- Author:
- Wright, Arnold
- Publication Info:
-
London, Durban, Colombo, Perth (W. A.), Singapore, Hongkong, and Shanghai:
Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Company, limited,
1908,
pg 292
Text on page 292
2-292
TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA
the patron saint of the Manchu Dynasty, is also commonly worshipped, although there are no temples in Malava specially dedicated to him. The fact that Kuan Ti and Ma Tsu Pu are merely deified individuals, the records of whose lives are known to students of history, indicates that, to a large extent, Chinese
number and variety all the gods of the Pantheons of either ancient Greece, Rome, Babylon, or Egypt. The faith, however, is quite decadent in modern China and its adherents are drawn from the lower classes of the community. The Taoist professors, of whom there are very few in Malaya, are occa-
is generally represented by the figure of an old man holding a staff, and on every Chinese grave there is a small shrine dedicated to him.
All educated Chinese in Malaya are Confucians. They despise those practices of Buddhists that are vulgar, although many of them, for conventionality's sake, allow their womenfolk to call in the aid of Buddhist priests in the event of a death taking place in the house. The majority of Chinese, however, profess to reconcile the three religionsain fact, to reconcile all religions. All gods, according to them, are to be reverenced, and were it not for the exclusiveness of Christians and Mahomedans, both Christ and Mahomed would long since have been included among the gods worshipped in their temples. As a matter of fact, it is a common thing for Chinese in Malaya to attend Christian churches and Mahomedan mosques, although they are not adherents of either faith, and frequently votive offerings are made by non-Christian Chinese to the Roman Catholic Church at Easter and to Mahomedan mosques and Hindu Temples 011 the occasion of festivals. A striking instance of their catholicity of mind is afforded by the fact that already Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, is worshipped in Canton as a sort of saint. The real Confucianists, however, are agnostics ; that is to say, they profess ignorance of the supernatural and of a future life. Firmly believing in Destiny and Providence, they confess the inability of the human mind to comprehend the infinite, and Confucius advises that caution should be exercised in believing in ghosts or spirits. He defines knowledge as a recognition of what is really known, and a humble confession of what we do not know. In his own life he strictly carried out this teaching. He was punctilious in his worship of spirits according to the custom of
CHINESE ROCK TEMPLE AT IPOH.
CHINESE PRIESTS AND CEREMONIALS.
Buddhist worship is a sort of hero-worship. The Buddhist religion, however, exercises verv little influence over the people, although children are taught by their parents the simple truths of Buddhist teaching, such as the necessity for leading a just life, being kind to animals, and charitable in judging other men. The Chinese invoke the aid of the Buddha just as Roman Catholics invoke the aid of their saints. The Buddhist priests are illiterate and do no preaching. They live on the credulity of the public, who consult the images of the Buddha by a kind of sortilege, and obtain prescriptions for diseases as well as advice on all sorts of matters. The method adopted is to shake a number of sticks until one falls out. This is presented to the priest, who selects a corresponding one from a stock upon which are written picturesquely worded prescriptions and advices composed by sages of previous ages, and interprets its meaning to the supplicant. The wording of these sticks displays considerable ingenuity. A European gentleman, who, for curiosity's sake, sought to know whether his impending journey from Singapore to China would be accomplished safely, received the cryptic answer : u There is a man pursued by a tiger. The bright stars in the heaven shine brilliantly." The first sentence was interpreted to portend danger, and the second to indicate that the danger would be encountered successfully. A Chinese gentleman whose mother had been pronounced by the doctor to be dying desired to know if her life would be spared. The answer given him by the priest read : " The autumnal tints are appearing upon the trees, The fruits are being gathered. The grain is ripe unto harvest." The meaning ascribed to this was that the woman would die, and the prophecy was fulfilled !
The Taoist religion has a Pantheon of spirits, genii, immortals, gnomes, and c., that equals in
sionally called in to exorcise evil spirits from haunted houses and to deliver persons who are believed to be possessed of a devil. The two chief Taoist deities are Yii Huang Shang Ti, (" the Pearly Emperor "), wTho is the supreme ruler of the Taoist heavens, and Ta Pe Kung (" God in the spirit of the earth "). The latter
his time, but that, in his opinion, was merely a conventional conformity to social custom. It was in accordance with his teaching that no established custom of a community should be upset without grave and reasonable cause, and unless some definite good was to be the result. Confucius seems in this respect to be a con-his time, but that, in his opinion, was merely a conventional conformity to social custom. It was in accordance with his teaching that no established custom of a community should be upset without grave and reasonable cause, and unless some definite good was to be the result. Confucius seems in this respect to be a con-
