Honolulu Star Bulletin. Monday, February 4, 1957 - Tales about Hawaii, Clarice B. Taylor
"No, my Chinese grandfather never became a Christian. He stayed by his Chinese gods to the end and was buried with Chinese ceremony."
That is the answer you will receive from the majority of Chinese-Hawaiians today is you ask about their Chinese ancestor.
"Nothing" is the answer to the question, " What do you know about your Chinese grandfather's religion?"
Chinese culture is lost to the average Chinese-Hawaiian because the children learned from their Hawaiian mother.
She took them to church and they became Christians. At home she taught them Hawaiian culture.
Chinese grandpa was invariably a tolerant man. He stuck to his own beliefs and did not make the children follow his example.
Today Chinese-Hawaiians realize that they are ignorant of a rich culture which normally should have been a part of their inheritance.
The majority casually learn of Chinese culture through reading English translations of Chinese literature.
How did Chinese grandpa know when to worship his gods and when to celebrate Chinese festivals?
CHINESE ALMANAC
He knew because scholars in his community subscribed to a book in China in Mandarin called the Chinese Almanac.
It is one of the oldest Chinese publications in the world in use today. Some say it is about three thousand years old because the Chinese have been writing for that length of time.
Others say it began about 900 A.D. at the time printing flourished in China. (The Chinese where the world's first people to use printing.)
When you consider the first European Almanac was published in Vienna in 1457, you appreciate the age of it.
The Chinese Almanac is available today at almost any Chinese store in Honolulu. It is written in China by a recognized group of scholars without governmental interference.
The Almanac used today and in Grandpa's day is the one put out for the average person and the farmer. There are two other Almanacs. One is for the use of scholars and the other for government officials.
NEXT: The Almanac
"No, my Chinese grandfather never became a Christian. He stayed by his Chinese gods to the end and was buried with Chinese ceremony."
That is the answer you will receive from the majority of Chinese-Hawaiians today is you ask about their Chinese ancestor.
"Nothing" is the answer to the question, " What do you know about your Chinese grandfather's religion?"
Chinese culture is lost to the average Chinese-Hawaiian because the children learned from their Hawaiian mother.
She took them to church and they became Christians. At home she taught them Hawaiian culture.
Chinese grandpa was invariably a tolerant man. He stuck to his own beliefs and did not make the children follow his example.
Today Chinese-Hawaiians realize that they are ignorant of a rich culture which normally should have been a part of their inheritance.
The majority casually learn of Chinese culture through reading English translations of Chinese literature.
How did Chinese grandpa know when to worship his gods and when to celebrate Chinese festivals?
CHINESE ALMANAC
He knew because scholars in his community subscribed to a book in China in Mandarin called the Chinese Almanac.
It is one of the oldest Chinese publications in the world in use today. Some say it is about three thousand years old because the Chinese have been writing for that length of time.
Others say it began about 900 A.D. at the time printing flourished in China. (The Chinese where the world's first people to use printing.)
When you consider the first European Almanac was published in Vienna in 1457, you appreciate the age of it.
The Chinese Almanac is available today at almost any Chinese store in Honolulu. It is written in China by a recognized group of scholars without governmental interference.
The Almanac used today and in Grandpa's day is the one put out for the average person and the farmer. There are two other Almanacs. One is for the use of scholars and the other for government officials.
NEXT: The Almanac
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