BIRTH OF A NATION

Hokitika Guardian, 27 July 1929, Page 6

BIRTH OF A NATION

BURIAL OF DR SUN YAT SEN. ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN CHINA. Some interesting impressions regarding the significance of the burial or Dr Sun Yat Sen as an influence on the future of China as a nation were given to a Dunedin Times representative by the Rev. G. W. Shepherd, who is at present on furlough after a period of service as a. missionary in China. Air Shepherd regards the burial in question as one of the most outstanding historical events of this generation.

The burial of Dr Sail Yat Sen on June 1 of this year at Nanking was not the end, he said, but rather the beginning of a great life and a greater movement in China and the Orient. Embalmed and perfectly preserved by a member of the staff of Peking Union Medical College, the 7 body was ceremoniously removed from its temporary resting place in the -western hills of Peking, and in its solid bronze coffin allowed to lie in state at the new capital of Nanking. Representatives of the provinces, leading organisations and guilds,, together with members of the foreign community, were given permits to the building and granted the privilege of bowing three times at lb° feet of China’s, modern crusader. The quiet reverence which marked this ceremony was an indication of the high esteem in which, the late leader was held, not only by the people of? China, but by foreigners who know and appreciate the new spirit of the nation. >• ' ,- -•(.

At 5 o’clock the following morning there assembled on the new 100 feet wide road leading to the tomb, the. greatest funeral cortage in the history of China —great, not because of what it contained, though it cost the nation 6 090,010 dollars, but great because of what it excluded from the procession and the ceremony. Followed l>y . the immediate members of the family, including ATadame San Yat Sen, who returned from Europe especially for the burial, this, historic procession commenced its quiet, orderly way towards the far distant Tiger mountain, on the slopes of which had been erected a marble mausoleum seldom equalled in beauty and appropriatness in this hus-tle-bustle world. Immediately behind the family walked the members of the National Government in plain blue summer gowns, and headed by General oniang Kia Sliek. A few . bands solemnly led the guard of honour, to which brand new simple uniforms had been issued for the occasion. Indeed, the only splash of colour and gold to be found in the entire procession was on the full dress uniforms of the military, naval, and diplomatic representatives of foreign nations. Three hundred and sixty-five broad marble steps, one for every day in the year, and divided into, three flights,- representing democracy; nationalism, and socialism, led-up to the final resting place of the father of the Chinese Republic. No noise, no shouting, no confusion, no haste and no relics of China’s long centuries of superstition marked the burial of this great man.. I)n the last steep flight of steps the exhausted coolies faltered under their heavy load, and like a flash General Uliiang Kai Sliek, the president of the Nationalist Government, grasped the central rope, and throwing all the weight of bis splendid physique into the last great pull and with a smile of encouragement to the coolies, not only saved tlie situation, but for ever banished the traditional Chinese gentleman of white hands, • silken beard, and long flowing robes. By this one act the present leader of the nation dignified honest toil • freedom tfrom pride, and the spirit of co-operation which is slowly but surely building the new China.

On the walls of the mausoleum are these characters written as large as life: “Spirit Never Dies,” and above the vault this piece of philosophy, for the Chinese are a nation of philosophers: “Incarnation of Aloral Vigour.” To the Chinese people Dr Sun Yat Sen symbolises their break with the past and, human as they know him to have been, his body embalmed to withstand the ravages of 4000 years, will sleep peacefully on the slopes of Tiger mountain, but liis spirit of progress, courage. and sacrifice must for ever T-eriiair" I he inheritance off generation as yet un born.