in this pious work, the inexorable
goddess fills the house with mourning at the birth of a daughter.
“Anciently,” says _Pan-hwny-pan_, “the female infant was thrown upon
some old rags, by the side of its mother’s bed, and for three days
was scarcely spoken or thought of. At the end of that time it was
carried to a temple by a father, accompanied by attendants with bricks
and tiles in their hands. The bricks and tiles,” says Pan-hwny-pan,
in her comment on these facts, “signify the contempt and suffering
which are to be her companions and her portion--bricks are of no use
except to form enclosures and to be _trodden under foot_; tiles are
useless except when they are exposed to the injuries of the air.” The
_Sheking_, one of the venerated books, says,
“----When a daughter is born,
She sleeps on the ground,
She is clothed with a wrapper:
She plays with a tile:
She is incapable either of evil or good.”
This last assertion is thus explained; “if she does ill she is not a
woman--and if she does well she is not a woman; a slavish submission
is her duty and her highest praise.” At the present day, as well as
anciently, the female infant is not unfrequently an object of disgust
to its parents, and of contempt to all the inmates of the family.
As she grows up, her feet are so confined and cramped that they can
never exceed the size of infancy. This process entirely incapacitates
her from walking with ease or safety. Small feet, that badge of
bondage which deprives the Chinese females of the power of locomotion,
confines them to the inner apartments, except when poverty forces
them to earn their livelihood abroad by labour, which is rendered
exceedingly difficult and painful if accompanied by walking. Females
of the higher class seldom leave the house, except in sedan-chairs.
Their lives are but an honourable captivity. They have few or no real
enjoyments--are exceedingly ignorant--very few of them being able to
read. They live and die little more than ciphers in human society.
Pale and emaciated, they spend the greatest part of their lives in
embellishing their persons; while females of the poorer classes, whose
feet are necessarily permitted to grow to the size which the God of
nature designed, perform all the drudgery of husbandry and other kinds
of work. These last are in general very industrious, and prove to be
helpmates to their husbands. Being remarkable for their good, sound
understanding, they manage their families with a care and prudence,
and so far as industry and economy are concerned, they are exemplary
mothers. Nothwithstanding the degradation in which they are held, they
are generally far superior in intellect to the common cast of Asiatic
women--are very ingenious in their needlework, &c. To be a good
mother, in the estimation of this class of the Chinese, a woman must be
a weaver. It is to be regretted, that they have very little regard for
the cleanliness either of their persons or houses; their children crawl
in the dirt, and the few articles of furniture in their dwellings are
covered with filth.
Infanticide of females is not unknown among the Chinese. They are far
from regarding this crime with the horror it deserves. “It is only a
female,” is the answer generally given when they are reproved for it.
The account of the _Charitable Institutions_ of Canton is brief. They
are few in number, of small extent, and of recent origin:--
First: Yuh-ying-tang, or the “foundling hospital.” This institution
was founded in 1698, and it was rebuilt and considerably enlarged
in 1732. It stands without the walls of the city, on the east--has
accommodations for two or three hundred children, and is maintained at
an annual expense of two thousand, five hundred and twenty-two taels.
Second: Yang-tse-yuen.--This is a retreat for poor, aged and infirm, or
blind people, who have no friends to support them. It stands near the
foundling hospital, and like it, enjoys imperial patronage, receiving
annually, five thousand, one hundred taels. Both this sum, and that for
yuh-ying-tang, are received in part, or wholly, from duties, paid by
those _foreign_ ships which bring rice to Canton. Every such ship must
pay the sum of six hundred and twenty taels, which, by imperial order,
is appropriated to these two hospitals. The number of “rice-ships,”
last year, was twenty-eight, yielding the sum of seventeen thousand,
three hundred and sixty taels. The English, American, Dutch, Spanish,
and Portuguese, are the only foreign vessels that bring rice to Canton.
Third: Ma-fung-yuen, or the “hospital for lepers.” This is also on the
east side of the city; the number of patients in it, is three hundred
and forty-one, who are supported at an expense of three hundred taels
per annum! The condition of the three hospitals, if such they may be
called, is wretched in the extreme. The foundlings are often those
children which have been exposed; and who, when grown up, are often
sold, and not unfrequently, for the worst of purposes. Such is a
specimen of the benevolent institutions of the celestial empire!
[Sidenote: GOVERNMENT GRATUITIES.]
The government, in times of calamity and scarcity, grant small
gratuities to the distressed, but the amount is so trifling, the
difficulty of obtaining it so great, that it is not worth the time lost
in seeking for it. During the month of August, 1833, owing to heavy
gales, accompanied with much rain, the rivers overflowed their banks,
and these united calamities destroyed a vast number of the humble
dwellings of the poor. The government, knowing the great distress of
many thousands, sent surveyors to take a list of the sufferers. About
_five_ months afterward, the two magistrates who divide the city of
Canton between them, gave public notice, that the sums subscribed by
the _public_ for their relief, would be paid out in the following
proportions, viz.: “To the poor, who were unable to rebuild their
houses--two mace, five candareens,” (about forty cents,) and if they
were _altogether destitute_, two months’ food in addition, viz., for
every “big mouth,” two mace and seven candareens: to every “little
mouth,” (child’s,) one half of that sum. The aged and feeble who are
unable to reach the distributing officer without several days’ hard
struggle, are frequently obliged to give up the scanty pittance, and
depend upon the cold charities of the world, or otherwise find their
grave on the roadside in a loathsome ditch.