His sons and grandsons reached high dignities" (p.
110).
Of such as this physician the apostle said: "Of a truth I perceive that
God is no respecter of persons; But in every nation he that feareth Him,
and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him."
["By the 'Most High and Heavenly God,' worshipped by the Chinese, as Marco
Polo reports, evidently the Chinese T'ien, 'Heaven' is meant, Lao t'ien
ye in the common language. Regarding 'the God of things terrestrial,'
whose figure the Chinese, according to M. Polo, 'placed below on the
ground,' there can also be no doubt that he understands the T'u-ti, the
local 'Lar' of the Chinese, to which they present sacrifices on the floor,
near the wall under the table.
"M. Polo reports, that the Chinese worship their God offering incense,
raising their hands aloft, and gnashing their teeth. Of course he means
that they placed the hands together, or held kindled joss-stick bundles in
their hands, according to the Chinese custom. The statement of M. Polo
sbattendo i denti is very remarkable. It seems to me, that very few of
the Chinese are aware of the fact, that this custom still exists among the
Taouists. In the rituals of the Taouists the K'ow-ch'i (Ko'w = 'to
knock against,'ch'i = 'teeth') is prescribed as a comminatory and
propitiatory act. It is effected by the four upper and lower foreteeth.
The Taouists are obliged before the service begins to perform a certain
number of 'K'ow-ch'i, turning their heads alternately to the left and to
the right, in order to drive away mundane thoughts and aggressions of bad
spirits. The K'ow-ch'i repeated three times is called ming fa ku in
Chinese, i.e. 'to beat the spiritual drum.' The ritual says, that it is
heard by the Most High Ruler, who is moved by it to grace.
"M. Polo observed this custom among the lay heathen. Indeed, it appears
from a small treatise, written in China more than a hundred years before
M. Polo, that at the time the Chinese author wrote, all devout men,
entering a temple, used to perform the K'ow-ch'i, and considered it an
expression of veneration and devotion to the idols. Thus this custom had
been preserved to the time of M. Polo, who did not fail to mention this
strange peculiarity in the exterior observances of the Chinese. As regards
the present time it seems to me, that this custom is not known among the
people, and even with respect to the Taouists it is only performed on
certain occasions, and not in all Taouist temples." (Palladius, pp.
53-54.) - H. C.]
NOTE 4. - "True politeness cannot of course be taught by rules merely, but
a great degree of urbanity and kindness is everywhere shown, whether owing
to the naturally placable disposition of the people, or to the effects of
their early instruction in the forms of politeness." (Mid.
