[104] See No. XLVIII., [note 274].
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[105] The elaborate gilding and wood-work of an ordinary Chinese temple form a very serious item in the expense of restoration. Public subscriptions are usually the means employed for raising sufficient funds, the names of subscribers and amount given by each being published in some conspicuous position. Occasionally devout priests—black swans, indeed, in China—shut themselves up in boxes studded with nails, one of which they pull out every time a certain donation is given, and there they remain until every nail is withdrawn. But after all it is difficult to say whether they endure these trials so much for the faith’s sake as for the funds from which they derive more of the luxuries of life, and the temporary notoriety gained by thus coming before the public. A Chinese proverb says, “The image-maker doesn’t worship Buddha. He knows too much about the idol;” and the application of this saying may safely be extended to the majority of Buddhist priests in China.
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[106] This is the title generally applied to the Manchu commanders of Manchu garrisons, who are stationed at certain of the most important points of the Chinese Empire, and whose presence is intended as a check upon the action of the civil authorities.
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[107] See No. VI., [note 52].
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[108] The moral being, of course, that Buddha protects those who look after his interests on earth.
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[109] It is related in the Family Sayings, an apocryphal work which professes to give conversations of Confucius, that a number of one-legged birds having suddenly appeared in Ch‘i, the Duke of Ch‘i sent off to ask the Sage what was the meaning of this strange phenomenon. Confucius replied, “The bird is the shang-yang, and portends beneficial rain.” And formerly the boys and girls in Shantung would hop about on one leg, crying, “The shang-yang has come;” after which rain would be sure to follow.
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[110] Speaking in the unknown tongue, like the Irvingites and others.
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[111] This is a clever hit. The “personal” name of a man may not be uttered except by his father or mother, grandfather, grandmother, uncles, etc. Thus, the mere use of the personal name of the head of a family proves conclusively that the spirit of someone of his ancestors must be present.
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[112] I consider the whole of the above a curious story to be found in a Chinese work exactly 200 years old, but no part of it more so than the forcible removal of some part of the clothing, which has been so prominent a feature in the séances of our own day. It may be added that in many a court-yard in Peking will be found one or more trees, which cause the view from the city wall to be very pleasing to the eye, in spite of the filth and ruins which a closer inspection reveals.
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[113] The arrangement being that of the hobby-horse of by-gone days.
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