"Upon the walls surrounding this place, Sui-tshuen remarked a number of tablets with inscriptions exhorting to virtue, which he one by one examined. Afterwards, they entered another large hall, the beauty and splendour of which was beyond description. A man, venerable in years, with golden beard, and dressed in a black robe, was sitting in an imposing attitude upon the highest place. As soon as he observed Sui-tshuen, he began to shed tears, and said, 'All human beings in the whole world are produced and sustained by me; they eat my food and wear my clothing, but not a single one among them has a heart to remember and venerate me; what is, however, still worse than that, they take of my gifts and therewith worship demons; they purposely rebel against me, and arouse my anger. Do thou not imitate them.' Thereupon he gave Sui-tshuen a sword, commanding him to exterminate the demons, but to spare his brothers and sisters; a seal, by which he would overcome the evil spirits; and also a yellow fruit, to eat which Sui-tshuen found sweet to the taste. When he had received the ensigns of royalty from the hand of the old man, he instantly commenced to exhort those collected in the hall to return to their duties to the venerable old man upon the high seat. Some replied to him, saying, 'We have indeed forgotten our duties towards the venerable.' Others said, 'Why should we venerate him? let us only be merry, and drink together with our friends.' Sui-tshuen then, because of the hardness of their hearts, continued his admonitions with tears. The old man said to him, 'Take courage, and do the work; I will assist thee in every difficulty.' Shortly after this, he turned to the assemblage of the old and virtuous, saying, 'Sui-tshuen is competent to this charge.' And thereupon he led Sui-tshuen out, told him to look down from above, and said, 'Behold the people upon this earth! hundredfold is the perverseness of their hearts.' Sui-tshuen looked, and saw such a degree of depravity and vice, that his eyes could not endure the sight, nor his mouth express their deeds. He then awoke from his trance, but still being under its influence, he felt the very hairs of his head raise themselves, and suddenly seized by a violent anger, forgetting his feebleness, put on his clothes, left his bedroom, went into the presence of his father, and making a low bow, said, 'The venerable old man above has commanded that all men shall turn to me, and all treasures shall flow to me.' The sickness of Sui-tshuen continued about forty days, and in vision he often met with a man of middle age, whom he called his elder brother, who instructed him how to act, accompanied him upon his wanderings to the uttermost regions in search of evil spirits, and assisted him in slaying and exterminating them. Sui-tshuen also heard the venerable old man with the black robe reprove Confucius for having omitted in his books clearly to expound the true doctrine. Confucius seemed much ashamed, and confessed his guilt.
"Sui-tshuen, while sick, as his mind was wandering, often used to run about his room, leaping and fighting like a soldier engaged in battle. His constant cry was, 'Tsan-jau, tsan-jau, tsan-ah, tsan-ah! Slay the demons, slay the demons!—slay, slay; there is one, and there is another. Many, many cannot withstand one single blow of my sword.'
"His father invited magicians, by their spells, to drive away the evil spirits he thought possessed his son; but Sui-tshuen said, 'How could these imps dare to oppose me? I must slay them, I must slay them! Many, many cannot resist me!' As in his imagination he pursued the demons, they seemed to undergo various changes and transformations, at one time flying as birds, at another time appearing as lions. Lest he should be unable to overcome them he held out his seal against them, at the sight of which they immediately fled away.
"During his exhortations he often burst into tears, saying, 'You have no hearts to venerate the old father, but you are on good terms with the impish fiends; indeed, indeed, you have no hearts—no conscience more.' He often said that he was duly appointed Emperor of China, and was highly gratified when any one called him by that name; but if any one called him mad, he used to laugh at him, and to reply, 'You are, indeed, mad yourself; and do you call me mad?' When men of bad character came to see him, he often rebuked them and called them demons. All the day long he used to sing, weep, exhort, reprove by turns, and in full earnest."
The following is the description of Hung-sui-tshuen, given by his cousin Hung-jin, upon his return to health:—
"Sui-tshuen's whole person became gradually changed, both in character and appearance. He was careful in his conduct, friendly and open in his demeanour; his body increased in height and size; his pace became firm and imposing, his views enlarged and liberal. His friend describes him as being, at a later period, a rather tall man, with oval face and fair complexion, high nose, small round ears, his voice clear and sonorous. When he laughed, the whole house resounded; his hair was black, his beard long and sandy, his strength of body extraordinary, his power of understanding rare. Persons of vicious habits fled from his presence, but the honest sought his company.
"From his youth, Hung-sui-tshuen was generally liked by all, because of his open and straightforward character. He was gay and friendly, but not dissolute. Being superior in talent to most of his fellow-students, he often used to make sport of them, and cause them to feel his sharp wit; but still, his friends were fond of listening to his remarks, as they generally contained true and noble ideas, and acknowledged his superior intellect. After his sickness, his whole person became changed, his manners noble and dignified. He sat erect upon the chair, his hands placed upon his knees, and both his feet resting a little apart, but never crossed upon the ground, without leaning backwards or to either side; and, though sitting for hours, he never appeared fatigued. He did not look aslant or backwards; his pace in walking was dignified, neither quick nor slow; he now spoke less and laughed seldom. After he had begun to worship, he was very strict in regard to his own conduct. In his words he was often severe, and easily offended others. He liked to sit down and talk with honest and sincere men, though they were ever so poor and of low estate; but he could not bear with the profligate, even if they were ever so rich and high in station."
The visions of Hung-sui-tshuen, marvellous as they were, and deeply significant upon many important points, could never have led to any earthly result but through the medium of some earthly key. This came at last, and the whole train of circumstances admit of no other interpretation than the will of a divine, inscrutable Providence. It is doubtful whether any one impressed with a sense of the awfully mysterious power of an Almighty Creator can dispute the cause of Hung-sui-tshuen's visions, conversion, and ultimate career; or that they rival many of the miracles of old which have been handed down to us, dimmed by the obscurity of time, and rendered difficult of comprehension by the subtleties of language as well as by the figurative style of the ancients.
For several years Hung-sui-tshuen continued his studies and acted as village schoolmaster. On one occasion, while engaged as teacher at a village some ten miles distant from his native place, a cousin, Le, while searching his bookcase, chanced to come across the small volumes, "Good Words for Exhorting the Age." Le inquired the nature of the works, but Sui-tshuen was unacquainted with the contents and lent them to him to read. It is stated by the Rev. T. Hamberg:—"These books contain a good number of whole chapters of the Bible according to the translation of Dr. Morison, many essays upon important subjects from single texts, and sundry miscellaneous statements founded on Scripture."
Le read the books and returned them, stating their contents were very extraordinary, and differed entirely from Chinese books. Sui-tshuen then took the books and commenced reading them closely and carefully. He was greatly astonished to find in