The charm of the Middle kingdom . alls twirling brass prayer wheels, con-trivances with inter-revolving cylinders capableof saying ten thousand prayers with a singletwist of the thumb. I was totally unprepared for what happenednext, for I fancied from the din in my earsthat the climax of the ceremony had beenreached. But although the remainder of therite was less noisy than the beginning it wasfar more colorful and as truly Oriental asanything I have seen. Two devils (I will notcall them men) danced out of opposite ends ofthe altar and with a skipping step, singularlychildlike, proceeded towar
The charm of the Middle kingdom . alls twirling brass prayer wheels, con-trivances with inter-revolving cylinders capableof saying ten thousand prayers with a singletwist of the thumb. I was totally unprepared for what happenednext, for I fancied from the din in my earsthat the climax of the ceremony had beenreached. But although the remainder of therite was less noisy than the beginning it wasfar more colorful and as truly Oriental asanything I have seen. Two devils (I will notcall them men) danced out of opposite ends ofthe altar and with a skipping step, singularlychildlike, proceeded towards the center of thecourt. Each of them carried a baton to markthe rhythm of the dance. When they reachedthe center of the court they stopped theirmotion, laid their batons over their hearts,bowed to the encircling sea of faces, thensprang with surprising agility into the they landed on their feet again a con-cealed orchestra had begun to play and thedevils took up their dance. The first pair of devils represented huge86. AN ABANDONED TEMPLE AT MOUKDEN
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidcharmofmiddl, bookyear1922
