CHINESE CHARITIES.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 525, 29 May 1869, Page 3

CHINESE CHARITIES.

(From Nevius's China and the Chinese.) That benevolent societies are found in a heathen land may appear strange to Western readers ; but it is a fact that they exist in China in numbers and variety hardly exceeded in Christian lands. In comparing these institutions with those of the West, one is also struck with the similarity which exists in their nature and objects. We have here orphan asylums, institutions for the relief of the widows, as well as for the aged and infirm, public hospitals, and free schools, together with other kindred institutions more peculiarly Chinese in their character. Moral tracts aie also distributed to a great extent. a . . . Orphan asylums are found in almost every city, and frequently in country villages. They are established by a wealthy individual, or several individuals associated together, and are sometimes supported by a permanent fund, or the proceeds of land given for that purpose. Most children brought to these esiablishments are infants whose parents are too poor to support them. The great majority of them are girls. They are put in the charge of foster-mothera, who gener ly live at their own homes, and are required to present them for inspection at the asylum every half -month, when they receive their regular stipend. When the children are about two years old they are brought back to the establishment, and several are put under the care of one nurse. When they have arrived at a suitable age, boys are put out as apprentices to learn trades, or sent to free schools ; girls are sold to the poorer classes according to the custom of the country, as wives. Children of both sexes, however, are not unfrequently adopted, and treated by their benefactors as their own In Hang-chow, the provincial capital of Chekiang, I found, in connection with a variety of benevolent institutions, an Asylum for Old Men, in which I became particularly interested, and which I frequently visited, It contained, in 1859, about five, hundred inmates. The building was large, the beneficiaries were made very comfortable, and everything connected with the establishment was carried on with as much order and system as in a similar institution in our own country. In addition to an immense dining-room, kitchen-, and sleeping apartments, conveniences were afforded in separate buildings for making different articles of handicraft, and the inmates were at liberty to spend as much time as they chose working at some trade, and to make such use as they pleased of whatever they might earn in this way j Societies for affording pecuniary aid to j widows are very common, and exist either ! independently or in connection with societies embracing several distinct objects conjointly. Immediately after the death of fyer husband, the widow receives a larger stipend than at any subsequent time, in order to assist her in providing for her , young children, This allowance is gra- ! dually diminished ; and as old age approaches, women of this class, ?f thej r have no children able to support them, are sometimes transferred to another establishment which provides for the wants of the aged and infirm. When a respectable and worthy widow is in want, and the limited number of beneficiaries in the public asylums is complete, private individuals frequently make contributions to afford relief in these particular cases. The peculiar interest felt in this class of women is due to the views of the Chinese respecting the disreputableness of the second marriages of widows. Among the poor, and in case of widows who have no children to depend upon in after-life, a second marriage is allowable, though the opposite course is spoken of in terms of the highest commendation as honorable and meritorious. The ground for this feeling seems to be respect for the memory of the deceased husband The gratuitous distribution of medicine is quite common in China. In the summer especially, certain remedies much prized by the people may be obtained free of charge from societies which include this among other objects for which they are I instituted. There is a very common mode of practising the healing art, professedly from benevolent motives, in which a selfish motive is too apparent. Notices may continually be seen placarded in public places calling the attention of the public to some distinguished personage of the Esculapian school who has learned his art at the capital, or from some foreigner, or from some distinguished native practitioner, or by communication with the genii, who is desirous of relieving those who are in a condition of suffering and distress, and

will give them an opportunity to avail themselves of his knowledge and skill without charge, except for the cost of medicine. A new enterprise, originated a few yoara since in tho city of Snchow, and h:ia since been introduced into other places, which can not but be regarded with peculiar interest. Its express object is " tho suppression of immoral books." This enterprise has also gained the sanction and concurrence of the authorities, and has already done much towards checking the influence of this source of demoralisation. The people are not only requested, but required to brinsr such books as have been prohibited to the head-quai'ters of this society, where they receive nearly an equivalent for them in money. Not only books, but the stereotyped blocks from which they are printed, are thus collected at a great expense, and all are together, at stated times, committed to the flames. Several of the celebrated standard novels of China, which, in a moral point of view, will bear favorable comparison with some of the current popular literature of our own country, have fallen under the ban of this society, and cannot now be obtained without great trouble and expense. Instances have occurred in which booksellers who have continued tosell immoral works iv the face of these regulations have become obnoxious to public authority, and incurred a great sacrifice of reputation and property There are in Chinese cities public asylums, sustained at the expense of Government, containing a limited number of diseased and disabled poor, who receive a daily allowance insufficient for their support, and eke out the remainder of their living by begging. They are more successful than others, as they cany the evidence of their misfortunes in their physical infirmities, and some of them amass considerable property. These also have their heads or leaders, some of whom are brokers and billshavers. They sometimes buy bad bills at a discount, and collect them by attacking the house of the delinquent debtor with an army of beggars, until he is glad to get rid of them by paying it. The most popular of the benevolent institutions at Ningpo, and the one having by far the largest income, includes a variety of objects. It has a fund for providing coffins for the poor, a fund for carrying coffins which have been thrown carelessly aside to some suitable place for interment, and one for collecting and burying again human bones which are found exposed to view ; also a fund for providing medicines in summer, and warm clothes in winter ; a fund for the relief of widows ; one for gathering old printed paper, and the only one in Ningpo for suppressing immoral books. This society has a large building, with as many secretaries and superintendents as are necessary for the orderly and efficient carrying on of its extensive operations. It is also worthy of remark, that most of the roads and fine arch bridges, as well as the public buildings of China, are constructed by voluntary donations. In connection with these public works it is very common to see stone tablets erected containing the names of the donors and the amounts of their subscriptions. Tea is in many places provided for travellers, aud offered gratuitously in restingplaces by the roadside. Poor scholars are furnished with money for travelling expenses in attending the literary examinations.