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THE BOSTON SUNDAY POST Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 4 June 1916 (page 52)
SEEKING STOLEN CHINESE IDOL IN BOSTON.
Jade Image of Goddess of Mercy Is Missing, Devout Celestials Fear a She Devil Will Torture Girls— Detectives Are Combing Hub’s Byways to Gain Big Reward.
Unless a jade image of the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, Kwanyin, which was stolen from the Panama Exposition, is found immediately, Chinese people are certain that a monster “she-devil” is going to invade Southern China and torture all the girls between the ages of 12 and 30.
Chinese girls and even the diplomatic powers are certain there is no way to stave off the approaching visit of this “devil” except by return of the merciful goddess’ image.
The story is that when the mysterious power appears it will be with a blazing torch which will be used to set fire to the hair of every girl.
Constant fear of such a catastrophe has sent a group of Chinese diplomatic agents, headed by an official of the State Department to Boston in search of the lost idol.
That the image is now being hidden in Boston by plotters who visited the Panama Exposition for the sole purpose of stealing it, is the expressed belief of the Chinese detectives, and they have offered a reward of $10,000 for its recovery.
When the image was stolen it was being exhibited by Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the Chinese revolutionary leader, and its loss is said to have been the cause of the failure of the so-called Sun Yat Sen revolution.
Detectives on Trail
Henry C. Stuart, a Washington attorney, is in charge of the nation-wide search that is being conducted for the idol, and last week he sent his detectives, headed by W. S. Crowley of Washington, to Boston, where they are working up secret clues at the present time.
“Hell, at last, yawning, received them whole”—from a painting by Gustave Dore, illustrating Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Legends connected with the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, Kwanyin, which is now lost, depict this same sort of hell. Worshippers of the goddess believe that she can heal the wounds of the tortured ones.
Mr. Stuart says there is no limit to the amount of money that the Chinese government is willing to spend for the return of the image.
As a jewel, the material value of the jade idol does not exceed $500; but the fact that for centuries it has cast its spell over the movements and services of 1,500,000 people makes its return absolutely necessary in the eyes of the Orientals.
The people of Southern China give all the credit for the good things that have come to them to the loyalty of Kwanyin, the Goddess of Mercy. For centuries and centuries, in fact as far back as 2000 B. C., they have constantly worshipped this idol. Every man, woman and child with any trouble whatsoever would rush to it and beg mercy.
Now with the idol missing, they are just as sure that all their troubles are due to the fact that there is no merciful one for them to visit and pour out their souls to.
That the young girls will be the first to suffer seems to be the firm belief of the worshippers of the idol. Just why is not explained, unless it is that the goddess herself is pictured as being young.
The strange legend connected with the lost idol was explained to a Sunday Post reporter by Henry Kien-Tung Fung, a student at Harvard College, who was sent here by his government to study international law.
“Some people call the Goddess of Mercy, Kwannon,” Mr. Fung explained in perfect English, “but that is the Japanese name. The Chinese name of the idol is Kwanyin, or to be exact, Kwan She Yin Poo Sa.
“Poo Sa means mercy in Chinese. Kwan She Yin is the name of a beautiful and noble princess who was a daughter of an emperor in the Tang dynasty. She was an ardent follower of Buddha and while she was princess became dearly beloved for her philanthropies.
“As a follower of Buddha she could not marry. This angered the old emperor, who had selected a prince for her. After much quarreling with her father she refused absolutely to marry and in consequence was exiled.
“Not long after the princess died and her people made her a deity in heaven.
Familiar Picture of Her
“According to the legends that have been handed down through the ages the princess lived in a place where the goddess is pictured sitting curled up on a lotus flower in a beautiful pond. Another theory is that she is standing on a cloud. In either case she is holding in her left hand a bottle supposed to be filled with sweet dews; in her right hand she has a willow branch.
“Within easy reach of the goddess
is the same sort of hell which John Milton, centuries later,
pictured in his ‘Paradise Lost.’ As the story goes on, Kwanyin would dip her yellow branch in the bottle of sweet
dews and then reach over and heal the wounds which were
being inflicted upon the wicked ones as they were tortured
in hell.”
Many Arms and Eyes
Some of the stories told about the lost idol indicate quite plainly that the goddess had 1000 arms and 1000 eyes. Almost every reference made concerning her in Chinese history and literature refers to her as having more than two arms. In the British Museum in London there are copies of the image, and one has 16 arms and the other eight. This large number of arms is taken to mean that the goddess used them to perform more deeds of mercy than she could have performed with one set of arms, and her large number of eyes gave her an opportunity to see the needs of many people.
It is said that the searchers for the lost image who are now in Boston are working along two theories. One is that certain Boston people headed a plot to overthrow Dr. Sun Yat Sen, and figured that the loss of the Goddess of Mercy image would be the greatest blow they could deal to him in the eyes of his own people. The other is that the image was shipped to Boston by mistake, and that the people who now have it do not know its real significance.
One theory is as bad as the other from the Chinese view-point, the Orientals say, for anything that keeps the idol away from them means never ending trouble and long suffering. |
