Budha, called, in Chinese, Sam, Pow, and Fat. They are moderate in size, compared with the monsters in the rear of them. The artist aimed at giving them a benign aspect, and if immensely swollen cheeks, sleepy eyes, and a drunkard’s countenance, form the true expression of the milder virtues, it may here be seen to perfection. On each side of the hall, eighteen disciples of Budha, are arranged; they are kept well dressed, by the gilder and painter, and appear to be very attentive to certain tablets placed before them, covered with inscriptions.
Religious ceremonies are performed daily by the priests, before these divinities, dressed, generally, in long scarlet cloaks, with hoods, (similar in shape to those worn by the Roman Catholic priests when saying mass,) praying and kneeling occasionally, doing reverence with both hands, closed together flat, raised to the head, or lowered to the breast and waist; and sometimes prostrating themselves to perform the ko-tow or knock-head ceremony, by striking their foreheads on the ground. During the time, incense is burning before the altar, in the shape of economical matches, highly odoriferous, being as slender as a knitting-needle, and are placed in white copper vessels. The roof of this great temple is supported by forty-two red lacquered pillars, having on them gilt inscriptions. The ceiling and rafters are so painted as to give an agreeable effect. The hall is about a hundred feet square. Another temple, to which we proceeded, stands in the rear of the great hall; here is a single image of Amida Budha, in the Chinese language, called, “Omb-to-Fat.” In the rear of the hall is a white marble obelisk, having various idols carved upon it; in the room, immediately behind this, is the palace of the goddess “Koon-Yan,” who is much adored; she is considered Budha; for, as in Bengal, Budha is of either sex, according to the statues or images. This hall or palace has in it the same number of pillars as that possessed by the great temple—forty-two. There are four buildings erected on the right wing of these temples, and five on the left, but all detached. First, and on the right, is the place of a military demi-god; the second building, is a place for keeping alive domestic animals, pigs, fowls, ducks, and geese, agreeably to the leading doctrine of the sect, that no animal should be deprived of life; the devout send these animals to the temple, when they make or pay vows, or return thanks, for favours received. It is evident that the pious depositor of the hogs could not have been a descendant of the ancient tribes of Israel, or he would not have shown so much affection, as to put them out to board within the precincts of the holy temple, and keep a number of “celestials” in constant pay to attend to them. The third building contains the bookroom and printing-office. In the fourth, in an upper room, are more idols. The first, on the left, is a pavilion, containing a military demi-god; the second is a reception-room for visiters; the third contains the idol of “Te-song-Wang,” the king of Hades; the fourth holds the great bell; and the fifth is the chief priests’ apartments. In these, Lord Amherst and his suite were lodged, 1816 and 1817, on his return from an unsuccessful embassy to the court of Peking. Three other buildings close up the rear of the buildings, on the left wing, the book-house, treasury, and refectory; the latter was dark and dirty, and sent forth a compound of unpleasant smells. The kitchen, the utensils of which, experience has taught them the inutility of cleaning, from their after liability to dirt, resembled, in condition, the refectory, which latter contained only long wooden tables and benches. In the rear of the last temple, is the kitchen-garden, and a small pavilion, erected to the memory of a deer, attached to its master. On the left is a mausoleum, in which the ashes of burnt priests are deposited once a year; near to which is a little shabby house, where the ashes are kept in jars, till the time of the opening of the mausoleum. Farther on, in the garden, is the place in which the bodies of the priests are burned, in a small temple. Some priests, who possess a little property, direct their remains shall be buried and not burnt. The cloisters in the building, on the right and left of the temple, are small and gloomy; the walls are any thing but white, having a table, with a small altar, and a gayly-painted, ugly divinity on it; a wooden stool completed the furniture.
In one room a great number of tailors were at work, not for the poor and naked, but for these idle vagabonds. Passing through a small room, we were invited by a member of the holy priesthood, to take tea, which was served up to us in the Chinese style, being made in the same cup from which we drank it, and taken without sugar or milk. Eight or ten sweetmeats formed the repast, the holy brotherhood standing around us during the time, “thick as autumnal leaves in Vallambrosa,” curious, doubtless, to know if mortals and barbarians ate in the same way as the “celestials.”
MINOR TEMPLES.
There are not less than one hundred and twenty-four large and small temples in Canton; and in the province, thirteen hundred and twenty-seven. Public altars are here, in great number, dedicated to the gods of the land and of grain, of the wind and clouds, of thunder and rain, of hills, rivers, &c. At these, as in all the temples, sacrifices and offerings, consisting of various animals, fish, fowls, fruits, sweetmeats, cakes, and wines, are frequently presented, both by government officers and by private citizens. Numerous attendants are placed at the altars, within these temples of sacrifice, whose lives are devoted to the service of the idols. On the birthday of the gods, and at other times, processions are fitted out at the various temples; the images are borne in state through the principal streets in the city, attended by bands of musicians, priests, lads on horseback, girls riding in open sedans, old men and boys, bearing lanterns, incense, pots, flags, and other insignia; by lictors, with rattans, and soldiers, with wooden swords. In addition to these processions, the different streets and trades have their religious festivals, which they celebrate with illuminations, bonfires, songs, and theatrical exhibitions. Much extravagance is displayed on these occasions, each company and street striving to excel all its neighbours. The private and domestic altars, shrines crowded with household gods and daily offerings, of gilt paper, candles, incense, &c.; together with numberless ceremonies, occasioned by nuptials, or the burial of the dead, complete the long catalogue of the religious rites and institutions, which are supported by the people of Canton. The whole number of priests and nuns, (there are said to be a thousand of the latter,) is, probably, not less than three thousand, and the annual expense of the one hundred and twenty-four temples, may be put down, on a moderate estimate, at two hundred thousand dollars. An equal sum is required to support the annual monthly and semi-monthly festivals and daily rites, which are observed by the people, in honour of their gods.
CHAPTER VI.
BUDHISM—TOMBS OF ANCESTORS—CEREMONIES—ORIGIN OF TUMULI OR TOMBS—SACRIFICES TO CONFUCIUS—PAN-HWNY-PAN—INFANTICIDE—CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS—GOVERNMENT GRATUITIES.
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
