A general movement now took place among the crowd to the temple which we had first visited, and we moved thither ourselves, in the hope of seeing a celebrated lion firework, of an expensive kind. But as we afterward discovered that it was not to be discharged till after midnight in the third watch, and the crowd was also gradually re-enforced in large numbers from the other wards, we deemed it advisable to retrace our steps, and arrived at our residence at eleven P.M. In the streets through which we passed, every temple was gaudily illuminated, and the services of the priests, both of the Taou and the Budhist sects, appeared to be in high request. In some parts a phantasmagoria was exhibited, in which acting figures were represented by means of a magic lantern, on a transparent substance resembling tissue paper. The actions of the figures, even to the motion of the hand and the nod of the head, were accommodated to the speeches delivered by a concealed spokesman, who directed the whole apparatus behind the scene. In one street a theatrical stage, with its players acting some scene of imperial grandeur, crossed our way; and we had no alternative but that of creeping on our hands and knees, for a distance of twenty yards, on the pavement under the stage to the other end. Here several friendly hands were held out to assist us in regaining our erect position.

After this national feast of lanterns, the ordinalry business of the people, which, since the first day of the new year had only been partially resumed, now recommenced in earnest. The penalties against gambling thus far relaxed, either by law or by that which in China is equivalent, the prescriptive right of custom, were now supposed to regain their force; and the idle crowds of pleasure-hunters heartily re-engaged in the bustle and toil of daily business with renewed energy and industry. From this time the idle show of pageantry terminated, and every thing wore the absorbing appearance of gain and commerce.

Idols and BaptismFeb. llth.-At the close of a religious service, held by the missionaries, two questions were submitted for discussion, in reference to the putting away of idols and ancestral tablets from the house of every candidate for Christian baptism, viz.,

1. Could an open renunciation of idol-worship, although the idols remained in the house out of compliance with the superstitious fears of relatives, be deemed a sufficient test of Christian sincerity?

2. How far was retaining the ancestral tablets permissible, as mere tokens of respect for the departed dead, without any worship being offered?

In regard to the first question, it was the unanimous opinion of the missionaries, that wherever the convert had authority in a household, it must be made a sine qua non that idol-worship not only be renounced, but that the emblems of idolatry be destroyed or expelled from the house.
One of the two old men who were about to receive baptism, although the head of a family, was virtually destitute of his proper authority, from the wickedness of his adopted son, and the assumption of his sister-in-law and other relatives. He had, therefore, decided on leaving the house which they occupied in common, and removing, with his wife and children, to another house, where he would have the power of abolishing idols. This was deemed sufficient.

In regard to the second question there was more difficulty, although on this, also, there was unanimity of opinion, in making it incumbent on every candidate for baptism, not only to renounce the worship of the ancestral tablet, but also to remove it out of sight, and away from its usual place of juxtaposition with the idol.

The following facts will afford help to the leader in understanding this subject. Popular superstition assigns three souls to each person; one of which, at death, passes into the world of spirits. The second dwells at the tomb of the deceased, into which, as its new abode, it is formally inducted at the funeral, by the ceremony of drawing some little ribbons, or a flag, at the end of a stick. The third is supposed to occupy the ancestral tablet. This consists of an erect wooden plane, about twelve inches in height, fixed on a stand, and ornamentally inscribed with the names and date of the deceased. It is carefully treasured in some common temple of ancestors, in those cases in which a family possesses sufficient wealth to have such a temple, or in the family-dwelling, in the case of poorer families. In the latter case it is placed in juxtaposition with the house-hold gods, and receives the offerings of incense, eatables, gilt-paper money, and miniature garments, in common with the idols. One of the first acts of promoted scholars is to revisit these symbols of ancestral worth, and to adore the spirits of the departed dead. The worship of the ancestral tablet is the only custom of a strictly religious kind universally observed by the literary as well as by the uneducated portion of the community. It forms, also, one of the most formidable barriers to the progress of the missionary work. The Jesuits foresaw this difficulty in former times, and endeavored to render the transition from Confucianism to Christianity as easy as possible, by tolerating the adoration of these tablets as a purely civil rite, destitute of religious meaning. The Dominican and Franciscan missionaries,

[May not this pagan superstition throw some light, in Isaiah iii., 20, on the expression ¡°tablets;" or, as it stands literally in the marginal rendering, ¡°houses of the soul?"]

who subsequently arrived from Rome, exposed the flagrant inconsistency of amalgamating Paganism with Christianity. The flame of discord raged so fiercely for nearly a century, between the rival sects of Popish missionaries in China, that successive legates were sent from Rome to allay their feuds, and mediate between the conflicting parties. One Pope reversed the decrees of his predecessor, and his bulls were again, in turn, stultified by his successor. At last the influence of the Jesuits at the Papal court failed to avert the unfavorable decision of the Pontiff. They now excited the emperor Kang-he to resent the supposed interference of the Pope with his own imperial authority in the government of China. The Papal legate was insulted and imprisoned. The Jesuits were his appointed keepers at Macao; and as long as the name of Cardinal de Tournon stands on the page of history, so long will the unparalleled dissensions of the Romish missionales in China belie the pretensions and expose the theory of a visible unity of the universal church centering in a sovereign Pontiff enthroned on the Seven Hills. Kang-he's successor, Yung-ching, deemed it expedient to terminate these dissensions by banishing all the sects of Romanist missionaries alike. Thus, after nearly a century of religious feuds, they were expelled froom the scenes of their former influence and power; and the native flocks of Roman Catholic converts have since been sustained by European missionaries entering the country in disguise.
The propriety of permitting the retention of ancestral tablets, as mere memorials of the dead, was, on this occasion, decided against, for the following reasons:

1. Even among the old Romish missionaries only the Jesuits would allow the worship of the tablets to be retained as a mere civil rite.

2. The Chinese pay to the tablet more reverence and worship than to the idol.

3. Its retention would open a door for the too easy admission of converts, and the admixture of pagan superstitions with Christian doctrines.

4. Its retention would also afford an occasion to the heathen Chinese of taunting the converts with insincerity, their usual weapon of offense.

5. The Chinese, after hearing the declarations of missionaries on the sin of idolatry, frequently ask questions respecting the lawfulness of worshiping ancestral tablets, as if a close connection bound the two acts together in their mind.

6. The unsparing denunciations of the Old Testament against every species of idolatry-the breaking of idolatrous relics in pieces-the destruction of the very trees of the groves-the beating to powder of the materials desecrated by idol-worship-allow no compromise with this superstition, which of all others is most firmly enthroned in the national mind-the demonolatry of ancestors.

Neither of the two old men adverted to are placed in any difficulty in the matter of the tablets, as Amoy is not their native place, and the ancestral tablets are, therefore, in the keeping of other relatives at a distance.

Sunday, Feb. 15th.-One of my missionary friends held his usual Sabbath-evening meeting, for family worship and examination of his Chinese neighbors and domestics in the subjects of instruction, which they had heard at the mission chapels and hospital during the day. Only four persons attended, which was about half the number usually present. The object of the meeting was to exercise their minds, by friendly conversation, on the religious topics brought before them in the different missionary sermons, and to invite them freely to state their difficulties and objections. In order to give an idea of the character of the missionary addresses-of the nature of the scriptural subjects discussed-of the capacity of the Chinese for religious instruction-and of the beneficial influence likely to be exerted over them by such friendly and familiar intercourse-a short sketch is given of the proceedings on the occasion of this evening's family service. After a short address, the missionary who conducted the meeting requested a youth, named Ek-ha, a servant in his house, to explain the subjects which he had heard in a sermon at nine A.M. In reply, he proceeded to give an analysis of the discourse, which was in form, and often in words, strictly accurate. The text was, ¡°Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world." He said that the preacher's address referred-I. To the reasons why our Savior is called a lamb: 1. On account of his meekness and submission; 2. On account of his purity; and, 3. On account of his becoming a ransom for sin, more particularly stating the method of the Old Testament sacrifices for sin, all of which had reference to the one great sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. He said that the preacher adverted-II. To the duty of mankind in beholding the Lamb of God. This was illustrated by the figure of a feast, with a table spread out and bountifully provided with food. The guests are invited to come; they look, but this does not satisfy, they must partake. So Christ must be received by faith; He must not only be looked upon, but be received into the heart, and believed on to the salvation of the soul. This was stated with much readiness and ease of manner.

The others afterward volunteered their simple explanation of what they had heard, evidently interested in the subject, and sometimes correcting each other without the slightest embarrassment. Chan-ba, an adult servant, gave an account of a sermon which he had heard at 10 A.M., on the subject of regeneration, founded on the coming of Nicodemus to Jesus by night. Ching-han, also, a medical student, explained his recollections of the same sermon; each of them alternating their description of the doctrines which they had heard. They stated that the condition of the soul before conversion was that of death; and that the change of the soul on its conversion resembled that of a new birth. They then referred to the illustrations of the preacher taken from the birth of an infant; its new sensations, breathing, pulse, and the great care of the parent. They then dwelled on the more marked character of those evidences of life in a new-born soul, which undergoes so radical a change in its affections and desires. One of them said, in reply to the questions of the missionary, that conversion of the soul was a gradual change. His views were corrected, and the distinction was explained to him between the terms justification and sanctification; the former being the forgiveness of sin by God, as the immediate consequence of a living faith in Christ; the latter being a gradual and progressive renewal of the heart by divine grace.

They afterward gave an account of a sermon which they had heard at 3 P.M., from Luke, xii., 15-21, on the parable of the rich fool. Particular allusion was made to that portion of it which stated a man's life not to "consist in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." Life denoted happiness, and true happiness was not to be found in wealth. They were asked if perfect happiness were to be found in this world. Chan-ha said that happiness was progressive, and that a Christian's happiness would be complete in heaven, volunteering an illustration of his own from the literary degrees, and comparing earthly happiness to the degrees of sew-tsai and keu-jin, and the happiness of heaven to the higher degree of tsin-sze.

Hok-ha, the ropemaker, on being questioned, replied, with a sorrowful look, that he had not attended any religious service during the day. He feelingly alluded to his uncle's persecution, and the taunts of his neighbors concerning his connection with foreigners. His uncle threatened him with discharge from his employment unless he worked during the whole Sabbath, and desisted from attending the missionary services. The neighbors said that he preferred the foreigners to the Chinese, and that he was a secret informer to the strangers. He was exhorted by the ministers to lay his troubles before his Heavenly Father; but he continued to dwell on the consequences to himself, as well as to his mother and his wife, of disobedience to his uncle's commands. He was much excited, but gradually grew calm under the kind advice and solace which he received. He said that he had hoped sometimes that be loved Jesus: he often prayed to Him; but he felt that he was not prepared for heaven, because he had not received the "new heart."

A suitable prayer closed the meeting, the Chinese all kneeling.

The initials
L. M. S. = London Missionary Society.
A. B. C. F. M. = American Board for Conduction Foreign Missions
A. B. B. F. M. = American Baptist Board for Conducting Foreign Missions.
Am. Ep. Ch. = American Episcopal Church
A. G. A. B. = American General Assembly¡¯s Board
C. M. S. = Church (of England) Missionary Society
E. B. M. S. = English Baptist Missionary Society.

A Narrative of an Exploratory Visit to each of the Consular Cities of China, and to the Islands of Hong Kong and Chusan, in Behalf of the Church Missionary Society, in the years 1844, 1845, 1846, by the Rev. George Smith, M.A., of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and Late Missionary in China

New York, Harper and Brothers Publishers, 52 Cliff Street, 1847

Scanned by Dr. Bill Brown Xiamen University MBA Center

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