{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_76198/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_76198","id":"gutenberg_76198","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76198","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","China -- Social life and customs","Folklore -- China"],"text":"THE\n                          FOLK-LORE OF CHINA,\n                           AND ITS AFFINITIES\n               WITH THAT OF THE ARYAN AND SEMITIC RACES.\n\n\n                                   BY\n                     N. B. DENNYS, Ph.D., F.R.G.S.,\n     M.R.A.S.; AUTHOR OF \u201cA HANDBOOK OF THE CANTON VERNACULAR,\u201d &c.\n\n\n                   \u201cUnus utrique error, sed variis illudit partibus.\u201d\n                                                               \u2014Horace.\n\n\n                                LONDON:\n                TR\u00dcBNER AND Co., 57 & 59, LUDGATE HILL.\n                               HONGKONG:\n                          \u201cCHINA MAIL\u201d OFFICE.\n\n                                 1876.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   To\n\n                              REAR ADMIRAL\n\n                     The Hon. FRANCIS EGERTON, M.P.\n\n                             &c., &c., &c.\n\n       A SLIGHT TOKEN OF THE RESPECT AND GRATITUDE OF THE AUTHOR.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe following compilation consists of a series of Articles contributed\nto the China Review, and now republished with a few additions and\ncorrections. Of their many defects no one is more sensible than the\nauthor, who has moreover necessarily been debarred from access to\nnumerous authorities which a residence at home would have placed within\nhis reach. It is nevertheless hoped that this slight contribution to a\nbetter knowledge of Chinese popular beliefs, arranged as it is in a\nmore compendious form than was hitherto accessible, will find some\nfavour.\n\nThe author desires to express his obligations to the Rev. J. Chalmers,\nM.A., and to Mr. Christopher T. Gardner, of H.M. Consular Service,\nCanton, who very kindly placed valuable manuscript notes at his\ndisposal. Most of his numerous obligations to previous publications are\nacknowledged in the foot-notes.\n\n                                                                N. B. D.\n\n    Hongkong, November, 1876.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nINTRODUCTORY.\n\n    Attention of Late Bestowed on the Study of Folk-lore\u2014China Presents\n    a most Interesting Field of Enquiry\u2014Little as yet Done to bring\n    together what is Known upon the Subject\u2014Similarity between Chinese\n    and Western Beliefs\u2014Our Own Recent Emancipation from\n    Superstition\u2014The Myth-making Faculty Common to all Mankind\u2014Previous\n    Allusions to Chinese Folk-lore\u2014Arrangements of Subjects\u2014Chinese\n    Folk-lore Extensive\u2014Probable Derivation from the Cradle of the\n    Aryan Races\u2014Importance of Popular Beliefs in Chinese Estimation,\n    pp. 1\u20138.\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nBIRTH, MARRIAGE, AND DEATH.\n\n    Superstitions as to Day and Hour of Birth\u2014Practices to Ascertain\n    Sex of Expected Child\u2014Frightening Away Demons\u2014Three Children at a\n    Birth\u2014Binding the Wrists\u2014Cutting the Cord of the Feet\u2014Rocking an\n    Empty Cradle\u2014Ceremonies after Birth\u2014Worshipping the\n    Measures\u2014Superstitions as to Marriages\u2014Wedding Rings\u2014Betrothal\n    Ceremonies\u2014Using the Sieve\u2014Rubbing the Bride\u2019s Feet\u2014The Marriage\n    Veil\u2014Worshipping Heaven and Earth\u2014Shears, Honey &c.\u2014Bridal\n    Candles\u2014Lucky Numbers at Weddings\u2014Bride Cake or Bread\u2014Touching the\n    Threshold\u2014Shoes\u2014Sitting on the Dress\u2014Death\u2014Purchase of Coffins\n    beforehand\u2014Burial Clothes\u2014\u201cSaining\u201d a Corpse\u2014Cash from the Corpse\u2019s\n    Sleeve\u2014Reversing the Body\u2014Opening the Roof\u2014White and Black\n    Cocks\u2014Watching Spirits\u2014Watching the Dead\u2014Clothes, Arms, Food, &c.,\n    for the Dead\u2014Offerings after Death\u2014Throwing Earth upon the Coffin\u2014A\n    Lucky Place for a Grave\u2014White the Mourning Colour\u2014Aversion to\n    Disturbing a Grave,                                       pp. 8\u201327.\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nDAYS AND SEASONS.\n\n    Lucky and Unlucky Days\u2014The Chinese Sabbath\u2014Persian\n    Derivation\u2014Congratulating the Moon\u2014Unlucky Days in Each\n    Month\u2014Tabular Arrangement of Ditto\u2014New Year\u2019s Day\u2014The \u201cFirst\n    Foot\u201d\u2014St. Swithun\u2019s Day in China\u2014An Obscured Moon,       pp. 27\u201332.\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nPORTENTS OR OMENS, AUGURIES, LUCKY NUMBERS, AND DREAMS.\n\n    Upsetting the Oil Jar\u2014Crows, Magpies and Ducks\u2014Dogs and\n    Cats\u2014Crowing Hens\u2014Swallows\u2014Owls\u2014Setting an Even Number of\n    Eggs\u2014Superstitions as to Mirrors\u2014Crooked Paths\u2014Eclipses, Comets,\n    and Stars\u2014Bells\u2014Drawing Water at Certain Hours on a given\n    Date\u2014Omens of Personal Sensation, Itching, Shivering, Sneezing\n    &c.\u2014A Shaky Finger\u2014Trousers\u2014Sitting in a Warm Chair\u2014Meeting a\n    Funeral or Coffin\u2014People with Joined Eyebrows\u2014Itching of the Palm\n    and Specks on the Nails\u2014The First Words heard after making a\n    Resolution\u2014Casting Lots\u2014Lucky Numbers, 3, 5, and 7\u2014Numerical\n    Categories\u2014Even Numbers, Lucky\u2014Chinese beliefs as to\n    Dreams\u2014Comparison of Chinese and Japanese Superstitions as to\n    Dreams,                                                  pp. 33\u201345.\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nCHARMS, SPELLS, AMULETS, AND DIVINATIONS.\n\n    Attempted Cure of Diseases by Charms and Incantations\u2014Magic\n    Mirrors\u2014Fire-Crackers as Charms\u2014Exorcising the Spirit of an\n    Executed Criminal\u2014Firing Cannon at the Pei-ho\u2014Shooting Arrows at a\n    Tidal Wave\u2014Iron Plates Sunk as Charms\u2014Anti-Demoniacal Powers of\n    Certain Woods\u2014The Bamboo, Peach, Willow and Plum\u2014Charms Affixed to\n    Buildings\u2014Coffin Nails\u2014Cats in Clay as Charms\u2014Stone Lions\u2014Coins\n    under Door Sills\u2014Cash Swords\u2014Triangles\u2014The \u201cEvil Eye\u201d\u2014The Swastika\n    or Thor\u2019s Hammer\u2014The Eight Diagrams\u2014Arrows on the Roof\u2014Stone\n    Slabs\u2014Red Cloth\u2014Murderer\u2019s Knives, the Classics and Fishing Nets\n    &c.\u2014Drawings of Reptiles or Animals\u2014Taking a Hair of the Dog that\n    Bit You\u2014Lustrations by Spittle\u2014Characts or Written Charms\u2014Red and\n    Yellow, Lucky Colours\u2014Ashes of Burnt Paper Charms taken in Tea,\n    &c.\u2014Amulets\u2014Lucky Cash\u2014Lock and Hook Amulets\u2014Bells as\n    Amulets\u2014Divinations\u2014Divining Sticks\u2014Spirit Rapping\u2014Somnambules or\n    Media\u2014Form of Incantation\u2014Divination by Willow-wood\n    Images\u2014Mesmerism\u2014Chinese Sortes Virgilian\u00e6\u2014Divination by Paper\n    Slips\u2014Trained Birds\u2014Chiromancy or Palmistry\u2014Physiognomy\u2014Divination\n    by Leaves,                                               pp. 45\u201363.\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nSUPERSTITIONS AS TO VARIOUS SUBJECTS.\n\n    The Hare and Its Attributes\u2014Discovery of Drowned Bodies\u2014Casting\n    Salt into the Water\u2014The last Piece left upon a\n    Plate\u2014F\u00eang-shui\u2014Value of Human Blood and Flesh as Medicinal\n    Aids\u2014Chinese Cannibalism and its Reason\u2014Blood Bread Sold at Peking\n    after Executions\u2014Blood of Unborn Infants\u2014Restorative Properties of\n    Human Flesh\u2014Ancient Rain Stones\u2014Gymnastics; Curious Belief as to\n    Effects of Practising Them\u2014Bridges and the Beliefs Concerning\n    Them\u2014Curing Swellings\u2014How to Prevent Water from Boiling over and\n    Eggs from Cracking\u2014Cinnebar and Vermilion as Antidotes to\n    Sickness\u2014Superstitions as to the Female Principle and\n    Silkworms\u2014Signs by Corpses if Dissatisfied,              pp. 64\u201371.\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nGHOSTS, APPARITIONS, AND SUPERNATURAL BEINGS.\n\n    Prominent Part played by Ghosts on the Chinese Stage\u2014The False\n    Ghost at Chinkeang\u2014Chinese Terms for Ghosts; Their Shapeless\n    Form\u2014Candles Burning Green in the Presence of Ghosts\u2014Apparition at\n    Shanghai\u2014The Ghost from the S. S. Fusing\u2014The Foochow Gun-boat\n    Ghost\u2014Ghosts of Suicides and of Women who Die in Child-bed\u2014Ghosts\n    of Murdered People\u2014Haunted Houses\u2014Sanding Floors to Detect Ghostly\n    Visitants\u2014Intelligence of Ghosts\u2014Pauper Ghosts\u2014The Shen of\n    Offence\u2014The Ghost in a Chinese Farce\u2014Idol Ghosts\u2014Ghosts Permitted\n    to Revisit the Earth\u2014Charms against Malevolent Ghosts\u2014Animal\n    Ghosts,                                                  pp. 71\u201379.\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nWITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY.\n\n    Antiquity of Witchcraft in China\u2014Witches not Persecuted in\n    China\u2014Summoning Genii\u2014Chinese Ideas of Genii\u2014Taoistic and Confucian\n    Opinions respecting them\u2014Celebrated Genii\u2014Isles of the Genii\u2014Clay\n    Images of Persons whom it is desired to Injure\u2014Paper and Feathers\n    as used by Wizards\u2014The Mao-shan and Shan-ching-kwei\u2014Demon\n    Monsters\u2014Taoistic Chiefs of the Genii\u2014People possessed by\n    Spirits\u2014\u201cDevil Dancers\u201d\u2014Reputed Powers of Christian Converts as\n    Exorcists\u2014Charm against Witches\u2014Cats and Witchcraft\u2014Hares,\n    &c.\u2014Tigers\u2014Carp, &c.\u2014Dragons\u2014Foxes and Demonology\u2014Curious Fox\n    Stories\u2014Fox Myths amongst the American Indians and Japanese\u2014Stones\n    possessed by Spirits,                                    pp. 79\u201396.\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nELVES, FAIRIES, AND BROWNIES.\n\n    Chinese Ideas regarding Fairies\u2014Fairy Haunts\u2014Storm Fiends\u2014Rip van\n    Winkle Legends and Fairies\u2014The Fairy Home\u2014Brownies\u2014The\n    Shan-sao\u2014Stealing the Fairy Dress\u2014Fairy Flies and Bees\u2014Chinese\n    Kelpies\u2014The Goddess of the Palace of the Moon\u2014Fairy Tales\u2014The word\n    Shen and its meanings,                                  pp. 97\u2013102.\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nSERPENTS, DRAGONS, FABULOUS ANIMALS, AND MONSTERS.\n\n    The Serpent and Universal Legend\u2014Healing Qualities of Serpents\u2019\n    Flesh\u2014Human Beings assuming Serpent form\u2014British Parallels\u2014The\n    Fuhkien Snake Story\u2014Serpent Worship and its Temples\u2014Serpents as\n    River Gods\u2014Precious Stones in the Heads of Serpents\u2014The Snake and\n    the Butcher\u2019s Block\u2014Dragons and their Serpent Origin\u2014Serpent\n    Worship in India and China\u2014Five-Clawed Dragons\u2014British\n    Dragons\u2014Chinese Description of the Dragon\u2014River Dragons\u2014Domestic\n    Dragon Worship\u2014Ah Tseung and the Bob-tailed Dragon\u2014Chinese Version\n    of St. George and the Dragon\u2014The Ph\u0153nix and Unicorn\u2014The\n    Blood-yielding Baboon\u2014Sea Serpents and Strange Fish\u2014Mermaids and\n    their Original Home\u2014Popular Beliefs respecting the Straits of\n    Hainan,                                                pp. 102\u2013115.\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nSUPERSTITIONS REGARDING THE POWERS OF NATURE.\n\n    The Sun, Moon and Stars, and Beliefs regarding them\u2014The Lunar\n    Goddess, Frog, Toad, Hare, &c.\u2014Planetary Influences\u2014Cosmical\n    Phenomena and Native Records\u2014The \u201cOld Man of the Moon\u201d\u2014The Goddess\n    of the Moon\u2014The Lunar Hare and its Legend\u2014The Moon and Tides\u2014The\n    Sun and Chinese Beliefs regarding it\u2014Stars and Planets, Chinese\n    Legends respecting them\u2014The Mirage\u2014Meteors and their Portentous\n    Attributes\u2014Thunder and Lightning\u2014The God of Fire\u2014A Peking\n    Legend\u2014\u201cFire Pigeons\u201d\u2014Mountains and their Presiding\n    Divinities\u2014Legends respecting the Formation of Islands\u2014The Rain God\n    and his Misdeeds\u2014A would-be \u201cRain-priest\u201d\u2014Superstitions as to\n    Tides\u2014Earthquakes\u2014Natural Hairs\u2014Blood from the Sky\u2014The Legend of\n    Lake Man\u2014Emission of the Chiao\u2014Blood from the Earth\u2014Dragons and\n    Waterspouts\u2014Human Beings Transformed into Stone\u2014A Fall of Chinese\n    Manna,                                                 pp. 115\u2013128.\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nLEGENDS OF LOCALITY, HOUSEHOLD TALES, &c.\n\n    Numerous Legends current amongst the Chinese\u2014The Yangtsze and\n    Yellow River\u2014The Entrance to Purgatory\u2014The Demons of\n    Teng-chow\u2014Imprisoned Genii\u2014The Golden Cup of Hercules and\n    Pei-tu\u2014The Valley of the White Deer\u2014Spirits of the\n    Gorges\u2014Transformed Dogs\u2014The Source of the Hwang Ho\u2014Mountain of the\n    Genii\u2014The Legend of the Bell\u2014Pro patri\u00e2 mori\u2014A Chinese Ali Baba\u2014The\n    Loadstone\u2014Magic Tombs\u2014Good Deeds Rewarded\u2014Words Engraved upon the\n    Heart\u2014Punch and Judy Shows and their Origin\u2014Legendary Origin of\n    Tea\u2014Origin of the Cocoa-nut\u2014Mercury and the Philosopher\u2019s Stone\u2014The\n    Judgment of Solomon\u2014Magic Bread\u2014The Swan Maidens and a Lewchewan\n    Legend\u2014Use of Household Tales and Legends for Comparative\n    Purposes\u2014Chinese Story Radicals,                       pp. 129\u2013145.\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nFABLES AND PROVERBIAL LORE.\n\n    Chinese Fables numerous\u2014Absence of Native Collections of\n    Fables\u2014Indo-Chinese Fables\u2014Mr. Thom, and his Translation of\n    \u00c6sop\u2014The Earliest Chinese Fable\u2014Comparative Antiquity of the Fable\n    in China and Greece\u2014The Cat and the Mice\u2014Offering a White Pig\u2014Men\n    and Snakes\u2014The Ass and the Oxen\u2014The Tiger and the Monkey, Ass, Fox,\n    &c.\u2014The Geese and the Tortoise\u2014The Brother\u2019s Boots\u2014The Crows and\n    the Owls\u2014The King and the Mill Horses\u2014Borrowing Trouble\u2014The Blind\n    Man and the Lame Man\u2014The Folly of Avarice\u2014Proverbs, their Extensive\n    Use in China\u2014Writings of Messrs. Lister and Scarborough\u2014A\n    Comparison of well-known Chinese and English Proverbs\u2014The Chinese\n    word for \u201cHeaven\u201d\u2014Conclusion,                          pp. 146\u2013156.\n\n\n\n\n\nERRATUM.\n\nIn the footnote, page 84, the paragraphs quoted are wrongly attributed\nto Mr. C. T. Gardner. They are by an unknown writer in a Shanghai\njournal.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOLK-LORE OF CHINA.\n\nI.\u2014INTRODUCTORY.\n\n\nThe attention which has of late been attracted to the study of European\nand Asiatic folk-lore happily renders unnecessary any apology for an\neffort to bring to the knowledge of English readers the vast, and as\nyet almost unworked, field of which it is the design of these pages to\ntreat. The numerous and in many cases able works recently published\nhave not only placed at the disposal of students a vast mass of facts\nbearing on the science, but have so fully vindicated its claims to the\nconsideration of the ethnologist and philologist, that any introductory\nessay in the same direction is unnecessary. The labours of Professor\nMax M\u00fcller, the Brothers Grimm, Baring Gould, Kuhn, Kelly, Thorpe,\nDasent, Wilson, Ralston, and Spence Hardy, of Muir, Bleeke, and others,\nhave satisfactorily paved the way for successors in the field. The\nwidespread traditions of the Aryan family, down to the homely\nsuperstitions of our own peasantry, the myths of Oceanica and the\npopular tales of Scandinavia, have alike received illustration, and\noften erudite comment from capable pens. In endeavouring to do for the\nfolk-lore of China what has been so well done for that of other\ncountries I shall in one respect enjoy an exceptional advantage. No\nserious attempt has yet been made to prove its kinship with the\nfamiliar beliefs of the Aryan races; and the following pages may\ntherefore claim, on the score of novelty alone, an attention which\nmight otherwise be denied them.\n\nThat a population so enormous as that which owns the nominal sway of\nthe Dragon Throne\u2014variously estimated at from 250,000,000 to\n400,000,000\u2014should present a field of most interesting enquiry, is less\nstrange than that so few enquirers should as yet have essayed to\nexplore it. The extreme difficulties of the language and the fact that\nfew who study it for even conversational purposes do so except for a\nspecific end, and to fulfil some defined duty, have doubtless mainly\ncontributed to this state of affairs. Whatever the cause, however, the\nfact remains that the folk-lore of the oldest and most populous nation\nof the globe, rich in the traditions of a period to which modern\nhistory is but a thing of yesterday, has been hitherto almost ignored\nby even the most successful students of Chinese. Those least acquainted\nwith the people and their customs need not be assured that in China, as\nin most other parts of the world, there are certain subjects regarding\nwhich quaint and curious superstitions, beliefs and practices obtain\namongst the populace. Unlike the civilized nations of Europe and\nAmerica, however, China numbers amongst believers in the truth of these\nsuperstitions a vast public of some pretensions to education\u2014such as it\nis\u2014and of social position in the eyes of their countrymen. The doings\nof every Chinaman, from Emperor to coolie, are affected and guided by\nastrological portents, divinations, etc., in which even the more highly\neducated, who affect to despise them, place a practical trust. The\nhalf-cynical disbelief of the mandarin and literate, becomes firm\nconviction in the peasant; and China presents the now-a-days singular\nspectacle of an entire nation, numbering over three hundred millions of\nsouls, whose everyday life is framed to meet the exigencies of a\npuerile system of superstition.\n\nIt must not, however, be supposed that these superstitious beliefs\ndiffer to any material extent from those current amongst humanity\nelsewhere. The variations will be found to lie rather in detail than in\nprinciple; and just as white replaces black for the mourning colour,\nbut leaves untouched the custom of adopting a special costume as a sign\nof grief, so it will be found that a variation or even apparent\ncontradiction in the beliefs we are about to deal with are in like\nmanner the outcome of motives common to the inhabitants of almost all\ncountries alike. Thus, the Scottish custom of opening the windows of\nthe room in which a person has died, to give the soul free egress, is,\nin some parts of China, paralleled by the practice of making a hole in\nthe roof. The Lancashire superstition as to the \u201cfirst foot\u201d on New\nYear\u2019s Day finds its Chinese counterpart in the dislike expressed to\nmeeting a woman or a Buddhist priest under such conditions. I forbear\nto here enlarge upon such agreements in superstition, as they will be\nfound treated of at length in the following pages. The one grand\ndistinction between Chinese and European folk-lore lies, as above\nintimated, in the different powers they exert over the respective\ncommunities. In the one case it is either a matter only of amused\nindifference or of interested research to all but the lowest classes of\nthe population. In the other it represents an all-pervading system of\nregulations believed in or complied with by high and low alike. We must\nnot, however, forget at how very recent a date we, who now pride\nourselves on our civilization and enlightenment, were emancipated from\nthe thraldom of similar and equally oppressive beliefs. To turn for a\nmoment to the page of western history, we find that the belief in\nomens, divinations, &c., has, ever since the earliest times, influenced\ncommunities beside whom we incline, with somewhat undue arrogance, to\nterm the Chinese \u201cbarbarous.\u201d St. Chrysostom and many of the early\nfathers inveighed against popular superstitions in no measured way. In\nthe eighth century we find a Council of Church dignitaries, Pope\nGregory III., Charlemagne and his successors, and the abbots and\nbishops of Scotland and France, vehemently denouncing beliefs similar\nin all respects to those in vogue in China. The great Martin Luther\nhimself believed in superstitions as gross as any recorded. [1] We turn\nwith abhorrence from the story of Matthew Hopkins, the witch-finder,\nand cannot forget that, almost within the memory of our own great\ngrandfathers, the Puritans of the New World outvied in their\nsuperstitious bigotry the worst absurdities recorded in Chinese annals.\nIt is well to recall these matters to mind, because the enlightenment\nof the present day is apt to sneer too unreservedly at the blind\ngropings after truth of less favoured races. The popular folk-lore of\nNorway, Germany and Brittany presents features quite as quaint as those\nwe shall come across in dealing with their Asiatic congeners.\n\nNor, when we leave the domain of what we may term domestic\nfolk-lore\u2014superstitions as to days and seasons, charms, omens, lucky\nnumbers, &c.,\u2014and ascend to that of myths and legends, is the\nparallelism between Chinese and Aryan belief less striking and\ninteresting. We miss of course all that can be traced to Christianity;\nbut the powers of nature have appealed as strongly to the wonder and\ndread of the sons of Han as they did to the races of whom we ourselves\nare the successors and heirs. \u201cLanguage,\u201d says a recent writer, \u201cin its\nimmature phases, has created, without any conscious exercise of\nimagination, most of the old-world, pathetic legends, which, different\ngarbs notwithstanding, meet us like familiar friends in the early\nrecords of nations so widely divergent that it would be hard to\ndiscover any other trace of kinship.\u201d I will not here pause to ask how\nfully this applies to Chinese. The myth-making faculty is in any case\nthe common heritage of mankind; and narrow as are the limits within\nwhich it has been exercised by the Chinese, and grotesque as are the\nforms assumed by its productions, they evidence the same yearning to\nidealise the mysterious powers of the universe, the same poetic\nfaculty, if more rudely expressed, as has characterized mankind since\nthe Chaldean astrologers kept their lonely vigils, and found in the\nstar-studded heavens materials for the mythic beliefs of the\nlong-forgotten past.\n\nIn view then of the interesting and almost limitless field of research\npresented by the superstitious beliefs of nearly a third of the human\nrace, it is, as I have said, more than remarkable that no one has yet\nessayed the task of compiling some record of their peculiarities.\nScattered allusions to them undoubtedly pervade a large number of\nrecent contributions to our better knowledge of China, while certain\nsubjects have been dealt with more at length\u2014in some cases with much\nability. Mr. T. Watters has struck a rich vein of curious information\nin his articles on Chinese notions respecting Pigeons, Doves, and\nFoxes; while Mr. Stent, in his paper on Chinese Legends, has given some\ninteresting examples of the romances or tales which are current among\nthe Chinese. As Mr. Stent says, almost every place in China has some\nlegend attached to it, the whole constituting a mass of material for\ncollectors of folk-lore, not only interesting from its own quaintness,\nbut useful for comparison with the legends of other nations. [2] Mr.\nKingsmill\u2019s discussion of the mythical origin of the Chow Dynasty, Dr.\nEitel\u2019s account of the curious Buddhist fable which includes the\nHwang-ho among the sacred rivers flowing from the Himalayan Lake, and\nMr. Mayers\u2019s sketch of the rise and growth of the cult of the god of\nLiterature in China, all contain curious and suggestive matter on this\nhead. They deal however only with portions of the subject.\n\nA writer in the year 1798 remarked that \u201cthe study of popular\nantiquities (of which folk-lore is an important branch) though the\nmaterials of it lie so widely diffused, and indeed seem to obtrude\nthemselves upon every one\u2019s attention, does not appear to have engaged\nso much the notice of enquirers into human life and manners as might\nhave been expected.\u201d But the last seventy years have witnessed an\nactivity in this direction which would allow of the formation of a\nsmall library of works dealing only with such matters. It is time that\nChina were added to the list of countries whose folk-lore has been\nrecorded for comparative purposes. And any shortcomings of execution on\nthe part of the present writer will, it is hoped, be condoned on the\nscore of its being the first attempt to deal systematically with the\nvast array of material at disposal.\n\nAny arrangement of subjects is of course arbitrary; but I shall\nendeavour to follow what seems to me the most natural order of\nsequence; and I must here be pardoned for devoting a short space to\nexplaining what I conceive that order to be. The unstudied arrangement\nof many able works on European folk-lore, although perhaps adding\nadditional charm to their perusal on the part of the general reader,\nsomewhat militates against their use for handy reference by those who\ncare to study them for the sake of comparison. It is therefore much to\nbe desired that some general system could be agreed upon by those who\ncare to make this entertaining subject a matter of serious research.\nWith some diffidence I adopt an arrangement which deals in the first\ninstance with superstitions personal to the individual, such as those\nrelating to birth, marriage and death\u2014superstitions which we find\nequally disseminated amongst the most degraded and the most civilized\npeoples of the earth. To these succeed the beliefs accorded to the good\nor evil luck attaching to days or seasons. Next to them come the\ncredence placed in lucky numbers, portents, auguries and dreams,\nsucceeded by the popular beliefs in charms, spells and divinations.\nThese are followed by accounts of popular superstitions\u2014such as those\nrelating to drowned men, the last piece of edible left upon a plate,\nthe virtues of human blood, &c. Entering the domain of the more\ntechnically supernatural, but still dealing with beliefs immediately\naffecting the happiness or misery of mankind, we come to witchcraft and\ndemonology,\u2014sprites, elves and fairies, such as those who, to quote a\nnative composition, \u201ccome in clouds and go in mist;\u201d who make use of\n\u201cgrass that when cut makes horses, or beans that when scattered become\nfighting men.\u201d [3] Ghosts and apparitions are naturally connected with\nthe foregoing. The next section refers to dragons, serpents, fabulous\nanimals, and monsters, which play as important a part in the popular\nlegends of China as in those of Christendom. Long before our patron\nsaint St. George slew the monster so long depicted on the now extinct\nfive-shilling piece, a doughty Chinese champion (a lady, by the way)\nhad performed a similar feat, and had been also embalmed in popular\nmemory; while the snake, regarded with not less awe as an incarnation\nof the supernatural in China than in Europe, figures conspicuously in\nher legendary lore. Natural phenomena, such as typhoons, earthquakes,\nfloods, &c., which I next deal with, have naturally, here as elsewhere,\nbeen attributed to supernatural influence from time immemorial. Legends\nform the next division of our subject, commencing with those of\nlocality; for the hills and vales of Cathay have their haunted spots,\nand its cities too have their haunted houses. Legends of Locality and\nHousehold Tales conclude this branch of the subject, a selection of the\nbest known, and those of an essentially popular nature, being alone\ngiven. Fables and Proverbial Lore complete the series; but the latter\nhas been too fully dealt with in separate works and essays to render\nmore than passing reference to its characteristics necessary.\n\nBriefly tabulated, then, the Chapters will be arranged in the following\norder:\u2014\n\n\n    A\u2014Superstitions as to personal fortune.\n\n        Birth, Marriage, Death.\n        Days and Seasons.\n        Portents, Auguries, Dreams, Lucky Numbers.\n        Charms, Spells, Amulets and Divinations.\n\n    B\u2014Superstitions as to various subjects.\n\n    C\u2014Superstitions involving the interference of supernatural powers.\n\n        Ghosts, Apparitions and Supernatural Beings.\n        Witchcraft and Demonology.\n        Elves, Fairies and Brownies.\n        Serpents, Dragons, Fabulous Animals and Monsters.\n        Superstitions regarding the Powers of Nature.\n\n    D\u2014Legendary Folk-lore.\n\n        Legends of Locality, Household Tales, &c.\n\n    E\u2014Fables and Proverbial Folk-lore.\n\n\nThat it is difficult in all cases to draw the precise line in\nclassification, those who have paid any attention to the subject will\nreadily understand; and the most that can be done is to adopt some\nsystem which, however faulty, is handy for reference.\n\nThe word \u201cFolk-lore\u201d can be applied to many of the domestic traditions\nof China only as a matter of literary convenience. The word which,\naccording to Mr. Kelly, was invented (or rather first used in its\ngeneric sense) by the late editor of Notes and Queries, [4] is indeed\nthe only one in the language which satisfactorily expresses the subject\nof which it treats, and has met with general acceptance. But there is\nthis difference between most of the folk-lore of the Aryan races and\nthat of China. In the former case it chiefly relates to legends and\nsuperstitions handed down from generation to generation by word of\nmouth; in the latter it necessarily includes much that is to be found\nin print at every native bookstall. Old Moore\u2019s and Zadkiel\u2019s Almanacks\nrepresent this sort of literature in England, but do not of course\ncontain a tithe of what is current amongst the people. In China such\nliterature flourishes like a rank weed, to the partial destruction of\naught else more useful and ennobling. In addition to these native\n\u201cauthorities,\u201d a vast amount of material relating to the subject is to\nbe found in the columns of the foreign and native newspapers. The aid\nthus afforded has been fully availed of in the following chapters,\nthough it must not of course be supposed that there does not also exist\na large amount of veritable lore, a knowledge of which has been\nperpetuated in the ordinary conversational way. The cheapness of the\npress has indeed proved in China a powerful help in preserving much\nthat might otherwise have died out. The precise form of any\nsuperstition can therefore be frequently traced, thanks to this\nconservative element, and differing versions of popular myths are\neasily referred to their true origins.\n\nIt does not appear that the great teachers of China have done much,\nexcept in an indirect way, to encourage popular superstitions. But\nfaint references\u2014and those chiefly to ceremonial matters\u2014are to be\nfound in the classics, nor does popular belief credit Confucius,\nMencius, Lao-tz\u00fc, and others with more than inferential approval of the\nsuperstitions current in their own day. The principle of filial\nreverence for age has probably contributed more than anything else to\nimbue the minds of the people with a respect for anything, from a\nporcelain bowl to an aphorism or proverb, which savours of antiquity;\nand folk-lore shares with ethics the benefits of the national bias. As\nregards details, the folk-lore of China is much the same as that of\nEurope, with here and there some unexpected contradictions. Many of\nthese superstitions are, and of course must be, equally childish,\nwhether finding their home in a Cornish hamlet or a Chinese town; but\nit is none the less interesting to find that they often exist in almost\nidentical shape in places so far asunder. To the mind of the present\nwriter they convey far deeper assurances of a common origin between\ndiffering races than the often untrustworthy resemblances of isolated\nwords in their respective tongues.\n\nIt will probably be found that the theory which refers the greater\nportion of the folk-lore of Europe to the Oriental cradle of the Aryan\nraces, from whence it was disseminated by their migrations westward, is\nequally applicable to the folk-lore of China. The first-named\nsupposition has been ably supported by Kelly and his brother workers,\nand if, as is believed, equally strong grounds can be shewn for\nadopting the second, a contribution of some importance to ethnology,\nand indirectly to philology, will have been made. And it is difficult,\nwhen the domestic superstitions of Scotland or the tales of New England\nwitchcraft, the drear legends of Iceland or the myths of Thuringia are\nfound to be almost identical with beliefs in little-known China,\u2014when\nthe almond-eyed mother of Kwangtung is found repeating to her offspring\nthe mystic nonsense uttered by her Hindoo or Turkish sister, as she\ntoo, under other skies, listens to the prattle of childish tongues\u2014it\nis, I say, difficult to deny that a strong case has been made out for a\ncommon fount whence the folk-lore of at least two continents has flowed\nEastward and Westward in ever-accumulating streams. I need not here\nrefer to such essentially related peoples as the Japanese, Tibetans,\nMongolians, &c., whose superstitions are so analogous to those of the\nChinese as to be fairly classed under the same head. Such information\nas has been available respecting them, will be found collated in its\nproper place.\n\nI have slightly touched in a preceding paragraph upon the unusually\nwidespread belief accorded in China to signs and omens, legends,\ncharms, &c., and a passing remark as to the extent to which this belief\nobtains may not be out of place. The Court of China, like courts\nelsewhere, sets the fashion in this as in other matters, and both the\nmarriage of the late Sovereign and the recent accession of the new\ninfant Emperor has afforded an apt illustration of how thoroughly\nsuperstition is interwoven with the political system of the country.\nThus, at the marriage of Tung-chi with Ah-lu-te, the young lady\nreceived amongst the bridal gifts ten pieces of green and white jade\ncalled ju-i [5]\u2014\u201cHeart\u2019s delight.\u201d They were of mystic import, being\nsupposed to possess the power of conferring joy and happiness on their\nowner. [6] The lucky days for the various ceremonies were fixed by the\ncourt astrologers, and nothing was done without reference to their\npredictions. Such phrases as \u201cso and so being a lucky day, His Imperial\nMajesty will proceed &c.,\u201d are of constant occurrence in the court\ncirculars. But the burdens laid upon the august inhabitants of the\n\u201cForbidden City\u201d are but light compared to those borne by the rest of\nthe people. Whether it be to build a house or assume office, to marry a\nwife or open a school, to set out on a journey or complete a bargain,\nnothing can be done by any Chinese without reference to Geomancy. Nor\nare more homely details less under the control of superstitious belief.\nEvery act connected with birth, marriage or death, the bringing up of\nchildren and the enterprises of manhood, are alike referred to some\ndetail of this curiously all-pervading system. The superstitions indeed\nexist amongst ourselves, those really affected by them being only the\nmost ignorant of the population. But in China all are, or assume to be,\nfirm believers in the occult influences of the charm or incantation\nwhich custom decrees shall be used. The veriest \u201cLancashire witch\u201d was\nno more a slave to her own belief in witchcraft than are average\nChinese to their faith in the virtues of divination. Folk-lore\ntherefore assumes in China a place almost unknown to it elsewhere, and\nno student of the manners and customs of its people can overlook its\ninfluence on their every-day life.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nII.\u2014BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH.\n\n\nIn China, as throughout the western world, curious superstitions attach\nto human life in all its various stages. The hour and day of an\ninfant\u2019s birth are as much a matter of solicitude to the Chinese female\nas to the \u201cwise woman\u201d of our own North-country hamlets. [7] The\nqueer-looking almanacks to be found amongst the stock of every native\nbookshop or stall, invariably contain a series of figures representing\na fanciful deity, whose title may be rendered as that of the Emperor\n\u201cFour Quarters\u201d or \u201cAll the Year Round,\u201d each figure having one of the\nhorary characters placed on some portion of its person. Thus, during\nthe spring quarter the sign for from 11 to to 1 o\u2019clock a.m. appears on\nthe forehead; that for from 9 to 11 o\u2019clock on the shoulder; that for\nfrom 1 to 3 o\u2019clock upon the stomach; etc. (See illustration). When a\nchild is born these diagrams are consulted, and according as the hour\nmark occurs upon the forehead, shoulders, hands, legs or other portion\nof the body, so they augur the future destiny of the child. Thus title\nand degree will be the lot of him who is born at noon. The child who\nmakes his appearance between 9 and 11 o\u2019clock will have, in the\nfamiliar words of the gypsy, \u201ca hard lot at first, but finally great\nriches.\u201d Toil and sorrow, however, will be the portion of the unlucky\nbaby who first sees the light between 3 and 5 a.m., or p.m., and so on.\n[8]\n\nThe following verses have been kindly placed at my disposal by a\nfriend, who has taken the trouble to put into rhyme some of the\ndoggerel that accompanies the diagrams above referred to:\u2014\n\n\n          THE RHYME OF THE EMPEROR \u201cALL-THE-YEAR-ROUND.\u201d\n\n            In birth, the Emperor\u2019s forehead shows\n            A fate that never sorrow knows,\n            Plebeians that rich and honoured be\n            And rise to title and degree,\n            The rank they seek is still bestowed;\n            Nobles that follow a worthy lord\n            And women, chaste and well-beloved,\n            Wed and breed scholars true and proved.\n\n            The Emperor\u2019s hands in birth portend\n            The gains that handicraft attend\n            Abroad, a welcome rich and free,\n            As home, a well-found family;\n            One year shall yield a plenteous store,\n            Next year shall make that plenty more,\n            Wealth shall flow in on every side,\n            Wealth with old age shall still abide.\n\n            The Emperor\u2019s shoulders mean, I trow,\n            An heir to goodly gifts that grow\n            To more and more as years draw on,\n            Grandsons and sons to honour come,\n            Rank comes too when the time is fit,\n            Old age brings fields and farms with it;\n            If kith and kin at first were cold\n            \u201cBitter, then sweet,\u201d is truth of old.\n\n            When on the belly falls the sign,\n            Shalt have enough, as I divine,\n            Of clothes and food, of acts or arms,\n            Of music and the pageant\u2019s charms;\n            Old age with peace and joy shall crown\n            Mid-age\u2019s office and renown,\n            And a delightsome halo spread,\n            Increasing, round thy honoured head.\n\n            If on the loins the sign be found,\n            Then rank with wealth and years is crowned,\n            With honour when life\u2019s prime is told\n            And eld y-blessed with yellow gold,\n            Yea, though arisen from low degree\n            His fate is true nobility;\n            His scions, an illustrious band\n            Who make a name within the land.\n\n            But on the leg\u2014the meaning there\n            Is toil and sorrow, want and care,\n            Nor clothes nor food enough shall be,\n            May all thy kin be kind to thee!\n            Who day by day must drudge and toil\n            Nor be content for all thy coil.\n            Yet, when thy bitter youth is past,\n            Old age shall bring thee bliss at last.\n\n            The Emperor\u2019s foot means this\u2014at last\n            Peace comes from vigil and from fast,\n            A life-time of tranquillity!\n            Have nought to do with rent or fee;\n            Widowed\u2014renew not married life;\n            Widower\u2014seek no second wife;\n            Thy path a wilderness unblest,\n            Flee to a cell and be at rest!\n\n\nThe practices resorted to previous to the birth of children, either to\nsecure that blessing or to ascertain the sex of the expected infant,\nform in themselves a curious chapter. An idea that adopting a girl\nbelonging to another family will increase a woman\u2019s own likelihood of\nhaving children herself, is based upon the belief that each living\nwoman is in the unseen world represented by a tree; and that, just as\ngrafting succeeds with trees, so adoption (which represents the same\nprocess in family life) may succeed as regards children. Another\nsuperstition is that each woman is represented in the other world by a\nvase containing a flower. A sorceress is hired to proceed thither and\n\u201cchange the earth.\u201d A third way of securing children is to obtain from\nthe temple of the Goddess of Children a shoe which has been worn by\nher. This is taken home and, being placed beside the image or tablet of\nthe goddess, receives equal worship; and, should the desired object be\nattained, a pair of shoes exactly resembling the one obtained must be\nreturned to the temple. Sometimes several are taken from an equal\nnumber of temples, and in that case the goddess from whom the last shoe\nwas received is rewarded with most offerings. A flower is in other\ncases taken from one of the temple vases in place of a shoe, and is\nsupposed to be nearly as efficacious.\n\nShortly before the birth of the child in Fuhkien a ceremony is\nperformed by a priest, with the intention of frightening away the\ndemons who are supposed to haunt the mother for the purpose of\ndestroying her life in childbirth. \u201cThe priest recites the classics\nproper to the occasion. Ten or twenty pieces of a kind of grass cut up\nabout an inch long, and several likenesses of the crab cut out of\ncommon paper, are put in a censer and burned. Or sometimes several live\ncrabs, after being used in the ceremony are taken and turned into the\nstreet\u2014by way of frightening or propitiating the spirits. The reason\nwhy crabs are used is that the name of one of these demons sounds like\nthat of crab, in the local dialect.\u201d [9]\n\nThe formula for ascertaining the sex of a coming child is not very far\nremoved from the children\u2019s amusement of prophesying by buttons,\ncommencing \u201cTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, &c.\u201d The mother adds to\nthe number of her age in years that of the month, day and hour she was\nborn: thus if twenty years old and she was born in the sixth hour of\nthe third day of the second month, she would have a total of\nthirty-one. She then takes a series of pictures of the thirty-six\nassistants of the Goddess of Children, sold for fortune-telling\npurposes, and according to the sex of the child in the arms of the\nthirty-first concludes that her own child will be a boy or a girl. If\nthe number of her age, &c., exceed thirty-six, she commences to count\nthe first picture from number thirty-seven. Childless women also resort\nto a similar process to ascertain whether they will or will not have\nchildren. Those curious to ascertain the religious ceremonies made use\nof prior to birth may be referred to Mr. Doolittle\u2019s work on Chinese\nSocial Life.\n\nIt may be noted, in passing, that the Chinese make but little provision\nwhatever for the birth of female children, which are deemed beneath the\nnotice of augury or portent. At the birth of a child of either sex,\nhowever, amongst the boating population, a piece of red coloured cloth\nis hung from the awning of the sampan in which the birth has taken\nplace. [10]\n\nA superstition obtains in the southern provinces that if three children\nappear at a birth one of them will eventually become a noted rebel, and\nit hence becomes a question of \u201cWhich is Papa going to keep?\u201d if the\nluckless father would avoid that direst of Chinese curses, a thoroughly\nbad son. To decide the question a \u201cwise man\u201d is sent for, by whose\ndirections the three infants are taken into a perfectly dark room. The\nwise man then takes three pieces of string, each of a different colour,\nsuch as white, red and black, and entering the room ties one of these\npieces of string round a wrist of each baby. The one that is found when\nbrought out into the light to have the red string on its wrist is\ndrowned like a puppy. [11] Presuming however that the little one has\nnot had such ill-luck as to be the odd one of three, it still undergoes\nwithin an hour or two of birth the ceremony of \u201cbinding the wrists.\u201d A\ncash or charm is tied to this part of the arm by means of red cords,\nwhich are not untied for some ten or twelve days. Others attach\nminiature toys, such as a mallet, drum, bell, &c., the red cords being\nabout two feet long altogether, with one foot of loose string between\nthem. Sometimes, however, the cord or tape alone is used, being\nreplaced when dirty, but worn altogether for several months or even a\nyear. [12] This of course has reference to the dread lest evil spirits\nshould harm the child, and the impelling motive finds expression in\nother countries in a not quite dissimilar way. Thus the Danish women\nplace amulets (garlic, salt, bread and steel) over the cradle of a\nnew-born infant before depositing it therein; [13] while a superstition\nformerly obtained both in England and the Highlands that a child should\nnot be left alone until it was christened lest it should be stolen or\nchanged by fairies. [14] A practice common amongst nurses is to pass a\nknife edge downward between the feet of a child just as it commences to\nrun alone. This is called \u201ccutting the cord of his feet,\u201d and is\nsupposed to facilitate his learning to walk. [15]\n\nThere is a curious little piece of folk-lore, common alike to the\nMiddle Kingdom and our own fatherland, which I lighted upon by\naccident. A wide-spread superstition exists at home against rocking a\n\u201ctoom,\u201d or empty cradle. [16] Now, strangely enough, Chinese nurses in\nthe South of China have precisely the same belief. A little four-year\nold girl, who is a very intimate acquaintance of mine, not long ago\nbegan rocking the cradle in which her newly-born sister was usually\nlaid to sleep. An amah who saw her, rushed at the child, exclaiming\n\u201cYou no makee rock so fashion! That baby b\u2019long die, s\u2019posie rock,\u201d As\nit happened the infant did die, as was fully expected by the medical\nattendant: but of course the amah found in the anticipated fact a\nverification of her prediction, and farther enquiry has satisfied me\nthat the superstition is identical with and quite as widespread as our\nown. The resemblance of belief here certainly seems something more than\naccidental.\n\nThe ceremonies observed shortly after the birth of a child are curious.\nA package of seed, rush (such as is used for candle wicks), cat\u2019s and\ndog\u2019s hair, onions or garlic, a pair of chopsticks, and some charcoal,\nis in Fuhkien tied up with red string in a piece of red paper and\nsuspended on the outside of the door where the mother is lying. [17] In\nthe extreme South some of these articles are omitted. \u201cA pair of the\ntrousers of the child\u2019s father are put on the frame of the bedstead in\nsuch a way that the waist shall hang downward or be lower than the\nlegs. On the trousers is stuck a piece of red paper, having four words\nwritten upon it intimating that all unfavourable influences are to go\ninto the trousers instead of afflicting the babe. The hair on the\npackage outside the bedroom door is to keep the noises which may be\nmade for eleven days by the dogs and cats in the vicinity from\nfrightening the babe. The coal is to aid in making it hardy and\nvigorous. The onions are to cause it to be quick-witted and\nintelligent. The pith (rush) is explained as contributing to make it\nfortunate or successful in life.\u201d [18] On the fourteenth day the parcel\nand trousers respectively are taken away. Odd as the custom above\nreferred to may seem, it is exactly parallelled by those prevailing in\nboth Germany and Scotland. In the former country it is usual to lay in\nthe cradle a package of snapdragon, blue marjoram, black cumin, a right\nshirt sleeve and a left stocking; while, on the authority of Mr.\nHenderson, it may be noted that in Scotland \u201cthe little one\u2019s safeguard\nis held to lie in the juxtaposition of some article of dress belonging\nto its father.\u201d [19] Of the hair of cats or dogs I shall have more to\nsay in a future chapter. But I may remark that a superstition as to the\ncurative and evil-warding power of hair exists at this day in both\nWales and Gloucester. [20]\n\nThere is a custom called \u201cWorshipping the Measures\u201d frequently\nperformed by Chinese during the eighth month if they have sickly\nchildren. The \u201cmeasures\u201d are two constellations in the Northern and\nSouthern hemispheres respectively. They are generally identified as the\nfour stars \u03b1, \u03b2, \u03b3, \u03b4, in the dipper (Ursa Major) and \u03b6, \u03bb, \u03bc, \u03c3, and \u03c4\nin Sagittarius. For the purpose under notice they are represented as\ntwo old men, the \u201cNorthern Measure\u201d being the god of longevity, who\nkeeps the book in which is recorded the date of each person\u2019s death,\nwhile the \u201cSouth Measure\u201d is the god of emoluments. Longevity and\nriches are thus to be secured by worshipping them. The legend in which\nthis custom is based is thus given: [21]\u2014\u201cA long while ago a certain\nlad on going into the street one day met an old man who proved to be a\ncelebrated fortune-teller named Kwan-lo. He addressed the lad saying:\n\u2018You are a fine boy. What a pity that your life is to be so short.\u2019 The\nlad at once asked him how long it was to be, and he told him that he\nwas to die at the age of nineteen. This frightened the lad, who was\nalready near that age, and he went home crying and told his mother what\nhe had heard. She in turn was very sad also, but told the lad to go and\nenquire further of the fortune-teller. He did so and was instructed to\ntake a plate of preserved venison and a bottle of wine and carry them\nto the top of a certain mountain where he would find two old men\nplaying chess. He was told to place the venison and the wine down by\nthem without saying a word, and then wait patiently till they had\nfinished the game, when he might advance and make known his requests.\nThe lad proceeded to do as he was instructed, and was surprised to find\ntwo men engaged in a game of chess. After he had silently placed the\nfood and drink by them they kept on playing until they had finished the\ngame without noticing the lad. They then seemed hungry and began to eat\nof the provisions they saw by their side. After they had done eating\nand drinking the lad advanced and told his story, weeping while\ntalking, and besought them to save him from dying at so early an age.\nThey heard the lad and then took out their records, and found on\nexamination that his life was indeed nearly finished. They however took\na pen and interpolated before the nineteen the Chinese figure for nine,\nthus making the record read ninety-nine. They then ordered the boy to\nreturn home and tell the old man he met in the street that he must not\ndo in like manner again; that the time appointed by heaven was not to\nbe divulged to mortals. The lad thanked the old gentlemen, who were no\nother than the \u2018North Measure\u2019 and \u2018South Measure,\u2019 went home and\nnarrated what had occurred.\u201d\n\nThe superstitions regarding marriage are as plentiful in China as we\nshould expect to find them amongst a people in which its ceremonies are\nheld in such extreme honour. Of the outward symbols of the married\nstate there is, as we all know, a great importance attaching to the\nwedding ring. Now it is very certain that the Chinese did not take the\nidea of wearing wedding rings from us. Yet we find that in certain\nparts of China, and in Java, the custom of sending the \u201cmeasure of the\nfinger-ring\u201d previous to marriage is well known. Turning to Chinese\nannals we find the preparing of a \u201cunited-hearts\u2019 finger-ring\u201d\nmentioned amongst the preliminary ceremonies to marriage. More than\nthat, just as the purchase of the ring is considered by us as having\nmorally bound the intended bridegroom, so in parts of China it affixes\nlegal responsibility upon him; a failure to carry out the marriage then\nsubjecting him to the penalties of breach of promise of marriage. [22]\nBearing in mind the symbolic nature of a ring in the western world\u2014that\nof something without end\u2014it is interesting to find a value attached to\nit out here similar to that we ourselves endow it with at home. In\nDurham, for instance, the breaking of the wedding ring forbodes death,\nand its loss, the loss also of the husband\u2019s affection. Not less\ninteresting is it to find that, while our north-country good-wives\nthrow a plateful of shortcake over a newly-made bride as she returns to\nher future home, [23] the Chinese go through the same ceremony with\nrice, which is a sign of abundance. [24] As regards the lucky day for\nmarrying, the Chinese have numerous portents. The first, sixth, and\ntenth of the month are laid down in the Imperial almanacks [25] as the\nmost suitable, but marriages of course take place on almost all days\nexcept those specially noted as \u201cuncanny.\u201d\n\nThe ceremonies of betrothal are of course deeply interwoven with\nsuperstitious observances. When children are thus engaged, a pair of\nfowls, a pair of ducks or geese, and a few pounds of vermicelli, are\nsent by the bride\u2019s to the bridegroom\u2019s family, who retain the male\nbirds and return the hens. Widows who re-engage themselves are\nprohibited from wearing gaudy\u2014that is, red or other\nbright-coloured\u2014skirts, and must confine themselves to black, white or\nblue. A curious superstition also hinges, in the case of betrothals put\nan end to by the death of the intended bride, on shoes. The bridegroom\ngoes to the house of mourning and asks for the last pair which she wore\nprevious to death. These he takes home and burns incense to for a space\nof two years, believing that her spirit will be present, enticed\nthither by the shoes. In thus doing he acknowledges her as his\n(intended) wife. As most readers will know, betrothals are managed by\ngo-betweens, who settle the match on behalf of the parents without\nconsulting the principals. The first thing to be examined by the agent\nis the horoscope of the girl in order to compare it with that of the\nfuture husband, and, if all preliminaries are happily arranged, certain\narticles and presents are interchanged which are mostly intended to\nhave a symbolical meaning. If any unlucky accident happens during the\nthree days allotted for final consideration, the negociation is broken\noff. If all be right, there are provided, in addition to the\nbetrothment cards, four large needles and two red silk threads, and two\nof the former threaded with one of the threads are stuck into each\ncard. The red thread is supposed to represent that with which the feet\nof all mortals are in the spirit-world tied to those who are fated to\nbe husband and wife\u2014in other words, it represents unalterable fate. A\nsimilar thread is used to tie together the cups out of which the bride\nand bridegroom drink. I am unable in the authorities at my command\n(some twenty works on the Folk-lore of various countries) to trace any\nresemblance to this custom elsewhere.\n\nA curious ceremony is frequently observed shortly before a marriage\ntakes place. The wedding garments of the bride, and in some cases those\nof the bridegroom, are placed in succession in a sort of bamboo sieve\nwhich is then passed over a fire kindled in a brazier. In Fuhkien it is\ncustomary while this operation is being performed to repeat sentences\nlike the following: \u201cA thousand eyes, ten thousand eyes we sift out;\ngold and silver, wealth and precious things we sift in.\u201d [26] The\nceremony is supposed to have a purifying effect, evil influences being\nthereby warded off. No female must, however, touch the bride\u2019s clothes\nafter undergoing this process until she is married\u2014especially a\npregnant woman or one in mourning. Another superstitious custom\nconsists in placing five cash of the reigns of five different emperors\nunder the bed mat, and hanging up five bundles of boiled rice (each\nbundle consisting of five smaller ones) tied with red string to the\ncurtain frame.\n\nAmongst the beliefs which, so far as I can ascertain, are peculiar to\nthe Chinese, is one which relates to the first interview of a bride and\nbridegroom. On such occasions the bride\u2019s assistants often request the\nbridegroom to rub the feet of his future spouse under the belief that\nhis compliance will prevent her feet from aching in future. [27]\n\nThe ceremonies which take place after the first meeting of the bride\nand bridegroom recall in a minor degree certain superstitions which\nobtain elsewhere than in China. Thus the bride\u2019s face is hidden by a\nlong white veil not unlike that worn by Egyptian women when they\nventure abroad. This points to a motive similar to that inducing\namongst the old Anglo-Saxons the use of the \u201ccare cloth,\u201d made of white\nlinen, which was held over the pair as the nuptial benediction was\npronounced, to hide the blushes of the bride. If the bride was a widow,\nthis was dispensed with, and similarly in the rare event of a Chinese\nwidow re-marrying she dispenses with a veil. The bride and bridegroom\nafter their first interview go through an act of worship known as\n\u201cworshipping Heaven and Earth.\u201d A table is set out, and on it are\nplaced some lighted candles, a lighted censer, and the following\narticles: two miniature white cocks made of sugar, five kinds of dried\nfruit, a bundle of chopsticks, a foot measure, a mirror, a pair of\nshears and a case containing money scales. [28] The fruits are\nfrequently placed on a platter of willow wood, which, as every one\nknows, is supposed to possess supernatural properties in places other\nthan China. The precise signification of the shears is not very clear\nto the Chinese themselves, but they regard them as typifying industry.\nIt is odd, however, to find that knives known as \u201cbride knives\u201d formed\npart of the wedding outfit of our great-great-grandmothers. Mirrors,\nsays Brand, [29] \u201cwere formerly used by magicians in their\nsuperstitions and diabolical operations, and there was an ancient kind\nof divination by the looking glass.\u201d As regards the white cock, I shall\nhave more to say about this bird under the heading of superstitions\nconnected with deaths. When its images made of sugar are used as above\ndescribed, an attendant breaks off a portion of each and gives them to\nthe newly-married pair to eat. All the articles displayed are intended\nto be omens of prosperity and future harmony. Upon the same table as\nthese are shewn on, are placed two oddly-shaped goblets, which are\nfilled with a mixture of wine and honey, of which both bride and\nbridegroom partake. Honey plays a similar part at Sicilian marriages, a\nspoonful of the pleasant, but sticky, liquid being administered to each\nof the contracting parties by two of the attendants directly the\nmarriage ceremony has been performed.\n\nThe candles placed upon the offering table are speedily transferred to\nthe bride\u2019s chamber, where, however, they are shortly replaced by\nothers intended to continue burning during the night. I have not been\nable to trace any analogous custom at Western weddings, but the idea\nunderlying the use of candles in this respect by the Chinese is as old\nas the oldest superstition. It is thought to be extremely unlucky if\none or both of these bridal candles be accidentally extinguished, as it\nwould denote the speedy death of one or both of the parties. Nor should\nthe wax and tallow of which these candles are made melt or trickle down\nthe sides, the tricklings being an emblem of tears, and signifying\neither that the husband and wife will not agree together, or that they\nwill have much sorrow. If both candles burn about the same time, it\nforeshadows the death of the bride and bridegroom at an advanced age\nwithin a short period of each other. If one burns much longer than the\nother, it means that either the wife or the husband will long survive\nthe other. Now all this superstitious respect for flame seems to refer\nto a Chinese version of the Promethean Legend. It does not indeed say\nthat fire was brought from heaven to animate man, but it makes fire\ntypical of man\u2019s vital force, and is doubtless a dim fragment of an\nolder legend identical with that of Prometheus. \u201cCandle omens\u201d of a\ndifferent sort are familiar in Northern England, and amongst the Greeks\nthe brilliancy or dulness of a candle flame was an omen of good or bad\nfortune. In like manner the lamps and candles used in the above\nceremony, and still more directly the large lighted lanterns carried in\nfront of all Chinese bridal processions, find a parallel in the old\nRoman custom of carrying torches before a bride. The gypsies of\nCalabria observe a similar custom, as do also, I believe, the Japanese;\nand there is some ground for believing that it was formerly a custom in\nEngland. [30]\n\nBefore leaving the subject of marriage I may note that the number\nthree, usually considered lucky, is expressly avoided in many matters\nof its ceremonial. At the ceremony of worshipping ancestral tablets and\nrelatives, the latter are invited to bow in return, four times instead\nof three, as the latter, \u201cbeing an odd number, is regarded as\ninauspicious.\u201d On the other hand, the bride goes to visit her parents\nthree days after marriage, and the bridegroom, who follows her to the\nhouse of his father-in-law, is regaled with three cups of tea and three\npipes of tobacco. The sedan, by the way, in which the bride is borne on\nsuch visits has painted on it as a charm the image of a Taoist priest\nwho, according to the legend, succeeded by his magical powers in\ncounteracting the powers of the evil spirits who lie in wait on such\noccasions to harass and make ill the bride.\n\nThe use of bride-cake at weddings appears to be, in some form or other,\nboth of remote antiquity and common to nearly every nation. \u201cThe\nceremony used at the solemnization of a marriage was called\nconfarreation in token of a most firm conjunction between the man and\nwife with a cake of wheat or barley.\u201d It was and is customary in\nYorkshire to cut the bride-cake into little square pieces and then\nthrow them over the bride and bridegroom\u2019s head. In China a quilt is\nheld in front of the bride\u2019s sedan by its corners, and four bread cakes\nsent from the bridegroom\u2019s family for the purpose are tossed up in the\nair in succession and caught in the quilt. In neither case is the omen\ninvolved in this proceeding very clear, unless it be taken as an\noffering to the deities who preside over marriages, and in our own case\nretained as a custom which has lost its primary significance.\n\nThe custom of preventing the bride\u2019s feet from touching the threshold\nof the bridegroom\u2019s house obtains in China as in Europe. Usually the\nentrance is covered with red cloth for this purpose. \u201cIn some parts of\nthe country she is lifted out of the sedan, over a pan of charcoal\nplaced in the court and carried to her chamber.\u201d [31] Amongst the\nancient Romans, \u201cfire and water being placed on the threshold, the\nbride touched both; but starting back from the door she refused to\nenter, till she at length passed it, being careful to step over it\nwithout touching it.\u201d [32] (A wedding usage in Yorkshire, by the way,\nis to pour a kettle full of boiling water over the door-step just after\nthe bride has left her old home. Without their having any apparent\nconnection the coincidence of usages is curious.) The ancient\nsuperstition mentioned in Popular Antiquities was that the bride was\nnot to step over the threshold on entering the bridegroom\u2019s house, but\nwas to be lifted over by her nearest relations. [33]\n\nOne of the most singular coincidences of Chinese with Western\nintention, is connected with shoes. It is customary at a marriage in\nSouth China for the bride to present her husband with a pair of shoes,\nby way of signifying that for the future she places herself under his\ncontrol. These are carefully preserved in the family and are never\ngiven away, like other worn-out articles, it being deemed, that to part\nwith them portends an early separation between husband and wife. Now,\nin a work published in 1640, mention is made of an ancient custom,\n\u201cwhen at any time a couple were married, the sole of the bridegroom\u2019s\nshoe was to be laid on the bride\u2019s head, implying with what subjection\nshe should serve her husband.\u201d A writer in an old number of the London\nNotes and Queries (quoted by Mr. Henderson) remarks:\u2014The throwing shoes\nafter the Bride and Bridegroom ... is usually said to be \u201cfor luck,\u201d\nbut is rather a symbol of renunciation of all right in the bride by her\nfather or guardian, and the transference of it to her husband. In the\nStory of Ruth you will recollect that her kinsman plucked off his shoe,\nas a sign of his renunciation of his claim to marry her. \u201cOver Edom\nhave I cast out my shoe\u201d (Ps. lx. 8), meaning \u201cI have renounced Edom,\u201d\nis another illustration. So that the ceremony now observed by Chinese\nbrides has in all probability a reference to that current of old in\nPalestine and at the present day known throughout England.\n\nThose acquainted with Scandinavian folk-lore will have noted how many\npoints relating to marriage turn upon the bride\u2019s endeavours to get her\nhusband to do something implying future subjection to her will. Thus if\na Swedish bride drop her handkerchief, and the bridegroom, from\npoliteness, stoops to pick it up, his act is regarded as an omen that\nhe will play second fiddle during his married life. [34] Now the\nChinese girl does something very similar, when, it being time for the\nbridegroom and herself to sit down together, she endeavours to sit upon\na part of his dress; [35] in which case he may conclude that\n\n\n                \u201cI\u2019ll be no submissive wife\n                                    No not I!\u201d\n\n\npretty fairly expresses the bride\u2019s thoughts. If he sits on her skirt,\nhowever, the omen is reversed, though from what is known of Chinese\nbrides it may be concluded that they do not often succeed in being the\n\u201cone\u201d into which the two are made. [36] There is a point about the\nselection of the husband or wife which I may, by the way, notice. In\nChina marriages are forbidden between people of the same family name,\neven though they are not in any way connected. Now in Yorkshire it is\nvery unlucky to marry a man whose name begins with the same letter as\nthe bride\u2019s. [37] May not the two ideas have a common origin?\u2014both\nbeing evidently at one time founded on the idea of blood-relationship.\nThat \u201cMatches are made in heaven\u201d is a confirmed belief in China.\n\nSuperstitions connected with death have in all countries obtained\ncredence, and we need not therefore be surprised to find that China\nabounds with them. \u201cBorn hardly, die hardly,\u201d is as much a Chinese as\nan English saying. Even the strange idea (as we deem it) of purchasing\na coffin before death is a not uncommon practice in many parts of\nGermany, [38] and may be found existing, in remote country districts in\nEngland, so that the idea of securing a comfortable coffin is not so\npurely Chinese as some might think. [39] There is a striking similarity\nbetween many Chinese ceremonies and superstitions connected with the\nburial of the dead, and our own. One peculiar superstition of the\nBorders is, that for a cat or dog to pass over a corpse is fearfully\nominous. The Chinese have a belief that if a pregnant female animal\npass over the dead person, the corpse will rise up and pursue those\nnearest to it, and if it overtakes any one, strangle him. [40]\n\nA home belief in the efficacy of burying the dead in woollen clothes,\nand originating in an Act passed in the reign of Charles II. \u201cfor the\nencouragement of the woollen and paper manufactures of the kingdom,\u201d\nhas its parallel in China. They here think that every one should be\nburied in his best clothes, but in some localities except the use of\nsatin or a girdle, on account of the characters which signify those\narticles being pronounced in the local dialect the same as words\nsignifying \u201cto cut short\u2014sons,\u201d and so implying the speedy death of the\nsons of the family. The usual rule is to select silk, crape, or the\nfinest cotton for grave clothes, [41] care being always taken to put\ntwo more articles of dress on the upper than on the lower part of a\ncorpse: thus it will have 3 jackets and 1 pair of trowsers, 5 jackets\nand 3 pairs trowsers, and so on, the very rich being buried in as many\nas nine upper garments. The corpse is then bound with long strips of\ncloth, two of which must be white and one red. After swathing, the ends\nare tied in an \u201causpicious knot;\u201d and as many of these knots are tied\nat various places on the body as the material used will allow.\n\nI have already alluded to the custom of using lights at marriages and\ntraced a faint resemblance to a European custom in that observed by the\nChinese. But as regards burials the parallel is much more exact. In the\nlowlands of Scotland a candle is waved thrice round a corpse as it is\n\u201csained\u201d or blessed. In China candles are kept burning round the coffin\nafter the body has been laid out, \u201cto light the spirit of the dead upon\nhis way,\u201d and a similar custom appears to have obtained amongst almost\nevery people in the European world. [42] As everybody knows, the\ncoffins of those lying in state are surrounded by wax tapers, which are\nkept burning until the day of interment. A candle used to be set upon a\ndead body in Northumberland, and a similar practice prevailed in the\nIsle of Man; while the modern Jews set a light at the head of one\nrecently departed. Still more exact is the analogy between the Chinese\ncustom of carrying torches before the dead at funerals and that which\nalways existed amongst the ancient Jews, and until very recent times\nobtained amongst ourselves. Brand, in his Popular Antiquities, Vol.\nII., p. 276 et seq., gives a long account of the uses of torches and\nlights in this connection.\n\nAmongst the curious superstitions attaching to death in China is one\nthat, if two \u201ccash\u201d be placed in the sleeve of the dead man and then\nshaken out, the result of the \u201ctoss\u201d will signify the feeling of the\ndeparted. Thus, if both turn up obverse or reverse, it is concluded\nthat the defunct is perfectly satisfied, while, if one be obverse and\nthe other not, it signifies that something has been wrongly done. These\ncash are religiously preserved for similar use after the corpse is\nburied, when a mode of divination by tossing is resorted to, if it be\ndesired to learn the wishes of the dead man as to family arrangements,\nthe respect paid to his manes, &c. It is also customary in China to\ncarefully reverse the direction of the body before putting it into the\ncoffin\u2014a practice to which I cannot find any Western parallel.\n\nDuring the blessing or \u201csaining\u201d of a corpse in Scotland all the\nwindows of the house are opened so as to give the soul free egress. In\nFuhkien (where the windows are not quite so large as in European\nhouses) they carry out a similar idea by making a hole in the roof.\n[43] Even the superstitious respect accorded to the cock, as capable of\nbeing influenced from the unseen world (evidenced by the carrying of a\nwhite cock or its paper image on Chinese coffins, so as to allure the\nsoul of the departed to enter it) finds a parallel in western Europe.\nThe Ischortzi of Ingria (Finland) burn a white cock on the festival of\nSt. John, when they visit the tombs of their departed friends. A French\nreceipt, by the bye, for raising the devil given by Mr. S. Baring-Gould\ndirects one to go to where four cross-roads meet, with a black cock\nunder your arm; call out Poule noire! three times and the devil will\ncome and take the cock and leave you a handful of money. Scandinavian\nlore also is full of allusions to the same bird.\n\nA superstition prevails amongst the Chinese regarding \u201cwatching\nspirits\u201d to which I am tempted to accord a rather lengthy notice. The\nunwillingness of the natives to help a drowning man, or any one in\nabsolute peril of life, is based upon a belief that the ghost of the\nlast man killed, always acts as watchman of the purgatory into which,\naccording to Chinese belief, the spirit of the departed first enter,\nand from which he can only be relieved by the arrival of a fresh\ndefunct. If, therefore, a man\u2019s life be saved, the spirit of the person\nwho died last before him is, in a manner, cheated out of his relief,\nand will assuredly haunt the person whose misplaced humanity has\ncondemned it to a fresh term of dismal servitude. Now this belief in a\n\u201cwatching spirit\u201d is essentially Gaelic: and the following extract from\na recent issue of the Inverness Courier shews a parallelism so close as\nto be very singular. A correspondent writes:\u2014\u201cI was sailing past the\nbeautiful island of St. Mungo, in Loch Leven, the burial place for many\ncenturies of the people of Nether-Lochaber and Glencoe, when the\nfollowing conversation took place between myself and an old man who\nmanaged the sails while I steered. It was all in Gaelic, of course, but\nI give the substance in English:\u2014\u2018You were at the funeral on the island\nthe other day, sir?\u2019 interrogatively observed my companion. \u2018I was,\nindeed,\u2019 I replied. \u2018John \u2014\u2014,\u2019 he continued, naming the deceased, \u2018was\na very decent man.\u2019 \u2018He was a fine old Highlander, shrewd and\nintelligent,\u2019 I replied, \u2018and, what is more, I believe a very good\nman.\u2019 \u2018Donald \u2014\u2014,\u2019 naming a person we both knew, \u2018is very ill, and not\nlikely to last long.\u2019 \u2018I saw him to-day,\u2019 I observed, \u2018and I fear that\nwhat you say is true: he cannot last long.\u2019 \u2018Well, sir, it will be a\ngood thing for John \u2014\u2014 (the person recently buried): his term of\nwatching will be a short one.\u2019 \u2018I don\u2019t understand what you mean,\u2019 I\nobserved, with some curiosity. \u2018The man is dead and buried; what\nwatching should he have to do?\u2019 \u2018Why, sir, don\u2019t you know that the\nspirit of the last person buried in the island has to keep watch and\nward over the graves till the spirit of the next person buried takes\nhis place?\u2019 \u2018I really did not know that,\u2019 I replied. \u2018Is it a common\nopinion that such is the case, and do you believe it yourself?\u2019 \u2018Well,\nsir, it is generally believed by the people; and having always heard\nthat it was so, I cannot well help believing it too. The spirit whose\nwatch it is is present there day and night. Some people have seen them;\nmy mother, God rest her! once pointed out to me, when I was a little\nboy, an appearance, as of a flame of light on the island, slowly moving\nbackwards and forwards, and she assured me it was the watching spirit\ngoing his rounds.\u2019 \u2018What particular object has the spirit in watching?\u2019\nI asked. \u2018Well, I don\u2019t exactly know,\u2019 was the answer. \u2018He just takes a\nsort of general charge of the Island of the Dead, until his successor\narrives.\u2019 I have since found that a belief in this superstition is\ncommon among the old people. The spirit or ghost is supposed to be to a\ncertain extent unhappy and impatient of relief while in the discharge\nof this office, and thus, it is considered that the sooner after a\nfuneral there is occasion again for the opening of a grave, the better\nit is for the spirit of the last person interred, who then, and not\ntill then, passes finally and fully to his rest.\u201d [44]\n\nThe Chinese idea of watching the dead\u2014a duty which amongst them\ndevolves upon the eldest son and his brothers until the coffin is\nremoved for interment, finds expression also amongst ourselves. Mr.\nHenderson, in his Folk-lore of the Northern Counties, says: \u201cThe corpse\nmust be watched till its burial by one of its kindred and a stranger,\nwho may be relieved, when weary, by another relation and another\nstranger.\u201d In China the incense stick which is straight (emblematical\nof the \u201cstraight road\u201d which the spirit of the deceased ought to\ntravel) must not be allowed to go out lest the spirit lose its way.\nWith us the \u201cSaining Candle\u201d must be kept burning during the night.\n\nThe idea of furnishing the dead with food, arms, clothing, money, etc.,\nis essentially Chinese, but by no means confined to them. Mr. D. Forbes\nstates that the Aymara Indians supply the dead with food and clothing.\n[45] Horses are sacrificed at the funerals of the Red Indians, and dogs\nused to be at the funerals of the Aztecs, while camels formed the\nfuneral sacrifices of the Bedouins. The Chinese, less extravagant,\nconsume paper models of money, animals, and boats, with a similar\nobject; and the reminder of the Stygian ferry in the use of paper junks\nis at least odd. [46] The belief that the spirits of the dead pass over\nroutes used by the living is in like manner a superstition common to\nboth East and West. The ceremonials observed in this country to\nfacilitate their passage, and the beatings of gongs to frighten away\nevil spirits are equally observed by the Kasi Indians, who, when the\nfuneral cortege happens to pass a puddle, lay down a straw for the dead\nman\u2019s soul to use as a bridge. An ancient Chinese practice is, by the\nway, curious. They used to bury the dead in the same position as the\nf\u0153tus assumes in the womb. I have nowhere met with any modern mention\nof this custom. According to the Chinese ritual the relations of one\ndeceased assume mourning (made of white hempen cloth) seven days after\nhis death. Though in our own case there is probably no superstitious\norigin in the custom it may be noted by way of coincidence that we\nusually bury people after the expiration of that interval, which is the\nfirst time the mourners appear publicly clad in the habiliments of woe.\n\nA number of curious practices connected with burial and mourning are\nwithout doubt purely Chinese. Thus, on the sixtieth day after death,\nthe family place on a table a number of plates containing offerings of\nfood, &c., accompanied by the never-absent incense. Besides these they\nplace on the table a wash-bowl full of water in which is floating half\na duck\u2019s egg. A paper and bamboo duck, astride of which is a paper\nhuman image, is then placed on the water beside it. The image\npersonifies the deceased, the duck his means of transport and the\negg-shell a boat. The use of both duck and boat to cross the Chinese\nStyx is not very clear, but they are probably intended to give the\ndeceased a choice of conveyance. A yet more inexplicable practice is\nthat of placing a paper image of the departed in a wheeled sedan-chair\nof similar material, to which is attached a paper crane as if in the\nact of drawing the sedan. Ranged in front of the crane are numerous\narticles of dress, money &c. (all of course in paper), and in some way\nthe crane is supposed to convey both the spirit of the deceased and the\ngoods on their onward passage.\n\nOur own custom of throwing earth upon the coffin when the solemn words\n\u201cearth to earth, ashes to ashes\u201d are pronounced by the clergyman, is\nclosely paralleled in China. Directly the coffin has been lowered, \u201cthe\nsons of the deceased hasten to scatter earth into the grave. This earth\nthey have previously put into the lap of their sackcloth mourning\ngarments, and they manage to shake it out so as to fall upon the coffin\nif possible.\u201d [47] The idea thus symbolized is in both cases the same.\nIt is, by the way, to be noted that, in China, when husband and wife\nare buried side by side, the grave of the husband must be on the left\nside (the place of honour). The water coming from a hill on which a\ngrave has been dug is esteemed peculiarly lucky for use and is termed\n\u201cdragon\u2019s water\u201d\u2014in reference to the term usually applied to the hill\nnear to or on which, when possible, sites for graves are always\nselected. [48] The superstitious aversion shewn in China to permitting\na corpse to enter or be buried within the walls of a city has obtained\nat various times in many parts of the Western world. The Moors never\nbury their dead within the bounds of an inhabited place, and the\ninhabitants of Thibet used, it was said, to be similarly particular,\nalways exposing them on the tops of mountains.\n\nMost who have read anything about China are aware of the great\nimportance attached to selecting a lucky place for a grave. Dr.\nWilliams, in writing on this subject, laments the way in which the\nChinese are befooled by the doctrines of Fung-shuey in this regard; but\nwe are not so certain that Englishmen, at best, can afford to look down\nupon China from any very high elevation. A spot free from water and\nwhite ants, and commanding a good view, while at the same time under\nfavorable geomantic influences, is what the Chinese aim at. Our people\nof the Border counties, more enlightened, (?) prefer the South side of\na churchyard as the \u201choliest ground,\u201d reserving the North for suicides\nand stillborn infants. A rare tract, published in 1589, sneers at a\ndeceased man because he would not be laid East and West \u201cfor he ever\nwent against the hair.\u201d The South wind, says the same authority, ever\nbrings corruption with it. [49] It is quite certain that traces of a\nvery widespread superstition as to the depth, direction and general\nlucky aspect of graves still exists in England, though now-a-days\nsurviving only in remote districts.\n\nA native practice universally quoted in Europe as illustrative of the\ncontradiction between Chinese customs and our own is that of wearing\nwhite for mourning\u2014white being, in China, \u201can emblem of evil or\nsorrow.\u201d But the practice is not so opposed to European ideas as some\nmay think. At the funerals of unmarried persons of both sexes, as well\nas infants, the scarves, hatbands and gloves given in England as\nmourning used always to be white. The Chinese do not present mourners\nwith these adjuncts of the funeral, but give in place of them white\n\u201ccrying cloths\u201d or, as we should say, pocket handkerchiefs. It may be\ninteresting here to note also that black is not of universal use even\nin the West. The Egyptians use yellow, the Syrians, Armenians and\nCappadocians light sky-blue, and the Ethiopians grey. Henry VIII. is\nreferred to in Hall\u2019s Chronicle as wearing white mourning for the\nunfortunate Anne Boleyn; while Plutarch (Langley\u2019s Translation) writes\nthat, \u201cThe women in their mournynge laide a parte all purple, golde,\nand sumtuous apparell, and were clothed both they and their kinsfolk in\nwhite apparell.\u201d * * * \u201cOf this ceremonie, as I take it (adds the\ntranslator) the French quenes toke the occasion, after the death of\ntheir housebandes, the kynges, to weare onely white clothying.\u201d The\nmotives however of the Italians in adopting this colour were\ndiametrically the opposite of those influencing the Chinese.\u2014\u201cThe white\ncolour was thought fittest for the ded, because it is clere, pure, and\nsincer, and leaste defiled.\u201d\n\nThe student of Chinese folk-lore will search in vain for any expression\nof the old superstition regarding female apparitions as harbingers of\ndecease. [50] The Chinese theory of death is that it takes place in\naccordance with the reckoning of Heaven, exercised through the power of\nthe God or Goddess controlling the special disease from which the\npatient suffers. To this latter, therefore, prayers and offerings are\naddressed, and if they prove unsuccessful the petitioners comfort\nthemselves by remarking that it is the decree of fate. The absence of\nsupernatural ghostly portents in this connection amongst a people so\nsuperstition-ridden as the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom is quite\nas curious as the existence of its numerous beliefs.\n\nFinally, it may be interesting to point out that the extreme dislike\nentertained by the Chinese to disturbing a grave, based on the\nsupposition that the spirit of the person buried will haunt and cause\nill-luck or death to the disturbers, has been felt amongst Englishmen.\nAubrey, referring to the disinterment of the body of Mary, Queen of\nScots, says, \u201cit always bodes ill to a family where bodies are removed\nfrom their graves. For some of the family will die shortly after, as\ndid Prince Henry and I think Queen Anne.\u201d The Chinese also, like\nourselves, deem certain hours of the twenty-four more fatal to life\nthan others. Recorded statistics in England give them as from 5 to 6\na.m., (maximum) 11 p.m. to 12 midnight, and 9 to 10 a.m. The Chinese\nhold that noon and midnight are the two most fatal periods. [51]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIII.\u2014DAYS AND SEASONS.\n\n\nThe superstitions of the Chinese concerning lucky and unlucky days are\nso numerous that, though they scarcely exceed, they certainly equal\nthose which, some 300 years ago, existed amongst our own ancestors. To\ncommence with those referring to periods rather than dates, we may note\nthat the seventh day is reputed to possess much the same mystic\nproperties by the Chinese as it was by the Western ancients. This may\narise from its being an astronomical period\u2014the moon\u2019s phases being\nalways spoken of as changing every seven days. But whatever the reason,\nboth the seventh day and the period it begins or terminates is\nconstantly observed in Chinese ceremonies. Thus, for example, the\nseventh, fourteenth, twenty-eighth and thirty-fifth days after a\nperson\u2019s death are specially set aside for mourning observances. The\nseventh day is critical in fevers; and the seventh evening of the\nseventh month is the great worshipping time for women. But, more than\nthis, we find that the Chinchew edition of the Imperial Almanack\ninvariably marks the Christian Sabbath with a character, signifying\n\u201crest or quiet,\u201d though simply taken by the natives to mean\nunauspicious for work. Dr. Carstairs Douglas thus wrote on this subject\nin Vol. 4 p. 38 of Notes and Queries on China and Japan: \u201cIn the\nedition of the Imperial Almanack published at Chinchew\n(Ts\u02bbu\u00ean-cheu-foo) and at Amoy and all the country round, the Christian\nSabbath is invariably marked by the character mih (pronounced in Amoy\nbit), which means \u2018secret,\u2019 \u2018quiet\u2019 or \u2018silent.\u2019... I have not met with\nany heathen who can throw any light on the meaning or history of this\nremarkable character as it stands in the Almanack, though I have made\nenquiries both among the literati and at the office in Chinchew where\nit is published. The only trace of its meaning (excepting of course the\nplain and unmistakable sense of the word itself) as used by the Chinese\nat present, is that it is always placed in that part of the page which\ncontains the inauspicious elements of each day, which make it unlucky\nfor doing work. This seems clearly to prove that the original use of\nthe phrase was to indicate \u2018a day of rest.\u2019\u201d Dr. Douglas then goes on\nto shew that the assumption of its having been introduced by the\nJesuits is scarcely tenable, inasmuch as it is not found in the\nalmanacks published at Peking, where Jesuit influence was greatest;\nwhile if its introduction were so recent it would not probably have\nfound its way into the category of the criteria of lucky and unlucky\ndays, which are always supposed to rest on the highest antiquity. The\ndiscussion was finally set at rest by Mr. Wylie, who explained \u201cmih\u201d as\nbeing a transcript of the Persian \u201cmitra\u201d for Sunday introduced into\nthe Chinese Calendar through Indian astronomers. [52] It is noteworthy\nthat the day always coincides with the Christian, and not the Jewish\nSabbath.\n\nThe fifteenth day of the eighth moon is a day on which a ceremony is\nperformed by the Chinese which of all others we should least expect to\nfind imitated amongst ourselves. Most people resident in China have\nseen the moon-cakes which so delight the heart of the Chinese during\nthe eighth month of every year. These are made for an autumnal festival\noften described as \u201ccongratulating\u201d or \u201crewarding\u201d the moon. The moon,\nit is well known, represents the female principle in Chinese celestial\ncosmogony, and she is further supposed to be inhabited by a multitude\nof beautiful females; the cakes made in her honour are therefore\nveritable offerings to this Queen of the Heavens. Now in a part of\nLancashire, on the banks of the Ribble, there exists a precisely\nsimilar custom of making cakes in honour of the \u201cQueen of Heaven\u201d\u2014a\nrelic, in all probability, of the old heathen worship which was the\ncommon fount of the two customs.\n\nThe Chinese carry out the idea of lucky days to a remarkable extent.\nWhile we now saddle only one day in the week with ill luck, they have\nselected a number of days in each month as uncanny for work, or even\namusement. [53] On the 7th and other days you must not start on a\njourney, change your dwelling place, plant or sow, go to school for the\nfirst time, repair your house, purchase landed property, &c. The\nsuperstition as to not starting on a journey seems to be common to all\nnations. We know the origin of Friday being an unlucky day amongst\nourselves, as being that of the Crucifixion. [54] But it is evident,\nthat an older superstition is the basis of the tradition, and a\nthorough investigation would probably give us some common starting\npoint for both the Aryan and Mongolian families.\n\nA book in popular circulation in Southern China called the \u9ec3\u6b74\u901a\u66f8\n(hwang-li-tung-shu) gives an exhaustive return of lucky and unlucky\ndays, from which I extract the following information. It must be\npremised that the 365 days of the year are divided into sets of twelve\ndays, each being under the supposed influence of a certain planet, a\ncertain zodiacal sign, [55] a certain terrestrial element and one of\nthe twenty-eight \u201clunar mansions.\u201d There is a further series of twelve\nterms, expressing the lucky or unlucky characters of given days which\nin the eyes of the people embody the result total of the astrological\nbearings of any given day. They are thus arranged and named, though it\ndoes not follow that the terms will in any given month agree with the\ndates here stated:\u2014\n\n\n  +---+------------+-------------------------------------------------+\n  | \u9664 |  1  13  25 | Very lucky.                                     |\n  | \u6eff |  2  14  26 | Neither lucky nor unlucky.                      |\n  | \u9664 |  3  15  27 | Neither lucky nor unlucky.                      |\n  | \u5b9a |  4  16  28 | Very lucky.                                     |\n  | \u57f7 |  5  17  29 | Neither lucky nor unlucky.                      |\n  | \u7834 |  6  18  30 | Very unlucky.                                   |\n  | \u5371 |  7  19  .. | Very unlucky.                                   |\n  | \u6210 |  8  20  .. | Very lucky.                                     |\n  | \u6536 |  9  21  .. | Neither very lucky nor unlucky, rather unlucky. |\n  | \u958b | 10  22  .. | Neither lucky nor unlucky.                      |\n  | \u9589 | 11  23  .. | Unlucky.                                        |\n  | \u5efa | 12  24  .. | Neither lucky nor unlucky.                      |\n  +---+------------+-------------------------------------------------+\n\n\nThe foregoing table shews the practical application of this system.\n\nThus it may happen that in a given month the 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 18th,\n23rd, and 30th days of a month are very unlucky.\n\nThe 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 24th, 26th, 27th\nand 29th are neither lucky nor unlucky.\n\nThe 9th and 21st are rather lucky; while the 1st, 8th, 13th, 20th and\n25th are very lucky.\n\nFrom the explanations affixed we learn that the 6th, 18th and 30th of\nthe month shewn, though unlucky in other respects, are lucky for\nhunting and fishing, calling in a doctor, or pulling down a house. The\ncharacter \u7834 p\u02bbo means \u201cto rend,\u201d \u201cbreak,\u201d or \u201ctake by storm.\u201d The 7th\nand 19th again, to which the character \u5371 wei, signifying \u201cdanger,\u201d is\nprefixed are not quite so unlucky as the 6th, 10th, 18th, 22nd and\n30th. The 11th and 23rd, unlucky for general purposes, are particularly\nso to white ants and other vermin, as those days are lucky for their\ndestruction, filling up holes, &c., the character given \u9589 pi meaning to\n\u201cshut,\u201d \u201cclose,\u201d or \u201cobstruct.\u201d The 2nd, 3rd, 14th, 15th, 26th and 27th\nare good for meeting friends, and (as well as the 9th and 21st) are\npeculiarly suitable for taking a baby out for its first airing. [56] On\nthe 5th, 17th and 29th one can cut wood, hunt, fish, and, if you find\nthem, catch wild animals. Not long since a party of gentlemen resident\nin Hongkong went over to the mainland to look for a tiger which was\nreported to have visited the neighbourhood of Deep Bay, but as they\nneglected to choose a \u201clucky\u201d day their success (as the natives\nobserved) was not remarkable. One is hardly prepared to find the 12th\nand 24th, noted as \u201cneither lucky nor unlucky,\u201d recommended as\npropitious days for worshipping at the temples, making proposals of\nmarriage and moving house. \u201cCutting out clothes,\u201d which is perhaps not\na very interesting occupation at any time, is also recommended on these\ndates.\n\nThe 10th and 22nd in the month above given do not carry an invariably\nlucky status with them, it depending very much upon the month in which\nthey occur. They are, however, always propitious for hunting and\nfishing. The 9th and 21st, in addition to being, as above noted, good\nfor babies, are fortunate for building, cutting wood, seeing friends,\nproposing in marriage, marrying, and making and mending drains\u2014a\nsufficiently incongruous selection of employments. Finally upon the\n1st, 4th, 8th, 13th, 16th, 20th, 25th and 28th, anything can be done,\nwhile the 8th and 20th are the luckiest days of all.\n\nBut New Year\u2019s day is for certain things the day of luck. According to\nChinese belief you may on this date, in almost any year, present\nreligious offerings or vows to heaven, put on full dress, fine caps,\nand elegant attire; at noontide one should \u201csit with one\u2019s face to the\nsouth;\u201d may make matrimonial matches, pay calls, get married, set out\non a journey, order new clothes, commence repairs to a house, lay\nfoundations, or raise up the framework of it; set sail, enter into\nbusiness contracts, carry on commerce, collect accounts, pound, grind,\nplant, sow, &c. Nor are other superstitions connected with this\nauspicious day wanting. Like our own old women in the more remote\ncountry districts, the Chinese attach considerable importance to the\n\u201cfirst-foot\u201d or person first seen after the New Year has set in. A fair\nman is a lucky first-foot in the North, while a woman is peculiarly\nunlucky. In China a Buddhist Priest is regarded as the most\nill-foreboding mortal it is possible to set eyes on as a first-foot.\nAnother similarity is to be found in the common superstition that the\nfirst words heard in the year will affect the fortune of the hearer for\nthe coming twelve months. In Lincolnshire they arrange with the \u201cfirst\nfoot\u201d to repeat a lucky rhyme. [57] In China the women go out secretly\nand listen to persons talking in the street. The first sentence heard\nis held to contain a prediction, good or bad, of the listener\u2019s luck\nfor the ensuing year.\n\nAnother curious coincidence between Chinese and British belief is\nafforded in the fact that the former people have a sort of \u201cSt.\nSwithin\u2019s Day.\u201d [58] Our own popular rhyme is sufficiently well known\n\n\n            St. Swithin\u2019s day, if thou dost rain,\n            For forty days it will remain;\n            St. Swithin\u2019s day, if thou be fair,\n            For forty days \u2019twill rain nae mair:\n\n\nand I need not more particularly allude to the legend concerning\nhim\u2014how the violation of his grave was followed by the \u201c40 days rain.\u201d\nA correspondent of the Shanghai Courier and China Gazette thus writes\non the 5th March 1875:\u2014\u201cThe first prediction as to the fortunes of the\nNew Year rested on the state of the weather on the first day of spring,\nwhich coincided with our February the 3rd. \u2018Heaven grant that it may\nnot rain a drop to-morrow,\u2019 said a boatman to me on the evening of\nFebruary 2nd. \u2018If it does,\u2019 he continued, \u2018the crops will be below\naverage for a certainty; and the price of rice will go up.\u2019 \u2018Why so?\u2019 I\nasked. \u2018Don\u2019t you know,\u2019 he replied, \u2018that if it rains on \u201clih\nch\u02bbing,\u201d\u2019 (the first day of spring) \u2018it will rain more or less for\nforty days afterwards.\u2019 A curious coincidence this with our St.\nSwithin\u2019s Day; and it is observable that the Chinese prophets, as well\nas the authors of the memorial prophecies of the irate Saint Swithin,\nmake their predictions sufficiently elastic to save their credit\u2014\u2018more\nor less for forty days.\u2019\u201d It is noteworthy that the Chinese prediction\nis seldom verified, and that our own popular prediction is almost\nequally sure to be false, special observations taken at Greenwich for\ntwenty years having shewn that rain fell in the largest number of days\nwhen St. Swithin\u2019s Day was dry! With amusing agreement there were more\nwet days than dry ones following the recent 3rd February in China,\nalthough that day was distinguished by \u201ca bright sun and a cloudless\nsky!\u201d Weather predictions in either country are evidently of equal\nvalue. [59] The Hakkas (and also many Puntis) believe that if in the\nnight of the 15th day of the 8th month (mid-autumn) there are clouds\nobscuring the moon before midnight, it is a sign that oil and salt will\nbecome very dear. If, however, there are clouds obscuring the moon\nafter midnight, the price of rice will, it is supposed, undergo a\nsimilar change.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIV.\u2014PORTENTS OR OMENS, AUGURIES, LUCKY NUMBERS AND DREAMS.\n\n\nPortents or omens exert, as might be expected, a telling influence on\nChinese everyday life, and implicit belief is placed in the effect\nwhich will follow certain unintentional acts on the part of any\nindividual. Spilling the salt is held to forebode ill-luck amongst\nourselves, and similarly the upsetting of the oil jar foretells\nmisfortune to the Chinaman. The appearance and flight of birds seems,\nagain, to have been regarded as an augury by every nation of whose\nsocial life details have come down to us, and it is not therefore\nsurprising that the crow should in China be regarded as an omen of\nevil, just as it is looked upon amongst ourselves. Our North Country\nchildren cry when they see one\n\n\n            \u201cCrow, crow, get out of my sight\n            Or else I\u2019ll eat thy liver and light;\u201d\n\n\nwhile a Chinese mutters an invocation against the evil harbinger, its\ncry being considered so unlucky that when any one about to undertake an\naffair hears it, he generally postpones action. On the other hand,\nwhile our old superstition concerning magpies is adverse to the\nappearance of a single bird\u2014\n\n\n                \u201cOne for sorrow,\n                Two for mirth,\n                Three for a wedding,\n                And four for a birth,\u201d\n\n\nthe Chinese consider the solitary visitor an omen of good luck. A duck\nquacking as one passes is, they hold, just the contrary. Regarding dogs\nthe agreement of English belief with that of China is singular. For a\nstrange dog to follow a person is regarded in most parts of our own\nrural districts as lucky. The Chinese say that if a strange dog comes\nand remains with one, it is an omen of good to his family and indicates\nthat he will become more wealthy. [60] Cats, on the other hand, are\ninauspicious beasts, and a display of sudden attachment, such as that\njust noted, foreshadows poverty and distress. \u201cMay kittens should be\ndrowned,\u201d according to English folk-lore; but I am not aware that the\nfull-grown animal is deemed particularly objectionable except by\nsailors, who aver that when a cat becomes unusually frolicsome it\nportends a storm. Hens also come in for a share of the feeling\nexpressed in the distich\n\n\n            \u201cA whistling woman and crowing hen\n            Are neither fit for Gods or men.\u201d\n\n\n\u201cIn China the crowing of a hen is considered ominous of something\nunusual about to happen in the family to which it belongs. In order to\nascertain whether this event is propitious or unpropitious, the\nrelative position of the fowl, while crowing, is to be observed. If the\nhen crows while her head is toward the outside, or the front of the\npremises, it is an unpropitious prognostication, foreshadowing poverty\nor ill luck of some kind; whereas, if her head is pointing toward the\nrear of the premises while crowing, it is an omen of good, indicating a\nmore prosperous state of the family. Few families will keep a crowing\nhen, even should she betoken future good, as extraordinary omens like\nthis are deemed undesirable. The unfortunate fowl is either sold or\nkilled as soon as possible after she has commenced to crow. It is said\nthat if a cock should crow about ten or eleven o\u2019clock in the evening,\nhe is not allowed to remain on the premises long, being killed or sold,\nas such crowing denotes future evil to the family of the owner.\u201d [61] A\nprecisely similar belief obtained amongst our own ancestors. \u201cMoresin\nranked the unseasonable crowing of a cock amongst omens,\u201d says Brand;\nand in Morier\u2019s Journey through Persia, p. 62, we read: \u201cAmongst the\nsuperstitions in Persia, that which depends on the crowing of a cock is\nnot the least remarkable. If the cock crows at a proper hour, they\nesteem it a good omen; if at an improper season, they kill him. I am\ntold that the favourable hours are at nine, both in the morning and in\nthe evening, at noon, and at midnight.\u201d The flight of birds, more\nespecially swallows, is also an omen in Chinese eyes. Classical\nscholars do not need to be reminded how often this augury was consulted\namongst the Greeks and Romans. A Chinaman never wilfully kills\nswallows. The French of the Mediterranean term them ames damn\u00e9es and\nhave also a superstitious regard for them\u2014a queer coincidence, to say\nthe least of it. Bats again in China afford omens of good fortune. The\nChinese name of the animal is fuk shil (in Cantonese) or \u201cRat of\nHappiness,\u201d and its erratic dashes into a room or summer-house are held\nto augur coming luck to the occupants. With us, similar conduct on the\npart of a robin red-breast is an omen of calamity.\n\nBut these agreements of superstition are not confined to crows, dogs,\nbats, cooks, and hens. The owl occupies the same position in Chinese\nesteem as it did in ancient Roman eyes, and as it still does in Great\nBritain. Pliny called it \u201cinauspicata et funebris avis,\u201d while similar\nepithets are applied to the bird by Ovid, Lucian, and Claudian. Chaucer\ndescribed it as\n\n\n        \u201cThe Oule eke, that of deth the bode bringeth,\u201d\n\n\nand Spencer speaks of it as the bird \u201cthat whoso heares doth die.\u201d\nButler, in his Hudibras, p. 2. Canto III. l. 707, refers to the\nlustration which Rome underwent because an owl had strayed into the\ncapital. Bourne describes it as \u201ca most abominable and unlucky bird,\u201d\nwhose hoarse and dismal voice \u201cis an omen of the approach of some\nterrible thing: that some dire calamity and some great misfortune is\nnear at hand.\u201d Brand devotes several pages to quotations, ancient and\nmodern, in the same sense. [62] Now let us see what the Chinese have to\nsay of the bird of Minerva. \u201cThe voice of the owl is universally heard\nwith dread, being regarded as the harbinger of death in the\nneighbourhood.\u201d I shall perhaps be pardoned if, for the sake of making\nthis notice exhaustive, I quote the following from Mr. Doolittle\u2019s\ninteresting chapter on this and kindred subjects.\n\n\n    Some say that its voice resembles the voice of a spirit or demon\n    calling out to its fellow. Perhaps it is on account of this notion\n    that they so often assert having heard the voice of a spirit, when\n    they may have heard only the indistinct hooting of a distant owl.\n    Sometimes, the Chinese say, its voice sounds much like an\n    expression for \u201cdigging\u201d the grave. Hence, probably, the origin of\n    a common saying, that when one is about to die, in the neighborhood\n    will be heard the voice of the owl, calling out, \u201cdig, dig.\u201d It is\n    frequently spoken of as the bird which calls for the soul, or which\n    catches or takes away the soul. Some assert that if its cry is dull\n    and indistinct, as though proceeding from a distant place, it\n    betokens the death of a near neighbor; whereas, if its notes are\n    clear and distinct, as if proceeding from a short distance, it is a\n    sure harbinger of the death of a person in a remote\n    neighborhood\u2014the more distinct the voice, the more distant the\n    individual whose decease is indicated; and the more indistinct the\n    voice, the nearer the person whose death is certain! It is a common\n    saying that this bird is a transformation of one of the servants of\n    the ten kings of the infernal regions, i.e., is a devil under the\n    guise of a bird. It is also frequently referred to as a \u201cconstable\n    from the dark land.\u201d\n\n\nTo pass from birds to eggs, it may be noted that a Lancashire\nsuperstition that to set a hen on an even number of eggs will result in\ntheir being addled, or in the chickens not thriving, exists also in\nSouth China.\n\nI have already referred to shoes in connection with birth and marriage,\nbut can find no precise analogy to the \u201cshoe omens\u201d in vogue in\nEurope\u2014such as the ill luck which it is feared will befall the person\nwho puts a left shoe on a right foot and vice versa. Mirrors, however,\nshare in China the superstitious respect paid to their preservation at\nhome. To break a looking-glass is in most parts of Europe deemed a very\nunlucky accident. \u201cWhen a looking glass is broken it is an omen that\nthe party to whom it belongs will lose his best friend. Grose tells us\nthat breaking a looking-glass betokens a mortality in the family,\ncommonly the master;\u201d [63] and Buonaparte, having once broken the glass\nover Josephine\u2019s portrait, could not rest till a special courier had\ninformed him of her safety. This belief exists in full force in China.\nTo break a mirror augurs a separation from one\u2019s wife by death, or\notherwise, and is only second in ominous portent to breaking an oil\njar. And this superstition of a connection existing between the mirror\nand its owner\u2019s life is evidenced also by its use in cases of sickness\nto form the head of a sort of figure made of one of the sick man\u2019s\ncoats which, suspended to a bamboo with the end leaves still on it, is\ncarried about in the vicinity of the house in the hope of attracting\nthe departing soul back to its body. Mirrors are also used as charms,\nunder which head their use will be described.\n\nWho has not noticed or heard of the bizarre arrangements of Chinese\ngardens and rockeries? The motive for this laying out the pleasure\ngrounds attached to large houses is not simply ornamental. No doubt the\nChinaman is one of the most ingenious of landscape gardeners, but the\ncrooked walks and abrupt turns not only economize space but are\n\u201clucky,\u201d inasmuch as they discourage the advent of evil spirits, who\nlike the \u201cbroad way\u201d in China much as they are reputed to do in Europe.\nNow in England, says a recent writer, \u201cGood luck seems to be attached\nto everything deformed or crooked. Thus, a crooked sixpence, all\nEngland through, is lucky; also placing crooked pins in walls is a very\ncommon custom. I never could learn the reason why, although I have\nknown it extended to highways and lanes, such as being cautioned never\nto build a house in a straight lane, but always to choose (because\nlucky) a crooked or lane with many curves and turnings.\u201d It looks very\nmuch as if the two superstitions were identical, but fearful of being\ntoo dogmatic I leave readers to draw their own inference.\n\nA recent English writer remarks that \u201cthroughout our history, and even\nin our own day among the vulgar, every eclipse or comet is regarded as\nthe harbinger of some storm, or inundation, or some contagious\ndisease.\u201d The sentence may stand as it is to describe the Chinese\nsentiment, with the slight omission of the words \u201camongst the vulgar;\u201d\nfor prince and peasant alike believe that the astrologers do not lie.\nBut more astonishing still is it to find that an able writer, Dr.\nForster, in his Illustrations of the Atmospherical Origin of Epidemic\nDisorders, gives tables occupying 40 closely-printed 8vo. pages, to\nshew that the visits of these scourges have really been concurrent with\nthe appearance and approach of comets. He in fact gravely supports the\ntheory held by the Chinese (who by the way say, the longer the comet\u2019s\ntail, the greater the disturbance), so far as it relates to disease.\nThe natives consider a comet to portend war also, and as rebel fighting\nis generally going on somewhere in the Middle Kingdom, have no great\ndifficulty in proving their case. Stars have, since the remotest\nantiquity, been held by this people to serve as portents or warnings,\ngenerally on the side of order and good government. Some eight years\nago the Southern rebels had advanced from Tsao-chow to capture\nChi-ning-chow, and as the city was badly defended they would have had\nan easy task, but for one circumstance that intervened. They fancied\nthey saw on the Eastern road \u201can enormous red star of an inexplicable\nnature, within which was plainly visible Kwan-ti in armour, and with a\nhelmet surmounting his fiery face and mighty beard. He darted about at\nthe head of his legions just as he is represented as doing in\npaintings, and the tumult of his innumerable host was distinctly\nheard.\u201d The rebels were affrighted and fled, and it was officially\nrecorded that \u201cthe spirit of Kwan-ti had preserved the city of\nChi-ning-chow.\u201d As regards eclipses, the popular belief of the Chinese\nin the fact that the sun or moon is then being devoured by a dragon,\nand the means adopted of beating gongs and firing crackers to frighten\nthe dragon away, have been held up to Western ridicule ever since books\nabout China have been written. But precisely the same beliefs and\npractices prevailed amongst the Romans, Macedonians, Medes, Turks,\nItalians, Irish and Welsh! I need not here quote authorities at length,\nas they will all be found in Brand (Vol. III. p. 152\u20133). But I may note\nthat the Spartan belief that the appearance of shooting stars signified\nthat the king had offended the gods is not very far removed from the\nChinese idea that an eclipse is an omen of ill luck to the reigning\nemperor\u2014a belief curiously verified but a few months back when the\nattack of small-pox from which the young emperor Tung Chih died was\nconcurrent with the occurrence of a solar eclipse.\n\nSuperstitions regarding bells may be classed under the heads both of\nauguries and charms. The two largest bells in the empire\u2014those at\nCanton and Peking\u2014are held to possess peculiarly portentous virtues. A\nnative account of the City of Canton states that the kin chung or\n\u201ctabooed bell,\u201d as it is called, was cast in the beginning of the reign\nof Hung-wu (therefore shortly after A.D. 1468, or five centuries ago),\nbut in consequence of a prophecy foretelling calamity to Canton\nwhenever it should give forth sound, was deprived of a clapper and the\nmeans of access to it removed. At length one day a rash official\ndirected a man to strike it. No sooner had its reverberating boom been\nheard, than upwards of a thousand male and female infants died within\nthe city. Some evil spirit had evidently been irritated at the bell\nbeing rung, and to ward off his influence infants have, ever since,\nworn bells upon the clothes. But the prophecy thus vindicated was still\nsupposed to hold good, and advantage was taken of the circumstance by\nour bombarding force in 1857. It was suggested to the commander of one\nof H. M\u2019s. ships to aim a shot at the bell, and the result was that, as\ncalamity was indeed befalling the haughty city, the unwonted boom was\nonce again heard. A portion of the lower rim was fractured, and the\nsuperstition thus recalled to the popular mind undoubtedly contributed\nto a general belief in foreign prowess. [64] The belief regarding the\nPeking bell is less deep-seated, being only to the effect that, if\nstruck by an unauthorized hand, the rain-god will immediately visit the\noffence by sending down unneeded rain. Some years since, on the writer\nwith a party of friends, visiting the great bell-temple outside the\nCity, the Priests refused to strike the enormous specimen therein hung\n(it is, by the way, the largest suspended bell in the world), lest the\nrain-god should be offended. A small present from one of the party\nhowever induced them to let the visitors draw back the heavy wooden ram\nwhich did duty as a clapper. Strangely enough, as the first blow was\nstruck, a heavy rainstorm came on, and the shaven-pated attendants\nroared out in high glee, \u201cWe told you so!\u201d For once superstition\ncarried the day. It is unnecessary to remind at least London readers\nthat grave disaster to the Royal family is believed to follow the\nunexpected tolling of the great bell of St. Paul\u2019s. Bells, especially\nif blessed by a priest, were formerly thought efficacious to scare away\nevil spirits. Church bells have ever been regarded in a similar light;\nand the passing-bell tolled for a dying man was of old supposed to\nfrighten off the demons who stood at the foot of the bed ready to\nseize, or at least molest, the departing soul. The latter thus got a\nfair start, or what sportsmen call \u201claw.\u201d \u201cHence,\u201d says the authority I\nam quoting, \u201cthe high charge made for tolling the great bell of the\nChurch,\u201d as being more efficacious than smaller ones heard to a less\ndistance.\n\nA writer in Notes and Queries states that a Scottish plan for securing\ngood luck, for the space of twelve months at least, is to draw a\nbucket-full of water from the village well, at midnight, on New Year\u2019s\neve, and, after throwing a handful of grass into it, to carry it\ncarefully home. If the drawer be a cow-keeper, he uses part of the\nwater to wash his dairy utensils, and gives the remainder to his cows,\nin the rather dishonest hope that he will thereby obtain the cream of\nthe cows of such of his neighbors as use the well, and have not been so\nwise as himself. Now this custom finds an exact counterpart in China.\nNatives living in the neighbourhood of Canton believe that water drawn\non the night, or rather after midnight, of the seventh day of the\nseventh moon, possesses special efficacy in the cure of cutaneous\ndiseases or fevers, if used in the cooking of gruel for a patient. It\nis, moreover, believed that such water will not get putrid even if kept\nfor years, its efficacy indeed increasing with age. The date above\ngiven is reported to be that of the descent of the female genii of the\nPleiades (possibly because the constellation is formed of seven stars).\n\nOmens of personal sensation are as commonly accepted in China as in\nEngland. With us burning or itching sensations on the body forebode ill\nluck or calamities; thus, if you have a shivering fit, some one is\nwalking over your destined grave; if the right ear burns, you will hear\ngood news, but if the left, you are being defamed by an enemy. The\nChinese believe that if one of the eyelids move involuntarily, it\nforebodes good or evil luck according to the hours at which the\nsensation is experienced, and the eyelid (right or left) affected. As a\nrule it is an ill omen. Sneezing indicates that some one is talking ill\nof the person so relieving himself. Any twitching of the flesh or a\njumping sensation in the region of the heart always forebodes serious\nill fortune (the latter symptom, by the way, often needs no prophetic\ninterpretation); and if a man\u2019s second finger shakes, it is a sign that\nhe will shortly be invited to a grand feast. Clothes again, especially\ntrowsers, have ominous properties. Our own goodwives tell us that it is\nvery unlucky to sew a button on a pair of breeches while wearing them.\nThe Chinese give a pair of the same indispensable articles of dress to\na young girl commencing to learn sewing, her successful efforts to\nstitch them together foreboding wealth. Our saying that if two men wash\nin the same bowl they will quarrel before sunset has a Chinese parallel\nin the belief that sitting down in a chair still warm augurs that you\nwill shortly fall out with the last sitter.\n\nIt has always been deemed unlucky to meet a funeral in most parts of\nEngland, and the Chinese entertain an exactly similar idea, especially\nif the person meeting it is going to a wedding. In fact, many natives\nwill turn back from any business visit they are about to pay if they\ncome across either a funeral or a coffin. There is a quaint saying at\nhome that \u201cTrouble will never come near folks whose eyebrows meet;\u201d and\nit is also alleged that ladies with overmuch down and gentlemen with\novermuch hair upon their arms and hands, carry about them Nature\u2019s own\nguarantee that they are born to be rich some day\u2014as rich as those happy\nindividuals whose front teeth are set wide apart. The Chinese say that\n\u201cpeople whose eyebrows meet can never expect to attain to the dignity\nof a Minister of State;\u201d that \u201cladies with too much down or hair are\nborn to be poor all their lives;\u201d but that \u201cbearded men will never\nbecome beggars.\u201d In fact, it is scarcely possible to take up the most\nordinary magazine article on European folk-lore without noting in\nalmost every paragraph strange coincidences either in actual belief or\nin the subject of a superstition. Even the appearance of a white speck\nupon the finger nail or an itching sensation of the palm of the hand\n(both ominous of coming gifts in England) bear significance in the eyes\nof this mysteriously isolated people. The Chinese note that both the\nforegoing are omens of coming evil.\n\nThe first words heard after making a resolution are supposed in China\nto be ominous. Thus, if a man who has decided to do a certain\nthing\u2014say, for instance, recover a debt\u2014hears the first person he meets\nsay mei-yu or m\u2019hai (according to the dialect he speaks) he will defer\nhis visit. No Chinaman will open a shop, marry a wife, or engage in any\nimportant undertaking without casting lots to see if the fates are\npropitious. [65] The method of carrying this out is as follows: Each\ntemple in China has belonging to it about a hundred stanzas of poetry\nrelating to a variety of subjects; each stanza is numbered and printed\non a separate piece of paper; in addition to this, there are a quantity\nof lots made of bamboo slips about eight inches long, corresponding to\nthe number of stanzas, and referring to them by number. The individual\nwho wishes to make application to the god presents himself before his\nimage on his knees, and after performing the ko-tow by touching the\nground with his head nine times, states his name and residence, the\nobject of his inquiries, and whether on his own or another\u2019s account.\nHe then takes a bamboo tube containing the lots, and shakes it gently\nbefore the idol until a slip falls to the ground. He then rises from\nhis knees and picks up this slip, and places it so that the god can see\nthe number of the lot written on it; he then takes two pieces of wood,\neach having a round and a flat side. After passing these through the\nincense, he tosses them into the air before the idol; if they fall so\nthat both round sides are uppermost, the answer is negative and\neverything is unpropitious; if they fall with one round and one flat\nside up, the answer is in the affirmative, and the man may go on his\nway rejoicing. [66]\n\nA belief in what we term lucky numbers pervades the whole arcana of\nChinese life and literature. Mr. Mayers, in the introduction to his\nadmirable Chinese Reader\u2019s Manual, says: \u201cIn obedience it would seem to\nan impulse the influence of which is distinctly marked in the literary\ntraditions of the Chaldeans, the Hebrews, and the Hindoos, a doctrine\nof the hidden properties and harmonies of numbers imbues the earliest\nrecorded expression of Chinese belief. So also, it may be remarked, in\nthe teachings of Pythagoras an abstract theory of number was expounded\nas underlying the whole system of existence, whence the philosophy of\nthe western would become tinged with conceptions strongly resembling\nthose which still prevail on the same subject in the Chinese mind.\u201d Mr.\nMayers has here indicated the common source of many of those vulgar\nbeliefs now known as mere folk-lore; and humble as that is in\ncomparison with the more pretentious philosophy which he has so\nskilfully elucidated, it is not wholly without interest. It would seem\nthat the popular saying \u201cThere is luck in odd numbers\u201d meets with as\nmuch belief in China as in England. I have already noted the fact that\nthe number 3 is, with an odd exception relating to marriage ceremonies,\ndeemed auspicious. Thus they speak of the 3 decades of heat, the 3\npowers united in nature (t\u02bbien, yang and yin), the 3 systems of\ndoctrine, the 3 forms of obedience, the 3 mental qualifications, the 3\npowers of nature (heaven, earth and man), and so on, to say nothing of\nthe phrases in which the same number is pressed into service to express\nreal or assumed historical, geographical, and other facts, such as the\n\u201c3 kingdoms,\u201d the \u201c3 armies,\u201d the \u201c3 rivers,\u201d the \u201c3 heroes,\u201d &c. [67]\nMr. Mayers\u2019s exhaustive \u201cNumerical Categories,\u201d give the following\nnumber of current phrases under the first ten numerals.\n\n\n                Under number    2    9   phrases.\n                 ,,     ,,      3   68      ,,\n                 ,,     ,,      4   40      ,,\n                 ,,     ,,      5   63      ,,\n                 ,,     ,,      6   38      ,,\n                 ,,     ,,      7   18      ,,\n                 ,,     ,,      8   25      ,,\n                 ,,     ,,      9   30      ,,\n                 ,,     ,,     10   12      ,,\n\n\nMany of these have of course a reference to popular superstitions. Five\nand Seven appear to be the favourite numbers in this respect. All the\nforces and phenomena of nature are based upon the number five:\u2014we have\ntherefore, Five active organs: the stomach, the lungs, the liver, the\nheart, and the kidneys. Five colours: Yellow, White, Green, Red, Black.\nFive varieties of taste: Sweet, Acrid, Sour, Bitter, Salt. Five\nelements: Earth, Metal, Wood, Fire, Water. Five planets: Saturn, Venus,\nJupiter, Mars, Mercury. Five regions of heaven: Centre, West, East,\nSouth, North. And so on throughout nature. And similarly as sounds\nbelong to the phenomena of nature, there must be five of them. It does\nnot appear that any particular virtue has ever been held to reside in\nthe number five amongst ourselves. The number seven, however, is as\nportentous in China as in the Western world. Besides the Sabbathaical\nuse of the number, it enters so largely into the popular sayings of the\npeople that one is tempted to suppose anything but an accidental or\nindependent origin for its adoption. Thus the Chinese speak of the\nseven passions, the seven spirits; they wish a bride seven children;\nthere are seven lawful reasons for divorce. The \u201cSeven Joys\u201d is a\ncommon tea-shop sign. There are the seven Famous Persons of the Bamboo\nGrove. Seven hands and eight feet is a common expression for \u201ctoo many\ncooks spoil the broth,\u201d and I may note that a jury is commonly termed\nin Hongkong (when the pidgin English word Ju-li is not used) the \u201cseven\nstrangers.\u201d Except to indicate a parallel, I need hardly here specify\nthe part which the same number plays in our own affairs. The Hebrew use\nof the number is familiar to all. The seven wise men, the seven hills,\nthe seven senses, the seven churches, the seven angels, the seven\nplanets, and some thirty other similar expressions are in frequent use\namongst us. We transport rogues for seven and fourteen years and bind\napprentices for seven, and we find that, of old, Selenus the\nmathematician, and Hippocrates, both held the Chinese idea of the\nseventh day being critical in diseases.\n\nAlways excepting the tabooed 13, odd numbers have ever been popular in\nEngland, in various circumstances. Thus we hold it lucky for an odd\nnumber of people to sit down to dinner. The Chinese incline to an even\nnumber, 8 being in their estimation the most fortunate. But as already\nnoted they share with us the superstitions as to setting a hen on an\nodd number of eggs. On the other hand, the hair should not be combed on\nodd days, more especially the 1st and 15th of a month. (The coiffure of\nChinese women being dressed with a glutinous substance, it is only\ncombed out at intervals.)\n\nDreams have ever played an important part in the psychological history\nof the human race, and the belief in their portentous nature is\npossibly the only superstition common to all mankind. As Dr. Kitto\n(Cyclop\u00e6dia of Biblical Literature, Art. Dreams) well observes:\u2014\u201cIt is\nquite clear from the inspired history that dreams were looked upon by\nthe earliest nations of antiquity as premonitions from their idol gods\nof future events; ... and in order to guard against imposition Moses\npronounced a penalty against dreams which were invented and wickedly\nmade use of.\u201d It is almost unnecessary to make reference to the belief\nreposed in these alleged warnings from another world by Western\nnations. The story of Mahomed\u2019s dream is known to all; and I will\nmerely add that both the Negro and Fijian races believe them to be\ncaused by visits of the souls of deceased friends, while such widely\ndivergent races as the Finns and the Australian Aborigines entertain a\ncontrary belief that the soul of the dreamer leaves his body as it\nenjoys or suffers imaginary pleasures or pains. [68] The Chinese refer\nall dreams to the inspiration of a god or goddess, but frequently use\nthe divining bamboos to ascertain how they are to be interpreted. Many\nof the principal temples in the empire owe their construction to\nimaginary instructions received during sleep. A recent visitor to the\ncity of Tai An, situated at the foot of the Tai San mountains in\nShantung\u2014one of the five sacred mountains of China\u2014thus gives the local\nlegend: \u201cThe common account is, that Chin Tsung, the third Emperor of\nT\u02bbang Dynasty, was afflicted with a grevious boil, which the Imperial\nphysicians could not cure. There was a Taouist Priest at Tai San called\nYen He, who declared that the Goddess of the mountain had appeared to\nhim in a dream and directed him to go to the capital and cure this boil\nfor the Emperor, at the same time directing him how to proceed. He went\naccordingly, and gave out that he had come to cure the Emperor\u2019s boil.\nThe Emperor hearing of it, called him in. As soon as he entered the\nImperial presence, the boil called out, \u2018Yen He has come and my destiny\nis finished;\u2019 the Priest prescribed treatment, and the boil was cured.\nThe Emperor wished to reward him with an office, but he refused, saying\n\u2018Your Majesty has not been cured by my power, but by the efficient\npower of the God of Tai San; you should show your gratitude by\nrepairing the temple at Tai San.\u2019 The Emperor assented, made a large\nappropriation, and appointed an officer to have it rebuilt in\nmagnificent style.\u201d I might multiply examples of this sort ad libitum.\nThe memorials in the Peking Gazette abound with references to acts\ndone, or crimes discovered in consequence of dreams. Mr. Doolittle\nnotes how dreaming has been pressed into the service of Buddhism at\nFoochow by way of enforcing the prohibition against eating flesh. \u201cA\ncertain butcher one day bought three buffaloes one of which he killed.\nOne night he began suddenly to bellow like cattle, and for a whole day\nremained insensible. His family in alarm called a doctor, who\nprescribed medicine to revive him. His family, on his recovering his\nsenses, inquired what was the occasion of his acting thus? He answered\nthat he saw in his dream the two buffaloes not yet killed suddenly\nbegin to speak like men; one of them said: \u2018I am your father;\u2019 and the\nother said: \u2018I am your grand-father.\u2019 In a short time they became in\nappearance like men, and on looking carefully at them, said he, \u2018I saw\nthat they were really my father and my grandfather.\u2019 The butcher was so\npainfully affected by these circumstances that he sent the two cattle\naway to the country, and changed his calling.\u201d\n\nAs an illustration of the every-day belief in dreams which comes under\nthe observation of the least curious foreign resident in Chinese, I\nsubjoin two stories which have within the last few months appeared in a\nShanghai and Hongkong journal respectively. The first relates to the\nold, old subject\u2014the discovery of treasure. \u201cThe other night a\ngentleman named Chang (Anglice Smith) went to bed and had a very\nremarkable dream. He thought that he was in a particular spot at the\nback of a certain temple in Shanghai city, and that there he came upon\na hidden treasure of gold. On awaking he was so much impressed with the\nvivid nature of the dream that he immediately sprang out of bed,\nshouldered a pickaxe and wended his way to the enchanted spot. Upon\nreaching his destination he fell to work, and sure enough had not far\nto dig before he came upon a box containing five hundred taels\u2019 weight\nof gold, and\u2014so runs the story\u2014all marked with the magic name of Chang!\nOf course proprietorship was indisputable, and lucky Mr. Chang trotted\nhome a richer and a happier man.\u201d\n\nThe other story appeared a very short time since in the China Mail, and\nthe facts came within the writer\u2019s personal knowledge. Some time ago, a\njunk sailed from Hoifoong, containing a number of coolies for the\nbarracoons of Macao. Having arrived there, the live cargo was quickly\ndisposed of, and the Captain received as freight something over $1,000.\nThis incited the helmsman and some of the crew to league themselves\nwith two piratical junks to attack the boat and to rob the Captain of\nthe money. Two or three days after, the junk left Macao on her way back\nto Hoifoong. On the voyage, near Chang Chow, the two pirates hove in\nsight, and the helmsman steered closed up to them, when the pirates\nboarded the junk, killed the Captain and threw him overboard. Here\ncomes the mysterious part of the story. The master of the Luk Kee\nbarracoon one night dreamed a dream, in which he saw the ghost of the\nmurdered man before him, saying he had been murdered, that he was\nrobbed of his money, and that he wished the barracoon master to\ncomplain and try to obtain redress for him, which he thought would not\nbe difficult, as the pirates were sailing off Chang Chow. On the\nstrength of this dream, the barracoon master complained to the\nPortuguese authorities, who sent out a gunboat, and the pirates were\nfound at the spot indicated by the ghost. The crew of the attacked junk\n(who had come to Hongkong since the robbery) immediately went to Macao;\none of them was the brother of the deceased and had been cut in several\nplaces. Whether there was any truth in the statement of the appearance\nof the ghost or not, the facts of the robbery and capture were correct.\nHere there was nothing mysterious in the fact of a friend of the junk\ncaptain dreaming that a very common contingency in Canton waters had\nactually occurred. Nor was it very strange that he should hit upon the\nmost likely place to find the pirates. The Chinese however, especially\nin psychological matters, are not very keen in connecting cause with\neffect, and the lucky dreamer enjoys to this day the reputation of\nhaving been specially favoured by the Goddess of Sailors.\n\nIt does not appear that Chinese soothsayers, like their Western\nprototypes, divide dreams into distinct categories, or, to put it more\naccurately, that the fortune-telling books in circulation amongst the\npeople agree in any standard of division. There is, however, a sort of\nnatural order followed, as all such warnings may be divided into three\nclasses,\u2014those which portend good fortune, those which portend evil,\nand those to which no precise signification can be affixed. A very\ninteresting paper on the subject of dreams recently appeared in the\nJapan Mail; [69] and from this it would appear that in many respects\nChinese and Japanese beliefs are alike, though the latter people, true\nto their national character, have evinced a much greater talent for\nclassification than their older rivals. Amongst good portents, in\nChinese belief, are dreams of mounting upwards to the skies, meeting\ngenii, or persons celebrated for their positions or acquirements, and\nof being present at convivial parties. To dream that one sees bats,\nturtles or tortoises, or that one is wounded by robbers (provided blood\nbe not drawn) is also of good augury. These are also portents of good\nfortune to the Japanese; but while the latter consider that to dream of\nwearing new clothes or of having ulcers on the face is a sign of\nprosperity, these are both taken to augur impending ill fortune in\nChina. [70] Of evil auguries common to the two countries are dreams of\neating fruit, of breaking mirrors, or of seeing ants crawling over the\nhouse matting; to dream of the \u201csun or moon shedding tears of blood\u201d is\na sign of the approaching death of a parent; while to dream of having\none\u2019s teeth pulled out implies impending unfriendliness on the part of\nrelatives, and to dream of eating pears is an emblem of family broils.\nIn both countries bad dreams should not be talked about at once\u2014in\nChina, until the morning meal has been taken, and in Japan until the\nmouth has been rinsed with water and ejected facing the East, an\nincantation being at the same time ejaculated. To dream of a bear is in\nChina a sign that the dreamer will have a son; of a snake that he or\nshe will have a daughter; while the appearance in a dream of a white\nmouse indicates the presence of treasure at the place where the animal\nis seen. Yet we must not be too hard on our Eastern friends. A half\nsuperstitious belief in the prophetic nature of dreams lingers\nthroughout Europe, and a few decades will doubtless find China and\nJapan as generally incredulous of its existing beliefs in such matters\nas we assume to be ourselves.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nV.\u2014CHARMS, SPELLS, AMULETS AND DIVINATIONS.\n\n\nThe subjects to be dealt with under the above heading afford an\nembarras de richesses. Next to the belief in the prophetic nature of\ndreams none probably is more widespread than that in charms and kindred\nmatters. The ancient British Druids attempted to cure the generality of\ndiseases by charms and incantations, [71] and the so-called Doctors of\nmodern China follow a similar custom hallowed by a still greater\nantiquity. But in addition to these, the universal belief in the\ninfluence of demons and evil spirits upon the every-day life of mortals\nhas led to the devising of such numerous preservatives that the makers\nand vendors of such wares find constant employment. I propose to deal\nin the first instance with charms involving a certain amount of\npreparation, classing articles worn about the person under the head of\namulets.\n\nThe superstitious regard paid to mirrors as regards their preservative\nqualities has been noticed in a previous chapter. This probably arises\nfrom the fact that in China they are regarded as all-efficacious\nhousehold charms against the attacks of evil spirits. Nor are magic\nmirrors, similar in their use to the ink mirrors employed by modern\nEgyptian necromancers, unknown to the Chinese. At Canton, only a year\nor two since, a native was exhibiting for the small sum of 30 cash\n(about 2\u00bdd.) a jewel stated to possess magical qualities. In it the\ncurious spectator saw various figures such as a beggar, a mandarin, a\nwoman, &c., and was assured that his or her own future condition would\nbe the same as that of the counterfeit thus seen. There exists a belief\nin many parts of the Empire that the pointed roof or corner of a\nhouse\u2019s gable end may exert an unpleasant influence upon the dwelling\nin nearest proximity. To counteract this therefore a concave brass\nmirror\u2014those of glass are still articles de luxe in most districts\u2014set\nin a wooden frame, is arranged on the wall or roof of the threatened\nbuilding so as to catch and reflect back the evil influences in\nquestion. I can find no trace of any similar practice in Western\ncountries. Small brass mirrors hung near a bed are also all-efficacious\nto ward off evil influences.\n\nIt is possible, that, though everybody knows how fire-crackers are used\nby the Chinese to frighten off evil spirits, all readers are not aware\nthat they are charms pure and simple; the original intention of their\nmanufacture being to imitate the crackling of burning bamboos which\nwere supposed to frighten away a race of malignant demons called Shan\nsiao\u2014\u201cbeings in human shape, a foot or so in height, and by nature very\nfearless,\u201d or according to another account a bird with a nest as big as\na five bushel measure. [72] Mr. W. F. Mayers, in his interesting\narticle on gunpowder and firearms in China, in the Journal of the N. C.\nB. R. A. S. for 1869\u201370, ingeniously suggests that these demons are but\nthe embodiment of the supernatural agency visible in the attacks of\nfever and ague to which the inhabitants of the swampy regions of\nWestern China were, and still are, liable. I quote his remarks: \u201cThe\nChinese themselves do not appear to have pursued any investigation\nrespecting the origin or meaning of the term Shan siao, but, guided by\nthe date of its appearance in literature and its foreign garb, we may\nwith some confidence, ascribe the belief in this demon to an Indian\nparentage. As regards the myth itself, it may be permitted to hazard\nthe speculation that fever and ague, lurking as it did and still does\nin the swampy regions of Western China, may, by a very familiar\nprocess, have become embodied in the conception of a supernatural\nagency, and that the fires which native wisdom or foreign counsel might\nsuggest as a prophylactic device may have been invested with magical\nattributes, either by teachers who thought it best to fortify sanitary\nprecautions with a cloak of fetishism, or else by the inherited\ntradition of succeeding ages. However this may be, the idea of\nexorcism, dating as far back as the sixth century, has remained\ninseparably connected with the use of fire-crackers down to the present\nday.\u201d And in a note on the same page the writer adds that subsequently\nto an execution taking place at Canton in 1868 in a public square, the\ninhabitants of the locality were not satisfied until they had exorcised\nthe ghost of the departed criminal by a protracted discharge of\ncrackers. It is not difficult to trace a similar motive in the custom\nwhich obtains of honouring the departure of a popular resident in any\nplace, in a similar manner. The crackers are to frighten away all\ndemons from the traveller. Such a compliment is frequently paid to\nforeigners by their Chinese acquaintances in Hongkong. It may, I think,\nbe taken as certain that crackers are charms pure and simple to the\nChinese, their use as mere noise-producing fireworks being secondary to\nthe idea of exorcism.\n\nCharms of another sort are sometimes used by the Chinese. It is only\nthree years since that H. E. Li Hung Chang, who is at this moment\npremier of China, fired cannon at the Peiho to make it cease inundating\nthe surrounding country. [73] The Eagre or bore of the Tsien Tang\nriver, which flows from the boundaries of Kiang-si, Fuhkien and\nChih-keang to Hang-chow Bay, and takes its name \u201cmoney-dyke\u201d from the\namount expended on its embankments, [74] has been treated with \u201ccharms\u201d\non several occasions, but as Chinese annals tell us, with very\nindifferent success. Prince Wu Shu (A.D. 930) made five hundred \u201cdaring\narchers\u201d let fly six arrows apiece at the dreaded tidal wave as it came\nrolling onwards, and then after praying to Wu Tsz-si, the tutelary\ndeity of the stream, put the key of the dyke water gate into an\nenvelope, and threw it into the river. Forthwith the waters retired;\nbut as they would have retired in the ordinary course of events, even\nthe Chinese did not consider the experiment a remarkable success. In\n1131 the Emperor Kan Tsung sunk ten iron plates, each weighing over 130\nlbs., in the river by way of charming the mischievous spirits of the\nwaters, but charms and embankments were alike carried off by the\nresistless power of the tide. Experience however was not availed of in\na case where superstition had firm hold, and time and time again was a\nsimilar experiment tried\u2014with, I need hardly say, similar success. Such\npractices, however, have not been quite unknown amongst ourselves, and\neven at the present day there are many springs in rural Britain\nsupposed to be guarded by spirits who require charming in a very\nsimilar way. The crooked pins cast into St. Winifred\u2019s well in North\nWales, the fourpenny pieces cast into that of Gwern Degla, the rags and\nclothes thrown into those of Strathfillan and Kenethmont in Scotland,\nand Benton (near Newcastle-upon-Tyne), and the common offering of three\nstones as a tribute to the spirit of the stream in Unst (Shetland),\nare, like the nosegays thrown into wells and fountains in honour of\ntheir presiding nymphs at the Roman fontinalia, or the cakes of\nbread-corn similarly offered of old to Juno in Laconia, evidences of a\nbelief not at all unlike that which prompts Chinese acts of a similar\nnature.\n\nThe anti-demoniacal power ascribed to the wood and leafy branches of\ncertain trees in our own folklore is matched by a similar Chinese\nbelief. The elder, the rowan, the yew, and the mountain ash of rural\nEngland, or the palasa (a species of mimosa) of India, are represented,\nin the Middle Kingdom, by the bamboo, peach and willow, which are\nregarded as peculiarly powerful over goblins and imps. The dry Bamboo\nis supposed to attract devils. On the other hand a rod of green bamboo\nis carried at funerals by nearly-related mourners for a contrary\npurpose. It is called the \u201cdog-driving rod,\u201d and is supposed to be\nefficacious in driving away evil spirits who might stop the way of the\ndeparted. The willow is used both to drive away and to raise spirits,\nbut in the former case a twig only must be used. The plum tree is also\nregarded as possessing mysterious virtues in the same direction, but is\nnot thought equal to the willow. Two other plants are also supposed to\nbe efficacious against evil spirits, and one of them, the Fo yeung lak\n\u706b\u6b83\u44f6 is at Canton hung over door-ways to prevent them from entering\nhouses. We too, formerly put up holly at Christmas with a similar\nobject, though it has now become a mere decoration, and there was a\npretty Druidical superstition that the Sylvan spirits would take refuge\nin the evergreen branches from the chill winds and snows proper to the\nseason. [75] It would be interesting to trace the superstitions\nconnected with trees somewhat further, but I have not sufficient\nauthorities at command.\n\nOf the charms affixed to buildings, etc., the Chinese have a fair\nvariety. The all-potent horseshoe is indeed not found nailed against\ndoors and gables; but, oddly enough, a horse\u2019s hoof hung up in a house\n[76] has the same preservative virtues in native eyes. Chinese\nreverence for the dead has prevented the adoption of so horrible a\ncharm as that known in France, Germany, Spain, and Ireland as \u201cthe hand\nof Glory\u201d or dead man\u2019s hand, consisting actually of the dried hand of\nan executed criminal. But a nail that has been used in fastening up a\ncoffin is a sovereign charm. This is sometimes beaten out into a rod or\nwire, and, encased in silver, worn as a ring round the ancles or\nwrists. The cat here makes her appearance, a clay image of poor\npussy\u2014with a bob-tail of course, after the Chinese model,\u2014being\nfrequently placed on the apex of a roof to ward off unpropitious\ninfluences. The conspicuous position thus accorded to the cat as a\nwarder-off of evil fortune seems oddly paralleled, though not imitated,\nby the place accorded to the same animal in popular European folk-lore.\nI have already mentioned its evil repute amongst the Chinese as a\nharbinger of ill luck, and this agrees closely with the usual Western\nestimate, witches and cats being constantly associated, the former\nindeed being supposed to take upon themselves the shape of the latter\nat will. The old legend that the chariot of the Goddess Freya was drawn\nby cats, and that Holda was attended by maidens riding on cats, is\nreferred by Mr. Kelly to a widespread belief in their weatherwise\npowers. In China the cat is supposed to be in league with the spirits\nof darkness, and as this includes meteorological prescience, it is\npropitiated accordingly, the cat\u2019s image becoming a popular \u201ccharm.\u201d\n\nSo too those nondescript animals which most people agree to call lions,\nand which may be seen keeping guard in such disconsolate attitudes on\nthe roofs of most native buildings of importance, are mere charms. The\nChinaman in fact, from his cradle upwards, seems to regard himself as\never environed by diabolical agencies, to combat which an all-pervading\nsystem of charms and amulets is a prime necessity. While we laugh at\nthis superstition, it is perhaps only a too vivid realisation of the\nfact of the devil \u201cgoing about like a roaring lion.\u201d It may be\ninteresting to note here that our own custom of depositing coins,\npapers, &c., in the foundation stones of new buildings is matched by a\nsimilar custom in China. I am unable to trace the superstitious origin\nof the practice in our own case, but the Chinese place coins under the\ndoor-sill and under the kitchen fireplace, when building, simply for\nluck. In some cases, following out the usual notion of contrariety,\nthese and other charms are attached to the ridge pole of the building.\n\n\u201cCash-swords,\u201d a very common form of charm, are thus described: \u201cWhat\nis commonly called a Cash-sword is considered very efficacious in\nkeeping away evil spirits. It is often hung up on the front and the\noutside of the bridal bed-curtain, in a position parallel to the\nhorizon. About the time of a woman\u2019s confinement, a cash-sword is\nsometimes taken and hung inside of the curtain. This sword is usually\nabout two feet long, and is constructed out of three kinds of things,\neach of which is regarded as a preventive of evil spirits: 1st. Two\niron rods, about two feet long, constitute the foundation of the sword.\n2d. About one hundred cash, either ancient or modern (if ancient, or if\nall of the same emperor\u2019s reign, so much the better), are ingeniously\nfastened on these rods, concealing them from view. The rods are placed\nin the centre, and the coins are tied on the outside in two rows. 3d.\nRed cords or wires are used in tying on the cash. These three kinds,\njoined together in the shape of a sword, make a really formidable\nweapon, of which the maliciously-disposed spirits are exceedingly\nafraid!\u201d [77]\n\nAnother charm of extensive use amongst Chinese women is a small solid\nsilver or golden triangle, having two little swords suspended from the\nouter angles and a trident from the centre of the base; on the triangle\nitself lucky characters are engraved. This shape appears to be a\nfavorite one, as women always fold their written charms in a similar\nmanner, and sew them up in pieces of cloth of a triangular pattern.\n\nThe idea of an evil eye is no less common amongst the native population\nout here than it was and still is in Europe; and this belief,\nimplicitly accepted as regards their own countrymen, is intensified as\nregards foreigners, owing to the outrageous stories circulated about us\nduring recent excitements. I have often been amused in the North at the\nrequest not to stare at any child whose interesting appearance might\nhave attracted my attention. In writing letters the Chinese invoke the\nperson addressed, to cast a glance on the epistle \u201cwith the clear part\nof his eye\u201d (or, as we should say, white of the eye) that is, take a\nfavourable view of the matter talked of. A pregnant woman or a man\nwhose wife is pregnant, is called \u201cfour-eyed,\u201d and children are guarded\nagainst being looked at by either, as it is thought the sight would be\nunlucky to the children and would cause sickness to attack them. The\nsuperstition as to the powers of an \u201cevil eye\u201d may almost be deemed\nfundamental to humanity, as I have yet to read of a people amongst whom\nit does not find some degree of credence.\n\nOne of the commonest diagrams to be met with throughout China is the\nmystic swastika or \u201cThor\u2019s Hammer\u201d \u5350 (pronounced wan in Chinese and\ngiven as the archaic form of \u842c). It is all-pervading, meeting the eye\nin all sorts of places, on the wrappers of medicines and sweetmeats,\nthe stomachs or chests of idols, and the flanks of animals, upon dead\nwalls, coins, etc. Dr. Eitel gives a most interesting account of this\nsymbol in the 3rd volume of Notes and Queries on China and Japan. [78]\nIt is ordinarily accepted as \u201cthe accumulation of lucky signs\npossessing ten thousand virtues, being one of the 65 mystic figures\n[79] which are believed to be traceable in every one of the famous\nfoot-prints of Buddha. This of course stamps its Buddhistic origin so\nfar as the Chinese are concerned. Apropos of this symbol, known by us\nas the fylfot, a recent review of Mr. Waring\u2019s Ceramic Art in Remote\nAges says:\u2014\u201cAnother form of the cross which Mr. Waring has collected\nvery completely is the fylfot. By some this is thought to be only a\nsort of Greek fret or meander pattern; but the evidence of its having\nbeen a symbol in past times of mystic significance is too strong to\nallow of its being reduced to a mere ornament. It has been identified\nwith the Hammer of Thor, the Zeus or Thunderer of the Scandinavians.\nWith the Buddhists this cross had the very opposite signification from\nthat of the tau of the Egyptians or the cross of the Christians.\nGeneral Cunningham is quoted, who says:\u2014\u2018The atheistical Swastikas\nreceived their name from their peculiar symbol, the Swastika, or Mystic\nCross, which was typical of their belief in Swasti. This term is a\ncompound of \u2018su,\u2019 well, \u2018asti,\u2019 it is, meaning \u2018it is well;\u2019 or, as\nWilson expresses it, \u2018so be it,\u2019 and implying complete resignation\nunder all circumstances.\u2019... To Mr. Waring\u2019s collection of facts\nregarding the Swastika, or fylfot, it may be added that a Hindoo woman,\nwhen she cleans out her simple cottage, and washes over the earthen\nfloor with a thin coating of mud and cow-dung\u2014the latter having, as\ncoming from the cow, which is sacred, a highly purifying virtue\u2014she\nusually forms the figure of a Swastika on the door-step. In the woman\u2019s\nmind it is supposed to be an efficacious charm to keep away evil from\nthe house. Along with the fylfot we have the very similar figure of the\nthree legs which we associate with the Isle of Man. Mr. Waring\u2019s book\ngives us many examples of this symbol. In some cases they are legs, but\noftener they are merely three obtuse angles, or curves. This is also\nfound in many parts of the world, as well as some examples which are\ngiven with five or six limbs. In such cases it is suggestive of a\nwheel; and there are a number of Buddhist symbols not unlike to these,\nwhich are understood to represent the \u2018Wheel of the Law,\u2019 or the Wheel\nof Buddha. It may be stated that a three-limbed figure of this kind is\nmuch used in the Punjaub, and other parts of India, by the Mohajin\nlog\u2014the banking or moneyed class\u2014as a charm; they place it in their\nhouses, and generally over the door.\u201d But Dr. Eitel makes a yet more\ninteresting contribution to the subject in pointing out that\nScandinavians, Danes, Germans and Englishmen still attach superstitious\nimportance to this magic charm of their heathen forefathers, and of the\nChinese Buddhists of to-day. To the present time the hammer of Thor is\nused amongst the German peasantry, and in Ireland, as a magical sign to\ndispel thunder. [80] The same symbol was frequently cast on bells\nduring the Middle Ages, and many of them still bear this mark. Dr. E.\nmentions those of Appleby and Scotherne, Waldingham, Bishop\u2019s Norton\nand West Barkwith in Lincolnshire, Hathersage in Derbyshire, Maxborough\nin Yorkshire, and many more. That this symbol should thus be common to\nBuddhistic and Scandinavian mythology argues a common fount in ages\nlong gone by; before the Aryan races had commenced their Westward\nwanderings or the Shang dynasty had ceased to reign in China\u2014coeval in\nfact with Cadmus, the reputed father of Western letters.\n\nThe use of the Pa-kwa or \u201cEight diagrams\u201d\u2014a collection of strokes\narranged in hexagonal form and familiar to the merest tyro in Chinese\nstudies\u2014as a charm to ward off evil influences, is universal. It is\nmade of all sizes and shapes, from large ones on boards one or two feet\nsquare, down to tiny medals for personal wear not larger than a\nsixpence. In the centre is the diagram of the Yang and Yin (male and\nfemale principle), or sometimes a concave metal or glass mirror.\nCoarsely executed boards of this description are placed perpendicularly\non the highest part of the roof. More neatly carved specimens are hung\nup in rooms. Go where one will, the inevitable pa kwa, carved, painted\nor written, is almost sure to ornament some portion of the premises. On\nsome houses again will be seen \u201cthree arrows placed in an earthen tube,\nand laid on the side of the roof, the tube pointing towards some\ndistant object\u2014the arrows being fastened in their places by clay.\u201d\nSometimes the representation of a lad sitting on a three-legged\nnondescript animal, with a bow in his hands, as if on the act of\nshooting an arrow, takes the place of or accompanies the other objects\ndescribed. [81]\n\nStone slabs or pillars erected near the entrances of alleys leading\ninto a main street, are supposed to ward off the evil influences\nproceeding from them. Mr. Doolittle states that in Foochow every family\non the first day of the Chinese month nails up a few leaves of the\nsweet flag (acorus gramineus) and artemisia on each side of the front\ndoorway. They are held to represent swords, and so scare away evil\nspirits! Other charms, not personal, in Chinese use, are red cloth worn\nin the pockets, or red silk braided into the hair of children; a knife\nthat has been used to kill a fellow-creature; the Chinese Classics\nplaced under the pillow or kept near the owner; knife-cash cast for the\npurpose and attached to the ridgepole; pieces of old fishing nets, of\nwhich demons are said to be especially afraid as they suppose them to\nbe used by the priests to catch spirits; and gourd shells, which it is\nsupposed will attract to their interior such diseases as small-pox,\nmeasles, &c., which might otherwise attack children. Images or drawings\nof tigers, lizards, snakes, centipedes, &c.\u2014the list is almost\ninexhaustible\u2014have similar virtues, more especially guarding children\nfrom colic and other infantile diseases.\n\nMost people are acquainted with the cant expression about \u201ctaking a\nhair of the dog that bit you,\u201d now-a-days applied by those, who have\ndrank too much overnight, to the morning glass supposed to re-steady\nthe shaken nerves, but originating in a superstition common to both\nEurope and China. The idea on which it is based is that of the sympathy\nwhich a part of the body has with the whole. Thus a dog\u2019s virus being\npowerless on its own body, a person will by swallowing one of its hairs\nenjoy the immunity possessed by the animal it came from. In Devonshire\nwe find the idea oddly reversed, as, when a child suffers from hooping\ncough, a hair from its head is put between slices of bread and butter\nand given to a dog, who thereupon, it is believed, gets the cough\ninstead of the child. [82] In the same country it is supposed that you\ncan give a neighbour ague, by burying a dead man\u2019s hair under his\nthreshold. [83] The fact of a dog\u2019s hair possessing mystic powers, in\nChinese Hakka [84] belief, is illustrated by the following incident\nrelated to me by a distinguished sinologue in this Colony.\n\nWhile on his missionary tours in the Canton province he was usually\naccompanied by a powerful dog, at which, in some of the villages he\npassed through, the children were somewhat frightened and once or twice\nvery slightly bitten. In such a case the mother would run after him and\nbeg for a hair from the dog\u2019s tail, as a charm against the evil one.\nThe hair thus obtained would be put to the part bitten in the belief\nthat the spirit which the fright suffered by the child had caused to\npass into his person, would thereby be attracted from it.\n\nMy informant used sometimes, jokingly, to say to the applicant, \u201cOh!\ntake a hair from the dog yourself,\u201d but not liking his looks, this\noffer was usually declined, and the alternative suggested brings into\nnotice another curiously wide-spread superstition. He was asked to spit\nin her hand, as a charm against evil. Now the virtues claimed for this\nnot very cleanly proceeding by the Chinese found a thorough belief\namongst the ancients, which survives to this day amongst the lower\nclasses in England. Brand gives a most interesting chapter on this\nsubject. [85] The Roman custom of lustrating an infant by spittle on\nthe day of its being named, that of the Mandingoes who spit thrice in\nthe child\u2019s face on the same occasion, and the custom of fishwomen at\nhome who still \u201cspit upon their handsel,\u201d or the first money they take\nin the day, all point to the same belief as that entertained by the\nHakkas. There is still a rural English belief that spitting three times\nin a person\u2019s face is a charm against the evil eye. The Hebrew belief\nin the mystic properties of saliva is said to be of considerable\nantiquity, and we find our Saviour on two occasions (St. John ix. 6 and\nMark vii. 33) using it in curing the blind.\n\n\u201cCharacts,\u201d or written charms, are as common in China as in Europe. We\nsettle the origin of our own former confidence in their efficacy by a\nsomewhat off-hand reference to the Jewish phylactery\u2014a derivation I am\ninclined to doubt\u2014but we have nothing that I know of to guide us in\nfinding the root of the Chinese superstition. However that may be, the\nfact that written charms have ever been deemed efficacious, wherever\nthe art of writing is known, is curious. Not a very long time ago the\nstill warm body of a deceased male child was picked up in the streets\nof Hongkong, having affixed to its cap one of these charms, which had\nevidently been sold to the parents by one of the itinerant\nfortune-tellers who infest the city. It was kindly placed at my\ndisposal by the Coroner, and a facsimile of it is given on the opposite\npage.\n\nIt is almost untranslateable, but if you bear in mind that the Chinese\nwords refer to horary or astrological terms, the following will give\nyou some idea of what it meant. The paper refers to an infant born in\nthe yam shan year (1872), 2nd moon, 17th day, at noon; the character\nfor \u201cleft\u201d appended to the date signifies that the child is a male,\nthat for right signifying a female.\n\n\u201cBeing born in the yam shan year, kwai mou month and kap ng hour, the\nchild is subject to the combined influence of these dates. Under yam\nshan it will be adverse to the influence of koon (officials) [that is\nan indication of evil], but will find powerful friends. He will have\nbrothers who will impoverish him. According to the portents under the\ncharacter kwai mou, he will always have plenty to eat and great wealth.\nUnder Sun mi he will meet with counter influences from an evil spirit.\nKap ng indicates that he will meet with good influences indicating\nwealth and powerful friends, but these good influences will be\ncounteracted by an evil spirit.\n\n\u201cFor 3 years, the first epoch under prediction, his fate is good.\nThence to the age of 13, the first five years will be bad, the second\nfive good; from 14 to 25 the first five years will be bad, the second\nvery bad; from 26 to 33, five years will be bad, the latter five very\ngood; thence to 43, good and very good fortune will be his fate. For\nfive years after this his fate will be good, continuing till his death,\nwhich will happen before he is 53.\n\n\u201cThe life of this child indicates purity and prosperity. His good\nfortune lies in being born at the hour of noon, as this indicates\npowerful friends and other good influences. His future life will be one\nof bliss, but he ought to adopt the Kum-fa goddess, in the municipal\ntemple, as his spiritual mother. In selecting a name for him some\ncharacter should be chosen having To, earth, as a component part. It\nwill then be lucky. The date fixed for shaving the child should be the\n18th day of the 3rd moon from 9 to 10 a.m. The child should be a year\nold before he is vaccinated.\u201d\n\nSo much for this written charm;\u2014sad rubbish no doubt, but not much\nworse than the whining predictions of gypsy crones in enlightened\nEurope, and harmful chiefly in the widespread belief attached to its\nvalue.\n\nThe charm here given was written on red paper, that colour being\nsupposed to be peculiarly obnoxious to evil spirits. Hence the red\ncloth and silken twist already noted. But charms on yellow paper are\nquite as numerous. Yellow is the Imperial colour, one of the five\nrecognized in the Chinese cosmogony, and a superstitious value attaches\nto its use. \u201cSometimes a picture of an idol is printed or written upon\nthis paper, or some Chinese characters, or various scrolls, are drawn\non the paper with red or black ink. It is then pasted up over a door or\non a bed-curtain, or it is worn in the hair, or put into a red bag and\nsuspended from a button-hole, or it is burnt, and the ashes are mingled\nwith tea or hot water, and drank as a specific against bad influences\nor spirits. An incredible number of these charms are used in the\nvarious ways indicated. Many houses have eight or ten or more on the\nfront side or under the eaves. Immense numbers are burnt in idolatrous\nor superstitious ceremonies.\u201d [86] Similar charms are hung upon\nbed-curtains, placed upon the ridge poles of houses, and hung over\ndoor-ways. The veneration entertained for the written character in\nChina is doubtless partially owing to the superstitious belief in the\nprotective nature of written charms. The Biblical, or at all events\nTalmudical, authority for the use of Phylacteries seems to have\nindirectly produced a somewhat similar effect amongst the Hebrews.\nBrand gives numerous instances of the belief in written charms in\nEngland, and a gypsy charact, sold within the last few years, has come\nunder the present writer\u2019s personal observation. In this case, as in\nall others, it may be truly said, that the more we enquire the less do\nwe find to be the divergence between Chinese and Western beliefs and\nsuperstitions.\n\nBut amulets and charms worn about the person are, perhaps, even greater\nobjects of importance in Chinese estimation than household or other\ncharms. Retaining as we do the words, now applied to harmless trinkets\nworn on the watch-chain, [87] we are apt to forget the deep\nsignificance attached to them by our forefathers, and to somewhat\nunduly ignore the influence which a belief in their virtues once\nexercised over our own ancestors, and still exercises over people like\nthe Chinese. I may here note that small trinkets, believed to be\nveritable amulets, are worn by the well-to-do Chinese just as among\nourselves. The most popular form of charm is, both in China and\nEngland, a piece of money. Most boys have treasured a \u201clucky fourpenny\u201d\nwith a hole in it, and most Chinese babies have been the unconscious\nowners of \u201clucky cash\u201d attached to them by a red string and bearing\ncertain lucky characters inscribed on them. The cash chosen for this\npurpose are, as a rule, ancient. The older the cash the greater its\nvirtue. Sometimes coins of this sort are tied on the wrists of a\nnew-born child and worn by it for a considerable time. Similarly a\nnumber of cash belonging to the reigns of different Emperors are placed\nunder the bed of a newly-married couple. Collectors of old coins\nfrequently come across curious specimens of the numismatic art produced\nfor this purpose, metals generally in China being favourite substances\nfor amulets. One of the commonest amulets given to an only son is a\nsmall silver lock. The father collects a number of cash from the heads\nof a large number\u2014strictly speaking a hundred\u2014different families, and\nhaving exchanged them for silver has the latter converted into a native\npadlock which is used to fasten a silver chain or ring on the boy\u2019s\nneck. [88] This it is supposed will be respected by evil spirits, and\nwill therefore contribute to the boy\u2019s longevity. Another popular\namulet is made in the shape of a flattish silver hook with some\nfortunate inscription thereon. But most common of all are the little\nbells worn by the Chinese child of every degree in the Southernmost\nprovinces and, more sparingly, used in the North also. The origin of\nthe custom as regards Canton has been already given. But a belief in\nthe occult qualities of bells is so wide-spread [89] that considerable\ndoubt may reasonably exist whether, even if the legend be true, the\nCantonese did not merely amplify an existing practice by way of\nappeasing the Demon of the bell. It is at all events strange that our\nown ancestors should have credited bells with possessing occult powers\nto aid mankind in their combat with the spirits of darkness, while the\nChinese propitiate the same enemies by wearing models of bells upon\ntheir clothes. But a yet more odd coincidence is found in the sixty-six\nbells attached to the Ephod of the Jewish High priest when engaged in\nsacerdotal ministration. [90] At the present day we give bells to\nbabies mounted on a piece of coral\u2014itself a celebrated charm since the\ndays of Pliny, by whom it is noted as an amulet against fascination and\nable to preserve and fasten the teeth. Few substances, by the way,\nexcept metal are used by the Chinese as amulets, jade being almost the\nonly exception. [91] It would be interesting to ascertain whether the\near-ring was ever regarded in China, as by the Semitic races, as a sort\nof amulet or charm.\n\nDivination is in China as popular as, and probably more respectable\nthan, it was amongst the Israelites in the days of the witch of Endor,\nand it is not perhaps going too far to say that there is not a single\nmeans resorted to in the West by way of lifting the impenetrable veil\nwhich hides the future from curious mankind which is not known to and\npractised by the Chinese. From \u201cPinking the Bible\u201d to using the\nPlanchette, from tossing for odd and even to invoking spirits to\nactually speak through crafty media, the whole range of Western\nsuperstition in this regard is as familiar to the average Chinaman as\nto the most enthusiastic spiritualist at home. The coincidences of\npractice and belief are indeed so startling that many will doubtless\nsee in them a sort of evidence either for their truthfulness, or for a\ncommon origin of evil. Divination by the ka pui has been already noted,\ntogether with that by bamboo slips. Cash and many other objects are\nsimilarly used, the mode of procedure in no way differing from our own.\nSuch modes of consulting the gods are, however, every-day matters. It\nis when we come to the consulting of media, the use of a forked stick,\nwriting on sand, and similar matters that the Chinese practice becomes\nsingular in its resemblance to superstitions openly avowed at home. I\nwould here remark that I am no spiritualist. But how, without any\napparent connection with each other, such beliefs should at once be\nfound in full force in the farthest East and the extreme West is\npuzzling. Is our Western spiritualism derived from China?\n\nIt is only within the last ten years that the attention of English\nreaders has been markedly drawn to this strange agreement of Chinese\nwith Western belief and practice\u2014in the first instance, [92] by the\nRev. J. Doolittle, in a series of papers contributed originally to the\nChina Mail and subsequently published in book form in 1867; and in the\nsame and following years, more exhaustively, in Notes and Queries on\nChina and Japan, by the Rev. E. J. Eitel, PH.D., whose thorough and\nscholarly papers on Chinese matters render him a high authority.\nReaders of that now defunct periodical will doubtless, in consideration\nof the papers in question being out of print and unknown to the\nmajority of the British public, pardon my here transferring Dr. Eitel\u2019s\nremarks almost verbatim; the more so as any original account I could\ngive would be but a mere variation in language:\u2014\n\n\u201cA certain form of spirit-rapping is practised among the officials and\nliterary classes of China. A spirit is sometimes made to appear, to\ncommunicate by writing revelations about the future, and questions are\nanswered as regards the lucky or unlucky result of intended\ntransactions, about success at impending examinations, about progeny to\nbe expected, and so forth. The pencil to be used by the spirit must be\nmade from the twig of a peach-tree. But this twig should be cut off a\nbranch pointing towards the East, and before cutting the twig the\nfollowing magic formula consisting of four lines (with four syllables\neach) has to be pronounced: \u2018Magic pencil most efficacious, daily\npossessing subtle strength, now I take thee, to reveal clearly\neverything.\u2019 [93] After the recitation of this formula, a compound\ncharacter is to be carved into the back of the tree. This character is\ncomposed of two radicals, of which the upper one signifies water from\nclouds; the lower one means demon, which indicates that the spirit to\nbe conjured up resides in the clouds. The other characters [94] \u2018the\nmysteries of Heaven wondrously mastered\u2019 refer to the revelations which\nthe pencil is expected to communicate under the direction of the\nspirit. When this compound character has been cut into the bark of the\npeach-tree, a twig from one of its eastern branches, which moreover\nmust have a little curvature at its end in the form of a hook, is cut\noff and fitted into a small piece of wood of about six inches length,\nwhich is intended for being laid on the palms of the medium acting at\nthe ceremony. Every one who intends to witness it, has to purify\nhimself by fasting and ablutions and to dress in perfectly clean\nclothes. In the hall where the ceremony is to take place two long\ntables are placed together. On the upper table sacrifices are placed,\nconsisting of wine, fruit and confectionery, while the other table is\nto be covered with fine red sand, which should be rolled even and\nsmooth by a small bamboo-roller, so that characters can be traced in\nthe sand without difficulty. All these preparations should be finished\nbefore night-fall, when a petition to the Great Royal Bodhisattwa [95]\nis to be written on a card, informing this Deity that sacrifices are\nprepared, and requesting that one of the great spirits wandering\nthrough the clouds [96] should be sent to the house of the petitioner\nwhose name and address is mentioned minutely to prevent any mistake.\nThis card, together with a quantity of gold paper, is conveyed to the\ntemple of the above-mentioned Deity, and burnt before the idol\u2019s\nshrine. On returning to his own house the petitioner writes his\naddress, as given on that card, on a slip of paper which he pastes on\none of the door-posts.\n\n\u201cLater in the evening two or three of the company assembled go to the\ndoor, burn there some gold paper and make then an indefinite number of\nbows and prostrations, receiving as it were the spirit on entering the\nhouse. Having conducted him into the hall, an arm-chair is moved to the\ntable whilst incense and candles are lighted. At the same time the\nmedium approaches, the handle of the magic pencil resting on the palms\nof both hands, but so that the end of the twig touches the surface of\nthe table strewn with sand. He places his out-spread hands near the\nhead of the table and addressing the spirit with becoming reverence\nsays: \u2018Great spirit, if you have arrived, be pleased to write the\ncharacter \u201carrived\u201d on this table.\u2019 Immediately the magic pencil begins\nto move and the required character appears legibly written in the sand,\nwhereupon all assembled request the spirit to sit on the large\narm-chair, whilst the Deity, that is supposed to have conducted him\nthither, is likewise politely asked to sit down on another chair. The\nwhole company now bow and prostrate themselves before the seats of both\nspirits, and some pour out wine and burn gold paper. Then the medium\napproaches again with the magic pencil on the palms of his hands,\nwhilst all assembled say with one voice: \u2018Great spirit, what was your\naugust surname, what your honourable name, what offices were you\ninvested with, and under which dynasty did you live on earth?\u2019\nImmediately the magic pencil is seen moving and answers to these\nquestions appear written in the sand. After this every one of the\nassembled may put a question one after the other, but each question is\nto be written on a slip of paper and burnt together with some gold\npaper. As soon as each paper is fairly consumed by the fire, the magic\npencil writes down the answer to it, generally in poetical form, and\neach sentence is followed by the character [97] \u2018I have done,\u2019\nwhereupon the pencil ceases to move. Then all assembled try to read the\ncharacters aloud. If they fail to decipher them, the pencil moves again\nand writes the same sentence more distinctly, until it is intelligible.\nAs soon as one of the assembly succeeds in deciphering a sentence, the\nmagic pencil moves again and writes on the sand the two characters [98]\n\u2018that\u2019s it.\u2019 When a sentence is finished in this way, the sand on the\ntable has to be smoothed again with a bamboo-roller, and whilst this is\nbeing done the whole company address flattering speeches to the spirit,\npraising his poetical talents, to which the magic pencil replies by\nwriting on the table the characters [99] \u2018it\u2019s ridiculous.\u2019 If any one\npresent behaves improperly, displaying a want of reverence, the spirit\nwrites down some sentences containing a sharp rebuke. The motions of\nthe pencil are quite extraordinary and apparently not produced by the\nmedium on whose open palms the handle of the pencil rests, and who\nmerely follows the spontaneous movements of the magic pencil. In this\nway conversation is kept up without flagging until midnight (when the\nmale principle begins to be active). Then the spirit breaks off the\nconversation and addressing the whole company writes on the table:\n\u2018Gentlemen, I am much obliged for your liberal presents, but now I must\nbeg leave to depart.\u2019 [100] To this all persons present reply saying:\n\u2018Please, great spirit, stop a little longer,\u2019 but the spirit jots down\nas if in a great hurry the two characters [101] \u2018excuse me, I am off.\u2019\nThen all assembled say, \u2018If there was any want of respect or attention,\ngreat spirit, we beseech thee forgive us this sin.\u2019 All walk then to\nthe house-door burning gold-paper, and there take leave of the spirit\nwith many bows and prostrations.\n\n\u201cI proceed now to point out another form of spiritualism by which more\nespecially the lower classes of Chinese society allow themselves to be\nblinded. There are somnambules in China, [102] and no matter whether\nthey be real clairvoyants under the influence of animal magnetism, or\nmerely clever impostors, they are at least in the South of China\neverywhere to be found, enjoying the entire confidence of the mass of\nthe people, and holding a position very much like that of the witch at\nEndor who conjured up Samuel before Saul, or like those priests in the\ntemple of Pluto and Cora at Acharaca, who used to prescribe to their\npatients the remedies revealed to them in their dreams; in some\nrespects also like those oracles which were obtained at the lake\nAornos, and in which those consulted called up the spirits of the dead\n(see Smith, Dict. of Antiquities, on Oracles). The fact is that, at\nleast as far as I am aware, somnambulism in China is generally made\nsubservient to necromancy. The Chinese mind is so deeply impressed with\nthe stability of family ties, that even death is not considered as\nseparating a man or woman from their respective families, and it is,\ntherefore, the common belief of the people that the ancestors of each\nfamily, though living in Hades, are continually watching the interests\nand welfare of all their descendants that live on earth. Consequently\nif a family be in great distress on account of the severe illness of\nsome one of its members, or in doubt with regard to the advisability of\nan intended marriage, or anxious to know if a certain site chosen for a\ntomb would ensure rest and peace to the soul of a deceased relative,\u2014on\neach of these subjects the Chinese feel a craving desire to consult the\nspirits of their ancestors. Now as the Chinese well know that it is not\nso easy to influence those spirits and to induce them to submit to\nconsultations and cross-examinations, there is a class of people,\nchiefly women, who make it their profession to conjure up spirits from\nthe dead, and to act as the mediums in the consultations to be held\nwith them. These women are called shang-p\u02bbo in Canton city, whilst in\nother parts of the province they are usually known by the name of\nsin-p\u02bbo. [103] If there be any family in trouble or anxiety for some\none or other of the reasons mentioned above, a somnambule is sent for.\nNo preparations are required, no sacrifices are to be offered, except\nthat some incense sticks are lighted and put into that niche dedicated\nto the spirit of the hearth, [104] which may be seen in every Chinese\nhouse in the wall over the cooking range. When the somnambule arrives\nat the house, she is received by the female portion of its inmates and\nconducted to some quiet back room. No man is allowed to be present,\nespecially no scholar, and great care is to be taken, that no copy of\nthe Chinese classics, among which the \u2018great learning\u2019 [105] is most\ndreaded by the somnambules, should be left lying about in the room. If\nany of these precautions are neglected the somnambule will declare it\nimpossible to hold any conversation with the spirits. When all is ready\nshe ascertains first the nature of the difficulty under which the\nfamily labours, and the name and sex of the ancestor whose spirit is to\nbe conjured up. As soon as she has learned these particulars she seats\nherself on a low stool and crouches down on it, so that her head rests\non her knees. Then she utters in a low and measured tone the following\nincantation:\u2014\n\n\n            \u2018Ye sisters three\u2014ye ladies four,\n            \u2018O! lead me now to Hades\u2019 door!\n            \u2018What would ye do in Hades? Speak!\n            \u2018My kindred only would I seek\u2014\n            \u2018My kindred seek, one word to say.\n            \u2018Then quickly lead me back, I humbly pray.\u2019\n\n\n\u201cThis incantation she repeats three times, and soon after she has\nspoken it for the third time a sudden change seems to come over her\nbody. Her arms drop down, her limbs are one after the other seized by a\nsort of torpor, convulsions shake her all over, and cold sweat covers\nher face and temples. At last she seems fast asleep and now questions\nmay be put to her. \u2018What do you see?\u2019 she may be asked. \u2018I see\nnothing,\u2019 is the answer, \u2018it is all dark and chilly.\u2019 After a while she\nis again asked, \u2018what do you see now?\u2019 \u2018Now,\u2019 she replies, \u2018now it is\nlighter; yes, at a distance I see pagodas and towers and palaces and\nhouses.\u2019 \u2018Do you see any human being?\u2019 \u2018No, I cannot see distinctly;\nyes, now I see them, there are men and women with pale sallow\ncomplexions, and one approaches me, speaks to me!\u2019 \u2018How is that person\ndressed?\u2019 Then the somnambule describes the dress and the whole\nappearance of that person, and her description coincides exactly with\nall that her employers can remember with regard to the peculiarities in\ndress and general appearance of the deceased relative whose spirit is\nbeing conjured up. The identity of the person required being thus\nestablished, questions may now be put as to the particular difficulties\non account of which the family want to consult the spirit of their\nancestor. This spirit, however, is not made to appear, but the\nsomnambule pretending to see it and to be in conversation with it, acts\nas interpreter, and answers all questions in the name of that spirit\nand with an unnatural shrill voice. When the curiosity of the audience\nhas been thus satisfied they try to awake the somnambule by shouting\nher name three times into her ears. Soon her body begins to tremble,\none limb after another seems to shake off its torpor, the woman raises\nherself up, and goes through all the pantomime of a person suddenly\nroused from a heavy sleep, expressing most dramatically an immense\nsurprise at finding herself in such a place and in such circumstances.\nThen the somnambule speedily falls into her professional swagger, asks\nfor her wages, which, according to the means of her employers, vary\nfrom five cents to five taels or more, and departs chuckling, I\nimagine, over the credulity of her deluded victims.\n\n\u201cIn conclusion I may remark that the deity to which the above given\nincantation is addressed, is supposed to be that popular deity which is\ncommonly called \u2018the seven sisters.\u2019 [106] By some it is considered\nidentical with the spirit of the Wega in Lyra, [107] by others it is\nidentified with the spirit of the Pleiades; [108] and this latter\nexplanation I consider to be most plausible, because the Pleiades are\nin Chinese colloquial called \u2018the star of the seven ladies.\u2019 [109]\u201d\n\nAnother mode of divination employed is by means of a small image carved\nout of willow wood (See supra for qualities attributed to this wood).\nThe medium is in this case also a woman. A recent writer thus describes\nthe modus operandi: \u201cThe image is first exposed to the dew for\nforty-nine nights, when after the performance of certain ceremonies it\nis believed to have the power of speaking. The image is laid upon the\nstomach of the woman to whom it belongs, and she by means of it\npretends to be the medium of communication between the dead and the\nliving. She sometimes sends the image into the world of spirits to find\nthe person about whom intelligence is sought; it then changes into an\nelf or sprite, and ostensibly departs on its errand. The spirit of the\nperson enters the image, and gives the information sought after by the\nsurviving relatives. The woman is supposed not to utter a word, the\nmessage seeming to proceed from the image. The questions are addressed\nto the medium, the replies appear to come from her stomach; there is\nprobably a kind of ventriloquism employed, and the fact that the voice\nappears to proceed from the stomach undoubtedly assists the delusion;\nany way, there are scores and scores of these mediums implicitly\nbelieved in, and widows who desire to communicate with their deceased\nhusbands, or people who desire any information about a future state,\ninvariably resort to their aid.\u201d In Kwang-hsi again there are wizards\nwho use a magic water called ku-tu. [110] They take this medicine and\nsmear it on a grain of rice, which they throw away. The natives gravely\nbelieve that if any one is unfortunate enough to touch this grain of\nrice, he at once grows ill; his stomach swells, and continues to do so\nfor a month or so until he at length bursts and out gush, not bowels,\nbut unboiled rice. If the ku-tu is smeared on straw, the stomach of the\nperson touching it, in like manner, becomes full of straw!\n\nMesmerism also has its Chinese votaries. A practice somewhat similar to\nour mesmerism and used to gain money by exhibitions on the 5th of the\n8th moon, is very common in Canton. The performer reads with the person\noperated on certain incantations, chou, [111] whereupon the patient\nfalls into a mesmeric sleep. During this sleep, he is able, though\nnever taught the exercise, to go through all sorts of tricks of\nfence\u2014the native explanation being that the patients\u2019 soul having\ndeparted from the body, the spirit of a deceased fencing-master\noccupies the empty tenement.\n\nDivination by Virgilian, Homeric or Biblical Lots, in which the book\nbeing opened at random the sense of the words covered by the thumb is\nheld to be prophetic, finds an exact counterpart in a Chinese practice.\nThe classical works (an odd coincidence, as the two most celebrated of\nWestern classics give their names to the Sortes Homeric\u00e6 and Sortes\nVirgilian\u00e6) [112] are chiefly availed of for this purpose; but the\nChinese pay more attention to the lucky or unlucky meaning of the\nparticular characters touched than to the sense of the sentence in\nwhich they occur. Any one even but slightly acquainted with the written\ncharacter of the language will easily conceive the vast field it\npresents for such purposes. Thus nu, [113] a woman, enters into the\ncomposition of a large member of characters having an evil\nsignification, and its presence in the word touched is therefore\nunlucky. The literary section of the community rather discourage\nfrivolous appeals to such divinations, but are not above being guided\nby them in affairs which they deem important.\n\nI have already referred to the omens deduced from bamboo slips selected\nor shaken out at random from a bamboo box. Fortune-tellers and\njoss-house keepers divine future events for their credulous clients in\na somewhat similar way. A number of papers are prepared, marked with\ncharacters the same as those on the bamboo slips, but also having short\nsentences added indicative of good or ill luck. A slip being thrown\nout, the paper containing its character is referred to, and the\nsentence inscribed on it is accepted as the answer. Street\nfortune-tellers frequently train birds to select one or more from a\nheap of papers, each marked with a single ominous character. The\nfortune-teller then proceeds to explain the prophetic meaning hidden in\nthe character thus chosen. Or, if he does not possess a trained bird,\nthe client himself picks out a paper for similar interpretation. A very\npopular form of domestic divination is that already noted as availed of\nat the new year\u2014going out into the street and accepting the first words\nheard as an omen.\n\nChiromancy or Divination by Palmistry has its votaries in China as in\nEurope, the predictions of our English gypsies being arrived at in very\nnearly the same way. The lines in the palm of the hand known as the\n\u201cline of life or longevity,\u201d \u201cline of fortune,\u201d \u201cline of the stomach,\u201d\nbear similar names in the vocabulary of native chiromancers, the same\nline both in China and England being referred to as that of longevity.\nA native account says: \u201cThe lines indicate whether a man be spendthrift\nor the reverse; whether he will be lucky, wealthy, and prosperous, or\nattain high position; whether he will have children, their sex, and\nwhether or not they will survive; and finally whether he will have more\nthan one wife.\u201d The skin peeling from the palm of the hand (a common\noccurrence when a person unused to manual labour performs work which\nabrades or blisters the palms) is looked upon as an unlucky omen. The\nevil omen attached to white specks on the finger nails has been already\nnoticed; but there does not appear to exist any practice of divination\nby this means such as was formerly practised in England under the name\nof Onychomancy or Onymancy. [114] Physiognomy is however much believed\nin by the Chinese, and auguries from the countenance\u2014a form of\ndivination which we all more or less unconsciously adopt, as witness\nsuch phrases as \u201che looks born to be hanged,\u201d &c.\u2014are frequently drawn\nand believed in. The Chinese have a quaint way of dividing off the\nfacial ages. At 30 years a man is said to have arrived at the epoch of\nthe eyebrows; at 36 at that of the eyes, and so on, at the epoch of the\nnose, lips, cheek, bone, chin, &c.\n\nFinally the \u201cDivination by a green ivie leaf\u201d recorded by an old\nwriter, [115] in which the health or sickness for the coming twelve\nmonths of the party practising it is divined by the green or black\nappearance of a leaf immersed in water for six days, is faintly\nparalleled by the ominous virtues attributed by the Chinese to the\nleaves of the juniper tree and pumelo plant. No doubt a fuller\ninvestigation than the present writer is able to institute would\nelucidate other points of agreement in this class of superstitions. But\nenough has been given to shew that the Chinese mind has for ages been\nsubject to the same influences as obtain amongst ourselves, though\nhappily in our case (with the exception of spiritualism) now only\nsurviving amongst the lowest classes of the community.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVI.\u2014SUPERSTITIONS AS TO VARIOUS SUBJECTS.\n\n\nThere are in China a large number of generally believed Superstitions\nwhich it is difficult to class under any of the foregoing heads. The\nmysterious properties ascribed to the hare are peculiarly interesting.\nA prejudice against eating its flesh is coeval with Chinese history. In\nthe Erh-ya [116] we find it stated that the people of Yo-yang\n\u201cconsidered the hare to be a telluric genius so that nobody dared to\nhunt it,\u201d and throughout China it has always been looked upon\n(especially the red variety) as a divine animal. [117] Albino hares are\nregarded as omens of good, and their appearance a mark of heavenly\napproval. In Dr. Eitel\u2019s Handbook of Chinese Buddhism, Art. Sakchi, we\nread, that an unselfish hare who threw itself into the fire, to offer\nits flesh as food for others, was transferred by Indra to the centre of\nthe Moon. [118] The superstition concerning hares is common to China\nand India. Nor, though it does not take precisely the same form, is a\nbelief in the portentous attributes of this animal wanting at home. For\na hare to cross a man\u2019s path early in the morning is an ill omen\nthroughout Europe. And a Highlander of the 42nd Regiment, in his\nprinted memoirs, notices the same harbinger of evil as having crossed\nhis own path on a day of personal disaster in Spain. [119] It is\nnoteworthy that the Goddess Freya is represented as attended by hares,\nwho act as train and light-bearers. The hare moreover is reputed to be\nthe commonest disguise of a witch in all the Northern Countries of\nEurope. [120]\n\nEqually as widespread as the foregoing superstition is a common belief,\nthat drowned bodies may be discovered by throwing into the water\ncertain objects which, it is asserted, will stop over the exact spot\nwhere the corpse may lie. The American Indians use a chip of cedar\nwood. In England a loaf of bread loaded with quicksilver is used, while\nin Ireland similar use is made of a wisp of straw, bound round with a\nstrip of parchment on which some cabalistic words have been written by\nthe parish priest. In Java and in some parts of China a living goat (a\nsheep, I believe, will do as well) is cast into the water, and its dead\nbody will, as is believed, indicate the resting place of the drowned\nman. As regards running streams it is easy to account for this common\nsuperstition by natural facts, but the varied forms it assumes are\ninteresting. Another Chinese superstition relates to the use of salt,\nwhich is thrown into the water when any one has been rescued from\ndrowning. A few months since a correspondent wrote to a Shanghai\nnewspaper as follows:\u2014\u201cYesterday afternoon a youngster of the Chinese\nnationality fell into the water off a pontoon. So his relatives set to\nwork to fish him out, which humane act being accomplished, was followed\nby two old women very properly pulling his ears for trying to drown\nhimself, and giving them trouble, while another old woman threw salt\ninto the water at the spot he had fallen in. Can any of your readers\ninform me what the salt-throwing meant, and whether it is a custom on\nsuch occasions to do so?\u201d The query remained unanswered. Nor has\nsubsequent enquiry enabled me to throw any light upon the subject.\n\u201cIt\u2019s a local custom,\u201d was the only answer I could get. But a reference\nto Brand gives us some very interesting facts in connection with the\nuse of salt for the purposes of lustration. [121] Flinging salt over\nthe left shoulder to avert threatened calamity is a well-known custom.\nThe Greeks and Romans used it in their lustrations, and Jews and Pagans\nalike used it in their sacrifices as a propitiation. The Romans\nespecially designed it as a propitiatory offering to avert the\nvengeance of Stygian or infernal Gods\u2014an exact parallel to the Chinese\ncustom. In the Isle of Man, a gift of salt is an essential element in\nnumerous transactions. The Scotch used to, and perhaps still, put salt\nin the first milk taken from a cow after calving. That the Chinese\nshould credit salt with propitiatory virtues also is therefore curious.\nAnother item of our own household folk-lore, concerning the last piece\nof any edible left on a dish, is purely Chinese. While our goodwives\ngive it the name of the \u201cbachelor\u2019s bit,\u201d the Chinese call it the\n\u201cpoison piece,\u201d\u2014not because it is in itself poisonous, but because he\nwho takes it may fare as badly as if he had been veritably poisoned.\nThe Chinese think it unlucky to have the spout of a kettle, standing on\nthe fire, turned outwards;\u2014a belief I can only match by our\nsuperstition that it forebodes ill to cross two knives on the dinner\ntable, being unable to trace the origin of either superstition.\n\nI can hardly avoid in this place a notice of the singular geomantic\nsuperstitions known as F\u00eang-shui, regarding which Dr. Eitel has written\nso excellent a brochure. That learned writer answers the question \u201cwhat\nis F\u00eang-shui?\u201d in the following words: \u201cF\u00eang-shui [the words themselves\nsignify wind and water] is, as I take it, but another name for natural\nscience.... It is simply the blind gropings of the Chinese mind after a\nsystem of natural science, which gropings, untutored by practical\nobservation of nature, and trusting almost exclusively in the truth of\nalleged ancient tradition, and in the force of abstract reasoning,\nnaturally left the Chinese mind completely in the dark.\u201d No more\naccurate definition for scientific purposes could be given, and to\nthose who feel an interest in the subject I cannot do better than\nrecommend the perusal of his work. But for present purposes, in which\nthe practical rather than the theoretical side of popular belief is\nnecessarily dealt with, the reply must be framed somewhat differently.\nF\u00eang-shui, then, is a system of geomancy which determines the good or\nill luck of localities as regards their occupation for purposes of\nbuilding, cultivation, burial, etc., etc. By way of illustrating this\ninterpretation the following paragraph from a Shanghai newspaper,\nwritten of course simply for \u201cnews\u201d purposes, is apposite:\u2014\u201cThe general\nexcitement caused in Hangchow, in common, apparently, with the rest of\nthe province, was some weeks ago intensified by a development of the\nwell-known superstition of F\u00eang-shui. A number of people having died in\na certain part of the town, enquiries began to be made as to the cause\nof a mortality somewhat specially localised. But instead of looking, as\nWesterns almost instinctively would, to the physical conditions and\nenvironments of the district, the good folks of Hangchow called in the\nlearning of the geomancers to explain the cause of the \u2018evil\ninfluence.\u2019 These worthies were not long in pointing to a range of\nbuildings belonging to one of the American Missions, that stood on a\nhill overlooking the district where the abnormal mortality had\nprevailed. These buildings, though not high in themselves, were yet\nelevated by their site above all the surrounding buildings, and thus\nthey interrupted the benign influences of the F\u00eang-shui. The question\nthen came to be, how the evil was to be remedied. The traditional mode\nof procedure would have been to organise a mob, raise a disturbance,\nand during its continuance contrive to pull down or burn the obnoxious\npremises. But, on the one hand, past experience of foreigners has\nconvinced the authorities that this way of dealing with foreign\nproperty is sure to entail serious consequences; while, on the other,\nthe satisfactory results of diplomatic action as illustrated at Peking\nhas gradually inclined them to the suaviter-in-modo policy. Accordingly\na number of the gentry were commissioned to proceed to Ningpo and put\nthemselves in communication with the United States Consul on the\nsubject. Arrived in Ningpo they drew up a petition to that gentleman,\nsetting forth the fears and anxieties which were excited among the\ncommon people of Hangchow, by the disturbance of the F\u00eang-shui\noccasioned by the mission premises in question, and setting forth the\nwillingness of the authorities to grant them a site and erect buildings\non some other site to be agreed on between them and the missionaries,\nor to pay the missionaries a money equivalent for the surrender of\ntheir property. The missionaries, on being communicated with by Dr.\nLord, signified their preference of the proposal to grant them an\nequally eligible site and erect suitable buildings elsewhere, in\nexchange for their existing property, and this arrangement is now in\ncourse of being carried out.\u201d No better instance of the difficulties\nwhich F\u00eang-shui presents to foreign missionary and commercial\nenterprise could be adduced.\n\nA superstitious belief in the value of human blood and portions of the\nbody as medicinal aids seems to be common to the ignorant classes of\nmany nations. Just two years ago, a number of lepers were reported to\nhave made their appearance at Whampoa and its vicinity, attacking and\nkilling healthy men, that they might drink the blood and eat the\nintestines of those killed, which, lepers are under the firm belief,\nwill cure them of their loathsome disease. The native residents at\nWhampoa became very apprehensive about this, and exercised very great\ncaution in their trips into the surrounding country in obedience to the\ntime-honoured custom of worshipping at the tombs. A Chinaman, who was\nemployed on board one of the river steamers, caught the disease, and,\nas was currently stated at the time, resorted to the modus operandi\nstated above. Female lepers, by the way, believe that they will become\nfree from the disease if they communicate it to men willing to live\nwith them, and as some are always to be found sufficiently dead to\nordinary feeling to do so, leprosy has by this means been spread more\nthan it would otherwise be.\n\nThe idea of cannibalism for other purposes is by no means unfamiliar to\nthe Cantonese. When the rebels, called \u201cpatriots\u201d by the half-informed\nenthusiasts of those days, held possession of the Blenheim Reach Fort,\nthey used to drink the blood and eat the hearts of the Imps, (i.e.\nforeigners) whom they made prisoners. Colonel Yule, in his exhaustive\nwork on Marco Polo (Vol. I., p. 275), devotes a lengthy note to the\nsubject of Chinese and Tibetan cannibalism. The Arab travellers of the\n9th century relate that, \u201cIn China it occurs sometimes that the\ngovernor of a province revolts from his duty to the emperor. In such a\ncase he is slaughtered and eaten. In fact the Chinese eat the flesh of\nall men who are executed by the sword.\u201d Dr. Rennie states (and I can\nmyself confirm the assertion) that after an execution at Peking certain\nlarge pith-balls are steeped in the blood of the defunct criminal, and\nunder the name of \u201cblood-bread\u201d are sold as a medicine for consumption.\nIt is only to the blood of decapitated criminals that any such healing\npower is attributed. \u201cIt is asserted that the executioners of Mr. de\nChappedelaine, a Romish missionary murdered in Yunnan in 1862, were\nseen to eat the heart of their victim, and Mr. Cooper, the well-known\ntraveller, was told by a Bishop of the same mission, that he had seen\nmen in Yunnan eating the heart and brains of a celebrated robber, who\nhad been executed.\u201d In all these cases the idea underlying this\nhorrible act is, that by eating a portion of the victim, especially the\nheart, one acquires the valour with which he was endowed.\n\nNor do the Chinese stand alone in their silly stories respecting the\nuse of the children\u2019s eyes and blood for photographic purposes. I note\nthat a recent report of the Smyrna mission alludes to a superstition\namongst the Greek Christians of the Levant curiously similar. They hold\nthat the Jewish ritual enjoins the shedding of blood at the feast of\nthe Passover, and that the Jews annually inveigle a Christian child\ninto their toils, fatten it up, and then open its arteries to utilize\nthe blood. [122] This blood, it is believed, is kneaded into the\nunleavened bread by the priests, who afterwards distribute this\ndevilish confectionery to their congregations, for a small pecuniary\nconsideration. [123]\n\nBut the superstitions regarding the uses of human blood or flesh are\nnot confined to the instances above given. It used to be believed at\nCanton, and perhaps now is, that the blood of an unborn infant was all\neffective for magical purposes. [124] It is used as a charm against\nhusbands by a sect called \u8ff7\u592b\u6559, a set of young unmarried women,\ncomprising a sisterhood who are sworn never to many. If forced by their\nparents to do so, they then employ this charm to destroy their husbands\nin order to remain single, and be faithful to the oaths of the\nsisterhood. A case is on record in which a Fokienese availed himself of\nthis drug to influence a woman for improper purposes, and her\nsubsequent death in child-birth was regarded as the natural result of\nher yielding to the horrible charm.\n\nMore wide-spread is a belief in the restorative qualities of human\nflesh and blood to the sick. Parents suffering from long-standing or\ndangerous diseases are frequently offered a decoction of medicine in\nwhich is mixed a piece of the flesh of one of their children. It is\nconsidered an act of great filial piety to cut a slice off one\u2019s calf\nto mix it with medicine for a parent. The practice is still followed\neven to the present day. Honourable mention is often made in the Peking\nGazette of such cases. It has of late been written down by the native\npress, particularly by the Chinese Mail. A recent issue of the Shanghai\nCourier and Gazette (November 1875) contained the following paragraph\namongst its local items:\u2014\u201cTwo model sons are now living at Soochow,\nwhose mother was one day taken alarmingly ill. They were very poor; but\nmedical assistance was urgently necessary, and so the elder brother\nwent to implore the assistance of a celebrated doctor. He was only\nable, of course, to offer the great man a small fee; and the great man\nloftily refused to come. The poor lad threw himself on the ground\nbefore him and bumped his head till it ached, but the doctor was quite\nimmoveable. So he went home and told his younger brother how\nunsuccessful he had been. The unfortunate woman was dying; what was to\nbe done? At length the young boy hit upon an expedient. He cut a great\npiece of flesh out of his left arm, boiled it down to a broth, and gave\nit his mother to drink. It is said that she recovered.\u201d In May 1874, a\nmemorial in the Peking Gazette records how the Deputy Governor of Honan\npetitioned in reference to a dutiful daughter who cut a piece of flesh\nfrom her arm, in order to cure her father of his sickness. \u201cIn the\npresent Holy Dynasty, filial piety rules the Empire, and this doctrine\noriginates in the female sex. In the district of Chinyang there lived a\ndaughter remarkable for her filial piety, whose name after her\nmarriage, was Mrs. Wang. In the fifth year of the reign of the Emperor\nH\u00eben-fung, this young lady\u2019s father became dangerously ill, and his\nfilial daughter, lighting incense sticks, announced (to the gods) her\ndesire to sacrifice her own body for her father\u2019s sake. After this\nannouncement, her father\u2019s illness increasing, and his physicians being\nunable to cure him, this filial daughter secretly cut off a piece of\nflesh from her arm, and putting it into the medicine prescribed, gave\nit to her father who, on eating it, immediately recovered. Some time\nafterwards the daughter\u2019s female attendants, perceiving the mark on her\narm, questioned her as to the cause and learned from her the facts\nalready stated. There was not a single individual of all those who\nheard the narrative who was not struck with amazement.\u201d The young lady\nin question was shortly afterwards married, but her father dying some\nten years afterwards she \u201cpined away and died for grief.\u201d The petition\nfrom which the above quotation is made prays the Emperor to order that\na Triumphal Arch be erected to her memory, as was usual in cases when\nextreme filial piety had been displayed, and the petition was of course\ngranted.\n\nA common saying that \u201ca selfish child will be cut while being shaved\u201d\nembodies an idea not altogether unfamiliar to ourselves. But another\nChinese superstition, which certainly existed in full force at one\ntime, though I have failed to get any positive confirmation of its\nexistence at the present day, obliges us to seek its parallel amongst\nother than Aryan races. A belief in weather conjuring by means of \u201crain\nstones\u201d seems to have been introduced into China from Mongolia, and\nthough it never took extensive root it attracted sufficient attention\nto induce the Emperor Shih-tsung in 1724\u201325, to issue an edict on the\nsubject. It is addressed to the Mongolian Banner Corps, and says: \u201cIf I\noffering prayer in sincerity have yet room to fear it may please Heaven\nto have my prayer unanswered, it is truly intolerable that mere common\npeople wishing for rain should at their own caprice set up altars of\nearth, and bring together a rabble of Hoshang and Taoss\u016d to conjure the\nspirits to gratify their wishes.\u201d Colonel Yule, in his Marco Polo, from\nwhich (I. p. 273) I take this reference, gives some long and\ninteresting notes on the subject. Rain stones are used by the Samoans\nin the Pacific, and if my memory does not deceive me, by some of the\nNorth American Indian tribes also.\n\nA popular belief exists in Central China that the practice of\ngymnastics, if carried out with sufficient faithfulness, will enable\nthe student to avoid the common lot, and pass bodily into a future\nstate \u201cascending to heaven with his fleshly body.\u201d That such a belief\nexists is not unlikely, and it is probably a vulgar superstition based\non the more reasonable opinion that such exercises tend to extreme\nlongevity. Another queer superstition (the adjective is not classical\nbut expressive) relates to bridges. I have already adverted to the care\ntaken as regards houses by placing on them charms, &c., to avert\npossible evil. But bridges, for some mysterious reason, have occult\nvirtues and defects of their own. A native account says, \u201cIf bridges\nare not placed in proper positions such as the laws of geomancy\nindicate they may endanger the lives of thousands by bringing about a\nvisitation of small-pox or sore eyes (!). They materially affect the\nprosperity of the neighbourhood. There is a legend that during the\nbuilding of the stone bridge situated near the small eastern gate of\nShanghai (\u9678\u5bb6\u767e\u6a4b the \u2018Loh-family bridge,\u2019) some difficulty was found in\nlaying the foundations. The builder thereupon vowed to Heaven the lives\nof two thousand children if the stones could be placed properly. The\nGoddess addressed, however, intimated that she would not require all\ntheir lives, but that the number in question would be attacked by small\npox. This took place, and about half of those attacked died.\u201d Stories\nlike this circulated amongst coolies and compradores are a fair\nspecimen of popular legendry in this connection. But why bridges should\nespecially require such sacrifices it is difficult to say.\n\nAmongst what may be termed domestic superstitions is one that, if a\nperson be afflicted with a swelling, touching it three times with the\nhem of a woman\u2019s garment is efficacious as a cure. If, when one is\nboiling a pot full of liquid, a straw be tied round the neck of the\npot, it is believed that the contents will never boil over or get\nburned. Another piece of cook\u2019s folk-lore relates to eggs. As everybody\nknows an egg suddenly plunged into boiling water will most likely\nbreak. But the Chinese cook averts this occurrence by previously\ndescribing a circle with the egg round the rim of the pot, which he\nbelieves is an infallible protection against any fracture of the shell.\nThe Japanese, by the way, draw auguries from the noise made by boiling.\nOver a bright fire, a rice boiler is said to vibrate with such violence\nat times as to give forth a loud humming noise. If this begins faintly\nand grows afterwards stronger, it is said to indicate good luck; if\nloudly, the reverse is predicted, but in such cases it should at once\nbe stopped by enveloping it in the under-clothing of a female (a\nvirgin, if possible.)\n\nA curious antidote against sickness is very commonly applied by parents\nat Canton to their infant children on the fifth day of the fifth month.\nThis consists in staining their foreheads and navels with cinnebar or\nvermilion, leaves of the sago palm and garlic bulbs being at the same\ntime suspended over the entrance doors to prevent the intrusion of evil\nspirits. A medicated cake prepared at noon of the day in question, and\nknown as \u201cthe noon day tea\u201d (\u5348\u6642\u8336) is also in much repute for the cure\nof diseases, as is also a sort of congee boiled at the same hour with\nfive kinds of pease.\n\nThe all-pervading yang and yin principle so naturally influences the\nwhole arcana of Chinese belief that it is not surprising to find it\napplied to the care of such useful contributors to the national\nindustries as silkworms. These are said to belong to the yang or male\ninfluence and to be under the protection of a special constellation.\nAnything male, such as men, sunlight, &c., is congenial to them, and\nanything female deleterious. Hence pregnant women (development of the\nyin principle) are not allowed to approach them; and even the presence\nof a new-born child in too close proximity is thought to be\ndeleterious.\n\nFinally, I may note that a curious superstition obtains regarding\nmurderers. It is believed that if the corpse of the murdered man lies\nwith its fists closed, it is a sign that the murderer will soon be\ncaptured. If, on the contrary, the hands are extended, the omen\nforetells that he will for at least some time make good his escape. It\nis strange, by the way, that so widespread a belief as that relating to\nthe bleeding of a corpse when touched by its murderer has not some\nanalogy in China. At least I have failed to find any, though a not\nquite dissimilar superstitious idea is prevalent, that if a man has\ndied a violent death\u2014either by process of the law, or by the act of a\nmurderer\u2014and the dead man is dissatisfied, blood will come out of his\nmouth, eyes and nostrils on the appearance of a close relative.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVII.\u2014GHOSTS, APPARITIONS, AND SUPERNATURAL BEINGS.\n\n\nNo one who has thus far followed my imperfect efforts to convey an idea\nof the popular beliefs of the Chinese will be surprised to find that\nghosts and apparitions occupy an even greater place in their\nsuperstitious lore than is the case with ourselves. In the words of a\nnative friend, \u201cChina is full of ghosts.\u201d There is scarcely a popular\nplay in which a ghost does not play a conspicuous part in aiding to\nright the wronged or to punish the guilty. The person to whom he\nappears on such occasions generally counterfeits either sleep or\ninsensibility; but now and then while wakeful and active the actor\n(especially if he be the ruffian of the piece) is scared out of his\nsenses by the apparition in the most approved melodramic style. Many\npopular stories turn also on the appearance of supposed ghosts, who\nturn out to be quite bon\u00e2 fide citizens in the flesh, and simply\nenforce the moral that conscience makes a coward of the wrongdoer. A\nstory of this sort runs to the following effect, and narrates an\nincident stated by Mr. C. T. Gardner to have happened only some five\nyears ago at Chinkeang. There were two partners, named Chang and Li, on\none occasion returning by way of the canal from Yangchow, where they\nhad been collecting debts. Chang saw Li standing on the edge of the\nboat, and the crime of pushing him into the water, and thus becoming\nsole possessor of the money, suggested itself. Chang, therefore, pushed\nLi into the canal. Next year, at the time the murder was committed,\nChang fell very ill, and the ghost of Li appeared to him in a\nthreatening form, and told him that unless he paid over the sum\nproperly belonging to the dead man\u2019s family, he would die. Chang\npromised to do so, and got well, but his health being restored he broke\nhis promise, and still kept the money. Again, the following year, at\nthe same time, Li\u2019s ghost again appeared, looking still angrier. Again\nChang was induced to make the promise, and this time he kept it.\nHowever, his health seemed permanently to suffer, everything went\nwrong, business fell off, and he determined to try and change his luck\nby migrating to other parts; he consequently went to Honan. What was\nhis astonishment when he again saw Li, not now in the middle of the\nnight by the side of the bed where he lay sick, but in broad daylight,\nand in the street. His terror was extreme, he rushed forward, and made\na ko-tow, and said, \u201cI have already done as you ordered me, why do you\nstill haunt me?\u201d To which Li replied, \u201cI am no ghost; what do you\nmean?\u201d Then Chang told him how he had twice appeared, and how his share\nof the money had been paid to his family. Li then said, \u201cSo, it was not\nan accident my falling into the river? I had neglected to pay due\nrespect to the spirit of my father, and when I tumbled in the river,\nand was nearly drowned, I thought it a punishment for my impiety.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe spirits of the dead,\u201d remarks Mr. Chalmers, \u201cwere perhaps known at\nfirst only as objects of superstitious fear under the name Kwei \u9b3c,\nghosts. The top of this character is supposed to represent a human\nskull. It had from the first an unpleasant association, and hence it is\nseldom used in speaking respectfully of the dead. In the poetry it\noccurs only twice, once as our modern Ghost, and once as the name of a\nplace\u2014Ghostland.\n\n\u201cAn interesting statement is attributed to Confucius in the Book of\nRites (\u00a7 Tan-kung) that in the time of the Hea, the earliest dynasty,\nthey did not sacrifice to the dead, but simply made for them incomplete\nimplements of bamboo, earthenware without polish, harps unstrung,\norgans untuned, and bells unhung, which they called \u2018bright implements\u2019\nimplying that the dead are spirits (shen) and bright. There is\nsomething really beautiful in this; and the substitution of \u2018bright\nspirits\u2019 or \u2018spiritual intelligences\u2019 for \u2018ghosts\u2019 is an euphemism of\nwhich we feel the necessity as much as the Chinese; for who likes to\nspeak of his relations as gone to the shades and to the fellowship of\nghosts?\u201d\n\nOne peculiarity of the Chinese belief respecting ghosts is forcibly\nrecalled by Charles Dickens\u2019s description of the Ghost of Christmas\nPast in his famous \u201cCarol.\u201d They are frequently seen in shapeless form,\ni.e. that the head will first be visible and then the feet, then the\nbody, and so on, the various parts appearing and disappearing in swift\nsuccession. Another quaint belief is that a ghost has no chin, and to\nsay to a Cantonese \u201cni mo ha-pa\u201d\u2014\u201cYou\u2019ve no chin,\u201d is equivalent to\nsaying \u201cYou\u2019re a Ghost.\u201d Furthermore, the conventional white clothing\nwhich European superstition bestows on nearly all ghostly visitors is\nabsent from the Chinese idea. A ghost in this country always appears in\nthe dress he was accustomed to wear during life\u2014a very Marley in\nfact\u2014and conducts himself in a very ordinary way. There is indeed a\nrefreshing absence of the fee-faw-fum element in Chinese ghostology,\nthis eminently practical people taking a most matter-of-fact view of\nspirit vagaries. They agree with us however in allotting the hours of\ndarkness to such visitors, who, as with ourselves, are compelled to\ndisappear as the cock\u2019s crow announces the returning dawn. The candle\nflame, which with us burns blue as the being from another world\nintrudes himself, is in China alleged to burn green\u2014an odd reminder of\nthe \u201cgreen fear\u201d of the Greeks. Most Chinese ghost stories turn upon\nsome end to be accomplished by the supernatural visitor; they retail\nnone of the sprightly friskiness attributed to ghosts in Western lands,\nand altogether the Chinese specimen presents, as a rule, an edifying\nillustration of how to do one\u2019s work in the quietest and most\nstraightforward manner possible. It must not, however, be imagined that\nthey are endowed by popular belief with benevolent intentions. On the\ncontrary they are supposed to be maliciously inclined, and the very\nfact that the words for \u201cghost\u201d and \u201cdevil\u201d are the same, and form a\nportion of the objectionable epithets applied to foreigners (Kwei-tsze\nin mandarin or Fan-kwai in Cantonese) demonstrates the popular belief.\nTo see a ghost is almost always regarded as an evil omen, and a\nChinaman is quite as easily scared as a European by the unwelcome\nsight. One thus visited is described by his pitying neighbours as \u201cdown\nin his luck.\u201d As a rule, ghosts in China, it is alleged, most often\nappear either to intimate friends or relations, or to downright\nenemies. In the former case it is to request the fulfilment of some\nunaccomplished duty or to aid virtue in distress, in which latter case\nthe ghost gives the weaker but upright party material aid in disposing\nof his antagonist. As an illustration of the first-named sort of\napparition, I quote the following, recently communicated by a resident\nto the North China Daily News, as told him by his teacher to excuse his\nnon-appearance for some few days:\u2014\n\n\u201cIt happened thus; three years ago a soldier who lived near our house\nwas ordered to join his regiment, which was about to march against the\nrebels. As he was going to battle he did not wish to take his money\nwith him, and he called on my uncle and asked him to take charge of\n$40, the amount of his property, until his return. My uncle accordingly\ntook charge of the money, and the soldier joined his regiment; but he\nmust have been killed in battle, as we have never heard from him since.\nThe day before yesterday, my uncle, who has for some time been\nsuffering from illness, called us to his bedside, and told us that he\nwas about to die. The soldier, he said, had appeared to him and\ninsisted that my uncle should immediately join him in Hades. We asked\nmy uncle whether he had committed any fault with regard to the $40, for\nwhich we might make some atonement by punishing him in any way? He\nreplied that the money was all right, and that we should find it in a\ncertain drawer which he pointed out. My uncle died that day, and it was\nof course impossible, under such circumstances, that I could come to\nyour Excellency\u2019s place to study.\u201d\n\nAmong recent stories of ghosts is one related in a native newspaper of\na mandarin who met his death in the late collision between the steamers\nFusing and Ocean. The unfortunate man was a passenger in the former\nsteamer, which was sunk in the catastrophe, over 60 other people being\nalso drowned. According to the story his ghost appeared to his wife,\nwho was living in Soochow, streaming with water from head to foot. He\ntold her that he had unfortunately been drowned and could therefore\nenjoy no more of her society. He also stated that he had sent by a\ncertain friend of his some money for her use before he took passage in\nthe Fusing, and that the friend would arrive shortly. The wife was left\nin a state of bewilderment, and did not exactly know what to make of\nit. A day or two afterwards the friend named actually came with the\npacket of dollars, his arrival being shortly followed by the\nintelligence of the Fusing\u2019s disaster.\n\nAnother story relates to a young Cantonese, who was made commander of a\nChinese man-of-war belonging to the Foochow Arsenal fleet. Shortly\nafter his promotion, he was taken ill and died. He was unmarried, as he\nwas very young\u2014only 23 years of age. When he fell sick, he was living\nat the house of a very intimate friend, a compradore in one of the\nforeign firms at Foochow. After his death, the friend frequently saw\nhis ghost, and one night he saw it more distinctly than ever. He was\nlying in bed half asleep and half awake, when he saw the ghost standing\nby his bedside weeping. The friend addressed it and said: \u201cYoung man,\nyou need not cry, it is your fate; you should be satisfied with it.\u201d\nThereupon the ghost disappeared, and never shewed itself again to the\nsame party. The ghost appeared however to the men on board the ship he\nhad been commanding, being often seen to pace up and down the deck, as\nwas his wont at night during his lifetime, and sometimes to place\nitself in the attitude of drilling the men. Though the appearance here\nnarrated seems to have been objectless, the story is quoted as being\nthe type of numberless others which find insertion in the native\nprints.\n\nThe Chinese endow certain sorts of ghosts with peculiarly malevolent\npowers. Thus those of women who die in childbed, or while pregnant, are\npeculiarly obnoxious, and those of suicides still more so. The ghosts\nof those who die natural deaths seldom appear to the survivors; as a\nrule the fact of a man\u2019s ghost appearing implies that he has died by\nviolence. [126] The commonest type of ghost story to be met with in\nChina is that wherein somebody who has been foully dealt with appeals\nto those who represent his interests to avenge him. It would of course\nbe more odd if there were no coincidences pointing to the truth of the\nalleged appearances than if there were not. But I must confess that in\nChina as elsewhere they sometimes leave a bona fide impression of the\nmarvellous which can neither be explained nor rejected.\n\nWhen a man has been murdered by another, his ghost will, it is\nbelieved, haunt the murderer wherever he goes, and will only be\nprevented from doing him a mischief by the want of a suitable\nopportunity. Thus the presence of idols in the same room completely\nneutralizes the ghost\u2019s power, and it is moreover believed that in any\ncase no vital injury can be inflicted on the guilty party until the\ntime of his death, as recorded in the Book of Fate, has arrived. The\nghosts of suicides (who are distinguished by wearing red silk\nhandkerchiefs) haunt the places in which they committed the fatal deed\nand endeavour to persuade others to follow their example; at times, it\nis believed, even attempting to play executioner by strangling those\nwho reject their advances. Mr. Gardner gives the following story as\nrelated to him by a Chinese friend:\u2014\u201cA friend of mine, enticed by low\nrent, took a haunted house, and invited a guest to stay with him. My\nfriend declares he had no dread whatever, and that his guest did not\neven know that the house was haunted. In the middle of the night he\nheard a noise as if of struggling proceeding from the guest\u2019s bed. He\nwent to see what was the matter, and found his friend choking in his\nsleep. Thinking this might be accidental, he invited three friends to\nstay with him, and the phenomenon repeated itself on all three at the\nsame time. Frightened at this, he made enquiries, and found a woman had\ncommitted suicide in the guest\u2019s chamber, and gave up the house.\u201d\nAnother story runs as follows:\u2014\u201cOutside the north gate at Hang-chow\nthere was a house haunted by demons, where no human being dared reside,\nof which the doors were ever barred and locked. A scholar named Ts\u02bbai\nbought the house: people all told him he was doing a dangerous thing,\nbut he did not heed them. After the deed of sale had been drawn out,\nnone of his family would enter the house. Ts\u02bbai therefore went by\nhimself, and having opened the doors, lit a candle and sat down. In the\nmiddle of the night a woman slowly approached with a red silk\nhandkerchief hanging to her neck, and having saluted him, fastened a\nrope to the beam of the ceiling, and put her neck in the noose. Ts\u02bbai\ndid not in the least change countenance. The woman again fastened a\nrope and called on Ts\u02bbai to do as she had done, but he only lifted his\nleg and put his foot in the noose. The woman said \u2018You\u2019re wrong.\u2019 Ts\u02bbai\nlaughed, and said, \u2018On the contrary, it was you who were wrong a long\ntime ago, or else you would not have come to this pass.\u2019 The Ghost\ncried bitterly, and having again bowed to Ts\u02bbai, departed, and from\nthis time the house was no longer haunted. Ts\u02bbai afterwards\ndistinguished himself as a scholar, and some have identified him with\nTs\u02bbai-ping-ho, the Provincial Chancellor.\u201d A third tale from the same\nsource illustrates what I have called the practical element in Chinese\nghost stories: \u201cAt Nanchang, in Kiangsi, were two literary men who used\nto read in the Polar monastery; one was elderly, the other young; they\nwere united by the bonds of closest friendship. The elder one went to\nhis home, and suddenly died. The younger man did not know of it, and\nwent on with his studies at the monastery in the usual way. One night\nafter he had gone to sleep, he saw his old friend open the bed\ncurtains, come to the bed, and put his hand on his shoulder, saying,\n\u2018Brother, it is only ten days since I parted from you, and now a sudden\nsickness has carried me off. I am a Ghost. I cannot however forget our\nfriendship, and so have come to bid adieu.\u2019 The young man was so\nastounded that he could not speak. The old man reassured him, saying,\n\u2018If I had wished to injure you, why should I have told you I was a\nGhost; do not fear then. The reason of my visit is that I have a favor\nto beg of you with regard to the future.\u2019 The young man grew a little\ncalmer, and asked \u2018What can I do?\u2019 The Ghost replied, \u2018I have a mother\nover 70, and a wife not yet 30; a few piculs of rice are needed for\ntheir maintenance. I beg you to have mercy upon me, and supply their\nwants. That is my first request. I have also an essay which I have\nwritten, which has not been printed. I beg of you to get a block cut\nfor it, and print it, so that my name may not utterly die out. This is\nmy second request. Next I owe the stationers some thousands of cash,\nwhich I have not paid; kindly settle the claim. This is my third\nrequest.\u2019 The young scholar assented with a nod. The dead man stood up,\nand said, \u2018As you have been kind enough to grant my requests, I will\ndepart.\u2019 Saying this he was about to go, when the young scholar, who\nhad observed from what he said that there was a great deal of human\nfeeling in him, and also that his appearance was as usual, lost all\nfear of the Ghost, and tried to detain him, \u2018We have been such close\nfriends; will you not stay with me now a little while?\u2019 The dead man\nwept, and came back and sat on the bed, and having conversed about\nordinary topics, again stood up, and said, \u2018I must now go.\u2019 He stood up\nand did not move, his eyes stared, and gradually his features changed.\nThe young scholar got frightened and said, \u2018Now you have finished what\nyou had to say, you had better go.\u2019 But the dead man stood still, and\ndid not depart. The young man shivered in his bed, and a cold\nperspiration came over him, but still the guest went not, but stood\nerect by the bedside. The young man got in a still greater fright, and\njumped up and ran away. The Ghost ran with him, and the faster the\nyoung man ran, the faster ran the Ghost. After a mile or so of this\nrace they came to a wall, over which the young man vaulted, and fell to\nthe ground. The dead man could not get over the wall, so he hung his\nhead over its ledge, and from his mouth fell some saliva which fell on\nthe young man\u2019s face as he lay. At daybreak some passers-by gave the\nyoung man some ginger, and he awakened from his trance. Meanwhile the\nfamily of the dead man sought the corpse, but could not find it, but\nwhen they heard the news of the corpse looking over the wall they took\nthe body and buried it.\u201d\n\nAlthough as I have said there is a general absence of \u201cfriskiness\u201d in\nChinese ghosts, such pranks as those which have attracted attention at\nhome\u2014throwing down crockery, trampling on the floor, &c.\u2014are not\nunknown. The only difference is that with us, such annoyances seem\nusually to be purposeless, while in China they are resorted to attract\nattention to the ghost\u2019s demands. Ghosts, say the natives, are much\nmore liable to appear very shortly after death than at any other\nperiod. For the first ten days after the spirit has quitted the body a\nghost is said to be \u56d8\u715e ui shat (in Cantonese), returning to its former\nhaunts and attempting to pursue its ordinary avocations. In such cases\nit is supposed to be accompanied by celestial police termed\nYen-lo-hwang, who are responsible that it duly returns to Hades. In\norder to discover whether such a visit has been paid, the hall in which\nthe body is laid out is strewn with a smooth layer of sand. If it\nappear clean, or footmarks only are visible, it may be concluded that\nthe deceased is in a state of happiness; but should the marks of chains\nor dirt be detected, his fate is supposed to be very much the reverse.\nI may, by the way, note that to constantly dream of deceased relatives\nis regarded as a sign that the dreamer will soon die.\n\nThe superstitions as to deceased husbands visiting their wives are\npeculiar, but scarcely calculated for popular explanation. A somewhat\ncontemptuous idea seems to prevail amongst the Chinese regarding the\nintelligence possessed by ordinary ghosts. They are usually spoken of\nas stupid and easily amenable to the control of those who remain\nself-possessed. The ghostly hierarchy is well marked off as to its\ndegrees. Thus, on the 17th of the 7th moon, a ceremony called\n\u201cappeasing the burning mouths,\u201d consists in laying out plates filled\nwith cakes and bearing above them invitations to the \u201cHonourable\nHomeless Ghosts,\u201d or those whose relations being too poor to provide\nfor them, leave them to the tender mercies of the general public. Those\nare the paupers of Ghostland. The writer already quoted, says in his\namusing paper:\u2014\u201cThough the invitations are addressed to Ghosts near and\nfar, there seems to be a sort of poor law which practically confines\nthe relief afforded to Ghosts of the parish. Of course, it is only\ndisreputable Ghosts who thus consent to live on charity. These pauper\nspirits are said to do a great deal of harm, and cause epidemics, but\nluckily the firing of crackers is a cure for the diseases thus caused,\nas it drives the hungry Ghosts elsewhere. Besides these low bred and\nmalevolent hobgoblins, there are aristocratic and benevolent spirits,\none of whom rules the destiny of each of the Chinese cities. These\nGhosts are called Ch\u00eang-hwang, and receive their appointments in\nvarious manners and for various terms. Thus the Ch\u00eang-hwang of Chu-chow\nin Ch\u00ea-kiang, is the ghost of a man named Shih, who was formerly\nmagistrate of the place, but who died of grief on being unjustly\ndisgraced. He received his appointment from heaven, and appeared to his\nsuccessor in office to notify the fact. The Ch\u00eang-hwang of Hangchow is\nthe ghost of a censor named Chow, who, being unjustly sentenced to\ndeath, memorialized the throne to slay his only son, as he feared he\nwould rebel to avenge his father. Both were executed, and afterwards it\nbeing found out that the accusation was false, the Emperor, to make\namends, appointed his ghost Ch\u00eang-hwang of Hangchow in perpetuity, and\nhaving executed his accusers, man and wife, made stone images of them,\nkneeling and in chains, which he caused to be placed in the\nCh\u00eang-hwang\u2019s temple. The Ch\u00eang-hwang of Wu-chang is changed every\nthree to six years, and receives the appointment from the Taoist\nPatriarch residing at Chang-tien joss-house in Kiangsi, and this is\nnotified to the various Taoist priests.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Chinese almanacks describe sixty \u2018Shin of Offence\u2019 or evil ghosts,\none of which is abroad on each day of the cycle of sixty. If any one\ngoes out in any particular direction, and afterwards feels heavy-headed\nor feverish he is supposed to have met this shin. He therefore takes\nsome fruit, rice, &c., and politely bows the creature away in the\ndirection where he met the accident. The shin are pictured in the\nalmanacks as little naked men. When the demons take possession of a\nsacrificing witch she talks about happiness and misery. Every time they\ncome she is altogether a shin in her eating and drinking and speaking,\nand every time they go she is altogether a human being. It would be\nhard to say whether demons are in the witch or the witch in the\ndemons.\u201d [127]\n\nIn an old Chinese farce said to date from the Sung Dynasty entitled\n\u738b\u9053\u58eb\u6536\u5996 or \u201cHow the Taoist priest Wang exorcised the Ghost,\u201d Wang goes to\na haunted house with all his spiritual apparatus, full robes, mitre,\n&c., and a gong big enough and noisy enough to frighten the boldest\ndevil. Not a bit however does the ghost quail in the present instance,\nbut seizes the gong, the cap and the robes of the holy man, and vows he\nwill turn the tables. At last the priest goes on his knees, and\nbeseeches the ghost not to exorcise him, as he only came in order to\nearn a few cash; and had he only known beforehand that his Excellency\nthe ghost was really in the house, he would not have ventured to\ndisturb him. The farce ends by the ghost exorcising the priest.\n\nGhosts of idols are not unknown to the Chinese. \u201cTen years ago, when\nthe rebels infested the country and the cities were kept under strict\nrestraint, the people of Canton reported that the idol Kwan-yin\u2019s shin,\nher body dressed in white and in her hand a yak\u2019s tail, perambulated\nthe city wall protecting the rampart; and at San-shuey the common\npeople reported that the rebels saw the shin of the idol Hiun-tan,\nwhich is outside the South gate, bodily riding on a black tiger and in\nhis hand a golden whip too awful to be meddled with.\u201d[127]\n\nAnother case of god-ghosts visible to the vulgar eye was gravely\nrecorded a few years since in the Peking Gazette. When the Mahometans\nwere some time ago besieging the district city of Chang-wei, they\nsuddenly halted, and ran away. The explanation is that when the rebels\napproached the temple of Ta pi-peh (god of the star Venus) they saw a\nterrible vision\u2014\u201cgods clad in golden mail and armed with swords and\nshields, drawn up in battle array, numerous as forest trees, and all\nalong the top of the city wall innumerable red lamps;\u201d and as a general\nfire of musketry and cannon from the wall was heard, the assailants\nwere scared, and they abandoned their onslaught on the city.\n\nThe residence of human ghosts in Hades is supposed to be subject to\nconditions very like those obtaining amongst mortals. They sally forth\non their visits to the world at permitted times and are free so long as\nthey behave themselves. But any infringement of the ghostly laws which\nregulate their conduct is met by prompt punishment and a seclusion\nwhich effectually prohibits their revisiting earthly scenes of pleasure\nor business. Even when enjoying to the full all the privileges of\nghostdom, they are not able at all times to do what they would. Mortals\nmay deter them from appearing by pasting up pictures of Chung-Kwai \u937e\u8475\nthe Beelzebub of China, on the walls of their rooms. Talismans written\nin perfectly unintelligible characters are also in use, and, as already\nseen, Taoist priests are credited with the possession of curious powers\nas exorcists. Pictures of Warriors pasted on the doors of houses are\nefficacious, as are also the pieces of perforated paper so often seen\nwaving from the lintels.\n\nThe belief in ghosts does not limit itself to those of mankind only.\nThe spirits of certain animals are also supposed to manifest themselves\nin a similar way, but this section of the subject will be more fully\ndealt with under the head of witchcraft and demonology. As an\nillustration however of animal ghostdom pure and simple, the following\nstory may be cited:\u2014A resident at Canton named Ling was the owner of a\nmonkey belonging to a species known as yuan, which is supposed to be\npeculiarly intelligent and possesses an almost human mind. The natives\nbelieve that if one of these monkeys has plenty of water given to it,\nit will attain an enormous size, larger than that of an average man.\nThe monkey in question had been in Mr. Ling\u2019s family for some 40 years,\nbut never having been allowed to drink water, was of small stature. One\nday Mr. Ling\u2019s little son was passing the monkey when it put out its\nhand and snatched away his cap. The child complained to his father, who\nthereupon chastised the animal heavily with a whip; upon this the\nmonkey became sulky, refused all food and in a few days died. Shortly\nafterwards the monkey\u2019s ghost began to haunt the house. Food placed on\nthe table vanished mysteriously and many of the curious phenomena\nattributed to ghostly interference took place. At last a fire broke out\nin the house unaccountably, and Mr. Ling shifted his residence. But the\nmonkey\u2019s ghost still followed him and continued its persecutions. Again\nhe moved house and again the ghost accompanied him, until at length, as\na last resource, he took a room in the Temple of the 500 Worthies and\nfinally evaded his persecutor. The monkey ghost did not dare face the\ngods, and so left him in peace. The party mentioned was but a year ago\nstill residing in the temple.\n\nThe foregoing pages, though by no means exhaustive of the subject, will\nit is thought be sufficient to indicate the agreement of Chinese with\nWestern belief as regards ghosts and apparitions. The line of\ndemarcation between the subjects already treated of, and that of\nwitchcraft and demonology, being somewhat indefinite, those curious in\nthe matter will find additional information in the succeeding chapter\nunder that head.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\u2014WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY.\n\n\nThe subject of Witchcraft and Demonology presents as inexhaustible a\nfield of interesting matter as any other in the wide domain of Chinese\nFolk-lore. So much however has already appeared on the subject of\nwitchcraft that, were not a full notice of popular Chinese\nsuperstitions in this respect an essential portion of the plan I have\nproposed, I should scarcely venture to deal at length with a matter\nwhich has already been handled with considerable ability by other pens.\nAnd indeed the following details consist more of a re-arrangement of\nalready accessible information than of much that will be new to\nstudents of Chinese social life.\n\nThirteen hundred years before the birth of Christ, witches and wizards\nwere familiar objects of Chinese superstitious respect. It is probable\nthat they practised their occult arts at a period long anterior even to\nthis, but the direct evidence to that effect is scanty and unreliable.\nSuffice it to say that the office of \u201cChief Wizard\u201d was at that date a\nrecognized appointment, and that he and his brethren exerted in those\nearly days a powerful influence over the popular mind. They could \u201ccall\nspirits from the vasty deep,\u201d avert pestilence and famine and do all\nthat is pretended on behalf of their modern successors. But scant\nnotices of their doings however are to be found in the ancient records\nof the Empire. Every now and then it is related how some emperor or\ncelebrated man resorted to the wizard fraternity to discover future\nevents, or the means of avoiding some threatened evil. But it was not\nuntil about the third century before the Christian era that such\nnotices were at all common. We then read that wizards existed who could\nsummon familiars and were often consulted by the reigning potentates.\n\nIt is especially noteworthy that the hatred of witches and wizards\ncherished in the West does not seem to exist in China. Those reputed to\npossess magic powers are regarded with dread, but it is rare to hear of\nany of them coming to untimely end by mob violence. The more educated\nliterati ridicule the implicit belief placed in their pretensions by\nthe unlettered mob, but take no part in exciting it to violence, and\nthe feeling is abundantly evidenced by the tone adopted in popular\nnovels wherein witchcraft often plays a conspicuous part. Besides those\nwho make a living as professed exorcists, the members of two\ntrades\u2014builders and plasterers\u2014fall under a suspicion of similarly\nunholy proclivities. Witchcraft has always been deemed a communicable\nart in China. In the Supplement to the History of the Genii we read:\n\u201cYang T\u02bbung Yew when a child met a Tauist priest who taught him the art\nof invocation and gave him a celestial writing of the three August\nOnes, by which he could command and subject all ghost sh\u00ean, none of\nthem failing to answer him instantly. Yang went down to the ninth depth\nof the earth to seek for the ghost of a royal concubine amongst the\nghost sh\u00ean in that quarter.\u201d Indeed the power of summoning demons is a\nconventional portion of Chinese supernatural tales. Thus, in a recently\npublished translation of a popular novel entitled The Thunder Peak\nPagoda, [128] we find the heroine and her servant (both originally\nserpents) consulting together as to how they shall raise money:\u2014\n\n\u201c\u2018What then can we do?\u2019 says the mistress. \u2018It will be very easy for\nyou, Madam, to find money,\u2019 replied the slave girl, \u2018for you are\npossessed of supernatural powers, and you have only to make use of some\nspell this evening, to enable you to procure whatever sum you may\nrequire, and by these means you will prove to him that you are truly of\na wealthy family, and that you are the daughter of a high officer.\u2019\nP\u012d-chau-niang agreed to what her servant advised, and accordingly that\nevening, at the third watch, she prepared seven pans of burning\ncharcoal in a circle, and entering therein with a drawn double-edged\nknife, began walking round and round, muttering incantations; suddenly\nshe uttered a loud cry, and summoned to her presence all the chiefs of\nthe demons from the four corners of the earth, who instantly appeared\nand knelt before her crying, \u2018Your servants are present\u2014In what can the\nspirits serve their mistress?\u2019 P\u012d-chau-niang ordered them to bring her\na thousand taels of silver. Hardly had she uttered the words, when the\nmoney was before her in twenty ingots of fifty taels each.\u201d\n\nThe Chinese idea of genii can best be given in the words of their own\nwriters. A genie, says one of them, will live upon air, or even give up\nbreathing the outer air and carry on the process of breathing inwardly,\nas they say, for days together as in a catalepsy (like an Indian fakeer\nburied alive?). He will become invisible: he will take the form of any\nbeast, bird, fish or insect. He will mount up above the clouds, dive\ninto the deepest sea or burrow into the centre of the Earth. He will\ncommand spirits and demons of all sorts and sizes and have them at his\nbeck and call. And finally after living in the world for perhaps\nseveral hundred years he does not die (for a genie is immortal, though\na spirit may not be so), but he rides up to heaven on the back of a\ndragon where he becomes a ruler of spirits.\n\nThe Tauist considers genii as the highest class of intelligent beings\nand places Sh\u00ean or spirits next below them: the strict Confucianist\ndenies their existence\u2014\n\n\n        Like cumbrous flesh: but in what shape they choose,\n        Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure,\n        Can execute their airy purposes,\n        And works of love or enmity fulfil.\n\n                                            Paradise Lost, IL., 24.\n\n\nIn Kwan-tzu, sec. 14, we find this definition:\u2014\u201cThat which when it\nwould be small becomes like a moth or a grub, when it would be large\nfills the world, when it would ascend mounts the cloudy air, when it\nwould descend enters the deep\u2014whose transformations are not limited by\ndays, nor its mounting or falling by seasons, is called Sh\u00ean (or\nspirit).\u201d\u2014The agreement of this with the description of genii given in\nthe Arabian Nights is too obvious to need insisting on. Taoist genii\n(\u4ed9\u4eba) are thus described: \u201cThe genie is a man who had a former existence\nin the world of spirits, is born into the world either on account of\nsome indiscretion or for some benevolent object, or simply by way of\namusement\u2014usually in some lowly situation. He early begins to shew a\npredilection for things mysterious, to receive visitors from the unseen\nworld, to practice Alchemy and the healing art, to prepare and use\ncertain drugs and charms of which no one knows the use or the virtue\nbut himself, and the more advanced genii from whom he gets from time to\ntime instruction and assistance; and then to give up human food and all\nordinary human occupation.\u201d After this there is scarcely any marvellous\nthing which the human mind can fancy that he will not be found doing.\nOne of the most celebrated genii alluded to in Chinese history is Chang\nKwoh, who possessed a white mule which could transport him if required\nthousands of miles in a single day, and which when he halted he folded\nup and hid away in his wallet. [129] Another was Hu Kung, \u58fa\u516c a magician\nwho effected wonderful cures and was accustomed to retire at sunset to\nthe interior of a gourd hung up at his own doorpost. (See Ch. Readers\u2019\nManual, sect. v.) Many females also are numbered in the list of such\nbeings, one of the most celebrated being Ma Ku \u9ebb\u59d1. The seeds of the Che\n\u829d plant were reputed by the Tauist mystics to be the food of the genii,\nas were also the leaves of the Yoh Wang \u85e5\u738b tree which grows in the\nmoon. The result of using this food is that the bodies of those who eat\nof it become pellucid as crystal. [130] As with the Westerns the genii\npossess the secret of a magic powder. They use the yellow heron (Hwang\nKuh Ko) as an a\u00ebrial courser.\n\nThe \u201cIsles of the genii\u201d San Sh\u00ean Shan \u4e09\u4ed9\u5c71 were supposed to lie pretty\nmuch where Formosa actually exists, and, like the fabled Atlantis of\nEuropean superstition, they have been the subject of actual search. Su\nShih or Su Fuh, a necromancer who lived about B.C. 219, announced their\nexistence to the then Emperor, and, in accordance with his own request,\nwas placed at the head of a large troop of young men and maidens, and\nset out on his voyage of discovery; but the expedition, though it\nsteered within sight of the magic island, was driven back by contrary\nwinds. Mr. Mayers adds to this account in his Manual that it is\nconjectured this legend has some reference to attempts at colonizing\nthe Japanese islands. If so the parallel between the Isles of the genii\nand Atlantis is yet more perfect.\n\nA very superficial comparison of Chinese and Western ideas on the\nsubject of necromancy demonstrates their identity. The familiar stories\nof Jane Shore and the Countess of Soissons, accused respectively of\nmaking waxen images of the Duke of Gloucester and of Louis XIV. to\ncompass their death; the less known account of the death of Ferdinand\nEarl of Derby, whose death by poison in the reign of Elizabeth was by\npopular credulity attributed to witchcraft, \u201ca waxen image with hair\nlike that of the unfortunate earl being found in his chamber and\nreducing every suspicion to certainty;\u201d King James\u2019 remarks in his\nDaemonology (Book II., Ch. V.) \u201cthat the devil teacheth how to make\npictures of wax or clay, that by roasting thereof, the persons that\nthey bear the names of may be continually melted or dried away by\ncontinual sickness\u201d;\u2014these and the host of similar stories recorded in\nour own and continental annals all find an exact reproduction in China.\n[131] There is a well-known legend amongst the Cantonese of a builder\nhaving a grudge against a woman whose kitchen he was called upon to\nrepair\u2014(builders, as already noted, are believed to often practice\nwitchcraft). The repairs were duly completed, but somehow or other the\nwoman could never visit the kitchen without feeling ill. Convinced that\nwitchcraft was at the bottom of it, she had the wall pulled down, and\nsure enough there was discovered in a hollow left for the purpose \u201ca\nclay figure in a posture of sickness.\u201d It may be noted that a reflex of\nthe old English superstition that drawing blood from a witch renders\nher harmless is suggested by the Chinese belief regarding images such\nas that above described. Builders or plasterers are supposed to cut a\ngash in some part of their bodies whence the warm blood is injected\ninto the interior of the image thus making it alive! Nor does Chinese\nsuperstition confine itself to clay images only. It is believed that\ncertain wizards are able to endow with life figures cut out of paper\nwith similar effects. In other cases these paper mannikins become the\nwizard\u2019s familiars and obey all his orders. There is also a widespread\nsuperstition that the feathers of birds, after undergoing certain\nincantations, are thrown up into the air and being carried away by the\nwind work blight and destruction wherever they alight.\n\nReferences to necromancers who have at various times enjoyed a large\namount of popular reverence abound in Chinese history, though it is\nsomewhat difficult to distinguish between the historical \u201cmagician\u201d and\nthe mythical \u201cgenie.\u201d In Mr. Mayers\u2019s very comprehensive Manual are\nnotices of, amongst others, Hsien Yuan chi, who (A.D. 847) played the\npart of Cagliostro, pretending to the gift of perpetual youth and the\npower of transforming lovely damsels into wrinkled harridans and vice\nversa; of Li Shao kun (Circa B.C. 140), who professed to know the\nsecrets of transmutation and immortality; of Lu-Pan, the patron saint\nof Carpenters, who carved a genie which of three years inflicted\ndrought on the people of Wu; of Lu Yen (A.D. 755), who for 400 years\nwielded a magic sword with which he traversed the Empire, slaying\ndragons and emulating the deeds of the knights of Western chivalry; of\nT\u02bbu Y\u00fc and Y\u00fc Lui, renowned for their magic control over evil spirits;\nand of Tso-Tz\u016d, who in the second century practised magic. It is\nnoteworthy that throughout all this mass of legend there runs the same\nvein of search after the elixir of youth and the philosopher\u2019s stone\nwhich forms so prominent a feature of our own medi\u00e6val history. \u201cMen of\nthe four seas are all brothers,\u201d says one of the tritest of Chinese\napothegms; and so it would seem.\n\nThe vast extent of the Chinese Empire has allowed the natives to allot\na portion of its territory to a tribe of magicians called mao shan; and\nit is to this country that those desirous of acquiring magical arts\nproceed, to place themselves under the instruction of its diabolical\ninhabitants. Adepts in their lore can, it is asserted, make fowls\nwhich, being placed outside houses it is desired to rob, will during\nthe night open its doors so as to admit the robbers. Another belief\nrefers to the existence of invisible necromancers called shan ching\nkwei \u9583\u9751\u9b3c. People who have been deeply wronged and are unable to\notherwise avenge themselves can by practising certain spells become\nshan ching kwei. The most efficacious way is to dig up a coffin, and,\nafter removing the body it contains, to sleep in it for several nights\nin succession. At the end of so many days the sleeper becomes invisible\nuntil dawn, and can thus gratify his revenge without fear of detection.\n\nA belief in demon monsters somewhat resembling the genii of the Arabian\nNights exists in full force in China and dates back to respectable\nantiquity. One of the Emperors who flourished about 700 A.D., having\nbeen taken ill, dreamt he saw a blue half-naked devil coming into his\npalace. He stole the empress\u2019s perfume bag and also the emperor\u2019s flute\nwhich was made of precious stone, and flew off with them to the palace\nroof. Suddenly there appeared another blue devil, but of giant stature,\nhaving a black leather high boot on one foot, the other being bare. He\nhad on a blue gown. One arm was like his foot, bare, with which he\nwielded a massive sword. His mouth was like that of a bull. This fierce\nlooking monster seized the little one and with a blow made an end of\nhim. The Emperor asked this monster demon what his name was. He said\nhis name was Tsung Kwei, and that he was a military M.A. when in the\nbody, but that now he had become a sort of colonel-commandant over all\nimps, ogres, wraiths, hobgoblins and the like under heaven. The emperor\nwas greatly flattered at being visited by such a distinguished although\nunearthly personage, and waking up found his illness gone. He called a\npainter to paint for him what he had seen in his dream; and it was\nexecuted so faithfully that the emperor ordered two hundred ounces of\ngold to be given him and that copies of the painting should be\ndistributed throughout the whole empire, so that all the people might\nknow and pay due respect to this blue bull-headed demon. To this day he\nholds a conspicuous place in the temples of the people.\n\n[132]\u201cAlthough this monster demon ranked high, he was low when\ncompared either to the ancient or present head of the vast host which\nabounds in the air, the earth, or the infernal regions. All mermaids\nof the deep, all satyrs of the forest, all needle-necked starving\nghosts, the weak and the strong, whatever forms they take, whether\nbirds, fishes, beasts or men, or a combination of some or all of them,\nmake nondescript monsters of demons. All are said to have existed in\nthe time of Fuhi, and immediately after that time under the rule of\nthe harpy N\u00fc-kwa \u5973\u5aa7. She had a human face with the body of a bird. It\nwas she who mended the visible heavens for us, but unfortunately it\nwas not completed. There is a little hole in the north west corner,\nand to this day the wind from that quarter is colder than any other.\n\n\u201cThe present head of the demons was a Tauist priest named Chang Tau\nLing, who lived when the kingdom of Wei was powerful. At sixty years of\nage, he ate the pills of immortality, after which, Lautsze, the founder\nof Tauism, appeared to him and gave him supreme power over all demons.\nWhen he was thus appointed to be the modern head of the demon kingdom,\nLautsze gave him a book of charms and spells together with two magic\nswords. Chang Tau Ling lived to the age of 123 years, when he ascended\nin the light of day to his onerous duties of ruling the devils. After\nthis many of the Tauists for a time actually called themselves devils;\nthe name evidently had become respectable.\n\n\u201cHaving dealt with demons in general, let us now proceed to a special\nclass of human phenomena which the Chinese attribute to the influence\nof demons. Firstly, then, is their power to produce diseases. There is\nno disease to which the Chinese are ordinarily subject to that may not\nbe caused by demons. In this class the mind is untouched; it is only\nthe body that suffers, and the Chinese endeavour to get rid of them by\nvows and offerings to the gods. The subject in this case is an\ninvoluntary one.\n\n\u201cNext come those who are possessed by the indwelling of the evil\nspirit. These the Chinese distinguish from the lunatics both by their\nappearance and language. There is more of a cringing nature in the\npossessed, and the patient\u2019s manner is perfectly consistent with his or\nher new consciousness, and which is said to be the demon\u2019s. When\nquestioned as to his home, the demon answers, it is in the mountain or\ndesert, generally in some cave. Sometimes he says that the person whom\nhe had possession of before is dead, and having no abode, he takes up\nhis quarters with a new victim. Sometimes he says he is travelling or\nhas only come to pay a visit to a brother or sister, to a father or\nmother, and that after a short stay he will go away. Those possessed\nrange between 15 and 50 years of age\u2014quite irrespective of sex.\nPossession comes on very suddenly\u2014sometimes in the day, sometimes in\nthe night. The demoniac talks madly\u2014smashes everything near\u2014possesses\nunusual strength, tears his clothes into rags and would rush into the\nstreets or to the mountains, or kill himself, unless prevented. After\nthis violent possession, the demoniac calms down and submits to his\nfate, but under the most heart-rending protests. These mad spells which\nare experienced on the demon\u2019s entrance return at intervals and become\nmore frequent the longer possessed and generally with more intensity,\nso that death at last ensues from their violence.\n\n\u201cA Chefoo boy aged 15 was going on an errand. His path led him through\nfields where men were working at their crops. When he came up to the\nmen and had exchanged a word or two with them he suddenly began to rave\nviolently, his eyes rolled, and he made for a pond which was by. Seeing\nthis, the people ran up to him, stopped him from drowning himself and\ntook him home to his parents. When he got home he sprang up from the\nground several yards, manifesting superhuman strength. After a few days\nhe calmed down and became unusually quiet and gentle, but his own\nconsciousness was lost. It was that of another. He spoke of his friends\nin Nanking. After six months the demon departed, and the boy got back\nhis own consciousness. He has been in the service of several foreigners\nin Chefoo since. In this case no worship was offered to the demon.\n\n\u201cNow we come to those who are involuntarily possessed but who yield to\nthe worship of the demon. The demon says he will cease from tormenting\nthe demoniac if he worships him and will reward him by increasing his\nriches. But if not, he will punish his victim, make heavier his\ntorments and rob him of his property. People find that their food is\ncursed, and that whenever they prepare any, filth and dirt comes down\nfrom the air to make it uneatable. Their water is likewise cursed,\ntheir wardrobe is set on fire, and their money very mysteriously\ndisappears. Hence arose the custom of cutting off the head of the\nstring of cash that it might not run away. The 999 cash of the thousand\nis made to return to the one left in the following manner. The blood of\na fly called Fu-chien (\u86a8\u87ec) sprinkled on the one cash left at home and\nthe fly\u2019s eggs are put on the 999 cash that are laid out. Tradition\nsays (and Kanghi\u2019s Dictionary perpetuates it) that the young flies in\nthe eggs, although fastened to each cash, will all find their way back\nagain to their mother, bringing the cash with them. When the people\u2019s\nfaith in these and similar antidotes fail, they yield to the demon and\nsay, \u2018Hold! Cease thy cursings, we will worship thee.\u2019 A picture is\nstuck up on the wall, sometimes that of a woman, sometimes of a man and\nprostration is made to it twice a month. Being thus reverenced, money\ncomes mysteriously in instead of going out. Even millstones are made to\nmove in at the demon\u2019s orders and the family at once becomes rich. But\nit is said that no luck attends such a family; it will eventually be\nreduced to poverty. Even officials believe these things. Palaces are\nknown to have been built by them for these demons, whilst the latter\nare obliged to be satisfied with humbler shrines from the poor.\u201d\n\nStories of persons being possessed by demons are so common that it is\ndifficult to choose from the selection which offers itself. I quote the\nfollowing as illustrating one phase of the common belief. It relates to\nanimal possession, and is as follows:\u2014\u201cAt Ningpo, some religious\nBuddhist published a tract with a picture of a buffalo, a frog and a\ndog, and some Chinese characters. It tells how a native of Ningpo, who\nused to catch and kill frogs, was possessed by the spirit of his\nvictims, how his body broke out into blotches, how he squatted like a\nfrog, and finally was impelled to spit himself in the very manner he\nhad spitted these innocent little reptiles.\u201d\n\nThe other story is a translation from the Chinese, [133] and runs as\nfollows:\u2014In Funghua district a literary man surnamed Woo had a slave\ngirl of fifteen or sixteen who was black and ugly, but his wife was\nfair and beautiful. The slave always slept in the wife\u2019s apartment,\ntill suddenly one day she was missing and could not be found for two or\nthree days. At last an old female servant on going to fetch firewood\nand opening the coal-hole heard an inexplicable chirping noise and\nturning aside some of the firewood found the girl standing like a stump\nin the middle of it. She was perfectly inane and on being pulled out,\nthough she walked, would answer no questions. They gave her a dose of\nhot ginger and water, upon which she threw up a basin full of mud. Then\nshe began to speak and said, \u201cThere was an old man like a genie in\ngreen clothes and square cap came and called me away, the other day, I\nknow not where. When I wanted food he gave me cakes to eat. But now I\nam very hungry.\u201d They gave her some rice and that night she slept in\nher mistress\u2019s room. But everything in the room was being pulled about,\nso that the master and mistress got up to look. They called the girl,\nbut she did not answer, and as the doors and everything were in their\nusual state they said nothing about it. Next day the girl was missing\nagain, and searching for her in the old place they found her exactly as\nbefore. On giving her three slaps with the hand she came to herself,\nbut while they were in the act of scolding her lo! there was what she\ncalled \u201can old man like a genie\u201d up in the eaves of the house, holding\na white fan and in appearance neither old nor young but middle-aged.\nThey went up to the room above and tried to strike him, but they could\nnot hit him nor make him move. In the midst of the hubbub he suddenly\ndisappeared. But as suddenly it was reported that fire had broken out\nin the kitchen. This was extinguished, and then all was quiet. But\nafterwards every night either the slave or her mistress muttered or\ntalked in the bedroom, or else there was heard the sound of people\neating, or doing something out of the way. The master did not know what\nto do. One day he went and got some brave men to keep guard around the\nroom with fire-arms, but then a fire broke out down stairs, and while\nall the people were putting it out the mistress and slave seemed\nperfectly unconscious that anything was going on. Next day, when the\nrice was cooked, on opening the pot they found that it was all mixed\nwith dirt, and uneatable. There was no end to annoyances of this kind.\nAt last they called in a Tauist priest to fast and say requiems. At the\nsame time a \u201cFragrant Feast\u201d of fine things was prepared as if for a\ngreat visitor. The master of the house put on his best clothes and also\nknelt down while he presented the wine and the viands: and the whole\nfamily small as well as great worshipped one whole day and night. But\nthe trouble went on exactly as before. The genie himself would make his\nappearance at odd times; and in the dark there would be talking and\nconversation indistinctly heard, so that nothing could be definitely\nmade out of them. One day the mistress took the slave girl, and fled\nwith her to her (own) mother\u2019s house; and then everything was out of\njoint there. There were sounds and movements, and dashing and breaking\nof things, and clothes burning. So they fled next to a small quiet\nBuddhist nunnery. But bad as things were before, here they were worse;\nand the master was at his wits\u2019 end, all his means being exhausted to\nno purpose. After about half a year of this he took the girl and sold\nher to a villager in the neighbouring district of T\u02bbsze K\u02bbe, and his\nwife had peace at last. The villager however found the girl an\nintolerable nuisance, and when he wanted to sell her no one would buy\nher; so he drove her out into the street. But nobody would have\nanything to do with her there either, and she turned to begging. Then\nher master had peace and quietness.\n\nThere are many more stories about the Woo-tung-sh\u00ean (\u4e94\u901a\u795e). It appears\nfrom the Tsze-pu-yu (\u5b50\u4e0d\u8a9e) that in one village in Sze-chuan he required\na young girl for a wife every year, and that the girl chosen became\npossessed by this evil spirit.\n\nThe active possession which induces a sort of ecstatic frenzy, and\nvents itself by bodily exertion is quite familiar to the Chinese.\nPersons under this influence are known as \u201cdevil dancers,\u201d and to a\ngreat extent act the part of media for those who desire to make\nenquiries from the other world or induce the assistance of spirits to\nheal the sick. When devil dancers are called in, a feast is prepared in\ntheir honour. The head dancer, accompanied by pupils who are learning\nthe art, presents himself at the house and having done justice to the\nviands provided commences by burning incense, while enquiries are made\nas to what is amiss. Some of the attendants then seat themselves with\ndrums, bells, &c., and begin a sort of musical accompaniment to which\nthe dancers keep time. Presently the music quickens; the dancers\nincrease their speed until the whole party are almost convulsed with\ntheir efforts. Suddenly the leading dancer falls exhausted to the\nground. Here for a few moments he lies as if lifeless. Presently he\nraises himself up and begins to speak. Questions are put to him and he\ndescribes the disease of the sick man, the remedies he ought to adopt,\n&c. When all the questions are answered he again falls as if exhausted,\nand is gradually brought back to ordinary consciousness.\n\nMr. Gardner states that in Manchuria \u201cthey do not ordinarily observe\nthe custom of inviting their neighbours\u2019 spirits, but the devil-dancers\nare far better skilled in their art. The chief, with a belt of bells,\nstands up to dance with two of his pupils on each side. If he has not\nfour pupils, some from the family must make up the number. The\ndevil-dancers present many varieties and various ways of calling on the\nspirits. Thus, for instance, the chief says his demon is a white tiger.\nA whole pig must be cooked for him. He must get two children, one in\neach hand, to go with him to eat pig out of the boiling caldron. He\nassumes himself to be a tiger and thrusts his head down to his neck in\nthe boiling water, and bites a mouthful off for his young whelp in his\nright hand, then a thrust and a bite for the whelp in his left hand,\nand finally a thrust and a bite for himself. This over, he commences\nthe dance. Most of the class just described are men, but there are\nwomen also who are devil-dancers. They never condescend to go about.\nThose who seek their assistance must go to them. In seeking their aid,\nthe suppliant takes with him presents of incense and paper money to\nworship the demons, besides valuable presents of bread, red cloth, and\nred silks. These neither dance nor beat drums nor ring bells, but sit\nand commence a slow shaking as from ague; then yawn, gape, and at last\nshake so violently that the teeth rattle in their gums; then they fall\ninto a fit, like the former class. They tell the suppliant to return\nhome and place a cup on the window outside, and the right medicine will\nbe put into it by a spirit. The suppliant is at the same time made to\nvow that he will contribute to the worship of the particular demon,\nwhose power and intervention they now invoke, and that he will also\ncontribute towards some temple in the neighbourhood.\u201d\n\nThe impostors who gain their living in the way above described are of\ncourse mere ordinary mortals whose power of simulating hysteria and\nepilepsy easily imposes upon the masses. But the Chinese believe in the\nexistence of a class who are human only in their outward appearance.\nThey are supposed to be veritable demons specially sent from the spirit\nworld to warn mankind of the consequences which may follow indulgence\nin evil. A Minister of State during the time of the T\u02bbang is alleged to\nhave been one of these demons, and legends illustrative of his powers\nare still to be met with in the collections of popular tales to be\nfound in every book-stall. It does not appear that the old English\nbelief as to witches was very remote from this demon theory. In one\ncase we read of a witch being hunted for in a salt box, it being\nsupposed that she possessed the diabolical power of changing her shape\nto any extent. But the whole subject of Western witchcraft is so wide\nthat space forbids my even entering upon it\u2014to say nothing of the fact\nthat most readers are fully acquainted with the subject.\n\nIt is somewhat odd to find\u2014and one is puzzled to know whether the fact\nis complimentary to Christianity or the reverse\u2014that in those parts of\nChina to which missionary effort has penetrated, a popular belief\nexists in the power of Christian exorcism. Missionaries of all\ndenominations know of cases in which either they or their converts have\nbeen called in \u201cto cast out the devil\u201d supposed to possess a patient.\nWere this to be accepted as a tribute to their powers as real\nintercessors with the Creator, the fact would be gratifying; but it is\nto be feared that the confidence thus evinced turns rather on the\npopular belief that Christian relations with the Satanic hierarchy are\nuncommonly intimate. Be this as it may, the fact remains that converts\nare classed with the native exorcists. Most places of any pretension\nhave demon shrines to which the friends of those afflicted resort in\nthe first instance. Offerings are here made to demons of all\ndescriptions\u2014not merely to those which take possession of men, but to\nthose of floods, drought [134] and pestilence. It is when supplications\nat such shrines are useless that exorcists are consulted.\n\nExorcists are of various kinds. Spiritualists, such as those already\ndescribed, are frequently called in, their success being various.\nTaoist priests find more favour with some people, and their pretensions\nare not one whit inferior to those of the more orthodox media.\nConjurors of this sort, says a writer before quoted, \u201csit on mats and\nare carried by invisible power from place to place. They ascend to a\nheight of 20 or 30 feet and are carried to a distance of 4 or 5 li. Of\nthis class are those who, in Manchuria, call down fire from the sky in\nthose funerals where the corpse is burnt. These conjurors not only use\ncharms but recite incantations, make magic signs and use some of those\nstrange substances which the astrologer uses to keep away evil\ninfluences.\u201d The class of so-called doctors also enjoy the reputation\nof being able to cast out evil spirits, and their modus operandi is\nthus described:\u2014\u201cThey use needles to puncture the tips of the fingers,\nthe nose, and the neck. They also use a pill made out of ai tsau \u827e\u8349 and\napply it in the following manner: The thumbs of the two hands are tied\ntightly to each other. The two big toes are also tied to each other in\nthe same manner. Then one pill is put on the two big toes at the root\nof the nails and the other at the root of the thumb nails. At the same\ninstant the two pills are set on fire and there they are kept until the\nflesh is burnt. Whether in the application of the pills or in the\npiercing of the needles the invariable cry is\u2014\u2018I am going, I am going\nimmediately. I\u2019ll never dare to come back again. Oh have mercy on me\nthis once; I\u2019ll never return.\u2019\u201d All the above-mentioned practitioners\nmay however fail, and as a last resort a professional exorcist, neither\nmedium, priest, nor doctor, is called in. The men who follow this as a\nprofession pretend to singular experiences. As the recognized enemies\nof evil spirits these latter never cease to persecute them. They are\nmysteriously pinched and beaten by the Puck-like emissaries of ghostly\ntormentors. Stones are thrown at them by unseen beings, and spirit\nhands seize and attempt to drown them if they incautiously venture into\nrunning water. To counteract these influences they always carry about\ntheir persons amulets of which the spirits stand in dread. Their first\nact when called in is to paste written charms upon the windows and\ndoors of the room in which they operate. They then recite certain\nformul\u00e6 and are sometimes answered by the spirits, who promise to cease\ntroubling the patient in future.\n\nAs with us there is a sovereign Chinese charm against witches. Sir\nWalter Scott, in his Old Mortality, refers to the popular belief that\nthey can only be shot with silver bullets. A Chinese receipt given in\nthe Rites of Chow is as follows: \u201cIf you wish to kill this Sh\u00ean, take a\ncertain piece of wood with a hole in it: insert a piece of ivory in the\nhole, making the form of a cross and throw it into the water: thus the\nSh\u00ean will die and the deep become a hill.\u201d Certain officers were in old\ntimes appointed to \u201choot at,\u201d \u201cshoot,\u201d and \u201ckill\u201d those spirits (sh\u00ean)\nwhich were injurious.\n\nThe popular identification of the cat with matters pertaining to\nwitchcraft in Europe is well known, and it is interesting to find that\nthe Chinese assign to it a somewhat similar connection. As with us the\nvulgar believe that witches can change themselves into cats, [135]\nthough the hare, and more especially the fox, are reputed to be their\nmore favourite disguises. But the demoniacal attributes of a cat\u2019s\nghost are more singular. In Section I. of the Che W\u00ean Luh (\u8a8c\u805e\u9304) occurs\nthe following notice [136]: \u201cAt Leong Chow in the province of Kansuh\nthe people sometimes do homage to the ghost of a cat. The same thing is\nmentioned in the history of the North. The way they proceed with this\nmonstrous thing is first to hang the cat, and then perform certain\nceremonies of fasting and requiems for seven weeks, when the spiritual\ncommunication is established. This is afterwards transferred to a\nwooden tablet, and put up behind the door, where the owner of the cat\nhonours it with offerings. By the side of it is placed a bag about five\ninches long, intended for the cat\u2019s use. From time to time it goes and\nsteals people\u2019s things, and then, about the fourth watch of the night\nbefore cock crowing, the bag is amissing. After a little while it is\nhung up on the corner of the house, and the person uses a ladder to\nfetch it down. When the mouth of the bag is opened, and the bag\ninverted over a chest, as much as two hundred catties of rice or peas\nare got out of it, so much does the depraved imp manage to make the\nlittle space hold. Those who serve it always get rich very fast.\u201d\n\nA certain prefect once received a birthday present of rice from a\nfriend. It weighed over a thousand catties and was put into a large\ncask. Several days after the prefect sent a man to divide it out, when\nit was noticed that the top of the flour was all in a crust like paper,\nwhile below it was clean gone. The man, in a fright, told the prefect,\nwho sent an officer to enquire into the matter. It was then found that\nbehind the prefect\u2019s residence there was a person who practised\nsacrificing to this kind of cat. The officer found out the image and\nseverely chastised it in the hall with forty blows, and also flogged\nits owner. He then laughed and sent them off. After this, as the story\ngoes, the Shin had no efficacy. Choo-tzu says\u2014\u201cThe spirituousness\n(Ling) of Sh\u00ean is the result of the accumulated earnestness of the\npeople\u2014there is really no Sh\u00ean. When one turns his back upon it the\nspirituousness is immediately dispersed. Therefore while the people\nhonor it the Shin keeps its place, but you may scatter it with a kick.\u201d\n\nTigers also figure as demoniacs or ghosts. In the same work as that\nabove quoted from a story relates how a benighted traveller suddenly\nobserved amongst the brushwood a brilliant light and a man in red\nclothes, with a golden crown and armour of rare brightness, and before\nand behind him a regular retinue of followers. The traveller was\nastonished, and, wondering what mandarin it could be, hid himself in\nthe wood. Next day he asked the natives of the place who it could have\nbeen. They told him it was the tiger ghost of the mountains. \u201cWhen he\nwishes to eat people up he puts off his clothes and is changed into a\nstriped tiger. He then advances with a great roar and the traveller is\ninstantly torn in pieces.\u201d \u201cYou,\u201d said they, \u201chave had a wonderful\nescape.\u201d\n\nNor are tigers alone in this regard. The ghosts of the \u201cgreen ox\u201d and\n\u201cblack fowl\u201d [137] are mentioned in native legends; while a yet more\nfantastic extract narrates that \u201cthe carp as soon as its scales number\n360 is caught and carried away by dragons; but if every year a sh\u00ean be\nplaced to guard it, it cannot be carried away. This sh\u00ean is a\ntortoise.\u201d [138]\n\nDragons again furnish their quota of ghostly representatives, and the\nfollowing legend accounts for the popular belief. \u201cDuring the reign of\nan emperor of the T\u02bbang dynasty, the dragon god of rain had greatly\noffended the Supreme god, and orders were consequently given to the\nprime minister to behead him on such and such a day. On the night\nbefore the execution, the dragon god of rain appeared in a dream to the\nEmperor and begged him to intercede on his behalf and exercise his\ninfluence over his minister. The Emperor promised he would. The\nfollowing day the Emperor invited his minister to play chess with him.\nHe hoped he would forget the time, and that the dragon god would thus\nbe saved. As the hour drew nigh the minister got very sleepy. The\nEmperor seeing this, said nothing about the dragon god, but let the\nminister sleep. Suddenly, the latter jumped up and said, \u2018I must behead\nimmediately;\u2019 and right between them a dragon\u2019s head fell from the sky.\nThe King fell back with fright and was taken ill. That night the\ndragon\u2019s ghost appeared to him in a dream and threatened him severely\nfor this breach of promise, insisting on bringing the case up before\nthe judge of the lower regions. The Emperor explained, begged\nforgiveness and made a promise, the results of which remain to this\nday. He engaged to honour the dragon god by having all his high\nofficers and the great people of the land to carry the dragon above\ntheir heads. The plan adopted was to place a dragon\u2019s head on every\npalace roof, so that when the gentry and officials were at home, they\nhad a dragon\u2019s head over them. The head seen so often on temples and\npalaces is said to have had this origin.\u201d In those days, adds the\naccount from which the foregoing is quoted, the demons had such\nunlimited power to transform themselves that a son would not leave his\nfather, or a husband his wife, without secret tickets, which they\ncarried about with them and compared on meeting. If a person was unable\nto produce the ticket he was believed to be a demon in human form. This\nis the origin of the proverb: \u201cIf your ticket be lost, you are\nhopeless.\u201d\n\nBut of all known animals the fox plays the principal part in Chinese\ndemonology. European folk-lore assigns a prominent place to the\nwere-wolves (Germ. Wehrwolf, Port. Lobis-homem), which are even now\nbelieved by the superstitious peasantry of many countries to haunt\ntheir native forests. Well, in China we find the same idea in a\nslightly different form. The fox takes the place of the wolf, and\n\u201cfairy foxes\u201d play an important part in every native collection of\nsupernatural tales. The belief in their existence dates from remote\nantiquity, though more prevalent in Northern than in Southern China,\nthe inhabitants of the latter taking the doings of genii more\nespecially as the basis of their fairy lore. There is however this\ndifference between the were-wolf and the fairy fox:\u2014that whereas the\nformer is invariably malicious, the latter may be either beneficent or\nmalignant. In many of the tales the fox is only transformed (as in the\nwell-known nursery story of \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d) into human shape\nafter making acquaintance with its host. \u201cAt the age of 50 the fox can\ntake the form of a woman, and at that of 100 can assume the appearance\nof a young and beautiful girl. When 1000 years old he is admitted to\nthe heavens and becomes the celestial fox.\u201d [139]\n\nIn and about Peking the belief in foxes having power to assume a human\nshape flourishes perhaps more thoroughly than in any other part of the\nempire, though similar stories are told throughout the eighteen\nprovinces. The Liao-chai-chih-yi (\u804a\u9f4b\u5fd7\u7570), a collection of tales\npublished in 1765, abounds with narrations of this nature, many of the\nmost curious, unfortunately, being unsuitable for publication in an\nEnglish dress. But the whole subject has been so fully dealt with in\naccessible publications that the extended notice which the subject\nwould permit is unnecessary. Dr. Birch, of the British Museum, wrote an\ninteresting paper on the subject of Fairy Foxes [140] in No. III., of\nthe Chinese and Japanese Repository (1863), which was followed by a\nnotice from the pen of the well-known sinologue Mr. W. F. Mayers, in\nNo. III., of Vol. I., of Notes and Queries on China and Japan (1867).\nThe most complete essay on the subject, however, which has yet appeared\nwas written by Mr. T. Watters, and read before the North China Branch\nof the Royal Asiatic Society in March 1873. That accurate and\npainstaking scholar thus opens his remarks on the subject:\u2014\n\n\u201cChinese philosophers seem to be agreed in attributing to Reynard a\nlong life, some making the number of his years 800 and others extending\nit even to a thousand. This power of prolonging life they suppose to\nresult from the animal\u2019s living in caves and holes where it is shut out\nfrom the sun. The vital powers can thus operate free from disturbance\nand the wearing effect of the sun\u2019s heat and light. The fox, badger,\nmole and some other cave-dwelling animals are all grouped together as\nenjoying long life. The Chinese are not alone in thus regarding the\nexclusion of light and air as tending to prolong existence. Not to\nrefer to others, our own Bacon says:\u2014\u2018A life in caves and holes, where\nthe rays of the sun do not enter, may perhaps tend to longevity; for\nthe air of itself unexcited by heat has not much power to prey upon the\nbody. Certainly on looking back, it appears from many remains and\nmonuments that the size and stature of men were anciently much greater\nthan they had been since, as in Sicily and some other places; and such\nmen generally lived in caves. Now there is some affinity between length\nof age and largeness of limbs. The cave of Epimenides likewise passes\ncurrent among the fables.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe use of the several parts of the fox\u2019s body in the Chinese\npharmacopeia is followed by an account of the Chinese opinion of his\ncunning, in which we read as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cLike most Western nations the Chinese ascribe to the fox a cunning,\ncrafty disposition by which he can disarm suspicion on the part of the\nvery animals which constitute his prey.... The notion about the fox\u2019s\ncaution is put to practical use in the North of China, for it has been\nobserved that when he is crossing a frozen river or lake he advances\nvery slowly and deliberately, putting his head down close to the ice\nand listening for the sound of water beneath. Accordingly when in the\nearly spring the traveller fears the stability of the ice, if he\nobserves on its surface traces of the fox\u2019s footsteps he may proceed\nany without apprehension. One can easily see what an opportunity is\npresented here again to the Chinese mind for the exercise of\nmyth-making ingenuity. Below the ice is the region of the Yin or female\nelement\u2014the dark world of death and obscurity\u2014while above it is the\nregion of the Yang or male element\u2014the bright world of life and\nactivity. Accordingly it has come to pass that the fox is represented\nas living on the debatable land which is neither the earth of life nor\nthe Hades of death. His dwelling place on the earth is among the tombs,\nor actually, rather, within the tomb, and the spirits of the deceased\noften occupy the body. Thus he enables ghosts of the dead to return to\nlife or himself performs their terrible behest\u2014visiting upon living men\nand women the iniquities they have committed against those now dead,\nand by this means bringing peace and rest to the souls of the latter\nwhich would else be travelling and troubling for ever.\u201d\n\nFrom the numerous stories given by Mr. Watters in illustration of the\npopular belief in the fox\u2019s powers of transformation, I take only the\nfollowing:\u2014\u201cIt is as a pretty girl that the fox appears most frequently\nand does most mischief. Disguised as a woman it is always young and\nhandsome, generally wicked, but on rare occasions very good. At times\nit puts on the garb and appearance of some one well known, but who is\neither dead or at a great distance. An accomplished scholar who resides\nin a village about twenty miles from Foochow told me not long ago a\nstory which affords an illustration of this personation of particular\nindividuals. A friend of his had ill-treated and, as was supposed,\nsecretly killed a pretty young wife and married another. Soon after\nthis latter event the house was reported to be haunted and no servant\nwould remain in the family. The first wife\u2019s apartments were the worst\nof all, and this part of the premises had to be abandoned. Now one day\nmy friend was reading with the master of the house in the works of\nChuhsi, and they came to the passage which treats of ghosts and\nspirits. They then ceased reading and entered into a conversation on\nthe subject, and the story of the haunted chambers was related. My\nfriend laughed at and reproached the weakness which made a scholar\nbelieve in ghosts, and finally the two agreed to remove to that portion\nof the dreadful rooms. Before they had been seated here a long time,\nstrange sounds became audible and soon the pit-pat of a woman\u2019s steps\nwas heard. The door opened without any noise, and in walked the\nmurdered woman clothed as of old. The blood forsook the two men\u2019s\nfaces, speech fled their lips, and had it not been for the law of\ngravity their pigtails would have stood on end. There they sat\nparalyzed with mute awe and gazing on the spectre, which went pit-pat\nover the boards looking neither to right nor left until it reached the\ncorner in which was a small wash-hand-stand with a basin of water. She\ntook the basin in her hand and walked steadily with it over to the man\nwho had been her husband, presenting it to him, when he instantly\nuttered a terrible scream and fell backwards. Then the spectral woman\nwalked away and her patter was heard along the boards until she reached\nthe outer door. My friend summoned up courage to go out and make\ninvestigation, but no human creature had been stirring, and only the\nfox which came almost daily had been seen on the premises. The house\nhas been abandoned, the owner has gone elsewhere, but my friend\nbelieves that the ghost of the murderer\u2019s wife will torment him by\nmeans of a fox daily until it brings him to the grave.\u201d\n\nIt would be easy to multiply stories of this nature, but their\nnarration would unduly swell the limits of the chapter, while those who\nare curious on the subject can easily refer to Mr. Watters\u2019s paper. I\nprefer therefore to turn to the analogies with Chinese belief presented\nelsewhere. Neither amongst the Semitic nor Aryan races can I find, in\nthe authorities at my command, that any demoniacal power has ever been\nattributed to the fox. No reference to the animal appears in Brand, and\nin Continental Europe the wolf alone figures in fairy tales as the\ndangerous and crafty enemy of man. But we learn on the authority of Dr.\nMacgowan that \u201cwhen the Pilgrim Fathers landed in Massachusetts, they\nfound the Indians, especially those of Naragannset, deeply imbued with\nfox superstitions, many of them similar to those mentioned above.\u201d\nNotices of these are found at considerable length in the works of the\nRev. Mr. Elliot, known as the \u201cApostle of the Indians.\u201d In Japan,\nagain, we find fox-myths a mighty power in the State. Dr. Macgowan\ndescribes a primer\u2014the first book put into the hands of Japanese\nchildren; it was profusely illustrated with wood-cuts, in which was\ndepicted in full detail the progress of the Fox\u2019s courtship. Thus, even\nin the education of childhood, the fox-myth weaves itself into the\ntexture of Japanese thought. The fox was understood to be most\nmischievously inclined, and was especially mischievous in its domestic\nrelations. It was believed, in Japan, to be no uncommon incident for a\nfox to transform itself into a charming young woman, who got married to\nsome loving Japanese swain and had a family. By-and-bye something went\nawry in the domestic experiences, on which the mischievous fox-elf\nresumed her foxhood, and all her progeny did the same, and scampered\noff to their homes in dead men\u2019s tombs, leaving the late happy husband\nand father desolate and wretched. A recent newspaper paragraph, by the\nway, describes a murder committed at Chikuzen in which the murderer was\ndiscovered to be insane. Different members of his family, for three\ngenerations back, had gone mad, it was said, in consequence of one of\ntheir ancestors having injured a fox!\u2014So much for the fox, thus\nsummarily dismissed inasmuch as other writers have dealt so fully with\nhis alleged powers.\n\nLeaving the animal, for the mineral, world we note that even stones\npossess the reputation of being inhabited by spirits. A well-known\nTaoist legend relates that Chang Liang, a counsellor of the founder of\nthe Han dynasty, derived his knowledge from a sage who was eventually\nmetamorphosed into a yellow stone. Another legend tells how one of the\nimmortals kept a flock of sheep who were changed to stone, but\nreassumed their proper shape at a word from their shepherd. Mr. W. F.\nMayers, in his article on Canton in the Treaty Ports of China and\nJapan, thus describes the Legend from which Canton derives its\nsoubriquet of the \u201cCity of Rams\u201d:\u2014\u201cIn the temple of the \u2018Five Genii\u2019\nwere until lately the stone images of five (supernatural) rams, but\nthese latter were destroyed in a conflagration which consumed the rear\nbuilding in which they stood some three years since. The legend with\nreference to the foundation of this temple is that, some twenty\ncenturies ago, five shepherds were seen on the site where the building\nnow stands, who suddenly became transformed into an equal number of\nrams, while these again instantly changed into stone, a voice being\nheard at the same time proclaiming that, so long as these supernatural\nobjects should be worshipped on this spot, the prosperity of the\nadjoining city should endure. From that day forward (runs the story)\nthese images have remained on the identical spot, and it is certain\nthat from time immemorial they have been looked upon with superstitious\nreverence, nor is it the less remarkable that the destruction of their\nshrine should coincide so closely with the actual decline in the\nprosperity of the city. The stones were almost shapeless blocks of\ngranite, about eighteen inches high and the same in length, with some\nrude attempt at sculpture in the form of a ram\u2019s head. From them and\ntheir attendant legend Canton derived its soubriquet of the City of\nRams (\u7f8a\u57ce), but the legend itself is traced by Chinese philosophers to\nan accidental resemblance between the word signifying \u2018ram\u2019 or \u2018sheep\u2019\nand the ancient designation of the province of Kwangtung. This is a\nstriking corroboration of Professor M\u00fcller\u2019s dictum that all myths are\nmerely amplifications of some forgotten sound.\u201d\n\nA popular superstition recounts that in L\u02bbien-chow, in the province of\nKwang-si, when any person walking, happens to hit his foot against a\nstone, and afterwards falls sick, his family immediately prepares an\noffering of fruit, wine, rice and incense; and proceeding to the spot,\nbow down and worship, after which the person gets well. They imagine\nthat the stone is possessed by a demon. Gamblers frequently pray to\nstones thus possessed for \u201cluck.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIX.\u2014ELVES, FAIRIES, AND BROWNIES.\n\n\nAn accurate definition of the Chinese idea of elves and fairies is\nsomewhat difficult. In many cases the word shin \u795e, spirit, or, as some\nwill have it, God\u2014can only be translated by \u201celf\u201d or \u201cbrownie,\u201d while\non other occasions one is puzzled under what category to place\ncreatures who play too important a part in Chinese belief to be omitted\nfrom these pages, while strictly answering to nothing known in the\nWest. China, at all events, boasts an infinity of beings who are\nalleged to possess the general characteristics of our local sprites. As\nwith us they are sometimes malicious and sometimes merely playful. But\nI fancy that, in the main, a more stern air of purpose runs through\nChinese than through European fairy legend. The wildest native\ninventions have never endowed the fairy community with, \u201chouses made\nall with mother-o\u2019-pearl, an ivory tennis-court, a nutmeg parlour, a\nsapphire dairy-room, chambers of agate, &c., &c.\u201d [141] Still less do\nwe find anything resembling Shakespeare\u2019s Queen Mab:\u2014\n\n\n        \u201cHer waggon spokes made of long spinner\u2019s legs,\n        The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,\n        The traces of the smallest spider\u2019s web\n        The collars of the moonshine\u2019s watery beams,\n        Her whip of cricket\u2019s bone, the lash of film.\u201d [142]\n\n\nWe hear little amongst the Chinese of fairy sprites whose highest aim\nis mere amusement, their action being usually, as with a certain class\nof brownies in our own fairy pantheon, malignant. It is, by the way,\ninteresting to note that while the words alp and alf (Swedish and\nEnglish elf) equally signify a mountain, or demon of the mountains,\n[143] the Chinese most frequently assign a mountainous locality to the\nhomes of their fairy folk. The celebrated mountain Kw\u02bb\u00ean Lun (\u5d11\u5d19)\n(usually identified with the Hindoo Kush) is said to be peopled with\nfairies who cultivate upon its terraces the \u201cfields of sesamum and\ngardens of coriander seeds\u201d which are eaten as ordinary food by those\nwho possess the gift of Longevity. Here too is the \u201cLake of Gems\u201d on\nwhose borders dwells the fairy mother Si wang mu (\u897f\u738b\u6bcd) and beside whose\nwaters flourishes the k\u02bbiung shu or tree of life, described as 10,000\ncubits in height, 1800 feet in circumference and supposed to bear fruit\nonly once in 3,000 years. This fruit is bestowed by the fairies on\ntheir favourites, who thus become immortal. Other receipts for the\n\u201cElixir of Life\u201d are peach-tree gum mixed with the powdered ash of the\nmulberry, and tan \u4e39 the elixir of gold, or tan sha \u4e39\u7802 the common name\nfor cinnabar.\n\nThere are some curious resemblances between Chinese and Western\nsuperstitions on the subject of storm-fiends or fairies. Thus the\nstorm-raiser in China is not unlike his prototype in Scotland. Sir\nJames Melville in his Memoirs tells us that \u201cthe spirit or devil that\nhelped the Scottish witches to raise a storm in the sea of Norway was\ncold as ice, and his body hard as iron; his face was terrible, his nose\nlike the beak of an eagle, great burning eyes, his hands and legs\nhairy, with claws on his nails like a griffin.\u201d The Chinese demon of\nthe storm is thus described in the Shan hai ching \u5c71\u6d77\u7d93. \u201cIn Daylight\nmountain dwells the sh\u00ean called Ke-mung. His shape is like a man with a\ndragon\u2019s head. He wanders about continually in the depths of the Chang\nriver, and whenever he comes over or goes in there is sure to be a\nviolent storm and rain.\u201d\n\nFairies in China indeed, as with us, usually possess the attribute of\nbeauty. A well-known Chinese legend relates how two friends wandering\namongst the ravines of their native mountains in search of herbs for\nmedicinal purposes come to a fairy bridge where two maidens of more\nthan earthly beauty are on guard. They invite them to the fairy land\nwhich lies on the other side of the bridge, and the invitation being\naccepted they become enamoured of the maidens, and pass what to them\nseems a short though blissful period of existence with the fairy folk.\nAt length they desire to revisit their earthly homes and are allowed to\nreturn, when they find that seven generations have lived and died\nduring their apparently short absence, they themselves having become\ncentenarians. [144] Another version of the story is found in the Liao\nchai chih yi. About A.D. 60 or 70 two friends named Y\u00fcan Chao and Liu\nCh\u02bb\u00ean when wandering amongst the T\u02bbien-t\u02bbai mountains lost their way,\nand after wandering about for some time at length came upon a fairy\nretreat where two beautiful girls received them and fed them on hu ma\n\u80e1\u9ebb (hemp, the Chinese haschisch). After spending what seems only a few\ndays with their hostesses they return home and find to their\nastonishment that seven generations have passed away since they made\nthe acquaintance of the maidens. [145] I may here remark that this Rip\nVan Winkle sort of story takes several forms in China, and a slight\ndigression on this subject may be pardoned. A legend, related of Wang\nChih, one of the patriarchs of the Taoist sect, involves him in a\nsimilar catastrophe with less obvious excuse than in the case of the\ntwo friends above mentioned. [146] Wandering one day in the mountains\nof K\u00fc Chow to gather firewood \u201che entered a grotto in which some aged\nmen were seated intent upon a game of chess. He laid down his axe and\nlooked on at their game, in the course of which one of the old men\nhanded him a thing in shape and size like a date stone, telling him to\nput it into his mouth. No sooner had he tasted it than \u2018he became\noblivious of hunger and thirst.\u2019 After some time had elapsed, one of\nthe players said, \u2018It is long since you came here, you should go home\nnow!\u2019 whereupon Wang Chih proceeding to pick up his axe found that its\nhandle had mouldered into dust. On repairing to his home he found that\ncenturies had passed since the time when he had left it for the\nmountains, and that no vestige of his kinsfolk remained. Retiring to a\nretreat among the hills he devoted himself to the rites of Taoism, and\nfinally attained to immortality\u201d\u2014a very un-Van-Winkle-like termination\nto the legend.\n\nThe striking resemblance of these to legends popular throughout Europe\nneeds no demonstration, they being in fact identical with Erse, Gaelic\nand Teutonic stories yet related in their respective neighbourhoods.\nThe bridge in the first story is described as the \u201cAzure bridge,\u201d the\nfairy home being known as the \u201cJaspar city.\u201d \u201cYao chi\u201d or the \u201cJaspar\nlake\u201d is the name given to a sheet of water which it is believed forms\none of its chief attractions, and to speak of a Chinese lady as \u201ca\nnymph of the Jaspar lake\u201d is to pay her the highest compliment for\npurity and beauty.\n\nThe somewhat particular, and at times pugnacious, \u201cBrownie\u201d is supposed\nto exist in China. Readers acquainted with our north-country folk-lore\nwill be aware that a practice exists in many parts of the country of\nsetting out milk &c. for the consumption of some household brownie, who\nperforms willing labour for the benefit of its entertainer, the one\nproviso being that the brownie\u2019s operations are never to be overlooked\nby mortal eye. It is curious, in this connection, to find such a\nChinese legend as the following recorded (T\u02bban ching \u8ac7\u5fb5, vol. 4):\u2014\u201cIn\nthe Ts\u02bb\u00ea dynasty there was one Chang Ching, who went out one night and\nsaw a woman on the south corner of his house who beckoned him to come\nto her; and when he came she said: \u2018This is your honour\u2019s mulberry\nground, and I am the sh\u00ean of this place. If you will make next year, in\nthe middle of the first moon, some thick congee, and present it to me I\nwill engage to make your mulberry trees a hundred times more\nproductive.\u2019 Having said this she disappeared. Ching made the congee\nand afterwards had a great crop of silkworms. Thence arose the practice\nof making thickened congee on the 15th of the first moon.\u201d Of the more\ntruculent class of brownies we also hear a good deal in China. In an\narticle on \u201cGunpowder and arms in China,\u201d published in a recent volume\nof the N. C. B. R. A. S. Transactions, the author, Mr. W. F. Mayers,\nquotes from the Shin-i-king the following: \u201cAmong the hills in the\nWestern parts [of China?] there exist beings in human shape, a foot or\nmore in height, who are by nature very fearless. If attacked [or\noffended] they cause men to sicken with [alternate] heat and cold. They\nare called Shan sao.\u201d It was to frighten these brownies that the\npractice of burning bamboos, now-a-days substituted by fire-crackers,\n(as already alluded to,) was adopted. Another account makes the\nShan-sias or Shan-sao, to be a species of bird which when attacked\nsummons tigers to its aid and burns down dwelling houses. In any case\nthese beings bear many points of resemblance to our own sprites,\nespecially those that are malignant. A curious story, which may serve\nas the type of many such, is also given in the same volume as that from\nwhich the above is derived, the locale given being Lew-chew, which\nuntil very lately was deemed a dependency of China. It relates how a\nfairy in the guise of a beautiful woman is found bathing in a man\u2019s\nwell. He persuades her to marry him, and she remains with him for nine\nyears, at the end of which time, despite the affection she has for\ntheir two children, she \u201cglides upwards into a cloud\u201d and disappears.\nWe find a very similar story in the Arabian nights, and both Germany\nand the Shetland islands give us an almost identical legend.\n\nA large proportion of the fairy tales of all countries are of course\nwhat grave scholars denominate \u201cpuerile\u201d; but I need hardly apologise\nfor giving the two following, which illustrate both the idea of\ndiminutive stature attributed to fairies and the yet more common\nendowment of animals and insects with fairy power. In the work (T\u02bban\nching) above quoted from we read that the Emperor Yuen Tsung of T\u02bbang\nhad imperial ink called Dragon fragrance. One day he saw in the ink\nlittle Taoist priests like flies walking about, and they called to him,\n\u201cLive for ever! Your servants are the spiritual essence of ink, the\nambassadors of the black pine. Whoever in the world has literary\ncultivation must have twelve of us dragon guests in his ink.\u201d This is\nnot badly matched by the following: \u201cA youth while sleeping was\naccosted by a maiden who asked him to accompany her for protection\nagainst some menaced danger, telling him she was a princess in\ndisguise; but he turned away from her. Soon afterwards he heard the\nnoise of humming and saw entangled in the web of a spider a bee about\nto be devoured. He released the bee, placed it upon the ink-slab, when\nby the impression of its feet it left the character \u201cGrateful\u201d and flew\naway. He followed it with his eyes and saw it enter a honey-comb\nsuspended above. The disguised princess was the bee.\u201d Sir John Bowring,\nwho gives this story in almost the same words, adds, \u201cIt is easy to\nfancy that the character or sign meaning \u2018Gratitude\u2019 could be made by\nthe impress of a bee\u2019s feet.\u201d I fear that the learned ex-governor of\nHongkong was in this instance indulging in an exaggeration not unusual\nwith him.\n\nChinese popular stories also abound with references to \u201ckelpies\u201d such\nas in Scotland are reported to haunt fords and ferries. A not less\npopular belief credits the monkey tribe with peculiar attributes as\nbeing possessed by fairies who make woman-stealing an ordinary\navocation\u2014thus affording a curious parallel to a South-African\nsuperstition. In the History of the White Monkey, by Kung T\u02bbsing, we\nread that a man of Leang, who had a very pretty wife, was travelling\nand came to pass some time at Chang-toh. Warned by the people of the\nplace that a local sh\u00ean was given to stealing females he conceals his\nwife in an inner room: but, despite all his precautions, on the second\nnight in the fourth watch she is abducted. After seeking her high and\nlow amidst great perils he at length comes to a stone door in a\nmountain facing the East, and learns from women passing in and out that\nhis wife is within. To effect her deliverance he is advised to provide\ntwo kilderkins of spirits, ten dogs and several pounds of hemp. With\nthis the women in the cave promise to attempt the sh\u00ean\u2019s capture. The\nsh\u00ean accordingly sees and devours the dogs and drinks the spirits, when\nhe is securely bound with the hemp. The husband being called in, finds\nan enormous monkey bound hand and foot to the bed, and Ngau-yang Hih\n(the husband) kills him, thus releasing all the females in his power.\n\nFairies who embody the powers of nature are firmly believed in. \u201cThe\nEmperor Liang when tired fell asleep in the sunshine and dreamed that\nhe was visited by a woman of celestial beauty. He asked whence she came\nand who she was. \u2018I live on the terrace of the Sun on the Enchanted\nMountain. In the morning I am a cloud, in the evening a shower of\nrain.\u2019\u201d The popular credence which this legend obtains argues a very\ndeep-seated belief in the fairy-like attributes of representatives of\nthe powers of nature, and shows a close analogy to the Western legend\nof the \u201cSpirit of the Mist.\u201d\n\nBut the Chinese people other spheres with Fairy inhabitants; and there\nis a touch of the imaginative in such beliefs which rather induces\nsympathy with than hostility to their tenour. The universal legend of\nthe Man in the Moon takes in China a form that is at least as\ninteresting as the ruder legends of more barbarous peoples. The\n\u201cGoddess of the Palace of the Moon,\u201d Chang-o, appeals as much to our\nsympathies as, and rather more so than, the ancient beldame who in\nEuropean folk-lore picks up perpetual sticks to satisfy the vengeful\nideas of an ultra-sabbathaical sect. Mr. G. C. Stent has aptly seized\nthe idea of the Chinese versifier whom he translates:\u2014\n\n\n        \u201cOn a gold throne, whose radiating brightness\n        Dazzles the eyes\u2014enhaloing the scene,\n        Sits a fair form, arrayed in snowy whiteness.\n        \u2014She is Chang-o, the beauteous Fairy Queen.\n        Rainbow-winged angels softly hover o\u2019er her\n        Forming a canopy above the throne,\n        A host of fairy beings stand before her\n        Each robed in light and girt with meteor zone.\u201d\n\n\nMaking every allowance for the polish of translation, the foregoing\nverses intimate a delicacy of perception that raises Chinese fairy\nfolk-lore to the level of our own. It is scarcely necessary to quote,\nfrom European sources, verses which in sentiment express a similar\nidea.\n\nFairy Tales abound in Chinese resembling those in Arabic folk-lore. A\nvery well-known legend relates how a celebrated musician, aspiring to\nwed a princess who played so exquisitely on the flute that all the\nbirds, even to the eagle, came down from heaven to listen to her, was\naccepted, on shewing proof of this ability as her husband. \u201cToo good to\nlive,\u201d however, the pair were transformed into genii, and still occupy\na place in the somewhat vast arcana of Chinese gods. Other legends\nrelate to animals becoming endowed with the gift of speech. Thus\nChwang-tz\u016d, the hero of a story which has been popularized by Mr. Stent\nunder the heading \u201cFanning the Grave,\u201d is related to have reached a\nriver, the banks of which were almost dry. Various small fishes\nthereupon petitioned him to restore their much-needed\nelement\u2014water\u2014representing that if he did not do so, they would all\nperish; and their request was acceded to. Ireland and Germany both give\nus similar legends.\n\nTo sum up, I am inclined to the conclusion that no very real\ndistinction obtains in Chinese folk-lore between the various beings\ndescribed in the West as demons, genii and fairies, though, as I have\nendeavoured to shew, supernatural creatures, possessing the attributes\nof each, are fully believed in. The constant application of the term\nsh\u00ean \u795e in this connection seems to me an argument against its adoption\nby Christian missionaries to express our own conception of the Creator.\nIt is singular, by the way, to find that just as we use the word\n\u201cspirit\u201d in two different senses when we say \u201cGod is a spirit\u201d and \u201cHe\nis a man of spirit,\u201d the Chinese in like manner make the word sh\u00ean do\ndouble duty. Of course the argument cuts both ways; but its\ninapplicability to the Chinese side lies in the fact that the language\nprovides no word for the one ultimate cause. Whatever word our\nmissionaries agree upon must do some violence to the native idea. The\nsubject is, however, too wide to be more than incidentally touched on\nhere. Suffice it to say that both in the everyday language of the\npeople and in popular literature sh\u00ean conveys the idea of gods,\nspirits, fairies or demons only. A careful consideration of this fact\nis imperative in any discussion as to its adoption in Christian books\nto express the Hebrew \u201cJehovah.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nX.\u2014SERPENTS, DRAGONS, FABULOUS ANIMALS AND MONSTERS.\n\n\nThe part played in the mythology of the Aryan and Semitic races by the\nSerpent and Dragon would have led one to expect a similar concurrence\nin the Legendry of China, even if the well-known designation under\nwhich its government is so frequently referred to did not at once\ndirect attention to the fact. The land of the \u201cDragon Throne\u201d is indeed\nby no means singular in its beliefs in this connection. To say nothing\nof the Biblical narrative, the Brahminic Krishna, under his two aspects\nof Krishna serpent-wounded in the heel and Krishna standing triumphant\non the head of his arch-enemy, the classic stories of Hercules and the\nHydra, Apollo and Python, Cadmus and the Dragon, the Teutonic myth of\nSigurd and Fafner, or our own legend of St. George, and others which\nwill be referred to in their proper place, combine to give the serpent\nand his congeners an universal celebrity. \u201cAmong different forms in use\nas an old symbol (says a recent reviewer) none is more mysterious than\nthe serpent. The animal itself glides out and into holes and corners,\nand as it glides you only, perhaps, see a coil of the reptile; so, with\nits symbolism, the facts are most difficult to be got at, and the\nunderstanding of them is more difficult still. All nations seem to have\nhad the serpent as a symbol in some form or another. Perhaps one of the\nstrangest forms of this creeping thing was that of the Christian\nOphites, who kept a serpent which crawled over the bread of the\nsacrament on the altar, and this they considered to be the act of\nconsecration.\u201d It is hardly necessary, however, to tell students of\nChinese literature or folk-lore that our own assortment of popular\nlegends and beliefs touching the serpent tribe shrink into\ninsignificance beside that of the \u201cMiddle Kingdom.\u201d The brazen serpent\nof Moses has been the lineal progenitor of a succession familiar indeed\nto the sons of Han. [147] Confining our attention in the first instance\nto serpents proper, let us glance at the vast array of legend which\ngreets the most superficial enquiry into Chinese beliefs on the\nsubject.\n\nAnd, before dealing with its supernatural characteristics, let me note\nthe healing qualities ascribed to the serpent\u2019s flesh. The skin of the\nwhite spotted snake is used in leprosy, rheumatism and palsy, [148]\nwhile the flesh of other varieties enter largely into the often filthy\nprescriptions of native doctors. Though I am not aware that the figure\nof a serpent has ever been used in China as with the classical\nEsculapius and Hygia, who are represented as bearing a staff round\nwhich is coiled a serpent, as a symbol of health, the snake is a\npopular item of the show-part of every native drug store, and the\nvirtues attributed to its body are at least a reminder of the Western\nlegend. As a drug, however, it ceases to possess supernatural\nqualities. To the living animal are attributed powers not less potent\nthan to the gods themselves. And the writer encountered an instance of\nthis superstition when endeavouring some months since to induce his\nChinese assistants in the Hongkong Museum to kill and prepare a fine\nspecimen of the boa tribe which had been caught on the island.\n\nThat evil spirits or human beings compelled by enchantment can assume\nthe form of snakes, is a deeply-rooted belief, as is also its converse\nthat mysteriously-gifted serpents can at will present themselves to the\npublic eye as ordinary mortals. In the \u201cThunder-peak Pagoda\u201d novel,\nalready referred to, we find the heroine of the story to be a white\nsnake who possesses the power of assuming the human form. In the Cavern\nof the Winds situated on the Green Mountain near Ching-to-foo in\nSze-chuan \u201cthere was,\u201d says the story, \u201creputed to be a monstrous white\nfemale serpent, who had been there from time immemorial. In this cave\nalso grew strange flowers and wonderful shrubs. This serpent had\nexisted for eighteen hundred years, and had never yet done harm to any\nliving thing. On account of her great age, this white serpent had\nattained to a vast degree of knowledge, and was able to work marvellous\nspells, and to take the form of a woman, in which condition she adopted\nthe name of P\u012d-cheu-niang.\u201d Her servant, like herself, was a serpent\nand the scene in which the two are for the first time introduced to\neach other is described in a way worthy of the Arabian nights:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cHang-chow is a most beautiful place. The residences of princes and\n    nobles are here, and beautiful flower gardens and ancient temples\n    are scattered all over the place. Among these, the garden of Prince\n    Chow was pre-eminent for beauty; but Prince Chow had long been\n    dead, and his beautiful garden was deserted by mankind. In it were\n    altars, pavilions, and mountains almost equalling in splendour the\n    gardens of the imperial palace. Here there resided a huge black\n    serpent, which had been in this place for more than eight hundred\n    years,\u2014and could also ascend into the clouds, and take the human\n    form; and when she saw the white serpent coming in, she hurried to\n    prevent her entrance, saying, \u201cWhence comest thou thus to invade\n    the privacy of my garden? Dost thou not fear my wrath?\u201d The white\n    serpent, who had assumed the human form, as had the other, merely\n    smiled, and said, \u201cDon\u2019t talk about your power, but pay attention\n    to what I am going to say\u2014I am a powerful white serpent, come from\n    the mountain cavern of the winds, where I have resided more than\n    eighteen hundred years; but because I am not so powerful as I could\n    wish, I have determined to change my abode, wherefore you must let\n    me take up my residence in this garden\u2014besides this, why should we\n    quarrel, being both spirits in the form of serpents?\u201d But the black\n    snake was not so easily pacified, and angrily exclaimed, \u201cThis is\n    my garden, and you are a spirit from some distant place\u2014How then do\n    you dare thus to deprive me of mine own? If, moreover, you think\n    yourself more powerful than I am, let us contend together three\n    times for the mastery.\u201d The white serpent smiled slightly, and\n    said, \u201cIt is no desire of mine that we should contend together, as\n    I do not wish to injure one of my species; but since you so much\n    wish it, I will contend with you, but upon this condition only that\n    whoever shall be victorious in the strife, shall become the\n    mistress, and that the conquered one shall always act as a slave.\n\n    \u201cThe black snake, still angry, snatched a sword and cut at the\n    white serpent, but she, drawing two swords, put them before her in\n    the form of a cross. In a few minutes the superior talent of the\n    white serpent became evident, for by muttering a powerful spell,\n    the sword was snatched from the hand of her adversary by some\n    invisible means, and she was left defenceless. The black serpent at\n    this was very much frightened, and kneeling down, respectfully\n    addressed the other, saying, \u201cDo not contend any longer\u2014I\n    acknowledge you as my superior, and am willing to serve you as your\n    slave.\u201d Matters being thus settled so satisfactorily, the mistress\n    and servant entered the garden together.\u201d [149]\n\n\nThe adventures of those two serpent women and the scrapes into which an\nunlucky attachment for the mistress led the hero of the tale, form the\nprincipal features of the plot. I cannot, of course, here follow that\nout; suffice it to say that the enchantress brought grief to all\nconnected with her. But the story presents certain analogies with an\nold English legend that are worth noting. The \u201cworm of Spindlestone\nHeugh\u201d in Northumberland, was, so the legend says, a beautiful girl\ntransformed by her step-mother into a loathsome serpent, until her\nbrother should come to her rescue from beyond the seas. This of course\nhe eventually does, and the charm is broken.\n\n\n            \u201cHe quitted his sword, and bent his bow,\n            He gave her kisses three;\n            She crept into her hole a worme\n            But out stept a ladye.\u201d [150]\n\n\nThe well-known Linton worm or dragon [151] supposed to inhabit the\nborders of Roxburghshire, gives us another parallel between a British\nand a Chinese belief. From his cave on Linton hill this monster \u201ccould\nwith his sweeping and venomous breath draw the neighbouring flocks and\nherds within reach of his fangs.\u201d Again we read, \u201csuch was the dread\ninspired by the monster\u2019s poisonous breath\u201d that the villagers were\nbeside themselves with terror. Now we have only to go back to 1867 to\nfind a story extensively believed throughout  the Fuhkien seaboard, in\nwhich the poisonous character of a serpent\u2019s breath is an important\nelement. [152] It was to the effect that a party of tiger-catchers near\nFoochow discovered in the cage which they had constructed to receive\nthe tiger a monstrous snake with two large horns. Although somewhat\nfrightened at their unexpected prisoner, they decided on taking him on\nboard their junk with a view to eventually selling him. A few days\nafter they had put to sea a thunderstorm came on, and a flash of\nlightning struck the junk, breaking open the cage. Away slipped the\nmonster into the hold, which, being stored with rice and other edibles,\nwas a decided change for the better in his position. As, however, the\ncaptain and crew were bound to deliver their cargo intact, the former\noffered $1,000 to anybody who would go down and kill the snake. Two men\nwere found to venture, but no sooner did they approach the animal than\n\u201craising his head a little, he hissed out a vapour on them and they lay\ndead.\u201d Of course captain and crew immediately deserted the junk, and\nshe is still reputed to be, like the flying Dutchman\u2019s ship off the\nCape, cruizing around the neighbouring coasts; and so great is the fear\nof the serpent\u2019s breath, that no one who has heard the story dare board\na castaway Foochow junk to this day.\n\nSomething more than mere traces of serpent worship are to be found\nthroughout China. The San-chieh temples (\u4e09\u754c\u5edf) at Canton are also known\nby the name of Ch\u02bbing Sh\u00ea Miao or \u201cGreen serpent temples,\u201d the origin\nof which name is thus given in a compilation by the well-known author\nChao Yi. [153] \u201cWhen offerings were made to the god a serpent came out\nand ate or drank what was laid before the altar. If any person made a\nvow and did not afterwards fulfil it, although he might be hundreds of\nli away, serpents would come and claim fulfilment of his promise. These\nwere commonly called Green Serpent Messengers. At present the most\nfamous of these temples is that at Wuchow-fu, where scarcely a day\npasses on which plays are not performed or sacrifices offered, at the\nexpense of traders who thus celebrate the fulfilment of their\nentreaties at the shrine. At the time of sacrifices being offered a\ngreen serpent does in reality issue forth from the sanctuary or make\nits appearance from the rafters, or from within the garments of the\nGod, to drink the wine and devour the eggs that are placed there\nwithout being deterred at the sight of the persons standing by. After\nfinishing its meal the creature quietly glides away.\u201d [154] Monsieur de\nBeauvoir, in his recent work describing a visit to the East, speaks of\na temple at Canton within the enclosure of which was a clump of trees\nnear an altar, the residence of a sacred serpent. \u201cA crowd of\nworshippers were pressing round the sacred bushes, bringing gifts to\nthe ugly reptile, a snake two feet long, which crawled about close to\nsome hot ashes.\u201d I have not identified the temple, but the account is\nprobably accurate, as native informants confirm it. Yet stronger\nevidence of the hold which serpent-worship has over the Chinese mind is\nafforded by the fact that during the height of the Tientsin floods, in\nthe autumn of 1873, Li Hung-chang, a man distinguished for his clear\ncommon sense and administrative ability, joined in offering worship to\na miserable little snake which had been picked up and placed in one of\nthe temples, afterwards extolling, in a memorial to the Throne, the\ndivine favour exhibited by the appearance of the wretched reptile. And\nin the following year the North-China Herald related an even more\nabsurd instance of faith in the supernatural attributes of the serpent\ntribe. \u201cIn this case also,\u201d says the journal in question, \u201cthe\nmemorialist is a man of distinguished ability, which he has given\nevidence of both in connection with Foreign and Chinese matters. He\nreports wonderful miracles on the part of the river gods, in saving\nembankments and helping the men who were at work on them, over and over\nagain. Apparently the Taiwang are credited with power to make the\nwaters abate just at the critical moment, but not to avert such\nunfortunate crises altogether. The river god is, in every case, a small\nwater snake, which popular fancy has converted into a deity. The story\nof Chen Ching-lung Chang-ch\u00fcn, one of the deities mentioned, is that he\nwas inspector of the Yellow River, and being unable to repair a breach\nin the embankments, on account of the strength of the current, he in\ndespair threw himself into the river. The water ceased to rise, the\ncurrent slackened, and the breach was repaired. Chen was transformed\ninto a River God for his noble devotedness, and constantly appears in\nthe shape of a water serpent, to work miracles on behalf of his more\nfortunate successors in the difficult duty of checking the outburst of\n\u2018China\u2019s Sorrow.\u2019\u201d\n\nThat snakes contain in their heads certain precious stones is an old\nbelief common to most branches of the human family. [155] A story in a\nnative book of anecdotes relates how a foreigner passing a\npork-butcher\u2019s shop asks the master what he will take for the bench on\nwhich the pork is exposed. The answer, given in fun, is \u201cfifty taels.\u201d\nThe foreigner offers to pay the money. This convinces the butcher that\nthere must be something valuable in the bench, so he declines to sell\nit, and carefully puts it by. The foreigner leaves the place and\nreturns after a year\u2019s absence. Seeing the butcher he asks after the\nbench, and, in answer to a very natural enquiry why he deems it so\nvaluable, informs him that, lodged in a cavity within it, is a snake,\nholding in its mouth a precious gem. He further adds that the snake\nlives on the blood that soaks through the wood from the raw meat\nexposed on it, and that when this supply is cut off the snake will die,\nand the gem become worthless. Cursing his own stupidity, the butcher\nseizes a hatchet and splits the bench open, finding the snake dead,\nwhile the jewel it undoubtedly holds in its mouth is of the same colour\nas the eye of a dried fish. I have chosen this story as illustrating\nanother point in native folk-lore\u2014the mysterious powers attributed to\nforeigners\u2014but may observe that constant allusions are to be found in\nChinese works to the idea of snakes containing precious stones. Now, to\ngo no further than a file of Indian papers received a few weeks ago, I\nfind in one of them the following paragraph. \u201cThe Lawrence Gazette\nindulges in surmises as to the object of the ex-King of Oudh in\ncollecting snakes. Perhaps,\u201d it says, \u201che wishes to become possessed of\nthe precious jewel which some serpents are said to contain, or of that\nspecies of snake by whose means it is said a person can fly in the air.\nThe jewel referred to (nun) has in all times been a popular myth, but\nlocated variously in the heads of toads, fishes, and even horses.\u201d The\nsuperstition therefore is not confined to the Chinese. Is it not\npossible that Shakespere\u2019s allusion to the toad, which,\n\n\n    \u201cUgly and venomous, wears a precious jewel in his head,\u201d\n\n\nmay have been suggested by this popular belief, though now interpreted\nto apply only to the beautiful eye with which the animal is endowed?\n\nThe transition from the serpent to the dragon is easy, but appears to\nhave followed much the same rule in China as in England\u2014there being a\nconsiderable amount of confusion in the legendary lore of both\ncountries between the two animals. It is indeed somewhat difficult to\nexactly say where fact left off, and fancy commenced, to contribute to\nthe popular portrait of the dragon. China does, in fact, produce an\nanimal\u2014a harmless species of lizard,\u2014which may well have sat as the\noriginal of the native monster; but its small size (only some two feet\nfrom nose to tail) deprives it of any ferocious semblance. Looking at\nthe widespread belief in dragons there seems little doubt that the\nsemi-myth of to-day is the traditional successor of a really once\nexistent animal, whose huge size, snake-like appearance and, possibly,\ndangerous powers of offence made him so terrible that the earlier races\nof mankind adopted him unanimously as the most fearful embodiment of\nanimal ferocity to be found.\n\nDr. Eitel, in an interesting article on the subject of dragon worship,\n[156] expresses his belief that it has sprung from the same form of\nsnake or naga worship as that still existing in India, Burmah and Siam.\n\u201cWhat strengthens this assertion,\u201d he says, \u201cis the circumstance that I\nam enabled to state positively that the Chinese translators of Sanscrit\nBuddhist texts invariably rendered the term naga (which has been\nidentified with cobra di capello,) by the word \u201clung\u201d (\u9f8d) or dragon.\nThe religious mind of China has never made a scientific distinction\nbetween snake and dragon.\u201d Suffice it to say that China is the oldest\nhome of dragon worship, the animal being represented as winged and\nfour-footed, each foot having four (or five) claws\u2014the latter number\nbeing appropriated solely to pictures, embroideries or figures used by\nthe Imperial Court. Thus a dress with a five-clawed dragon worked on it\ncan be used by one of Royal blood only. It is noteworthy that the\nEnglish dragon is also nearly always represented with wings. For those\nwho have never read the ballad of the Dragon of Wantley I may quote his\ndescription, to enable a comparison to be drawn between him and his\nChinese brother:\u2014\n\n\n            \u201cThis dragon had two furious wings\n            One upon each shoulder,\n            With a sting in his tayle, as long as a flayle,\n            Which made him bolder and bolder.\n            He had long claws, and in his jaws\n            Four and forty teeth of iron,\n            With a hide as tough, as any buff,\n            Which did him round environ.\u201d\n\n\nThe authentic species of dragon or Lung, has, according to Chinese\nbelief, a camel\u2019s head, a deer\u2019s horns, a rabbit\u2019s eyes, a cow\u2019s ears,\na snake\u2019s neck, a frog\u2019s belly, a carp\u2019s scales, a hawk\u2019s claws and a\ntiger\u2019s palms. The chief distinction between the snake and the dragon\nin Chinese eyes is that, while the former is worshipped as a real,\neveryday object, the latter is avowedly supernatural. A popular proverb\nsays, \u201cDragons bring clouds, and tigers bring winds.\u201d [157] The dragon\nis in fact an all-pervading element of every myth relating to the\npowers of nature, and its worship is not, when we trace its serpent\norigin, surprising.\n\nIn no case however does it seem more absurd than when we find it\ngravely noticed in official documents. Thus a year or two since an\nEdict published in the Peking Gazette stated as follows:\u2014\u201cLi Hung-chang\nhas addressed to us a memorial, stating that the River Yung-ting has\nfilled its channel, reporting for punishment the officials who were\nengaged on the works, and requesting the appropriate discipline on\nhimself. He states that much rain fell for several weeks in succession\nthis year, and the waters in river and lake rose to an unwonted height.\nThe officers responsible worked day and night to avert danger by\nopening and shutting sluices and strengthening works. On the 4th and\n5th July the rain came down in bucketfuls, and it became utterly\nimpossible to do anything; the river overflowed in several places. Li\nHung-chang last year reported that he had caged the dragon, and it is\ntherefore an inexcusable fault that, in so short a time afterwards,\neven allowing several weeks\u2019 rain, the river should have broken out!\u201d\nIt would be difficult to come across more convincing proof that the\nsupernatural powers of the dragon over the phenomena of nature were\nfully believed in.\n\nDomestic dragon worship again is familiar to every native. The author\nof the paper above referred to gives curious details of the ceremonies\nobserved in worshipping dragon-spirits. Every hill and mountain is\nsupposed to be inhabited by them, and whenever a new house is to be\nerected, a F\u00eang-shui geomancer is consulted to learn if the location be\nwithin the range of friendly dragon spirits. The house on being\ncompleted has a niche fitted up in it as a shrine for the individual\ndragon which protects the destinies of the house. He is installed with\nconsiderable ceremony, and the shrine is worshipped at the same periods\nas sacrifices or prayers are offered in the Ancestral Hall. In the case\nof houses which have been built for the space of one hundred years (at\nthe expiration of which period the original virtue and efficiency of\nthe tutelary dragon is supposed to need reinvigoration) more elaborate\nceremonials are necessary. Three days are devoted to preparation, and\non the fourth the exorcism of evil influences commences. This consists\nin magical incantations mumbled in unintelligible language, accompanied\nby offerings of frankincense, wine and paper, the whole accompanied by\nthe beatings of drums and gongs and the blowing of a horn. The chief\nwizard then dips his arm into boiling oil or performs some similar feat\nto justify his claims as an exorcist, one of the commonest being to\nwalk unharmed through an enormous fire of blazing charcoal. Another\nperformance consists in ascending a ladder of swords. One or all of\nthese being accomplished, the wizard repairs, attended by the\nneighbours, to the nearest hill and invokes the dragon spirit to\nreturn, and after announcing his arrival professes to entice him back\nto the house. The curious reader will find the ceremonies described at\nlength in the article from which this is summarized.\n\nThe following dragon legend was communicated to the same periodical by\nMr. T. Sampson of Canton, and is worth preservation: \u201cIt is a common\nexpression in Canton, to say that extremely violent gusts of wind\nduring a typhoon are caused by the passage of a t\u00fcn mi lung \u65b7\u5c3e\u9f8d or\n\u201cbob-tail dragon,\u201d and it is sometimes averred that this animal is\nactually seen on such occasions passing through the air; generally\nhowever it is, among educated people, nothing more than an expression\nsignifying a violent gust of wind, and the story connected with it, if\nknown at all beyond the district of Sun-ui where it has a local\ncirculation, is classed with such fables as that of the great sea\nserpent which was so long that when at rest a junk had to sail for\nseveral days to traverse its length, and which, on being cut in two by\na steamer, was several hours in discovering the fact, in consequence of\nthe immense length of the nerves which had to convey to the brain the\nsense of the injury inflicted.\n\n\u201cThe story however of Ah-Tseung and the dragon, as narrated to me by a\nnative of Sun-ui, is as follows: In ancient times there was a certain\nstudious rustic whose name was Ah-Tseung, but whose surname has\nunfortunately not been handed down for the benefit of posterity; this\nyouth having found a young snake took it home with him, and as long as\nhe lived it was his chief delight to nurture this animal; he made a\nnest for it in his book-case, and after every meal he secretly conveyed\nfood to it; it shared his bed, and was his constant companion; the boy\nfor a long time kept the matter secret from his parents, but his\nteacher having observed his many visits to the book-case, wished to\nfind out what was the attraction, and on opening it he observed to his\ngreat surprise and alarm, a huge snake filling one of the shelves, for\nby this time the snake had become full grown. A few months after this\nAh-Tseung died, whereupon his parents drove the snake away to the\nneighbouring hills; on every occasion of ceremonial mourning held by\nthe parents, and on every anniversary of his death, the snake visited\nthe home of his departed friend, and after going several times round\nthe house returned again to the hills; the neighbours felt a natural\nrepugnance to these periodical visits, and remonstrated with Ah\nTseung\u2019s mother, who herself anxious to get rid of so unwelcome a\nvisitor, forbade the snake coming to her house any more; heedless of\nthis command the snake did return; whereupon the mother, with the\nintention of frightening it away, brandished a knife at it in a\nthreatening manner, but in doing so the knife accidentally came in\ncontact with the animal\u2019s tail and severed off several joints of it.\nAfter this the snake never returned; it retired however to the\nKwai-fung-sh\u00e0n in the district of Sun-ui, where there is a lake of\nabout a mau (\u2153d of an acre) in extent and of unfathomable depth; indeed\nit is asserted by the inhabitants of the neighborhood, that its waters\ncommunicate subterraneously with one of the mouths of the great rivers\nof Kwangtung, the Ngaimun, and that any substance thrown into the lake\nwill reappear in the ocean near that embouchure. In and round this lake\nAh Tseung\u2019s snake has lived to the present day, and its appearance on\nthe distant hill top, sometimes as a man clothed in white, and\nsometimes as a white dragon (an instance of progressive development\nwithout natural selection, its flight through the air causing dragonic\ndevelopment from the pristine type of an ordinary snake), or the\nfoaming disturbance of the waters of the lake when he indulges in a\nbath, are considered sure indications of an approaching storm.\n\n\u201cSuch is the story of Ah Tseung and the dragon. Fabulous as it\nundoubtedly is, there may nevertheless be, as is often the case with\nthe most outrageous fables, a grain of scientific truth in it; the\nrange of hills in Sun-ui of which the Kwei-fung-shan forms a part, must\nexert some influence on typhoons; they are in the track of these\ncircular storms, and probably their height effects an attractive\ninfluence over them, and their conformation diverts the course of the\nstorm as it impinges upon them. Hence the fact in the natural history\nof typhoons, that they, owing to these causes, frequently pass over\nSun-ui and disturb the waters of the lake in the Kwai-fung hills before\nthey reach other parts of the common delta of the Kwangtung river, may\nbe the grain of scientific truth which has given rise to the story of\nAh Tseung and the dragon with an abbreviated caudal extremity.\u201d\n\nIf we have no Western legend to answer to that just given, a very close\nparallel to a Serpent or dragon myth which has spread throughout Europe\ncan be found in China. Our popular story of St. George and the Dragon\nhas numerous parallels in Western folklore. The stories of the laird\nwho slew the \u201cworme of Linton,\u201d of the knight who killed the Lambton\nworm, of the Champion Conyers who delivered Sockburn in Durham from \u201ca\nworm, dragon or fiery flying serpent,\u201d and of the plucky Scot named\nMartin who in Forfar achieved a victory over a dragon which had\ndevoured nine maidens, embody the same story in other words.\nScandinavian Folk-lore too abounds with similar stories. But one is\nhardly prepared to find the legend existing in China, with a change of\nsex indeed on the part of the champion, but otherwise the same in its\ngeneral features as our own. Mr. W. F. Mayers, writing in November\n1867, drew attention to this fact and furnished the now extinct\nperiodical so frequently referred to on previous pages with the\nfollowing translation from the Kwang-po-wu-chih, a thesaurus of\nexcerpts compiled towards the end of the sixteenth century: [158] \u201cIn\nthe eastern regions of Yueh Min (the present Fuhkien) there exists a\nrange of mountains called the Yung Ling, many tens of li in height, in\nthe north-western recesses of which there abode a mighty serpent, seven\nor eight chang (seventy or eighty feet) in length and ten feet in\ncircumference, which was held in great awe by the people of the\ncountry. At a certain time it signified either to some person in a\ndream or to those versed in the art of divination that it lusted to\ndevour a maiden of the age of twelve or thirteen; and the governors and\nmen in authority of that region, equally alarmed respecting the\nmonster, sought out female bond-servants and the daughters of criminals\nto satisfy the serpent\u2019s appetite. In the morning of the day in the 8th\nmoon, after offering sacrifices, the victim was taken to the mouth of\nthe serpent\u2019s cavern; and at night the serpent suddenly issued forth\nand devoured its prey. Year after year this happened, until at length\nnine maidens in all had been offered up; and a fresh demand was being\nmade, but no victim could be obtained. At this time Li Tan, Magistrate\nof Tsing Lo, had six daughters and no sons. His youngest daughter,\nnamed Ki \u5947, responded to the call and was ready to proceed (to the\ncavern), but her parents refused consent. She urged, however, that she\nwas unable to be of use to her parents, as was Ti Ying (the faithful\ndaughter of olden times), and being a mere source of useless expense\nmight as well bring her life to a speedy close, and only requested to\nbe supplied with a good sword and a dog that would bite at snakes. In\nthe morning of the day of the eighth month she visited the Temple, with\nthe sword beside her and the dog provided. She had also previously\nprepared several measures of boiled rice mixed with honey, which she\nplaced at the mouth of the cavern. At night the serpent came forth, its\nhead as large as a rice stock and its eyes like mirrors two feet\nacross\u2014when, perceiving the aroma of the mess of rice, it began to\ndevour it. Ki forthwith let loose her dog which seized the serpent in\nits teeth, and the maiden hereupon hacked the monster from behind, so\nthat after dragging itself to the mouth of its cave it died. The maiden\nentered the cavern and recovered the skeletons of the nine previous\nvictims, whose untimely fate she bewailed. After this she leisurely\nreturned home, and the prince of Sueh, hearing of her exploit, raised\nher to be his Queen.\n\n\u201cOther versions of this history may exist, but the above is the only\none I have met with. The occurrence of a female as the hero is somewhat\nremarkable, but in other respects the fact that filial piety and\ndexterity in stratagems replace in the Chinese legend the masculine\npurity and dauntless courage with which our own traditions invest St.\nGeorge, as also the minuteness in detail of the events recorded, are\nhighly characteristic of the Chinese turn of mind. In any case, this is\nprobably the earliest existing version of the famous legend.\u201d\n\nSo much for dragons, dismissed perhaps with almost too scant notice,\nbut scarcely needing more elaborate discussion. The third heading of\nthe present chapter refers to fabulous animals of another description,\nand of these Chinese folk-lore presents us with a fair variety. The\nPh\u0153nix, for instance, enjoys its classical reputation amongst the\ninhabitants of the Middle Kingdom, while tigers, monkeys and elephants\nalso enjoy the reputation of a wisdom which goes beyond instinct and\nmore than verges on the domain of humanity. Tailed men and mermaids\nfurnish native tradition-mongers with numerous stories; and the unicorn\nof Chinese myth-land is to all intents and purposes identical with the\ncelebrated animal mentioned in our nursery rhyme, relating how\n\n\n                \u201cThe lion and the Unicorn\n                Went fighting for the Crown;\u201d\n\n\nand still \u201csupporting\u201d our royal arms. The ki lin, or Chinese unicorn,\nhas a stag\u2019s body, a horse\u2019s hoofs, the tail of an ox and a\nparti-coloured skin, while from its forehead proceeds a single horn\nwith a fleshy tip. In this case there is however but little mystery in\nthe resemblance. So far from agreeing with Dr. Williams as to \u201cthe\nindependent origin of the Chinese account,\u201d [159] there can, I fancy,\nbe no question that, both we and the Chinese alike derived the idea of\nthe unicorn from Central Asia, where we have almost historical proof\nsuch an animal once actually existed, if indeed it does not still\ninhabit the vast steppes of the continent. [160] The chief superstition\nconnected with the unicorn in China proper is that one makes its\nappearance when a sage is about to be born.\n\nPh\u0153nixes also act as harbingers of the birth of great men, [161] but it\nis somewhat difficult to define their shape and colour. Popular native\nproverbs allege that \u201cThe Ph\u0153nix will only alight where there is\nsomething precious.\u201d Another saying declares that \u201cwhen the ph\u0153nix\ncomes there is prosperity.\u201d The following account of this\nuniversally-believed-in bird, given by Mr. Mayers in his Readers\u2019\nManual, embodies an admirable r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of Chinese legend on the subject.\nThe feng or ph\u0153nix is, he says, \u201ca fabulous bird of wondrous form and\nmystic nature, the second amongst the four supernatural creatures. Very\nearly legends narrated that this bird made its appearance as a presage\nof the advent of virtuous rulers, whose presence it also graced as an\nemblem of their auspicious government. One writer describes it as\nhaving the head of a pheasant, the beak of a swallow, the neck of a\ntortoise and the outward semblance of a dragon; to which another\nversion adds the tail of a fish; but in pictorial representations it is\nusually delineated as a compound between the peacock and the pheasant,\nwith the addition of many gorgeous colours. It sate in the court of\nHwang-ti while that sovereign observed the ceremonial fasts; and\naccording to the Shu King it came with measured gambollings to add\nsplendour to the musical performances conducted by the great Shun. The\nfemale is called Hwang, and this name, combined with that of the male,\nforms the compound Feng Hwang which is usually employed as the generic\ndesignation for the wondrous bird. It is translated ph\u0153nix by many\nwriters. Among the marvels related respecting this creature, it is said\nthat each of the five colours which embellish the F\u00eang-hwang\u2019s plumage\nis typical of one of the cardinal virtues; and a name is given to each\nof the many intonations ascribed to its voice.\u201d\n\nAn animal occupying an intermediate position between fact and\nfiction\u2014its existence being the one, and its alleged qualities the\nother\u2014is known as the Sing-sing \u7329\u7329, a very large species of baboon\nfound in Cambodia. Its blood is supposed in China to be useful as a\ndye; but inasmuch as it of course dries up if the animal is killed, the\nChinese allege that artifice is resorted to by hunters to induce it to\nsubmit to the process of bleeding, and the natives quaintly describe\nthe (very imaginative) operation. The story is evidently the production\nof some Chinese \u00c6sop, containing as it does an admirable satire on the\ntemptations of the wine cup. But, nevertheless, the animal is really\nbelieved by the vulgar to possess supernatural powers. The account\ngiven is as follows:\u2014\u201cThe Sing-sing is remarkably fond of wine; so the\nblood-hunters lay a trap for him thus:\u2014Having found the tracks he\nfrequents, they place in some position where he is sure to see them a\npailful of some intoxicating liquid and a cup, and then conceal\nthemselves in the vicinity. After a time the Sing-sing discovers the\npail; but after inspecting it mutters, \u2018Ah! this is put here by the\nblood hunters, but I shan\u2019t be fool enough to drink it; it\u2019s nothing\nbut poison.\u2019 Moving away for a short time it presently returns,\nobserving, \u2018After all wine is a good thing in itself, if one doesn\u2019t\ntake too much; it\u2019s very nice, and I shall just try one cup.\u2019 The\nanimal accordingly takes one cupful and walks away, soon however\nreturning for a second and a third, finally drinking itself helpless.\nThe hunters then seize it and place it in a cage, and on its recovery\nbegin to bargain with it for its liberty. Its blood, to be of any\nservice, must be voluntarily given, so the hunters demand so many\ncupsful as the price of its release. After a good deal of palavering\nthis is settled; the animal then himself opens a vein, measures out the\nquantity agreed on and is released, again to fall a victim to similar\ntemptation.\u201d The assumption that the baboon can, if it will, hold\nconverse with mankind is noteworthy as common to most countries whence\nthe monkey tribes take their origin.\n\nOf course our old friend\u2014I might almost say, in view of the latest\npublished accounts, our American friend\u2014the Sea Serpent, turns up on\nthe coasts of China, and the description given of him does not greatly\ndiffer from that recorded elsewhere. According to a popular legend the\nChien Tang river was at one time infested by a great Kiau or sea\nserpent, and in 1129 A.D., a district graduate is said to have\nheroically thrown himself into the flood to encounter and destroy the\nmonster. His wife forthwith put an end to her existence also, from\ndevotion to him, and their virtues were commemorated by a temple\nerected for their worship. [162] It has been already noted that most of\nthe river gods are supposed to appear in the form of water snakes, and\nthat the sea serpents noticed in Chinese records have always infested\nthe mouths of rivers. From a tutelary deity to one purely malevolent is\nno great step. Other remarkable animals are noted by the writer above\nquoted (Dr. D. J. Macgowan) as stated to have visited the same river:\nIn 488 A.D. a salt inspector discovered near its mouth a \u201csea-fish\nwhich the tide had left behind. It was more than 300 feet long, of a\nblack colour, without scales,\u201d and was eaten by its captors. About 120\nyears ago, again \u201ca huge sea-fish appeared off Chapoo; it followed the\nvessels in with the tide and at ebb was unable to return. It measured\none hundred feet in length, was ten feet high and twenty wide.\u201d This is\nprobably an exaggerated story of a whale, but as the Chinese have a\ndistinct name for the whale, with which they are fairly familiar, there\nremains a possibility of the animal in question being something unknown\nto naturalists.\n\nA very singular coincidence between two legends relating to fabulous\nfish is to be found in the following. A recent visitor to Nanking thus\ndescribes the basin which formerly decorated the top of the celebrated\nporcelain pagoda: \u201cWe happened to discover among the ruins an immense\ncast iron basin, 39 feet in circumference, which is connected popularly\nwith the above account of the thunder spirit. This basin was placed\nwith its mouth upwards on the summit of the pagoda, and hence would\nconstantly be full of rain water. A bird perched upon the edge of the\nbasin one day dropped a fish into the water, which grew and grew till\nit became a strange monster, exercising such an evil influence over the\nneighbourhood that the God of thunder was at length compelled to attack\nit, and in doing so struck the tower and partially destroyed it. It was\nfinally destroyed by the rebels in 1856.\u201d Now if we turn to Henderson\u2019s\nFolk-lore of the Northern Counties, p. 248, we find the following story\nof the \u201cHeir of Lambton.\u201d Fishing one day in the river Wear he felt\nsomething tugging at his line and thought he had secured a fine fish.\nBut to his horror he found that he had only caught a worm of unsightly\nappearance which he hastily tore from his hook and flung into a well\nclose by. \u201cA stranger of venerable appearance passing by asked him what\nsport he had met with. To which he replied, \u2018Why truly I think I have\ncaught the devil himself. Look in and judge.\u2019 The stranger looked, and\nremarked that he thought it boded no good.... Meantime the worm\nremained in the well till it outgrew so confined a hiding place. It\nthen emerged and betook itself by day to the river, and by night to a\nneighbouring hill round whose base it would twine itself; while it\ncontinued to grow so fast that it soon could encircle the hill three\ntimes. The monster now became the terror of the whole country side,\n&c.\u201d The feat of arms by which this \u201cLambton Worm\u201d was finally killed\nhas been before alluded to. But the coincidence between the Chinese and\nEnglish legend, in other respects, seemed worth additional notice.\n\nSome of my readers may perchance be interested to learn that the\noriginal home of the mermaid (Ch. sea-woman \u6d77\u5973 hai n\u00fc) is almost within\nsight of the room in which these notes are being written. The only\nspecimen of a veritable mermaid I ever saw was Barnum\u2019s celebrated\npurchase from Japan, which, so far as could be judged, consisted of a\nmonkey\u2019s body most artistically joined to a fish\u2019s tail. But the author\nof a work entitled Yueh chung chieh w\u00ean, or \u201cJottings on the South of\nChina,\u201d compiled in 1801, narrates how a man of the district of Sin-an\n(locally Sin-on) captured a mermaid on the shore of Ta-y\u00fc-shan or\nNamtao Island. \u201cHer features and limbs were in all respects human,\nexcept that her body was covered with fine hair of many beautiful\ncolours. The fisherman took home his prize and married her, though she\nwas unable to talk and could only smile. She however learned to wear\nclothes like ordinary mortals. \u201cWhen the fisherman died the sea-maiden\nwas sent back to the spot where she was first found, and she\ndisappeared beneath the waves.\u201d The narrator quaintly adds, \u201cThis\ntestifies that a man-fish does no injury to human beings,\u201d and he\nmoreover informs us that these creatures are frequently to be found\nnear Y\u00fc-shan and the Ladrone Island\u2014so that any adventurous Hongkong\ncanoeist may still have a chance of making a novel acquaintance.\nAnother case recorded by the same writer speaks of a mermaid of more\nconventional form than the lady already noticed. \u201cThe Cabinet\nCouncillor Cha Tao being despatched on a mission to Corea, and lying at\nanchor in his ship at a bay upon the coast, saw a woman stretched upon\nthe beach, with her face upwards, her hair short and streaming loose,\nand with webbed feet and hands. He recognised this being as a mermaid\n(or man fish) and gave orders that she should be carried to the sea.\nThis being done, the creature clasped her hands with an expression of\nloving gratitude and sank beneath the waters.\u201d\n\nThe Straits of Hainan are regarded by the Chinese as the chief habitat\nof monstrous fishes of strange shape, ruled over by the God of the\nwaters, a sort of Chinese Neptune. And it is quite possible that the\nopening of the principal port of the island to foreign trade may (on\nthe ground that nearly all such legends have a faint substratum of\ntruth) reveal to the eyes of the naturalist new and undreamt-of\ninhabitants of the deep. It is but a few years since the ridicule\nexcited by M. Victor Hugo\u2019s \u201cdevil fish\u201d has given way to a sober\nrecognition of the fact that the octopus of real life is a monster but\nlittle differing from the fanciful sketch given of his congener. And he\nwould now-a-days be rash who ventured to assert that the Chinese have\nless ground for asserting the existence of very real monsters to our\neyes than is possessed by the hardy fishermen of the coasts of Northern\nEurope.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXI.\u2014SUPERSTITIONS REGARDING THE POWERS OF NATURE.\n\n\nThe beliefs to be noticed under this head are such as those familiar\nwith Asiatic ways of thought would expect to find. The sun, moon, and\nstars, thunder and lightning, wind, water, and fire are each supposed\nto exist and exercise their powers under the directions of particular\ndeities or spirits. As with ourselves, the moon enjoys amongst the\nChinese a pre\u00ebminence in regard to the numerous traditions related of\nher inhabitants. There is an Old Man of the Moon, a Goddess, a Lunar\nFrog, a Toad, a Hare &c., and each myth bears more or less resemblance\nto legends handed down to us from our own forefathers. The sun, though\nin a less degree, is the object of similar beliefs. Planetary or\nstellar influences are devoutly believed in, stars being, as amongst\nthe ancient Westerns, the embodiments or homes of heroes or demons. So\ntoo with cosmical phenomena. Being unable to realize that these occur\nin accordance with natural laws laid down by an all-powerful Creator,\nthe Chinese are naturally thrown back upon the pagan idea of numerous\nsupernatural directors. That their legends regarding such matters are,\nhowever puerile, so strikingly free from aught that is obscene or (when\nmythology is in question) unnatural, is creditable to the purity of the\npopular creeds.\n\nDr. D. J. Macgowan, whose numerous contributions to our better\nknowledge of Chinese matters have placed his readers under considerable\nobligations, furnished an interesting mass of matter in this connection\nin an article read in December 1858 before the North China Branch of\nthe Royal Asiatic Society. In his introductory remarks he thus accounts\nfor the fulness of cosmical record for which Chinese literature is\nremarkable:\u2014\u201cAccording to Chinese cosmogony, man is so intimately\nidentified with the powers of nature, being what they term \u2018a miniature\nheaven and earth,\u2019 that, in order to be conversant with the science of\ncivil government, one must study celestial and terrestrial\nphenomena,\u2014as the deviations from the course of nature are all more or\nless portentous of evil, excepting a few, which are regarded as\nfelicitous. Indeed, in high antiquity they professed to have a\nrevelation in a tabulated form, procured from the carapace of a\ntortoise, by which those who observed the weather and seasons might\nform correct opinions on the political aspect of the times. In the\nShu-King, under the section Hung-Fan or Great Plan, this doctrine is\nsummarily laid down thus:\u2014\n\n\n          Seasonable rain,        indicates Decorum.\n          Excessive rain,            ,,     Dissoluteness.\n          Opportune fine weather,    ,,     Good government.\n          Long-continued drought,    ,,     Arrogance.\n          Moderate heat,             ,,     Intelligence.\n          Excessive heat,            ,,     Indolence.\n          Moderate cold,             ,,     Deliberation.\n          Extreme cold,              ,,     Precipitation.\n          Seasonable wind,           ,,     Perfection.\n          Continued tempest,         ,,     Stupidity.\n\n\n\u201cFrom these views, which have great influence on the minds of the\nChinese, it happens that a fuller account of subterranean action of\nmeteorological wonders, and the like, are found in their records, than\namong the annals of any other people, anterior to the birth of\nmeteorology as a science.\u201d\n\nNo doubt the explanation here given accounts for the attention paid by\nthe more educated classes to natural phenomena. But, as is usually the\ncase, popular belief has grafted upon an intelligible, if absurd,\nsystem numerous additions. The superstitious peasantry trouble\nthemselves but slightly about the science of civil government but\neagerly discuss portents which are believed to affect their little\nworld. And as my object is rather to deal with such superstitions as\nthey affect the vulgar, than as they influence the literati, I content\nmyself with this mere glance at the profounder system involved in\nwatching cosmical phenomena and pursue the humbler branch of the\nsubject comprehended under the term \u201cfolk-lore;\u201d though it is probable\nthat I shall here transgress the boundaries of my subject, inasmuch as\nsuch beliefs are too closely connected with native mythology to enable\na strict line to be drawn between the two.\n\nThe Chinese \u201cOld Man in the Moon\u201d is known as Yue-lao and is reputed to\nhold in his hands the power of predestining the marriages of mortals\u2014so\nthat marriages if not, according to the native idea, exactly made in\nheaven, are made somewhere beyond the bounds of earth. He is supposed\nto tie together the future husband and wife with an invisible silken\ncord which never parts so long as life exists. Readers of Mr.\nBaring-Gould\u2019s \u201cCurious Myths\u201d will remember the various legends\nattaching to the Man in the Moon, none of which however endow him with\nany power over sublunary affairs. The parallel between an English and\nChinese superstition regarding the Queen or Goddess of the Moon is\ncloser. This still exists in parts of Lancashire and is the basis of\nnumerous legends in China. Regarding these latter I cannot do better\nthan quote the remarks made by Mr. W. F. Mayers, [163] though, as will\nbe observed, he does not notice the Lancashire superstition. He\nsays:\u2014\u201cNo one can compare the Chinese legend with the popular European\nbelief in the \u2018Man in the Moon,\u2019 as sketched, for instance, in Mr.\nBaring-Gould\u2019s \u2018Curious Myths of the Middle Ages\u2019 (First Series, p.\n179), without feeling convinced of the certainty that the Chinese\nsuperstition and the English nursery tale are both derived from kindred\nparentage, and are linked in this relationship by numerous subsidiary\nties. The idea, says Mr. Gould, of placing \u2018animals in the two great\nluminaries of heaven is very ancient and ... a relic of a primeval\nsuperstition of the Aryan race.\u2019 A tree, an old man, and a hare, are,\nas Mr. Gould shews in various passages, the inhabitants assigned to the\nmoon in Indian fable; whilst the curious notion that the human recluse\ncondemned to an abode in the lunar regions owes his transportation\nthither to an act of theft or of sacrilege is a well-known concomitant\nof the story in all lands. In all the range of Chinese mythology there\nis, perhaps, no stranger instance of identity with the traditions that\nhave taken root in Europe than in the case of the legends relating the\nmoon; and, luckily, it is not difficult to trace the origin of the\nChinese belief in this particular instance. The celebrated Lin Ngan,\nauthor (in part at least) of the writings known as Hwai Nan Tsze, is\nwell known to have been the patron of travelled philosophers, under\nwhose guidance he studied and pursued the cabalistic practices which\neventually betrayed him to his death; and the famous astronomer Chang\nH\u00eang was avowedly a disciple of Indian teachers. That the writings\nderived from two such hands are found giving currency to an Indian\nfable is, therefore, not surprising; and there seems to be ground for\nsuspicion that the name Chang Ngo, (or, as the dictionaries assert more\nproperly Heng-ngo) appearing in their treatises may be the corrupt\nrepresentation of some Hindoo sound, rather than connected, as the\nwriter quoted above suggests, with the doubtful title of an office\nobscurely mentioned in times long anterior to the dates at which they\nwrote. The statement given by Chang H\u00eang is to the effect that \u2018How I\n\u540e\u7fbf, the fabled inventor of arrows in the days of Yao and Shun, obtained\nthe drug of immortality from Si Wang Mu (the fairy \u201cRoyal Mother\u201d of\nthe West); and Chang-Ngo (his wife) having stolen it, fled to the moon,\nand became the frog\u2014Chan-chu\u2014which is seen there.\u2019 The later fabulists\nhave adhered to this story and amplified its details, as for instance,\nin the Kwang-ki a pleasing story of a subsequent reunion between How I\nand his wife is told; but in general the myth has been handed down\nunaltered, and the lady Chang-ngo is still pointed out among the\nshadows in the surface of the moon. In its etymological bearings, the\nlegend is well worthy of further investigation.\u201d With this conclusion\nall readers will agree. As regards the legend concerning the hare, it\nis purely of Indian origin, having been introduced into China with\nBuddhism. Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, is related to have been a\nhare in one of the earliest stages of his existence, living in\nfriendship with a fox and an ape. Indra having sought their hospitality\nthe fox and ape procured him food, but the hare could find nothing.\nSooner than be inhospitable the hare cast itself into a fire in order\nto become food for his guest, in reward for which Indra transported him\nto the moon. [164] The lunar hare, as Mr. Mayers notes in his \u201cManual,\u201d\nis said to squat at the foot of \u201cthe cassia tree of the moon\u201d (\u6708\u4e2d\u6842)\npounding drugs for the Genii (Art. Kwei \u6842 \u00a7 300). A vulgar superstition\nasserts that the hare conceives by looking at the moon, bringing forth\nher young from the mouth.\n\nThe influence exerted by the moon on tides is recognised by the\nChinese\u2014a noteworthy fact in view of the strenuous denials of there\nbeing any basis of scientific truth in a belief shared by every Western\nsailor. The moon is, in China, the embodiment of the Yin or female\nprinciple influencing darkness, the female sex, the earth, water, &c.\n&c. A trace of a similar belief is to be found in the Isle of Skye. The\nSkye correspondent of a home Journal writes:\u2014\u201cDuring the fortnight\ncommencing on the 24th of June, when the moon was crescent, no real\nSkyeman would stack his peats for any consideration, believing that\nunless stacked under a waning moon the peats will give neither light\nnor heat when burned. \u2018A power of smoke\u2019 is all that can be expected\nfrom peats stacked under a crescent moon. In Skye the crescent is\ncalled \u2018fas,\u2019 and the wane \u2018tarradh,\u2019 and under these two terms the\nmoon not only exercises great influence over peats, but also over many\nother things. In some parts of the High-lands, sheep, pigs and cows are\nonly killed in the \u2018fas,\u2019 as meat made in the \u2018tarradh\u2019 is supposed to\nbe good for nothing but \u2018shrinking\u2019 when in the pot.\u201d Native Chinese\nrecords aver that on the 18th day of the 6th moon, 1590, snow fell one\nsummer night from the midst of the moon. The flakes were like fine\nwillow flowers or shreds of silk.\n\nIf we except the somewhat bold speculations of certain modern\nreligionists who place the hereafter within the fiery orb forming the\ncentre of our system, European legend and belief have but little to say\nabout the sun. The Chinese however have not failed to assign it as the\ndwelling-place of mysterious beings, one account making it the\nresidence of a spirit named Yuh I, while others allege that a\nthree-legged bird of supernatural attributes is its ruling demon. The\nsun rules the masculine principle and is supposed to be the offspring\nof a female named Hi Ho. [165] Other popular Buddhistic legends allege\nthe names of the solar genius to be\u2014Su-li-ye \u8607\u5229\u8036 or Su-mo \u8607\u6469. We must\nturn to the fire-worshippers of Persia or Mexico, to the worshippers of\nBaal or the sun-worshippers of Ph\u0153nicia for precise analogies in this\ndirection. Dr. Kitto concludes that the latter worshipped not the sun\nitself but an astral spirit residing in it. The most singular fact in\nconnection with the Chinese beliefs is, after all, their compatibility\nwith an absence of any extended system of Sun-worship, though that\nluminary is adored as Tai-yang-ti-ch\u00fcn\u2014the \u201cSun ruler\u201d who presides\nover the soul of man.\n\nThe identification of the stars and planets with the dwelling places of\nheroic or supernatural beings prevails extensively in China. These\nsuperstitions are mostly Taoistic and strongly resemble those of the\nHindoos. The Divine Tortoise \u795e\u9f9c Sh\u00ean-kwai is said to be the embodiment\nof the star \u201cYao Kwong\u201d in Ursa Major. The Spirit of the legendary\nprince Chih-yu \u86a9\u5c24 is supposed to inhabit the planet Mars. Yu-hwang-ti\nis assigned to the pure Jade stone palace in the T\u02bbai-wei tract of\nstars. T\u02bbien-hwang-ta-ti, who rules the poles, and regulates heaven,\nearth and man, is said to reside in the pole star. Hsing-chu, the \u201cLord\nof the stars\u201d resides in a star near the pole known by his name; while\nthe spirit of the South pole has a similar celestial residence. As\nalready noted, Kwan-Ti, the God of War, is alleged to have made himself\nvisible, on occasions of dire political distress, within a brilliant\nstar. Numerous examples of this sort might be adduced, but the\nforegoing may suffice. The constellations, by the way, are in Chinese\nalmanacks formed into arbitrary figures as in Western astronomy, while,\nas is natural, the Chinaman actually associates the monster thus\ndesigned with the stars forming its supposed outline. Persons born\nunder certain constellations are (in accordance with European\nAstrology) liable to good or evil luck. Apropos of this I came across a\ncurious work from Madras [166] a short time since, in which the rules\nfor building a house in compliance with stellar influences closely\nresemble similar beliefs in China.\u2014\u201cHaving selected a site, the\nfrontage must be divided into nine equal parts, five being assigned to\nthe right and three to the left, the fourth division being reserved for\nthe door-way. The enumeration begins on the left and thus the fourth\nsection is in the mansion of Mercury. The occupant of such a house may\nbecome as wealthy as Kubera. A person born under Gemini, Cancer, or\nLeo, must build his house on a line stretching east and west, the\nentrance being placed easterly. A person born under Virgo, Libra, or\nScorpio, must build on a line running north and south, the door-way\nbeing southerly. One born under Sagittarius, Capricorn, or Aquarius\nmust build west and east, placing the entrance westerly. If born under\nPisces, Aries, or the Twins, he must build south and north, the door\nbeing placed northerly. A family occupying a house built contrary to\nthese rules will be ruined.\u201d\n\nSome of the popular beliefs regarding appearances in the heavens have\nbeen alluded to under Portents and Auguries, but I may here add a word\nor two to the details already given. The appearance of ships, troops,\n&c. in the sky is of course deemed supernatural, Chinese science being\nas yet unacquainted with the causes of the mirage. Several\nwell-authenticated stories of such phenomena are on record, one at\nKung-shan having been visible for a whole day. That part of the sea on\nHangchau Bay which lies near Kiahing often, says Dr. Macgowan, exhibits\nthis illusion. It is more frequently seen from the opposite side. \u201cSea\nMarket\u201d is the general term by which the mirage is designated, and it\nis noted as occurring at different points of the coast from Canton to\nShantung. It can easily be believed that such an apparent miracle, in\nview of two contending armies, would suffice to turn the scale of\nvictory on the side of those expecting reinforcements. Amongst other\nphenomena recorded in China is the appearance of a hen without feet\nsitting on the sun! Parhelia, or mock suns, have frequently been seen,\nand the concurrence of their manifestation with important state events\nhas of course tended to justify a popular belief in their portentous\nqualities. A well-known story published only a few years since, in one\nof the foreign papers, relates how the Chang-ning rebels besieged one\nof the cities in the Yangtsze valley, and how the magistrate having\nfirst offered prayer in the temple of Tien-kung, led the troops against\nthem and completely defeated them. The rebel prisoners all stated that\nwhen the battle commenced they saw a large flag in the heavens with the\ncharacters Tien \u7530 on it, and in the rear of the flag a host of ghostly\nsoldiers flying through the air, smiting the rebels as they passed, and\nscaring them out of their wits. Thus the city was saved. The success\nwas fully attributed to divine interposition, and the story is\ngratefully recounted by the people to the present time. A memorial was\ndrawn up by the local gentry, and presented to the district magistrate\nwith the request that the Throne should be petitioned to confer a\nhigher title on Tien-kung. Such a request being in accordance with\nChinese custom, it was of course granted.\n\nThe absurd stories told of meteors are endless. In the native Records,\nthe most extraordinary phenomena are alleged to have been observed. A\nshooting star from which fell fish (A.D. 519), a meteor which after\nlying where it fell for some days suddenly moved of itself (A.D. 1561),\nand a formless body as large as a house which bounded over the dykes\nnear Yuling into the sea, furrowing the ground as it went (A.D. 1782),\nare duly recorded, with a host of ordinary meteorites, as having\nalarmed the neighbourhood in which they appeared. \u201cIn the year 1348, a\nstar as large as a bowl, of a white and slightly azure colour, with a\ntail about 50 feet long, lightened the sky, with a rumbling noise flew\nfrom the North-east, and entered the midst of the moon, the moon then\nlooking as a reversed tile,\u2014i.e. upright.\u201d The Chinese are not of\ncourse much worse (if so bad) in regard to such matters than the people\nof the West, and equally curious records exist amongst ourselves. As\nwas observed in the introductory chapter the distinction between the\nsuperstitions of the Middle Kingdom and those of Europe lies rather in\nthe more widely accorded credulity to alleged marvels amongst the\nformer than in any actual difference of belief.\n\nThunder and lightning are, of course, in China the manifestations of\nsupernatural anger. [167] The god of Thunder in China (Lui-tsz)\ncorresponds to the Indian Vajrapani, and is a well-known Buddhist\ndeity, worshipped like his numerous companions as a stellar god, and\noccupying in popular belief a position not unlike, though less\nimportant than, that of the Scandinavian Thor. [168] The connection\nbetween lightning and fire in all known mythologies is equally obvious\nin China. But we miss the Promethean legend so widely known in the\nWest. Here the God of Fire wields indeed the lightning, but only to\ncause the conflagrations which satiate his vengeance. He is, in fact, a\nvery everyday deity, destitute of the enormous powers wielded by his\nrepresentatives elsewhere. The popular idea of his attributes is well\nillustrated by the following legend, kindly placed at my disposal by\nMr. G. M. H. Playfair (of H. M. Consular service in China) as having\nbeen related to him during his residence in Peking:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe temples of the God of Fire are numerous in Peking, as is natural\nin a city built for the most part of very combustible materials. The\nidols representing the god are, with one exception, decked with red\nbeards, typifying by their colour the element under his control. The\nexceptional god has a white beard, and \u2018thereby hangs a tale.\u2019\n\n\u201cA hundred years ago the Chinese Imperial revenue was in much better\ncase than it is now. At that time they had not yet come into collision\nwith Western powers, and the word \u2018indemnity\u2019 had not, so far, found a\nplace in their vocabulary; internal rebellions were checked as soon as\nthey broke out, and, in one word, Kien Lung was in less embarrassed\ncircumstances than Kwang Hsu; he had more money to spend, and did lay\nout a good deal in the way of palaces. His favourite building, and one\non which no expense had been spared, was the \u2018Hall of Contemplation.\u2019\nThis Hall was of very large dimensions; the rafters and the pillars\nwhich supported the roof were of a size such as no trees in China\nfurnish now-a-days. They were not improbably originally sent as an\noffering by the tributary monarch of some tropical country, such as\nBurmah or Siam. Two men could barely join hands round the pillars; they\nwere cased in lustrous jet black lacquer, which, while adding to the\nbeauty of their appearance, was also supposed to make them less liable\nto combustion. Indeed, every care was taken that no fire should\napproach the building; no lighted lamp was allowed in the precincts,\nand to have smoked a pipe inside those walls would have been punished\nwith death. The floor of the Hall was of different-coloured marbles, in\na mosaic of flowers and mystic Chinese characters, always kept polished\nlike a mirror. The sides of the room were lined with rare books and\nprecious manuscripts. It was in short the finest palace in the Imperial\ncity, and it was the pride of Kien Lung.\n\n\u201cAlas for the vanity of human wishes! In spite of every precaution, one\nnight a fire broke out and the Hall of Contemplation was in danger. The\nChinese of a century ago were not without fire-engines; and though\nmiserably inefficient as compared with those of our London fire\nbrigades, they were better than nothing, and a hundred of them were\nsoon working round the burning building. The Emperor himself came out\nto superintend their efforts and encourage them to renewed exertions.\nBut the wall was doomed; a more than earthly power was directing the\nflames, and mortal efforts were of no avail. For on one of the burning\nrafters Kien Lung saw the figure of a little old man, with a long white\nbeard, standing in a triumphant attitude. \u2018It is the God of Fire,\u2019 said\nthe Emperor, \u2018we can do nothing:\u2019 so the building was allowed to blaze\nin peace. Next day Kien Lung appointed a Commission to go the round of\nthe Peking temples in order to discover in which of them there was a\nFire god with a white beard, that he might worship him and appease the\noffended deity. The search was fruitless; all the Fire-gods had red\nbeards. But the Commission had done its work badly; being highly\nrespectable mandarins of genteel families, they had confined their\nsearch to such temples as were in good repair and of creditable\nexterior. Outside the North gate of the Imperial City was one old,\ndilapidated, disreputable shrine which they had overlooked. It had been\ncrumbling away for years, and even the dread figure of the God of Fire,\nwhich sat above the altar, had not escaped desecration. \u2018Time had\nthinned his flowing locks,\u2019 and the beard had fallen away altogether.\nOne day some water-carriers who frequented the locality thought, either\nin charity or by way of a joke, that the face would look the better for\na new beard. So they unravelled some cord, and with the frayed-out hemp\nadorned the beardless chin. An official passing the temple one day,\npeeped in out of curiosity, and saw the hempen beard. \u2018Just the thing\nthe Emperor was enquiring about,\u2019 said he to himself, and he took the\nnews to the palace without delay. Next day there was a state visit to\nthe dilapidated temple, and Kien Lung made obeisance and vowed a vow.\n\n\u201c\u2018O Fire God,\u2019 said he, \u2018thou hast been wroth with me in that I have\nbuilt me palaces and left thy shrine unhonoured and in ruins. Here do I\nvow to build thee a temple surpassed by none other of the Fire-gods in\nPeking; but I shall expect thee in future not to meddle with my\npalaces.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe Emperor was as good as his word. The new temple is on the site of\nthe old one and the Fire god has a flowing beard of fine white hair.\u201d\n\nSome odd superstitions connected with the spread of fire come under my\nnotice at this moment. The Chinese are cautious of provoking the \u201cGod\nof Fire\u201d or \u201cFire Principle\u201d either by ill-timed allusions to his\npowers or by other acts, and the Tientsin correspondent of a Shanghai\njournal refers to this fact in noting that, in view of an existing\ndrought, and the closing of the South gate of the former City as a\nstimulus to rain, the Fire Principle might revenge itself by an\noutbreak. On the 19th of May last the correspondent writes:\u2014\u201cAlmost as\nsoon as this ill-timed suggestion had an opportunity to get itself\nconsidered, the Fire Principle proceeded to act upon it; the\nconsequence is that a large quantity of combustible material, and\nseveral rather incombustible mud houses, now \u2018slumber in the valley.\u2019\nThe houses at the foreign settlement a mile and-a-half distant were\nilluminated by the lurid light, before which even the full moon paled\nits ineffectual fires. The inevitable \u2018fire pigeon,\u2019 whose\nindeterminate circles and final flight are watched with close and most\nsuperstitious awe, did not fail to appear, and having indicated by his\ncourse that the fire would spread across the wall into the city, caused\nthe most intense excitement there. Fortunately the wind was\ncomparatively light, and the damage done, considering the terror\ninspired, was trifling. The next day in a violent gale another\nconflagration broke out at the south-west corner of the city, destroyed\nthe grass intended for horses and donkeys, but no houses.\u201d The \u201cfire\npigeon\u201d here alluded to is nothing supernatural. Most cities in North\nChina are frequented by large flocks of pigeons, and the light of a\nconflagration generally attracts a number who wheel in circles round\nthe burning house. The bird nearest the flames is looked upon as\naffording an augury of their spread\u2014not always, as is above evidenced,\nof the most reliable description.\n\nMountains in China as in Europe have their demons or presiding\ndivinities. The God of T\u02bbai-shan in Shantung Tung-yoh-ta-ti regulates\nthe punishments inflicted on sinners in both this world and the next.\nFour other divinities rule over the principal chains in other portions\nof the Empire.\n\nThe formation of islands by natural causes in the vast streams which\nwater the empire is of course the basis of numerous legends. A\ngentleman who explored the West River near Canton, some ten years\nsince, gave the following instance, showing how easily a popular belief\nsprings into being. \u201cPau Man-ching, who was Departmental Magistrate\n(some eight hundred and twenty-five years ago) of what was then known\nas T\u00fcn Chau now Shiu Hing F\u00f9, is said to have been a man of remarkable\nadministrative powers and possessing the most sterling integrity. He\nfilled his term of office in such an acceptable manner, that on its\nexpiration he was immediately transferred to a position of honor and\ntrust in the capital. Illustrative of his great virtue it is recorded,\nthat when he arrived at Shiu Hing, the Department City, he found the\nofficers were in the habit of practising gross abuses of power, and set\nhimself immediately to the work of reformation. Particularly were they\naccustomed to require the people to furnish ten-fold more than the\nlawful tribute from the ink-stone quarries, which are regarded as the\nbest in the Empire. The surplus thus acquired was secretly distributed\namong the high officers at the Court, in order to secure special favor.\nHe at once put a stop to the practice, and would allow no more tribute\nto be levied than was actually sent up to the Emperor. In this one\nrespect he was so strict that he did not carry away a single stone for\nhimself when he left. Now tradition amplifies the idea and says, that\nof the many testimonials of gratitude and respect offered him by the\npeople on his departure, he only accepted an inkstone, lest there\nshould seem to be even the shadow of bribery or corruption chargeable\nagainst him. When he arrived at the above-mentioned point in the river\non his voyage down, a violent storm arose, which threatened to\noverwhelm the boat. The inkstone became a burden to his conscience, and\nJonah-like was hove into the stream; whereupon the storm immediately\nceased and an island rose up, known to this day as \u2018Inkstone island.\u2019\nAnother form of the legend is, that in the midst of the storm he fell\ninto a passion, upbraided the Gods of the country for thus rewarding a\nman who had endeavoured to do his duty, and then cast away the stone,\nthe act being followed by the above result. If either of these were\ntrue, it surely might be said that this was one of the most productive\ninkstones in China.\u201d It should be added that the better-read literati\nof the neighbourhood simply refer the name to the fact of the inkstone\nbeing cast overboard opposite the island, but the more miraculous\nversion is firmly accepted by the unlettered peasants. I need scarcely\nrefer to well-known European legends to find parallels to the above.\n\nThe belief that violent winds or typhoons are caused by the passage\nthrough the air of a \u201cBob-tailed Dragon\u201d has been before adverted to,\nand the superstitions connected with water, whether in the shape of\nrain, sea, or river, are equally quaint. The rain god Y\u00fc-Shih \u96e8\u5e2b or\n\u201cMaster of rain\u201d is a divinity identified by the ancient cosmogonists\nwith a son of Kung Kung bearing the name \u7384\u51a5 (Hsuan-ming). He is\nidentified with the constellation \u7562 (Hyades) and is held as\npersonifying the aqueous influences of the atmosphere. [169] One of his\neffigies occupies an honoured position in a temple some ten miles from\nPeking, and about a hundred and fifty years ago fell under the\ndispleasure of the then Emperor for his persistent neglect to send down\nthe much needed showers. A chain was put round his neck and he was\nignominiously dragged to the Mongolian frontier, when a lucky deluge\ndelivered his godship from his unpleasant position. He was taken back\nin great state, and the Emperor himself bestowed on him a yellow dress,\nwhich still adorned the idol at the time of my visit.\n\nAs a specimen of the form in which the popular superstitions in this\nconnection are evidenced the following from a correspondent at Tientsin\ndeserves record. Writing to a Northern journal in May last he says,\n\u201cThe season continues excessively dry, in spite of the liberal\npetitions to every god by all people whatsoever. The most recent\nsensation story relates to a Buddhist priest who has conceived the idea\nof doing a little temple building at the expense of the public\ncredulity, and has accordingly, after interviewing the high officials\nfor permission, announced that he will pray for rain for a period of\nsix or seven days, on an altar for that purpose erected near the Sung\nWang Miao, and if within the specified time rain does not fall, he will\nbe burnt alive.\u201d A general curiosity was manifested to know whether\nthis foolish bargain would be kept. Happily for the enthusiast, or\nimpostor, a slight shower which fell an hour or two before the date\nexpired was considered sufficient to save his reputation and his life,\nChinese officials not liking to be trifled with in such matters. For\nthe rest, praying for rain is an every-day matter in China where\ndrought is one of the most serious of disasters. By native custom the\nEmperor is deemed responsible if the drought be at all severe, and\nnumerous are the self-condemnatory Imperial edicts on this subject\npublished in the pages of the venerable Peking Gazette. In extreme\ncases the Emperor, clothed in humble vestments, sacrifices to Heaven\nand entreats its benevolence. No touch of superstition this,\nhowever,\u2014rather a glimpse of Chinese humanity at its best, conscious of\nits subjection to a higher will and openly confessing its shortcomings!\n\nTides share with rain a superstitious belief in their regulation by\nsupernatural beings. The most remarkable phenomenon in connection with\nthis subject to be witnessed in China is the Eagre or bore of the\nTsien-tang river which debouches into the sea at the extreme eastern\nportion of the coast, the city of Hang-chow being situated at its\nmouth. The Eagre at times causes a rise of tide to the extent of some\nforty feet opposite the city, and a writer already quoted, in a paper\non the subject read before the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic\nSociety so long ago as 1853, gives some interesting details of the\nsuperstitions connected with it. The Chinese, he says, regard the Eagre\nas one of the wonders of their world, and it gave its name to the\nprovince. \u201cAs might be expected, therefore, it is blended with their\nmythology. It is not a little remarkable, however, that it should be\npopularly ascribed to the spiritual energy of a \u795e sh\u00ean (or god,) who\nlived so recently as five hundred and forty years before our era, or\nabout twenty years before the birth of Confucius. At that period the\nTsien-tang was the boundary of two belligerent kingdoms, W\u00fa and Yueh.\nFu Chai, king of the former, incensed against his minister W\u00fa Tsz\u2019 Si,\nfor opposing the terms of a treaty, submitted by Chung, ambassador of\nKu Tsien, King of Yueh, sent him a sword, with which, understanding his\nmaster\u2019s will, he committed suicide, by cutting his throat, a method\nstill pursued by sovereigns in China towards officers of distinction\nwho have incurred their displeasure. This incident in ancient history\nis recorded in the spring and autumn Annals of Confucius; but in a\nwork, entitled \u201cSpring and Autumn Annals of the States of W\u00fa and Yueh,\u201d\na historical novel, written several hundred years after, a prevailing\nmyth is superadded to the authentic narrative, which the author himself\nseems to credit, and which to the present day is received as verity.\u201d\n\n\u201cW\u00fa Tsz\u2019 Si\u2019s corpse, which was thrown into the Tsien-tang, after being\ncarried to and fro by the tide for some time, tunneled a passage\nthrough the hills on the Yueh side, as far as the tomb of the quondam\nambassador Chung, whose cadaver he took with him to the estuary. Since\nthat period, it is stated W\u00fa Tsz\u2019 Si has been the god of the Eagre, his\nperiodical indignation being exhibited by its violence; hence the\nsacrifices and prayers officially presented at appointed seasons to\npropitiate his anger. Monarchs of almost every dynasty have honoured\nhim with titles, so that they are recorded.\u201d [170]\n\nThe superstitions connected with that class of phenomena referable to\nVolcanic agency are numerous. The many earthquakes which have visited\nthe empire are frequently alleged to have been accompanied by the\nappearance of white hairs on the ground. As a similar appearance has\nbeen observed in Mexico the allegation is doubtless true, and is\nprobably explainable by natural causes. Some scientists are of opinion\nthat these hairs are caused by the mixture of some salt of the soil\nwith a certain gas. But whatever the true reason, the Chinese commonly\nview them as supernatural productions emblematic of serious disaster.\nAnother very frequently recorded appearance at such times is that of\nblood falling from the sky, issuing from the ground, or otherwise\nappearing in unusual places. The following legend regarding lake Man in\nthe prefecture of Sungkiang is related in the native topography of the\ndistrict. This lake was in former times the site of a flourishing city\ncalled Chiang-shui. A report, said to have originated with the children\nof the place, ran to the effect that whenever blood should be seen upon\nthe gates of the city it would disappear and the site become a lake.\nNow there lived at Chiang-shui an old woman who being deeply impressed\nby the possible danger used to come daily to see if blood was on the\ngates; and some of the soldiers on duty thought in an idle moment that\nit would be fine fun to hoax her; so they killed a dog and smeared the\ngates with his blood. The old woman immediately left the place amidst\nthe jeers of the jokers. But their laughter was short-lived. A few days\nonly had elapsed when a flood took place; a fearful noise was heard,\nand, with scarcely a moment\u2019s warning, the entire city sank into the\nearth, the resistless waters filling up the hole and forming the lake\nnow visible. The fact appears to be historical, and similar instances\nof sudden sinking are alleged to have occurred in the same\nneighbourhood.\n\nRecords of sudden fissures in the earth (due it may be safely alleged\nto volcanic action) are plentiful enough in Chinese annals, but are, of\ncourse, always accompanied by other portentous occurrences. A favourite\nlegend relates to the emission of a sh\u00ean or chiao \u86df which eventually\nbecomes a dragon. The fissures are due to its efforts to escape from\nthe earth\u2019s interior. \u201cThe Sh\u00ean is popularly described as an embryotic\ndragon, or a dragon in the first stage of existence. It is formed by\nthe perspiration of that animal falling from the sky upon terrestrial\nbeings. Animals thus affected become Sh\u00ean, sink into the ground and\nremain there, some say thirty, some an hundred years, emerging in heavy\nrains as a Kiau.\u201d [171] Other legends record the emission of fragrant\nvapours from the rents thus made, the issue of blood from springs in\nplace of water, &c. These latter occurrences may have been due to a\ngush of water through oxide of iron beds, but Chinese records are too\nunscientific to allow aught save conjecture in this respect. Trees also\nare recorded as giving forth blood, an appearance due in all\nprobability to the presence of minute insects in exudations from the\nbark.\n\nWaterspouts are usually spoken of in native annals as dragons, and when\nmore than one is seen they are described as fighting in the air. Nine\ndragons fighting at sea are recorded as having been seen at Shanghai in\nthe year 1519. The following list of such occurrences is from the\nauthority already quoted\u2014\n\n\n    A.D. 1605.\u2014A couple of dragons fought at Whampoa and tore up a\n    large tree, and demolished several tens of houses.\n\n    A.D. 1608, 4th moon.\u2014A gyrating dragon was seen over the decorated\n    summit of a pagoda; all around were clouds and fog; the tail only\n    of the dragon was visible; in the space of eating a meal, it went\n    away, leaving the marks of its claws on the pagoda.\n\n    A.D. 1609, 6th moon.\u2014A white dragon was seen at Whangpu; on its\n    head stood a god.\n\n    A.D. 1452, 6th moon.\u2014A dragon at the Tsan stream taking up water,\n    lifted a boat, and transported it to the middle of a field; rain\n    fell to the depth of several feet, soaking plants to death.\n\n    A.D. 1667, 6th moon, 14th day.\u2014Dragons were seen fighting in the\n    air; there was a violent wind and excessive rain; the canal rose\n    four or five feet; many houses were destroyed, a tree above ten\n    armlengths in circumference was torn up &c.\n\n    A.D. 1773, 7th moon, 20th day.\u2014A group of dragons burnt paddy in\n    the field, drew houses into the air and travellers also;\n    hail-stones of two or three catties weight fell, killing houses and\n    animals.\n\n    A.D. 1739, 9th moon, 3rd day.\u2014Dragons fought at Man lake, and went\n    off S. E. to the sea, destroying the paddy as they went.\n\n    A.D. 1787, 7th moon.\u2014Dragons fought; a great wind overturning\n    houses, and carrying off, no one knows where, half a stone bridge.\n\n\nIt is satisfactory to be able to identify the very mythical dragon (as\nusually deemed) with a tangible force. The popular superstitions\nregarding it acquire a certain amount of respectability in view of this\nfact\u2014first pointed out I believe by the ingenious writer above quoted.\n\nPopular beliefs concerning human beings being metamorphosed into stone\nhave been already touched on under the heads of Witchcraft and\nDemonology, the \u201cstone rams\u201d of Canton being cited as an example. But\nsimilar legends, though of less supernatural complexion, exist in all\nparts of the empire. Shiu Hing Gap \u8087\u6176\u5cfd on the West River is more\nproperly called Ling Yung Hap \u7f9a\u7f8a\u5cfd i.e. \u201cChamois Gap,\u201d since tradition\nasserts that some such animal was thereabouts transformed into stone.\nNot far from the same spot, says a traveller who visited the place some\nten years since, \u201cThe Woman looking for her husband\u201d \u671b\u592b\u77f3 is pointed\nout. \u201cTwo thirds way up the mountain, in a slight depression between a\nsecondary peak and the main peak above and beyond, and at the head of a\nravine which, from a point on the river a little further up, inclines\ndown the stream as it ascends the face of the hill, there is a rock\napparently only a few feet in height, which presents a striking\nresemblance to a woman seated on the ground and looking towards the\nwest. In ascending the pass the view is not fully obtained until you\nhave passed slightly beyond the position, when a good binocular reveals\na fine side view of the head and body of a woman, the coiffure being\nquite distinct and the general appearance tolerably true to life. The\nlegend connected with the rock-freak is that in ancient days the wife\nof a military officer who had gone to Kwang-Si and fallen in battle,\ncame here day by day to look for his return. Being ignorant of his\nfate, her vigils were protracted until they were finally rewarded by\nthe transformation of her body into this rock, a conversion into her\nown monument.\u201d\n\nSuch then are a few of the cosmical facts or phenomena in which Chinese\nsuperstition finds room for indulgence. I may fitly conclude this\nchapter by noting an incident in this connection which reflects credit\non the Emperor to whom it alludes. A secretion (probably of animal\norigin) is occasionally found to fall like the manna of old from the\nsky, and such an event being rare a report of it is always made to the\nauthorities. In the year 1788 a notice that sweet dew had fallen for\nthree days in the Sung Kiang prefecture was sent to the Emperor Yung\nChing. The memorial stating the fact \u201cattributed it to the virtues of\nthe monarch, which called down this signal manifestation of heaven\u2019s\nfavor. His Majesty gracefully declined taking the honor to himself, as\nit did not fall in the palace; but ascribed it to the goodness of the\nofficers and people of the palace, and enjoined on them the duty of\nacknowledging and proving themselves worthy of the heavenly token.\u201d\nPagan gratitude to Heaven, though it sometimes takes queer forms, is\nnot an unknown sentiment in China.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXII.\u2014LEGENDS OF LOCALITY, HOUSEHOLD TALES, &c.\n\n\nAll who possess the slightest acquaintance with the legendary lore of\nthe Celestial empire will readily credit the assertion that any attempt\nto even cursorily notice a tenth of the vast number of legends current\nthroughout its population would be a task far beyond both the scope of\nthese pages, and the average reader\u2019s patience. In touching therefore\non the subjects embraced under the above heading, an attempt must be\nmade to deal chiefly with those which are typical of numerous variants,\nwhile at the same time offering resemblances to legends current in the\nWest. Few countries present a larger field for curious enquiry in this\nrespect; and any shortcomings in demonstrating the fact must rather be\nreferred to the fault of the writer than to paucity of matter.\n\nIn an interesting article on the \u201cLegends of the Yang-Tsze River\u201d the\nNorth China Herald recently drew attention to the wealth of material at\nthe disposition of any one willing to gather it, in the following\nwell-chosen words: \u201cThe Romish Church has been said by a great Catholic\nauthority to be \u2018hung with miracles,\u2019 and in the same way the whole of\nChina is hung with legends. The most industrious and materialistic race\nin the world attest the resolution with which the imaginative faculty\nsuggests itself, by the wild variety of the legends that linger about\nits austere mountains and winding dells. The rocks, tapestried with\ncreepers, the fountain sparkling in the winding vales, and the rude\nrocks or tawny islets that abound in the large streams, all have their\npresiding fairy or their romantic tale of magic and glamour. The names\nof the various elevations that the voyager meets with, suggest all\nmanner of curious enquiries. We hear of \u2018Yellow Ox Hill,\u2019 \u2018Golden Yoke\nCliff,\u2019 \u2018Flying Ph\u0153nix Mountain,\u2019 \u2018Ascending Dragon Peak,\u2019 and \u2018Filial\nMaiden Precipice.\u2019\u201d The writer indeed admits that though the legends\nconnected with the Yang-Tsze, its tributaries and lakes, are full of\ninterest, the wildest and most romantic stories and the richest\nhistorical associations do not gather about the Yang-tsze-kiang but\nabout the Yellow River. But his remarks will, it may be hoped,\nstimulate research in both directions, and I can only regret that no\nchance of exploring this rich mine of Chinese legend presents itself to\nme before giving these pages to the press. Enough however is at\ndisposal to render selection difficult.\n\nMost nations have, or have had, a reputed gate of Purgatory or Hell\nsituated somewhere within their borders, more especially if the country\nthey inhabit include vast tracts of mountainous country, amongst whose\ngloomy recesses popular superstition finds it easy to locate an\nentrance to the nether world, unchecked by the ridicule of educated\nvisitors. Thus the H\u00f6rselloch cavern in the H\u00f6rselberg, between\nEisenach and Gotha, was supposed by the peasantry of Thuringia to be\nthe entrance to Purgatory, and moans and shrieks were believed in\nformer times to be nightly heard issuing from its ghostly portals.\n[172] I need scarcely refer classical scholars to the legend of the\ncave of Acherusia, nor will most students of ethnology be unaware how\nwidespread is the belief that a door to the infernal regions is\naccessible to mortal gaze. But the fact of a similar belief existing in\nChina may be new to many. The location of this entrance to the Chinese\npurgatory is by native writers placed not far from T\u00eang Chow, of which\nChefoo is the Treaty Port, celebrated throughout the length and breadth\nof the Empire from its proximity to the birth-place of Confucius. The\ndemons of T\u00eang Chow are classed, according to a Chinese proverb, as one\nof the wonders of the world\u2014as well they might be, did they exist.\nPopular tradition avers that at stated periods the ghosts of the\ndeparted, who are sent to T\u00eang Chow to await judgment, are allowed to\nagain revisit their earthly haunts; which, as the native chronicles\nnaively observe, fully accounts for the mysterious doings common in the\nneighbourhood.\n\nNobody who has read the Arabian Nights (and who has not?) will have\nforgotten the story of the \u201cCity of Silence,\u201d in which the hero goes in\nsearch of \u201cthe bottles of brass stopped with molten lead and sealed\nwith the ring of Suleym\u00e1n the son of D\u00e1ood.\u201d The story goes on to tell\nhow these bottles were frequently drawn up by fishermen in their nets\nand how, upon their being opened, genii were liberated who had been\nimprisoned by that all-powerful potentate as a punishment for their\ndisobedience. The hero, after undergoing various extraordinary\nadventures, finally reaches the City of Silence and at last obtains the\ncoveted bottles for his Sultan. Now the powers herein conferred upon\nthe mighty Suleym\u00e1n are oddly recalled by a legend (communicated to\nNotes and Queries on China and Japan by Mr. T. Sampson in 1867) which\nmay quite rank with its Arabian prototype, with the difference that it\nhas a local interest and, in native eyes, accounts for certain\nhistorical events. It runs as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cMany generations ago, the Prefect of Shiu-hing dreamed a dream. In his\ndream he saw myriads of devils who in answer to his enquiries, told him\nthat they were going to overthrow the ruling dynasty; the Prefect\nexpressed disbelief in their power to do so, but the devils still\nasserted their power and their purpose. The Prefect desired some\ndistinguishing mark by which to recognize the devils in any altered\nform which they might assume in carrying out their threats, and the\nlatter consented to allow him to mark each of them with a red spot on\nthe forehead as a token of recognition; this the Prefect did.\n\n\u201cWhen he awoke he was much troubled, not knowing whether his dealings\nwith the devils were a reality or an idle vision. He went out to\nconsult wise men on the subject; but what was his surprise, on\nreturning to his yam\u00ean, to find it strewed with small round stones, on\nevery side of which was a red spot. \u2018These,\u2019 thought he, \u2018are surely\nthe devils I marked last night, and what a good opportunity is this for\nme to get them in my power.\u2019 Accordingly he caused all the stones to be\ncollected, to be firmly secured in earthenware jars, and then to be\nlocked up in a strong room in his yam\u00ean. But before they were finally\nsecured they entered into a parley with the Prefect, the result of\nwhich was an agreement on their part to submit to incarceration till a\ncertain tree in the yam\u00ean should come in blossom, when they were to be\nreleased. The wily Prefect knew, but the devils did not know, that this\nparticular tree never did blossom in the latitude of Shiu-hing, and\nthus he congratulated himself on having saved the Government from these\npowerful enemies. It was understood however that to render their\nimprisonment valid the door was to be sealed with the Prefect\u2019s seal,\nwhich was to be renewed by each successive holder of that office.\n\n\u201cPrefect after Prefect for some generations occupied the yam\u00ean, and\neach of them on assuming office faithfully resealed the door of the\ndevils\u2019 prison, until at length the story began to be forgotten or\ndisbelieved; and one unlucky Prefect surnamed Luk, forgetting or\ncarelessly neglecting to perform this duty, the door was thoughtlessly\nleft open and a jar of devils broken. At the moment this occurred it\nhappened that an official retinue were in the yam\u00ean, and the followers\nhad hung their red-tasselled caps on the tree, the blossoming of which\nwas to have been a signal for the release of the prisoners.\n\n\u201cPerceiving that their release was the result of accident, mistaking\nthe red tassels for flowers, and assuming that the tree had thus\nflowered every year during their long confinement, the devils were much\nincensed at this breach of faith in the matter of their promised\nrelease, and in retaliation they caused the city to be submerged below\nthe waters of the river. And it was not until they (the story saith not\nhow) were captured, and the door resealed that the city again came\nabove water. Taught by woeful experience, each succeeding Prefect was\nfrom that time careful to reseal the door on assuming office, and thus\nthe devils were long restrained from doing mischief.\n\n\u201cTime passed on, and with the same result as before. Faith in the\nnecessity of sealing the door was shaken, and in 1854 a Prefect\nsurnamed M\u2019a assumed office, utterly despising the story of the devils.\nNot only did he omit to seal the door, but he caused the red-spotted\nstones to be taken from the strong room, and to be thrown away. What\nwas the result? In that very year the red-turbaned rebels\u2014the devils\nwith red marks on their foreheads, now appearing in human form\u2014captured\nthe city!\n\n\u201cHere ends the legend. Whether the devils have been recaptured, or\nwhether they are still abroad devising schemes for the release of a few\nremaining jars of their comrades which escaped Ma\u2019s destruction, or\nwhether they ceased to exist when their human personifications were\nkilled, the legend saith not; but so far as it goes, it is vouched for,\nat this day, by the inhabitants of Shiu-hing, who declare that the\nsealed strong room may be seen any day, and that no man surnamed Luk or\nM\u02bba would now be allowed to be Prefect of Shiu-hing.\u201d\n\nIt would be interesting to know if the classical legend of the golden\ncup given by the Sun-God Helios to Hercules, who used it as a ship to\nconvey him across stretches of ocean, owed its origin to the same\nsource as a popular legend in South China. We want however in the\nlatter case the connecting link between the original myth and the\nvulgar version so ingeniously shewn by Mr Kelly in his well-known work.\n[173] A tea-cup here takes the place of the more valuable utensil, but\nis credited with similar powers of transport. Pei-tu (\u676f\u6e21) \u201cThe Cup\nTraveller\u201d was a renowned Buddhist priest who lived some five or six\nhundred years ago, and was accustomed to wander at will over the Canton\nprovince, his magic cup serving him as a ferry-boat whenever he had to\ncross water. On one occasion he carried off a golden idol belonging to\nthe house where he had passed the night. Pursuit was given, but the\npriest, though walking on foot, easily outstripped the fastest horse of\nhis pursuers, who, at length seeing him carried over a river in his\ntea-cup, abandoned the chase. The mountain not far from Hongkong, known\nto foreigners as \u201cCastlepeak,\u201d was named after this priest, Pei-tu (or\nin the local dialect Poi-tou). Can this legend be a dim reproduction of\nthe Western myth?\n\nThe legend connected with the valley of the White Deer near the Poyang\nLake\u2014so named from the story that the Philosopher Choo Tzu employed\nsuch an animal to bring him provisions from the neighbouring\nmarket\u2014recalls home tales in which deer are gifted with human\nattributes. Sclavonian folk-lore has many references of this nature.\nThe Vilas or mountain nymphs of Servia are sometimes represented in\ntheir popular songs as comforting the sorrows of enamoured deer. They\nare usually, says Mr. Keightley, represented as \u201criding a seven-year\nold hart with a bridle made of snakes.\u201d Deer horns are, as everybody\nknows, supposed in China to possess all sorts of wonderful properties.\n\nThe Icelandic Troll who plays so conspicuous a part in the story of the\n\u201cShepherd of Silfrunarstadir\u201d [174] possesses attributes closely\nresembling those with which the Chinese endow the female spirits of the\ngorges to be found in the vast mountain chains of the Empire. In both\ncases they are beneficent spirits. The great Yu is said to have been\nindebted to the being who watches over the Wushan gorge in Szechuan for\nthe power to carry out his labours. The \u201cWild women\u201d of Germany, who\nare supposed to frequent the Wunderberg, possess analogous qualities\nbut have no dominion over the powers of nature. The Breton Korrigan,\nagain, bear certain resemblances to supernatural beings believed in by\nthe Chinese. They are described (Keightley, page 432) as short and\nhumpy, with shaggy hair, dark wrinkled faces, little deep-set eyes but\nbright as carbuncles; and woe to the belated traveller who is forced to\njoin in their fairy revels! Their breath is reported to be deadly. The\nChinese legend of the Lin-lu mountain recounts the existence of a\nmysterious arbour inhabited by a demon and numerous companions who are\nin reality dogs transformed for the nonce into the semblance of earthly\nbeings. As with the Korrigan, whoever passed the night with them was\nsure to die. A Sage, possessed of a magic mirror, once put up with\nthese elves, but being warned by the mirror of the quality of his\ncompanions, stabbed the nearest, when the rest ran away. Similar\nstories are told of numerous localities, but this may be taken as a\ntype of the whole.\n\nThe fantastic exaggerations of geographical facts and fancies which\nform so prominent a feature in oriental tales (such, for instance, as\nthe Arabian Nights) are freely reproduced in China, though it is only\nfair to say that they seem in great part to be derived from Hindoo\nsources. Thus all that is recounted of the celebrated lake supposed to\nbe the source of the Hwang-ho, with its bottom covered with diamonds\n&c., &c., is simply adapted from the Sanscrit. The Kw\u00ean Lun mountain,\nin which this lake is supposed to be situated, is, in Taoist legend,\nalleged to have growing upon it trees of jade-stone and pearls, the\ntree and fountain of life, &c., the sources of these wonderful stories\nbeing similar. Native writers have, indeed, expanded the original\naccounts, but the legends are substantially the same. Ch\u00eang Cheng Shan,\nnear the capital of Sze-chuan, is supposed to be a mountain in whose\ncaves the gods and genii assemble. Allusion has already been made to\nthe \u201cIsles of the Genii\u201d supposed to exist in the Eastern sea opposite\nthe Chinese coast. It may suffice to say that there are few such\nextravagances recorded in Western literature which do not find\ncounterparts in Chinese belief.\n\nA Western superstition, which I cannot now trace, but of which I have\nseen mention, that a human being or human blood cast into a smelting\nfurnace ensures a satisfactory casting, forms the basis of a legend\nconnected with the Bell Tower of Peking, narrated by Mr. Stent in his\nrecent paper on Chinese legends. Briefly summarized it tells how the\nEmperor Yung-lo of the Ming dynasty, having built the tower, ordered a\nmandarin named Kuan-yu to cast a bell of the proper size. Two attempts\nwere made to carry out the order, at intervals of some months, but\nwithout success. In both cases the casting was \u201choney-combed,\u201d and the\nenraged Emperor declared that if the third attempt failed he would\nbehead the unfortunate official. Now Kuan-yu had a beautiful daughter\naged sixteen, named Ko-ai, to whom he was tenderly attached and who did\nall she could to comfort her distressed parent. One day it struck her\nthat she would go to a celebrated astrologer to ascertain the cause of\nher father\u2019s failures and what means could be taken to prevent their\nrecurrence. From him she learned that the next casting would also be a\nfailure if the blood of a maiden were not mixed with the ingredients.\nShe returned home full of horror at the information, but resolved to\nimmolate herself sooner than that her father should fail. She obtained\nleave from her father to be present at the casting; and the catastrophe\nis thus described. \u201cA dead silence prevailed through the assemblage as\nthe melted metal once more rushed to its destination. This was broken\nby a shriek and a cry of \u2018For my father,\u2019 and Ko-ai was seen to throw\nherself head-long into the seething hissing metal. One of her followers\nattempted to seize her while in the art of plunging into the boiling\nfluid but succeeded only in grasping one of her shoes, which came off\nin his hand. The father was frantic and had to be kept by force from\nfollowing her example; he was taken home a raving maniac. The\nprediction of the astrologer was verified, for on uncovering the bell\nafter it had cooled it was found to be perfect, but not a vestige of\nKo-ai was to be seen; the blood of a maiden had indeed been fused with\nthe ingredients.\u201d But the sequel recounts how the sonorous boom of the\nbell when struck was followed by a low wailing sound like the cry of a\nhuman female voice in great agony distinctly saying the word hsieh\n(shoe)\u2014a sound still heard after every stroke; and to this day people\nwhen they hear it say \u201cThere\u2019s poor Ko-ai calling for her shoe.\u201d\n\nThe idea of self-sacrifice to ensure some public good has ever been\npopular in China, and ages before the heroic Roman Youth leaped his\nhorse into the earthquake chasm for the sake of his countrymen, Chinese\npatriots are recorded as having exhibited a similarly noble spirit. An\ninstance of this was afforded by a tea-merchant at Hang-chow who some\nhundred and fifty years ago cast himself into the river Tsien-tang as a\nsacrifice to the spirit of the dykes which were constantly being washed\naway. Numerous instances of similar devotion appear in Chinese annals,\neach being of course the basis of a legend more or less accurate in its\nadherence to facts.\n\nThe cave of Kwang-siu-f\u02bboo in Kiang-si is the reputed scene of a legend\nor household tale recalling a portion of the well-known \u201cAli Baba and\nthe Forty Thieves.\u201d There was in the neighbourhood a poor herdsman\nnamed Chang, his sole surviving relative being a grandmother with whom\nhe lived. One day, happening to pass near the cave in question, he\noverheard some one using the following words:\u2014\n\n\n                        \u77f3\u9580\u958b\uff0c\u9b3c\u8c37\u5148\u751f\u4f86\n\n\nShih mun kai, Kwai ku hsien sh\u00eang lai. \u201cStone door open; Mr. Kwei Ku is\ncoming.\u201d Upon this the door of the cave opened, and the speaker\nentered. Having remained there for some time he came out and saying\n\u201cStone door close; Mr. Kwei Ku is going,\u201d the door again closed and the\nvisitor departed. Chang\u2019s curiosity was naturally excited, and having\nseveral times heard the formula repeated he waited one day until the\ngenie (for such he was) had taken his departure and essayed to obtain\nan entrance. To his great delight the door yielded, and having gone\ninside he found himself in a romantic grotto of immense extent. Nothing\nhowever in the shape of treasure met his eye, so having fully explored\nthe place he returned to the door, which shut at his bidding, and went\nhome. Upon telling his grandmother of his adventure she expressed a\nstrong wish to see the wonderful cavern; and thither they accordingly\nwent together next day. Wandering about in admiration of the scenery\nthey became separated, and Chang at length, supposing that his\ngrandmother had left, passed out of the door and ordered it to shut.\nReaching home he found, to his dismay, that she had not yet arrived.\nShe must of course have been locked up in the cave, so back he sped and\nbefore long was using the magic sentence to obtain access. But alas!\nthe talisman had failed, and poor Chang fell into an agony of\napprehension as he reflected that his grandmother would either be\nstarved to death or killed by the enraged genie. While in this\nperplexity the genie appeared and asked him what was amiss. Chang\nfrankly told him the truth, and implored him to open the door. This the\ngenie refused to do, but told him that his grandmother\u2019s disappearance\nwas a matter of fate. The cave demanded a victim. Had it been a male,\nevery succeeding generation of his family would have seen one of its\nmembers arrive at princely rank. In the case of a woman her descendants\nwould in a similar way possess power over demons. Somewhat comforted to\nknow that he was not exactly responsible for his grandmother\u2019s death,\nChang returned home and in process of time married. His first son duly\nbecame Chang tien shih \u5f35\u5929\u5e2b (Chang, the Master of Heaven), who about\nA.D. 25 was the first holder of an office which has existed\nuninterruptedly to the present day. So says one popular legend. An\nequally credible (or incredible) version of the birth of this prodigy,\nhowever, says nothing of the magic cave, but refers the event to a\nvisit made to his mother by the spirit of the Polar star, who gave her\na fragrant herb called H\u00eang wei which caused her to become enceinte.\n[175] Be the authentic version what it may, however, the fact remains\nthat Ali Baba\u2019s cave has its mythic representative in China.\n\nThe apparently magic power possessed by the loadstone has in China, as\nelsewhere, been pressed into legendary service. Stories of magic tombs\nalso were common amongst European peoples in medi\u00e6val ages, and here we\nhave a native legend which in many respects recalls their details. In\nthe mountain of Ting Ch\u00fcn is the tomb of Chu-ko-liang \u8af8\u845b\u4eae or Kung-ming\n\u5b54\u660e celebrated in ancient annals as the wise councillor of Liu-pei and\nreputed during his life-time to have employed, by means of magic arts,\nwooden oxen and mechanical horses to aid in the military operations of\nhis time. As was but natural, the burial-place of so renowned a man\nwas, like that of \u201cWonderous Michael Scott,\u201d credited with mysterious\ncontents. It is alleged that the Emperor Hung-wu, the founder of the\nMing dynasty, once finding himself in company with the Councillor Liu\nPei-w\u00ean, in the neighbourhood of this tomb, determined to visit it.\nIron armour was then still in use in China, and the Emperor and his\nattendant were habited in the then usual way. Having obtained an\nentrance and passed through the ante-chamber, which contained an\ninscription to the effect that whosoever visited the tomb should have\nhis hands bound by the defunct\u2014a prediction verified by the fact that\nin squeezing through the entrance the visitors had to so wedge\nthemselves as to be virtually incapable of using their arms\u2014they broke\nopen a second door. Within the room thus entered were several figures\nbuilt of loadstone, which attracted the armour of the unbidden guests.\nTerrified at the unknown force which was dragging them forwards they\nhastily cast off their armour and fled\u2014not before noticing however\nanother inscription which may be rendered in doggerel:\u2014\n\n\n                I\u2019ll strip off the skin\n                Of who ventures in\n                To open this my grave.\n\n\nThe practical experience of the mysterious power residing in the\nloadstone figures was quite enough for the Emperor, who did not stop to\nsee if anything worse might befall him. The tomb was closed, and the\ntradition of Hwang-wu\u2019s visit is still recounted by the story-tellers\nof the neighbourhood.\n\nAnother and perhaps better-known version of the (doubtless) same story\nrefers it to the tomb of Confucius who was buried in the hill of\nKeu-fau in Shantung. His disciple Tze-kung is related to have covered\nthe coffin of the great philosopher with loadstone. When the Emperor\nChin gave orders to open the tomb the pick-axes were attracted by the\nmagnetic fluid, as was also the armour worn by the soldiers, so that it\nwas found impossible to proceed with the work. Hence the tomb of\nConfucius has never been violated. Absurd as both stories are they\npoint to a belief in the powers of the loadstone which was readily\naccepted by medi\u00e6val Europe.\n\nThe principle that good deeds generally bring a substantial reward,\nunderlying so many legends and tales in all parts of the world, is\nsedulously encouraged by Chinese folk-lore. The Servian story entitled\n\u201cAnimals as friends and enemies,\u201d [176] in which the hero is rewarded\nfor not killing the fox, bear, wolf, hare &c., has numerous variants in\nnative lore. A proverb referring to \u201cThe bird which brought the yellow\nflower\u201d tells how a Chinese, seeing a bird fall to the ground wounded\nby an arrow, draws out the weapon and nurses the bird until it has\nrecovered. Some time afterwards the man falls sick and is about to die,\nwhen the grateful bird brings him some yellow flowers in its bill,\nassuring him that if he makes and takes a decoction of their petals his\nlife will be saved. Another story tells how another bird, rescued from\nthe talons of a more powerful companion, rewards its preserver by\nbringing him four silver bracelets; while a third recounts how (in flat\ncontradiction to the \u00c6sopian fable) the Emperor Ho-ti \u548c\u5e1d found a\nwounded serpent in his path and, having cured and released it, was\nrewarded by a carbuncle of exceeding brightness brought to him by the\nsnake. Chinese story books abound with tales similar to the Servian\nstory, \u201cOne good turn deserves another,\u201d in which a supernatural being\nis imprisoned by a certain king, whose son having released him secures\nthe being\u2019s aid in all his undertakings.\n\nThe saying of the English Queen that when she died the name of Calais\nwould be found engraved on her heart reminds us of a popular Chinese\ntale concerning an enamoured boatman, who being obliged, while plying\nhis daily avocation, to pass beneath the window of a beauteous maiden,\nfell violently in love with her. His passion was reciprocated, but\nafter a time the young lady died. On being opened (the idea of a\nChinese post-mortem on a disconsolate maiden is, by the way, quite as\nwonderful as anything else!) her heart was found to be of iron, upon\nwhich was painted or engraved a picture of the boat, the window, and\nthe two lovers. [177] This being shewn to the bereaved boatman he\ninstantly expired, his body turning to ashes! We are gravely informed\nthat this event happened about B.C. 350.\n\nLike the Italian original of our own popular and faithless Punch, his\nChinese brother has a legendary origin. Punch and Judy shows, indeed,\nare, in some quarters, alleged to have been introduced into Europe from\nChina. Be that as it may Po-tai-hsi (\u5e03\u888b\u6232), so called because the\nshowman used to cover his head with a linen bag in order that his face\nmight not distract attention from the puppets, date back to at least\n260 B.C. The received legend asserts that about this date a lady named\nOh, (\u95bc) wife of a general named Mao-tun, was besieging the city of Ping\nin Shen-si. Its defender Chan-ping knowing the lady to be of a very\njealous disposition, invented a puppet in the shape of a wooden woman,\nwhich was made by strings and springs to dance on the battlements of\nthe beleaguered town. As he intended, Mrs. Oh became alarmed at the\nidea of so fascinating a creature falling into her husband\u2019s hands and\nbecoming an addition to his seraglio; and she consequently raised the\nsiege! In memory of this \u201chappy thought\u201d similar, but smaller, puppets\nwere constructed whose antics have for two thousand years amused the\nChinese populace. The principal puppet used to be known as \u201cKwoh, the\nbald\u201d in memory, as it is averred, of a man of that name who having\nlost his hair in sickness began on his recovery to jump and dance.\n[178] Rather hazy and contradictory ideas indeed prevail in China of\nthe origin of the amusing vagabond, different stories being told at\ndifferent places. So simple an explanation as that of some ingenious\nnative having determined to turn an honest penny by reproducing in\nminiature the jokes of the stage, seems however to have been ignored. I\nmay in passing note that Lord Macartney, in his Journal, speaks highly\nof these exhibitions. The pandean pipe of the drummer is in China\nreplaced by that most ear-splitting of instruments, a native clarionet.\n\nThat so important a shrub in Chinese eyes as that which produces tea\nshould have a legendary origin is hardly surprising. The virtues of the\ncup which \u201ccheers but not inebriates\u201d have been sung by the Cowpers of\nChina from time immemorial, and of this fact most people are aware. It\nmay be less generally known that a vulgar (Buddhistic) legend\nattributes the production of the first plant to Bodhi-dharma, the 28th\nIndian and first Chinese patriarch of the Buddhist hierarchy. He\nbrought the famous patra (almsbowl of the Buddhist mendicant, regarding\nwhich Indian legend has some wonderful accounts) to China, which he\nreached in the year 520 A.D. [179] K\u00e6mpfer, in his well-known Dutch\nwork on Japan, thus tells the story. [180] \u201cAbout A.D. 519 this Dharma\ncame to China. His object was to bring the inhabitants of this populous\ncountry to the knowledge of God and to preach to them his Gospel and\nservice.... He went further and strove by godly grace to lead a most\nexemplary life, exposing himself to all the hardships of the storm and\ntempest; chastising and mortifying his body and bringing all his\npassions under subjection. He lived only upon the herbs of the fields,\nand considered it the highest degree of holiness to pass the day and\nnight in an uninterrupted and unbroken Satori, that is the\ncontemplation and meditation of the godly essence; to deny all rest and\nrecreation to his body and to dedicate his soul wholly and entirely to\nGod was in his opinion the truest penance and the most eminent degree\nof goodness to which human nature could attain. After many years of\nthis continual watching he was at length so weary and tired by his work\nthat he fell asleep. On awaking the following morning and seeing that\nhe had broken his vow, he determined to do penance to show his sincere\nsorrow; and that this misfortune should not occur again he cut off both\nhis eyelids as the instruments and servants of his crime and threw them\non the ground.\n\n\u201cReturning to this place on the following day he remarked a wonderful\nchange, and that each eyelid had become a shrub; and the same which we\nnow call tea, whose virtues and use were at that time as unknown as the\nplant itself. Dharma, on eating the leaves of this plant (fresh and\ngreen, for infusing them in water was unknown), found with astonishment\nthat his heart was filled with extraordinary joy and gladness, and that\nhis soul had acquired renewed strength and power to enable him to\ncontinue his godly contemplations. This event and the extraordinary\nvirtues of the tea plant he immediately brought to the notice of a\nnumber of his disciples, together with the manner in which it was to be\nused.... And hence it comes that since that time to the present, the\nlearned have made no remarks about it, and that some have considered it\nsufficient to attribute its origin to the eyelids of Dharma.\u201d The\ntranslator shows however that tea was not unknown in China in the third\nand fourth centuries, so that the legend bears the impress of modern\ninvention. Its existence is repudiated by modern Buddhist scholars, and\nit is essentially a mere vulgar tale. But, accepted as such, it is\ninteresting in the hint it gives us of the Hindu myth, wherein the\nfalcon who undertook to steal the heavenly Soma (drink of immortality)\nhad a claw and a feather shot off by a demon arrow. They fell to the\nearth and took root, the claw becoming a species of thorn and the\nfeather a palasa tree, the Indian representative of the rowan or\nmountain ash. [181] The classic origin of the hyacinth (from the blood\nof Ajax), the growth of mint from the body of Minthe the mistress of\nPluto, the almond tree which sprang from the corpse of Phyllis, and\nnumerous other legends familiar to our schoolboy days all embody the\nsame idea of the human body, or a portion of it, springing up anew in\nthe shape of some member of the vegetable world.\n\nThe cocoa-nut tree is also the subject of a fanciful Chinese legend.\n\u201cThe prince Liu Yeh having had a quarrel with Prince Sueh sent a man to\nassassinate him; this he did while his victim was in a state of\nintoxication. His head was then suspended on a tree, and it became\nmetamorphosed into a cocoa-nut with two eyes on the shell. Thus the\nfruit acquired the name of Yueh-wang-t\u02bbou or Prince Yueh\u2019s head.\u201d [182]\nThe cocoa-nut is now known as the Ye Tzu, owing, as is alleged, to the\nfact that during the Ching dynasty princes have been called \u201cYe.\u201d The\nfable is not countenanced by the Pen Tsao or native herbal, but is\ngravely recorded by Chinese authors. It is noteworthy that vessels made\nof cocoa-nut shell are supposed to betray the presence of poison in the\nliquids they contain, either ebullition taking place or the vessel\nbursting. Spoons made of the same material are in Ceylon supposed to\npossess similar virtues.\n\nAn interesting parallel to Western beliefs is found in the legendary\nvirtues attributed by the Chinese to mercury and its preparations. The\nnative term for Quicksilver\u2014water-silver\u2014is the equivalent of the Greek\nand Latin terms. Sulphide of mercury is called hsien tan \u4ed9\u4e39 of which\nour phrase \u201cPhilosopher\u2019s stone\u201d is a sufficiently near rendering; and\nthis, like the long-sought secret of western alchemists, is supposed to\nhave the power of conferring immortality. Stories in which this\nsubstance figures as a supernatural agent are to be frequently met with\nin Chinese books.\n\nHousehold tales reminding one of the \u201cJudgment of Solomon\u201d find place\nin Chinese folk-lore\u2014as indeed they appear to do in that of nearly all\nAsiatic nations. One of the most original I have heard, introducing as\nit does a supernatural element, is as follows. During the time of the\nSung dynasty there lived a man, a maker of marriage ornaments, and his\nwife, who loved each other dearly. A white dog versed in magic having\nseen the woman, who was remarkably good-looking, determined to win her,\nand in order to carry out his project transformed himself into an exact\nlikeness of her lawful husband. Mistakenly calculating on the absence\nof the latter, he visited the wife just as the real husband was\nreturning, and she was accordingly thrown into a state of the most\nextraordinary doubt at beholding two \u201cSimons Pure,\u201d as they appeared to\nbe, at the same moment. Unable to decide between them, she insisted on\ntheir at once accompanying her to the magistrate\u2019s yam\u00ean\u2014a proposition\nto which, from very different motives, they both assented. Upon the\nparties making their appearance, the magistrate, like the wife, was at\nfirst completely puzzled. Suspecting however that one of the claimants\nwas a dog in disguise he remembered that a tiger confined on the\npremises was accustomed to feed on dogs though it had never attacked\nmen. He therefore placed both husbands in the tiger\u2019s cage. The tiger\nat once flew at and devoured the dog which had assumed a man\u2019s\ndisguise, leaving the real husband untouched; and the reunited pair\nleft the yam\u00ean, praising the sagacity of the magistrate who had\ndelivered them from the power of enchantment.\n\nA version however of the real Solomonaic story is to be found in China.\nAs in the Hebrew tale two women had each of them an infant, one of\nwhich died by misadventure, the bereaved mother claiming the surviving\nchild. The official before whom they came did not suggest so cruel a\nmeasure as the division of the infant, but simply ordered that it\nshould be handed to a domestic in his yam\u00ean to be brought up for\nofficial life. He rightly surmised that the real mother would gladly\naccept so good a chance for her offspring, while the pretended mother,\nwho only wanted the child in order to dispose of it, would demur.\nJudgment was accordingly given in favour of the tearful acceptor of the\nproposition, and the story, which is alleged to be historical, is\nwidely believed. The Chinese are very fond of telling stories having a\nsimilar basis, most of them being, very probably, derived from Indian\nor Semitic sources.\n\nSuperstitions connected with the use of bread have in China, as amongst\nourselves, formed the basis of legends more or less absurd. Our Good\nFriday Hot Cross buns are, as is known, simply relics of the heathen\ncustom of offering sacred cakes to the gods as propitiatory offerings.\nThis idea underlies a story related of Chu-ko Liang, the ingenious\nminister before mentioned. \u201cReturning from the conquest of Pegu and\nreaching a river on the borders of China he found himself surrounded by\na thick fog from which proceeded groans and wailings. On enquiring from\nthe inhabitants into the cause he was told that they were uttered by\nthe multitude of dead killed by the pestiferous waters of the stream;\nand that to disperse the fog it was necessary to sacrifice forty-nine\nmen to the river. Shocked at this barbarity he invented loaves bearing\nthe human figure each with a head and one hand, and threw forty-nine of\nthem into the water and so dispersed the fog; and, since that time,\nbread has been used for the same purpose in China.\u201d It is probable,\nhowever, that the use of bread for such purposes by the Chinese existed\nlong before the date of the legend (about A.D. 220). The \u201cStaff of\nlife\u201d has amongst all nations possessed symbolical attributes, and its\nsacrifice to the gods of rivers, &c., is one of the most commonly met\nwith of superstitious practices.\n\nDr. S. Wells Williams, in a paper which he prepared for the N. C. B.\nRoyal Asiatic Society in 1869, drew attention to the interesting tale\nfrom Lew Chew to which I have casually adverted in a previous chapter\nand which at once recalls Mr. Baring Gould\u2019s \u201cSwan maidens.\u201d The\nSamojed legend in which the theft of the feather dresses is made\ninstrumental in obtaining atonement for injuries inflicted on the\nfamily of the purloiner is not noticed by the learned author; but he\nreminds his readers of the story in the Arabian Nights in which the\nhero obtains the daughter of the King of T\u02bban by carrying off her dress\nof feathers while bathing, and when she eventually flies away with\ntheir two children, follows her to the land of Wak Wak, and remarks\nthat both Germany and the Shetland islands have similar legends, though\nin the latter case the fairy dress was a seal skin. The Lewchewan\nlegend is translated from the journal of a mission to that country\nwritten by the Envoy Li Ting-yuan in 1801\u20131803 and is as follows.\n\n\u201cOnce in olden time a man named Ming-ling-tz\u016d, a farmer in poor\ncircumstances and of irreproachable character, but without any family,\nhad a well of delicious water near his house. He went one day to draw\nsome, and when at a distance saw a bright light in the well: on drawing\nnear to see what it was, he beheld a woman diving and washing in the\nwater, who had her clothes on a pine tree. Being displeased at her\nshameless ways and at his well being fouled he secretly carried off her\ndress. The garments were quite unlike Lewchewan in their style and were\nof a ruddy sunset colour, which excited his surprise so that he\ncautiously came back to see what change would come about. The woman,\nfinishing her bath, cried out in great anger, \u2018What thief has been here\nin broad day? Bring back my clothes, quick.\u2019 She then perceived\nMing-ling-tz\u016d and threw herself on the ground before him. He began to\nscold her and asked her why she came and fouled his water? to which she\nreplied that both the pine tree and the well were made by the Creator\nfor the use of all. The farmer entered into conversation with her and\npointed out that fate evidently intended her to be his wife as he\nabsolutely refused to give up her clothes, while without them she could\nnot get away. The result was that they were married. She lived with him\nfor ten years and bore him a son and a daughter. At the end of that\ntime her fate was fulfilled, she ascended a tree during the absence of\nher husband and having bidden her children farewell glided off on a\ncloud and disappeared.\u201d I can find no trace of any similar story in\nChina proper, though one may exist, and the reappearance of the Keltic\nlegend in a group of islands in the China sea is a noteworthy\nphenomenon. The German and Persian versions are in some sense links in\nthe chain of connection; but if the theory of a simultaneous eastward\nand westward spread of legend from an Aryan source be correct, the fact\nis not less striking that in this case it has appeared to leave no\ntrace in so many of the intermediate countries through which it has\npassed to its Ultima Thule on either hand.\n\nStories in which the example of Penelope is imitated by wives long\ndeserted by their lawful husbands are sufficiently common. The\nfollowing will serve as a specimen:\u2014In the time of the Chow dynasty\nthere lived a man named Pak-li-shi who was one of those unsettled\nadventurers ever longing to enjoy fresh experiences. After being\nmarried a few years to his wife, who gave birth to a son, he one day\ndisappeared without intimating his intended route. Time passed away\nuntil over thirty years had elapsed, the runaway having meantime risen\nto be prime minister in a neighbouring state, while the wife and son\nwandered over the country in search of the missing husband and father.\nOne day his son (who had of course arrived at man\u2019s estate) was\nattracted by a proclamation issued in what appeared to be his father\u2019s\nname. He informed his mother, who had been compelled by poverty to\nbecome an itinerant sempstress, and they at once devised a means of\nobtaining access to his house. Reaching the town where he resided the\nmother assumed the r\u00f4le of a wandering vocalist and contrived to scrape\nacquaintance with some of his servants, from whom she learned that\ntheir master was liable to fits of deep dejection on account of his\nbeing unable to find his family, of whom he had lost sight for many\nyears. She suggested that some of her songs might soothe his regret and\nwas accordingly introduced, the denouement being of course a\nrecognition and reconciliation. Another Chinese story bearing on the\nmarriage relations, and recalling several well-known tales of home\norigin, relates how a military man leaves his mother and wife for the\nscene of war and is compelled to remain absent many years. When at\nlength able to return, he espies at a short distance from his house a\nwoman who he believes is his wife. Foolishly anxious to test her\nfidelity he accosts her (she not recognizing him) and introduces\nhimself as a friend of her long absent husband. Presently his manner\nbecomes decidedly warmer than their supposed relations justify, and the\nwoman, far from any aid, seizes a handful of sand or mud and throws it\nin his eyes, availing herself of his temporary inconvenience to escape\nto her house. Shortly afterwards, having cleansed his eyes, he likewise\nenters the house and makes himself known to his mother, who joyfully\nsends to tell her daughter-in-law that the son has returned. The wife\ncomes out and seeing him to be the man who, pretending to be a\nstranger, had offered her violence, begins to upbraid him, and finally\nrushing from the room hangs herself. She is, however, cut down in time\nand at length suffers herself to be reconciled to her husband.\n\nThe still commoner story referred by Mr. Henderson to the \u201cGen\u0153va root\u201d\nis as prominent in Chinese as in Western household lore. One native\nversion relates how a son leaves his young wife and step-mother to look\nfor employment at a distance from home. The latter hates the wife and\nin the absence of her stepson makes her perform the most menial work,\ncrowning her evil deeds by accusing the poor girl on her husband\u2019s\nreturn of unfaithfulness. The husband, who exaggerates the Chinese\nsentiment that the mother\u2019s wishes or assertions rank before those of\nthe wife, believes his step-mother, and orders his wife to commit\nsuicide. Before the deed is consummated, however, the wicked\nstep-mother is killed by lightning. This, in view of the wife\u2019s\nprotestations of innocence, is accepted as a divine judgment, and the\nhusband is reconciled to his wife.\n\nWives of supernatural race are reputed to be acquired in other ways\nthan that mentioned above (see the Lewchewan story of stealing the\ndress). The gods are at times so pleased with the good conduct of\nindividual mortals that they give him one of the female genii to wife.\nA man named Tung Yung was thus favoured and the union was a very happy\none. But as in the previous case the wife\u2019s liking for mortal life\ncould not outlast a certain term, and, on her husband reaching the\nhighest rank to which he could aspire, she committed their son to his\ncare and reascended to the ranks of the genii.\n\nThe classic myths relating to children being suckled by animals closely\nresemble similar tales from Chinese sources; but the tiger here plays\nthe part assigned elsewhere to the wolf, &c. A well-known native story\nrecounts how a husband and wife with their infant child fled during one\nof the many rebellions into a desert. While setting up their encampment\na tiger suddenly made his appearance and so scared the parents that,\nforgetting the child, they incontinently fled, and were shortly\nafterward captured and put to death. The tiger picked up the infant and\nbore it to its cave, where (the legend says not how) it was duly\nnourished and in time became a well-grown young man. The tiger having\ntaken a great fancy to its singular nursling led him to some villagers\nwho at once took charge of him, his foster mother thenceforth\ndisappearing. The hero lived to avenge his parents\u2019 wrongs and\neventually rose to high office.\n\nFollowing the example of Mr. Henderson in tabulating the \u201cStory\nradicals\u201d illustrated by his interesting work, I arrange hereunder\nthose to which the foregoing pages have referred. To assume that they\ndo more than indicate the direction in which further research will\ndoubtless discover most interesting matter, would be absurd. But the\nlist, slight as it is, may serve as the basis for a more complete\nillustration of the subject at a future day.\n\n\n\nSTORY RADICALS.\n\nI. RELATING TO HUSBAND AND WIFE.\n\n1.\u2014PENELOPE ROOT.\n\n    The husband leaves his wife at home;\n    She awaits his arrival in fidelity;\n    They are reconciled after some trouble.\n\n2.\u2014GEN\u0152VA ROOT.\n\n    The man goes away leaving his wife at home.\n    A false charge is brought against her and he orders her death.\n    Before she dies he discovers his mistake.\n    They are reconciled.\n\n(Variant.)\n\n    The man leaves his wife as before.\n    He attempts to test her fidelity;\n    It results in her death, or\n    It nearly results in her death, but they are reconciled.\n\n3.\u2014SVANHVIT ROOT.\n\n    A man sees a woman bathing with her charm dress on the shore.\n    He steals the dress and she falls into his power.\n    After some years she recovers the dress and escapes.\n    He is unable to recover her.\n\n(Variant.)\n\n    A man is wedded to a woman of supernatural race.\n    After some years she becomes tired of earth and escapes.\n    He cannot recover her.\n\n\nII. RELATING TO PARENTS AND CHILDREN.\n\n4.\u2014JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON ROOT.\n\n    Two mothers have a dispute about offspring;\n    They refer it to the wisest official they can find:\n    He tests their bona fides.\n    The rightful party triumphs.\n\n5.\u2014RHEA SYLVIA ROOT.\n\n    Children are exposed by accident or design;\n    They are suckled by a wild beast;\n    They eventually rejoin their countrymen, and\n    Are finally raised to high honour.\n\n\nIII. MEN AND THE UNSEEN WORLD.\n\n6.\u2014ACHERUSIAN ROOT.\n\n    A place accessible to mortals affords an entry to the lower world;\n    Spirits enter and repass;\n    A mortal visits it and learns secrets of the hereafter.\n\n7.\u2014CITY OF SILENCE ROOT.\n\n    Genii are imprisoned in vessels of metal or earthenware by mortals;\n    They are released by accident or design.\n    (a) They revenge themselves on those who imprisoned them, or\n    (b) They accept their release with thankfulness.\n\n8.\u2014MAGICAL CONFLICT ROOT.\n\n    Two persons with supernatural powers test them against one another.\n    They pass through various transformations;\n    The better or more powerful one overcomes the other.\n        (See chapter on Serpents, Dragons &c. for illustration).\n\n9.\u2014HERCULES CUP ROOT.\n\n    A mortal is presented by a supernatural being with a cup;\n    The mortal uses it as a means of transport;\n    If pursued the pursuers abandon the chase on perceiving his magic\n      cup.\n\n10.\u2014ALI BABA ROOT.\n\n    A mysterious cave opens and shuts at the command of a master\n      endowed with magic powers.\n    A stranger learns and uses the pass-word.\n    He acquires riches or advantages from his knowledge, but,\n    Some one is sacrificed to ensure his good fortune.\n\n\nIV. MEN IN CONFLICT WITH NATURAL INFLUENCES.\n\n11.\u2014MAGIC TOMB ROOT.\n\n    A tomb possesses magnetic powers;\n    An attempt is made to open or enter it;\n    The attempt wholly or partially fails.\n\n\nV. MAN MATCHED WITH MAN.\n\n12.\u2014QUEEN DIDO ROOT.\n\n    Strangers visit a new country;\n    By cunning they induce the natives to grant what they do not intend\n      to the newcomers.\n\n\n[Chinese Chronicles assert that the Dutch when they first settled in\nFormosa adopted a ruse similar to that of Queen Dido. The classic story\nis more accurately reproduced in the Ming-shi, containing accounts of\nforeign countries, in which the Spaniards, who arrived in the\nPhilippines about 1574, are narrated to have presented the native chief\nwith valuable gifts, begging in return the privilege of occupying for\nbuilding as much land as could be covered by the hide of an ox.\u2014See\nChina Review, Vol. iv. p. 386. At all events the story, however\nimported or originated, is perfectly well known to the Chinese and as\nsuch is included in my list.]\n\n\nVI. MEN PERFORM EXTRAORDINARILY HEROIC ACTS.\n\n13.\u2014MARCUS CURTIUS ROOT.\n\n    (a) Human life must be sacrificed to close a chasm, or,\n    (b) Human blood must be infused into a casting to ensure its\n        success.\n        (Many variants).\n    (c) A person sacrifices him or herself accordingly, or,\n    (d) A person is compelled to do so by force. A successful\n        result ensues.\n\n\nVII. MEN AND BEASTS.\n\n14.\u2014BIRD, BEAST AND FISH ROOT, OR \u201cONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER\u201d\nROOT.\n\n    A man is asked to aid an animal to escape from confinement, to\n      recover from sickness &c.\n    He aids it with good humour.\n    The man falls into trouble,\n    The animal aids him in the nick of time.\n\n\nVIII. PLANTS &C. SPRINGING FROM A PORTION OF THE BODY.\n\n15.\u2014SOMA-BRINGING FALCON ROOT.\n\n    A being undertakes extraordinary work.\n    By its own act or that of others a portion of its body is cleft to\n      the earth;\n    The portion taking root, produces a plant;\n    The plant is thereafter venerated.\n\n\nNecessarily brief as the foregoing illustrations of the subject under\nnotice have been they will, it is hoped, suffice to demonstrate the\ngeneral resemblance of Chinese vulgar legends to those in vogue\nelsewhere. Both in motive and in detail they remind us of the tales\nformerly told by our own firesides, and demonstrate the\nfact\u2014theoretically admitted by most people, but often practically\nignored\u2014that a common humanity claims the Chinese and the Saxon. And I\nmay take this opportunity of referring to the objections which are\nraised by some sinologues to treating Chinese \u201cold wives tales\u201d as\nmatters worth serious record and discussion. To those who share those\nobjections I cannot do better than quote the words of Mr. Henderson.\n\u201cIt is,\u201d he says, \u201conly of late years that household tales have been\nregarded as of interest by men of learning. For long they were thought\nto be \u2018milk for babes\u2019 but to have nothing in them which could repay a\nmoment\u2019s study by one who had emerged from childhood. But the great\nGrimm saw that in these stories for children lay fragments of ancient\nmythology, and he learned to trace them from land to land and thus to\nprove them to be precious heirlooms derived from our primeval ancestors\nbefore they parted into separate nationalities.\u201d Without asserting that\nall the Chinese versions of the legends above noted can be referred to\na common parentage with those of Europe, and leaving what has here been\ndealt with in a single chapter to be further elucidated by more\ncompetent scholars, the instances given of agreement between Western\nand Chinese tales are I imagine sufficient to arrest attention. To a\ncharge of having but slightly discriminated between legends properly so\ncalled and household tales I must plead guilty. But as no purpose was\nto be served by observing a strict distinction, the matter may pass.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nXIII.\u2014FABLES AND PROVERBIAL LORE.\n\n\nThe use of fables to convey some homely truth or enforce the point of\nsome moral apothegm, to those who might turn from abstract argument\nwith indifference, is as familiar to the household world of China as to\nthat of the West. Strangely enough, however, it does not appear that\nthe Chinese possess (with two exceptions to be presently mentioned) any\ncollections of fables properly so called, though their literature\nabounds with them as isolated tales. The literati indeed affect to\nrather despise them in the abstract, as fit only for the perusal of\nwomen and children, though they do not disdain to employ them at times\nwith considerable effect. One cause of the supercilious attitude thus\nassumed is, very probably, that the only known collections in the\nlanguage (forming the exceptions above noted) are translations from\nSanscrit Buddhistic sources, and hence exotic to Chinese thought. Your\ntrue Confucianist\u2014the believer in the dry bones of a system (if system\nit be) which, its worldly ethics aside, is the least satisfying of all\nknown beliefs\u2014scorns Buddhistic fables as he scorns Buddhistic prayers.\nFew of the better-read natives will own to any but the most distant\nacquaintance with the two works which form almost the sole repositories\nof Indo-Chinese fable\u2014the Fa-yuan-chu-lin [183] and the Yu-lin, which\nare avowedly adopted from the Pali. But besides this, the officials of\nthe Empire have a wholesome dread of the satire which a fable may\npoint, and it is more than probable that any popular collection of the\nsort would bring its authors and publishers into trouble. In 1837\u201338\nthe late Mr. R. Thom translated eighty-one of \u00c6sop\u2019s fables into\nChinese. We give the result in his own words:\u2014\n\n\u201cWhen first published in Canton their reception by the Chinese was\nextremely flattering. They had their run of the public Courts and\noffices until the Mandarins, taking offence at seeing some of their\nevil customs so freely canvassed, ordered the work to be suppressed. It\nis not the first time that we have elucidated a disputed point by\nreferring to one of these fables having analogy to the matter in hand;\nnay, we remember once stopping the mouths of a party of mandarins, who\ninsisted that England wanted to quarrel with China, by reciting the\nstory of the goose that laid the golden eggs. The application was at\nonce perceived and the justice of the remark admitted immediately. It\nwill thus be seen that the Chinese officials evince no lack of\nappreciation about such matters.\u201d But the power found sufficient to\nsuppress what is deemed an objectionable brochure is of course unable\nto touch the numerous fables which, partly in the much-revered\nliterature of the Empire and partly by oral relation, have been handed\ndown to the existing generation of Chinese. To disinter an entire\ncollection would indeed be a herculean task; but it is easy to cite\nsome of the best known in illustration of the contention that the\nChinese mind manifests much the same characteristics as that of other\nand, as we deem, more civilized races.\n\nThe earliest known specimen of a Chinese fable is noticed by Mr. Mayers\nin his Manual (p. 282). In the Narratives of the Contending States,\nSu-tai, counsellor of the prince of Chao, is said to have related the\nfollowing by way of illustrating the necessity of unity amongst those\nopposed to or by a common enemy. \u201cA mussel was sunning itself on the\nriver bank when a bittern came by and pecked at it. The mussel closed\nits shell and nipped the bird\u2019s beak. Hereupon the bittern said, \u2018If\nyou don\u2019t let me go to-day, if you don\u2019t let me go to-morrow, there\nwill be a dead mussel.\u2019 The shell fish answered, \u2018If I don\u2019t come out\nto-day, if I don\u2019t come out to-morrow, there will surely be a dead\nbittern.\u2019 Just then a fisherman came by and seized the pair of them.\u201d\nThe date of this utterance is given as about B.C. 315, and, if this be\ncorrect, it certainly boasts a respectable antiquity. It is not, of\ncourse, often possible to fix the precise dates of literary invention,\nbut it does not appear that the claims of \u00c6sop (B.C. 620) as the father\nof Western fable need yield in point of antiquity to those of his\nChinese representative, whoever he may have been. The latter, like the\nGrecian humourist, most probably contented himself with reciting his\nfables, but, less fortunate in his countrymen, has not had his name\nhanded down to posterity by those who thought his witty or wise sayings\nworth preservation in writing. On the other hand, Chinese literature\njustly claims pre\u00ebminence as regards the publication of written fables.\nSocrates is indeed alleged to have versified some of \u00c6sop\u2019s fables when\nin prison, shortly before his death; but the earliest known Western\ncollection is dated 150\u2013100 B.C.\n\nA fable tolerably well known (though undoubtedly of Buddhistic origin)\nis that of the Cat and the Mice. The most popular version relates how\nan old cat was sitting up mewing with half-closed eyes when two mice\nhappened to see her. Astonished that their old enemy should be taking\nthings so easily they said to each other, \u201cPuss is evidently reformed;\nshe is saying her prayers. We need have no fear.\u201d So they began to play\nabout without noticing her. No sooner had they got within reach,\nhowever, than the cat sprang upon one and devoured him. His companion\nrushed home and remarked, \u201cWho would have thought that a cat which shut\nher eyes and said her prayers would act like that?\u201d The Indian version\nis slightly different. A man had put a rosary round his cat\u2019s neck, for\nfun, and the mice, taking this to be a sign of a religious mind on the\npart of the cat, congratulated each other and began to make merry. In a\nvery short time the cat had caught and eaten several of the mice: upon\nwhich the survivors said, \u201cWe thought he was praying to Buddha, but his\npiety was a mere comedy.\u201d The moral is that those who make a show of\ndevotion are least to be trusted; or, as others have it, that \u201csome\npray and do bad actions; others don\u2019t pray, but don\u2019t do evil.\u201d Another\nfavourite fable has given rise to a popular saying. Pigs in Corea, it\navers, are generally black; but a white one having once made its\nappearance the king thought it worth offering to the Chinese Emperor,\nand accordingly sent ambassadors to present it. When they reached\nPeking, however, so many white pigs were to be seen that the\nambassadors saw it would be ridiculous to carry out their mission.\nHence \u201cto offer a white pig to the Emperor\u201d is equivalent to our\n\u201ccarrying coals to Newcastle.\u201d\n\nOur own (or rather \u00c6sop\u2019s) fable, in which the man who nursed a frozen\nsnake was bitten for his pains, becomes curiously inverted in the\nChinese version; the snake rewarding its benefactor in a rather more\nagreeable manner. Snakes figure in two other well-known fables. In one\na man is represented as having struck a cobra on the head, whereupon\nthe reptile attacked him with its tail. Striking its tail, the head\nforthwith assailed him, and the man then belabouring its middle, both\nhead and tail went at the assailant. The moral of this is \u201cNever say\ndie,\u201d or as the Chinese word it \u201cThere\u2019s help for everything.\u201d In the\nother case we find a reminder of the well-known story of the stomach\nand the hands, wherein the latter refuse to work for ever to satisfy an\norgan which does nothing to earn its living:\u2014The head and the tail of a\nsnake quarrelled, the latter averring that it had as good a right to\ndirect the creature\u2019s movements as had the former, which moreover got\nall the enjoyment of eating and drinking. So the tail was allowed to\ntake charge, and began to move backwards. Unprovided with eyes,\nhowever, it very soon brought both ends to grief, as the snake fell\ninto a wet ditch whence there was no means of egress, and was drowned.\n\nThe well-known French sinologue, Professor Julien, has translated from\nthe Chinese some forty-five fables derived from Indian sources. The\nmajority of these are so obviously foreign to Chinese customs that they\ncannot be cited as examples of native fable. Five of them only seem to\nbe at all popularly known, one being that of the snake\u2019s head and tail\nabove noticed. Of the others the Ass in the Lion\u2019s skin is probably the\nmost familiar. The Ass takes, in another fable, the place occupied by\nthe ambitious frog. Desirous of becoming an ox he first of all adopts\nthe same food. After a time, satisfied that he is going on well, he\nessays to change his usual bray for the deep-toned low of his horned\ncompanions. Indignant at the insult they rush upon him and gore him to\ndeath.\n\nTigers are such favourite subjects of Chinese superstition that it is\nnatural to find them frequently introduced into fable. The following is\nfound in the collection translated by Mons. Julien, and is consequently\nof Indian origin. A tiger having seized a monkey was about to devour\nhim; but the monkey, bethinking himself of some means of escape,\nsuggested that he was too small to make a good meal for a tiger and\noffered to conduct his captor to a neighbouring hill where a far more\nnoble prey might be captured. This was a stag, who, rightly assuming\nthat the tiger had come for a most unfriendly purpose, concluded that\nhis only chance was to put a bold face upon the matter, and accordingly\naddressed the monkey as follows: \u201cHow is this? you promised me ten\ntiger-skins but you have only brought one; you still owe me nine.\u201d The\ntiger hearing this became alarmed and instantly decamped, vowing that\nhe never thought the monkey could be so treacherous. Two other fables\nin which the tiger figures are, however, purely Chinese. In one case he\nis about to attack an ass, but hearing his tremendous bray becomes\nalarmed supposing that so much noise can only proceed from one of the\nbravest of animals. The ass, however, shewing no inclination to fight,\nthe tiger advances, and presently hears another bray as loud as the\nfirst. Convinced at last that he has nothing to fear, he rushes on the\nass and devours him. The moral of course is that people who put forth\nthe greatest pretensions are not most to be dreaded. The second fable\nteaches how sagacity is more valuable than strength. A tiger was about\nto devour a fox, when the latter demanded exemption on the ground that\nhe was superior to all other beasts. \u201cIf you doubt my word, come with\nme and see,\u201d said the fox: so the two set forth in company. Every\nanimal of course fled at their approach, and the tiger, too stupid to\nsee that he himself was the cause of their terror, conceived a high\nrespect for his crafty companion and did not dare to attack him. The\nforegoing is one of the many fables recorded in Chinese history as\nhaving been used to point a moral when a ready-witted man was\ninterrogated by his sovereign.\n\nThe fable of the Geese and the Tortoise introduced into China from\nSanscrit sources is essentially the same as the well-known European\nversion. A couple of geese lived in friendship with a tortoise by the\nside of a pond. During the hot weather the pond began to dry up, and\nthe geese, anxious that their friend should not suffer from want of\nwater, offered to transport him to some other place where the precious\nfluid was abundant. They directed him to seize in the middle, with his\nmouth, a stick which they had provided, engaging to carry it by its\nends to the place indicated. \u201cBut be sure,\u201d they added, \u201cnot to speak\nwhile we are carrying you.\u201d The tortoise promised compliance, and the\nthree started on their adventurous journey. Some little boys viewing\nthe novel sight began to shout, \u201cLook at the geese carrying a\ntortoise!\u201d and continued shouting so long that the tortoise at last\nlost his temper. \u201cWhat\u2019s that to you!\u201d he retorted. But alas, in giving\nvent to his feelings he lost his hold of the stick and falling\ndownwards to the ground was dashed to pieces. Another fable, which\nteaches the moral that people should avoid unsuitable agreements, tells\nhow two brothers bought a pair of boots between them, it being arranged\nthat each should wear them in turn. The elder however forgot to\nstipulate as to hours and the younger accordingly wore them during the\nworking part of each day. Afraid to claim his rights, but anxious not\nto be wholly \u201cdone\u201d the elder brother got up every night to get his\nshare of the bargain, and between them the boots were soon worn out.\nUpon the younger brother proposing that they should buy another pair\nthe elder said \u201cNot unless you will let me sleep at night.\u201d The satire\nupon unequally yoked fellows is clear enough, though some European\nreaders have failed to see it.\n\nThe following fable undoubtedly owes its origin to Hindoo sources, but\nis interesting (in view of its being tolerably well known in China) on\naccount of its obvious derivation from a root which has furnished not\nmerely fables but \u201chistorical\u201d anecdotes to many Western nations.\nStories in which the hero presents himself to the enemies of the\ncountrymen in a condition arguing that he has been grossly maltreated\nby his friends, and from motives of revenge seeks to be received by and\ngive aid to those to whom he is naturally opposed, are to be found in\nthe records of nearly all races. The fable of the crows and the owls\nadheres to the usually-received texts. Two colonies of crows and owls\nrespectively lived in close proximity to and hated each other in the\nmost neighbourly way. As the crows slept by night and the owls by day\neach in turn attacked the other when most defenceless, and the\nslaughter on either side was great. At length an intelligent crow\nremarked that this would never do; some plan of exterminating their\nenemies must be hit upon if they were ever to dwell in peace. On being\nasked what plan he proposed he told his fellow crows to peck him badly\nand pull out a number of his feathers, promising, if that were done, to\neffect the destruction of the owls. In this sorry plight he presented\nhimself at the owl\u2019s domicile, complaining bitterly of the treatment to\nwhich he had been subjected. The owls coming out to see what was the\nmatter he explained that he had fled to them for shelter, and one of\nthe owls pitying his hard lot received him into his nest. For a while\nall went well, until at length, his feathers having grown again, he set\nto work to pile large quantities of brushwood round the owls\u2019 hole,\nexplaining in answer to their enquiries that he was endeavouring to\nreturn their kindness by heaping up for them a barrier against the cold\nwinds. Shortly after, a snowstorm came on and all the owls crowded into\nthe nest to escape it. Watching his opportunity the crow plucked a\nfirebrand from the fire of some neighbouring peasants and setting light\nto the brushwood smothered the owls to death. The moral, \u201cnever trust a\nrenegade,\u201d is obvious enough, and is one which, had it been kept in\nmind, might have saved the China of a former age from not a few\nrevolutions. The difficulty of overcoming evil habits is also well\nillustrated in the same collection as that from which the foregoing is\nderived. A certain king possessed by a spirit of a false economy gave\norders that all the horses used by his cavalry should in time of peace\nbe employed in mills. So long as the country was at peace the\narrangement worked admirably. But no sooner were the troops called out\nfor war than the cavalry found that their horses would only go in a\ncircular direction and they accordingly fell an easy prey to their\nantagonists. It is a pity that no one with sufficient influence to make\nhimself heard ventures to apply this fable to the so-called \u201ctroops\u201d\nwhich compose the major part of the native army.\n\nA very fair satire upon the habit common to some people of \u201cborrowing\ntrouble\u201d is contained in the following:\u2014A certain rich man who had\nlived to an extreme age had assembled all his sons and grandsons to do\nhonour to his birthday. Despite their felicitations however he wore a\ntroubled face, until at length some one asked him what was amiss.\n\u201cNothing particular,\u201d he replied; \u201cI was only thinking what trouble I\nshould have in inviting my guests when my two-hundredth birthday came\nround.\u201d To take overmuch thought for the morrow is a common Chinese\nfailing, and the moral embodied in the foregoing is keenly appreciated\nby the populace. Two other fables remind us of old friends in our\nschoolboy days, though they are, I believe, purely Chinese. In one a\nparty of robbers are related to have attacked a village and to have\nkilled all the inhabitants, save two\u2014one so blind that he was unable to\neven grope his way about, and the other so lame that by no possibility\ncould he manage to run away. But \u201cheaven helps those that help\nthemselves.\u201d After a deal of trouble the blind man managed to get the\nlame man on his back and piloted by his eyes the pair reached a place\nwhere they were charitably provided for. The system of mutual\ndependence, so essentially a Chinese virtue, is herein aptly\nillustrated. Not bad either is another entitled \u201cThe folly of avarice.\u201d\nA rich priest had hoarded a fine collection of jewels to which he was\nconstantly adding, and of which he was inordinately proud. Upon shewing\nthem one day to a friend, the latter feasted his eyes for some time,\nand on taking leave thanked his host for the jewels. \u201cHow,\u201d cries the\npriest, \u201cI have not given them to you! Why do you thank me?\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d\nrejoined his friend, \u201cI have at least had as much pleasure from seeing\nthem as you can have; and the only difference between us, that I can\nsee, is that you have the trouble of watching them.\u201d\n\nDespite therefore the fact that popular collections of Chinese fables\nare unknown, at all events to all the literary natives to whom the\nwriter has access\u2014fables themselves are in common use and are of much\nthe same character as those popular amongst ourselves, doubtless indeed\nowning a common origin.\n\nTurning from fables to proverbs a very different state of affairs is\nfound to prevail. Not only are the Chinese spoken languages richer in\nproverbial lore than that of any Western race, but their literature\nabounds with that description of short pithy saying so well defined as\n\u201cthe wisdom of many expressed by the wit of one.\u201d I would here mention\nthat when this series of chapters on Chinese folklore was first\nprojected the admirable work of Mr. Scarborough, \u201cA Collection of\nChinese Proverbs,\u201d had not been published, and Mr Lister\u2019s highly\ninteresting article in the China Review, \u201cChinese Proverbs and their\nLessons,\u201d [184] was almost the only essay on the subject which had up\nto that period appeared in the language. Most works on China indeed\ngive more or less full lists of common sayings, but Mr Lister was the\nfirst who endeavoured to direct attention to the coincidences of\nChinese thought with that of other peoples. Mr Scarborough\u2019s work has\nso amply supplemented all that was previously available respecting\nChinese proverbs, while his introductory essay gives so comprehensive a\nview of the whole subject that students of the subject may well be\nreferred to the volume in question. Dealing, however, strictly with the\nmatter of comparison between Chinese and Western proverbs, there is\nstill room for comment. And for this purpose I shall avail myself of Mr\nScarborough\u2019s handy collection.\n\nOut of some 2,700 proverbs and popular sayings which he has brought\ntogether, about one hundred are either word-for-word, or in sense, the\nsame as common proverbs in use amongst ourselves. Occasionally of\ncourse we find an odd inversion of thought, but in the main they\ncoincide with curious accuracy. The instances of agreement might be\ntrebled or perhaps quadrupled if popular quotations from well-known\nwriters and Biblical texts were also compared. But in the above\nestimate I speak merely of proverbs properly so called. On the first\npage we have the equivalent of our \u201cMuch cry and little wool\u201d\u2014It\nthunders loudly, and rains very little, another proverb equivalent to\n\u201cLots of fuss for small profit\u201d containing a hit at the class of small\nmandarins. A little further on we find our \u201cNothing venture nothing\nhave\u201d transformed into If you don\u2019t enter a tiger\u2019s den you cannot get\nhis cubs, and the well-known saying \u201cA man is known by the company he\nkeeps\u201d becomes, Near vermilion one gets stained red, near ink black; a\nmore vulgar version having it that Near putrid fish you will stink,\nnear the epidendrum you will be fragrant. That \u201cOne swallow doesn\u2019t\nmake a summer\u201d is taught by A single strand of silk doesn\u2019t make a\nthread, or a solitary tree a grove. \u201cPractice makes perfect\u201d is in one\nChinese version, The boxer must not rest his fist or the singer his\nmouth, while exactly the same words as our own are also in use, and\n\u201cWhat you do, do well\u201d becomes, If you kill a pig kill him thoroughly.\nThe Chinese have a number of proverbs implying \u201cMore haste less speed,\u201d\nwhich may account for the deliberate way in which, as a nation, they\nignore anything like hurry. In hurry is error; Done leisurely done\nwell; Slow work fine goods, and What is done hastily is not done well,\nmay be quoted as examples. But on the other hand they have a hit at\nprocrastination \u201cthe thief of time\u201d in precisely our own words. Another\nproverb has it,\u2014Wait till the Yellow River is clear, and how old will\nyou be? Our \u201cToo many cooks spoil the broth\u201d finds its most literal\nrendering in A thousand artizans a thousand plans, but two or three\nother proverbs to the same effect are to be found in the collection.\n\nThe Chinese have numerous proverbs relating to animals, but the only\none that strikes me as exactly reproducing a Western idea\u2014\u201cDog doesn\u2019t\neat dog\u201d\u2014is, The heron doesn\u2019t eat heron\u2019s flesh. On no subject are\ntheir sayings more plentiful than trade. Every Chinaman is said to be a\nborn cook and a born trader, and their most popular proverbs certainly\ngive colour to the latter part of the assertion. \u201cUse a sprat to catch\na whale\u201d finds its representatives in Throw a brick to allure a gem,\nand If a little cash does not go, much cash will not come. \u201cThere\u2019s a\ntime for all things\u201d becomes a business proverb in China, There\u2019s a\ntime to fish and a time to dry nets. \u201cTake care of the pence &c.\u201d is\nnot unlike the Chinese Count cash as if it were gold and so avoid the\nleast mistake; while \u201cThere are tricks in all trades\u201d is more politely\nexpressed by Every trade has its ways. \u201cA penny saved is a penny\ngained\u201d is inculcated by Never spend a farthing uselessly. One is\nstrongly tempted to quote some of the other numerous proverbs relating\nto trade and commerce such as Cheap things are not good: good things\nare not cheap &c., but the limits imposed of verbal or at least direct\ncomparison forbid.\n\nThe advantages of dealing for ready cash and the inconvenience of debt\nare as strongly insisted on in China as in Europe. \u201cA bird in the hand\nis worth two in the bush,\u201d say we. The Chinese put it more directly,\nBetter take eight hundred than give credit for a thousand cash, Better\ntwenty per cent in ready money than thirty on credit; to which by the\nway, our \u201cA nimble nine-pence is better than a slow shilling\u201d is\nperhaps the most literal parallel. \u201cHe that goes a borrowing goes a\nsorrowing\u201d is enforced on the Chinese mind by an ingenious pun in one\nof the words of the proverb\u2014a practice sufficiently common in China to\nbe worth explanation. The word Ch\u02bbien debt is thus written:\u2014\u6b20,\u2014the\nlower half of the character being \u4eba j\u00e9n, signifying a man. The proverb\nruns \u201cDebt presses on the head of a man,\u201d the ch\u02bbien being supported by\nj\u00e9n. Our assertion that a man \u201cRobs Peter to pay Paul\u201d is expressed in\nChinese by, He tears down the Eastern to repair the Western wall.\n\nThe Chinese equivalent of \u201cA bad carpenter quarrels with his tools\u201d is:\nAll unskilful fools quarrel with their tools,\u2014not a quite literal but\nsufficiently accurate rendering. \u201cCobbler stick to your last\u201d has\nseveral equivalents, such as The teacher should not leave his books or\nthe poor man his pigs; Better be master of one than jack of all trades;\nSeparate hongs (mercantile houses) are like separate hills, and The\nriver does not overflow the well. \u201cTwo of a trade never agree\u201d is\nessentially a Chinese saying, and so is our well-known aphorism that\n\u201cDress makes the man,\u201d the native version being that Dress makes the\nGentleman or Lady, varied to the form That as a house needs man to set\nit off, so man needs clothes. Household affairs come in for a full\nshare of Chinese proverbial philosophy. \u201cEarly to bed &c.\u201d is\nrepresented by Three days\u2019 rising gains one day\u2019s work. \u201cTo wash your\ndirty linen at home\u201d is advised in the more prosaic Don\u2019t spread abroad\ndomestic foibles, and the well-known saying, (hardly a proverb perhaps)\n\u201cAlas \u2019tis easier far to rule a kingdom than a wife\u201d is but the English\nversion of the Chinese It is easier to rule a kingdom than to regulate\na family. \u201cA man\u2019s a man for a\u2019 that\u201d finds exact reproduction in the\nChinese saying that A stick\u2019s a stick whether long or short; A man\u2019s a\nman whether great or small; and our popular saying that \u201cThere are as\ngood fish in the sea as ever came out of it\u201d is aptly paralleled by, If\nthere\u2019s no light in the East there will be in the West.\n\nThe idea expressed in our \u201cBreaking a butterfly on the wheel\u201d is\nfamiliarized in China by the saying He fells a tree to catch a\nblackbird and He shoots a sparrow with a cannon, as is that of\n\u201cCarrying coals to Newcastle\u201d by Offering the filial classic for sale\nat the door of Confucius; while the Chinaman who \u201cBuys a pig in a poke\u201d\nis said To buy a cat in a bag. We say \u201cShutting the stable door when\nthe horse is stolen.\u201d The Chinese put it, Fighting the wall when the\nrobbers have gone, equally illustrative of useless effort when the\ndanger is over. The principle that leads the world to \u201cGive to him that\nhath\u201d is evidently no stranger to Chinese practice. Mr. Scarborough\nversifies the native proverb as follows:\n\n\n        \u201cA lucky man is stout and fair\n        And men lend him service as much as he wants.\n        A luckless man is burnt and spare\n        And he asks for a loan which no man grants.\u201d\n\n\n\u201cTo kill two birds with one stone\u201d is pretty closely followed in the\nnative version \u201cTo accomplish two things at one effort.\u201d Our \u201cAll roads\nlead to Rome\u201d is literally the same, the word Peking alone being\nsubstituted for that of Rome. A more verbose version of the proverb\nimplies the same truth. \u201cStrike while the iron is hot\u201d is another\ninstance of word-for-word agreement; and \u201cThere\u2019s a time for\neverything\u201d is reproduced in Where it\u2019s a time for drinking wine drink\nit, When the place is suitable cry aloud. Our well-known \u201cLookers-on\nsee most of the game\u201d differs but slightly from Men in the game are\nblind to what lookers-on see clearly. \u201cIt\u2019s of no use crying over spilt\nmilk\u201d is very like the Chinese, Spilt water can\u2019t be gathered up again.\n\nHappiness and misery furnish as fruitful a source for proverbs amongst\nthe Chinese as amongst Western nations, some of their sayings being\nextremely terse and to the point. They assert that Happinesses never\ncome in pairs; calamities never come single, a belief not confined to\nthe inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom. Life and death, of course, come\nin for their share of wise (or unwise) sayings, though the former\ncertainly predominate. When Shakespeare wrote that \u201call the world\u2019s a\nstage\u201d he was unconsciously plagiarizing the Chinese, Man\u2019s life is\nnought but theatrical performance. That men are apt to discover secrets\nwhen under the influence of liquor (\u201cWhen the wine\u2019s in the wit\u2019s out,\u201d\nIn vino veritas, &c.,) the Chinese know as well as we do. Wine, they\nsay, is a discoverer of secrets, and they have numerous sayings of the\nsame kind. We assert moreover that \u201cWalls have ears,\u201d and so do they.\nThe recommendation to \u201cDo in Rome as the Romans do\u201d is paraphrased,\nMeeting men or devils talk as they do, a proverb eminently in\naccordance with Chinese caution. So too they adhere to the principle\nexpressed in \u201cWhat every one says must be true,\u201d the native version\nbeing almost the same.\n\nBlind leadership is satirized in the identical words of the evangelist\n\u201cIf the blind lead the blind, &c.\u201d A similar reproduction of language\napplies to the proverb \u201cThe boy is father to the man,\u201d the Chinese\nsaying You may see the man in the boy. \u201cGood wine needs no bush\u201d is\nequally well expressed by A good-looking woman needs no rouge. Some of\nthe proverbs about women, by the way, are more pungent than polite. A\ngreedy fellow is characterized in the same language in both English and\nChinese as some one with his eyes bigger than his belly. \u201cEvery man for\nhimself\u201d is another cynical saying common to both countries. \u201cCheap and\nnasty\u201d is expressed in Chinese by If you buy cheap firewood, you burn\nthe bottom of your copper. So too \u201cCut your coat according to your\ncloth\u201d becomes with a slight revision, Cut your cloth according to your\nmeasure. \u201cOnce bitten twice shy\u201d is another instance of verbal\nagreement, except that the Chinese saying is less terse.\n\nMost nations have a saying to the effect that the wearer knows best\nwhere the shoe pinches. The Chinese mean the same when they say Rats\nknow Rats\u2019 ways. \u201cLet sleeping dogs lie\u201d is a worldly-wise saying which\nthe Chinese fully appreciate, only they apply it to tigers instead of\ndogs. \u201cA chip of the old block\u201d or \u201cLike father like son\u201d is expressed\nby Dragons give birth to Dragons and Ph\u0153nixes hatch Ph\u0153nixes. Nor has\nthe Wise King\u2019s saying \u201cSpare the rod, and spoil the child\u201d been\nignored in China, the same idea exactly underlying a proverb in which\nthe effects of due correction and spoiling are contrasted. \u201cTwo heads\nare better than one\u201d is equally acknowledged in the saying, One man\u2019s\nplan is short; two men\u2019s plan is long.\n\nChinese proverbs regarding \u201cHeaven\u201d as the supreme arbiter of human\naffairs are more numerous than one would expect to find amongst a\npeople so idol-ridden as the Chinese. It is noteworthy that in this\nconnection \u201cHeaven\u201d is invariably used as we use it in popular sayings\nto imply \u201cthe one great Cause.\u201d Thus, as we say, \u201cMan proposes, God\ndisposes\u201d the Chinese say A thousand human schemes may be wrecked by\none scheme of heaven. [185] Similar sayings are so numerous, that they\nsuggest an as yet (apparently) unrecognized belief in a one\nall-powerful cause. Every student of Chinese is of course acquainted\nwith the popular acceptation of the term. But it would almost seem (if\nthe collection of proverbs before us is to be accepted as a guide) that\nthe word more nearly expresses the Christian idea of the Creator than\nany other in the Chinese vocabulary.\n\n\u201cMurder will out\u201d say we. The Chinese intimate that a Body buried in\nthe snow is sure to be eventually discovered. Our estimate of the value\nof time, again, is reproduced in words that match with the proverb\nalready quoted respecting prevarication: An inch of time is like an\ninch of gold. It is perhaps scarcely accurate to quote \u201cMens sana in\ncorpore sano\u201d as a proverb. But at all events the Chinese reproduce it\nin A calm mind makes a cool body. \u201cThe poor have no friends\u201d is another\nvery literal rendering of a Chinese proverb, and \u201cMoney makes the world\nwag\u201d is very fairly rendered by In the presence of money all quarrels\nexpire, or Money hides many offences; while as a concluding specimen I\nmay quote the well-known \u201cFirst come first served\u201d expressed in Chinese\nby, The first who comes becomes prince, the second minister.\n\nIt cannot of course be pretended that the foregoing is by any means an\nexhaustive summary of the various proverbs which imply similar\nintentions on the part of their inventors, European or Asiatic. But it\nwill suffice to show how striking are the agreements on certain\nwell-defined subjects, and, it is hoped, to support the general\nprinciple laid down in these pages that Chinese thought is, at bottom,\nvery similar to our own. It may well be that proverbs relating to\ntemporal welfare only, spring up spontaneously and independently in\neach country. But what are we to make of the monotheistic spirit\npervading the numerous sayings in which the \u201cHeaven\u201d of the Chinese\nanswers to the \u201cGod\u201d of Christian Europe or the \u201cJehovah\u201d of the chosen\nrace? Is this too the spontaneous invention of an isolated people, or\nis it the surviving trace of a long-forgotten worship, when the\nancestors of the Chinaman and the Semite worshipped at the same shrine?\nThis is not the place to discuss such a question, but it nevertheless\nsuggests itself, and is worth a more careful investigation than has yet\nbeen accorded to it by the enthusiastic champions of Shang-ti and Sh\u00ean.\nIn the opinion of many, sufficient reason has not yet been adduced to\njustify a refusal to adopt the only phrase acknowledged by the Chinese\nto convey the idea expressed by our word \u201cCreator\u201d or \u201cAlmighty.\u201d\n\nIn concluding these hasty sketches of the various departments of\nChinese folk-lore, the writer cannot but express a hope that each\ndivision of the subject will before long receive fuller elucidation\nfrom competent pens. Conscious of the superficial character of much\nthat is here written he can only regret that time and opportunity have\nnot allowed him to deal more satisfactorily with the information at\ncommand. To those who look upon the folk-lore of a people as affording\na key to many curious problems concerning its origin and progress, the\nforegoing chapters may afford useful hints. Many subjects might be\ndealt with more advantageously in special volumes than within the brief\nlimits of a single chapter. The writer will however be satisfied if his\nefforts tend in any way to bridge the existing gulf between the two\npeoples, by illustrating, even to a limited degree, the Chinese\nassertion that \u201cMen of the four seas are (after all) brothers.\u201d\n\n\n                            THE END.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] Luther himself believed in the existence of a stone (the \u00e6tita),\nwhich superstition gave out was to be found in eagle\u2019s nests, and which\npossessed the power of detecting thieves! It is not, we imagine,\ngenerally known that Luther was grossly superstitious\u2014but he was. It\nis, we think, in the Colloquia Mensalia, edited by Lauterbach, that\nLuther is said to have expressed his belief in, among other traditions,\nthe following\u2014that three toads spitted on a stick extracted poison from\nwounds; that the swan sang sweetly before death; that the electors of\nGermany could touch for the scrofula, and that the 38th year of man\u2019s\nlife was one of peculiar danger to him.\u2014Englishman.\n\n[2] See Report N. C. B. R. A. S., 1873.\n\n[3] Wade\u2019s Wen ta pien, Ch. XVIII.\n\n[4] Kelly\u2019s Indo-European Traditions and Folk-lore, Preface, p. IX.\n\n[5] \u5982\u610f.\n\n[6] Marriage of the Emperor of China: By L. M. F., p. 25.\n\n[7] Children born between midnight and dawn are thought by the North\ncountry folk to be endowed with a sort of second sight, \u201cso that they\nsee spirits,\u201d or, as a nurse puts it, \u201care bairns that see more than\nother folk.\u201d\u2014See Henderson\u2019s Notes on Folk-lore, p. 3.\n\n[8] If the Chinese lay great stress on the hour of birth, we no less\nattribute to the day a talismanic influence over the future of the\nnewborn child; as witness the goodwives\u2019 rhyme:\u2014\n\n            Monday\u2019s child is fair of face,\n            Tuesday\u2019s child is full of grace,\n            Wednesday\u2019s child is full of woe,\n            Thursday\u2019s child has far to go,\n            Friday\u2019s child is loving and giving,\n            Saturday\u2019s child works hard for its living,\n            But the child that is born on the Sabbath day\n            Is blythe and bonnie, and good and gay.\n\nOr, as another version has it:\u2014\n\n            Born on a Sunday a gentleman,\n            Born on a Monday fair of face,\n            Born on a Tuesday full of grace,\n            Born on a Wednesday sour and glum,\n            Born on a Thursday welcome home,\n            Born on a Friday free in giving,\n            Born on a Saturday work hard for your living.\n\n[9] Doolittle\u2019s Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. I., p. 117.\n\n[10] The ring of the door is bound with a white linen cloth in\nHolland\u2014See Brand\u2019s Pop. Antiq., vol. 2, p. 72. This appears to have\nhad a superstitious origin quite distinct from the practice into which\nit has degenerated in England of \u201cmuffling\u201d the knocker, so that its\nuse may not disturb the mother and child.\n\n[11] The Romans admired the number 3, and numerous Western\nsuperstitions are based on its being regarded as a \u201clucky number.\u201d\u2014See\nPredictions Realized, by H. Welby, p. 15.\n\n[12] Doolittle\u2019s Social Life of the Chinese, p. 121. Mr. Doolittle\nrefers the tying of the wrists to a different motive. \u201cIt is,\u201d he says,\n\u201cthought that such a tying will tend to keep the child from being\ntroublesome in after life and from meddling with what does not belong\nto it, just as though he or she was bound. When boys or girls are\nnaughty or troublesome they are often asked if their mammas did not\nbind their wrists? Implying that if their wrists had been properly\nbound when an infant they would have been restrained from misconduct in\nsubsequent life.\u201d I am disposed, however, to refer the origin of the\ncustom to the belief I have stated in the text, though the Chinese of\nto-day may look upon it rather as symbolical than efficacious as regard\ndemons.\n\n[13] Brand\u2019s Pop. Antiq., vol. II. p. 73.\n\n[14] The modern Greeks entertain a similar belief referring to the\nfirst eight days of a child\u2019s life.\n\n[15] Social Life of the Chinese, vol. I. p. 127.\n\n[16] The first verse of a fragment given in Henderson\u2019s Folk-lore of\nthe Northern Counties says:\u2014\n\n      \u201cOh rock not the cradle when the baby\u2019s not in,\n      For this by old women is counted a sin,\n      It\u2019s a crime so inhuman it may na\u2019 be forgi\u2019en,\n      And they that would do it ha\u2019e lost sight of heaven.\u201d\n\n[17] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. II. p. 120.\n\n[18] Ibid.\n\n[19] Henderson\u2019s Folk-lore of the Northern Counties, p. 6.\n\n[20] Brand\u2019s Popular Antiquities, Vol. III. pp. 288\u201389.\n\n[21] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. I. p. 134.\n\n[22] See Notes and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. IV. pp. 12, 13.\n\n[23] Henderson\u2019s Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties, p.\n22.\n\n[24] In some parts of England wheat was cast on the head of the\nnewly-made bride. The same practice obtains in Sicily. This was also a\nHebrew custom. In Russia, when the priest has tied the nuptial knot at\nthe altar, his clerk or sexton throws upon the bride\u2019s head a handful\nof hops, wishing she may prove as fruitful as the plant thus scattered.\n\n[25] Ovid notes the month of May as unlucky for marriages, and the old\nRoman Calendars forbade them on Feb. 11, June 2, Nov. 2, Dec. 1, &c.\nFor much curious information on this subject see Brand\u2019s Popular\nAntiq., Vol. 2, p. 168.\n\n                \u201cIf you marry in Lent\n                You will live to repent,\u201d\n\nsays an old English north-country rhyme, and numerous are our other\nsayings about fortunate days for the all-important ceremony.\n\n[26] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. I. p. 74.\n\n[27] Ibid., Vol. I. p. 94.\n\n[28] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. I. p. 86.\n\n[29] Popular Antiquities, Vol. III. p. 95.\n\n[30] The Jews also used lamps and torches in their marriage ceremonies\nor rather when the bridegroom came to conduct home the bride by night.\nSee Kitto\u2019s Cyclop\u00e6dia of Biblical Literature, Art. \u201cLamp.\u201d\u2014Hymen, the\ngod of marriage, was always figured as bearing a torch, and there are\nnumerous references to the use of torches at marriages in the classical\npoets. Homer, Euripides and Virgil refer to it, and Lane in his Modern\nEgypt, I. 201, notices a similar custom in vogue amongst the Egyptians.\n\nApropos of lamps and lanterns, it is interesting to note that the\n\u201cFeast of lanterns\u201d is not peculiar to China. The Egyptians had a\n\u201cFeast of Lamps,\u201d as had also the Jews. Josephus states that the latter\nwas founded by Judas Maccab\u00e6us in celebration of the restoration of the\nTemple worship. Other Oriental nations also observe a similar festival.\n\n[31] Middle Kingdom, Vol. II. p. 59.\n\n[32] Platt\u2019s Customs of Nations, p. 278.\n\n[33] Brand\u2019s Pop. Antiq., Vol. II. p. 169.\n\n[34] Thorpe\u2019s Mythology, Vol. II. p. 108.\n\n[35] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. I. p. 88.\n\n[36] \u201cIt\u2019s all very well to say that \u2018the two are made one\u2019\u2014the\nquestion is, which one.\u201d\u2014American paper.\n\n[37]    \u201cIf you change the name and not the letter,\n        You change for the worse and not for the better.\u201d\n\nHenderson\u2019s Folk-lore of the Northern Counties, p. 26.\n\nAs a specimen of the absurd stories connected with weddings which\nobtain credence amongst the Chinese, I copy the following from a\nShanghai Evening Courier of a few months back:\u2014In some district of\nChekiang, name and time not stated, a bride, long betrothed, on\nattaining the age of 18 made the usual preparations for marriage. At\nlength the bridal chair arrived to convey her to her future home. Her\nfriends went before her to open the door of the chair, but on doing so\nthey started, screamed and ran away, saying there was a large snake in\nthe chair. The bride, possibly thinking they were only in jest, went\nherself and looked into the chair, and saw, not a snake, but a large\nsheathed knife. Nothing daunted, she took the knife, put it in the box\ncontaining the lighter portions of her trousseaux, and ordered the\nchair-coolies to proceed. The marriage ceremonies being in due time\ncompleted, the young couple retired, and the bridegroom then observed\nthat his bride had a moody and terrified look. Questioning her as to\nthe cause, she told him the incident of the chair, the snake and the\nknife. He asked to see the knife: she gave it to him. He drew it from\nits sheath, but he had no sooner done so than his head fell off! The\nbride raised an alarm; the family crowded in. She told what had\nhappened; they refused to believe her, and declared that she herself\nwas the murderess. The Magistrate was sent for; he came, and on hearing\nthe bride\u2019s story, asked to see the knife, and, as in the husband\u2019s\ncase, when he drew it from the sheath, his head at once fell on the\nfloor. The newly-made widow was then told to see whether she could\nwield the knife with safety. She took it, and approaching a large tree\nmade a cut at it. It was cut through by that single blow, while the\nwoman remained unharmed. Here the legend ends abruptly, as\ninconsequential in its finish as it is grotesque in texture. Yet it is\nastonishing what excitement was caused in the teashops of the City and\nSettlement for some days by the telling and hearing of the story.\n\n[38] A recent home paper contains the following:\u2014In a village not far\nfrom Berlin, an old couple lived very quietly upon their little\nproperty. Both had carefully purchased their coffins some years ago, as\nis often the case among country folks. The coffins were placed in a\nstable, and were used as receptacles for different things, especially\nfor storing up baked fruit, and other articles to be kept for winter\nuse. Not long ago the man died suddenly. The son, who was a soldier\nquartered at Berlin, hastened at the summons to pay the last respects\nto his father\u2019s remains. In the meantime, the mother had, with the help\nof another son who lived with her, put all the articles together in one\nof the coffins, and in the other had duly placed the mortal remains of\nher husband. By some mischance the first-named coffin was buried, and\nthe mistake was only discovered after the funeral, which, to the great\ndistress of the family, had to be repeated.\n\n[39] Two or three amusing stories are told of Yorkshire people who kept\ntheir coffins ready for use. One of these relates to a man with a\nprojecting Roman nose, who had a place cut away in the coffin-lid to\nfit it: and another case was that of an old lady who had two holes cut\nin the sides to let his Satanic Majesty have free egress should he\nhappen to get inside.\n\n[40] A cat was not permitted to come near a corpse in Scotland. Brand\u2019s\nAntiquities, Vol. II. p. 233. \u201cAll fire is extinguished where a corpse\nis kept, and it is reckoned so ominous for a dog or a cat to pass over\nit, that the poor animal is killed without mercy.\u201d\u2014Pennant\u2019s Tour in\nScotland.\n\n[41] We know an old lady, as blithe a body as ever lived in this world,\nwho, years ago, prepared becoming garments ready for her last journey.\nDavid Garrick\u2019s widow religiously preserved her wedding-sheets, that\nthey might serve her for a shroud. In 1763 a young married lady was, at\nher express desire, buried in all her wedding finely, consisting of a\nwhite neglig\u00e9e and petticoats, quilted into a mattress, pillow, and\nlining for her coffin; her wedding-shift was her winding-sheet, and she\nwore a fine point-lace tucker, handkerchief, ruffles, and apron, and a\nlappethead of the same costly materials. Diamond earrings were placed\nin her ears, gemmed rings on her fingers, and a valuable necklace round\nher neck; white silk stockings, and silver-spangled shoes with stone\nbuckles completed her costume. A Norfolk gentleman preserved such a\nhappy recollection of matrimonial life, that when, at the age of\nninety-one, he lay on his death-bed, he gave instructions that he\nshould be buried in his wedding-shirt, which he had carefully kept for\nthe purpose; that garment being supplemented with his best suit of\nclothes, his best wig, his silver-buckled shoes, black wrist ribbons,\nand his favorite walking-cane. Margaret Coosins, who was buried in\nCuxton Churchyard, Kent, in 1683, ordered her body to be attired in\nscarlet satin, put in a mahogany coffin having a loose lid, and placed\nupon trestles in a vault under a pyramidal monument, the glass doors of\nthe vault being covered with green silk curtains. Another example of\nvanity strong in death was afforded us a few years ago, when a wealthy\ncourt milliner left strict injunctions behind her that her body should\nbe enfolded in point-lace.\u2014Chambers\u2019 Journal.\n\n[42] Moresin says a candle was an Egyptian hieroglyphic for\nlife.\u2014Brand\u2019s Antiquities, Vol. II. p. 236.\n\n[43] Middle Kingdom, Vol. II. p. 262. This superstition appears to be\nperhaps the most wide-spread of any connected with death. When a death\ntakes place, in many parts of Europe, all the doors and windows should\nbe unfastened, as it is thought that the first pains of purgatory are\ninflicted by the soul squeezing through the closed doors. We have\nsomething like this in Swift\u2019s \u201cJourney from this World to the Next,\u201d\nwhere the spirits, conversing on their way to the throne of \u201cMicros,\u201d\nrelate to each other how they had to wait till an open door or window\nin the house in which the death had taken place, enabled them to get\nfree from it. There is a curious superstition in Devonshire that the\ndeparture of life is delayed where any lock is closed in the dwelling\nor any bolt shot. See Popular Antiquities, Vol. II. p. 231.\n\n[44] The following extract from the same journal merits\nreproduction:\u2014\u201cIn many parts of the Highlands it is believed to this\nday that the last person buried has to perform the duty of sentinel\nover the churchyard, and that to him the guardianship of the spirits of\nthose buried before is in some degree committed. This post he must\noccupy until a tenant of the tomb releases him. It is not esteemed an\nenviable position, but one to be escaped if possible; consequently, if\ntwo neighbors die on the same day, the surviving relations make great\nefforts to be first in closing the grave over their friend. I remember\nan old nurse, who was mourning the death of a sweet girl she had\nreared, exclaiming with joy, when she heard, on the day after her\nfuneral, of the death of a parishioner; \u2018I thank God my dear darling\nwill have to watch the graves no longer!\u2019 A ludicrous but striking\nillustration of this strange notion occurred some years ago in the\nparish of A\u2014\u2014. An old man and an old woman, dwelling in the same\ntownship, but not on terms of friendship\u2014for the lady, Kate Ruadh, was\nmore noted for antipathies than attachments\u2014were both at the point of\ndeath. The good man\u2019s friends began to clip his nails, an office always\nperformed just as a person is dying. He, knowing that his amiable\nneighbor was, like himself, on the verge of the grave, roused himself\nto a last effort and exclaimed \u2018Stop, stop; you know not what use I may\nhave for all my nails in compelling Kate Ruadh to keep Faire Chlaidth\nin place of doing it myself.\u2019\u201d In the statistical account of Scotland,\nxiv., 210, Parishes of Kilfinichen and Kilviceuen, County of Argyle, we\nread: \u201cThe inhabitants are by no means superstitious, yet they still\nretain some opinions handed down by their ancestors, perhaps from the\ntime of the Druids. It is believed by them that the spirit of the last\nperson buried watches round the churchyard till another one is buried,\nto whom he delivers his charge.\u201d In the same work, xxi., 114, it is\nsaid: \u201cIn one division of the country, where it is believed that the\nghost of the person last buried kept the gate of the churchyard till\nrelieved by the next victim of death, a singular scene occurred when\ntwo burials were to take place on the same day. Both parties staggered\nforward as fast as possible, to consign their respective friend in the\nfirst place to the dust. If they met at the gate, the dead was thrown\ndown until the living decided by blows whose ghost should be condemned\nto porter it.\u201d It was the duty of the last person interred to stand\nsentry at the graveyard gate from sunset until the crowing of the cock\nevery night until regularly relieved. This, sometimes, in\nthinly-inhabited parts of the country, happened to be a tedious and\nsevere duty; and the duration of the \u201cFaire Chlaidth\u201d gave the\ndeceased\u2019s surviving friends much uneasiness.\n\n[45] Ethnological Review, Vol. II. No. 3, p. 231.\n\n[46] In Madagascar as amongst the natives of the Carribbees, New Guinea\nand Kergistan, it is believed that the dead can use the things\ndestroyed as offerings to their manes, such as guns, &c., &c.\n\n[47] For much here given I am indebted to the Social Life of the\nChinese, Vol. I. p. 188 et seq. Mr. Chris. T. Gardner, of H. B. M.\nConsulate, Canton, has also kindly furnished me with several useful\nnotes and memoranda.\n\n[48] See Eitel\u2019s Fung-shuey.\n\n[49] Pop. Antiq., Vol. II. p. 282.\n\n[50] Why is Death commonly harbingered by apparitions in female shape,\naccording to the superstitions of the East and the North, as well as of\nclassical antiquity? The Greeks held that human life was controlled by\nthe Fates. The Northmen had their Valkyriur, or female choosers of the\nslain. The companions of Anastasius in the prison at Constantinople saw\n\u201cthe frightful hag, the harbinger of the plague, hovering with her\nbat\u2019s wings over their drear abode, and with her hooked talons\nnumbering one by one her intended victims.\u201d And now we are told that\nthe thieves of our Indian cities have found out a way of utilizing this\nweird fancy. Some \u201cold offenders,\u201d in female disguise, go about the\nstreets of Madras exactly at twelve at night and knock at the doors of\nhouses inhabited by natives. \u201cThere is a strange belief among the\nuneducated natives that the she-devil Dengue (the name of the\nprevailing epidemic) raps at their door at that hour of the night, and\nthat if any inmate opens he will be struck dead by her.\u201d The\nunsuspecting natives\u2014forgetting the hour\u2014open, see the ominous figures,\nand \u201cmany of them drop down in a fainting fit.\u201d The visitors make the\nbest of the occasion.\u2014Pall Mall Gazette.\n\n[51] I find the following paragraph in an old newspaper, but cannot\nverify its statements:\u2014The least mortality is during the mid-day hours,\nmainly from 10 to 3 o\u2019clock. About one-third of the total deaths noted\nwere children under five years of age, and they show the influence of\nthe latter still more strikingly. At all the hours from 10 in the\nmorning until midnight the deaths are at or below the mean; the hours\nfrom 10 to 11 A.M., 4 to 5 and 9 to 10 P.M., being minima, but the hour\nafter midnight being the lowest maximum; at all the hours from 2 to 10\nA.M. the deaths are above the mean, attaining their maximum at from 5\nto 6 P.M., when it is 45\u00bd per cent. above.\n\n[52] Dion Cassius, who wrote in the third century of our era, gives the\nexplanation of the nature of the Egyptian week, and of the method in\nwhich the arrangement was derived from their system of astronomy. It is\na noteworthy point that neither the Greeks nor Romans in his time used\nthe week, which was a period of strictly Oriental origin. The Romans\nonly adopted the week in the time of Theodosius, toward the close of\nthe fourth century, and the Greeks divided the months into periods of\nten days [as the Chinese do also]; so that, for the origin of the\narrangement connecting the days of the week with the planets, we must\nlook to the source indicated by Dion Cassius. It is a curious\nillustration of the way in which traditions are handed down, not only\nfrom generation to generation, but from nation to nation, that the\nLatin and Western nations, receiving the week along with the doctrines\nof Christianity, should nevertheless have adopted the nomenclature in\nuse among astrologers.\u2014Contemporary Review.\n\n[53] It must not however be supposed that in the \u201cGood old Times\u201d our\nancestors were one whit better than the Chinese, and I quote the\nfollowing in full from \u201cPredictions Realized\u201d as giving a good means of\ncomparison between the belief of \u201cChristian England\u201d and \u201cHeathen\nChina\u201d in the 17th century.\n\nIn an old MS., the writer, after stating that the most learned\nmathematicians have decided that the 1st of August, the 4th of\nSeptember, and the 11th of March, are most injudicious to let blood;\nand that philosophers have settled that the 10th of August, 1st of\nDecember, and 6th of April are perilous to those who surfeit themselves\nin eating and drinking,\u2014continues as follows assigning reasons why\ncertain days should be marked as infelicitous:\u2014\n\n\u201cI will repeat unto you certain days yet be observed by some old\nwriters, chiefly the ancient astrologians who did allege that there\nwere 28 dayes in the yeare which were revealed by the Angel Gabriel to\nthe good Joseph, which ever have been remarked to be very fortunate\ndayes either to purge, let bloud, cure wounds, use marchandises, sow\nseed, plant trees, build houses, or taking journies, in long or short\nvoyages, in fighting or giving of battaile, or skirmishing. They also\ndoe alledge that children who were borne in any of these dayes could\nnever be poore; and all children who were put to schooles or colledges\nin those dayes should become great schollars, and those who were put to\nany craft or trade in such dayes should become perfect Artificers and\nrich, and such as were put to trade in Marchandize should become most\nwealthy, the dayes be these: the 3d and 13th of January, ye 5th and\n28th of Feb., ye 3d, 22d, and 30th of March, the 5th, 22d, and 29th of\nApril, ye 4th and 28th of May, ye 3d and 8th of June, the 12th, 13th\nand 15th of July, ye 12th of August, ye 1st, 7th, 24th and 28th of\nSeptember, the 4th and 15th of October, ye 13th and 19th of November,\nye 23d and 26th of December. And thus much concerning ye dayes which\nare by ye most curious part of ye learned remarked to be good and\nevill.\u201d\n\nIn the Book of Knowledge, we find the following \u201cEvil Days:\u201d\u2014\n\n\u201cAstronomers say that six days of the year are perilous of death; and\ntherefore they forbid men to let blood of them, or take any drink; that\nis to say, Jan. 3, July 1, October 2, the last of April, August 4, the\nlast day going out of December. These six days with great diligence\nought to be kept, but namely [? mainly] the latter three, for all the\nveins are then full. For then, whether man or beast be knit in them\nwithin seven days, or certainly within fourteen days, he shall die, And\nif they take any drinks within fifteen days, they shall die; and if\nthey eat any goose in these three days, within forty days they shall\ndie; and if any child be born in these three latter days, they shall\ndie a wicked death. Astronomers and astrologers say that in the\nbeginning of March, the seventh night, or the fourteenth day, let the\nblood of the right arm; and in the beginning of April, the 11th day, of\nthe left arm; and in the end of May, 3d or 5th day, on whether arm thou\nwilt; and thus, of all the year, thou shalt orderly be kept from the\nfever, the falling gout, the sister gout, and loss of thy sight.\u201d\n\nA Book of Presidents (precedents), published in London in 1616,\ncontains a Calendar, many of the days in which have the letter B\naffixed: \u201cwhich signifieth such dayes as the Egyptians note to be\ndangerous to begin or take anything in hand, as to take a journey or\nany such like thing.\u201d The days thus marked are:\u2014\n\n    January 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 15, 17, 19.\n    February 7, 10, 17, 27, 28.\n    March 15, 16, 28.\n    April 7, 10, 16, 20, 21.\n    May 7, 15, 20.\n    June 4, 10, 22.\n    July 15, 20.\n    August 1, 19, 20, 29, 30.\n    September 3, 4, 6, 7, 21, 22.\n    October 4, 16, 24.\n    November 5, 6, 28, 29.\n    December 6, 7, 9, 15, 17, 22.\n\n[54] We often hear the warning given by old dames to young people never\nto go courting on Friday; but, on the other hand, Good Friday is stated\nto be the best day in the whole year to begin weaning children.\n\n[55] One of the cardinal principles of astrology was this: That every\nhour and every day is ruled by its proper planet. Now, in the ancient\nEgyptian astronomy there were seven planets; two, the sun and moon,\ncircling round the earth, the rest circling round the sun. The period\nof circulation was apparently taken as the measure of each planet\u2019s\ndignity, probably because it was judged that the distance corresponded\nto the period. We know that some harmonious relations between the\ndistances and periods was supposed to exist. When Kepler discovered the\nactual law, he conceived that he had in reality found out the mystery\nof Egyptian astronomy, or, as he expressed it, that he had \u201cstolen the\ngolden vases of the Egyptians.\u201d Whether they had ideas as to the nature\nof this relation or not, it is certain that they arranged the planets\nin order (beginning with the plants of longest period), as follows.\n\n    1\u2014Saturn.\n    2\u2014Jupiter.\n    3\u2014Mars.\n    4\u2014The Sun.\n    5\u2014Venus.\n    6\u2014Mercury.\n    7\u2014The Moon.\n\nThe hours were devoted in continuous succession to these bodies; and as\nthere were twenty-four hours in each Chaldean or Egyptian day, it\nfollows that with whatever planet the day began, the cycle of seven\nplanets (beginning with that one) was repeated three times, making\ntwenty-one hours, and then the first three planets of the cycle\ncompleted the twenty-four hours, so that the fourth planet of the cycle\n(so begun) ruled the first hour of the next day. Suppose, for instance,\nthe first hour of any day was ruled by the Sun\u2014the cycle for the next\nday would therefore be the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, Saturn,\nJupiter, and Mars, which, repeated three times, would give twenty-one\nhours; the twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth hours would\nbe ruled respectively by the Sun, Venus, and Mercury, and the first\nhour of the next day would be ruled by the Moon. Proceeding in the same\nway through this second day, we find that the first hour of the third\nday would be ruled by Mars. The first hour of the fourth day would be\nruled by Mercury; the first hour of the fifth day by Jupiter; of the\nsixth by Venus, and of the seventh by Saturn. The seven days in order,\nbeing assigned to the planet ruling their first hour, would therefore\nbe\u2014\n\n    1. The Sun\u2019s day (Sunday.)\n    2. The Moon\u2019s day (Monday, Lundi.)\n    3. Mars\u2019 day (Tuesday, Mardi.)\n    4. Mercury\u2019s day (Wednesday, Mercredi.)\n    5. Jupiter\u2019s day (Thursday, Jeudi.)\n    6. Venus\u2019 day (Friday, Veneris dies, Vendredi.)\n    7. Saturn\u2019s day (Saturday, Ital. il Sabbato.)\n\n\u2014Contemporary Review.\n\n[56] In some parts of England certain days are chosen for cutting a\nbaby\u2019s nails; Friday is the most unlucky which can be selected.\n\n[57] A recent article in a home Magazine on North Country folk-lore\nsays:\u2014Never allow a female to enter the house first on Christmas Day:\nit is an ill omen, and will cause loss and calamity to the family. Burn\nall the Christmas decorations in the shape of holly and ivy by the\ntwelfth day, or your house will be haunted with evil spirits all the\nyear.\n\n[58] This falls with us on July 15.\n\n[59] There is a rule generally believed in, in South Germany, that if\nno snow fall at Christmas there will be snow at Easter, and vice versa;\nthe rule being \u201cWeisse Weihnacht gr\u00fcne Ostern, gr\u00fcne Weihnacht weisse\nOstern.\u201d\n\n[60] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. II., p. 328.\u2014The \u00c6thiopians\nregarded the dog as a portentous animal.\n\n[61] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. II., p. 328.\n\n[62] Popular Antiquities, Vol. III., p. 188.\n\n[63] Pop. Antiq., Vol. III. p. 170.\n\n[64] See Notes and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. III. p. 22; and\nTreaty Ports, &c., p. 169.\n\n[65] Confucius himself was not above his countrymen in this respect,\nfor in the Due Medium he remarks:\u2014\u201cThe reason of perfect ones enables\nthem to foreknow things; if a nation be about to flourish there will be\nhappy omens, and unlucky ones if it totter to its fall. These will\nappear in the divining herb sz\u2019, in the tortoise, and in the airs and\nmotions of the four members. When either happiness or misery is about\nto come sages will foreknow both the good and the evil. So that the\nsupremely sincere are equal with the gods.\u201d\u2014Middle Kingdom, II. 276.\nSee Ante, page 6. This inferentially encourages a resort to \u201cwise men\u201d\nto learn future events, but can scarcely have been intended to pass\napproval on fortune-tellers.\n\n[66] I quote this with some slight alterations from a home magazine\narticle, as I could hardly improve on the description.\n\n[67] Number three is greatly in favor for luck; school-boys insist that\nthe third time will be fair, or will result in success. There is an old\nsuperstition or maxim, call it which we may, that three handfuls of\nsand on a dead body are as good as a funeral.\u2014Chambers\u2019 Journal.\u2014\nFalstaff, in The Merry Wives of Windsor, is entrapped a third time in\nthe belief that \u201cthere is luck in odd numbers.\u201d\n\n[68] The Japanese believe that some women are liable, while sound\nasleep and dreaming, to have their heads leave their body and roam\nabout. It is dangerous to arouse them till the head returns!\n\n[69] The following is a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of the article in question:\u2014\n\nDuring sleep the thoughts wander into various channels and are not\nwithin the control of the dreamer. There is an old Chinese book called\n\u201cShin-rai\u201d which contains an account of an official named \u201cSen mu\u201d who\ndivined fortunes from dreams, therefore in ancient times dreams must\nhave been deemed of importance.\n\nDreams are divided into five classes.\n\nFirst,\u2014are dreams of Gods and Idols, Ancients, Ancestors &c., and olden\ntimes.\n\nSecond.\u2014Dreams of matters unthought of in waking hours; but these\ndreams are usually complete, and perfectly remembered upon awaking.\nThis class of dreams is that from which fortunes are usually divined.\n\nThird.\u2014Dreams in accordance with daily thoughts and events past or\npresent. These are not real dreams of fancy, but merely the thoughts of\nour waking hours continued in sleep.\n\nFourth.\u2014Dreams of impossibilities. These originate from a wearied mind\nor body and are useless for divination.\n\nFifth.\u2014This class contains miscellaneous dreams, such as receiving\ngifts, outwitting opponents, or being guilty of \u201csharp practices.\u201d\n\nThere are various spells, charms and other means to avert the evil\ninfluences of unlucky dreams. One of these is to write certain Chinese\ncharacters on a piece of paper and paste it on the ceiling of a\nsleeping room; Shu ya jin, the god of night, (the Morpheus of Japan) is\nherein addressed.\n\nThe Tapir is said to \u201ceat dreams.\u201d If sketched on screens, or on the\npaper wrapper of the pillows, or used as a design in the patterns of\nthe bed quilts, dreams will be warded off. Those who awake in a state\nof fright after horrible dreams are to call out, \u201cTapir come eat, Tapir\ncome eat.\u201d\n\nThe following are of good portent to dream of. Those mentioned in the\ntext are not included.\n\nA summer scene with green Wistaria.\u2014In the first dream of the new year\nto see a hawk (or falcon) or to see egg plant (Nasubi.)\u2014To dream of\nfine weather succeeding a storm.\u2014Placing large stones in a\ngarden.\u2014Climbing cliffs.\u2014To be buried in the earth, dead or alive.\u2014Of\nplanting trees.\u2014Digging drains.\u2014Of land slips.\u2014Of being in a\ncave.\u2014Trees growing from the mats of a room.\u2014Crossing the sea.\u2014Chewing\nunboiled rice.\u2014Having one\u2019s hair dressed.\u2014Praying at a Shrine.\u2014The hair\ngrowing white.\u2014Seeing no bori (flags on bamboo poles.)\u2014Sitting in an\nelevated room.\u2014One\u2019s own body giving forth radiance.\u2014To have side-arms\nat hand (swords &c.)\u2014Removing to a newly-built house.\u2014Wearing a hat of\nhemp mino gasa or kasa.\u2014Women wearing a sword.\u2014Wearing a Kamori (head\ndress).\u2014Cleaning out a well.\u2014Of rice bags.\u2014Of spitting out gold and\nsilver.\u2014Seeing a looking-glass.\u2014Of sweeping away cobwebs.\u2014A ship in\nfull sail.\u2014Riding in carriages.\u2014Travelling on a wide road.\u2014Crossing a\nbridge.\u2014Drinking milk.\u2014Of a funeral.\u2014Of archery (targets, bows and\narrows.)\u2014Collecting wild flowers.\u2014Rice raining from the skies.\u2014Drinking\nwater from a valley.\u2014Of Torii (perches at Shint\u00f4 shrines.)\u2014Of rainy\nweather.\u2014Receiving a present of a fan.\u2014Being in prison.\u2014Scattering\nseed.\u2014Climbing hills.\u2014Gathering dragon flies.\u2014Being stung by a\ncentipede.\u2014Horsemanship.\u2014Cats and rats.\u2014Bathing.\n\nThe following are unlucky subjects to dream of:\u2014\n\nFrosty weather.\u2014Black lowering clouds.\u2014Mulberry trees broken.\u2014Eating\npersimmons.\u2014Giving a friend a sword.\u2014The hair falling out.\u2014Perspiring\nviolently.\u2014Catching cold, or coughing.\u2014Eating wheat flour jelly\n(ame.)\u2014Playing on tsusumi (small drum).\u2014Meeting a crowd of\npeople.\u2014Using a walking stick.\n\nFemales who dream of swallowing the sun or moon bring forth children\nwho become remarkable characters in history. The mother of Nichi ren\nsho nin dreamed she swallowed the sun, hence the boy\u2019s name.\u2014The mother\nof Hideyoshi, when enceinte, had a similar dream, from which the child\nwas named Hideyoshi maro.\n\nTo dream of the Ni-\u00f4-son or of folding up screens is a sign of old\nage.\u2014Dreaming of running water is an emblem of family happiness, (peace\nbetween husband and wife.)\u2014If the outer shutters are split, it is an\nindication that the servants are faithless and will desert the\ndreamer\u2019s service.\u2014To dream of getting wet from a sudden shower of\nrain, foretells an invitation to a feast.\n\n[70] Amongst the Japanese, in order to produce dreams of an absent\nfriend or lover, it is recommended to turn the sleeves of the bed-quilt\nto the foot of the bed.\n\n[71] Popular Antiquities, Vol. III. p. 268.\n\n[72] Journal of the N. C. B. Royal Asiatic Society, 1869\u201370, p. 78.\n\n[73] China Mail, Sept. 19, 1872.\n\n[74] Journal N. C. B. R. A. S. 1853\u201354, pp. 34 et seq.\n\n[75] Lancashire Folk-lore, p. 256.\n\n[76] Chinese Repository, Vol. VII., p. 393.\n\n[77] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. II., p. 313.\n\n[78] Notes and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. III., p. 98.\n\n[79] Mr. Alabaster, in his work on Siamese Buddhism, \u201cThe Wheel of the\nLaw,\u201d gives the number of diagrams as 108.\n\n[80] Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, Art. \u201cThor\u2019s Hammer.\u201d\n\n[81] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. 2, p. 311.\n\n[82] Not long ago a native said to me, \u201cWould you like A to hate B?\u201d\nspeaking of a bad man who had a very evil influence over a good honest\nman. Without thinking, I replied, \u201cYes; it would be the best thing that\never happened.\u201d He only answered me by a gesture of the hand, which\nliterally means, \u201cLeave it to me.\u201d The next day he secured a bit of the\nbad man\u2019s hair, and sewed it into the coat of the good man. Strange\nenough, as chance fell out, that day an event happened which opened the\neyes of the latter to his friend\u2019s character, and they parted company.\nOf course nothing would persuade the native that it was not the effect\nof his charm.\u2014The Inner Life of Syria, by Isabel Burton.\n\n[83] In France, an old woman told me to take a small piece of hair\nexactly at the top of my head and twist round a little slip of wood\ntightly, to cure a relaxed uvula, or sore throat.\u2014Correspondent, Notes\nand Queries.\n\n[84] The Hakkas are a separate, and it is believed older, race than the\nCantonese. They speak a different dialect.\n\n[85] Popular Antiquities, Vol. III., p. 259.\n\n[86] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. II. p. 308.\n\n[87] Louis Napoleon in his will emphasizes the solemn declaration:\n\u201cWith regard to my son, let him keep as a talisman the seal I used to\nwear attached to my watch.\u201d This piece of fetishism would appear to\nhave formed yet another link between the imperial exile that has passed\nfrom our midst, and those Latin races whose cause he affected to\nrepresent, whose superstition he certainly shared.\u2014Chambers\u2019 Journal.\n\n[88] Social Life of the Chinese, Vol. II. p. 314.\n\n[89] correspondent of the Indian Pioneer says that, among the articles\ntaken as fines from the Dufflas are certain gongs supposed to be very\nancient, and which they appear to regard with the greatest reverence.\nFor the edification of readers curious in such matters, we may observe\nthat gongs, or bells, are also among the holy paraphernalia, or\nfetishes, of the Neilgherry Todas. A Duffla Chief would sooner part\nwith half his kingdom than with his gong.\n\n[90] Kitto\u2019s Cyclop\u00e6dia of Bib. Lit., Art. Bell.\n\n[91] While these pages are passing through the press I come across the\nfollowing paragraph in the Paris correspondence of a leading London\nJournal. The rumour it gives may be entirely untrue, but I quote it as\na specimen of ordinary newspaper gossip in 1875 on the subject under\nnotice:\u2014\u201cIt is now known that the Napoleonic talisman is safe; and, so\nlong as that talisman remains in the Bonapartist family, the tradition\nis that, however much the eagle\u2019s wings may be clipped, the imperial\nbird will soar at last. On the afternoon of September 4, 1870, as the\nEmpress Eugenie was flying from her apartments to the dentist\u2019s cab\nwhich was to take her out of Paris, she pointed to several large boxes\ncontaining important papers, and to a small but extremely heavy metal\ncasket, and said to M. Thelen, one of the few faithful servants that\nremained with her to the last\u2014\u2018Save those papers, but above all save\nthat casket, and preserve it as you would your own soul.\u2019 In that\nmysterious casket, doubly and trebly locked, the Napoleonic talisman\nlay. M. Thelen had the boxes and casket thus confided to him\ntransferred with all possible speed to the house of his sister in one\nof the quietest suburbs of Paris. But the September 4 Government soon\ngot wind of the affair, and their emissaries were not long before\nmaking a descent at the house of M. Thelen\u2019s sister. They found and\ncarried off the papers, but the casket containing the talisman escaped\nthem. It had been concealed in a hole in the wall behind a small map\nrepresenting the seat of war. In due time the talisman was conveyed to\nChiselhurst, where it now is; and so long as it remains in the keeping\nof the Imperial family, it will be safe to bet on the restoration of\nNapoleon IV. As the curious reader would, perhaps, like to know in what\nthe talisman consists, I may inform him that it is a large sapphire\nwhich Napoleon I. cribbed from the crown of Charlemagne when he took\nthe indecent liberty of having that monarch\u2019s coffin opened up at\nAix-la-Chapelle.\u201d\n\n[92] I speak in the text of writers in the English language. But Du\nHalde gives some interesting details in his well-known work. Colonel\nYule, in his Marco Polo, Vol. I., p. 290, draws attention to this fact\nin a note upon the Taosse (Taoists), whom he defines as \u201cworshippers of\nthe mystic cross Swasti. Apparently they had at their command the whole\nencyclop\u00e6dia of modern spiritualism. Du Halde mentions amongst their\nsorceries the act of producing by their invocations the figures of the\nLaotseu and their divinities in the air, and of making a pencil to\nwrite answers to questions without anybody touching it.\u201d This is\nevidently a Chinese version of Mr. Daniel Home\u2019s alleged powers, and\nthe coincidence is more than strange.\n\n[93] \u6a5f\u7b46\u9748\u9748\u65e5\u6709\u7cbe\u795e\u6211\u4eca\u53d6\u723e\u7528\u4e8b\u6307\u660e.\n\n[94] \u5999\u596a\u5929\u6a5f.\n\n[95] (\u5927\u738b\u83e9\u85a9.)\n\n[96] (\u96f2\u904a\u5927\u4ed9.)\n\n[97] \u6210.\n\n[98] \u662f\u4e5f.\n\n[99] \u898b\u7b11.\n\n[100] \u8499\u8af8\u541b\u539a\u79ae\u6211\u4eca\u8981\u8acb\u5225\u800c\u53bb.\n\n[101] \u8acb\u53bb.\n\n[102] (\u66c9\u8ff7\u9b42\u6cd5\u8005).\n\n[103] (\u4ed9\u5a46).\n\n[104] (\u53f8\u547d\u7076\u541b).\n\n[105] (\u5927\u5b78).\n\n[106] (\u4e03\u59ca).\n\n[107] (\u7e54\u5973\u661f).\n\n[108] (\u6634\u661f).\n\n[109] (\u4e03\u59d1\u661f).\n\n[110] \u8831\u6bd2.\n\n[111] \u5492.\n\n[112] Gibbon (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) says: \u201cThis mode of\ndivination by accepting as an omen the first sacred words which in\nparticular circumstances should be presented to the eye or ear was\nderived from the Pagans, and the Psalter or Bible was substituted for\nthe poems of Homer or Virgil. From the fourth to the fourteenth century\nthese sortes sanctorum, as they are styled, were repeatedly condemned\nby the decrees of councils, and repeatedly practised by Kings, Bishops\nand Saints.\u201d\n\n[113] \u5973.\n\n[114] Pop. Antiquities, Vol. III., p. 350.\n\n[115] Ibid., Vol. III., p. 357.\n\n[116] \u723e\u96c5.\n\n[117] N. & Q. C. & J., Vol. II., p. 69.\n\n[118] Handbook of Chinese Buddhism, p. 107.\n\n[119] Predictions Realised, p. 87.\n\n[120] Folk-lore of the Northern Counties, p. 166 et seq.\n\n[121] Pop. Antiquities, Vol. III., p. 160 et seq.\n\n[122] Alexander, if we may credit the account given by Quintus Curtius,\nwas terrified by blood flowing from inside his soldiers\u2019 bread during\nthe siege of Tyre in 332 B.C. His seer, Aristanda, foresaw in this\ncrimson efflux of the vital stream out of the commissariat a happy\nissue for the Macedonian; and the warriors thus never took Tyre. From\nthe year 1004, the alarming spectacle of the bleeding host and bread,\nas well as the bewitched bloody milk, several times in each century,\ngave simple folk a scare. But the victims of superstition have the bump\nof casualty remarkably developed, and, in 1410, thirty-eight Jews were\nburnt to ashes because they had tortured the consecrated host until it\nbled.\u2014Chambers\u2019 Journal.\n\n[123] The object of the ceremony is, according to the myth, to cleanse\nthe Jewish race in general, and the participators of the rite in\nparticular, from the guilt of Calvary. It does not appear that the\nChinese Jews have any legend of similar import.\n\n[124] A correspondent of Notes and Queries writes: \u201cWife-beating, to\nthe effusion of blood, may be a novel method of securing luck in\nherring-fishery, but to draw blood is practised in some of the fishing\nvillages on the north-east coast of Scotland, under the belief that\nsuccess follows the act. The act must be performed on New Year\u2019s day,\nand the fortune is his only who is the first to shed blood. If the\nmorning of the New Year is such as to allow the boats of the village to\nput to sea, there is quite a struggle as to which boat will reach the\nground first, so as to gain the coveted prize, the first to shed blood\nof the year. If the weather is unfavorable for fishing, those in\npossession of guns\u2014and a great many of the fishermen\u2019s houses possess\none\u2014are out, gun in hand, along the shore, before daybreak, in search\nof some bird or wild animal, no matter how small, that they may draw\nblood, and thus make sure of one year\u2019s good fortune.\u201d\n\nMr. Latouche in his Travels in Portugal (1875) narrates a story\nillustrative of the national belief in the wehr wolf (lobis-homem), in\nwhich a Portuguese \u201cwise woman\u201d is reported as saying that \u201cif a lobis\nhomem can murder and drink the blood of a newly born child, the\nenchantment ceases and she is a lobis-homem no longer.\u201d\n\n[126] Lady Fanshaw, visiting the head of an Irish sept in his moated\nbaronial grange, was made aware that banshees are not peculiar to\nScotland. Awakened at midnight by an awful, unearthly scream, she\nbeheld by the light of the moon a female form at the window of her\nroom, which was too far from the ground for any woman of mortal mold to\nreach. The creature owned a pretty, pale face, and red, dishevelled\nhair, and was clad in the garb of old\u2014very old\u2014Ireland. After\nexhibiting herself some time, the interesting spectre shrieked twice\nand vanished. When Lady Fanshaw told her host what she had seen he was\nnot at all surprised. \u201cA near relation,\u201d said he, \u201cdied last night in\nthis castle. We kept our expectation of the event from you lest it\nshould throw a cloud over the cheerful reception which was your due.\nNow, before such an event happens in the family and castle, the female\nspectre you saw always becomes visible. She is believed to be the\nspirit of a woman of inferior rank, whom one of my ancestors married,\nand whom he afterward caused to be drowned in the moat, to expiate the\ndishonor done to our race.\u201d\u2014All the Year Round.\n\n[127] Chalmers.\n\n[128] \u96f7\u5cf0\u5854 L\u00fci-fung T\u0103, \u201cThunder-Peak Pagoda,\u201d or \u201cThe Story of Han-w\u0103n\nand the White Serpent,\u201d Translated from the Chinese by H. C.,\nInterpreter in Her Majesty\u2019s Civil Service in China.\n\n[129] Chinese Readers\u2019 Manual, p. 6.\n\n[130] Chinese Readers\u2019 Manual, p. 284.\n\n[131] The Aymara Indians believe that witches make waxen images of\nthose they wish to injure, and stick thorns in them. They dislike any\none having in his possession a portion of their body, hair, &c., such\nownership conferring on the possessor the power of injuring the\noriginal owner. An Indian will pay a large sum to get back hair or\nother substances, which have thus passed into other hands. See Eth.\nReview, Vol. II., No. 3, p. 236.\u2014The Chinese superstition, based on a\nsimilar belief, is that amputated limbs, &c., should be buried or\nburned.\n\n[132] The quotations which here follow are from Mr. Gardner\u2019s article.\nI have however taken the liberty of occasionally altering the text.\n\n[133] Che-wan-luk, Sec. xviii.\n\n[134] \u201cThe P\u02bboh of drought is doing mischief.\u201d\u2014The P\u02bboh is the Sh\u00ean of\ndrought. In the South there is a man of two or three feet high, naked\nand having his eyes in the top of his head. He runs like wind. His name\nis P\u02bboh. Where he appears there is drought. Another name is \u201cthe Mother\nof Drought.\u201d It belongs to the class of elves.\u2014Book of Poetry, Ta Ya.\n\nWhen the sh\u00ean of mountains and rivers caused floods or drought or\npestilence they made a special sacrifice to drive them away. This was\ncalled Ying.\u2014Tso-chuen.\n\n[135] Do you remember the German story of the lad who travelled \u201cum das\ngruseln zu lernen\u201d (to learn how to tremble)? Well, I, who never\ngruselte (quaked) before, had a touch of it a few evenings ago. I was\nsitting here quietly drinking tea and four or five men were present,\nwhen a cat came to the door. I called \u201cbis, bis,\u201d and offered milk, but\npuss, after looking at us, ran away. \u201cWell dost thou, lady,\u201d said a\nquiet sensible man, a merchant here, \u201cto be kind to the cat, for I dare\nsay he gets little enough at home; his father, poor man, cannot cook\nfor his children every day.\u201d And then, in an explanatory tone to the\ncompany, \u201cThat is Alee Nasseeree\u2019s boy Yussuf\u2014it must be Yussuf,\nbecause his fellow twin Ismaeen is with his mule at Negadeh.\u201d Mir\ngruselte (I shivered), I confess; not but what I have heard things\nalmost as absurd from gentlemen and ladies in Europe; but an\n\u201cextravagance\u201d in a kuftan has quite a different effect from one in a\ntail-coat. \u201cWhat! my butcher\u2019s boy who brings the meat\u2014a cat!\u201d I\ngasped. \u201cTo be sure, and he knows well where to look for a bit of good\ncookery, you see. All twins go out as cats at night, if they go to\nsleep hungry; and their own bodies lie at home like dead meanwhile, but\nno one must touch them, or they would die. When they grow up to ten or\ntwelve they leave it off. Why, your own boy Achmet does it. Oh,\nAchmet!\u201d Achmet appears. \u201cBoy, don\u2019t you go out as a cat at night?\u201d\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Achmet, tranquilly, \u201cI am not a twin\u2014my sister\u2019s sons do.\u201d I\ninquired if people were not afraid of such cats. \u201cNo, there is no fear,\nthey only eat a little of the cookery; but if you beat them they will\ntell their parents, next day, \u2018So and so beat me in his house last\nnight,\u2019 and show their bruises. No, they are not Afreets; they are beni\nAdam; only twins do it, and if you give them a sort of onion broth and\ncamel\u2019s milk the first thing when they are born, they don\u2019t do it at\nall.\u201d Omar professed never to have heard it, but I am sure he had, only\nhe dreads being laughed at. One of the American missionaries told me\nsomething like it, as belonging to the Copts, but it is entirely\nEgyptian, and common to both religions. I asked several Copts, who\nassured me it was true, and told it just the same. Is it a remnant of\nthe doctrine of transmigration? However, the notion fully accounts for\nthe horror the people feel at the idea of killing a cat.\u2014Lady Duff\nGordon\u2019s Last Letters.\n\n[136] Chalmers.\n\n[137] \u8ac7\u5fb5 (t\u02bban ch\u00eang.) Sec. IV.\n\n[138] \u8ff0\u7570\u8a18 Shuh E K\u00e9.\n\n[139] Chinese Readers\u2019 Manual, p. 61.\n\n[140] A specimen of the still pervading superstition respecting the\nFox, comes from Minatomura, in Ibaraki Ken, Japan. A man found a fox\u2019s\nhole in his garden. At the same time his wife dreamt that she had seen\na fox whom she was satisfied was none other than Inari-sama. Full of\ndread, the man put this and that together, and came to the conclusion\nthat the hole must be the abode of Inari-sama, and he forthwith had a\nsmall temple put up over it. He then called for the Shinto priest; and\nafter much ado, the matter got abroad, and crowds came to worship at\nthis temple. At last the Saibansho officials of the Ken heard of what\nwas going on, and sent for the man and his wife. The interview must\nhave been somewhat disappointing to them, for the judges told them such\nsuperstitions now became criminal; and the punishment due for such\nfollies was 40 days\u2019 imprisonment. As, however, in this instance, it\nwas clearly the result of extreme ignorance on the part of the\ninteresting pair, they were let off with a fine of 3 yen.\n\n[141] Brand\u2019s Antiquities, Vol. II., p. 499, quoted from Randolph\u2019s\nAmyntas.\n\n[142] Mercutio\u2019s speech, Romeo and Juliet.\n\n[143] Brand\u2019s Antiquities, Vol. II., p. 476.\n\n[144] Quoted in Sir J. Bowring\u2019s Flowery Scroll, p. 27.\n\n[145] Ch. Reader\u2019s Manual, p. 289.\n\n[146] Ibid., p. 239.\n\n[147] See Kitto\u2019s Cyclop\u00e6dia of Biblical Literature, Art. Serpents, too\nlong for transcription in this place, but giving a most interesting\nsketch of serpent worship. Briefly summarized, it touches on the Naga\nKings of Hinduism; the astronomical fables of the serpent Ananta, or\nthe Milky Way, and the sun-and-moon-devouring dragons; the Scandinavian\nlegend of the kater serpent of the deep; the Celtic, Basque and Asiatic\nlegends of the dragon guardian of riches. \u201cThese fables were a residue\nof that antique dragon worship which had its temples from High Asia and\nColchis to the North of Great Britain and once flourished both in\nGreece and Northern Africa\u2014structures with avenues of upright stones of\nseveral miles in length whereof the ruins may still be traced at Carnak\nin Brittany, Abury in Wiltshire and Redruth in Cornwall.\u201d... The author\nrefers to the sect of Christian heretics known as Ophit\u00e6 or Ophiani,\nwho were professed serpent worshippers; and he gives some curious\ndetails of the Egyptian Python worship, emblems of which have even been\ndiscovered in British Arch\u00e6ology.\n\n[148] F. Porter Smith\u2019s Chinese Materia Medica, Art. Snakes.\n\n[149] Lei-fung-ta,\u2014Chinese & Japanese Repository, Feb. 1864.\n\n[150] Henderson\u2019s Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties, p. 255.\n\n[151] Ibid., p. 257.\n\n[152] N. & Q. on C. & J., Vol. III., p. 74.\n\n[153] Note on the San Chieh Miao: Notes & Queries on China & Japan,\nVol. III., p. 76, by W. F. Mayers.\n\n[154] Mr. Waring quotes from the \u201cPlutus\u201d of Aristophanes a passage\nwhich alludes to the keeping of tame snakes in the Greek temples. The\nauthor thinks that it \u201cwas regarded rather as a symbol of Power,\nWisdom, and Life, than as an actual deity.\u201d\n\n[155] Notes and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. II., p. 130.\n\n[156] Notes and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. III., p. 34.\n\n[157] \u9f8d\u5f9e\u96f2\u864e\u5f9e\u98a8.\n\n[158] Notes and Queries on China and Japan, Vol. I., p. 148.\n\n[159] Middle Kingdom, I. p. 266.\n\n[160] Whilst writing the above my attention has been directed to the\nfollowing interesting paragraph in the Calcutta Englishman:\u2014\u201cA long\ndiscussion is being carried on in the last papers received from the\nCape as to the existence or non-existence of the unicorn. Mr. G. R.\nBlanche, who has travelled extensively in Namaqualand, mentions that in\nsome large stone-caves on the banks of a river called Makapwe, he saw\npictures drawn by Bush-men, which included elephants, rhinoceroses,\nunicorns, and gemsboks, and one old Bushman told him that he had\nactually seen the animal alive, and that it was very fierce. None,\nhowever, had been seen for some years. The Macacas stated that to the\nnorth of their town, on the river Teoga, large numbers of unicorns are\nstill to be seen, and Mr. Blanche considers that in the vast region of\nunexplored territory between the Zambesi and Lebaby\u2019s country they may\nstill be in existence. Mr. Thomas Baines, another well-known African\ntraveller and naturalist, says that the existence of such an animal has\nnever been disproved, and that it might be found in this unexplored\ncountry, for else where did the bush-men obtain the subject for the\npictures they have drawn?\u201d\n\n[161] Dr. Legge\u2019s Chinese Classics, Vol. III., pt. I. pref., p. 108.\n\n[162] Transactions N. C. B. R. A. S., 1853, p. 36.\n\n[163] N. &. Q. on C. & J., Vol. III., p. 123.\n\n[164] Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, 1st Series, p. 191. Mayers\u2019\nChinese Readers\u2019 Manual, pp. 95, 219, 288. Eitel\u2019s Handbook of Chinese\nBuddhism, Art. Sakchi.\n\n[165] Chinese Readers\u2019 Manual, p. 75.\n\n[166] Percival\u2019s Tamil Proverbs.\n\n[167] Lei-chau, (thunder district) is a long mountainous peninsula in\nCanton province opposite the island of Hainan, and is celebrated\nthroughout China for several myths respecting its thunder-storms, which\ndoubtless reverberate through the alpine regions of that latitude in a\nmanner which awakens awe and superstition. Standard Encyclop\u00e6dias,\nquoting from various authors on the subject, inform us, that after\nthunder-storms black stones are found emitting light and a sonorous\nsound on being struck. At times, also, hatchet-shaped things are picked\nup which are useful amulets. The fields are often furrowed by thunder\nas if they had been ploughed. In a temple consecrated to the \u201cThunder\nDuke,\u201d the people annually place a drum, drawn thither on a carriage\npurposely constructed, which it is supposed he beats during a storm;\nand it is said that since a drum covered with paper has been\nsubstituted for one covered with leather, the peals of thunder have\nbeen less severe. Formerly the drum was placed on the top of a\nmountain, and a boy left there as an attendant on the thunderer\u2014a sort\nof sacrifice to him.\u2014Dr. Macgowan, in Journal N. C. B. R. A. S., 1853.\n\n[168] See Dr. Edkins\u2019 \u201cTaoist Mythology\u201d in N. C. B. R. A. S. Journal\nfor 1859, p. 311. A North American Indian superstition is to the effect\nthat thunder is caused by an immense bird, whose outspread wings darken\nthe heavens. It is named \u201cThen-cloots.\u201d The lightning is caused by a\nserpent-like fish of immense size, with head as sharp as a knife. When\nhe puts out his tongue it makes the lightning. Its name is\n\u201cHa-hake-to-ak,\u201d and the thunder-bird catches it for food. The bird is\nin shape like an Indian, but of great proportions and strength. It\nlives on the top of the mountains. An Indian once found the nest of a\nthunder-bird and got one of its feathers which was over 200 feet\nlong!\u2014American Magazine.\n\n[169] Mayers\u2019 Chinese Readers\u2019 Manual, p. 283.\n\n[170] \u201cThe Tidal King Temple is near Hangchow. Its sh\u00ean (or god) was an\nofficial, who in 828 A.D. undertook the restoration of a dyke, which an\nEagre of unusual violence had overthrown; and failing in the\nconstruction of the foundation, drowned himself from chagrin. He\nafterwards became a sh\u00ean and three centuries later, on the occasion of\na combat between the people and rebels, who were attempting to capture\nHangchau, his name was seen inscribed on a streamer in the darkened\nsky, where also unearthly noises were heard. The enemy instantly\nsuccumbed.\u201d\n\n[171] See Dr. Macgowan\u2019s article, before alluded to.\n\n[172] Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, first series, p. 197.\n\n[173] Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore, p. 216.\n\n[174] Legends of Iceland, p. 140.\n\n[175] China Review, Vol. II., p. 226.\n\n[176] Servian Folk-lore, p. 295.\n\n[177] C. & J. Repository, Vol. I., p. 345.\n\n[178] See N. & Q. on China & Japan, Vol. I., p. 140.\n\n[179] Eitel\u2019s Handbook of Buddhism, Art. Bodhidharma.\n\n[180] Translated by G. Phillips, Esq., of H.B.M. Consular Service in\nChina.\n\n[181] Indo-European Traditions & Folk-lore, p. 158.\n\n[182] Mr. T. Sampson in N. & Q. on China & Japan, Vol. III. p. 147.\n\n[183] See Wylie\u2019s Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 166.\n\n[184] China Review, Vol. III., No. 3, p. 129.\n\n[185] Dr. Williams renders T\u02bbien, \u201cProvidence Nature, Heaven, the\noverruling power; and though without definite personality, employed\nmore than any other term to indicate God.\u201d","title":"The folk-lore of China : $b and its affinities with that of the Aryan and Semitic races","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":91309}