SHANTUNG— CHINA'S HOLY LAND 



249 



paid our respects to him and, by virtue 

 of a considerable fee to his subordinates, 

 having obtained permission to visit this 

 ancient burying ground, we go from the 

 north gate of the city for about a mile 

 along a wide avenue lined with cypress 

 trees. 



We pass a striking archway erected to 

 the memory of a virtuous widow by her 

 family, who took advantage of the ex- 

 traordinary publicity of this avenue to 

 secure for their beloved extra recognition. 



WHERE THOUSANDS OP THE PHILOS- 

 OPHIES DESCENDANTS ARE BURIED 



The portal to Sheng-ling, built in its 

 present form in 1755 by the seventy-first 

 lineal descendant of Confucius, gives ac- 

 cess to a park-like enclosure of over 500 

 acres, containing the sepulcher of the 

 Sage and of all his descendants. The 

 total is undoubtedly several tens of thou- 

 sands of graves. When a family holds 

 together for 2,500 years, it grows into a 

 big concern — about 70 per cent of the 

 population in these parts, even the sol- 

 diers sent as escorts, claiming member- 

 ship in the clan. The park is cared for 

 by 200 attendants, whose families have 

 inherited this duty for many hundreds of 

 years. 



From the outer entrance of the "Grove 

 of the True Sage" an avenue of fine and 

 ancient cypresses, about 150 on a side, 

 leads to an inner inclosure, where are 

 halls for worship and monuments of im- 

 perial visits from the Sung Dynasty 

 down. There are some fine archways, 

 and the buildings are not to be despised, 

 but the really striking feature of the 

 whole place is the splendor of the ancient 

 trees. 



As one passes inward the monuments 

 become more and more ancient. The as- 

 pects of the park are rather those of age 

 than of neglect. Presently we come to 

 "The Holy Way," closed in by walls like 

 "The Emperor's Way" from one palace 

 building to another, thus denoting the im- 

 perial ranking of the Sage. 



WHERE CONFUCIUS AND HIS SON SLEEP 



Finally, in very nearly the center of the 

 whole inclosure, we come to two hillocks 

 that cover the remains of Confucius and 



his son. In front of each is a simple 

 stone altar and an inscribed pillar, the 

 one before that of the Sage himself read- 

 ing "Most Holy Ancient Teacher." 



It is said that the earth forming the 

 mound covering the body of Confucius 

 has been brought from each of the eigh- 

 teen provinces of the Empire. However 

 that may be, it is certainly true that the 

 influence of the Sage has been and still 

 is felt throughout the whole extent of the 

 great country; and the prophet himself, 

 while in these latter radical days some- 

 what dusty, still bears on his shoulders 

 the vast commonwealth of China, whose 

 moral basis, with all its deficiencies, is 

 surely a great memorial to a great and 

 wonderful man. 



Besides the Confucian temple and cem- 

 etery at Kiifu, there are sanctuaries in 

 honor of Yentzu, the favorite disciple 

 and companion of the Sage, and in honor 

 of Chou Kung, founder of the Duchy of 

 Lu. Also seventeen miles south of Kiifu 

 lies Tsowhsien, where Mencius, the great 

 expounder of Confucius, was born ( B. C. 

 361), and there we find suitable temples 

 in his honor and proper preservation of 

 his grave. But space does not permit a 

 more detailed reference to these, nor in 

 comparison with the memorials of Con- 

 fucius are they of any considerable value. 



Evening shadows had already over- 

 taken us because of our long delay before 

 the shrine of the wisest of the wise men 

 of China, and in order to make sure of 

 accomplishing our return journey to Tsi- 

 ning in one day. we made an early morn- 

 ing start from Kiifu and by 9 o'clock had 

 reached Yenchow. 



THE GRAND CANAL, BEGUN 

 AGO 



2,500 YEARS 



By dint of hard traveling during the 

 rest of the day. we reached Tsining, on 

 the Grand Canal, at nightfall, and found 

 to our delight that a good missionary 

 there had already arranged for the hire 

 of a roomy house-boat on which to make 

 the descent of the canal, though, to judge 

 by the looks of the sail, it would take Us 

 a long time to go the 500 miles to the 

 Yangtze : but we did cover that distance 

 in about fifteen days, the last stage being 

 made bv steam-launch. 



