XXXVI 



IXTRODUCTION. 



dess. A fine si en der stem about five feet long upholding a broad cup, most elegant in ifc's 

 form, nearly eight inches broad when fally expanded; the leaves of a pure alabaster white, 

 soft like vel vet, veined with the most delicate rose-coloured pencillings, containing in their 

 centre the fruit, an inverted cone of fair green encircled by a fringe of golden anthers. 



Some of the brethern in the Hung-league wear a wreath of golden flowers on their heads d), 

 which wreath is lost if they be disobedient. (~) Till the present day a branch of golden flowers 

 to wear in the hair, is given in China to those who have obtained the degree of doctor. 



There may be also some relation between the Rose-garden , as the land of the blessed where the 

 good go after their decease, and the Pung-lai ( 3 ) of the Budhists, the Paradise filled with my- 

 riads of fragrant flowers and trees, where the elected enjoy eternal blessings, knowing neither 

 hunger nor thirst. 



We find back also in the Hung-league the steel-yard, scales and foot-measure as instruments 

 to weigh and measure in a natural and symbolical sense, just as it is in masonry. ( 4 ) The 

 mirror is, also, found in both societies with the same symbolical idea attached to it. The 

 quatrain on the mirror says that v it reflects the heart of man." ( 5 ) The mason is brought be- 

 fore the mirror, that he may know himself. ( 6 ) 



According to the old English ritual of reception of the mason-apprentice, he had a string or 

 a rope around his neck, which Krause explains by saying that probably the wearing of a string 

 was an old oriental custom. The fetter is in masonry the symbol of the bond by which the 

 neophyte is united to the brotherhood. ( 7 ) In the Hung-league the red silk-thread is worn in 

 the sleeve as a sign of recognition , and as a symbol of unity. ( s ) In the Chinese marriage 

 ritual thebride and bridegroom drink wine out of two cups, tied together by a red silk-thread. 



In the ,/Great Mystery of the Freemasons disco vered" (London, 1725), it is said that a 

 true mason may be recognised by this sign; ,/One describes a right angle, by placing the 

 heels together, and the toes of both feet outwards at some distance, or hj amj of/ter kind of 

 triangle." ( 9 ) The members of the Hung-league form the triangle in the inverted way, uniting 

 the toes and separating the heels. According to Dr. Schauberg the triangle of the masons ie- 

 presents the pythagoric character Y, meaning the word Hugiea or immortality . ( 10 ) It means 

 something else according to the explication of the Hung-league, viz., the eight salutations which 

 every member has made before being admitted. ( n ) We note only this resemblance without 

 discussing the relation which may exist between both signs. 



So we mention, also, the resemblance between the abbreviations of words in both societies. 

 The masons following the Egyptian Hieroglyphical system, which consists in abbreviating the 



0) 



Oath, art. 19, page 140. 



( 3 ) 



m m 



(5) 



Pa?. 43. 



( 7 ) 



Symb. d. Freim. , I, 336. 



( 9 ) 



Krause, I, 2, pag. 47. 



( 2 ) Laws, art. 64, page 160. 



( 4 ) Symb. d. Freim. Compare also pp. 43—45. 



( 6 ) Symb. d. Freim., I, 104 & f. 



( 8 ) Compare the last line of the second quatrain on pag. 219. 



(10) Symb. d. Freim., II, 77. 



(») See pp. 134 & 169. 



