CHINESE LIFE
IN THE TIBETAN FOOTHILLS
CHINESE LIFE
IN THE
TIBETAN FOOTHILLS
BY THE
REV. JAMES HUTSON
1921
FAR EASTERN GEOGRAPHICAL ESTABLISHMENT
SHANGHAI
PREFACE
These studies were never intended for public consumption, but for personal benefit and enlightenment; and it was only at the request of several friends, coup with the fear of permanent loss owing to the disturbed state of the country, that I was induced to submit them for publication. The object of the studies was to obtain the Chinese view point concerning the many mysterious customs and practices which perplexed me in daily intercourse with this people. In order to attain this end two things have had to be rigorously guarded against ---.first, an adverse spirit of criticism, which closes up every avenue of information ; and second, the danger of being content when only personal curiosity is satisfied instead of trying see things as the Chinese see them.
It should be stated that no foreign text books have been studied ; questions of a scientific, ethnological and comparative nature have been set aside in order to present the local view of the subject in hand. The writer does not claim to have fully attained his end or to have exhausted the information obtainable on any given subject ; while variations may be found in almost every county in the province, essay nothing of the whole of China.
The little city of Kwan Hsien, which lies 40 miles to the north west of Chengtu in the province of Szechuan is the hub of "The Tibetan Foothills." It was from this centre, so richly endowed with natural beauty, so famous for its ancient yet efficient irrigation system, so crowded with a teeming cosmopolitan population, that these pages were gradually compiled.
The whole of the subject matter contained in this volume has passed through the pages of the "New China Review," under the editorship of Mr. Samuel Couling to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude for editing the MS. and correcting the proofs. If the printing, numbering and colour of paper should not be quite uniform all readers will kindly consider the difficulty under which the Editor has laboured while putting these papers through his magazine.
JAMES HUTSON
Chengtu, January, 1921
INDEX
BEGGARS 乞丐 ch'i kai . . . . . . . . 66
BIRTHS 生産 sheng ch'an, etc. . . . . . . . . 1
CHARMS 畫符 hua fu . . . . . . . . 135
CONJURING . . . . . . . . 125
CRIES 口號 k'ou hao . . . . . . . . 52
DEATHS . . . . . . . . 23
DIVINATION of SORCERY 巫術 wu shu . . . . . . . . 127
DOMESTIC ALTAR, THE . . . . . . . . 34
DOOR GODS 門神 men shen . . . . . . . . 140
ECLIPSES AND COMETS 日月食，彗星 jih yeh shih, sao hsing . . . . . . . . 206
EXHORTATION 説書 shuo shu . . . . . . . . 62
FASTS FOR RAIN AND FINE WEATHER 祈晴 禱雨 ch'i ch'ing tao y . . . . . . . . 160
FIRE AND PESTILENCE FAST 醮會 chiao hui . . . . . . . . 155
FOOTBINDING . . . . . . . . 54
GEOMANCY 陰陽 yin yang . . . . . . . . 188
GODDESS OF MERCY, THE 觀音 Kuan Yin . . . . . . . . 142
GODS OF WEALTH 財神 Ts'ai Shn . . . . . . . . 133
HYDROPHOBIA 瘋狗傷人 fng kou shang jn . . . . . . . . 204
IDOLATROUS FESTIVALS 神會 shn hui . . . . . . . . 146
ITINERANT BUDDHIST & TAOIST PRIESTS . . . . . . . . 186
ITINERANT VENDOR, THE . . . . . . . . 185
LIARS' MART, THE 天話街 t'ien hua chieh . . . . . . . . 183
MARRIAGES 婚姻 hun yin . . . . . . . . 14
MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL 中秋節 chung ch'iu chieh . . . . . . . . 179
MORTGAGES 典當 tien tang . . . . . . 65
NECROMANCY 交邪 chiao hsieh . . . . . . . . 122
NEW YEAR 過年 kuo nien . . . . . . . . 168
NINTH MOON FEAST, THE 重陽節 ch'ung yang chieh . . . . . . . . 180
NINE STARTLERS, THE 九驚 chiu ching . . . . . . . . 187
PASSING THROUGH CRISES 度關 tu kuan . . . . . . . . 11
PASTIMES, RIDDLES, ETC . . . . . . . . 45
PHYSIOGNOMISTS 相師 hsiang shih . . . . . . . . 188
PLANCHETTE," THE . . . . . . . . 121
PRECINCT OR LOCAL GOD 土地神 t'u ti shen . . . . . . . . 144
PREPARATION FOR A FUTURE LIFE 修來世 hsiu lai shih . . . . . . . . 58
PURCHASE OF PROPERTY 田地買賣 t'ien ti mai mai . . . . . . . . 63
QUEUE, THE 辮子 pien tzu . . . . . . . . 55
RIDDLES AND DITTIES 謎子哥兒 mi tzu, ko erh . . . . . . . . 48
ROBBERS 盜賊 tao tsei . . . . . . . . 68
SEASONS Of THE YEAR . . . . . . . . 163
SECRET SOCIETIES . . . . . . . . 73
Confucian Society 黨子行 tang tzu hang . . . . . . . . 74
Mystical or Hypnotic Sect 教匪 chiao fei . . . . . . . . 75
Reactionary School 漢流 Han liu . . . . . . . . 77
Ssuch'uan Ku lu tzu . . . . . . . . 79
SEVENTH MOON FEAST 中元 chung yan . . . . . . . . 178
SNAKES AND DRAGONS 蛇龍 sh lung . . . . . . . . 207
SPIRIT RAPPING 請神 ch'ing shn . . . . . . . . 118
THINGS TO BE AVOIDED 忌諱 chi wei . . . . . . . . 191
TENTH MOON FEAST 下元節 hsia yan chieh . . . . . . . . 182
CHINESE LIFE
ON THE TIBETAN FOOTHILLS
BOOK I --- DOMESTIC
CHAPTER I.
BIRTHS, 生産 shng ch'an, etc.
WHEN the birth is delayed it is put down to Lo Hou 羅睺 and the master of the house fires a gun over his shoulder towards the heavens to drive away the evil influences. These influences are believed to come from the t'ien-kou hsing 天狗星 or heavenly Dog-star. In some houses a picture of Chang kung 張公 is hung up; he is depicted as carrying a sling and stones; he is supposed to throw at this heavenly dog which comes to devour the expected child. It is said that Chang Hsien-chung 張獻忠 was an incarnation of this heavenly Dog-star, which is also the devourer of the moon in lunar eclipses.
To take away or escort the blood demon 送血鬼 sung hseh kuei, or demon of birth-pangs ch'an-nan kuei 產難鬼
is the work of a sorcerer, and many incantations are practised and charms used to assist the birth; the ceremony may take place a few days before the birth is expected.
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The washing of the baby is deferred till the third day; this is called shao san 燒三 or hsi san 洗三 . When the child is born it is simply wound in calico till the third day, when it is washed. This is said to be for fear the navel cord will not dry off, and will thus cause the death of the child.
If a man's heavy foot comes near the bedroom, it is feared the mother's milk may be driven away. A locked padlock is always kept on the outside of the bedroom door to prevent the milk leaving --- fang jn tai nai 防人帶奶. At such times no member of the household will visit a house of mourning; and no person in mourning or pregnant is allowed to carry the child, for fear its spirit may be called away.
The father of the child goes to the home of his father-in-law with a present of meat, incense and paper money, pays his respects to all the elder generation, and finally worships at their ancestral shrine. This ceremony, called pao hsi 報喜, is only performed for the first-born.
Soon after the birth the father worships at his ancestral shrine, pai tsu tsung 拜祖宗 , giving thanks that another generation has been born to carry on the ancestral rites.
On the birth of the first grandson the grandfather takes round to particular friends some eggs which have been stained red, 紅蛋 hung tan, by being boiled in ochre water. This is not done at the birth of a grand-daughter.
Eggs are brought as a present to the mother, and at such times a woman gauges her happiness by the number of eggs she eats. In ordinary families a present of 20 or 3o eggs is quite common, but among the rich the number rises to 500 or even 1,000. A proverb says, "The male looks forward to going to the market, but the female to sitting in her room 男子望趕場女子望坐房 that is, for a good time of feeding up. The mother is really expected to stay for a month in the house, tso yeh 坐月or tso ts'ao 坐草 (because she likes to sit on something soft); and she is exempted from all out-door labour.
Besides the gifts of eggs and chickens for her eating, there are presents for the child, --- shoes, hats, bangles and pinafores, varying in value according to the status of the family. In well-to-do circles presents of silver, ten to one hundred taels, are sent from the wife's home, to buy clothing and luxuries for the new grandson.
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The goddess of Mercy, Kuan-Yin 觀音who gives sons to her worshippers sung tsŭ niang-niang 送子 娘娘 also called san p'o niang-niang 三婆娘媳 or sun hsiao, 三霄 is believed to be in the house for the first three days after the confinement; at the end of this time the father makes her an offering of wine, incense and paper, behind the bedroom door, where the goddess is supposed to lodge.
At the end of ten days the the father's mother and other relatives are invited to a feast, and presents of rice, eggs and chickens are brought to the family.
At the end of a month a feast is given, called t'ang ping (or mi or yeh) chiu 湯餅 (or 米or 月) 酒；all those who have given presents are invited. After this the mother may go to the kitchen or the well; before this many will not speak to her, and Buddhist devotees are especially fearful about doing so.
After fulfilling forty days, man ssǔ-shih t'ien 滿四十天, the mother may visit her friends and show off the baby. In complimenting the parents it is safe to say that the baby is ugly 醜，or to use any other derogatory terms, so that the demons will not want it.
Having fulfilled 12o days the mother may go to the temple and give thanks to the idols.
At the end of the first year 滿周嵗 man chou sui the mother-in-law sends presents to the child. The old custom of this season was to lay before the child objects representing different occupations in life, and his training would afterwards be directed according to the object he grasped. This was .called chua nien 抓年 grasping the year.
The above are some of the customs connected with ordinary cases. Women who are barren or son-less employ various methods to obtain such issue.
They beg a prayer-tally, 求籤 ch'iu ch'ien from a particular idol, take it home and keep it on the family altar. These tallies are notched pieces of bamboo, kept at the idol shrine for divination purposes.
They become vegetarians; this often means that they also distribute much rice to the poor. There are many kinds of vegetarian vows, such as Kuan-yin chai 觀音齋 (kept on the 9th, or by some on the 2nd, 6th and 9th, of each month);
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chn-wu chai 真武齋 , (a monthly fast, on the 1st days of the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th moons); Tsao-wang chai 竈王齋 (1st, 15th, 24th of each moon); chiu huang chai 九皇齋 and peitou chai 北斗齋, (9th moon, first 9 days, or whole moon); ch'ng huang chai 城皇齋 , (1st and 15th of each moon); yeh-lo chai 月落齋 , (last day of each moon); jih-lo chai 日落齋 (daily till sunset); ch'ang chai 長齋(for 3 years, or sometimes for life).
Some, in the hope of progeny, do various good deeds, such as making roads or building bridges.
Anti-abortion charms an-t'ai fu 安胎符 are sought by women who believe they have the pao-t'ai sha 包胎煞 or the mai rh sha 埋兒煞 ; that is, that they are under the curse of abortion or still-birth. The sorcerer is called in, and the woman has to give him a pair of her trousers, a pint of rice, five kinds of coloured thread and an egg; this last is taken home by the sorcerer and worshipped. All must be carried out without the husband's knowledge.
Others p'ei hsiung ching 佩雄精 carry a charm made up of the purest hsiung huang 雄黃 (realgar).
Some make a pilgrimage to a sacred mountain 朝山 ch'ao shan ; there they steal a baby-idol 童子 t'ung-tzǔ, or a lo-han 羅漢 and take it home. They also spend money on building temples or in printing books which extol the idols, such as the pei-tou ching 北斗經, the Tsao-Wang ching 竈王經 or the Kuan-yin ching ,觀音經.
Another way is to steal the shoes or underclothing of the wife of the city god, or of Kuan-Yin. These are taken home, put under the pillow and slept on. The virtue is supposed to lie in the fact that they are stolen.
An axe is hung on the underside of the bed in the hope of thus obtaining a son, ch'uang hsia hsan fu 床下懸斧. Or the ox sinew from a crossbow is worn as a girdle; 牛筋弦帶 niu-chin-hsien tai.
Childless people also call in a fortune-teller to examine the horoscopes of the couple to see it they match; k'ai nien keng 開年庚 or p'ai ssu chu 排四柱 If any of the fine elements are lacking, some person is invited to stand surety. For example, if the element gold should be missing, some one with
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the gold radical in his name or someone with plenty of the gold element in his horoscope will be asked to be surety. Or butchers, priests, scholars and military men are invited if the elements show a weakness in those directions.
In cases where the marriage date has proved unlucky 年月不吉 nien-yeh pu chi, the whole process of finding a lucky day and holding the marriage ceremony is gone through again, that sons may be born.
When the unfitness is in the girl's horoscope, making the union unlucky, friends set to work to prove that her nativity characters 八字 pa tzǔ have been incorrect from birth, 婚頭 錯了 hun t'ou ts'o-liao; a change is made and the marriage ceremony is gone through a second time:
A barren woman goes to the temple of the goddess of Mercy, sung tzŭ Kuan-Yin 送子觀音, who always has plenty of children around her. She pulls out some of her own hair, and ties it round the arm or neck of a child-idol 栓童子 shuan t'ung-tsu. When she leaves she calls the spirit of this idol to follow her home. Sometimes she goes to the priest and gives him her special reasons for desiring a son, and she receives from him a tan 單, which document is then burnt as an offering to the idol.
Sometimes arrangements are made with a family that has plenty of children to buy from it a new-born babe, a few hundreds of taels being perhaps paid for a healthy male child. As soon as born it is carried in the night to its new mother, who goes through a feigned confinement 假裝坐月 chia chuang tso yeh. The child is reared on sugar and water and other concoctions.
Families sometimes obtain a son in exchange for a girl and a liberal sum in hard cash. In such cases it is always an insult to speak of the boy as adopted.
Besides the above efforts made by the family itself to procure sons, the friends of the family may do a great deal by special presents. Thus, a melon may be placed in a chair and escorted with music, red umbrella and much ceremony to the house of the childless people. There it is put on the family altar. If a child is born later a feast must be provided for those who gave the melon, or there will be bad feeling.
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Again, a calf from the Spring ox (see chapter on the Four Seasons) may be presented. This dummy calf is obtained as the result of much wrangling, put in a sedan-chair and taken with music and fire-crackers to some childless family.
At the service held for the release of a soul three basins of rice are used. At the close of the ceremony these bowls of rice are wrangled for, the strongest or smartest getting them. A basin of this rice is then taken to the house of a childless friend, who puts it on the family altar and worships it in the hope that a son may be born to him.
At the end of the Feast of Lanterns the eyes of the dragon lantern, or the pao 寳, precious thing from the dragon's mouth, or the eyes of the lion lantern may be presented, and are considered very efficacious. (See under NewYear) .
When a family pig gets measles the owner makes a vow at the shrine of Hung-chu hsien 紅豬仙, (an image of a man riding a pig). If the pig gets well a paper pig is offered as thanks. This paper pig is often taken afterwards to the home of a son-less family.
These beliefs are very real. I know several people who bear the name of chu rh-tzŭ 豬兒子or niu rh-tzŭ 牛兒子, pig-son or calf-son, because they were born after the calf or pig had been taken to their homes.
At the T'ien shih tung 天師洞 temple there is a famous pai-kuo shu 白果樹 (ginko tree), twigs of which are much used for the same purpose; but any trees which have shown healing virtues 顯神 hsien shn are used. The twigs are kept on the family altar four months at a time in hope that a son may be the result. Some trees gain a sudden notoriety through the priests paying someone to hang up red cloth and. paper boots with a false statement that they have been healed of disease through worshipping the tree.
Sometimes one of the Eighteen Lo-han is taken from a temple and given to a childless pair. If a son is born this idol is returned to the temple with a fresh coat of paint on it and with an offering. The priests like this, as it gives the temple a reputation and increases the number of their devotees.
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In some places a meeting called t'ung-tzŭ hui 童子會 is held on the 3rd of the 3rd moon, when women who have obtained sons by taking away a child-idol from Kuan-Yin's shrine return the images to the goddess. When worship is finished these idols are carried off to be given to other childless families; and that night the streets are lively with processions of this kind going to their destinations.
Another present with the same object is a turnip with the leaves on; this is put on the family altar and incense and paper offered to it.
The piece of wood used by a sorcerer to hang his chart on when exorcising a spirit is also regarded as a useful present to a childless family.
At Ch'eng-tu 成都 it used to be the custom on 5th of the 5th moon for youths to pelt with plums women of 'doubtful reputation.' These plums were then got hold of by other people and sent to friends anxious for sons. The origin of the idea is said to be in the story that the mother of Lao Tzŭ dreamed before the birth of her illustrious son that she had eaten a plum.
At the New Year lighted lamps are hung on trees or high poles; they are believed to attract homeless, wandering spirits, and they are afterwards given to childless families.
At the fast for protection against fire and epidemics. small lighted lanterns soaked in oil are set adrift oil the river. These are sometimes stolen and presented to some home lacking children, where they are kept on the family altar.
In some temples there is an apartment called the 玉皇樓 Y-huang lou, the Gemmeous Emperor's dwelling. Before his image hangs a lantern. This is sometimes stolen and presented to a childless family. A new lantern is presented to the temple if a child is born. Such lanterns, 玉皇燈 Y-huang teng, are also hung in numbers in an orchard or elsewhere with the object of securing a good crop.
During the first moon lamps are lighted before the shrines of the t'u ti shn 土地神 or gods of the soil. After being used they are often presented to childless people III the firm belief that children will then be born.
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Such customs as are noted above have a great hold on otherwise quite enlightened people.
The following customs are connected with the protection of children.
If during the first month or two of the child's life it cries a great deal, this request is put out: 小兒夜哭請君念讀若還不哭請君萬福; " My little one cries in the night, will good men take note and read; if after this it does not .cry may ten thousand blessings rest on you."
People who are afraid of their child becoming a priest make a priest's hat and other garments for it. They think the spirits will be thus deceived and suppose the child is a priest already.
For fear a child may not live long a ring is put round its neck and locked, so kuan 銷關. This is even done to sick adults, with the idea of locking in the life that it may not leave the body.
With the same idea an old horse-shoe is made into a bangle and locked on the child's wrist --- ta ma-chang ch'an 打馬掌圈.
Money also is collected from many other families 化千家錢 hua ch'ien-chia ch'ien, and made into a silver, iron or bronze collar, which is locked on the child's neck.
A tablet called ch'ang-ming p'ai 長命牌 is made up of the characters for long life, riches and honour. It may be worn suspended round the child's neck or on his cap. It is sometimes the gift of friends. A tablet with the figures of the Eighteen Lo-han is similarly worn.
A coin-shaped tablet on the cap with the Eight Diagrams 八卦 pa kua engraven on it is supposed to repel evil influences.
In the same way are worn the images or names of the 12 Buddhist pratyka who were disciples of the goddess of Mercy 十二圓覺 shih-rh yan-cheh; or of the twenty-eight constellations; or of the 36 or 72 famous generals who are supposed to be able to ward off demons.
An embroidered cat on the cap, with eyes and mouth facing outward, is worn to drive away demons. A monkey embroidered on the shoulder has similar virtue.
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The wearing of ear-rings is supposed to help a child to live, as giving it something extra to hold on to.
Other objects thus carried on the cap or elsewhere on the person as preservatives are the image of Lao Tzŭ, or of the Eight Immortals 八仙 pa hsien ; or of the the character 壽 shou longevity, with five bats fu, 蝠 (symbol for happiness, punningly for 福 fu); or 1oo silver badges with shou 壽, wishing the child may living 100 years; or the image of sun and moon; or that of a bald, long-bearded old man.
Another way is to tie the hand, foot or neck with red, black or green cord. The knots used may be 72 in number, 36, 28 or 12, signifying the same as in a paragraph above. These cords are also worn by adults.
Boys who are expected to be good at business, or girls who, it is hoped, will be clever at needle-work, wear respectively an abacus 算盤 suan p'an and scissors 剪刀chien tao as badges.
The image of the god of smallpox and measles 痘母神 tou-mu shn, is taken from door to door in a box by a very disreputable looking person. omen offer to it shoes, rice or money, and then expect their children will not succumb to these diseases.
Bridges and stone tablets 碑 pei are worshipped to gain their protection for children (see chapter on Passing crises) ; or a willow tree; this is a cheap wood, not much wanted, and the hope is that no spirits will want the child.
The length of time during which a child is suckled is three years. Some of course do not have so long, and a few have a longer time. One man I know, over 7o and very robust, regards his present good health as due to his mother nursing him till he was over six years old. The custom of three years of mourning for a parent is based on this three years' nursing.
As to infanticide, 丟兒溺女 tiu rh ni n: if male children are thrown out it is generally because they are illegitimate. Girls are drowned or starved by both rich and poor; by the rich, it is said, even more than by the poor. The rich suppose that a disproportionate number of girls shows the family stock is degenerating; the poor destroy
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their girls because they are unable to support them. It is impossible to get enough information to make a reliable estimate of illegitimate births and infanticides, but it is certain that both are very numerous among both rich and poor.
When a person falls sick a quack doctor may make him believe that his spirit has already departed and entered into a certain pregnant woman, and that the only hope for his life is to curse this woman and make her miscarry. This is done by the t'ai shu, 胎朮womb black art. Generally a witch is called in; she takes an egg and recites over it an incantation somewhat as follows: " If the spirit has gone south the south precinct god 土地神 t'u ti shn will bring it back; if to the north, the north precinct god will do the same," etc. The egg is then put in hot ashes, and if it spurts in any direction the spirit is called back from that quarter with the usual ceremonies. Persons known as shuan t'ai-ti 拴胎的 are called in for the purpose of counteracting this black art.
It is believed that deformed and maimed births 瘸精瞎怪 ch'eh ching hsin kuai, are the outcome of sin, whether of adultery or of irregular intercourse as to time or place.
CHAPTER II
PASSING THROUGH CRISES
(OR, CROSSING THE BARRIERS 度關 tu kuan)
To take children through the important crises in their lives is the work of a sorcerer. On consultation the fortuneteller announces the critical times in the child's life, when that life may be in danger. The sorcerer's help is then asked for, and he invokes the aid of the k'ai-kuan t'u ti 開關土地 the precinct god who opens barriers.
The following are a few of the crises or barriers which may occur in a child's life, and with respect to which he must be carefully guarded.
There is the 短命關 tuan ming kuan or short-life barrier, which means that the child may die at any age before 12 years. At 12 the barrier or crisis is over. There is also the 100-days barrier; the child is not safe till past that age.
The Buddhist-priest barrier 和尚關 ho-shang kuan, means there is danger that the boy will run away from home and become a priest, which is equivalent to losing him altogether.
The "knock-door crisis" 撞門關 ch'uang mn kuan means there is danger that the child some time visiting a neighbour's house will get bitten by a dog or catch
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some infectious disease. This barrier is avoided in the following fashion. The parents take the child out for a walk, and accost the first person they meet, pedlar, beggar, or what not. They salute him and tell him the matter, asking him to become surety for the child. If he consents he will give the child a new name and become his kan tieh 干爹 informal adoptive father (or kan ma 干媽 adoptive mother). The person is then invited to the house and food put before him, and the same evening the necessary ceremony, much the same as in sorcery, is performed in the house.
The danger may be that the child must pass the lei-kung kuan Thunder-god barrier, or be killed, as the Chinese say, by thunder. Such death is regarded as evidence of the special displeasure of Heaven.
Another crisis is the ch'-ming kuan 取命關 or taking-life barrier. There is danger of the child's life being taken by a demon. In this case a butcher is asked to become surety or adoptive father, because he carries a knife and can thus frighten away the slaying demon. Much the same ceremony is performed as in the " knock-door crisis."
It may be threatened that some heavy or sharp article shall fall on the child and kill it; this is a tao-chen kuan 刀砧關 or knife and anvil crisis. A butcher with his knife or a blacksmith with his sledgehammer is sought as kan tieh.
The danger may be that of drowning, lo-shui kuan 落水關. Any willing person may be made kan tieh in this case.
The p'ei-ma kuan 披痲關 or donning-sackcloth barrier, means that there is danger the child may be left an orphan, or that he will fall sick if he sees anyone in mourning.
The crisis to be dreaded may be that the child will one day fall through a hole in some bridge and be drowned. This is the tuan-ch'iao kuan 斷橋關 or broken-bridge crisis.
The child may be liable to the chiang-chn kuan 將軍關; that is, he may be accidentally shot. To avert this calamity, or to get past this barrier he must worship at the tomb of some military general 將軍, or at some memorial stone. Such a lad will most likely carry through life the nickname pei 碑 or tablet, because he worshipped at the stone slab.
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There is a crisis recurring at 3, 6 and 9 years old, san liu chiu sui kuan 三六九嵗關. The child with this threat on him is not allowed to travel far or visit any house where a corpse or coffin may be till he is ten years old.
The white tiger barrier 白虎關 pai-hu kuan, means that a dog will bite the child, or a demon attack him, or that he will be left an orphan.
There is fear that the child will be made ill by the sight of blood; this is called the blood-dish barrier 血盤關 hseh-p'n kuan. A butcher is the proper kan tieh to be sought for in this case.
There is danger lest the child should be scalded by the upsetting of a kettle of water or burned by the fire-brazier in the winter. The people are in the habit of putting the fire-basket under their clothes or even taking it to bed with them with the result that many lives are lost and much property destroyed.
CHAPTER III
MARRIAGES 婚姻 Hun Yin.
Betrothal may take place very early; friends will Sometimes betroth their unborn children
Marriage with one of the same family name is forbidden by law; but such marriages do take place when there is a different ancestry, 同姓不同宗 t'ung hsing pu t'ung tsung.
A male go between is called mei 媒 and a female is 妁 cho. Marriages are said to be arranged by 父母之命媒妁之言
fu mu chih ming mei cho chih yen "Parents' will and middleman's words." The children are supposed to have nothing to do with the arrangements, but in fact their likes and dislikes count for a good deal.
Another name for the go between is hung-yeh 紅葉 red leaf. The term originated in the Tang dynasty. A female palace-slave whose life was made bitter by her imperial mistress wrote her troubles on a red leaf and threw this into the moat. A young scholar got it and forwarded a reply in the same romantic way. Later some of the slaves were married off by imperial orders, and the girl fell to the lot of the scholar without their knowing till afterwards that they had been the corresponding parties.
Preparing the horoscope before marriage is called k'ai pa tzǔ 開八字, preparing the eight characters. These characters give the year, month, day and hour of birth. The
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saying is, " The man's horoscope is never false ; the woman's never true." A fortune teller is called in to examine the girl's horoscope, and if he finds it is an unlucky one it will be falsified before being reported to the family with whom a marriage is sought.
It is said that in the time of Han Wn Ti 漢文帝 a barbarian chief wished for marriage relationships with the Chinese. The Chinese professed willingness, but warned the barbarian Man-tzǔ that it would be unlucky for them if marriages were made with unsuitable horoscopes. They were then able to decline marriage on the ground that 八字不和 pa tzu pu ho, the horoscopes do not agree. To this day, in refusing a proposal of marriage the people almost always say jn kn hun pu k'n 人肯婚不肯 " We are willing but the horoscope is not."
The parents who seek a bride for their son first find a middleman, or more likely he finds then. They ask him to take presents to the home of a certain girl and to beg that her horoscope may be sent them for examination. The middleman has probably already paved the way, and he soon brings back the horoscope, which is put on the family altar for from 3 to 8 days to see if anything happens, good or bad. ` If a bowl is broken during this tine, or something lost, or a cat or dog dies, the horoscope is promptly returned as being unlucky. This is called t'ui hung kng 退紅庚. If on the contrary some piece of luck befalls during this period, an astrologer is called in to examine the two horoscopes and see if they agree. The comparison may show upper, middle or lower degree of suitability. If the boy's parents are satisfied with the horoscope they send the middleman to the girl's parents to say they feel quite unworthy to be related to such an exalted family, but since there was such condescension " they were willing to fix the agreement hsia p'in shu下聘書, hui hua 囘話, or ch'a hua, 插花. Much depends on the go between, and as it is difficult to prevent bribery there is great need for caution and private enquiry.
" The girl's parents reply 寫允書, hsieh yn shu, generally saying their daughter is weak and useless, but they are willing
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to give her to the others' exalted son to wife. Samples of the girl's needlework and embroidery are also sent for the boy's parents to inspect.
The lad's parents then draw up the hun shu 婚書 or form of agreement, leaving a blank space for the girl's name and other particulars about her. A lucky day is selected and presents of silk, chickens, ducks, etc., prepared. The go-between takes these to the girl's home, and asks that the particulars about the girl may be filled in on the hun shu. This done, he worships at the family shrine in the girl's home, using incense and candles specially bought for the occasion. Then presents are returned in the same box which brought the others, and the middleman or a representative of the girl's family worships at the shrine in the boy's home.
On the agreement are written the characters 天長 t'ien ch'ang above the boy's horoscope, and 地久 ti chiu above the girl's. The meaning is that the agreement is as lasting as heaven and earth. It is really as binding as any known in China, and the saying is that a lawsuit about a marriage agreement or about land will go through eighteen courts before being settled. Other proverbs are 說給豬跟豬走說給狗坐地守 "If engaged to a pig you must go its way; if to a dog you must sit down and bear it." And 說給叫化子提砂鍋也要跟到披蓆片 "If engaged to a beggar, pick up the earthenware bowl and follow the sleeping rags."
In some cases when a family has become poor after betrothal and before the wedding, a girl will cut off her hair in the bridal chair, which results in her being sent home again. After this her only resource is to become a nun; yet even in the temple she may still be claimed by her betrothed at any time. In cases where parents wish to break off an engagement because the other family has become poor a lawsuit is certain. One man in such a case was bound down not to take a wife for his son till he had sent his daughter to her betrothed: thus cutting off the line of succession and putting both families on the same footing.
The home which is to receive the bride gets a fortuneteller to fix a lucky day; he also arranges the hour for every movement of hers. This is called k'an nien yeh 看年月,
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and the announcement of the date to friends is sung 送 a nien yeh. This may be sent some months beforehand, after which presents are sent in, accompanied with music and flags.
When the date of the marriage is fixed the times for the following are also arranged: the day for cutting the bride's clothing; the day for placing the bed in position; the hour for 開臉 k'ai lien, or pulling out the hair on brow and neck to make the bride look older; and the time for putting up her hair. Till marriage all girls wear the hair in a queue; just before marriage it is put up in a coil at the back of the head. In asking if a girl is engaged it is common to ask if she has put her hair up or not, 上 梳 shang liu. Times are also fixed for treading on the bushel; when she shall take leave of the family idols; when she must leave the parental roof; when she shall worship at the family shrine in her new home; and when the bridal cup shall be shared by the young couple. This partaking of the cup is called chiao pei chiu 交杯酒; it may be a cup of wine, tea or not a cup at all but a piece of squash, which they pull apart and both eat; it is their mutual pledge. All these times are fixed by the astrologer, are written on red paper and are announced to the bride's parents when the presents are sent, so that they may prepare accordingly.
Furniture, (chairs, bed, cupboard, etc.), are prepared by the bride's parents, quality and quantity depending on the family's means. The things are often given over to the bridegroom's representatives some days before the wedding, so that the bed may be placed in position on a lucky day.
The wedding things include tea cups and tea pot, flower vases, clothing for bride and bridegroom, etc., etc. A well-to-do bride will perhaps have hundred or more garments, besides bedding, curtains, mirrors, etc., more than she can use in a lifetime. The silversmith has to make bangles, chains, earrings etc., and so great is the expense of marrying a girl off that the saying goes, ch'ien n ju fn chia 遣女如分家, "Marrying a daughter is like dividing the inheritance."
In some places some young, fat pigs are driven along together with the bridal outfit; in other parts animals of various kinds are sent afterwards as part of the dowry.
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The bridegroom's parents invite his friends for the night before the marriage 花 夜 hua yeh ; they dress him, put on his ceremonial hat, deck his hair with flowers, put red cloth round his shoulders, and afterwards, in good families, he feasts them. Then he makes obeisance to his parents and worships at the family altar.
When the wedding day has come the groom's friends invoke the family gods and send off the middleman, accompanied by a relative, to bring home the bride, 娶親 ch' ch'in. They take with them a flowered sedan chair, a band of flute-players with gongs, flags, and ceremonial umbrellas. They take besides the following articles: two eggs, to comfort the bride's forehead after the pulling out of the hair; two plaits of hair to be used in putting up the bride's hair, to make it look more; a large sheet of red paper to cover the bushel on which she must tread; a large piece of red cloth or silk for a veil; one big and one small comb, said to be used only this once; a bundle of five-coloured silk threads for dressing the bride's hair; a pot of oil for her toilet, a red cord for her hair, cosmetics, colouring for the lips, bandages for the feet, etc. These all go before or with the deputation which fetches the bride. The materials for her dresses or money to buy them are delivered earlier unless other arrangements have been made, but generally the bride's home provides most of her clothing and ornaments.
She takes leave of her ancestors 拜家神 pai chia shen, by worshipping at the family shrine, and 辭祖宗 tz'ǔ tsu-tsung, and makes obeisance to her parents. The mistress of ceremonies throws down a bundle of chopsticks 丟筷子 tiu k'uai tzu before the altar as evidence that the bride renounces her maiden home and will henceforth eat the rice of another.
Then the bride is dressed, on a carpet, and under a canopy of red cloth; the materials just brought from the bridegroom's home being used.
Her toilet finished, and the veil being put over her, a bushel full of unhulled rice is placed in the doorway and covered with red paper, and she is made to tread on it, 出閣踏斗 ch'u kuo t'a tou. After this she has to be carried
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out and put into the flowered chair at the door. The unwillingness of brides at this point has become proverbial, --- na-ko hsin-jn k'n shang chiao 那個新人肯上轎. " What bride was ever willing to enter the chair ? "
She carries in the chair with her a foot rule, scissors, a brass mirror and some five-coloured threads: these are to protect her from demons on the road. She is tied in, and often locked in, the key being carried by the middleman or by the bridegroom's relative who has come with him.
To sit in the flowery chair makes the day of a lifetime for many a bride; and if there is only a short distance to go, they will often wish to be carried round the neighbourhood in this way, with the music, flags and umbrellas, that it may not be said of them in after years that they came in a common chair.
Before this chair is sent to bring the bride the bridegroom sacrifices to it, a stick of incense is placed at each of the four chair poles, wine is poured on the ground at each corner, while someone kneels and worships the chair lest the hsin jn sha 親人煞 the evil influences of brides who have used the chair before should still adhere to it.
On reaching the door of her new home the bride finds a table on which is a measure of rice with candles and incense stuck in it. The master of ceremonies calls out 女家 車馬請 囘轉男家車馬出來迎. "Bridal chariots please return; bridegroom's chariots come forth and receive." It is supposed that the spirits of her home escort her so far, but on entering the house she comes tinder the guardianship of the spirits of her husband's home.
She is received by a specially appointed person, who receives the key, gets her out of the chair and leads her to the chief room in her new home. The bridegroom, escorted by his friends, soon appears and the marriage ceremony is performed. Two candles are lighted on the altar, and the pair kneel and worship Heaven and Earth and their ancestors. They then salute one another with a bow, and at this point the husband may lift the veil and look on his bride's face for the first time.
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A youth then carries the two candles from the altar into the tung fang 洞房 nuptial chamber very carefully, not changing the right and left hand position of the two, and letting nothing befall them. Then the groom leads the bride into this chamber, and they drink together the nuptial cup 交杯酒 chiao pei chiu. The candles are allowed to burn out. If that on the left goes out first the husband will die first; if that on the right, the wife will be first to die. A light is kept in the room all night with the idea that there will be continuous light in the home and always someone to attend to the family altar and the ancestral sacrifices.
When the pair have had a little time together they return to the chief room, where people come in turn to offer congratulations. A good deal of importance is attached to priority in doing this. Rich persons with large families are preferred. No widow or widower would be allowed to escort or receive, or to be first in congratulating. The guests bow, while the newly wedded couple kneel and knock their heads on the ground 磕頭 k'o t'ou.
At the feast which follows, men and women sit separate. The bride eats nothing the first day in her new home. All who have given presents are invited and regard it as a right.
In the evening the intimate friends of the bridegroom enter the private apartments, examine the bride's hands and feet, make rude remarks about her clothing, ability, general appearance, etc. Her clothing will be examined and tried on, but she must sit still through it all and say nothing. About midnight the visitors depart.
On or about the third day the bride returns to her parents' home, accompanied by her husband. Day and hour are fixed by the wife's parents, who send someone to meet them. A feast is prepared and guests invited to meet the bridegroom. If it rains on that day it is said the bridegroom rides a dog. The same is said of the bride if it rains on the wedding day.
There is a table with wine at the door of the bride's old home, "to stop the horses of the bridegroom," and he has almost always to drink before he can enter the house.
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The bride returns then to her new home for some ten days, and much of her future happiness depends on the way this time is passed. Then she goes to her old home for a stay of ten days, shua shih 耍十or ten days' play; after which her new duties begin in earnest.
At the New Year the couple make presents to the husband's father, and again at the season for planting rice they send him wine; and this is the last of the marriage formalities.
The following proverbs refer to young wives 男教嬰孩女教初來 "The best time to teach a boy is when he is a child; the best time to teach a girl is when she is newly married." And 三天孩子娘慣的三天媳婦婆慣的 "In three days a mother can spoil a child, and in three days a mother in law can spoil a daughter-in-law."
Sometimes a girl is sent to the house of her mother-in-law while still a child, and grows up beside her future husband till they are marriageable. This class of marriage is much looked down upon by most people.
When a widow re-marries the terms used are ch'u hsing 出姓 depart from the name; ch'u mn 出門, to go out of the door; tsai chia 再嫁 to marry again; tsai chiao 再醮 to drink again (the nuptial cup).
Her step children call her hou mu 后母 or chi mu, 繼母.
Marrying concubines is very common in West Ssuch'uan, 接小 chieh hsiao or 娶妾 ch'u ch'ieh. The limit in each case depends on the man and his purse. The saying runs 有志男兒接三妻. "The resolute man marries three wives." Of these concubines three are called wives, the fourth a concubine, the fifth and sixth are slaves, the seventh and eighth are big and little maids.
Sometimes a woman takes a husband to her home 倒住苗 tao chu miao. This is a remnant of the polyandry of the tribes.
CHAPTER IV
DEATHS 喪禮
WHEN a person seems just about to die a few bundles of cash paper are burned at his side; two candles and some incense are also burned. The dying person is sometimes moved from the bed and laid on the ground, but it is more lucky to die in bed. The superstitious, however, will not afterwards use the bed where one has died, for fear of the demons. Children of the dying kneel at the bedside while the spirit takes its departure. Rice is thrown about the house to drive away demons, if by any means the life may still be saved.
As soon as life is gone a tablet is set up. On its front is written the name of the dead, and on the back the dates of birth and death, with the characters for the five elements, gold, wood, fire, water and earth.
Beside the tablet, to call the spirit to enter it, a yellow paper flag is set up bearing the characters meaning, " To the goddess of mercy who saves from suffering."
If the corpse does not stiffen or does not close its eyes there is fear that more deaths in the family will soon follow.
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Soon after death the evil influences of the dead are let out from the house ch'u ssǔ hsing 出死星or sha 煞, by poking a stick or bamboo pole through the roof; a person inside calls, " Has it come out ? " and one outside replies, " It has come out." Then the stick is pushed through the hole onto the roof, and no one will touch it again if he knows it has been used for this purpose.
Before death the bed curtains are removed, that the spirit may have easy exit. After death the body is laid on the ground or on the coffin lid to cool.
In the case of the aged, one envelope full of paper money for each year the deceased has lived is burned in the central room. While this is done the corpse is bound in a chair, and an umbrella held over its head; women wave peach and willow branches toward heaven, and others flourish knives toward the earth, lest hungry ghosts should come and rob the dead of his travelling money.
The ashes of this paper imitation money are gathered and put into a jar, to be buried with the body, either in the coffin or beside it. The idea is that as soon as the spirit is free it is in need of cash to secure its passage through the various courts of Hades.
Five garments of each kind, suitable for all seasons of the year, are often put on the corpse. The shoes are made with cloth or grass soles, no leather being allowed. The coverlet is often very expensive. The pillow is filled with sawdust, cedar branches, or wood ashes.
In wealthy families the whole body is bound in a single piece of white cloth or silk, each finger, toe and limb being bound up by itself. Only the napkin for the head is separate. After this, or, in poor families, after the corpse has been washed and shaved, it is dressed. No outsiders are allowed to see these operations.
In ancient times it was believed that a precious stone held in the mouth 含玉 han y, would preserve the corpse from corruption. The custom now is to put a piece of silver or some small article in the mouth.
It is said that a corpse has a small loaf of bread placed in one hand and a stick in the other. If attacked by a dog
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he may first feed it with the bread and then, if necessary, drive it away with the stick.
Coffins are of various prices, according to the wood and varnish used. It is common for elderly people to have their coffins lying ready in the house for many years. The provision of a good coffin and an expensive funeral gets over many a difficulty in family relationships.
The body is encoffined 入殮, ju lien as soon as everything is ready. The sealing of the coffin lid 封棺 feng kuan or 閉殮 pi lien takes place three days later, the delay being to give the spirit time to return if it will. Black varnish is generally used for sealing, and a charm is pasted on at the top and bottom. The stick and bread are taken out before the sealing. Three days later the coffin is placed in position in the central room, preparatory to the chanting for the dead. It may remain there for three months 三月殯 san yeh pin or for a year. To show the importance of burial, there is a saying 亡人得土如得金 Earth is to the dead what gold is (to the living).
Funeral rites are counted more important than care for the living. The Li chi 禮記 ideal is for one mourning a parent to have a bed of straw and a pillow of clay 寢苫枕塊, and for three years the teeth must not be shewn in laughter; neither wine nor meat should enter the mouth, nor silks cover the body; but coarse weeds and coarse food must be the mourner's lot.
The rule to mourn a parent for three years is based on the mother's nursing of her child for that time.
Strips of white paper are pasted on the sign board, etc., mourning scrolls over the door gods and the sorcerer's chart over the family altar.
There is a custom confined to the mountain districts and decidedly aboriginal: old and young of both sees sing and dance in a ring round a pot of wine , 跳鍋椿 tiao kuo chuang. After dancing, each person cuts a piece from a large lump of pork, sits on the ground and sucks wine from the pot through a long pipe stern. This goes on for two or three days and nights.
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on every seventh day after the death, till forty-nine days have elapsed there is chanting, and the women of the family weep.
Soon after death there is a ceremony to open the road for the spirit; this is done by chanting and is more or less elaborate according to the family means.
A passport to Hades is also burned and the ashes put in or near the coffin and buried.
Immediately after opening the road a ceremony may be performed called 繞棺 jao kuan, to go round the coffin, or 熱血道場 j hsueh T'ao ch'ang, hot blood chapel. The Taoist priest chants the 救苦經 chiu-k'u ching save-from-sorrow classic. The ceremony may last from one to three days, according to the means of the family. It is the short way of getting through the funeral ceremonies ; the longer will be described later.
Within three days all mourning preparations must be complete. The chief mourners must have white garments, turbans and shoes, with a coarse girdle; sometimes the clothes are of coarse hempen cloth. If a son of the deceased should hold an official position he must vacate office for three years.
The coffin is guarded by sons and grandsons while in the house.
The tablet set up immediately after death, and called 血靈位 hsueh-ling wei, is only temporary. It is removed, and a new one of wood, sometimes gilded, takes its place 設靈位 sh ling wei. This is carried to the grave at the funeral, brought back, and kept in the house for three years.
At each family meal food is offered to the spirit, in some families for three years, in others only till the funeral, perhaps during seven or fourteen days. Much depends on the position of the family.
The priestly ceremonies : 道場 Tao ch'ang.
Chanting for the emancipation of the soul is done by Taoist priests and lasts for from three to eight days, according to the family means. The first act of the ceremony is to invite water 請水 ch'ing shui for the cleansing of the altar. The priests go in a body to the river where they bury paper,
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incense and candles, chant awhile, and return to the house with a vessel full of water.
Then the priests have a day of tramping round the house, a man following them with a tray of vegetarian dishes of all kinds, 轉齋 chuan chai Some of this food is first offered to the dead; the rest is eaten by the company. At the close of the ceremony the rice offered to the dead is at once carried off and presented to families with no male issue, in the hope that sons will then be born.
The priests then proceed to break open Hades 破地獄 p'o ti-y. Quicklime is sprinkled on the ground in the form of a square to represent Hades; at each of the four sides is an imaginary gate. The priests walk round it, chanting as they go, then a priest breaks it open by smashing a basin or tile with his staff at each corner and in the middle.
At certain seasons lighted lanterns are set adrift on the rivers to appease the spirits of those dead who have no one to sacrifice to them.
To each of the ten kings of Hades a tablet is set up; the priests go round them chanting prayers and followed by the youth of the family. Each time they go round a passport is burned, till all ten kings have been thus passed.
In the courtyard of the house a small platform is erected for the worship of heaven 供天 kung t'ien; ten lighted yellow candles are set thereon, incense is offered, and there is much chanting with clanging and banging of gongs, etc. It is said that when the spirits are pleased a small black line appears on the candles.
A ticket containing an official declaration about the person for whom the chanting is being done is burned with a thick bundle of paper, and thus sent to the gemmeous Emperor. This is called 上表 shang piao.
The priests cast a flower here and stick another there ; this is supposed to take away sin or to lessen its evil consequences.
The departed spirit is exhorted 勸亡 ch'an wang to behave and and not to injure the living. It is also invited, with chanting, to return, the youths of the family kneeling meanwhile.
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A platform is put up, paper and incense burned on it, commands issued to the spirits, and 鬼彈子 kuei tan-tzŭ scattered for the benefit of orphan spirits. These tan-tzŭ are bread and cakes; the people scramble for them and eat them; those who eat become bold and are free from bad dreams.
A little weeping may be heard directly after the death, but it is generally checked because it confuses the spirit so that it cannot find its way; but after the formalities of opening the way and escorting the spirit through the difficulties of Hades are finished, the floodgates of weeping are opened. There are few if any paid weepers at a funeral, and this may be regarded as the real and spontaneous outflow of grief, though some, of course, weep as a mere form.
The ceremony of chanting for the dead is performed every seventh day for seven weeks, at the end of 100 days, and on the first, second and third anniversaries of the death.
The three Offerings to the dead, etc. 三獻禮 san hsien li.
Only those occupying a high position in social life and having an ancestral hall can have this expensive ceremony.
The three offerings are all alike, but one is given by the eldest son, one by the eldest grandson, and one by younger sons and grandsons. In each case the offerings are of three kinds, as follows: 酒樽, chiu tsun; 羹饌 kng chuan; 香帛 hsiang pi; or, respectively, wine, soup and food, incense and silks. But various minor gifts are also included under these headings.
In this ceremony sacrifices are made to Heaven, Earth, the well, the kitchen god, the door god, the carrying poles for the funeral, sang y shn 喪性神; to the effigy which leads the way 開路神 k'ai-lu shn, and to the 河伯ho pei or gods of the river if a stream has to be crossed.
Temporary buildings are generally put up for the purposes of the ceremony; they are called 望燎所 wang liao so or 望位所 wang wei so, and often adjoin the house. They consist of rooms where are stored the three kinds of offerings named above; a 'chapel,' tsan chiang t'ang where the master of ceremonies performs the ceremonies; a pavilion 歌講廳
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ko chiang t'ing for the singers, who are generally scholars with youths to assist; a room for the mourning robes of the family, etc.
The officiating masters are usually literati, who call on the mourners to do certain things in a certain order. They are, the officiating priest 點主官 tien chu kuan; the two preceptors 引讚生 yin tsan shng; three or four assistant preceptors, 通讚生 t'ung tsan shng; the reader of the eulogy 讀祝生 tu chu shng; sinners of the poetic eulogy 歌詩生 ko shih shng ; the teacher of filial duties for the youth of the family 講書生 chiang shu shng.
Letters are sent to relatives, announcing the date of the funeral and the time when offerings to the deceased should begin, and giving an invitation to be present.
The mourners arrive for the ceremony, bringing many kinds of gifts, such as pigs and sheep for sacrifice; pig's head, feet and tail, raw, or cooked with coloured rice; paper, candles, incense, gold and silver tinsel money, with "olden youths and gemmy maids " i.e. slaves made of paper.
A paper shrine is prepared to contain the tablet when carried to the grave.
The sons and daughters put on their white or coarse hemp garments, and white turbans or girdles are given out to all visitors.
A likeness of the deceased is hung in the chief room of the house. Lanterns are hung, and mourning scrolls of any coloured paper except red; the most commonly used are white and light blue. On tile lanterns are the characters 當大事 tang ta shih.
The services are begun by the sons going round to the mourning department, donning the mourning robes and taking from each store such things as wine, incense, etc. ; these they offer to the tablet 神主牌 shn chu p'ai, and then fall down before it while the the preacher reads and the singers chant the Filial Piety classic 孝經 hsiao ching.
The members of the family walk up to the pavilion where the ancestral tablet has been placed. They prostrate themselves before it at the bidding of the master of ceremonies, and return to their places. This is done thrice.
A notice is read that the family has entered on a season of mourning 讀成服文 tu ch'ng fu wn. Then the chief mourners kneel towards the wang liao so, the master of ceremonies burns the notice of mourning, the mourners and friends enter the house, and the initial ceremony is at an end.
The ancestral tablet 神主牌 shn chu p'ai, is a double piece of wood about three feet long, the outer portion fitting on the other like a box lid; on both surfaces is written 新故某公某母某諱某老人老孺人之神主meaning that it is the abode of the newly deceased person, name, etc., being given.
The consecration of the tablet begins by the eldest son kneeling down and taking it on his back; he carries it to the ceremonial table and there leaves it.
Then the scholar tien chu kuan who is to perform the duty is brought in; he washes his hands and approaches the table, where a pencil and red ink are also put ready. He takes the tablet from its casket and lays the two parts on the table with their surfaces exposed. Then the finger of the chief mourner is pricked for blood, with which the officiating scholar mixes his red ink. The pencil, having been dipped in this blood and ink, is breathed on by the scholar. The idea is to get the life, virtue and ability of the son and the officiating scholar into the tablet, as in writing a Heaven and Earth tablet. (See under Family Altar).
Next, a dot of red is put over the date of birth and another over the date of death. Then a red stroke is made through the character 神 shn on the inner tablet 穿内神 ch'uan nei shn, and a red dot is put on the 主 chu. These characters being thus completed they are enclosed by covering with the external part of the tablet 合主 ho chu. The same two characters on the outer tablet are then finished in the same way.
A red circle is put on each side of the tablet to represent the ears; a red dot at the top is for the forehead, and one at the bottom is for the feet ; down the middle of the tablet is put another red mark, on both front and back. This whole proceeding is called k'ai kuang 開光 or opening the senses. It is to be remarked that there is an inner part of the tablet,
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supposed to correspond to the inner man, while the sense organs are on the outer tablet, and the breath on the pencil touches all into life.
When the writing is finished the scholar throws the pen over his shoulder. It is caught and used to paint the sores of smallpox: they will then not run together.
The tablet is put back into its casket, and the scholar addresses it as the person himself and lauds his virtues.
The chief mourner then knocks his head 磕頭 k'o t'ou four times to the officiating scholar, who now retires, and the tablet is taken by the son and placed beside the spirit tablet 靈牌 ling p'ai.
Incense and wine are offered to .the tablet, while the preacher reads aloud the pacificatory ode 安主文 an chu wn.
A document in which are written the virtuous deeds of the deceased is burned. The sons bow thrice while this is done, fire crackers are let off, women weep and singers praise the dead man's virtues; and the ceremony comes to an end.
The funeral 送喪 sung sang.
The finding of a lucky spot for the grave is the geomancer's business, and is a most important matter. Many miles may be travelled and much money spent in seeking the right place, especially for a parent's grave. The prosperity of the family depends on the position of the ancestral tombs. It is said that if the wang ming 亡命 departed life and the earth crust 山甲 shan chia do not agree, the spirit returns and troubles the living with sickness and disaster. For this reason the remains are sometimes removed to a new resting place.
The geomancer has also to fix the day for the funeral. As all branches of the family must have their convenience suited, the funeral may be postponed for years, the remains being kept in the house or in a temple, or the coffin may be put outside and thatched with straw against the weather 寄土, ch'i t'u or 停棺 t'ing kuan. When the lucky day is agreed on, the lucky times for leaving the house and for lowering the coffin are also fixed.
At the proper time the coffin is carried out and a catafalque placed over it; a tile on the roof is driven outwards
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with a hatchet and broken to pieces; sometimes rice is scattered and swept inwards as the coffin is carried out.
Strips of white paper attached to the ends of bamboo rods are used as flags to lead the spirit to the grave 引魂幡 yin hun fan.
Paper money called 買路錢 mai lu ch'ien, buying road money, is scattered to the demons on the way. This money is of various shapes and sizes.
The tablet which is to be destroyed at the end of three years, not that belonging to the ancestral hall, is carried out on a portable pavilion t'ing tzǔ, with candles, incense, etc. Afterwards it is taken back to the house.
A paper image to which sacrifice has been offered, is put in front of the coffin to open the road, 開路神 k'ai-lu shn. It is burned at the grave.
On the coffin a white cock is carried, to lead the spirit which is supposed to be in the coffin. For there are three spirits; one enters Hades, one the tablet, while the third goes to the grave. The cock is the perquisite of the geomancer.
Paid men carry the coffin, and the chief mourners dressed in weeds go in front and pull. Women generally go in chairs, weeping as they go. They are accompanied by umbrellas, gongs, fire crackers, etc.
A coffin may not be borne through a city unless it has the dragon's head at its back and front. This becomes absolutely necessary when a funeral cortege has a long distance to go.
Husbands and wives are laid close together, the side of the first grave being opened and the side of the coffin laid bare, that the new comer may lie close. This is termed 聯棺合塚 lien kuan ho chung.
The grave is dug 開山 k'ai shan a day or more beforehand at a lucky time, and in the direction fixed by the geomancer.
A scholar with a degree is invited to 破土 po t'u break earth. He shoots three arrows away from the grave, then burns incense and worships. The idea is that the progeny of the deceased will become like this scholar.
A notice is read, to inform the spirits of the hills that the interment has taken place and to set the spirit of the deceased at rest,
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The shops which sell other funeral requisites have ready-printed forms for title deeds of the ground on which burial is made. These are read at the grave and on the third day burned there. In the case of land acquired for the purpose of course it is a copy of the real deed which is used.
The position of the coffin in the grave is fired by the geornancer with chart and compass.
Three days later an offering of food, wine and paper money is brought to the grave 三日伏山san jih fu shan.
Cranes, deer and a tombstone, all of paper, are taken to the grave; the tombstone is placed where the proper stone will afterwards be erected; the other things are left on each side of the grave to be destroyed by the weather.
The grave is guarded by the sons of the family, but sometimes people are paid to do it. Grave riflers might otherwise strip the dead of their clothing, though the punishment for such crime is death. For the first three nights a straw torch is lighted at the grave; if it is burns out it is a lucky omen, it is unlucky if half is left unburned.
After a few months fresh earth is heaped on the tomb, and every spring or winter afterwards.
A tombstone or ornamental arch is erected to the memory of the dead. In wealthy families the stone is set on the back of a stone tortoise. In the case of officials stone pillars are put up. High officials have stone lions round the grave, to remind them of the stone lions of their yamens. The trees of a graveyard are spoken of as being like the clothing on the body. If they grow well the family will increase and prosper. There is hence trouble when one branch of a family wishes to cut down trees round the ancestral tombs.
Before the graves of very important men are set up statues of men, horses, etc.
Public graveyards are generally on land given for the purpose, and the title deeds are kept in the yamen for 6o years, after which the graves and tombstones are a sufficient guarantee. In some such public cemeteries small towers 枯骨塔 ku ku t'a are built as receptacles for dry bones dun up in grave digging; on them may be the characters 骨肉相遇 ku jou hsiang y, flesh and bones meet.
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A young child is often rolled in a mat or old garment and buried without ceremony, and new born babies are often thrown out to be devoured by the dogs.
Buddhist priests' graves may be known by the small pagoda shaped stone in front.
It is supposed to have been the custom to level all grave mounds at the beginning of a new dynasty, till the Ta Ch'ing dynasty, whose grace extended to love of the bones of the dead 澤及枯骨chai chi k'u ku. At the present time much land is occupied by the dead which is greatly needed for the use of the living.
Sometimes the astrologer says the deceased has done something which will shortly cause another death in the family 犯重喪 fan ch'ung sang. Then a coffin is prepared and funeral rites gone through for some imaginary person or perhaps for a known sick person, and the empty coffin is buried. It is hoped this will deceive the demons and prevent the second death.
The Cantonese in Ssuch'uan often remove the bones of their dead to another place. A grandparent's bones are inurned and kept on the family altar, in some cases being counted and strung together on wire or cord.
The aborigines find out from the astrologer how a body should be disposed of, whether by hanging out for the birds to devour 天葬 t'ien tsang, by throwing to the beasts of the field 地葬 ti tsang, by cremation 火葬, huo tsang, or by throwing into the river 水葬 shui tsang.
National mourning 國服 kuo fu. On the death of an emperor of the Ch'ing dynasty men went unshaved for a hundred days; and no red buttons might be worn on the hat; if the New Year came in this period no red scrolls were pasted on the doorposts, etc., but white or blue scrolls might be put up in sign of mourning. Women did not wear their ornaments, and marriages and theatricals were deferred till the hundred days were over.
During the first three days all officials sat for a certain time on straw in the temple, while no public business was attended to, except urgent cases of life and death.
CHAPTER V
THE DOMESTIC ALTAR 家神 *
THE domestic altar is called chia k`an hsiang huo 家龕香火 or shn k'an 神龕 or shn kuei 神櫃; on the upper part is an incense pot; in the niche or cupboard is t'u ti 土地 the precinct god. This shrine is the last thing to leave the house when the habitants remove, and as long as it is there the owner of it claims to be in possession. When he removes the cupboard he invites the domestic gods to follow him, ch'ing chia-shn 請家神, the colloquial for worshipping them being kung 供 chia-shn.
The Heaven and Earth tablet 天地君親師 t'ien ti chn ch'in shih is dedicated to Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Ancestors and Teachers. It is said this tablet originated with Ssŭ tzŭ Yen wang 四子燕王 of the Han dynasty. Before he became emperor he fled before soldiers seeking to kill him, but stopped at the request of some friendly folk who asked him to write a tablet for the family altar. He wrote the above five characters, and explained that " Heaven has a covering grace, Earth a supporting grace," and so on.
BOOK IISOCIAL
CHAPTER I.
THEATRICALS, ETC., 演戲
THE puppet shows or Punch and Judy shows are called chou chou tzŭ 肘肘子 because the puppets are held up in a man's arms (chou, arms). An ancient name for puppets was k'uei lei 傀儡. Another name is pang 棒. This kind of play is said to have been originated by T'ang Ming Huang (唐明皇) now deified as god of the theatre under the title T'ai tzŭ 太子 p'u sa. His image is worshipped in the lao lang temple 老郎廟 which is the temple of actors. In this temple and guildhall aged and infirm actors are housed and fed, and are buried at guild expense.
The puppets are made from the heads of coffins of newly beheaded or murdered persons. Such wood is believed to be very responsive 靈 ling. The spirit of the dead person is worshipped and called for daily, and after a time is supposed to enter the puppet and speak from the stage.
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In shadow plays, tng ying hsi 燈影戯 , the figures are made of leather and the performance is generally held at night. The court-yard of a house is curtained round with white calico; within there is light, without it is dark, and the figures are manipulated so that the shadows fall on the screen for the spectators outside to view.
In the pei tan 被單 hsi or sheet play the actors screen off a small enclosure with black calico and display a small wooden puppet over the top of it. The puppets are worked by strings attached to legs, arms, tongues, etc. The showmen are trained ventriloquists, and make their puppets dance and kick about in most amusing fashion; the figures are called shn t'ung-tzŭ 神童子, because they are so smart and acrobatic, and they are probably procured in the same way as those of the Punch and Judy shows.
There are amateur theatrical companies composed of local actors or farm labourers with a gift for singing or acting, and called tng pan-tzŭ 燈班子. Many join such a troupe to have a gay time of running round the countryside ; the rustics call these escapades sao teng 臊燈. Such companies only get about 5000 cash for a day's performance.
Street singing is termed pan tng 板凳 hsi (stool concert), or wan yu hui 玩友會 (friendly society), or wei ku 圍皷, (round the drum).
The peepshow, hsi hu 西湖 hsi (west lake show) is a box with glaring pictures outside, and peepholes through which those who pay may look at the pictures inside, these being brought into view in turn by means of a handle.
Performers go from door to door getting a single cash at each for making a puppet dance up and down by the motion of a fan ; shan tzŭ 扇子 hsi.
Others go from house to house with a monkey, a dog and a box of paraphernalia. Money for a performance having been paid down the performer directs the monkey which opens the box, dresses itself, and rides the dog or drives it hitched to a miniature plough.
Theatricals are given in each parish in front of the Yang miao 秧苗 t'u ti or local god of sprouting grain, in order to keep insects away from the growing crops.
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The open stage theatricals ming t'ai ta pan-tzŭ 明薹大板子 are almost always given on a stage called wan nien t'ai 万年台 located in temples in front of the chief idol. They are got up for the purpose of pleasing the gods, and the expenses are always paid from temple funds; but the public is allowed to witness performances. The plays are nearly all historical. They belong to three periods : ch'un ch'iu 春秋 period plays, of the time of Confucius; chan kuo 戰國 hsi of the times of Mencius; san kuo 三國 hsi plays about the time of the Three Kingdoms. These last are called 'pure' plays, ch'ing 清 hsi, because there are no demons in them. Besides the historical plays there are others of a lower grade, such as the fei fei tzŭ hsi ; this class is without proper beginning or end to the performances. There are also the lower grade music hall theatricals called fng hua hseh yeh 風花雪月 and chien yin ku pa 姦淫佔霸 .
Behind much that is unreal there is often a good deal of historical truth; for example, in the famous play Mu lien ta hsi or Mu lien chiu mu 目連救母 Mu lien lived near P'eng hsien 彭縣 in Ssu-ch'uan. It is said that his family residence is still to be seen. His father, Fu Yan-wai 傅員外, had a literary degree and every comfort but he long was without a son. The wife was a strict vegetarian, and they both prayed continually for a son, till, when the husband was 66, a son was born, and named Mu-lien. Later, the mother broke her vegetarian vow, became profligate and came to a bad end; but still worse, when passing through the ten regions of purgatory she was struck by a spike and fell into the abyss. Mu-lien, on hearing of this, determined to rescue his mother. To this end he became a Buddhist priest, and by strict asceticism attained incorporation with the Buddha. Still thinking of his mother he made known the burden of his heart to Buddha and was sent by him to save her. He burst the gates of Hades with a chan chang 禪杖 meditation staff, and bore his mother out of purgatory in triumph, followed by a crowd of demons. The boatmen on the upper Yangtze declare that they are the incarnation of those demons, and the song they sing while rowing is said to sound very like a hungry demon's. They say that if they do not sing this song the boat will not move foward.
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This is a famous play, and when acted in full takes 40 or 50 days. All the details are acted, even to the throwing of the dart which struck the woman ; and a coffin is always ready to receive the corpse if the throwing should be unskilful and cause death. If the actor survives, the coffin is sold and he receives the money.
It is a common belief that Mu-lien became Ti-tsang wang 地藏王, god of the lower world.
The actors in a dramatic company are as follows. Shng 生 , who acts the youthful scholars' parts. Lao 老 shng acts the old and bearded scholar, and hs 鬚 shng the black-bearded scholar. Wn and wu hsiao 文 and 武小 shng are respectively the civil and military student. Tsun 俊 takes the wise man's part.
The term tan 旦 is used for these who take women's parts; lao 老 tan, the old woman; hsiao 小 tan, the respectable woman; chng 正 tan, the unmarried girl; and hua 花 tan the indecent woman, the singer of lewd songs, etc.
Mu 目 is the clown, also called ta hua lien 大花臉 first clown, with the whole face painted, and erh 二 hua lien or second clown, with half the face painted. San 三 hua lien or ch'ou 丑 the third clown plays off against the hua tan, and has generally only one patch of colour, about the nose.
As to times, the early morning performance is tsao san chih 早三折 ; the chief performance of the day, between ten and two o'clock, is kng pn 耿本 or chn mu 正目 ; that in the afternoon is hsia pn 下本, and an additional evening performance is hua hsi 花戯 , while night theatricals from 7 to 9 o'clock are yeh 夜 hsi.
CHAPTER II.
PASTIMES 戯玩, RIDDLES, ETC
.
Under this heading will be found the recreations both of the old and the young. Games of chance have a great power over the Chinese mind, and the mania for gambling would seem almost as binding as the craving for opium, and its moral injury almost as certain.
A children's game of chess, called the pig's foot chess, chu t'i ch'a 豬蹏叉 is played on a board like the following, which is something in shape like a pig's foot. The two rings indicate the two checkers.
Ox-horn chess, niu cheh ch'i,牛角棋, is played on a board somewhat after this shape. One person runs his checker up one side of the horn and the other up the other side. The motive is to avoid being cornered in the point of the horn.
A game of draughts, chang san ch'i 長三棋 played with six checkers on each side, has a board something like this.
Another game called slanting draughts, hsieh 斜 san ch'i is played
with three checkers each on a board of this pattern.
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Another game, something like draughts, is called wei lao ho shang 圍老和尚 The board is of this pattern.
The idea is to avoid being driven back into the horn.
The most famous game of this class is wei ch'i 圍棋, played with 36o counters.
Common games of chance are pitch and toss, pan ma ch'iao mei 扮麻雀妹, in which the Chinese and Manchu characters on a cash are the 'heads and tails'; to play cards, ta p'ai 打牌, which are of paper, ivory or wood ; to play dominoes, ta ku 骨 p'ai, a very old game in China; to throw dice, chih shai-tzu 擲骰子using either 3 or 5 dice; to raffle, yao pao 搖寳 , by means of dice; the wheel of fortune, chuan t'ang ping, 轉糖餅 where sweets are won or stakes lost according as the wheel stops ; guessing fingers (morra), hua ch'an; and many others.
Scholars have a game of the "missing word" in a line of poetry, shih pao 詩寳. There is a game with cards each bearing the name of a province; the idea is to make poetry by arranging these characters : thus, 同福寧東江，宣薊昌，南河林廣浙，臺貴陝雲章.
There are many games with cash, such as throwing cash at a coin either placed on the ground or fallen there in the rebound from a wall at which it has been cast, pan ch'ien 拌錢 and chuang 撞 chien.
Or the cash is aimed at a small hole in the ground, tiu wo 丟窩 or it is thrown at the central one of some 16 bean-curd moulds, tiu tou-fu hsiang 丟豆腐箱.
A hollow in the ground is lined with brass cash, and players throw walnuts, winning each cash they hit, ta he t'ao 打核桃.
A piece of sugar-cane is balanced on a knife. The knife is removed and a cut made at the falling cane. The person gets as much as he cuts off, if he splits it down the middle he gets the whole.
The Chinese have the well-known amusement of blind-folding one eye, then walking up to a sugarcane stuck in the ground and trying to drop a ring on to it. The winner gets the cane. This is called kua kan chi 掛甘蔗.
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A person is taken near a wall, then blindfolded, turned round several times, and told to walk to the wall ; mo chao pi 摸照壁.
Blindman's bluff, ta hsia mo 打瞎摸; hide and seek, ts'ang mao mao 藏貓貓 (the seeker being the mao or cat) ; marbles, tan tan tan 彈; turning cart wheels, or turning like a kestrel ta yao-tzǔ fan shn 打鷂子翻身; a kind of hockey ta ch'ou niu 打臭牛 'to hit the stinking ox' ; top-spinning, ch'ai ti ko tzǔ 扯地鴿子; swinging, ta ts'ui 打鞦 ; are all familiar pastimes.
Kite-flying, fang fng-chng 放風箏, in the second moon is done by gray-headed men as well as by children. The kites are in the shape of eagles, bats, etc., etc., and if one should fall on a house it is unlucky and no one dare claim it.
The shuttle-cock in the game t'i chien-tzǔ 踢毽子 is a brass cash with a few feathers attached; it is kept in the air by using the side of the foot for a battledore. Experts turn round once after each kick.
To turn to a different class of pastime: eagles are kept for catching birds and rabbits, fang ying 放鷹. The sport is so exciting that a proverb says : 'After seeing an eagle catch a rabbit the glory of an official career sinks into insignificance.'
Game is hunted with a kind of setter, fang lieh ch'an 放獵犬 or fang nien shan kou . These dogs have long tapering noses and slight bodies.
The musk-deer is hunted, shuan chang-tzǔ 拴獐子 for the musk. A coolie carrying a small quantity of musk can easily be detected by the smell. The deer horns are sold for medicine and the skin for leather.
Jackdaws and various other birds are kept for fighting purposes fang ch'eh ta ts'ai 放鵲打彩; which means gambling.
Practising with bow and arrows, ts'ao kung chien 操弓箭年is a sport now going out of use. So is the exercise of the heavy knife, shua ta tao 耍大刀. These knives weighed 8o to 140 catties, and even more.
Many pets are kept, such as the green parrot, ying ko 鸚哥; the Liao-tung or black parrot, liao ko 遼哥; the
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canary pai yen 白燕 ; the quail, an shun 鵪鶉; monkeys hou tzǔ, 猴子 which are said to be better than dogs as a protection against thieves ; rabbits t'u tzǔ 兔子, generally in narrow-necked crocks sunk in the ground ; pigeons ko-tzǔ 鴿子, some of the best carriers returning home from 1000 li or more; they are often sold, and as they always go home again good profit is made ; white mice which drive little wheels in their cages; stove crickets, tsao chi-tzǔ 竈雞子; and 'ocean insects,' yang ch'ung 洋蟲 , which are said to cure tuberculosis. I do not know what these insects really are.
The Chinese are great bird-fanciers and pet-keepers, and domesticate many birds besides those above mentioned. Lotteries, smoking, snuffing, etc., are other amusements; it is a nation of smokers. Probably the dismal homes make the people love the pipe, and the crudeness of medical science makes them take to opium.
RIDDLES AND DITTIES. 謎子, 歌兒 mi tzǔ , ko rh.
青幽幽 黑洞洞 十個牯牛拉不動
Of a dark green, in a black cave, which ten oxen cannot move, What is it? (A well.)
千節節 万節節 千年万年不落葉
With a thousand joints, even ten thousand joints. For a thousand or ten thousand years it does not lose its leaves. (The bamboo.)
金篼篼 銀絲絲 一搥打開四姊妹
A golden and silver floss : one stroke of the hammer and it becomes four sisters. (A walnut.)
十姊妹 同路耍 各人頭上頂片瓦
Ten little sisters went out for a walk,
On the crown of each a tile is fixed. (The fingers.)
頭戴紅頂子 身穿白袍子 走路很斯文 説話像蠻子
On his head he wears a red button, his body is clothed with a white robe, his walk is like an elegant scholar's, but his talk is like a barbarian's. (The goose.)
各家窩頭一個蕩 一根白蛇在裏頭放 要死要死又掇他一棒
In each family niche there is a pool, in which a pure
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white snake doth loll. When it is about to die, just strike it a bang. (The lamp.)
生喫得 熱喫得 放在地下又走得
It can be eaten raw, or eaten cooked ; when put on the ground it can walk. (Water.)
黃牛給黑牛一頭睡 黃牛的舌頭 餂黑牛的背
The yellow cow slept by the side of the black cow,
The yellow cow's tongue licked the black cow's back.
(The kettle by the stove.)
The flea : (A louse's remonstance.)
尖嘴黑殼 這戳那戳 戳出禍來你跑脫.
With a peaked jaw and black coat, here a rive and there a bite; when the trouble has been stirred up you make a jump and clear out.
The louse. (The flea's retaliation.)---
六腳白米 自家走不得 要怪張怪李
You six-footed white rice, who cannot even walk by yourself. You are always blaming Chang or Li.
The Orange Blossom.
柑子樹兒開白花 團團圓圓姊妹家
天晴下雨請來耍 唸個佛句當燒茶
The blossoms of the orange tree, whose petals white
sweet sisters be,
In rain or in sunshine how welcome you'll be
Just sing a chant and I'll bring you your tea.
Heaven, Earth and Water.
天生綉綉 地生縵縵 水生骨頭
Heaven produces the variegated, Earth begets the unadorned, Water begets bones.
Natural Wisdom.
一個雀 雀飛上坡 一個雀 雀飛下坡 三嵗孩
兒會唱歌 不是爹娘告訴我 是我自己聰明多
One little birdie flies up the hill, another little birdie flies
down the hill; a three-year old child is able to sing, not what
the parents teach it, but what natural wisdom prompts.
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The Twelve Months.----
正月十五湯圓子 二月驚蟄抱蠶子 三月清明墳標子
四月芒种栽秧子 五月端午喫粽子 六月六來扇扇子
七月半 燒箔子 八月中秋喫餅子 九月重陽醪醩子
十月初一穿襖子 冬月閒烤烘籠子 臘月三十貼對子
On the 15th of the first moon we eat sweet dumplings.
In the second moon the insects stir and we feed silk worms.
In the third moon comes clear brightness and we put up grave flags.
In the fourth moon is the busy season and we plant rice.
In the fifth moon comes the dragon festival and we eat rice dumplings.
In the sixth moon comes the great heat and we use our fans.
In the seventh moon there is a festival and we burn paper money.
In the eighth moon is the mid-autumn festival and we eat moon cakes.
In the ninth moon there comes a festival and we eat fermented rice.
In the tenth moon the cold comes and we put on our wadding.
In the eleventh moon it gets colder and we light our fire-baskets.
In the twelfth moon comes the time to put up New Year scrolls.
Thee digits.
大拇指 二指弟 中三娘 王夥契 身小巴兒子出不得氣
The thumb is the elder brother, the forefinger is the younger,
the middle finger is the aunt, the fourth the chief partner,
but the youngest piggie is almost smothered to death.
The Bamboo grove.---
京竹埡 苦竹埡 對門對戶對親家 親家兒子會跑馬
親家女會剪花 大姊剪的靈芝草 二姊剪的牡丹花
三姊剪不來 丟下剪刀紡棉花 紡了三丈三大哥
二哥縫件夏布衫 三哥說我心不平 把我嫁在高山苦竹林
要柴燒柴又高 要水喫水又深 打溼花鞋不當緊
打溼羅裙一千針
The green bamboo and the bitter bamboo
Were intermarried relations living in opposite doors.
The sons on one side were brave cavaliers
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The daughters on the other were clever at flowers;
The eldest was good at the orchid bud,
The second was good at the peony rose,
But though the third did try she was not any good,
So she mounted the loom to weave cotton cloth,
And wove to the length of thirty-three feet.
Then the elder and second brothers both made them a gown.
But the third brother said My lot is unfair;
You've married me up the high hill in the bamboo grove.
If you want fuel to burn, that fuel is high,
If you want water to drink that well is deep;
To wet the flowered shoes is of little import,
But to wet the gauze skirts costs a thousand threads.
New Year good luck.---
新春大發財 二十四個元寶輥進來
輥進不輥出 金銀財寶堆滿屋
May the New Year bring you the greatest of luck,
With the twenty-four pieces of silver rolling into your lap;
Rolling in but not rolling out, till
Gold, Silver and riches fill up the house.
(Round stones are sometimes heaped outside the house on the last day of the year, and carried inside on the first day of the New Year; hence this ditty).
新春新春 財發万金 說好就好 添財金寳
In the New Year, The New Year,
May your riches increase ten thousand fold ;
When you say lucky may it be luck,
Adding to your riches and bringing in gold.---
The New Year scrolls of the New Year feast.
新年對子新年節 門神對子兩邊貼
門神對子貼得高 金銀財寶幾大包
門神對子貼得矮 金銀財寶幾大塊
On both sides of the door are scrolls and gods;
If the scrolls and gods are put up high,
Gold, silver and riches will come in great array;
If the scrolls and gods are put up low,
Gold, silver and riches still continue to grow.
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The farm servant.---
清早起來就上山 At the dawn of day he goes up the hill,
栳把鋤頭把地翻 Carrying a mattock to till the ground;
世人沒我長年苦 The farm servant's lot is bitter indeed,
臉朝黃土背朝天 With his back to the sky and face to the mud.
CRIES 口號 k'ou hao.
The cry used to call a pig when at large is liu, tiu, liu, A pig is also called a diu, and a man is cursed by being so called.
The call for chickens is chu, chu, chu, 祝. Formerly 雞翁 Chu chi wng was a famous chicken fancier and breeder, and the chickens are called after him.
Liao, liao, liao, 嘹 is the call used to call the ducks from the pond. It is said to be an abbreviation of lai-a, 來啊
Wa-rh, wa-rh, 娃兒 is the cry used to call in the goose. Some say it is wo-rh, 鵝兒. Others think the call is an imitation of the bird's own cry.
The call to the dog when there is any scavenging to be done is oh ngo, oh ngo, 啊哦. In driving the dog away the common "hist, hist" is used.
The cry used to call the sheep is mieh, mieh, mieh, 咩. This is spoken in a low tone and is believed to be like the bleat of a sheep. Sometimes it is " rneh, meh," like the bleat of a lamb. The call used to frighten the sheep, t'u erh, 吐爾, is also used to frighten birds from the grain, and is likened to the whizzing of a stone through the air at a great speed. When the cry is uttered a stone or a whip very often accompanies the sound. This t'u rh, 吐爾 is very freely called after foreigners, and is not a good omen. The connection is in the sound of the two characters, yang 羊 sheep, and yang 洋 of the sea, foreigner.
Sun rh 孫兒 is the call used for a monkey. It means a small monkey.
Mi, mi, 咪 is the call used to bring the cat to eat its food.
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Wa, wa, is the call used to make mules and oxen stand still. The aboriginal tribes have names for each mule in the caravan.
Ch'a, ch'a, 吒 is the sound used when driving an ox or mule. Horses do not seem to be so addressed.
When ploughing the following are the cries used to the娃 ox ; chuan ying 轉英 turn round; shang 上 ying go on the sward, and hsia 下ying go in the furrow; ts'ai kou 跴溝 go along the furrow.
Noises made by hawkers, etc., are as follows ; the oil-seller beats a small gong, ch'iao tang tang 敲鐺 ; the bean-curd seller strikes a hollow bamboo pang pang 梆 ; the condiment seller strikes a brass mirror yn pan 雲板 ; the tinker or scissor-grinder shakes clappers of iron yao ching kuei 搖驚閨 to arouse the women-folk'; the castrater strikes a gong ma lo 馬鑼 of the same size as the tang tang, but with a stronger sound; the itinerant fortune-teller beats two pieces of bamboo together, san ts'ai pan 三才板 ; the pedlar rings a bell, p'eng tang ku 弸鐺鼓, and the vendor of sticking plaster sounds a fish drum, ta y ku 打漁鼓.
CHAPTER III.
FOOTBINDING
THE QUEUE
THE origin of the custom of footbinding is said by some to date from the Six States and to have been begun by an Imperial concubine P'an-fei 潘妃 This aspirant for imperial favour bound her feet with silken bands. By binding the toes together and the instep upwards, she made the foot somewhat like a bow; while the licentious Emperor made golden lotus flowers for her to tread upon. Hence women's feet are sometimes spoken of as san ts'un chin lien 三寸金蓮, three inches of golden lotus.
In Ssuch'uan there are some places where the women have natural feet. These places are said to have been settled by people from Kuangtung province ; and these feet are scornfully called huo cheh pan 活腳板. Some feet have not been bound in childhood, and when older the pain would have been too great ; hence the toes are simply turned in and the foot bound up a little: such are called pan cheh 半腳 .
When the instep is round and almost perpendicular like a horse's hoof it is called yan cheh 圓腳 , round foot.
I f the bandages are so manipulated as to make the heel to be part of the leg, wooden heels are put in to make up the deficiency between the false heel and the shoes; the woman thus only walking on the half of her foot. Such feet are termed chia 叚 , cheh false feet.
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Those feet which have been bound from childhood have an ideal length of three inches, but many are much larger. This involves enormous suffering to the child, but small feet are a source of pride to all who possess them, and large feet a source of shame.
A foot that is long and narrow is much disliked and is called huang kua 黃瓜 cheh, cucumber foot. The reasons assigned for the continuation of this custom are as follows :
(t) It is the custom and that is enough for most people.
(2) It is nice looking. These small feet are also called the hsiang kou 香鉤 or incense hook with which to hook the affections of the men ; and the men generally desire that the feet should be so.
(3) It is impossible to find a husband unless the girl's feet are bound.
(4) It keeps the women from bad company and from remaining away from home.
In Ssŭch'uan some women make a specialty of both footbinding and hair dressing, others make a specialty of one only.
THE QUEUE. 辮子 pien tzŭ
When the Ch'ing dynasty conquered the Chinese Empire the shaving of the head was made compulsory, the barber being sent forth with an official warrant to seize and shave all the refractory and rebellious; and the barber bears to this day the name of tai chao 待詔 or carry-passport man. Till quite recently the itinerant barber's stand consisted in a low stool for sitting on, and a high stool on which the hands could be rested: on the other side was a small boiler for heating water, and above was a short mast on which there were two iron hooks, from one of which a sword used to be suspended while on the other the head of the rebellious was hung after execution. From the top of this mast the flag used to be displayed.
Popular opinion has it that there were certain exceptions to the rule of head shaving; these were as follows:
男從女不從 Nan ts'ung n pu ts'ung; the men had to conform but the women did not need to do so. Thus we have the Chinese
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women wearing the dress of the Ming dynasty while the men had to adopt the Manchu style of dressing, as well as the head-shaving. The living had to conform, but the funeral rites remained as before the occupation, 生從死不從 , shng ts'ung, ssŭ pu ts'ung. The people had to conform but not the priests; min ts'ung chiao pu ts'ung 民從教不從. Hence we have the clean-shaven Buddhist priest, and the coiled locks of the Taoist sect; this is believed to be the original Chinese mode of hair dressing. Moreover the style of garments now worn by the Taoist priests would appear to be the style of ancient China.
When the queue was forced upon the Chinese people it was hateful to them as a sign of subjection to a stronger branch of the Mongolian race. This loathing gradually gave place to pride, and the queue became a national badge, and a sign of loyalty to the reigning dynasty. Hence every rebellion against the Manchus has made the cutting off of the queue of first importance.
The queue, when worn properly, was used to indicate reverence for superiors, respect to equals, and decorum in worship. No inferior would dare to enter the presence of a superior with his queue hanging in front, or coiled round the head ; and when worshipping at the temples its position was carefully noted. The following are a few of the kinds of queues spoken of by the Chinese and were indicative of character:
To leave the hair unplaited for three handwidths from the skull in order that the hair might fall loose on the neck; 鬆三把 sung san pa. This was for protection against sword cuts, and also in fights, when the queue was largely used to pull with. Its looseness kept the strain from falling on one part of the head.
The big queue made up of false hair and silk. Those who wear this are known as wu rh shn 吾二神 , and are those who have just entered a secret society. They are neither men nor boys.
The dandy of the secret society wears a queue that is dressed up with silk tassels, tng lung t'iao pien tzŭ 燈籠縧辮子.
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The unkempt queue of the novice who has not entered the society is called k'ung tzu 空子pien tzŭ.
A few hairs on the back of the head is called y mei sui麥穗 pien tzŭ or a hao-tzŭ wei pa 耗子尾巴 , a rat's tail.
A nice-looking queue of a youth with a long red cord attached to it is called kua tao pa 銙刀 pien tzŭ, the sword-handle queue.
The cow's head, niu t'ou 牛頭 queue is worn by women of the aboriginal tribes to the west of Kuan Hsien.
A common proverb is shn hsien yang chih-chia, hsin hsien yang t'ou fa 身閑養指甲，心閑養頭髮 ; an idle body grows finger nails; an idle head grows hair.
The Kitan tribes, ta-ta 韃韃 , probably the ancestors of the Mongols, have the following slang names for the queue :
The hairy lid, mao kai-tzŭ 毛蓋子 ; Tartar hair, ta-ta mao; the hairy tassel, mao t'ou tzŭ 毛頭子 .; the horse-bucket cover, ma t'ung kai 馬桶蓋 ; the magpie's nest, ya ch'iao wo 鴉鵲窩 ; the tadpole's tail, ting ting wei 丁丁尾.
CHAPTER IV
PREPARATION FOR A FUTURE LIFE. 修來世 hsiu lai shih.
THIS is also spoken of as yin kung 陰功 or secret merit. Secret merit is supposed not to be spoken of, and is rarely practised by people under forty, but some, after they have sown their wild oats desire to accumulate merit to counteract their evil practices; as the saying runs 一善 千惡 ; one good deed changes a thousand bad ones.
To set free living creatures bought for the purpose, fang shng 放生 , such as birds, fishes, tortoises, eels, etc., is reckoned great merit. So is the building of bridges by subscription. To repair the public roads near the home, when done out of free will is also believed to be very meritorious, but it is expected that travellers will contribute to this work, and has now come to be a respectable way of begging. This kind of work is also inflicted by law for light offences.
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To give away medicine and sticking-plaster to the poor is merit, but it is reckoned still greater merit to give away good prescriptions, as these are often a legacy of ancestors, and any person having a few good ones might start in business. Some people keep a tea pot or crock full of tea at their doors for people to drink out of during the hot weather. Others light a lamp at a dark and dangerous part of the road to keep people from falling into a ditch or over a precipice. They open a free ferry k'ai i tu 開義渡. for transporting travellers over streams and rivers, or give away rice gruel to the poor in times of distress ; or rice and money to the poor at New Year times, or after a fire or flood.
They give free coffins for the poor and for unknown travellers who die by the way ; or land for free burying grounds; these are found everywhere. This is reckoned very great merit.
An individual or a number contributing will open free schools. Others give away clothing, bedding and fire-baskets to the poor at the beginning of the cold weather. This is largely done by ladies who wish to prepare for leaving this world. Poor-houses for the aged and orphans are kept up both by government and by public subscription.
To open an orphanage is great merit. The infant children of poor parents are taken to this institution and are here reared; many of the slave girls of officials are procured from these places.
Institutions are opened also for the blind, deaf and maimed, k'ai t'zǔ yu t'ang 開慈幼堂; some for adults, some for children; and asylums for the shelter and support of widows. Such women get benefit from a Society's funds if they are well recommended, and on condition that they do not remarry. Some set up a tramp's refuge, ch'i liu so 棲流所 for men and women from a distance; shelter is provided free, but not food. Beggars' refuges for the local poor are supported.
The chief beggar carries a rod with which he administers correction to the disobedient, and he visits the farmers at harvest time and gets grain from them, and shopkeepers at feast times to get his wages for keeping the beggars in order.
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After a man takes to begging it is difficult to get him to leave it, but it is also difficult to find one who has been born a beggar, nearly everyone having come to this state through gambling or opium.
When these beggars die they get a free coffin. When put in the coffin a basin is put under each hand and foot, and a broom under the buttocks. The basins are said to be like the hoofs of a horse, and the broom like the tail of a horse. The idea is that in this life they have done little and got much from the country, and in the next they are willing to become horses to carry government despatches.
To collect printed paper, shou tzǔ-chih 收字紙, and burn it in places built for the purpose is to accumulate merit. It is merit to collect this paper, merit to deal in it, and also to buy and burn it. A receptacle for it is hung up in almost every house and school. Men go round the streets collecting the paper from these baskets. It is reckoned very bad taste to put a book in an unclean place or dispose of waste paper in a careless fashion, because writing has been handed down from the sages. The sentence "be careful of paper with characters" is written up everywhere.
To gather up the dry bones dug out in the public grave-yard and deposit them in the dry-bone tower; to put earth on neglected gravesa coolie being engaged to put a load or two of earth on each grave; to give away books and tracts, exhorting people to good deeds and to attend to their idolatry :such books as the kan ying pi'en 感應篇 or book of rewards and punishments are freely given ; to invite a man to preach the Sacred Edict at the front door of the house for the benefit of the public ; to burn paper clothing and paper money to the orphan spirits in the graveyard; to light lanterns at the New Year and other times to guide the spirits home; these are all works of merit.
To go on a pilgrimage for the worship of Buddha, chao shan pai Fo 朝山拜佛, is merit. These pilgrimages are nearly all to sacred mountains, and occupy weeks, months or years. Some pilgrims go three steps then kneel down and worship, some five steps and make a bow, others crawl
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through the villages and cities on their knees. The Buddhist devotees are divided into two kinds ta and rh chu shih 大and 二居士,men and women respectively. These latter are called tao yu 道友or friends of the doctrine.
Another way is to sung ching pai ch'an 誦經拜懺chant the classic of "regret for the past." It is said that chanting is a Buddhist idea, while the doctrine of repentance has its roots in Taoism. These classics and repentance odes are very plentiful. Fasting, ch'ih chai 喫齋or ch'ih su 素, is meritorious. It means the abstaining from wine, garlic, and meats, whether for a whole lifetime or at stated times and on stated days. A person who is afraid that his family may not do enough chanting, etc., for him after he is dead has a special lot done while he is alive, and sent on ahead to await him in the next world; also lots of paper and incense are burned and deposited in the treasury of Hades. This is called chi k'u tao ch'anq 寄庫道場.
Some seek merit by issuing tracts about the protection of life, exhorting people not to throw lime in the paddy fields, because it kills the insects there; to refrain from treading on any living thing; they even exhort people to allow vermin to live on the clothing and person; also to abstain from breaking off tender twigs on trees and bushes; because there is life in them. These ideas are from the Buddhist pantheism.
People abstain from treading on anyone's shadow. To do so is to treat them lightly and it is also very unlucky. To strike a person's shadow in a vital part is reckoned to be almost as serious as to strike the person himself.
It is merit to abstain from food on a mother's birthday, because she suffered so much at one's birth. The Moharnmedans fast from dawn to dusk on that day. It is great merit to go to the nan hai p'u to南海普陀. This is one of the most sacred places of Buddhism, or the place where the goddess of mercy is said to have made her appearance after becoming a celestial. A Taoist idea is for a person to sit erect with legs crossed, the eye fixed on the nose, lips closed, tongue straight, and to swallow the saliva; the thoughts must be kept pure and sleep kept away; the old nature is thus cast off by the top of the head and the aspirant becomes an
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immortal. This is called lien tan hsan kung 煉丹玄功, The body is said to have ten openings, but the one on the top of the head needs to be opened in this way before it is effectual.
* * *
EXHORTATION 説書 shuo shu.
To explain the Sacred Edict, 講聖諭 chiang shng y. The Sacred Edict originally had six chapters composed by the emperor Shun-chih 順治 , but it was enlarged and edited by his successor K'ang-hsi, and now contains sixteen chapters. Before the exhorter begins his works a tablet has to be erected on which are engraved the two characters Shng y. Candles are lighted on either side and in front, paper and incense are also burned before the tablet; the exhorter then bows three times, and knocks his head nine times to the ground before he begins to talk. The custom is to pay 100 cash for each chapter explained, and three chapters are generally gone over each evening. This money is generally paid by rich people in order to accumulate merit; not uncommonly a rich farmer or wealthy merchant invites an exhorter to his house for this purpose. At its beginning this practice may have been better than it now is; unfortunately the wicked lives of many of these men does much to nullify their words; and their exhortation is no longer confined to the doctrines contained in the Sacred Edict, but is largely made up of old wives' fables, and local and provincial scandals.
Many preachers of the Sacred Edict also use the method of exhortation by proverbs, chiang k yen 講格言. There is a slight resemblance to, and connection with, the Sacred Edict, but most of the incidents are taken from the law courts, or scandals in business and private circles.
Men walk through the streets and sing ballads of a national or amorous character, ch'ang shan shu 唱善書. The idea is generally to procure travelling expenses for them-selves or others to some distant place.
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Discussions are held 講評書 chiang p'ing shu, generally in a tea shop or open courtyard, when some ancient character's merits and demerits are discussed, with a good deal of sarcasm and dramatic contortion ; the speech is often lewd and the characters of many of the speakers are of the lowest; in fact many are libertines, with some wit and humour to cloak their wickedness.
A news vendor who carries a stool and books round with him is called 上馬冊冊 shang ma ts' ts'; he stands on the stool and sells his literature, which has a bearing on current events; his sign is a pair of chopsticks.
A news vendor of the yellow press is called 下馬 hsia ma ts' ts'. He travels round and carries a flag of yellow or sometimes white paper on which are written the latest sensations. He visits the towns and markets, and to this kind of individual many false rumours are to be traced. He stands on the ground as compared with the former who stands on a stool.
On the birthday of the goddess of Mercy Kuan-yin or other festival there are often mixed gatherings in the temples to hear the Buddhist doctrines preached. The crowds are often of the lowest type.
* * *
PURCHASE OF PROPERTY 田地買賣 t'ien ti mai mai
THE middleman to find a purchaser first writes a t'o yo 詑約 as an evidence of willingness to sell the property. In this deed the size of the house or the extent of the land offered for sale, and also the price wanted, must be stated. If the owner is at all an unreliable person he will probably be made to write a yun yo 允約 or a deed of willingness to sell, which he will have to sign in the presence of witnesses, lest he should turn round and blame the middlemen and get them into trouble.
The price should be fixed in the presence of the seller, purchaser and middlemen, 三面定價 san mien ting chia, but it is more commonly settled in the tea shop by the middlemen alone. After the price has been agreed upon,
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which is generally about half what was originally asked for, a small sum of money is paid down as an earnest and an agreement to that effect drawn up, li ting yo 立定約.
To draw up the permanent agreement, from which there is no departure, is called li ta 大 yo; in this agreement are included such details as shang t'ien tsao tso chih chien 上天造作之件 all that heaven produces connected with the land, such as trees, flowers, shrubs, fishes and wild animals; also jen kung 人工 tsao tso chip chien, all that man has made belonging to the building, etc.
It is very important that the kind of money to be used should be fixed. The middlemen see the amount in full paid over to the seller of the property, who takes the money with his own hands.
To give taxes according to the old standard under the changed name is shui tsai yan liang 稅載原糧.
The buyer is allowed to take over the tenants and farm the land, chiao tien kuo ching 交佃過耕. The tenants have generally to be present when the money is paid over and their deposit on the land or houses deducted from the price which remains in the hands of the purchaser. A small feast is prepared for the middleman when the signature is being attached to the deeds. The seller at this juncture makes a fuss, and pretends not to be able to agree to the conditions and price, and ready money has very often to be added before this important signature can be procured. I have known many hours to be spent in wrangling over a bit of work which takes half a minute to complete.
Yo chieh hsia pai, 約界下碑 is to go round the boundaries of the property along with the middlemen and neighbouring landlords, who have to be invited to a feast; their presence is equivalent to their recognition of their new neighbour. The seller of property never comes to the feast, but a table will be sent to the home of the family. It is reckoned a loss of face to have to sell the family inheritance, and an occasion for pity too.
Ch' shen li wo 撤神離窩 , to take down the family altar and leave the nest; as long as the idols are not removed the old landlord does not reckon to have left.
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In cases where it is necessary for two parties to have a copy of the agreement the two papers are written together and then divided. On the side of each is written the two characters 合同 ho t'ung. These two papers must be produced and fitted together in order to verify their genuineness. To give over the new title deeds to the new owner is chiao hsin ch'i 交新契 if the old deeds (lao 老ch'i) are not produced and given up it must be so stated in the new agreement, and that hereafter they are only waste paper.
Any family division of inheritance agreements fn kuan 分關 are handed over to the new owner. A fn kuan is rather a shaky deed on which to risk a purchase; as the old agreement is sure to be in some person's hands, and that is the test of ownership. To take over the tenants who may be on the property is called huan tien 換佃. The main part of the price is generally put in a cash shop till certain things are done, and the buyer and seller in company with the witnesses then go to see the money given over.
To settle the percentage to be paid to creditors when the mortgages on the property are higher than the sale price is called t'an tang chia 攤當价. The payment of the middle-men, hsieh chung 謝中 is done by the seller; the usual rate being 2 per cent..; the purchaser also gives a present of a few taels to each person engaged. The title deeds are stamped on payment of the stamp duties, kuo shui 過稅. The cost before the revolution was about 20 per cent. Title deeds that are not stamped are no good in law.
* * *
MORTGAGES 典當 tien tang.
To mortgage to the utmost value of the property, when the mortgagee has the right to farm the land, is ying tang kuo ching 硬當過耕. This is equivalent to a sale, but the mortgagee "saves his face" by not selling; or he is allowed to find tenants to farm the land; this is almost the same as the other. When the former owner reserves the right to
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farm the land himself it is called ti tang tzǔ ching 地當自耕.
This is reckoned a dangerous speculation especially if the mortgagee is an unscrupulous man.
To change the rental into a mortgage; to add the deposit on property till it amounts to a mortgage is chiu tien chia tang 就佃加當.
To make the mortgage into a purchase by adding a little money (very probably more than the property is worth) is chiu tang chia tang .就當加當. To make the deposit of rental so heavy that it is really a mortgage, no rental or a nominal one is paid to the owner, but he saves his face by saying it is a rental. This is termed ming tien an tang 明佃暗當. Sometimes a property is mortgaged then rented back to live in, tang ch'u tien hui 當出佃回. The necessity of moving the family idols is thus avoided, but it is a method that causes much trouble afterwards.
To mortgage a second time owing to the original owner being unable to redeem the property is chuan tang 轉當.
Ting ta 頂打or ting tang is a kind of mortgage which is more stringent than the ordinary kind, and is almost equivalent to a purchase, without it being so stated. These are more difficult to manage than a pure mortgage; a rental has to be paid, but it is almost impossible to turn the mortgagee out. The neighbours need to be notified of these proceedings to make them binding upon them. This of course means a feast.
* * *
BEGGARS 乞丐 ch'i kai.
Some terms for beggars are : ---
叫化子 chiao hua tzǔ; t'ao k'ou tzǔ; 討口子; lan chang k' 濫仗客.
Few beggars are born in that class, but nearly all have come to beggary through laziness, gambling, opium, wine or calamity. Those who are poor through no fault of their own are pitiable, but the others are contemptible. These pests waylay the traveller and extort money; gather in crowds at funeral and marriage feasts; bellow for hours behind a gentleman's door with half-a-dozen dogs howling round them, or
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walk along the street with a stick wagging behind and the dogs hanging on to it. It is a fully organized profession, with its officers and king; a race which is difficult to reclaim; the saying runs 討得三天口官都不想做; 'After begging for three days they do not desire even an official position.' They won't work and don't desire to be lifted up, and are known as 方上的弟兄 or brethren of the four quarters, that is, they go everywhere to get a living. The king of the beggars is called ta yao pa 大么爸. He rises to this position by ability and public recognition and is generally negotiated with at feast times in order that beggars may not come and lie at the doors of the houses.
The beggars' resort or refuge is called 乞丐所 ch'i kai so, or 棲流所 ch'i liu so, or 孤老院 ku lao yan. In order to get admission an official permit is required, and a record of entries is kept in the yamen. Some have official rice and winter clothing granted to them besides. In these refuges all kinds may be found, such as the widow, the aged and the orphan. In districts where no such place is provided they congregate in temple doorways, under bridges and arches. They collect all the rubbish of the countryside and eat such things as dead dogs, cats, and rats. Unwashed, uncombed and clothed in filthy rags they seem to reach the utmost limit of human degradation.
The place where the beggars' branch of the secret society meets is called 什仿堂 shih fang t'ang. It may be arranged for at any place, but the connection with the society is very real and wide-spread.
The beggars have a superstitious dread of the following words : ---
不絕 pu chi, don't give; 狗咬 kou yao, the dog bites, 斷路 tuan lu, block the road; 短食 tuan shih, short of food.
The noise made by the beggars with their clappers at the door is called 打蓮花閙 ta lien hua nao. This noise is also commonly made by the vagrant priests, who use a 彈板 tan pan to thrum on with the fingers. Wo t'ao shan ch'ih 惡討善喫, gotten by wickedness, eaten with good manners, this is what is said of beggars' manners.
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The beggars call the rice and wine given to them at feasts or New Year time fa-ts'ai fan 發財飯 and fu-kuei chiu 富貴酒. It is a kind of good wish for the prosperity of the giver. 'New Year rice' is given to beggars on the first day of New Year; beside this some give New Year money, meat, dumplings, etc. If beggars are diligent at the New Year they can beg enough to keep them for a month or two.
After persons have given money or food to a beggar, the latter says that he has succeeded in instructing his son 訓子 hsn tzǔ. Such spectacles as are displayed in most Chinese streets, the displaying of maimed limbs, frost-bitten feet, knocking the head on the paving stones with a thud, candles and incense stuck in hands and shoulders, and anything which works on the feelings of the people are included by beggars under this heading of 'instructing their children.'
Ao men niu 邀悶牛, to follow the stupid ox, is said by beggars who pursue people on the roads asking for alms. To pursue a person on the road and repeatedly waylay him for money or to exact money from the person by blackmail, is called by the beggars, 'chasing the dog.'
A beggar will beset wealthy families and stay for hours at the door bellowing for food. The first time he gets food that day he says that it was his 'big son' 大的兒 ta ti rh who gave it him; the second time it is the 'second son,' and so on. These things make the beggars hated by many people, and a class which is loathsome to behold becomes also repugnant to the kindest of hearts.
* * *
ROBBERS 盜賊 tao tsei.
These are divided into several classes, the following being a few of them:
Flying thieves, 飛賊 fei tsei. These enter the house by going over the roof with a pole ; their sandals being made of human hair. In the day time they pretend to be sleepy, lazy fellows, but when they go to steal they can fly over the beam or walk on the partition 飛梁走壁 fei liang tsou pi.
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This kind of thief can get at the silver no matter where it is placed ; and only takes silver and gold. He leaves the other things for a lower caste thief. It is generally believed that he has some dealings with evil spirits. When he goes out for a depredation it is spoken of as 出馬 or to take out the horses.
Shang fang tzǔ 上房子to go on the roof. This class of thief enters by the roof and leaves by the door. At the door he has an assistant waiting to whom he hands his booty, who in turn gives it over to the carrier who runs with it.
Shun shou 順手 to take what lies to hand. This is done by people who in their own town are reckoned to be good and responsible citizens, but go from home to do business of this kind. The proverb has it that 黃鶯不打窩下食 好賊不偷自家人 'the eagle will not take the food of its own nest, and the thief will not steal from his own household.'
The local head of thieves gets a large share of the booty 坐地分肥 tso ti fn fei. When a thief comes to any district he makes arrangements with the local head of the thieves, who then becomes surety for him. When robbers are about to commit a robbery they always have a person acquainted with the house, called a hsien tzǔ k' 線子客 or spy. Hence the proverb which says tsei wu cheh t'ou pu ch'u 賊無腳偷不出 'a thief who has no footing cannot steal.'
Their first work is to count their men, to each of whom a cash-string is given, (these strings are counted on their return; if they are short one string they know that one man is wanting, and they may possibly go back to release him; unless they have reason to think that he is dead.) Oil is then spilt over a pile of cash paper, which is burned as an offering to the spirits, asking for success in their adventure. Brown paper is then soaked in oil and rosin, and made into small torches, which are lighted and stuck on the front of each person's hat. The men's faces are all blackened or made up with hideous colours. Each man has his work allotted. Some carry the battering ram or niu erh 牛兒 for smashing open the door. Others carry hatchets and weapons for self-protection. Some are detailed to watch the
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four sides of the house, and give warning if help is arriving. The cry of chang shui 漲水 'the flood is rising,' is a sign that the neighbours have risen to protect the family. After the robbery is completed, there is what is known as tien chianq pai hua 點將擺花 count the men and display the booty. Any dead are carried away with them if possible, and disposed of in the most convenient way, for fear of leaving any trace of the origin of the band. The head of the gang gets 40 per cent. and the remaining 6o per cent. goes to the men who have done the work. The division is made after all expenses of the raid have been deducted.
Robbery by piercing a wall requires an instrument known as the ao tao 刀or ch'iao tao 撬刀 , a crowbar. After a hole has been pierced through the wall, a bamboo with a handful of straw tied on the end of it is pushed inside to see if the way is clear; all being well the thief crawls in feet first, for fear of getting a bang on the head, and so as to be able to to crawl quickly out again in case of alarm.
When a character of this sort reaches a strange place he will draw a picture on a blank wall, such as a head with a moustache on one side of the mouth only. Other particular classes of thieves draw the picture of a single hand or foot. The picture of a head without any hands means that the thief is in need of an assistant. When the local thieves see these they draw another figure of the same kind close to it giving secret directions as to where he will find a lodging and companions. The day-light thief is called 爬兒 pa erh, the night worker 黑腦殼 hei nao-k'o, black head. Pickpockets are known as p'a ko rh 抓哥兒 lao chua 老抓or shua rh 刷兒, hung p'an p'an 紅盤盤, hung lao piao 紅老表 red-haired cousin, etc. The burglar who opens partitions 割壁 ko pi, carries a pair of strong scissors, and thus bamboo and lime partitions are easily taken out. Once inside the house he soon tears open the doors and prepares a way of escape. Even the dogs seem to have a wholesome fear of this class and dare not bark till after they have gone. A troublesome dog is poisoned by giving it human hair chopped very fine and rolled inside meat or fish. This seems to be fatal, as the animal can neither digest the dose nor vomit it..
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The art of the horse, pig and ox stealer is called t'ai mn 擡門, lifting the door. He carries, besides his fuse and other weapons, a tube of water which is poured into the wooden hinges of the door to keep them from squeaking. When a pig is the object of theft it is given hua chiao 花椒 or red pepper ; this benumbs its mouth so that it cannot squeal, and is thus more easily carried out of the place. When an ox is stolen, as soon as it is outside the door, a man takes hold of each horn and another takes the tail; the man behind pricks the ox with a goad, making it run furiously and heedless of all obstacles away from the house. Horses are taken off in a similar manner. In stealing ducks or chickens the necks are seized and tied; while cats are put in a sack.
Thieves are naturally very superstitious. Many of them carry on their person the wooden image of a dog with an iron band round its nose, to keep it from barking or biting, as dogs are their chief fear and natural enemy. They are very much afraid of any combination of words having fan 飯 and fa 髮 in them. Even to eat rice is known by them as ch'ao fen tzǔ 粉子. Their chief object is to avoid detection; one might almost say that the only sin is the loss of face on being caught. They also have a superstitious dread of the following words: ti chu 抵注 to get up against; ch'uang tao 撞倒 to knock against, and k'unq shou 空手empty-handed : a thief if he enters a house will do all in his power to carry something away with him, however small, as it is most unlucky for him to leave empty-handed ; ma tzǔ 馬子, an enemy : the master of the house is the natural enemy of the thief; liang 亮 , light : their works being evil they hate the light. Each clique has a particular call by which it is known ; some mew like a cat, others blow a bamboo whistle; others have a call like wu hu, while others have a song. Any householder hearing these sounds close by gives a warning to his household, and calls out for the thief to come in and he will give him a "light for his pipe;" with the mention of light the thief very often departs. In entering a tea shop they call for water, not for boiling water or hot water as other people do, as these expressions are used by them to indicate that trouble is coming. They also hate the words pu shun shou 不順手,
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that is, it won't come to hand. They also fear pu tui t'ou 不對頭 , or unsuitable. The number four is never used by them as it is the same sound as 'trouble.' So on the 3rd and 4th of each month, also on the 14th and 24th they cease their depredations. Owing to the light of the moon, little or no work of their kind is done from the 3rd to the 16th of each moon, but with the exception of the 24th they go on almost unceasingly from that time to the end of the month. The thief also dreads the character ch'ieh , to to cut off, fearing that his head will be sliced off.
In carrying on his depredations whatever comes into his hand is reckoned to be his rightful property; but if a thief has got no stolen property in his possession it is impossible to impeach him; the saying runs 盜賊無 a thief with no stolen property is hard as an iron bar,' and he will not brook any aspersion on his character. The saying also runs 'catching a thief, catch his stolen property; catching adulterers, catch the pair.' No greater insult can be thrown at any family than to say that they are nan tao n ch'ang 男盜女娼, the males thieves and the women harlots.
This class of men much resent another person putting their feet on the end of a stool while they are still sitting on it; the fear being that they will be locked up and made to sit down. They also resent anyone taking hold of the pipe while they are smoking, or taking hold of their queue while they are walking. They also fear any one standing on the bed to dress, or tilting any article on its side to get anything out, or lifting up the basin with the vegetables in it to pour some gravy over their rice.
BOOK III ---- POLITICAL
CHAPTER I
SECRET SOCIETIES
During the past twenty years the writer's calling has often brought him into close contact with and even into sharp opposition to secret society organizations in Ssŭch'uan. The chief difficulty in studying such societies is, of course, that they are secret, and the divulging of details is likely to be severely punished.
The difficulty all missionary societies have had in getting a foothold in Ssŭch'uan is due to the Tang Tzŭ Hang (黨子行} or Confucian Society. The plots of the literati culminated in the riots of 1895. From that year till about 1902 new influences were brought into play by bringing the more lawless elements of society into action. This period might be called the Hypnotic Period; it includes the Y Mantzŭ rebellion of 1898, the Boxer upheaval of 19oo, and the local Boxer trouble of 1902, when the Boxer bands even entered the provincial capital.
From 1902 a new phase begins, when the Ch'ien Tzŭ Hang , or Tally Society, made a movement toward
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the Church to capture it for political purposes, both protective and aggressive. The period ended in the Revolution of 1911.
To be clear, it may be stated here that the Tally Society is the same as the Han Liu (漢流), or Ko Lao Hui (哥老會), and the period may be named the Han Liu period.
After 1911 those who had entered the Church for political reasons tried to get possession of Church property or to start self-governing causes of their own ; but always for political or personal advantage. This might be called the Self-government Period.
The first three of the above periods exhibit phenomena important not only now, but acting even in remote antiquity.
The writer believes that this ancient West China fraternity originated in the Totemistic age. That age, which was one of magic, has left many traces, especially in these sodalities. The frequent mention of the dragon in the organization of the brotherhood abundantly proves its Totemistic origin. The leading Elder Brother is spoken of as the " Dragon's Head." The baser sort, who make a living by roving, are called "Rolling Dragons." And a score of similar instances might be given.
Not to go further back than the end of the Chou (周) dynasty, we may divide the society of the time into three classes: (i), followers of Confucius--- the reform party; (ii), followers of Lao Tzŭ --- a mystical party; (iii), followers of Nature --- a reactionary party that developed into the Han Liu fraternity. These three schools of thought can be distinctly seen in the secret society organizations of West China to-day.
The Confucian Society, Tang Tzŭ Hang (黨子行)
The School, or Society, is very ancient and has always borne an agnostic stamp, both in literature and religion.
The worship of Confucius is a very real thing in China, and the substitution of a tablet for an image, a change made by the Republic, is very superficial. But few, if any, of the Confucian schools have ever been satisfied with the worship
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of Confucius alone, but freely indulged in the worship of ancestors, and have invited the aid of the Shaman brethren when expedient or when sickness or death in the family made it necessary. Thus, the Confucian scholar may also be a follower of both the mystical and naturalistic schools.
It is readily understood that the class of persons who enter the Confucian Society is different in caste and calibre from those of other societies ; but it must be remembered that the agreement is equally binding and the political consequences even more serious than in the case of other societies, and it has been the source of revolutionary activities of great importance.
The Confucian Society is the society par excellence of the official, scholar, and student. In its present form it dates at least from the Tang dynasty, when the followers of the "Peach Orchard" trio refused to recognize the Tang and clave to the Han (漢) and Liu (劉), and are called Han Liu (漢流). [1]
The Mystical or Hypnotic Sect, Chiao-fei (教匪)
The Hypnotic School has always been closely connected with the Taoist sect, with charms, trances, and spells of various kinds; and it may be that some of the exploits attributed to ancient heroes were done under hypnotic influence. The trances, etc., are brought about by regular training of mind and body, a rigid concentration of spirit, and complete submission of the being to the domination of some particular demon : when the training is complete the whole person is under the mesmeric control of the demon.
The rallying centre of these hypnotic sects is generally a living goddess of mercy, usually a girl of sixteen or eighteen or even younger; doubtless the remnant of a cruder, naturalistic system of great antiquity.
There is quite a long list of these sects which have caused insurrection and bloodshed in different parts of
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the country. These religious fanatics, chiao fei, have caused much more difficulty to the government than the ordinary ku-fei (嘓匪) (v. inf.) The latter rob for their sustenance, and having stolen enough they live luxuriously till there is need for another raid to get more funds. But the religious fanatics are of a very different character.
Such societies seek first by charms and vegetarian vows to win the rich and landed classes. They promise immortality as the reward of large liberality and abstinence from fornication, wine, and pork. The entrance fee is generally small, but members have only the common purse; even rice and clothing are held for the common use.
Having gained a footing among the rich, they next win over the village headmen, and finally the retainers of the district magistrate. When trouble arises, the magistrate may send to suppress it and may even raid the Society's headquarters ; but care is taken that the propagandists are protected and escorted to their resorts in the southern mountains.
Such societies may differ in the charms they use and the idols they worship; but they have mesmeric hypnotism and fanatical trances as their common feature.
In this category are included the White Lotus Society (白蓮教), the Arabic (天方),[2] the Eight Diagram Society (八卦) the Red Lantern Society (紅燈教), the United Fists Society (儀和拳), the Big Sword Society (大刀會), the Lamp wick Society (燈花教) and others.
The many rebellious movements and rebel leaders with which and with whom these Societies are connected will be found in history.
In Ssŭch'uan many people knew the Boxer arts before 1900, especially round such centres as Paoning (保寧), Mienchou (綿州), and Chin Tang hsien (金堂) ; but there was not enough strength or organization for a rising.
The hypnotic arts are still practised in secret in different parts of the province, but more especially in the North, their
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original home. The vows used are many and various, but the chief are for the purification of the body and of the mouth. Their charms also are very abundant, the chief ones being the Kao Wang (高王符) charm and the Goddess of Mercy (觀音) charm.
In i9o5 a hypnotic sect entered Ssŭch'uan from Shensi and disturbed the eastern and southern parts of the province. It was known as the Ch'ing Ch'a Chiao (清察教). Its charms were similar to those of the Red Lantern Society; but the vows were different and seem to have originated in the Yangtze provinces, for the "tea planter's ballad " was used in the religious observances.
During the short reign of Hsan T'ung a religious sect drilled and caused trouble in eastern Ssŭch'uan ; but they never got out of control owing to the severe measures taken against them by the authorities.
The Reactionary School, or Han Liu (漢流)
This is our third great class of secret societies. It must be borne in mind that our division is by no means arbitrary. It is quite possible for a person to belong to all three classes; on the other hand there has sometimes been strife, especially between the Hypnotic and the Reactionary Schools.
Investigating the origin of this School we find it begins in hoary antiquity, and probably represents the most ancient demon worship. The class tenaciously holds to natural depravity, resists external reforms, and through the ages has made licentious liberty the chief ideal of life.
The heroes worshipped are the "Peach Orchard " trio of the Han dynasty; but they have also a system of Shamanism probably of much earlier date, and including all manner of sorceries' and wizards' art.
Among other terms the brethren call themselves tsa-mn ti-hsiung (咱們弟兄), we brethren. Tsa-men is of northern origin and Shamanism had its origin in Northern Asia; hence I believe this brotherhood to be Asiatic Shamanism. This system of Shamanism has very wide ramifications in Central
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Asia, where neither race nor religion seems to debar any one from joining the secret conclaves. On the Tibetan border Chinese and aboriginals make sworn covenants for mutual protection and assistance in business matters. No Chinese could prosper in barter trade with Tibetans unless he was a member of this Society; he would most likely be robbed and killed on his first journey.
The sorcery practices which are such a feature in this brotherhood are presided over by a system of lay Taoist priests called ho-ch-tao (夥居道). These men, though knowing all the arts of the exorcist and much of the doctrine of Tao, are not celibates or hermits, as in the regular, priesthood, but have their homes among men and around their ancestral tablets.
The Society delights in sorcery and wizardry, and on the slightest pretext members present one another with a "pacification concert." Such occasions as a sickness in the family, a slight bodily injury, an unlucky omen, etc., are seized on as excuses for a midnight orgy to expel some troublesome demon. At the close of such uproarious nocturnal performances the baser sort amuse themselves by committing robberies on their way home in the small hours.
The weird music connected with Shaman worship needs to be heard, for no pen can describe the uncanny effects ; the drum of the temple, the blast of the trumpet, the conch horn of the wizard, the hooting cow's horns of the priests, the clash of cymbals, the crash of gongs, the howling of demon-oppressed people, the cry to departing spirits, are all directly or indirectly related to this brotherhood.
Many primitive and objectionable customs are still practised in the sect. Marriage by capture is by no means unknown, and to many it is the ideal method. Eating the liver and the heart of an enemy, or distributing parts of his body to distant places for others to eat; the sacrifice of human victims to the flags or to the spirit of a fallen comrade, are customs still practised. The Society has thus earhed the name ho-rh-liu (和而流), or loose profligates.
The Ssŭch'uan Ku-lu-tzŭ (嘓嚕子)
The province was practically depopulated by the robber bands of Li Tzu ch'eng (李自成 ), Chang Hsien chung (張獻忠), Wang San huai (王三槐), and others. Many were slaughtered, many fled. Afterwards immigrants from Hupei, Hunan, and other provinces occupied the deserted soil and bound themselves by oaths for mutual protection against remnants of robber bands or returning emigres.
Many old inhabitants returned, to find their lands in possession of strangers. Such people, the weak taking to beggary, the strong to robbery, together with the scattered remnants of the earlier robber bands, all together received the name of ku-lu-tzŭ.
This term is peculiar to Ssŭch'uan and it was contracted into ku-fei (嘓匪). The explanation of this is not satisfactory. The Kuang Yŭn (廣韻) says that ku resembles the sound of quacking and gabbling, while lu means flattering words such as beggars use. The Chng Tzŭ T`ung (正子通) speaks of tu-lu (吐嚕) as meaning k'o-hsi (可惜), a term of pity. In some parts evilly disposed beggars are still called tu-lu-tzŭ, so it is possible that it is a term of pity, and meant, pity the poor aborigine. Some explain by saying the ku-fei were to be feared because of their number and character while the lu-fei were to pitied because of their extreme poverty. This explanation, which seems reasonable, makes the term ku-lu-tzŭ mean robbers and beggars; and it may have been applied by the Mongol and Manchu troops who came to the province to restore order.
As the Ch'ing dynasty gradually got control of the country the ku-lu-tzŭ were dispersed, and began to be spoken of as p'i-fei (疲匪), which means obstructionists. They were also jokingly called hsien-ta-lang (閒打浪), or idle wave beaters; this is now contracted to ta-lang-rh, and seems to mean one who lives by his wits or his luck.
These obstructionists lived in blue tents, and were used as entertainers at funerals or festivities. On such occasions they pitched their tents at the door of the dwelling house
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where they were invited and opened a gambling booth for the entertainment of the visitors.
Such entertainers were divided into two distinct classes, the red cash and the black cash fraternity. The latter made secret vows amid the sacrificial burnings of the incense hall, carried arms, and lived by burglaries. The red cash fraternity occupied themselves with slitting open cash bags or cutting off the last 200 cash on a string of cash. If any red cash brother got caught and was branded on the face he was at once degraded into the black cash brotherhood. These two classes exist to-day, the red cash people being gamblers and pickpockets by daylight while the black cash brethren live by burglary in the dark.[3]
The settlers from other provinces naturally hated all ku-lu-tzŭ and called them "rats " because of their .,nocturnal habits and because they so readily disappeared at the approach of the enemy. In the south of the province any one with the look of an aborigine is still called a rat. But the curse has come home to roost, for in Hupei and Hunan all Ssŭch'uanese are now called by this term, whatever their extraction. In retaliation the Hupei people in Ssŭch'uan are contemptuously termed "Hupei bean curd."
In spite of government and settlers the ku-lu-tzŭ have never been exterminated, and they continue to style themselves the Han Liu.
The terms "Han Liu " and ku-fei seem synonymous, the former being used by the brethren, the latter being applied to them by the officials. The former term implies their wish to preserve the ancient Han ideals and aspirations as against Mongol and Manchu influences. The other term, ku-fei, indicates that the officials regard them as malcontents and opponents of law and order.
For many years before the Hsien Fng reign (1851-62) the "Yellow River was at peace," that is, was free from rebellion. Then the ku-fei rose in revolt under the leadership
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of Lan Ta-shun (藍大順) and Li Tuan-ta (李短韃). The different characters of these two are shown by their nicknames, "Lan hurry up," and "Li go slowly." Though not Ssŭch'uanese they easily persuaded the ku-fei to join them against the Manchus. The revolt was quelled by Hunan troops under Viceroy Lo Wn-chung. The remnants of Lan's marauders were scattered in Tsung Ch'ing-chou, Kuan hsien, and Tai-I hsien. These districts west of the Min River seem to have been also the chief refuge of Chang Hsien-chung's bands, which no doubt accounts for the lawless, ungovernable character of the population there.
After Lo Wen-chung's coming the ku-fei began to be called t'u-fei, but the former term is still known and is sometimes applied to them by officials. The term t'u was used of the aboriginal tribes, and fei probably meant they were not fit to be classed as men, fei-jn (非人). This term, fei-jn (匪人), has been systematically applied to all aborigines all over China,
The meaning of Han Liu is also variously given; some regard it as meaning simply brigands ; others say the name means the descendants of Liu Pei (劉備) of the Han dynasty; but it most likely means the descendants of the obstructives and outcasts of the Han period.
It may safely be said that there is now little or no difference between Han Liu, ku-fei, t'u-fei, p'ao-ko (胞哥), ko-lao (哥老), and chiang-hu (江湖); all are somehow linked up in one great fraternity. The prestige of some brethren extends over several provinces and it would be highly interesting to trace the connection between the Dragon throne and the rolling dragons of the provinces.
The Ko-lao-hui and the Han Liu.
With the advent of Lo Wn-chung and the suppression of Lan Ta-shun's revolt about 1855, a new secret society organization seems to have been introduced into the province in the shape of the Ko-lao-hui. Some Chinese state that it was introduced by the government as a check to the Han Liu. It is more generally held, however, that Lo's Hunan braves brought it with them. Many of these soldiers settled in Ssŭch'uan and their brotherhood gradually amalgamated with that of the Han Liu. It would
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seem as if there was also a union with some piratical elements. The term chiang-hu, so often used, means rivers and lakes" and is supposed to mean "rovers of the waters." The terms to-pa-tzŭ (拕把子), "helmsman"; ma-t'ou (碼頭), '1 anchorage"; hai (海), "sea"; shui (水), "water"; all seem to point to a piratical origin, but are in constant use in the fraternity.
The Ko-lao-hui was originally divided into eight lodges, each known by a distinctive character, as follows : (1) jn (仁), [4] benevolence"; (2) i (義), "rectitude"; (3) li (禮), "propriety"; (4) chih (智), "wisdom "; (5) hsin (信), "sincerity"; (6) san-yan (三元 ), "the Taoist trinity"; ssŭ-hsi (四喜) "four joys"; (8) wu-fu (五福), " five happinesses."
All recognize the Benevolent Lodge as being not only the senior, but also the aristocratic part of the brotherhood. Its members are called (清水胞哥) "clear-water womb-brothers"; their conduct is more enlightened and their customs more rigid than in the other lodges. This Benevolent Lodge is now amalgamated with the Western Lodge of ancient Han Liu, and I believe their character-marks are interchangeable.
In the second, or Rectitude Lodge, are massed the turbid-water (渾水) womb-brothers, probably the real Han Liu members; all the lawless elements in the district adjoining Chengtu are mustered under this Rectitude mark.
In these districts, strange to say, a few belong to the Benevolent Lodge, the majority to the Rectitude Lodge, and the other lodges are mere empty names. In districts on the Yangtze, however, it is not so; there, some of the other lodges are fully occupied and organized ; the Ko-lao-hui element seems the stronger there, while in the Chengtu districts the Han Liu element predominates.
Those in the Rectitude Lodge call the brethren of the Benevolent Lodge by the term "uncle." It is sometimes easy to mistake the sworn adoptive relationships for those of blood.
Each lodge has twelve grades of membership, pai (排) or tai (代).
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The first consists of the presiding elder (坐堂大爺), tso t'ang ta yeh, and the vice president, t'i tiao (提調) ta yeh. The former position is a very important one, since all believe that the success of their meetings rests on the virtues of their president.
The second grade is called Wu shng (武聖). Few dare assume the responsibilities of this grade, for their lot in life will then be poor and mouldy and their luck mean and miserable. Some Buddhist or Taoist priests are generally found to shoulder the responsibilities.
The third grade is known as Hsan Hou (楦侯) san yeh, Hsan Hou being Chang Fei (張飛), of the "Peach Orchard" trio.
The fourth grade stands with no representative, in fact no one would be allowed to take a position under the grade even if willing. The cause is superstition ; ssŭ (四), "four," is akin in sound to shih (事), "trouble," and is the same except in tone as ssŭ (死), "death."
The fifth grade is called Kuan shih (管事) wu yeh. This is a very important position, occupied by two men at each "anchorage," known as the red flag and the black flag managers (紅旗), and (黑旗)., Hung ch'i and hei ch'i Kuan shih. Most power is in the hands of the former, while most of the drudgery falls to the latter, who is generally a man of inferior ability or one who has been degraded to that position for some misdemeanour, Sometimes, however, a rich man with plenty of money to lose and no brains for managing business may be made black flag leader. From the sixth grade downwards the grades are simply known by numbers. But number seven is another grade without a representative, its positions being mere empty names. This is owing to the character for "seven " being akin in sound to the character "to slice."
The eighth grade is called lao pa (老八), or jao pa (么八), and the last grade is called lao jao or hsiao lao jao.
Any one may buy his way to the top of the Society, i pu tng t'ien (一步登天), " rising to heaven at one step." Such
a one enters the Benevolent Lodge as a senior brother, and is
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called hsien p'ai 閒排) ta yeh or " leisure grade brother." Another term for such is mao ting (帽頂), or " cap top."
The entrance fee for one and all is 1,28o cash. A candidate, hsin fu (新福), must find some one to introduce him and also a guarantor for his good faith. All recruits first enter the grade lao jao, but those with ability soon get promoted. On entrance the introducer and guarantor must have presents, and all along the line superiors must be honoured and humoured with gifts. The rank and file of the Rectitude Lodge on meeting the elders of the Benevolent Lodge have to show respect by a three-fold kotow. This is called "one shot with three reports" (一炮三響), i p'ao san hsiang. If the knocks of the head on the ground are not distinctly heard it is considered a lack of reverence.
Meetings are generally held in out of the way villages or in some large secluded temple. They are called k'ai tang ( 開堂), "to open the hall "; shao hui ( 燒會), " meeting to burn (incense ?) "; tso fang shou (做方手), which probably means the " crossing of the hands to the four points of the compass "; tso hsien shih (做賢事), "practising the acts of the worthies."
These gatherings are generally held at the time of some festival such as the Single Sword Festival (單刀會), the13th of the 5th moon; the Ch'ing Ming (清明) Festival, about April 5; the Y Lan (盂蘭), Festival in the 7th moon ; and at the New Year. In this way Society business may be done in better security and the officials are deceived. Expenses are met by contributions and entrance fees from novices, by fines for misdemeanours, etc. An elder brother of the Benevolent Lodge is generally invited to preside or "sit on the dragon's head" (坐龍頭), tso lung t'ou. He is treated with great respect and formality.
On a dais in the centre of the meeting place is a tablet to Kuan Y, which is worshipped by all. Before the tablet swords are hung from the roof, and it is supposed that the fear of a sword falling on them will prevent people from worshipping with wrong motives.
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Younger members are detached to guard the entrances ; they scrutinize every comer so as to guard against attack or surprise by the officials.
The red and the black flag leaders make orations, which are mere gibberish to the uninitiated ; the list of members' names is presented on the dais and worshipped ; the president reads aloud the rules of the Society; the novices are introduced by their guarantors to the Kuan shih of the 5th grade and he announces their nomination and reception into the lode.
The following oath is then read: 我們今夜晚結拜一不當頭子而不當眼睛如有當頭子當眼睛照香而死照雞而亡. The meaning is roughly this: " We are met here in conclave to night; if there should be any false ones come to spy may they die as this incense and perish as this fowl." The incense is then ignited and chopped in two; the chicken's head is chopped off, the blood drained into a bowl of wine, and all the company drink it.
The new members must then worship the tablet beneath the suspended blades, repeat the above oath and drink of the wine. Matters of discipline are attended to ; some members are degraded and some expelled. Where time for repentance is allowed, the offender has to kneel before the tablet and apply a dagger to his thigh till the blood flows freely. This is called p'u chiao lao (撲千刀), " falling on the knife." The culprit may choose another way of showing penitence by putting nails on the ground, points upward, and rolling on them naked till his body is bloody. This is called Kun ting pan, (滾釘板), "rolling on the nailed board."
The wretch to whom the tribunal refuses space for repentance is at once led out to some grove or other secluded spot and despatched with the sword; the body is thrown into the river or left to be devoured by dogs.
Those who have done meritorious service to the whole Society or for the senior brethren are raised in rank and honoured by the assembly.
The president then announces that the particular meeting will be known as such and such a hill or water or hall; this enables new members to refer to their initiation without
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divulging the place of meeting. The novices who first enter the Society and have their positions defined later are said " to first ascend the hill and then plant the willow." The reverse is said of those who before entering state what position they will hold ; and it is these who provide the midnight feast for the assembly.
A member absenting himself from the meetings is punished by being reduced in rank for the second offence, and excluded from the Society for the third. This means he will no longer have the Society's protection ; and though while law and order are maintained he may be safe, when there are disturbances he will most likely pay for broken vows with his life.
Each district has an " anchorage " (碼頭), ma t'ou, also known as kung k'ou or t'ang k'ou since the use of kung tang (公堂) has been forbidden by law. Each anchorage has a resident elder living in the hall. These halls are often in the houses of the elder brother himself. He keeps a register of affiliated halls and of his own sworn brethren ; he entertains guests from a distance and advises or helps brethren who appeal to him for protection or money. Members from other districts should notify their arrival ; otherwise if they get into any trouble they will get no help till they have owned their fault. The elder brother of a hall has tremendous power; his orders (上覆), shang fu, ought to be obeyed without questioning by every loyal Han Liu.
Certain classes, such as barbers, chairbearers, etc., are not allowed to enter the Society. Persons who try to pass themselves off as chiang-hu or pretend to higher rank than they really hold are punished by a special tribunal.
The book of rules of the Society is called hai-ti-shu, " book of the sea bottom " ; its chief tenets are filial piety, rectitude, benevolence and reverence.
The use of passwords is common. Without knowing the password an entrance might possibly be got into a secret meeting ; but I am told it would be practically impossible for the offender to get out alive.
Within the Rectitude Lodge there are cliques whose influence is wholly evil ; these are called hui-fei, " Society rascals."
Women play a large part in the Society; leading women being called n kuang kun (女光棍) or "female polished sticks." Youths have a juvenile society organized on the model of the adult Society and known as the pang (棒) pang hui or Cudgel Society. They exchange cards, make vows, conduct fights and organize petty persecutions of those whom they dislike.
Each anchorage has a ying p'in hui (迎賓) with a fund for the entertainment of visitors.
The salutations of the Society are very complex. The general term for them is tiu ch'ien tzǔ (丟簽子), or " casting the tally." Salutations to the chief, second, third, and fifth grades are by placing the hand on the shoulder, elbow, forearm or wrist. Between equals the salutation called "right and left twist" (左右歪子), tso-yu-wai-tzǔ, is used. Thus the status of members can be recognized at once without enquiry.
A. country robber is known as pang-k'e, " cudgel guest," and the keeper of a robber's den is called (窩戶) wo-hu. Such a keeper has great influence, and may be the helmsman of an anchorage. He receives a large share of the booty. Stolen goods are hidden for a time, then taken into the capital and pawned for a term of years. Later they are dyed and altered and sold to second hand dealers. The helmsman is nearly always acquainted with the reasons for murders, arsons and robberies in his locality and with the means used.
I have learned on good authority that many people go from home ostensibly on business, but really for dishonourable purposes, for work they can do at a distance with a good conscience, though they would not degrade themselves by doing it near home. If they should happen to relieve of his goods some notable in the Society, the property will soon be restored if he applies in the proper quarter at once, before it is sold or pawned.
It must not be supposed that only the poor and illiterate compose the Han Liu Sodality : many sons of the country
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gentry join through love of money and adventure. Thus robberies are not made by the poor and half-starved so much as by the strong and able bodied who are in comfortable circumstances. In fact, but for the connivance and help of the rich it would be impossible for the rogues to carry on their depredations. People say that when a robber gang is equipped for action and makes its appearance at dead of night it is a terrifying sight. Torches are fixed in their caps or hats, their faces are painted with hideous colors, they are armed with battering rams, swords, clubs, crowbars, and latterly with rifles and Mauser pistols. Their attack is sudden and determined, but at the slightest alarm they retire, carrying with them what silver and valuables they have been able to secure. Prior to the raid some servant has been bribed to reveal where the silver is kept.
If any of the gang should be caught, there is danger that secrets may be let out ; but some of the descendants of Lan Ta-shun's bands will defy torture and scorn death. No officials can get their secrets either by torture or cajolery ; and no severities used on them seem to have any moral effect on the rest of the gang ; indeed it sometimes seems as though the more are killed the more the membership grows.
The chief Han Liu ideal is liberty, which means to them anarchy, selfishness and depravity, and it may be said that the Society is always "agin the government." They are under a kind of military rule, make their own laws and reserve all rights of interpreting and administering them.
There is, however, a growing tendency to social equality and the senior brother does not enjoy the same blind obedience as formerly. Among certain classes his word is no longer law. The tendency is to follow a popular man apart from his social standing ; but such a man soon finds himself in a difficult and dangerous position.
In such an organization there must be jealousy and strife. Even in peaceful times deep enmity may exist on personal grounds, between two anchorages in the same street. These factions have been compared to two tigers in the same forest, fighting must ensue. Suspicion and envy develop
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into hatred and murder. Officials take advantage and use one faction against another; then secrets are divulged, mutual recriminations follow, and hatred is engendered which may last for generations, one victim after another on both sides being murdered in revenge. A son's duyt to avenge a parent's wrong cannot be shirked.
Such conditions produce in members a cruel and relentless disposition, and foster a suspicious and revengeful nature.
As already mentioned, the place held by women in this secret society is not a small one. Many are sworn members, and the mothers and wives are often able assistants of male members. They spy out the land, hide the booty and screen the guilty. It is a rare thing for a woman to be put to death for implication in robbery; and it must be remembered that the mother of adventurous sons will also rear daughters of a similar character, who in turn become the mothers of a new generation of desperate adventurers ; and thus a constant succession is assured in spite of official reprisals on the males. Here lies a social problem of immense importance, which might well tax the heart and brain of some great statesman. If brute force could cure the moral and social ills of this people it would by this time have had some effect ; but torture and capital punishment have proved futile, and nothing short of a moral and spiritual regeneration will change the Han Liu adventurer into a law abiding citizen.
This regeneration seems especially necessary for the female population, for the saying, " She who rocks the cradle rules the world " is true in Western China --- she who carries the baby rules the land. So long as we have a race of women vicious enough to murder their own offspring in large numbers, to bind their daughters' feet, to abet the men in every crime, so long we shall have a race of brigands and buccaneers to terrify the country at every opportunity.
The hypnotic sects work secretly with the wiliness of serpents till they gain a secure hold ; the naturalistic sects are full of bluster and pantomime, yet their propaganda is secret and swift. When either of these elements crams the upper hand the whole district is made to quake. Their methods of black-
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mail are inimitably ingenious ; their revenge on traitors, swift and unswerving. Their cruelties to enemies are indescribable. When their passions are roused their victim will be hacked to pieces, each person cutting off just as much as he desires of the common enemy's flesh. The more daring and cunning he has been the more is his liver and gall wished for, since it is believed that by eating these one's own valour and cunning will be increased.
Before the Revolution of 1911 and the organization of the Railway League, the Society men always had to be reckoned with; but since that date their influence has been supreme, and no one dare give offence to them, however much grieved or injured. If a Society rascal is arrested neighbors dare not refuse to bail him out, and whole families may be ruined for the divulging of a secret. The best polity for all is to humour the members and avoid any action that would rouse their wrath.
The Railway League (同志會), tung chih hui ; etc.
The Han Liu, true to its ancient traditions, is still the enemy of all reform, and is ever ready for any pretext of making trouble. The proposal to introduce railways into the province caused the formation of the so called Railway League, in Chinese, "The Society of united purpose for protection of the way." It was really an amalgamation of the Confucian Society with the Han Liu for the purpose of opposing a railway system financed by foreign capital. The new name should not mislead the student; it was simply a revival of the revolutionary brotherhood reinforced by the addition of the weaker Confucian Society. The League leaders were the Han Liu leading elder brothers, and the organization was the anchorage system of the Han Liu.
A rebellion broke out first in Kwan hsien and the other districts already specified as full of brigand stock. The lawless wretches carried devastation and anarchy wherever they marched. They got more than they expected or wanted, but at the downfall of the Manchus they immediately set up the Han Republic (大漢), Ta Han. With the new government
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many of these outlaws got wealth and were decorated with medals for services rendered to the country, were much honoured by the Republican party, and became honoured officials of the new government. At that period the people had no one to appeal to for redress, since a magistrate was less powerful than a robber; as the Chinese said, " Robbery was done according to law." The poor fled their homes and suffered terribly, and the rich were blackmailed and bullied without mercy. Only those who passed through that crisis know how paralyzing was the grip of the Han Liu octopus.
Later on such taunts were thrown at the Ssŭch'uan Republican party that they determined to reform and started a new Society called the Hsi hua Kung hui (西華公會). The purpose was to dissolve the Railway League and then to eradicate the lawless elements of the Sh hui (社會) or Republican party, raising the rest to a higher standard of citizenship. A system of badges was instituted by which the senior brethren in each county might be recognized, and each clan head was made responsible for all of his name in his district.
Once more the Han Liu Society was faithful to itself, refused to acknowledge the new Society and declined to be reformed. The difficulty thus created was only relieved by an official order to dissolve all Secret Societies, making all alike illegal. The new Society melted its silver badges, but it seems impossible to hope for the extermination of the Han Liu, which, in spite of all adversity, has thriven for so many centuries. There have been later attempts at reform but they seem futile. The Society has entered into ninety per cent. of the homes, permeated all society, controlled well-nigh every institution in Western Shu and probably in a much wider area.
BOOK IIIPOLITICAL
CHAPTER 1
PUNISHMENTS (刑法), hsing fa
I. Punishments not involving death (活刑), huo hsing.
Ch'ih (笞), to beat with the small bamboo rod. This rod is about three feet long, and one inch wide, and is applied to the thighs over a space of about six inches. A few thousands of strokes may be given till the thigh bone is made bare. This punishment is inflicted mostly upon the thief. Scholars or dignitaries are exempt from this humiliation. A permanent scar is made which officials make a point of examining when investigating a case. The runners are sometimes bribed by friends to lay on lightly, or reduce the number of blows, or beat the ground. This is a parental form of correction and the prisoner has to thank the magistrate for inflicting it. Tartars, as the conquering race, were exempt from this punishment.
The heavy bamboo, chang (杖), about 4 feet long and about 4 inches wide, sometimes made of wood and at other times of bamboo. The punishment meted out varies from 8o to 200 blows. This chastisement is generally to the disobedient and unfilial. The prisoner is bound and held down while being beaten. Another kind of beating is called t'ou hsing (頭刑) or mao pan (茅板). The instrument used is a large bamboo split in two halves and not polished in the least ; a pile of bricks is made, over which the prisoner is bent and this instrument of correction applied to the buttocks. A few tens of blows may be sufficient to cause death. Li pi chang hsia (立斃杖下) means to die under the bamboo.
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There are three kinds of banishment : one is liu (流), transportation for a few hundreds of miles ; this punishment is frequently inflicted on persons guilty of adultery, man-slaughter, or incendiarism. T'u (徒) or liu t'u (流徒), is also transportation ; but the punishment is often to be confined by night and free by day ; this is called tso t'u (坐徒). The individual thus punished is neither reckoned worthy of death nor of life ; a useless wastrel.
Ch'ung chn (充軍) is banishment beyond the Great Wall, or to the frontier military posts without any hope of a return. This is a heavy military punishment and mostly imposed upon officials and soldiers.
Penal servitude (監禁), chien chin, may be for three, eight or for twenty years, or for life. The life sentence is called lao fan (牢犯) or lao chien, and also yung yan (永遠) chien chin. Prisoners on entering jail have their heads shaved, the hair afterwards being left to grow long. No barber is allowed in jail except at New Year times when some favored few may have their beards shaved. The only knife allowed in jail is a piece of broken crockery.
Criminals just taken into custody and awaiting trial, whose offences are slight, and who await the payment of fines or a surety to bail them out, are confined in a guardhouse, ch'ia chin (卡禁). A place of confinement better than the guardhouse, into which gentry and scholars are put while waiting for judgment or bail, is called in some cities tai-chih so (待質所); in others, t.sǔ-hsin so (自新所), a penitentiary.
One of the most painful of beatings is termed t'iao-tzǔ (條子) or niu chin (牛筋), ox sinew stripes. 1t is inflicted mostly for indecent behaviour. Women are stripped of their upper garments and beaten across the shoulders and back, while men are stripped and suspended by the arms and beaten.
Sometimes a man is kept in custody in the inn, ya pao tien (押保店) till the matter is settled. The prisoner in this case has to feed the yamen underlings and give them sufficient opium; if he does not bribe them his chains will not be taken off at night.
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A form of punishment meted out to scholars and gentry is beating on the hands with a piece of polished board, such as is used in schools.
To beat on the cheek with a thong of leather fixed to a wooden handle is called ta tsui pa (打嘴巴). The instrument is shaped something like the sole of a Chinese shoe. By this punishment the teeth are not infrequently knocked out and the face swells to a great size.
The punishment called yang pan (仰板), to beat on the front of the thigh, is reserved for priests, nuns and loose women, and is administered in the public courtyard.
Cages in which prisoners are kept, lung chin (龍禁), are of several kinds. Chan lung (站龍 ) is a standing cage, the height of a man. The top is composed of two boards fitting exactly together, in the centre of which a round hole is cut, the size of a man's neck. The prisoner is put in, and this cover put on and nailed down. The prisoner can just manage to put his hand round and convey some food to his mouth. If he bribes the yamen runners he may get release at night, if not he may be left to stand all the night through.
The tso (坐) lung or ai (矮) lung is a kind of cage in which the prisoner may sit on a cross bar or put his legs through the bottom or walk slowly ; the neck part is the same as the former.
The cat cage, mao (貓) lung is too low for the prisoner either to straighten his back or stretch his limbs. A month or two in this and he is turned into a deformed, useless creature. If food is stopped, as is frequently the case, the man dies very quickly. Chia chin (枷禁), the cangue, is a heavy wooden frame which divides in the centre into two halves, where a round hole is made to fit the neck. It is carried as a collar by the criminal. If food is allowed it is very difficult to convey it to the mouth. When food is forbidden the prisoner cannot survive more than a few days. The weight of the cangue varies from 20 to 100 catties.
There is also a double cangue for two people. This punishment is for brothers who quarrel, or in cases of adultery.
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These criminals are exposed to the public gaze with their offence written on the pillory.
There is even a three-hole cangue into which three people are fixed. This is generally inflicted on gamblers and the smart-fingered gentry.
The boy's cangue is used for boys addicted to gambling or who have entered the boys' secret society known as the 棒棒會.
The cheh p'n (腳盆) chia or pan t'ou (蟠頭) chia, foot tub or dish cangue, is light, and can easily be carried about the streets. Such is sometimes put on the tax gatherer when he fails to collect the taxes; and he carries it from market to market.
A chain is fastened to a heavy stone and the criminal is chained all day and released at night to sleep in the guard-house. This is t'ieh lien shih tng （鉄鏈石磴).
The hand cangue, shou chia (手枷), confines the hands as well as the head ; the foot cangue, cheh (腳) chia, is a wooden block round the two ankles; the wearer can move about slowly. The yan yang (鴛鴦) chia confines one foot and one hand of each of two persons. The yan and the yang are the mandarin drake and duck which never leave their mates.
Cutting off the ears, hseh rh to (削耳朵), was a punishment in use up to the present year.
Branding on the forehead, mei hsing (墨刑), or tz'ŭ tzǔ (束字)is an ancient punishment and was still in use until the revolution. A needle is used to prick the characters on the skin, then indigo is rubbed into the wound, and when healed the blue characters are seen. The punishment is generally inflicted on pickpockets and swindlers.
Ko cheh chin (割腳筋), to cut the tendons at the back of the foot is also a very ancient punishment and is still practised. It is generally inflicted upon robbers only, as the man is lamed for life.
Another punishment is to carry an iron bar of from 30 to 40 catties in weight, pei t'ieh kan (背鉄杆). An iron ring is welded round the neck and the bar is attached to this with
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a chain. If the criminal bribes the blacksmith and runners he may get released from it at night. The man who has suffered this penalty often bears the nick-name of t'ieh kan for life.
Other punishments are ch'a rh chien (插耳箭), to double the ears and put a bamboo needle through the cartilage; ts'o ching (剒刑), breaking the ankle bone, and the t'ieh ch'ien (鉄鉗), or iron tongs. This is an iron framework into which the hands and feet are fastened, and the whole is suspended from the neck ; the part at the back of the neck being sharp, immediately the hands let go, or the feet move, it cuts the flesh. This is a punishment for the gambler.
II. Fei hsing (匪刑), or k'o hsing (酷刑), illegal punishments.
Ta chia kuan (打加官), putting on the mask, that is, to suffocate the criminal by putting several layers of paper soaked in lime water over the face. This is done by yamen runners at the wink of the official owing to the case being one of danger to himself and to the district.
Chng cha pao (蒸鮓包). The unfortunate is put into a cage or pit, and covered up with quick-lime, water is then poured in and the man is roasted or boiled alive. In some cases fire crackers are wound round the body and set alight.
To light the candle ; the criminal is chained to a heavy frame, his body is then wound with cotton wool, which is soaked with oil and lighted at the crown of the head.
III. Death penalty. (死刑) Ssŭ hsing.
Tiao kao lung (吊高櫳), is to hang up in a cage by the neck. The cage has no bottom and stands about ten feet high. The neck is encircled by the top cover of the cage, the head being outside. Death comes very soon, and it is reckoned a light penalty because the body is not mutilated. Any district magistrate may use this method of execution and also Yung k'ou chia (擁口枷), or the clasp-throat cangue. This is a heavy oak pillory and is over 100 catties in weight.
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The neck is clasped tight and the frame is so large that food cannot be conveyed to the mouth ; the criminal soon collapses and, with the fall, the neck is generally broken.
Death by strangling is called chiao hsing (絞刑). Three posts are fixed into the ground. To the centre one the criminal is tied, a rope with a running noose is put round his neck, and then one man pulls at each end of the rope, two strong pulls ; the rope is then fastened to the side posts ; then the doomed man gets a heavy kick in the abdomen and the breath is driven from his body by the rectum. This is most frequently administered to soldiers for breach of military laws.
To cut off the head of a person worthy of death after death has come from other causes, or to cut the corpse limb from limb, is called, chua shih (抓屍).
In the punishment called ch'ng kan ch'ng jen (秤桿秤), to weigh a man on the scales, huge iron clamps are driven into the ribs on both sides of the backbone and a rope is attached. The unfortunate man is then raised over a cross beam to the height of about 8 or 10 feet from the ground, where he hangs suspended face downwards, and may live for two or three days.
The family of a rebel, whether official or civilian, is exterminated and his goods are confiscated. This is called wa kan tuan miao (挖根斷苗) , or chu tsu (誅族).
Another punishment is to nail the living door god, ting huo mn-shn (釘活門神), that is, crucifixion. The criminal's hands and feet are nailed to a door or cross. The nails are made red-hot and driven through the palms of the hands and the front of the foot. Hot nails are used to staunch the bleeding. A hole is made through the back of the cross through which the queue is put to keep up the head. Sometimes the head is held up by nailing the skin on either side of the neck. The wretch may live two or three days unless he can bribe the yamen runners, through his friends, to give him a dose of opium. He is raised so high that a large crowd of people can stare at him. This punishment can be inflicted without reference to a superior officer, as it does not mutilate the body.
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Ling ch'ih sui kua (淩遲碎剮), to hack in pieces. This punishment was, prior to the Revolution, inflicted on both men and women, usually for the murder of a parent or a husband. The criminal was tied to a stake at the crossing of two streets or on the execution ground ; first the skin of the brow was cut and pulled over the eyes ; then the nose, lips, ears, hands, arms, were taken from the body, then the sword pierced through the heart and the body was hewn in pieces. Formerly the flesh was roasted and the fat used to light the four gates of the city, the flesh and the bones cremated and the ashes scattered to the four winds. This punishment required the sanction of a senior officer, as it mutilated the body.
Beheading, ta p'i (大辟), is the utmost penalty of the law and the one most dreaded by the Chinese, who all shrink from the idea of becoming a headless ghost. To such an extent is this feared that a head is often sewn on immediately after execution unless it has to be exposed in the person's native village, hsiao shou (梟首） The executioner is sometimes bribed to leave a part of the neck unsevered. All such punishments must be sanctioned by the superior officers before they can be carried out. Therefore the whole case has to go through a great many different phases before the execution can take place. Such are as follows :
K'ao wn (考問), to investigate the case and obtain the person's own confession of guilt. Unfortunately this is very often got by torture. After the magistrate has obtained what he thinks sufficient evidence he must notify his superior officer, hsiang ping (詳稟), by an official dispatch, giving all details, after which the superior officer sends a deputy to investigate the confession, ch'ing k'ou kung (清口供). Much depends upon this man; if not well treated by the district magistrate he might get him into trouble by reporting unfavorably of his judgment. After the criminal has acknowledged his guilt (落供), lo kung, he has to dip his thumb in ink and make an impression on the official document.
The criminals hold a feast, fn li chiu (分離酒), just before midwinter, which is the general time for executions as
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at this season the death principle reigns throughout nature. This is a farewell feast to those about to die.
Shang cheh liao shou chou (上腳鐐手肘) is to put in fetters, hands and feet. As soon as the deputy has confirmed the district magistrate's sentence of death the criminal is chained, hands and feet.
The warrant of death is an official dispatch through which a nail is driven and bent, ting fng (釘封), and sealed. There is also a black tablet sent along with the warrant, which is carried into the gaol when the prisoners arc taken out. This is called the hei p'ai (黑牌). Whenever the warrant arrives the yamen runners make a raid on the rope-makers for ropes to bind the prisoners, paying nothing ; for days before an execution the rope-dealers display few, if any ropes, for fear they will be seized.
When the warrant arrives the official orders wine and food to be set before the doomed men. Sometimes abundance of wine and pork is supplied, at others, only a limited amount. Some drink themselves quite drunk and others only reach the tipsy stage.
Then the hands are bound behind the back and ropes put on the neck, and the tallies are stuck in the band of the criminal's lower garment at the back. These tallies are strips of bamboo a few feet in length and a few inches wide, on which arc written the doomed man's name and crime. The characters are written with ink which has been mixed with tea. No teacher likes to use tea in mixing his ink as it is reckoned unlucky.
The fetters are knocked from the hands and feet. This is done by a blacksmith in the roughest way.
The assistant executioner, t'i shou (替手), holds the sword in front of the doomed man's face while the real executioner stands at the back to do his work.
The kuei tzŭ shou (劊子手), or executioner, belongs to the military yamen. His pay used to be 800 cash per head.
It is the duty of the military official, whose men do the work of execution, to witness it, chien chan (監斬).
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The district magistrate goes to the temple, burns incense and makes a declaration to the city god that he has not had these men beheaded for any personal spite or selfish ends, but simply because of their own evil deeds. Returning to his yamen, a heap of straw with crackers is set fire to at the entrance, through which he is carried at a furious pace, kuo huo yen shan (過火焰山) (passing the flame-hill), for fear any of the disembodied spirits of the men should have followed him. Many of these men vow before death that after death their chief work will be to kill the official. Hence these past months, during the rebellion, it was said that the soldiers of Hades were moving to help them, yin ping tung liao (陰兵動了). The people burned straw sandals by the thousand as an offering to these spirits.
After the executions are over the yamen runners arm themselves with clubs and go round and round the yamen, p'an ya (盤衙), and enter the official's private quarters, flourishing these clubs to drive away the evil spirits. They make their obeisance to the official, who in turn gives them a present.
Those remaining in gaol after the midwinter executions, as most probably they may live another year, have a feast together, t'uan yan chiu (團圓酒).
If only one person should be left in the government prison, he may be strangled in prison, chien hou chiao ( 監候絞).
IV. Torture, K'ao ta hsing (拷打刑).
The following are a few of the methods used to extort confession, etc.:
Kuei t'ai ho (跪 抬盒), to kneel in the carrying box. This instrument of torture takes its name from the box frame in which presents are carried from one place to another with one pole between two men. The prisoner is made to kneel in this box, sometimes on ashes, sometimes on broken glass or iron chains. A heavy weight is then placed upon the legs, pressing the knees down into the ashes. The hands are passed through the holes on either side and wedged in
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tightly. A string is then attached to one finger of each hand and pulled tightly outward. The back is covered with incense, which is lighted. This burning incense is often fanned till sometimes the fat drops on the ground. I have known the ribs and backbone to be exposed as the result of this burning. Sometimes long cuts in the flesh are made in the shape of a Chinese waistcoat, these are filled with incense and set fire to; this is called ch'uan ling chia (穿領架). The prisoner may stay for hours in this position while the magistrate does other business. When he has promised to confess, he is let down, but if his confessions are not enough he may be put in a second time. Many die as the result of this cruel treatment.
"The monkey moving the log." A high bench is placed in court. The criminal is stretched on it and his thumbs and toes tied to the bench; he is then swung underneath the bench, suspended by his thumbs and toes and a heavy weight is attached to the body. A candle is lit, the flame of which just touches the buttockstso la (坐蠟), or sitting on the candle.
Tso lan pan tng (坐懶板凳), to sit on the lazy stool. The criminal is made to sit on a stool with his back against a pillar. The legs are tied tightly at the knees and ankles and weights are attached; the hands are tied behind the back and to the pillar; a strong string or oftener a chain is tied round the head tightened with wedgesthe hua ku ku mao (花箍箍帽), the flowery hat.
Tsan chih (拶指). Needles are stuck in, five under each nail, beginning with the second finger, then the forefinger and finally the other fingers. Both hands are done and this sometimes when the poor creature is kneeling in the t'ai ho as described above.
P'ao lo (炮烙) is to brand with hot irons or to place red-hot coins direct on the body.
Tien chih la (點指蠟), to roll the fingers in oil paper and set them on fire. This is what is called burning finger-candles.
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To wear iron clothinggarments made of tin are made hot and put on the body.
Pao t'ung chu (抱銅柱), to hug the brass pillar. This is a very ancient custom and iron has now taken the place of the brass. The iron pillar is heated red-hot and the individual made to sit on it, or the poker heated and the back singed.
Punishment of prisoners upon prisoners. San ch'ia ssŭ hsing (三卡私刑). These are illegal punishments meted out by resident criminals upon those who are put in for the first time or have no money to satisfy the claims of the little world within the four walls.
T'uan ts'ang (團倉) is to extort the entrance fee on entering gaol. The newcomer pays for a feast or else he will have to suffer unspeakable indignities and will not be allowed his turn in the receiving of pawned goods in the government gaol.
No one who has not paid up, or got someone to promise to pay for him, will be allowed to worship the gaol god, pai y shen. On worshipping he has to give wine, pork and money all round according to his ability. The gaol god has an interesting history; he is declared to have been a district magistrate, who, out of pity, allowed all the gaol-birds to go home for the new year festivities on the condition that they all returned within three days ; but on the expiry of the time, as no one turned up, he himself went into gaol and died of grief, and was afterwards deified as the gaol god.
The beginning of trouble, for one who has not paid the gaol fine, is to be beaten with a straw mat to the front of the gaol god, and if the money or the promise of it is not given, he is beaten unmercifully with a club. Next, the poor novice is tied up in an attitude like the ling kuan idol, a fierce, overawing attitude ; his naked body is then wound round with paper which is tied on with string ; this is set fire to and his whole body blistered more or less. This is termed melting the ling kuan.
He is also lifted high in the air and beaten on the bare body with bamboo strips or stinging nettles, yn tuan hsien shng (雲端顯聖), exalting his holiness.
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Again, all the lice, bugs, fleas, and other vermin that can be caught are let loose on his person and every other kind of filth which can be collected is all thrown on him. The unfortunate prisoner is bound with his nose over the manure bucket for a whole night.
A hollow bamboo or old sleeve of a garment is filled with filth from the manure pit, the novice is laid on his back and bound, while the other prisoners occupy themselves with blowing this on to the eyes, nostrils, and mouth of the helpless wretch, ch'ui wu to wu ( 吹唔嘟唔). In the morning he is bound in the outer court of the prison and the filth of the prison cells poured over him.
Again, his hands and feet are tied to a pillar and the hair fastened to a cross beam in the roof ; .in this position he has to stand the whole night. This is ying ko chia (鸚鵡架) the parrot's perch.
He is stripped naked and hung up by a rope under the arms with the tips of the toes just touching the ground ; he is then whipped by the company and his body swings from side to side like the wind bending the willow, ta fng pai liu (打風擺柳). Or he is stripped and suspended by a rope round the waist, about three feet from the ground, and beaten ; the body thus suspended resembles and is called a duck swimming in water, tang hu ch'uan (蕩湖船), to rock the lake boat. The novice is suspended from the roof by the four limbs in a small cell ; he is then rocked from one side of the cell to the other, when different parts of the body get driven against the walls.
He is bound hand and foot and blindfolded, a red-hot goblet is then placed on the head ; this is called wearing the iron hat.
He is put in a butt of dirty water with his hands and feet tied, with his nose and mouth above water. This is called soaking the water-gourd, p'ao shui hu-lu (泡水葫蘆).
To tie up the novice at the door for the night and forbid sleep or rest is called sticking up scrolls, t'ieh tui-tzǔ (貼對子), and to be hung up by the hair for the night with hands and
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feet bound is to be the guardian door god, pa mn shn (把門神).
To bend one leg at the knee and bind it in that position with one arm stretched over the head and the other straight out, and then to tie the hair to a beam overhead is hanging up the military god of wealth, tiao wu ts'ai shn (吊武財神) . Hanging up by the armpits and flogging represents the civil god of wealth ( 交財神 ).
In all there are said to be seventy-two kinds of these punishments, the inventions of a degraded humanity. Many of these cannot be learned by enquiry, while others are unfit for publication.
DUTIES OF A DISTRICT MAGISTRATE)
Ta Ch'ing chou hsien kung shih (大青州縣公事 )
A new appointment is announced in the Provincial Treasurer's Yamen by a notice hung up. A notification on red paper is sent to the present official, giving his successor's name and other particulars; this is also posted in the yamen.
Those managing public business in the yamens collect money for the new magistrate's outfita thousand or perhaps several thousand taels, ti hs chih (遞須知). If the money is accepted these men will afterwards attend to affairs according to their own wills ; otherwise the magistrate will be more free.
On the proper day men and horses are sent off to bring the new official. On arrival at the city gates he enters a pavilion put up for the purpose where a pig's head, feet and tail, san shng (三牲), are prepared with candles and incense already burning, and he kneels and worships the city gates. Some officials are very superstitious as to the point at which they enter the city.
One of his first duties is to inspect the city walls, yeh ch'eng (閱城), and he also worships in the Confucian temple. Both old and new incumbents worship the seals of office when these change hands. There is also a ceremony of kneeling and bowing toward Peking.
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On a lucky day at a lucky hour the seals are handed over in the yamen inner court in the presence of the official underlings and public men. After this the yamen runners march round the outer court, jumping as they go, and then go in and k'o t'ou to the new official. This is to welcome him and to acknowledge his authority.
He sends cards to the important men and offices in the city, after which people call to pay their respects.
Then the roll of underlings is called, including the writers, yamen runners and country headmen. This is afterwards done monthly.
The grain in the government granaries has to be measured, yeh ts'ang(閱倉), before the former official leaves; but sometimes an estimate is made and a sum of money paid over to cover deficiency.
The retiring magistrate must receive an acknowledgment that all has been duly handed over. Unless he produces this to his superior officer in the capital he will not get a new post.
The new man puts out a proclamation, kuan fang (關防), telling the public he has brought no relatives or friends with him and that they are not to be deceived by any professing to be such.
The former official is escorted out of the city, and the guilds and shopkeepers cover his sedan chair with red silk or cloth. If he has been popular a big umbrella, embellished with many people's names, may be given to him ; tables are set out in the street with wine and sweets.
An examination is held for candidates for the attorneys' or copyists' places, k'ao tai shu (考代書). Successful candidates, about eight in each district, have to pay thirty taels before receiving their seals. They may have associates who pay part of the money and use the same seals. All lawsuits pass through these men's hands. An indictment is not received unless written on the official paper and stamped by the official attorney.
On certain fixed days, usually the 3rd and 8th of each moon, the large doors of the yamen are thrown open and the
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indictments by poor people are received without fees, fang kao (放告 ). Such are not received on other days unless on the 1st and 15th as the magistrate returns from worshipping at the temple.
A table hung in the yamen gives a list of cases and dates of trial.
There are three courts in a yamen. The outer, ta t'ang (大堂 ), is the imperial court ; the second, or rh t'ang, is the district court and the inner, hua t'ing (花廰), is the magistrate's private court. Both when he takes his seat in the imperial court and when he adjourns the court, three guns are fired.
When a " coroners' inquest " is held a pavilion is put up for the magistrate and his retinue ; his nose is filled with assaftida, o wei (阿魏), and underlings carry incense. If the body is fresh the wu tso (仵作) simply calls out to the recorder the wounds, etc., on the body. In an important case, the magistrate himself examines what is said to be the fatal wound, chih ming shang (致命傷). If the body is decayed it is boiled in big pots, the bones are rubbed clean with cotton wool and the wounds show up on them For such a case the wu tso has to call in experienced assistants. Some seventy or eighty different kinds of knives or instruments are brought into use; the bones of the body are counted and expected to number 360; the water-carriers are put on oath, since salt mixed with the water obliterates bruises on the bones.
If murder is suspected in a house and no traces can be seen, the room is shut up and thoroughly fumigated with mulberry leaves and the walls and floor are soaked with vinegar; then the blood will show up on the walls and even the position of the body may be clearly seen. This kind of inquest involves the expenditure of some thousands of taels and only the rich can indulge.
On returning from an inquest the magistrate in his chair goes through burning straw at his yamen entrance, to drive off noxious smells and evil spirits.
When there is a conflagration the magistrate must get up any hour of the night to assist. Underlings carry a
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huo kou (火鈎), a long pole with a hook on it for pulling down houses, and a ma ta (麻搭), or hemp mop on a pole, which is dipped in water and dabbled on freshly ignited places. In recent years force pumps have been introduced. The official orders the pulling down of houses to prevent the fire spreading, and he enquires when and how the fire originated. If a resident started it he will be beaten to expel the fire demon, and if it is not his first offence he may be expelled from the neighbourhood. An incendiary if caught will be put to death, as the crime is of equal gravity with murder and grave-robbing.
For the official duty of praying for rain, etc., see under Fasts. On the 1st and 15th of each month incense is burned, chiang hsiang (降香), in the temple of the city-god ch'eng huang (城皇), the god of War, the god of Literature, the god of Fire and perhaps elsewhere. The official may go him-self or by deputy. A Mohammedan official will only act by deputy.
In spring and autumn, at fixed times, sacrifices of five pigs, five sheep and an ox are made to the Sage in the Confucian temple.
Sacrifices to the god of Agriculture are offered in March and September. The god is said to be Shn-Nung (神農) (B.C. 2700). He is also called Hou t'u (后土), and Ti shn (地神). These sacrifices are generally made in a field kept for the purpose, but used for farming between times. The offerings are pigs and sheep.
At the feast in the 7th moon and at Ch'ing ming offerings are made at the li t'an (厲壇), or altar of the discontented dead. Piles of paper money are burned in a roofless stone structure usually in the public burying ground. Sometimes the magistrate does this public duty by proxy.
The official does not attend on the execution ground, but he must see the prisoners bound and the heads must be brought back to him. he whips the executioner lest evil influences should be brought by him. (See under Punishments.)
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The collection of the land tax, ti ting (地丁), or cheng liang (正糧), is often managed by a semi-official dealer in taxes. He advances the money when necessary, at a high interest.
The tax is said to be two fen or candareens per rnou, but it will often be two mace. In times of great distress it is remitted, yu mien (憂免 ), and also where land is silted up or washed away, yung mien (永免).
Besides the land tax there are. the military expenses tax, chn hs (軍需), and the willing contributions to government, chan shu (捐輸). There is further a pourboire, or squeeze called chin tieh (津貼), and also li chin (ZZ金), or assessment on certain articles, etc.; thus the pig tax, which rose to 1,500 cash per pig ; oil so much per ts'ao (槽) (120 catties); inns, so much per bed, etc.
Of late years a tax office, called chin chan (津捐), has been opened in each county. A tax collector's position was reckoned much more lucrative than an ordinary district magistrate's.
Taxes in refined silver are sent to the capital under armed escort, all expenses being deducted.
Travelling expenses must be given to underlings of high officials passing through the district, and when a deputy official goes through he receives Tls. 50 besides travelling expenses.
Fuel and bedding must also be provided out of taxes to passing troops.
The train bands must present themselves, in uniform and with weapons, to answer the roll call.
Some headmen of "parishes" etc., must also appear. These are the tsung pao (縂保), or head of a district; t'uan shou (團首), or head of i,000 families; chia chang (甲長), head of too families; p'ai shou (牌首), head of to families; and hua hu (花戶), or head of each family. Only the first three need appear at review.
Each family is registered and is given a door-tablet with name and number in the family written on it ; this costs about 40 cash. The tsung pao is nominated by the people and appointed by the magistrate. The t'uan shou is elected by the "parish" and the p'ai shou by those concerned. Each reports to his superior, the tsung pao often having free access to the yamen. The tsung pao settles many local troubles and in lawsuits his word goes a long way; but bribery and injustice are very common.
The title deeds of newly purchased property have to be stamped, yin ch'i (印契), at the yamen; and the rate has risen to 2 per cent with 1,000 cash for the ch'i wei (契尾), a document sent to be kept in the provincial treasurer's yamen. Formerly an official about to leave office used to reduce the stamp fees, because all the money from this source went into his private purse; but latterly the tax-office has controlled this business.
The office of lao tien (老典) is sold for a term of five years. The price varies, of, course, in different places but in some places 3,000 taels are paid down with an annual payment of 1,000 taels: this belongs to the magistrate. In many places the gentry pay the incumbent 300 taels per annum, whether they have lawsuits or not, but if a guarantee against lawsuits is required much more is paid. These bureaus are where litigation is hatched and fostered, mismanaged and traded on, and the purchase money is very quickly recovered.
Hereditary pensions are paid to families of men who have done important service to the state, fa yin hsi (發蔭襲).
The hereditary barons among the tribesmen, tu ssǔ (土司), receive taxes from their people and pay tribute to the court.
There are four spring officials, ch'un kuan (春官), one for each city gate, whose duties are to superintend the making of the spring ox and driver, mang shn (芒神). On the coming in of spring, these men don Ming dynasty clothes and a high hat called t'ieh sha mao (鉄紗帽). They enter the magistrate's office, give congratulations, and receive food and wine, with silver medals for the year, then they leave the city,
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the magistrate following. In a selected field an old farmer and his wife await them. The magistrate ploughs his seven furrows, the farmer sows some grain, the wife bears a basket of food for him, and the couple receive a silver medal.
The post of ch'un kuan is bought for a fixed sum and may be held for life. It gets an annual payment from the magistrate. (See under Four Seasons.)
At the end of the year the official seals are sealed up and are brought into use again at the middle of the first moon. (See under New Year.)
The literary examinations, k'ao k'o (考課), have been much changed lately and much chaos has resulted; hence a few notes on the old system must suffice.
Chi (季) k'o examinations were held in the Academy at the four seasons, the subjects being penmanship and composition.
Monthly examinations, yeh (月) k'o, were held to select students for the Academy. The Academy head master had great power and could degrade unworthy scholars after examinations, shih k'o.
The local gentry also held examinations in the country hui (會) k'o. Twice in three years an examination, k'ao shih (考試 ), was held to pick out the students fit to proceed to the prefectural examinations. The magistrate had to be shut in with the students in the examination hall, control the examination of the essays and publication of lists of passes.
No public business is done on the anniversaries of the deaths of former emperors, shou chi ai (守忌哀).
On the anniversaries of the accession of former emperors, the magistrate wore court dress, worshipped the wan sui p'ai, but did not stop work. The birthdays of emperor, of empress, of empress-dowager and heir-apparent were similarly observed. At an emperor's death the magistrate had to sit in straw, tso ts'ao (坐草), for a certain period.
At the proper time a tablet is hung in the yamen announcing " No litigation in harvest time," nung mang ting
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sung (農忙停訟). Another informs the public that corporal punishment is lightened on account of hot weather, k'u j chien hsing (酷熱減刑).
Notices are also hung up when the official is busy with examination or has gone out on public business.
When sitting in court the three characters, 清慎勤 "pure, careful, diligent," are hung over the magistrate's head ; and over the entrance to the imperial court in the yamen is in scribed 天理囯法民情 "Heaven's rectitude, the country's laws, the people's rights."
A common saying is, "The yamen opens like the character 八 ; if you've right but no money, don't enter." Yet the Chinese are keen litigants and go to court on very slight grounds.
A magistrate must give up office for three years on his father's or mother's death, ting yu (丁憂) and t 'ing chien (丁艱). Not to notify such death is ch'i chn (欺君), to deceive the emperor; to try to re-enter the official service before the three years are ended is man chin ( 慢親), cheating kindred.
FOLLOWERS OF TIIL YAMEN
There is a clear distinction between those who belong to the yamen and those who follow the official.
The bureau of civil affairs, shih fang (吏房), attends to salaries and scholars' appointments, and keeps a list of graduates in the district and of those eligible for higher examinations.
It notifies the Imperial court when a scholar has attended all examinations till he is sixty years old ; a degree is then given him, and if he goes on till he is eighty, he will receive a yellow riding-jacket and a dragon-headed walking-stick.
The bureau of revenue and population, hu fang (戶房） gathers taxes, counts the families and registers headmen. It gets a commission on the sale of property.
The bureau of rites, li fang (禮房). All cases of broken contracts, divorces, seduction, kidnapping, etc., come to this office. It also keeps a list of scholars without degrees.
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The military bureau, ping fang ( 兵房), attends to enlistment, drilling and feeding of soldiers, the housing of troops on the march, the arming and conduct of militia and the quarrels and lawsuits of the soldiery.
The bureau of works, kung fang (工房), looks after the city wall and gates and all public buildings and attends to disputes about boundaries and graveyards.
The granary bureau, ts'ang fang (倉房 ), is responsible for the public granaries, the buying and selling of rice and its distribution in time of famine or siege.
The tea and salt bureau, yen ch'a fang (監茶房). The trade is a monopoly in each city and the bureau looks after the revenue from this source.
The punishments bureau, hsing fang (刑房 ), attends to litigation about deaths by violence ; the wu tso (仵作), is officially attached to it.
The litigation registry bureau, ch'ng fa fang (承發房), records all the indictments, etc., and is responsible for indictments passing up into the magistrate's hands.
The interpretation bureau, i ch'ing fang (夷情房), only exists in frontier districts, where the aboriginal tribes make it necessary.
Yamen Runners.
In Ch'ung ch'ing chou districts there are some 3,000, with 300 ling pan (領班), or superiors : there they control the literati. In Kuan hsien the case is reversed, because that district has produced two or three Han-lin scholars, thus raising the status of the literati. Ch'ung ch'ing has only produced chin shih (進士). The result is that the yamen runners' oppression is intolerable in one place while it may be mitigated in another.
Warrants may be given to a ling pan to call up an accused person, huan p'iao (喚票), or to apprehend him, chu p'iao (拘票), or for an immediate arrest, ch'u ch'ien (出籤), or to summon a man in public service to answer a charge of corruption, ch'ien ch'uan (籤傳), or to assemble gentry and public men for consultation, ch'uan tan (傳單).
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A tax-gatherer, liang pan (糧班 ), or his sons, may enter the literary examinations, but not the other yamen underlings.
The hu pan (戶班), or local runner, knows every person in his district and is used in making arrests.
The p'u pan (捕班) are the chief jailor's runners, for catching robbers, and the tsao pan (皁班), or hou pan (吼班), are the " black band" with tall hats, who run shouting before the magistrate's chair, when he goes out on public business.
There are various other bands, messengers, door-keepers, etc., etc.
There is an apprenticeship to this work and often the apprentice suffers for his master's mistakes. If he is beaten, the ling pan gives him 400 cash; if he is condemned to the cage he gets 1oo per day and 300 cash on release ; if he suffers capital punishment, the ling pan supports his widow. Many become yamen runners to escape the result of crime, thus eluding the law a little longer. An official can put runners to death and thinks very lightly of doing it.
In some districts there are women thus employed.
Judicial Cases.
A black clothes case, ch'ing i an (青衣案), is one where execution is certain as soon as the evidence has been given ; generally robbery with violence.
A red clothes case, hung i an (紅衣案 ), is a difficult case, perhaps of murder; if the accused is clever he may, after years of imprisonment, gain his liberty. If the knife used in a murder cannot be produced the accused cannot be condemned.
Disputes about estates or marriages are called chng an (正案). Petty quarrels are often pursued in the courts till a family is ruined in seeking justice or revenge.
Cases of rebellion or where human relationships are violated ; a wife killing a husband, son killing a father, etc., are seldom dealt with in an open, regular way; they are settled in private, the criminal being done to death by the family clan.
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If a thief is killed while entering a house the householder is guiltless ; but should he be killed after escaping a hundred yards or so, the killer may suffer for it. Sometimes a thief is killed first and the hole to enter the house is made afterwards. Sometimes a corpse is carried on to another man's land to get him into trouble. One who lends a knife for a murder may be convicted of murder.
Presenting petitions or indictments.
There are official, appointed copyists who prepare and stamp nearly all documents going to the official.
The hung ping (紅稟 ), red petition, is a statement of public business, used in government circles only and costing only the price of the paper, since the government employees may write their own statements.
The pai ping (白稟), petition on white paper, is used by headmen or heads of bureaus in notifying business to the official.
The hung pai ping, red and white petition ; if the official keeps the red and returns the white it means approval, the reverse means that trouble may be looked for.
A petition has to pass through the hands of eighteen persons before reaching the magistrate, and as many more afterwards before it reaches the archives.
There are men who live by stirring up strife and lawsuits ; they are called sung kun (訟棍), pettifoggers, ch'ien kou chiang (牽狗匠), dogleaders, and other names.
The yan kao (原告), plaintiff, formerly paid some 3,200 cash official fees and the pei kao (被告) an indefinite amount to the runners.
Eyewitnesses, kan cheng (干証), are named in the indictment, but only after getting their consent.
An indictment or petition must be written on special, lined paper, ta k shih (大格式), holding some 120 characters; it costs from 100 to 300 cash according to the official. A smaller sheet may be used by the poor. The magistrate keeps a copy, fu chuang (付狀), for reference, if necessary, after he has left the district.
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A suit may often be stopped, lan liu (攔留), by payment of money even after the indictment has been written. In family quarrels this is common, even in life and death cases, as a mother-in-law beating to death her daughter-in-law.
Sometimes one goes straight to the magistrate and calls for redress of a grievance; he must come out or send a deputy ; but the usual result is an order to present an indictment.
A first petition being rejected the litigant may try again, altering what the magistrate has objected to, adding necessary witnesses, etc.
Before going to a higher court there are eight ways in which a litigant may appeal to an official against his decision. Sending up documents to a higher court costs a great deal of money, both to the official and to the yamen bureaus.
Tzǔ kao (自稿) is a plea written by the petitioner himself; the language is generally forcible and the copyist adds these two characters.
Tzǔ ch'o (自戳) means stamped by himself. Some-imes a hand or a foot, but usually only the thumb, is put in the ink. The magistrate dreads such cases, for the petitioner will only be satisfied with a decision in his favor, and an appeal to a higher court is probable.
Sometimes litigants are requested to put thumbmarks to a document declaring each side will accept the magistrate's decision and end the case.
When a magistrate is about to leave, cases are sometimes withdrawn, ch'ou an (抽案), for fear he should unduly hasten a decision or should leave them undecided to a successor who may shelve them.
Signs of Authority, Followers, etc.
When the magistrate is judging a case a duplicate of the seal box is hung behind him. A jar of bamboos stands on the table; if he throws down one tally, it means a hundred blows ; if he tumbles out all the tallies it means unlimited beating. There are other tallies for other uses; and there is
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a box of vermilion ink for signing official documents. These things are called the official's life (性命), hsing ming, life, or his 衣，飯 ，碗 i, fan, wan, clothes, rice, and bowl.
On going out his sedan chair is carried by four men, he wears official garments, beads and hat; criers go before and men with boards on which are written his literary degrees and former offices; assistants follow on horseback, and every one, whether riding or on foot, must get out of the way as he passes.
The district magistrate is really the strongest official in a province and has life and death in his hands. He is called the father and mother official, fu-mu kuan, and chng tang (正堂).
His first class confidential secretary is called hsing min shih yeh (刑民師爺) by the official and hei pi (黑筆) shih yeh by the people. He is also called mu p'in (幕賓), or district steward.
The tutor in the magistrate's family ranks with him; at a feast only one of them can be present as he must have the chief seat; the other has a table sent to his own quarters.
The shu chi (書記), or t'ieh hsieh (貼寫), letter-writer and indictment-maker for the official, is usually a student for the secretariat.
There is an apprentice to the secretary, mao kai tzǔ shih yeh (毛蓋子師爺).
Between the official and people is a middleman called ta yeh (大爺 ) men kao (門稿) and other names. He is said to be the magistrate's throat since all business passes through him. His assistant is the kuan an san yeh, manager of law-suit documents.
The clerk who puts the red ink finishing touches on official papers is called ch'ien ya (簽押). When the seals are used the magistrate or his wife sits by to prevent their unauthorized use.
The shui ch'i (稅契) receives taxes on sales of property.
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The yamen food is in three grades; the official and secretaries have the first class, the ta yeh the second, the watchmen and other menials the third.
There are a few other employees in a yamen besides those above named.
BOOK IV THE SUPERNATURAL
CHAPTER I
SPIRIT RAPPING （請神）ch'ing shen
This is rather a game than any real intercourse with the spirits, but it is very difficult to fix the boundary between the two ; worship and play seem to dovetail the one into the other.
To invite the table spirit, cho-tzǔ shn (桌子神); table rapping. One table is put face downwards on another with a common rice basin between them. A person then takes hold of each of the four corners of the upturned table, and tries to hold it steady. When the spirit comes the table moves up and down or turns round.
To invite the spirit of the carrying pole, pien tan shn (請扁擔神). The pole is laid across the table, two persons blindfolded hold the ends, and try to keep the pole down. When the spirit comes, the pole moves up and down in spite of them.
To invite the rake (pa, 筏) spirit. A youth sits with eyes blindfolded and holds a rake upright. The others burn incense and paper and invite the spirit of the rake to come and do the work for them. When the spirit comes the rake is moved and the fuel is gathered by the rake itself apart from human energy.
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To invite the spirit of the seventh virgin, ch'i ku-niang (七姑娘). She is said to be the seventh daughter of the Pearly Emperor, and is patronized by girls who want to know what kind of lot may be in store for them. The maiden who is inquiring sits with head covered while others burn incense and paper.
To look at the flowers, kuan hua (觀花). The girl who inquires for the others is set down in a quiet spot; others burn incense and candles to invite the spirit of the flower garden. She then goes in spirit and thus finds out under which tree the lot of her client is to be cast. If under the palm, fir, or soap trees, the lot will be a bitter one. If under the kuei hua the lot will be one of riches and honour. Under the camelia means happiness and peace ; the cedar means long life and strength. The person who practises this art is paid for it by the clients.
To invite the spirit of the broom, sao pa (掃把) shn. The broom is put into a child's hands and the eyes blind-folded, paper and incense are burned and the spirit invited to help the child to sweep the floor. If the floor is not well swept, the child is beaten by the onlookers.
To invite the spirit of the earth bullock. Two youths are blindfolded and set down together. The spirit is invited and when it comes the two youths begin to knock each other's heads till some serious injury is inflicted. Eyes are knocked out, noses broken, and the youth is not infrequently injured for life. Parents forbid the practice, but it is still secretly done in secluded spots.
To invite the stool (pan tng, 板凳) god. Two children are blindfolded and set one at each end of a form to hold it down. The spirit is invited and when it comes the stool tilts up or turns round with the children sitting on it.
Ghosts.
Anathematizing the ghost, chou hsiao shn tzǔ (咒小神子), is done by such persons as the travelling fortune teller or the itinerant Taoist priest called 游方道士. He may go to a house on the excuse that he desires to tell a boy's fortune,
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for which purpose the horoscope is necessary. He mentally carries away the particulars of the horoscope. The bark is then peeled from a growing tree, and the horoscope pasted on the bared part, and anathematized by him for forty-nine days, after which time the piece of the tree with the horoscope is gouged out and taken home, and a small idol made of it, which is also anathematized, till such time as the image speaks; at this juncture it is believed that the child dies. This little idol is further worshipped and taught to do as it is bid. It may even enter houses and steal for its master. Or it may be let loose in an enemy's house for revenge, intimidation or robbery. This last is practised by the following people :
Nuns (尼姑 ), ni ku, Tao ku (道姑); hua ku (花姑), embroidery women, who very seldom have husbands and are sometimes men in disguise ; toothache witch doctors (牙婆), ya p'o, who pretend to extract the worm from a disease8d tooth by way of the eye; wen po ( 穩婆) and ch' shng ( 取生) p'o, midwives; or 薬媽媽 medicine mothers ; hsiang (相) p'o, physiognomists ; fortune tellers, suan ming (算命) p'o; and go-betweens in marriages, mei (媒) p'o.
The above classes, on entering a house, are sure to make trouble. If they are meanly or harshly treated, they may let loose a ghost in the house, which will manifest itself in the following ways : short hair will be found in the rice-steamer, or filth of various kinds will find its way into the rice; reeds become transformed into darts and fly at people ; the rope on which tobacco leaves are dried becomes a snake to bite the family ; twigs become fire-darts to set the house on fire ; a paper image steals the family property ; tiles are pulled from the roof of the house in the night, or brickbats are thrown into the house in the night ; the house is set on fire at any time, but specially in the night, or the shell of the bamboo sprout becomes a living being to frighten people ; or they annoy by making the rooster crow at bedtime and the dogs bark all the night through.
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Sometimes large sums of money are paid to have a ghost taken out of the house, but twenty or thirty taels is quite a common price. If the person who let loose the ghost is invited to remove it, he will demand much more than another, but another can do it. When he does find the wooden idol it is burned and it is popularly believed that the person who let the ghost go will suffer, because the spirit will go and harass him. Most Chinese have a great dread of certain objects and houses which are supposed to be haunted, and it is with the greatest difficulty that they can cut clear of this superstition ; it should always be borne in mind that such things are very real to them, however silly they may appear to us.
The "Planchelte,"
To seek the counsel of the spirits by the aid of the stylus, k'ung chung hsan pi (空中懸筆). Various forms of this cult have been in use for many centuries. The present mode is to make a string of silk thread or human hair and suspend it from the roof, with a pen made of peach or willow twig. Directly under this pen is placed a table covered with fine dry river-sand. Incense and paper are burned before the tablet of the stylus house god, the attention of the spirits called and their help besought.
When the spirits come the pencil moves and writes characters on the sand. If nonsense is written, the manager, chi shou (乩手), further invokes the spirits by the k'o t'ou (kotow) and more incense and paper burning, and when the pencil writes real characters one man reads aloud and another makes a record. Enquiring frorn a converted chi shou as to the possibility of falsifying these pencil motions, he declares that with this kind of stylus there is no trickery, but the pencil does not move without being invited and not always then, and seldom moves to advantage, but he has known it to write wonderfully true things.
The tablets written in the stylus house are of two different sorts, one to the celestials, the other to l tsu (呂祖).
They are as follows :
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The t'ao chi liu pi (桃箕柳筆) is a forked branch of a peach tree with willow twig fastened to the lower side of the single point ; it resembles a bird with outspread wings and beak, and is supposed to contain the essence of seminal power and divine influence. Two men grasp the prongs of the stylus and hold it over the table of sand ; the spirits are invoked and the stylus writes. This is a more degraded method than the former, as the two men who hold the prongs, if of one mind, can write almost anything they please. This form of the stylus is also known as fu luan chiang chi (扶鸞降乩).
The most degraded of magic pens is that used by one man, tu jn mei pi (獨人墨筆), who pleases himself what he writes.
Sometimes the magic pen will only write nonsense and then he has resort to the following charms to correct the trouble : chua-hsien fu (抓仙符), the grasp celestial charm ; chan kuei fu (斬鬼符), behead-demon charm; chu yao fu (誅妖符), kill-demon charm. These charms are all burned before the tablet to the stylus house god.
Necromancy (交邪).
Tsou yin chiang hsiang (走陰降像), to enter Hades and obtain an image. This is done by a male devotee of some idol, whose eyes are blindfolded with five feet of red or black cloth. A charm is made and burned, and he has to drink part of the ashes mixed in water, after which he has to sit on a chair, while another person spatters a mouthful of the charm-water all over his person. This done, he opens his mouth and speaks what is believed to be the revelation from the spirits.
Ch'i shui k'an wan (起光照盤), to lift water and stare into the bowl. This is done by both sexes of all ages. The basin is filled with water, a charm is prepared and burned and the ashes mixed with the water. The reader of the spirits' decrees then stares into the basin and declares he sees and hears wonderful things belonging to another world.
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Ch't kuang chao p'an (XXX), to make the light shine upon the platter. A platter is taken and the necessary charms burned and incantations made over it ; it is then handed to the person seeking guidance and light, who is made to look therein, and he may be persuaded to believe that he sees something that will throw light on his path.
To call the immortals and question them as to the happiness or misery and final condition of the departed and as to whether they are able to help or hinder those at present living, is called kuan hsien (關仙).
To invite the spirits of departed ancestors, or deceased relatives, to enquire about their state in Hades is kuan hun chien ch'in (關魂見親). This is done much in the same way as in the first and second items under this heading.
In curing the demon-possessed, shou fng ta hsieh (收瘋打邪), the demoniac is brought into the presence of the practitioner of the art ; a jar is brought into the room and the witch makes many mysterious motions with the fingers, hands and arms. These motions are spoken of as the five-thunder occultism (五雷訣) and the nine-ox strength (九牛); by these the demon is supposed to be got into the jar, which is then covered with a white cloth, taken out and buried or carried home by the practitioner. This is an art which demands high payment, and I am informed that in some cases cures have been effected. Lunacy is always attributed to demon possession, and the lot of this unfortunate class is a very hard one indeed. They are often chained to the bed-post or pillar of the house and starved to death, or stoned out of the town by boys, driven from house and home by their relatives, and if violent they are beaten to death. If good-natured they are teased and mocked. They wander about in rags and filth, sleep in temples and caves and are often addicted to many of the lowest vices of mankind.
To divine as to whether a sickness will be fatal or not is called p'an tuan chi hsiung (判斷吉凶). The patient's head is covered, while charms, incense and paper are burned and the spirits besought to reveal their will regarding him.
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To inquire of the celestials as to whether the position of the ancestral graves is lucky or not, or as to the best site and position of a proposed new family dwelling, is called ch'a nien fng shui (查風水). This is done by covering the head and inviting the spirits to make a revelation.
Ta t'ai ping pao fu (打太平保福) is a noisy ceremony at which many of the practices given under sorcery are used before a woman's confinement to ensure a safe delivery. It includes bringing the boxes, la hsiang tzŭ (拉箱子). An actor is brought to the house with all his paraphernalia, he dresses as a woman, has his face powdered and painted, after which he jumps and dances in the chief rooms of the house. In some families a stage is erected in an adjoining field for the occasion.
Chuai ssŭ niang tzŭ (跩私娘子), to act the celestial women of the house. These are the t'ien hsien niang (天仙) and the ti hsien niang (地仙), who are believed to be able to protect life and property and add years to the lives of those in the house. A skilled actor, dressed like a woman, walks and minces up and down the house. At the close of the performance a feast is spread and the actors drink freely of wine and sing lewd songs. This last part is called p'ei hua (陪花), to entertain the flower, or the impersonated woman. For this performance the actors are liberally paid. Such performances are almost wholly confined to the well-to-do baser sort.
Ching t'an (靖壇 ), to pacify the altar of the lemuria. Some families have a t'an shn (壇神) and some have none, but those who have are generally of a low and superstitious character. This altar is generally located on the left hand side of the chief room of the house. The tablet is sometimes written and at others carved. The families who trace their ancestry from the province of Kiangsi have the altar hung up in a basket on the left hand side of the heaven and earth tablet. The pacification of this spirit takes place once every three or five years, unless a change is made in the residence. In this ceremony all the practices of ordinary divination are used with many additions, and the ceremony is much
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more complicated. A very little of each of the following articles is permanently deposited under the stone on which the tablet rests; --- gold, silver, iron, brass, salt, tea, rice and beans. The feast may last for days, and two or three pigs may be killed for the occasion, but I have noticed that families who make much of this altar soon come to poverty. The following are some of the gods of this altar of the lemuria;
The general of the gods of the lemuria. The two lieutenants. The female general of the altar. The twelve flowery women who rule the women of the house for the year, each ruling one month. The three braves who fight for the family. Lo Kung of great mesmeric fame. Thousands of thousands of soldiers and horses. Myriads of myriads of leaders of spirits. The guardian of the east and west granaries. The governor of the tea and wine shops. The guardian of the farmyard.
When the altar is being pacified the gods of the cow, horse, sheep, chicken, dog, pig and cats have all to be dealt with and pacified. For this an animal skin or an imitation animal is produced, someone gets inside it and imitates the cry of the animal.
Pa man chin pao yu ssǔ 八蠻進寶游司. This is the guardian of the family wealth and is one of the gods of wealth, which are thus included in the altar. The Tibetans are mentioned because they are supposed to abound in the precious metal and the number eight is a lucky one, hence the saying, 要得發不離八, if a thing is to prosper you can't do without the number eight.
Conjuring (要把).
Tight rope walking is common, ch'ai so ch'iao(). The rope may be a hundred feet long and fifty above the ground. The performer is a girl of about ten, who carries a sandbag in each hand.
A woman stands on her head on a table and balances a wine cask first on one foot and then on the other, tng t'an tzǔ (登子). Sometimes a child is put inside the cash and crawls out and sits on the top of it while it is balanced in the air.
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A woman balances a ladder on the palms of her hands, then a child threads each rung up and turns over the top and threads its way down again head downward. This is called fan fei yn t'i (番飛雲梯).
A bare table is covered with a cloth ; after beating of drums and burning of incense and paper, the actor will ask if the guests have all come, and on being assured that they have arrived, the table-cloth is removed and there is displayed a fine, hot, ready-cooked feast.
A flower-pot is covered with a cloth and after some music and incantations the cloth is removed and a fine flowering orchid exposed to view. The same kind of trick is also done with a pot of earth in which a melon seed is sown.
The wooden frame which holds the fire basin is put down and covered with a cloth ; and after music and incantations the cloth is removed, when a hot fire on the fire basin is exposed to view. Many are willing to pay large sums of money for instruction in this art.
An empty wine-glass is held in one hand and an empty jar in another and after a few motions and incantations wine is found emptied from the jar into the wine cup, and people are invited to drink.
A woman's embroidered shoe is manipulated in the hand, and it suddenly becomes a rabbit, pigeon, rat or other creature. The conjurer after a little seizes the animal and knocks it on the back of the head and it becomes a shoe once again in his hand.
A wisp of straw becomes changed into a rat. This is very much the same as the last.
Coloured paper is cut into strips and covered with a cloth. When the cloth is removed the strips of paper have been transformed into pretty lanterns already lighted.
A fan is torn to shreds. The conjurer then makes various motions with his hands and the fan is produced and opened up as good as new.
Paper is torn into small pieces and covered with a cloth ; when the cloth is removed a swarm of hornets fly
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buzzing about, but as soon as they are caught they become pieces of paper again.
The leaves and twigs of a willow tree are broken into pieces and thrown into the river, where they appear to become fishes, but when caught they are simply the willow twigs.
A coin is placed on the upper side of a thick board with one hand and received on the lower side with the other.
A child is laid down with the stomach bent upwards, boxes full of heavy things are put on its stomach, then a man goes on to the top of the boxes, but still there is no sign of the distended stomach giving way under the weight.
A child is taken and rolled in red calico, the conjurer asks for money and, after a contribution has. been given, a sword is displayed and the child yells, then another collection is taken up, after which the child's arm is cut off and thrown to the horrified crowd, and still another collection is taken up, then another arm is cut off and thrown out. The child is thus gradually dismembered before the gazing and credulous crowd, but the greatest wonder of all is that this child will be well and about the next day ! This is generally the last and most exciting act of the conjurer in a place ; for this he often gets large sums of money in collections.
Divination or Sorcery, Wu Shu (巫術).
A sorcerer is called tuan kung(端公); the classical name is nan wu (男巫), and the colloquial or slang name is kuei hsiang yo (鬼鄉約).
A witch is tuan kung p'o (端公婆), tsou yin (走陰) p'o, shn hsien (神仙) p'o, or n wu (女巫) (a bookish name). One term may be common in one place while another will be used elsewhere.
Though the art of divination is much the same everywhere, still the Tibetan art is more intense than that practised by the Chinese sorcerers. The Tibetan sorcerer does all the Chinese do and some things extra. So before dealing with
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the subject as found among the Chinese we will notice the practices peculiar to the Tibetans.
A Tibetan sorcerer is called man (蠻)tuan kung. The idol worshipped by him and used in his practice is a full-dressed lama or Buddhist Tibetan high priest.
When a demon is being exorcised a boiler is made red-hot and the afflicted person made to stand in it ; it is believed that if his feet do not blister there is no hope of his recovery; or a red-hot chain is put round his neck with the same cheerful hope of blisters.
The sorcerer opens a vein in his own body and lets blood flow on to a cloth, which is given to sick persons to carry as a charm, k'an hseh fu (砍血符).
In Chinese sorcery an altar is set up, sh sung (設送), for the taking away of a disturbing demon from a sick person, and paper money is burned.
It is customary to worship a person's natal star in order to avert calamity or death. Each person is believed to have a star which influences him through life ; and the stars are believed to be governed by the Dipper (tou), which is largely invoked by Taoist priests and sorcerers to avert death or other calamity, jang hsing li tou (禳星禮斗). When a person comes to a certain period in his life believed by fortune tellers and others to be unlucky, a sorcerer is called in to bridge over this difficult time. For people who have had an accident, or for homes where something unlucky has happened, also when a person has reached a great age, the friends and neighbours get up a subscription and present him with a night's incantations ; they also present a joint petition to the king of Hades and stand surety for the person's good character and beg that many years may be added to his life. In this ceremony a tablet is written to the local god who joins the bridge of longevity (接限壽橋土地); to this tablet the younger generations ko t'ou. The work of the sorcerer is all done in the night. When chanting for the living, cow-horn trumpets are employed ; but in wakes for the dead the conch-horn or sea-shell is used.
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Setting up the altar for the purpose of divination is an elaborate affair. A chart belonging to the sorcerer is hung up over the family gods ; in this chart the san ch'ing (三清) have a prominent place. A bushel and a pint measure are filled with grain or dry river-sand, into which sand are stuck lighted candles and incense, all having been previously placed before the sorcerer's chart. The "three pure " are t'ai ch'ing (太清), y (玉) ch'ing and shang (上) ch'ing, and are said to correspond to heaven, earth and man. A tablet to the five heads of demons or wu ch'ang (五猖) is put under the table ; the tablet to all the poor spirits or 寒林 is put up outside the door. The writing being 寒林會上無音五姓 ，" To the heads of the Society of the orphan spirits of all names and kinds."
To cleanse the altar the divining priests go with beating of gongs and blowing of trumpets to a stream or pool of water and bring back a vessel filled with clean water ; this is called ch'ing shui (請水) . The water is sprinkled all over the altar and vessels, after which the priest opens the ceremony by putting on his robes and worshipping the idols and tablets all round ; this is spoken of as k'ai t'an, to open the altar.
The priest prepares a genealogy of the sick person, his name, residence, details of the sickness, etc., which is first read to the company and then despatched to the spirit world by burning.
After the despatch has been sent telling of the need, then the company waits to receive the return message from the spirit world.
The divining priest then enters the kitchen and asks the kitchen god to use his good offices on the sick person's behalf, while the family of the sufferer kneel in a row before the kitchen god to implore his assistance.
The repentance ode is chanted and a prayer for the healing of the disease ; this is done amid the beating of gongs and drums, and the yelling of the priests who are ably assisted by the juveniles of the family.
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The priest next makes a number of charms, one to be worn on the person, another to be hung on the bed curtains, another for the bedroom door, and one is burned and the ashes put into a basin of water which has been cursed, and is drunk by the sick person. These charms are supposed to drive away the demons from the clothing, the bed and the inward man. This ceremony takes it as a foregone conclusion that all sickness is caused by demons.
After burning paper money in little or great quantities according to the ability of the family, the priest takes the clothes of the sick person and bears them, along with a tablet on which is written his name and genealogy, out to a place overlooking a hollow with water in it. Here the priests assisted by the relatives call back the spirit of the sick person from across the waters, repeating several times the following two sentences, san hun kuei shn, ch'i p'ai fu t'i (三魂歸身﹐七附體); that is, may the three souls and seven spirits return to the body; then they finish up with a weird yell of " come back, come back." Of course when the sick man is in delirium it is believed that the soul has already left his body and gone wandering elsewhere.
Straw or reeds of any kind may be used to make an effigy, and paper clothing is made and put on it. Wine and rice, are offered to it. A piece of paper money is ignited and applied to the ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Sometimes a needle is used to prick these four organs; all this is done with incantations, after which the effigy is supposed to become accursed as the substitute of the sick person. It is carried to the sick chamber and is addressed by the sorcerer as mao ta lang (茅大郎), great straw gentleman, or as mao ta chieh (茅大姐), great straw sister, according to the sex of the sick one. One sorcerer faces the effigy and questions it and another crouches behind it and answers the questions; while a third sits on a chair and pronounces judgement. The effigy is asked from whence he came ; and for what purpose. The sorcerer from behind replies that he has come from a great distance purposely to be the substitute and bear the penalty of the sick person, whose name he gives.
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A vegetable knife, scales, three pairs of chopsticks, one charm, one sorcerer's tablet called a shih ta0 (師刀) or master's knife, are collected. The tablet and charm are the property of the sorcerer, while the other things belong to the family. These things the sorcerer gathers together in one hand, swings them round his head, and drops them behind his back; and then all the persons gather round and listen to the reading of the omens of these articles as they lie on the floor and give indications as to the outcome of the sickness. If the three pairs of chopsticks lie in order, recovery is considered to be probable. These chopsticks are spoken of as the lu ma (祿馬), emolument horses; if lying in order it means the patient will need them and use them.
The scissors in this affair arc known as the chu ch'eh (朱), or red bird. Birds are all reckoned unlucky because their beaks are pointed, but birds with red patches or red beaks are much more so, and make trouble or even death in the family. The vegetable knife is spoken of as the white tiger (白虎). If the sharp edge of this knife should lie near the rope handle of the scales, it is reckoned to be a very unpropitious omen; as white is the sign of mourning and the tiger is the most ravenous of wild beasts. The scales are reckoned to be the sick man's body, and whatever falls near this is reckoned to be falling near the sick man himself. If the ling p'ai (令牌) or charm falls near the scales it is an indication that the spirits are protecting. The writing inside the tablet is said to be the Pearly Emperor's name. The arm jutting out with the three crosses is said to be the three pure ones, who are believed to be peculiarly fitted for the work of frightening away demons.
The next proceeding is to fn kua (分卦), to read the diagrams. These are made of two pieces of bamboo which fit closely and exactly together. The two parts are thrown into the air; if the two flattened sides fall with their faces to the ground, that is called a yin kua (陰卦), female diagram ; if the flat sides face upwards that is called a yang kua (陽卦), male diagram ; if one flat and one round side lie upwards that is called a shn kua (神卦), spirit diagram. The female diagram is reckoned very unlucky, while the male and spirit
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diagrams are reckoned lucky, especially the latter, and the spirits arc invoked repeatedly to give a shn kua.
At this juncture the sorcerer enters the sick chamber, taking the straw effigy and a mug containing an egg. The sick person draws a deep breath and blows into the mug, which is then covered with a white cloth and firmly tied with a string. The sick person then blows a deeply drawn breath on to the face of the straw effigy, and in this way it is believed that the sickness demon is put into the mug and his life put into the straw substitute, who suffers for him.
A paper tray on which are painted various kinds of demons and called the flowery plate is brought ; the candles, incense and other signs of the proceeding are gathered and, together with the mug, are put on a sieve and carried with the effigy outside the door of the house ; the sorcerers then put up charms on the bedroom door and in the kitchen. A basin of rice soaked in water, and another basin of dry rice is then put on the sieve ; into the latter sticks of lighted incense and lighted candles are stuck ; the whole is then carried out to a secluded place, where the effigy is burned ; the mug containing the egg is buried and the incense and candles stuck into the ground; the rice is carried home by the sorcerer; the sieve and basins are taken home by the members of the family, but are thrown behind the outside courtyard door for three days before they dare take them inside the house, lest any evil influence should be clinging to them.
When the party returns from escorting out the evil influences, the sorcerer proceeds to take down his chart, burns incense and exhorts the family gods, packs up his sorcerer's paraphernalia, eats a hearty meal, counts the wages of divination and takes his departure.
BOOK V.IDOLATRY
CHAPTER I
GODS OF WEALTH (財神), Ts'ai Shn
The god of wealth is a very important image in these parts, as the Chinese are exceedingly practical and their chief delight is to drive a good bargain ; they revel in hairsplitting differences ; a grin of satisfaction lights up the countenance when they are counting money and they may get black in the face with rage over a single cash worth of vegetables ;.a woman will disturb the whole street in order that the family night-soil may bring a few cash more. They have a system of banking and reckoning which goes down to the tenth of a brass cash ; lending money for usury is a practice of long standing ; the fixed official rate is two per cent. per month, but that rate is often surpassed and such exorbitant interest as forty cash per day for the loan of one thousand brass cash is often extorted. The pawn shops are well managed and the fixed official rate is 2 per cent. per month. If a pawn shop is burned the owner is released from responsibility. In spring time many people put their winter clothing in the pawn shop as a place of safe keeping. The abacus is a very efficient instrument for reckoning, both speedy and accurate. The following are a few of the gods of wealth known in these parts :
Wn (文) ts'ai shn, or t'zǔ fu t'ien kuan (賜福天官), the literary god of wealth ; said to be Ko Tzǔ-i (郭子儀) of the Han dynasty, who is reputed to have had a hundred sons and a thousand grandsons living at the same time ; he had
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also enormous family wealth. His image depicts him sitting on a chair, with a long white beard and white garments ; he carries a sceptre as a sign of authority and on the sceptre are engraved the four characters ( 萬事如意), that is, everything shall be as you desire it.
Wu (武) ts'ai shn; or Tsng fu (增福) ts'ai shn, the military god of wealth. The image depicts this god as riding on a tiger ; he has a long black beard and coloured face ; in his left hand he holds golden nails, which he gives to his devotees, in his right hand he holds a baton. This is commonly believed to be Chao Kung-ming (趙公明) of Ssǔch'uan fame, who became a celestial on the Ch'ing ch'ng shan (青城山) at Kwan Hsien.
Wei wei (危危) ts'ai shn, said to be the Mohammedan god of wealth. The two characters, or rather the pronunciation, is probably derived from the Arabic. It is said that the Mohammedans offer beef on his altar, and that the image is dressed like a Tibetan with a high-crowned hat. Some think that the characters have their derivation from the star (紫微星). Others think that there is a connection between this idol and the eight persons who, dressed as Tibetans, visit the houses at New Year time to bring good luck to the house. This custom is known as ao nien (閙年), and coupled with it is the saying 八蠻進寳 , that is, With the eight Tibetans comes wealth.
Ho ho rh (和合二) ts'ai shn; the partnership god of wealth, depicted as two partners in business carrying a large coin between them. The real historical characters are said to be two rich business partners of the Han dynasty.
Fu lu (福祿) ts'ai shn;. The god of happiness and emolument, mostly worshipped by the farmers and merchant classes.
Wu lu (五路) ts'ai shn, the god of wealth for five ways. These five roads are said to be the north, south, east, west and central ; also said to be the three ways of making a livelihood (scholars, military, artisans), with hills and rivers; the last two, because the wealth of the country is largely deposited in them, and includes mining and fishing.
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Ssǔ kuan (四官) ts'ai shn is the god of wealth for the four seasons of the year.
Huo (活) ts'ai shn;. The living god of wealth; a low-bred priest dressed up as a god of wealth. He wears a high-crowned hat. In one hand he carries a tray containing a piece of white metal, and in the other a palm-fibre whip ; he visits the houses of the people from the fifteenth of the first moon till about ch'ing ming, using the whip to drive away the demons who hinder the prosperity of the family. He never speaks unless he is spoken to.
Yin hun chih kuei wei ( 淫昏之鬼為 ) ts'ai shn. It is said that the demon of lust is the god of wealth ; this is a wide-spread idea, hence the saying 笑貧不笑淫, They laugh at poverty, but not at lust, that is, they will get rich at any cost.
Wu cho (五濁) shn. The god of wealth is styled thus because in mammon worship all manner of wickedness is said to be included and permitted to the devotees ; business men have a secret language for talking about their prices before their customers ; cow and pig dealers put their hands up each other's sleeves and talk by signs, all to deceive people.
It has been said that Tao Chai (盜蹠), the younger brother of Liu Hsia hui (柳下惠), is the real god of wealth ; but the common people have a saying which runs thus: 敬財神不如餂勾子. It is better to flatter the rich than worship the god of wealth. A foreigner is not infrequently styled the god of wealth because it is believed that foreigners wealth is unlimited.
Charms, Hua fu ( 畫符).
The charm to put over the door is made of paper or calico which is pasted or nailed up. Over the doors of headmen the writing is in large characters, common people use smaller. Yellow is the most common colour, but small charms often have a stripe of white running through them. In ancient times it was customary to nail a piece of peach-wood over the door at New Year time, believing that this
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wood warded off demons. The present-day belief in charms probably arose from this custom and is very general, and the superstition regarding them very deep ; they are used in almost every phase of life.
Charms to be carried on the person are made up of all kinds of material, and worn on the shoulder, back or breast, to protect from disease, demons and every evil influence ; even a cross is worn by Chinese children to prevent them from being kidnapped or harmed by foreigners. A few years ago there was a great anti-cigarette movement over an extended area in Ssǔch'uan ; vile rumours were circulated about foreigners breaking graves and extracting skulls to make cigarettes, and doubtless many graves were tampered with by evilly disposed persons, whose chief object was to get the jade ornaments worn by aged persons when buried. The rumours also had it that foreigners were castrating children, and this caused thousands of children in our district alone to wear huge white crosses sewn on the backs, shoulders or breasts of their clothing. Some children wore two or even three of these cross charms to prevent foreigners touching them. The idea has become widely diffused that foreigners have a superstitious dread of the cross and will not trample on it, and I have seen lads run in front and write a cross on the road and then stand aside to see if the foreigner would tread on it.
Shao hui t'un fu (燒灰吞符 ), the swallow-ashes charm. Another charm is commonly made up of incantations against demons, written on yellow paper. This is burned, the ashes mixed with clean water and swallowed.
Wu fang chn chai (五方鎮宅) fu, the charm which protects the five corners of the house. This charm concerns the living only, and is written on yellow paper and put at the four corners of the house, a fifth one being placed at the foot of the family altar in the centre of the room. It is believed to keep the house free from demons.
Wu fang tien mu (五方奠墓) fu, a charm for the five corners of a grave. This is prepared and burned by geomancers to give repose to the soul of the dead ; it is buried at the four corners and at the foot of the tomb.
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There is a charm written by the descendants of Chang Tien shih (張天師), of Lung hu shan (龍虎山) in Kiang-si; it is believed to be one of the most efficacious of charms for warding off demons and healing sickness.
There is also a charm written by Ling kuan ( 靈官). It is said that there are seventy-two idols bearing this name, all deified after the death of different individuals who, when living, had a reputation for driving out demons and warding off evil influences. This charm is widely used and almost universally believed in wherever I have had opportunity of observation ; it is generally in the form of a picture, but is sometimes placed in a small box, with a spring lid, which being touched, the ling kuan flies out. This is a very fierce and dreadful looking thing, which is the chief reason for its being so widely used and universally trusted.
Chu yao chan kuai (銖妖斬怪) fu, the kill-ghost charm, is kept in haunted houses.
Chao ts'ai ch pao (招財聚寳) fu, the collect-wealth charm, is often made of yellow silk and hung in the centre of the chief room of the house, or it is painted yellow on white calico.
Hseh fu (血符), the blood charm, is made by the sorcerer, who wounds his own brow and breast and lets the blood flow on to a piece of calico which is given to a sick person to wear on his body. At execution times people dip calico into the blood of the victim, and wear it on their persons. Large cash are also taken and stained in the blood and worn as a protection against evil influences ; this practice is most common among devotees of the Lo Lo and Honan chiao.
An t'ai ( 安胎) fu, the settle-foetus charm, is used by women who fear miscarriage, or whose beds must be moved during pregnancy; it is mostly carried on the person or tied to the bed curtains, but sometimes it is burned and the ashes swallowed.
Ts'ui shng (催生) fu, the hurry-birth charm. This charm is prepared by the midwife, burned, and the ashes
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swallowed; it is used in cases of protracted labour where complications have set in.
T'ao (桃符) fu, the peach-wood charm, which is hung up on the outside of the chief door of the house oil the last day of the Chinese year, is simply a slip of peach-wood, but is widely used, being considered very effectual in driving away demons.
Ai (艾) fu, the artemisia charm, is used on the 5th of the 5th moon; it is a bunch of artemisia hung over the door of the dwelling-house to ward off evil.
Shan chi chao fu, the pheasant and mirror charm ; a picture of a pheasant is hung in the house opposite a mirror, and when the demon comes and looks into the mirror he sees the pheasant, fears being pecked from behind and forthwith flees. This is said to be a very ancient charm.
T'ai shan shih kan tang (泰山石敢當) fu, the t'ai shan charm, or the stone warden charm. A stone from Mount T'ai in Shantung is believed to have great power in warding off demons, though any local hard stone may be used ; on it will be written the above characters, " The stone from Mount T'ai dares to oppose." It is used on the streets especially at quick turnings where demons are likely to strike against it. It is largely used in country dwelling-houses and on public roads.
K'ai t'ien fu, the open-heaven charm, used in divination when the heavens are slow in response to the prayers of the family.
Chieh hui (解穢) fu, the purification charm, is used to purify an impure well or filthy water buckets, the charm being burned and the ashes dropped into these places. It is also used in silkworm culture at times when the silkworms become yellow instead of white, the ashes being scattered over them.
P'o-y (破獄) fu, the open-hell charm, used at wakes to burst open the gates of Hades and release the imprisoned soul. Then the call-spirit charm 招魂 chao hun fu is used, to help the soul out of Hades.
Lien hua (煉化) fu, the purge or purifying charm ; also called the suicide charm. If anyone threatens to commit
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suicide this charm is used to drive away the demon. It is also used after deaths to purge away the bad acts of the deceased.
Chao hsien fu, the call-fairy charm. It is said that each celestial has a particular charm.
Sh kuei (攝鬼) fu. The seize-demon charm is for haunted houses and is used both for wearing and for burning.
Chien chiang (遣將) fu, the dispatch-general charm. It is believed that there are in the spirit world thirty-six shuai (帥) and seventy-two chiang (將 ) or generals; and this charm can command the help of all these to ward off an attack by evil spirits.
Wu kuei fu, the five-demon charm. It is believed that the four points of the compass have their particular evil influences and one which controls the centre. This charm wards off these evil influences.
Ch'i sha (七煞) fu, the seven baneful deaths charms. These seven deaths come from the following seven sources: heaven, earth, man, year, month, day, and hour.
San sha. The three baneful deaths come from the following sources, and are spoken of separately as sui (嵗) sha, ch'ieh (劫) sha, tsai (災) sha, the evil influences of the year, robbery and calamity respectively.
Wu lei fu, the five-thunder charm, is used to break up an attack of ague or demon possession. It is burned and swallowed or worn on the person. The ague demons (擺子鬼) are said to be five in number, three cold and two hot; the two hot demons were originally named mao (毛), and the three cold ones named chao (趙). Legend has it that these five stole Lu pan's (魯班) hatchet and chisels and on being pursued, two fell into fire and were burned and three fell into the river and were drowned. The patient blackens the face, adding patches of red over the eyes and nose; a high cap is put on his head and he goes out with a club in his hand and stands motionless in an open place. Sometimes people who want medicine for ague dare not even whisper the name of pai tzǔ for fear that when they speak it, it will come; they will simply give a description of the disease and sometimes hardly
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that. In some cases of ague a petition is lodged with the kitchen god, beseeching him to use his good offices.
The ague is known by these three names, han ping kuei (寒病鬼), han hsia tzǔ (瞎子), han rh ko (二哥) ; the demon of the han ping, blind Han, Han number two, and is a serious sickness among the Chinese. When a person has it a staff is placed beside the wall and the sick man goes out and calls the demon, who, it is believed, takes the staff and walks out after him. When sitting in a house the custom is never to lean against the wall as this blind demon gropes around holding on to the wall and may get you.
Kuei she (龜蛇), the turtle and snake charm, or shui ho fu, the fire and water charm. The snake saves from flood and the turtle from fire; it is a picture of a red snake and a black turtle.
Chao yao ching (照妖鏡), illuminate-demon mirror, a round, brass mirror about five or six inches in diameter. It is worn by brides on the wedding day near the breast to frighten away demons who may accompany or meet them on the way; this is an ancient custom, but is dying out.
Chou hsien yin, or (虎符龍節) hu fu lung chieh. It is believed that the seal of the magistrate governs the demons to a depth of three feet below the surface of the ground. The proclamations issued with official seals are often defaced by cutting out the red seal mark. This is carried on the person to drive off demons. Most likely derived from the old-fashioned seals which had a tiger's head and a dragon's image on them; the seals of the present day do not have either. When a house is haunted it is not uncommon for a householder to beseech the official to stamp a few pieces of paper with his seal to hang up in the house.
Pei ch'ih (佩赤) fu, to carry cinnabar red on the person, sometimes mixed with a medicinal preparation.
DOOR GODS (門神), mn shen.
There are many guardian spirits of doors of houses, offices, etc., as follows :
Wn and wu mn shn, the literary and military guardians of the door. These are put on the outside doors of dwelling
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houses, public offices and temples ; the former is the picture of a civil official in the likeness of T'ien kuan, the latter, mostly seen on street doors, is generally a military official with shield and buckler, bow and arrows, ready for the fray.
Tung tzǔ (童子) mn shn, the youthful door god, is the likeness of two youths with red cord tied round the hair.
Ho ho rh hsien (和合二仙) mn shn is the door god of business partnership. It is a picture of four youths (two on either side of the picture), holding a large coin between them.
There is a female door god, n mn shn this is a picture of a woman, said to be one of the fairies.
Ch'in chn Hu shuai (秦軍胡帥), a picture of two military officials of the Tang dynasty, one called Ch'in Shu pao and the other, Hu Ch'ing t.
Lo cheh ( 落腳) mn shn, a door god as large as the door. Only those in high office or with high degrees dare have this style of door god. Some have civil and others military officials in full dress painted or engraven on their doors the full height of the door.
Shn t'u y li (神荼鬱壘) the mourning door god. In this case there is no picture, and all former door gods are washed or scraped off and the above four characters only are pasted two on each half of the door. Shmn shnn t'u and Y li are said to be two brothers mourning for a parent.
Pan (蟠) lung, the coiled dragon door god, is only used on temple doors at the two season sacrifices. No private residence dare use it as it is typical of the emperor.
Hng ho (哼哈) rh mn shn, the Buddhist door gods, ferocious-looking, only to be seen on the doors of Buddhist temples. These two hng and ho, are said to be parts of the goddess of mercy, who, on becoming a celestial, divided into seventy-two parts.
Tu cheh shou (獨角獸), the unicorn door god, can only be used by official families.
Chi kung mn shn, the rooster door god. This is a very ancient one, probably of aboriginal origin, and still used by the tribesmen in the mountain districts west of Kuan hsien. The rooster is believed to drive away ants and chicken blood
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drives away demons, hence the widespread use of cock's blood on the prow and stern of boats on the Yangtse. The Ssǔch'uanese say that their province is a chi lung hseh ( 雞籠穴), a chicken coop ; that is, it is surrounded by mountains, and when a coop is full the first thing to be done is to seize some chickens and kill them. This has been what other provinces have done to Ssǔch'uan in the past and what is feared in the present. So whenever trouble breaks out, chickens are killed and eaten wholesale to avert if possible this calamity.
Wu fu p'ng shou (捧壽), the five happinesses complete in old age. These five blessings are age, riches, peace, virtue, happiness. In this charm the character shou for old age occupies the centre with five bats fluttering around it; the five hats represent the five happinesses (蝠 for 福).
THE GODDESS OF MERCY (觀音), Kuan Yin.
Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy, is said to have been the third daughter of Miao Chuang wang (妙莊王), she and her sisters being styled as follows :
Ta chieh Wn Shu (大姊文殊) Erh chieh P'u Hsieh (二姊普賢 ), San chieh Kuan Yin （三姊觀音).
Miao Chuang wang is of aboriginal origin, and legend has it that he migrated from the Indian border to Ssǔch'uan and settled in Sui-ling hsien at a temple called Pei ch'eh ssǔ, where his daughters became nuns. The temple where they lived was burned down ; probably by their father, because of the lewd lives they were living; but legend says that the three nuns were unharmed. The worship and deification of lust is not unknown in Ssǔch'uan even now. The presence of the harlots' quarters in the city of Kuan hsien is said to preserve the good luck of the city. A few years ago when the police pulled down their houses and drove them away, several things happened which were reckoned unlucky and all was put down to the disturbing of these bad places. In some temples obscene pictures are still to be found ; and the worship of the tribesmen in the Wa si region is still a worship of evil passions.
The goddess holds in her left hand a small bottle of dry dew, containing the elixir of life, which carries people over the
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sea to the bliss beyond, while in her right hand she holds a willow twig. In all probability this goddess is none other than the Queen of Heaven, worshipped by the tribesmen and Tibetans. There are among the Chinese many forms of this goddess, a few of which are herewith given.
Shui Kuan Yin, the water goddess. This image is put up in wells and by river sides. The idea is that she purifies the water and makes it fit for food. Sometimes the priests make her devotees throw cash at the image till they strike the same spot as their own pain is situated in ; after the devotees have gone the priests fish up the money for their own use.
Kao Wang (高王) Kuan Yin; this form of the goddess is said to be derived from Kao Kuan kuo wang (高歓國王 ), who is said to have been condemned to death, but he invited the goddess to chant a thousand pages of the Chiu k'u ching or Save from suffering classic; and when the day of execution came, the sword broke in two, and from that time onward the goddess claimed this name among her many others.
Ch'ien shou Kuan Yin, the thousand-hand goddess, the omnipotent one. The origin of this form of the goddess is said to have been with a certain princess whose father's hand was diseased (probably cancer); she poulticed it with meat daily; but not content with this, she went to the goddess and begged her to heal the hand, which she did ; this princess was afterward made into the "thousand-hand goddess," whose image is covered all over with hands, which are believed to be extended in all directions for the saving of people from suffering.
Ch'ien yen Kuan Yin. The thousand-eye goddess, able to see everywhere; the omniscient one.
Sung tzǔ Kuan Yin, the son-giving goddess. To her shrine crowds of women resort every year. She is depicted holding a child in each arm and many more clinging about her.
Nan Kuan Yin, the male god of mercy. That is, by a process of divination she may be changed into a male. This god is also called the tzǔ hang tao jn (慈航道人) and is believed to have charge of the boat of compassion which ferries people over the difficulties of life.
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Feng po-lang Kuan Yin, the goddess of the winds and waves, and of the boatmen, who stills the turbulent waters.
Chin kang shan huo Kuan Yin, the diamond hill fire goddess. She saves people from burning houses.
Pai i Kuan Yin, the white-robed goddess. She is believed to be willing to visit the very poorest of homes and help people in their poverty.
P'iao hai Kuan Yin, the cross-sea goddess.
Wu lei fa wang (法王) Kuan Yin, the goddess of the five thunders, which issue from each of the points of the compass and one from overhead.
Tzǔ chu lin chung Kuan Yin, the goddess of the red bamboo grove.
PRECINCT OR LOCAL GOD (土地神), T'u ti shn.
Pen chai (本宅) or Chia shn (家神) t'u ti, the domestic precinct god ; whose shrine is situated at the foot of the heaven and earth tablet. His two servants are Chao ts'ai (招財) t'ung tzǔ and Chin pao ( 進寳) lang chn, a pair of youths who gather wealth. He is styled the Lord of the family and also the old man t'u ti. In Ssǔch'uan the 7th of the 7th moon is his birthday, and his worship is conducted inside the house. He is said to have originated in the Yuan dynasty at which time a chia ta-tzǔ (家搭子) or Mongol is said to have been billeted in each family; a conspiracy was formed and on the 3oth of the 12th moon they were all killed. Afterwards the houses were haunted, and to pacify the spirits the slaughtered Mongol was made into the precinct god of the domestic altar, his duty being to keep away evil from the house. He is said to be a dwarf, and if on the 7th of the 7th moon there should be a rise in the river that is spoken of as chang ai tzǔ shui ( 漲矮子水) or the dwarf's flood, and it is regarded as a lucky omen.
Miao mn or Shan Mn t'u ti. The local god of the temple door. The following scrolls indicate what this idol expects : 進門先拜我， 登殿莫欺吾. In entering first worship me. In ascending the altar don't deceive me.
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Ch'ng mn t'u ti, the precinct god of the city gate, is the deputy of the city god and one is placed at each city gate.
Ya shn t'u ti, the precinct god of the yamen, This shrine is usually inside the yamen and is patronized by the yamen runners and other public servants.
Chien ch'a (監察) t'u ti, the precinct god of the judgement hall, This idol is buried or covered with a flat stone in the centre of the first pavilion of the government office; the idea is that the idol is there to listen to the evidence given and the judgement pronounced.
Yang miao t'u ti or Ching sui fu jn, the precinct god of crops, looks after the growth of the grain ; if caterpillars or other pests attack it, he goes to the rescue. The shrines are very common all over the country. The scrolls on his shrine are often thus : 作一方之保障，佑四境以平安. The protector of whole district ; keeping the four boundaries in place. If he fails in his duty it is not uncommon to see this idol beheaded, his shrine roofless and the headless body exposed to the weather as a punishment for his neglect. If the vegetable gardens are robbed he is blamed for it, or if slugs or moles eat the crops. Travellers suffering from sore feet or sore back put stones in front of these shrines all along the way, believing that they will get better for so doing.
Kao shan or Shan shn t'u ti, the precinct god of the hills who protects people from wild beasts.
Wu chin t'u ti, the precinct god of mines. He governs the five metals, viz., gold, silver, brass, iron, coal ; the shrine is near the entrance to the mine.
Ho chieh (闔街) t'u ti; the precinct god of the street. His shrine may be at the end or in the middle of the street.
Ch'iao liang or Ch'iao t'ou t'u ti, the precinct god of bridges ; if the bridge has a roof over it, the first name is used and the shrine is situated at the centre of the bridge ; otherwise the shrine will be found at either end and the second name is used to designate it.
Yao mn t'u ti, the precinct god of the kiln; all lime, brick and tile kilns have this shrine at the entrance.
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Tng kan (燈杆) t'u ti, the lamp-pole precinct god. At the New Year season, from the 7th to the 15th of the first moon, a pole is fastened to the top of a high tree near the house and a lantern hung out at night. Sometimes a pole is set up by itself and the lamp raised every night of the year ; this is mostly in connection with temples and ancestral halls, but in both cases the idea is the same ; first, to scatter the orphan and wandering spirits ; second, it is a prayer to the Pearly Emperor for peace and plenty throughout the land.
IDOLATROUS FESTIVALS (神會), shn hui.
The 輔德大王or 城隍 Ch'ng Huang, the city god, is believed to be an exact counterpart of the civil official. His jurisdiction extends over all the spirit world, and his shrine is a miniature yamen ; many people go to it to protest their innocency. The ridiculous side in idolatry may be seen in the temple of the city god, for here we find his wife, his son and heir, his bedroom and bedding and toilet requisites; the priest spreads out the bedding at night and folds it up in the morning. The city god's wife is styled niang niang which is a title given to an empress and much superior to t'ai t'ai which is the style used for the civil official's wife. On entering this temple, on the right hand is to be found the p'an kuan (判官) or decider of fates in Hades, while on the opposite side is hsiao kuei (小鬼 ) who is head thief-catcher or ling pan (領班). Standing at the side in front are found the kn pan or lackeys, who are at his beck and call; while further down at the entrance are the hou pan (吼班) or callers who go in front of the official; also in the temple court is to be found the precinct god of the yamen, Ch'ng huang t'u ti. This idol is worshipped by yamen people in general, while close by are the famous yamen runners, Ch'in San ( 秦三) and Wu Ssǔ (吳泗). Ch'in San is said to belong to the Tang dynasty, Wu Ssǔ to Hs Chn chn 許真君 ; these are worshipped by yamen runners before embarking upon a difficult case. The chicken-footed god is a conspicuous idol, with black body and tongue hanging out ; by his side are his wife and family. When yamen runners
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wanted to apprehend any one, they used to make vows to this hideous image and put opium on its mouth. The ti fang shn or local deity, who corresponds to the headman in the country, is close by ; this deity knows where every demon resides. His body is white and, like the chicken-footed god, he has a wife and family around him and is worshipped by the yamen runners. In this temple there is also that unseemly idol known as Ho ho wu ch'ang (赫無常), to frighten people into remembering that their days on earth are uncertain, and if they do not repent their end will be destruction. In Kwan Hsien city temple there is a stone city god, which was dug up somewhere in the country ; when it was brought to the city the magistrate refused to admit it, saying, as in each city there was only one magistrate, so likewise ,only one city god could be tolerated, but after a time it was admitted and placed in a corner of the temple. In the lower courts of the city god temple are the ten Buddhist hells, presided over by the shih tien nien wang (十殿閻王) or ten kings of Hades. These are supposed to give a history of the soul's travail from death till transmigration takes place. These are as follows:
秦廣王. The first of the ten hells, where the spirit goes at death. Here the records of lives are kept; if the individual is very good a pass is given into the Western paradise ; if very bad, he is cast into the lowest abyss for ever; if he needs purging he is sent to the other nine kings of Hades and put through their sufferings and terrors till transmigration is reached. The pains in this first hell are hunger and thirst, and there is a mirror to show up the shortcomings of each person.
楚江王. In this court the unfilial have their limbs cut off or are sawn asunder. There are here sixteen minor places of punishment, among which are the black sand cloud hell, manure hell, impaled on pikes hell, hunger and thirst hell, burning thirst, blood hell, axe hell, grindstone hell, weigh up hell, chicken hell (where chickens peck their murderers), dust river hell, cut in pieces hell, double edged sword hell, fox and wolf hell, frost and ice hell. This hell is called the living hell.
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宋帝王. In this division of purgatory all have to pass over a bridge and many fall into the water ; then there is the thousand knife hill, on which many fall and are impaled. There are sixteen minor places under this king; the following may be named. The salt hell, hemp rope and cangue hell, pierce ribs hell, scrape face hell, also extracting kidneys, liver, heart, eyes and skin alive hell ; amputation of foot, finger and toe nails hell, suck blood hell, hang head downwards hell, break collar bone, break knee, etc. etc.
五官王. Here are to be found the oil caldron and fire pillar for adulterers. Under this king there are sixteen other hells, such as the slough hell, pikes, scalding, extracting marrow, crush bones, brush skin, nail skin, sit on needles, sear with hot iron, prick eyes, dust filling mouth, prick lips, pour medicine, slippery road and burying hells.
閻羅王. By the side of this king of Hades are placed two demons, one with a cow's and the other with a horse's head. Here is the cold ice, the sawing asunder and other sufferings, after which it is said that the wind of Hades flows on the broken and bruised spirits and makes them whole and ready for the next court.
卞城王. In this court is an iron bound city with no way out, and the tearing out of the tongues of those who have been liars. This is called the yelling hell.
秦山王. Here the god of thunder strikes some dead, while others are killed by heaping stones over them.
都市王. This is the dirty blood hell ; many are ground on the grindstone ; it is called the disturbed court and has sixteen minor places of punishment under it.
平等王. In this court those who have killed dogs are eaten by dogs, and those who have killed chickens are pecked by chickens, and those who have killed horses or oxen are tormented by them.
輪轉王. When the souls reach this stage they are given some soup, called mi hu t'ang (迷昏湯) which makes them forget their former sorrows and existence, and they are sent forth again into the world in all kinds of different forms. This is what is known as the revolving wheel of transmigration of souls.
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The festival of the city god is the greatest event of the year in most cities, and generally extends over one month, when theatricals are acted in honour of the event ; and probably many hundreds of taels squandered in every city. In many of the market towns on the Ch'eng tu plain, city gods' temples are still to be found, and the explanation is that these towns were formerly district cities with resident magistrates ; they still keep their festivals on the old dates, which vary in almost every place. When the date approaches the residents and shopkeepers are visited by the heads of a society, and every house is asked to contribute to the expenses of the festival. The streets are decorated with coloured and embroidered cloth called p'ng ts'ai. A coolie wheels a barrow through the streets with a fire tub on which are burning the branches of the cedar tree or pai chi (柏枝) these branches are widely used for disinfecting houses after disease). Following the wheelbarrow come the p'an kuan and the t'u ti ; these go round on a tour of inspection to see that the streets are fit for the idol procession on the following day. This is spoken of as sao chieh, sweeping the streets.
Cho (捉) han lin, to seize the wild spirits. This is done by dressing a beggar as a demon, and placing him at a fixed point in the country. Certain persons dressed as runners of the city god go out and apprehend this person, put a chain round his neck and lead him into the city in triumph. Great crowds of people stand round to see this performance. The belief is that unless this is done trouble will break out at the theatricals during the month.
Ch'ng huang ch'u chia (城隍出駕), the city god goes for a ride. In front of this procession the following may be seen:
Ta chu (燭) hui, the big candle society, which provides a huge candle carried in front of the idol.
Ta hsiang (香) hui, the big incense society, which provides a large stick of incense to be carried between two men in the procession.
Yin ch'ai (陰差) hui, for providing runners, or men dressed as demons, to go before the idol. Those who act
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these parts are often people who have made a vow at the shrine. Among them are those who wear chains, or the cangue, or hang lamps on their flesh, or carry incense ; some are dressed as the celestials of the eight caves (八洞神仙); others as the deciders of fates in Hades (四值功曹) and still others who k'o t'ou at each step as they go.
Luan chia ( 鑾駕) hui, or imperial carriage society. This displays various pewter articles carried high on poles; such as a man's hand, a melon, official seals, hatchet, spear, etc. These are to show forth the glory of the idol.
Tuan hsiang p'an (端香盤), to carry incense urns. The gentry and merchants dressed in their best clothing, wearing their official hats and high boots, walk in front of the idol, some carrying incense urns, others gold fishes or silver and other precious metals. The proper order in the procession is as follows : incense, flowers, lanterns, water, fruits, tea-leaves, cakes, precious stones, silver and pearls. These are all brought out as the people's offering to the city god.
The Lung tng hui, a dragon lantern society; Shih tng hui, the lion lantern society; Lung hu hui, the dragon tiger society ; Chin hua hui, the gold flower society ; Shih kung hui, the nourishment society, and many others join in the great throng, and thousands of people with sticks of incense in their hands follow in the idol procession. The celestials, personified by men, who come out with the city god are as follows :
L Tung-pin (呂洞賓), a scholar of the T'ang dynasty. He is worshipped by the sick, and carries a sword for defence. The eight celestials are said to represent male and female, old and young, rich and honourable, poor and destitute.
Han Chung-li (漢鍾離 ). This celestial carries a fan with which he fans the souls of the departed in Hades and restores them to life.
Lan Ts'ai-ho (蘭采和), said to be a woman, who carries a basket of flowers and assists florists.
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T'ieh Kuai-li ( 鉄拐李), believed to have been a beggar who died and rose again from the dead ; he carries a crutch and a melon and is said to assist physicians.
Ts'ao Kuo-chu (曹國舅), said to have been a rich man ; he wears official garments and hat, in his hands he carries castanets, and he is the patron of mummers and actors.
Chang Ko-lao (張囯老), an old scholar who carries a bamboo pencil-case and ink pot and helps scholars to obtain a good style in writing.
Han Hsiang-tzǔ ( 韓相子), a youth who is said to have been the apprentice of L Tung-pin ; he carries a flute and is the patron of musicians.
Ho Hsien-ku (何仙姑), a woman who stands on the floating petal of the lotus flower with a fly whip in her hand, and helps in house management.
Teng kan hui (燈杆會), lantern pole festival. The lanterns are of several kinds, such as san kuan tng, three lamps hung out at New Year time representing the Taoist trinity.
Wu ku tng, five lanterns lighted in a temporary building to represent the five kinds of grain and the desire for a good harvest.
Yen wo tng, wild goose lantern, a number of lanterns strung on a rope and hoisted high in the air to represent a flock of wild geese on the wing. In some places a pole is erected with cross poles every few feet on which lanterns are hung. These geese are believed to have the power of determining the seasons.
Tien tng, a sky lantern. This is a single lantern erected in a temple and on river sides, kept lighted all the year round and called wan nien tng, ten-thousand-year lantern.
Han lin tng, the orphan spirits' lantern. This is a lantern lighted in a building prepared for the purpose, especially to lighten the benighted spirits.
Y Huang hui (玉皇會), the birthday of the Pearly Emperor, the 9th of the first moon ; the Buddhist devotees worship him and offer gifts on the shrine.
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Wn Ch'ang hui, the festival of the god of literature, who is now one of the patron idols of the secret society, owing to the Confucius Society being gradually amalgamated with the larger Society. This is held on the 2nd of the 2nd moon.
Kuan yin hui, the birthday of the Goddess of Mercy, held on the 19th of the 2nd moon.
Hua shn hui, the birthday of the god of flowers, who is said to be Wu Tse-t'ien (武則天) of the T'ang dynasty. The date is the 2nd of the 2nd moon.
Lao chn hui, the birthday of the founder of the Taoist sect, who is said to have been born at the Ch'ing yang kung near Ch'engtu, where a great annual fair is held in honour of his birthday on the 15th of the 2nd moon. This is perhaps the most famous fair in the province, large numbers of people go to worship at the shrine of the Sage and also at that of his mother, which is next door, and at the shrine of the celestial Chang san fng of the. Ming dynasty. Li lao chn is made more famous by being reputed to be the ancestor of Li Ping of irrigation fame.
San p'o hui (三婆會), the Goddess of Mercy festival. This is san hsiao (三霄) or the Sung tzǔ Kuan Yin; this birthday falls on the 3rd of the 3rd moon.
Tung tzǔ hui, the baby festival. This is often held on the same day as the last-named feast ; the custom of ch'iang (搶) t'ung tzǔ, scrambling for small images, is still carried out with great gusto.
Fo tsu hui (佛祖會), the birthday of Buddha, held on the 8th of the 4th moon.
L tsu hui, the birthday of one of the celestials, the god of the sorcerer, those who manage the magic pen.
Tung huang hui, the birthday of Yo Fei, who became the god of the eastern peak. This is a Taoist festival and is held on the 28th of the 3rd moon.
Tan tao ( 單刀) hui, the birthday of Kuan ti, ancestor of the Secret Society; being a native of Shansi the people toward the north make much of this festival.
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Lang chung (閬中) hui, the birthday of Chang Fei. This is the day for butchers, soldiers, and archers, and falls on the 22nd of the 3rd moon.
Ts'ai shn hui, the birthday of the god of wealth, the patron deity of the silversmiths, cash shops, and business men in general.
Yeh wang hui, the birthday of the god of medicine, worshipped by doctors and medicine shop keepers. This falls on the 28th of the 4th moon.
Wang yeh hui, the boatmens' god festival. Said to be Yang Ssǔ wang (楊泗王), of the Sung dynasty. His title is Chn Chiang wang (鎮江王) ; the date is the 6th of the 6th moon. The festival is kept by boatmen, raftsmen and all who trade on the waterways.
Ling tsu hui, the festival of the witch, wizard and sorcerer, on the 16th of the 6th moon.
Yen ti hui, the birthday of the god of fire; in some cities a great procession parades the streets on this date.
Lu pan (魯班) the birthday of Lu pan or the carpenters' god, said to have been the son of a statesman of Lu who lived in Ch' fou (曲阜) about 50o B.C. He is said to have been clever at inventions and is now worshipped by carpenters, masons, hewers, sawyers, and carvers.
Lo (羅) tsu hui, the birthday of Lo tsu the barbers' god. On that day the barbers have one of their few holidays. It falls on the 13th of the 7th moon.
Ts'ai lun hui, the birthday of the paper-makers' god, a general holiday for the paper factory employees.
Meng t'ien hui, the birthday of the pencil-makers' god. The workers have a holiday on this day.
San huang hui; this is the festival of the fortune tellers and quack doctors.
Hsuan yan hui, festival of the tailors' god.
K'ung Tzǔ hui, the birthday of Confucius. In schools the tablet of Confucius is worshipped. Chair-bearers also worship the sage because they believe that he invented the sedan chair.
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Ch'i pao hui, the festival of the miners of gold, silver, brass, iron, pewter, coal and lime, This is a great feast ; pigs are killed and crackers fired off in honour of the god of precious things.
Shan wang hui, the birthday of the god of the hills, worshipped by woodmen.
Ch'ai wang hui, the wheelbarrowmens' festival. Ch'ai was an ancient emperor who only ruled a few months. Barrowmen also worship Kuan ti who is said to have been a barrowman in youth.
Lao lang hui, the actors' festival.
Shuang ling hui, the yamen runners' festival. At this time the chicken-footed god and the local deity come out for an airing. This falls on the 4th of the 4th moon, and the yamen runners worship the above two deities who assist them in sifting out difficult cases.
Niu wang hui, the birthday of the ox king. The general holiday for oxen ; few if any do any work on this day, the 1st of the 10th moon.
Ma wang hui, the birthday of the king of horses. Yamen runners and horse-fanciers make a good deal of this festival.
Tu K'ang (杜康), the festival of the god of wine, worshipped by the distillers of alcohol ; I Ti (儀狄), who lived about the time of Hsia Y wang is said to have been the first famous Chinese brewer, and he was executed lest his art should be propagated among the people.
Ma t'ou niang, the silk-worm god, worshipped by all who rear silk-worms.
Chien tu shn, the god of the professional gamblers. He is set on the table, in worship incense, candles and crackers are used, a chicken is killed and a bow made toward the table and the image.
Wn shen (瘟神), the god of pestilence. It is believed that he saw a demon poison the well, and jumped in and drowned himself to keep the people from drinking the water.
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Hsieh nhung shn, the farmers' god, said to be Chou Wn wang, the ancestor of Hou chi. Some people still write Hou chi hsien nung as a tablet and worship it.
T'ai tzǔ, the actors' god. Said to be Tang Ming Huang, whose image is kept on a chair on the stage to keep the actors from laughing.
Chin ching (金精), the gold essence or silversmiths' god. The pure gold is believed to be a spirit.
.Lu y (陸羽), the tea growers' god. This was a personage belonging to the Sung dynasty who was able to grow good tea.
Ch'i yu （蚩尤), the salt god festival, said to be Hsan yuan. Tradition has it that he was the first rebel, and his blood became salt.
Jih yu shn, the rambling god of the day who is believed to have only one foot.
Yeh yu shn, the rambling god of the night, who is believed to have only one hand.
Chiang t'ai kung, the fishermans' god, who is believed to be Chou Wn wang and the originator of idolatrous practices. Though a scholar, he fished till he was eighty years of age with a straight hook and rice as bait.
FIRE AND PESTILENCE FAST (醮會), Chiao hui
The feast of All Souls is held yearly from the first to the fourth moons, and is strongly believed in as a protection against fire and pestilence. It is called Ta ch'ing chiao (打清醮), Wn ho (瘟火) chiao, and P'ing an (平安) chiao.
The fast may last from four to fifteen days. There is no killing of pigs, oxen and chickens or any live stock, chin t'u (禁屠), and so rigid is the fast sometimes, that it is hardly possible to buy an egg.
Strings are stretched across the streets and yellow paper flags, with fringed edges and holes punched through them are displayed, yang fan (楊幡), to call the spirits to enter the hall of the fast.
A list of contributors to the expenses of the feast is made out, with the names of the priests invited, and the particular
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deities to be invoked. The altar is sometimes set up in a temple, but sometimes in a booth for the purpose. The idolatries practised and the rites performed are much the same as in sorcery. In each family the kitchen god is specially worshipped.
A boat is made of a bamboo frame covered with paper, for carrying away the demons of fire and plague. At the end of the feast it is carried out and destroyed. The following is the tablet pasted on the door of the temple where the fast bureau is situated; at the close it is carried away (火分遞四值功曹傳送土地) to the piazza where the offerings are burned, also to the spirits of the four points of the compass, and to the precinct god.
The tablet Wn ho p'ai, to the god of fire and pestilence is set up at the door of each house where they have contributed to the funds of the fast. It is presented by the managers of the fast and is carried out along with the other paraphernalia at the close : 當年太歲瘟火二部至德尊神各家本宅廚竈神君. To the spirit of pestilence and fire of the current year. To the kitchen god of each family.
Chao fan (朝幡). To visit the streamers. Each to or 20 families besides having streamers stretched across the street, have a small flag staff set up in their vicinity, some 15 to 20 feet high ; during the day a long yellow streamer is suspended from it, and at night a light is displayed there. The officiating Taoist sorcerer visits each of these poles morning and night throughout the fast. On the first visit he burns an official dispatch to the god of fire and pestilence, and afterwards burns paper each morning and evening and kneels and worships the fire spirit of the vicinity. The tablet written and pasted on the pole is as follows: 幡桿使者樹幟大神. To the angel of the pole, the great spirit who unfurls the flag.
It is said that this fast was instituted by a priest at Niang tzǔ ling named Ch'n Chung-yen soon after the Chinese subjugated tha Chin Ch'uan (金川) district; at that time, whole armies of Chinese and aboriginal troops were
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slaughtered, making the disembodied and orphan spirits very many ; and this mode of appeasing them was adopted.
Each family who pays a contribution toward the expenses of the fast, also hands in at the same time the names and birthdays of the heads of the family to the officiating priest, who finds out from the Y chang shng shn (羽章生神), whether the year will be propitious for them or not, in order that precautions may be taken.
The names of contributors are sent by dispatch to the Pearly Emperor. This dispatch is burned in front of the fast bureau. Similarly, he receives a list of the classics chanted and the incantations done during the fast.
Two tablets are written and given to each family, one for the kitchen god, another for the fire and pestilence god. Candles and incense are also distributed to each family. The kitchen god in each household is worshipped by burning ch'ien ma cash horse (this is one difference from the ancestral worship where chih ch'ien, paper money is used); then the fire and pestilence boat begins to parade the streets.
Before the boat reaches the house a tub of water is placed in front of the door, and a lighted lamp is placed inside the tub; then someone blows out the lamp, which implies that the fire is extinguished. When the epidemic boat reaches each house a man with a broom goes and sweeps a little in front of each door, collects what remains of the tablet candles, incense, paper money, etc. and throws them into the boat; this is called sao t'ang (掃蕩). The boat, after fulfilling its purpose of collecting all the fire and demon influences of the district is then taken to the river side and set fire to, and pushed out on to the water which carries it quickly away.
To san chn chai fu (撒鎮宅符) is to give a charm of protection to each family which has part in the fast. A charm is written on yellow paper, of varying size. These character charms are all made up by sorcerers for the special purpose ; they are the seal of the san ch'ing, of the Pearly Emperor, of Tou k'ou (斗口), or the Ling kuan charm.
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Small paper lamps which have been soaked in oil are then lit and sent off on the river in the dark to light the orphan spirits of the drowned.
Chien sung shng chia (餞送聖駕) is to disperse the spirits to their abode with an offering.
Food and warning are given to the demons shih shih fang chieh (施食放戒). A row of candles is set up by the wayside (this is called ch'a lu cho 插路燭) to lighten the demons to the spot. The candles are made of lengths of bamboo four or five feet high, and are sometimes eighty or more in number; they are wound round with paper soaked in oil and pitch. After they are lighted some rice gruel is placed at the foot of each candle ; so that the spirits may have both light and food, along with the exhortation to repent and forsake their evil works. T'ang pa tzǔ are scattered sweetmeats, which are scrambled for and eaten by everybody; the belief being that they who eat them will be relieved from bad dreams and the danger of becoming crazy.
The idols of the temple where the fast has been held have to be pacified, lest they may have been offended or jealous; and this ends the yearly fast for preventing fire and pestilence.
A fast to the god of fire, Ta (打) ho chiao, is proclaimed when there has been a conflagration in the neighbourhood, or certain omens point to one being imminent. In the case of a conflagration the family in whose house it started may be fined and beaten by the official and people, kept from receiving any monetary help disbursed or may even be driven from the district. In cases of thieving during the conflagration the goods are rarely taken home for seven days till the danger of fire connected with them is quite removed. So great is the fear of fire that when distributing relief, no one will dare to take the relief unless they have really suffered, lest they themselves should be implicated. Those who are thus burned out of house and home are not allowed to enter any person's house for seven days, lest they should bring the fire demon with them ; for this and the following things the fire demon has to be appeased.
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If a chicken goes on the roof, it is very unlucky and a sign that fire is likely to come, owing to the red on the rooster's neck, which is like fire. The chicken when caught is beheaded, and the head thrown over the roof of the house ; some will not even eat the chicken for fear of fire.
To spill oil or alcohol in the house or on the street is believed to be very unlucky and a certain sign that fire will break out. Any coolie spilling oil on the street is fined or his oil confiscated to pay the expense of pacifying the fire demon.
Rooks chattering in the night is said to be a sign of fire. Sometimes the rooks are driven away, but never killed, as they are reckoned to be very lucky birds.
Rats removing their young from a house, a snake twisting round a bamboo to get to the sun, a shower of meteors or a meteor falling are signs that fire is likely to break out. In order to drive away the fire demon the following black arts are resorted to :---
Shua shui lung, to play the water dragon. The dragon is made of a plaited bamboo framework about one foot in diameter and perhaps 21 feet long. Each family prepares a bucket of water and throws it over the dragon to drown the fire demon.
Chien sung huo hsing, to take away the fire star. This is supposed to be the planet Mars, which is also said to be the star of evil rumours. When this affair is carried out in detail many of the ceremonies of the former fire and pestilence ritual are gone through.
Ta wn chiao, to pacify the pestilence god. In times of cholera the people became very excited and everything possible is done to appease and deceive the demon. They even go to the length of having the New Year in the middle of summer. The fresh door-gods are put on the doors, new scrolls are written and pasted on the door posts, the idols worshipped and incense burned, with the idea of cheating the demon and making it believe that it is midwinter and thus cool weather.
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A dragon made of light bamboo covered with green cloth is carried through the streets and into the homes of the people ; each family receives it with incense, candles and paper, while the men who parade it are rewarded with money. Many of the incantations and ritual given under the fire and epidemic fast are practised in this also.
Again an epidemic boat is made, with a man shao kung (艄公) at the bows and a woman, shao p'o, to steer, while in the centre of the boat sits the demon. The beard of the fire demon is red, while that of the pestilence demon is green. The god of the pestilence is said to have been K'ang t'ien chn, whose tablet is as follows: 當年行瘟天子至德尊神. To the god of pestilence who governs the current year.
A fast of praying to heaven is held, Lo (羅) t'ien or Ch'i (祈) t'ien ta chiao, in times of distress or at regular intervals from three to fifteen years in different cities. When the fast is proclaimed it is generally a very rigid one, with much ritual, sorcery and chanting, and may last from seven to fifty days. During the recent rebellion, before the establishment of the republic, this fast was proclaimed in many places to ask for protection from the government soldiers.
Huang ch'ung (蝗蟲) chiao is a fast held in the country to keep the locusts and caterpillars from the crops. If this fast is held in a temple the local precinct god is notified by the burning of incense and putting up of fresh scrolls at his shrine. Five-coloured flags are put up at the corners of the field ; this is said to be equivalent to invitation to the rooks to come and devour the pests. The old custom of walking round the fields beating a gong or drum is still to be found ; it is said that the caterpillars fall to the ground at the sound. Farmers say that one of the chief benefits of a heavy thunder-storm is to make these pests drop off by the thousand.
FASTS FOR RAIN AND FINE WEATHER,
(祈晴禱雨) Chi Ch'ing tao y
In times of drought or very wet weather the official issues a proclamation forbidding the butcher to kill pigs or oxen, chin tu (禁屠). The idea is that the taking of life is an offence against the gods.
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In times of drought an altar is put up at the Lung Wang miao, the temple of the dragon king. In times of flood it is erected at the Huo shn miao, the temple of the god of fire. At this altar the district magistrate makes obeisance morning and night.
When fasting for fine weather the north gate of the city is closed ; when fasting for rain, the south gate; because it is said in the eight diagrams, the North belongs to water and the South to fire.
To shoot the mists, ta wu (打霧). In times of continued wet weather, soldiers are told of to shoot at the mists. The people put great faith in this practice.
In wet weather the official has to worship the sun tablet in some temple, and all the people have to worship a tablet to this luminary at the doors of their dwellings.
In times of drought the Dragon king is worshipped and each home has a tablet put up beseeching his help ; also the water dragon is brought out. This is a plaited bamboo frame joined together with sackcloth, which is paraded through the streets by young men; each house prepares a bucket of water and a ladle and as the dragon passes it is drenched with water. Another method is to hsiao kou, to laugh at the dog.. The custom has its origin in the saying, if you laugh at a dog the weather won't be fine. In times of desperation for lack of rain, a dog is dressed up as a bride, put in a chair and carried through the streets and every one laughs at it, hoping that by doing so rain may come.
Officials go barefooted and pray for rain ; this is said to be an example of an official suffering for his people.
In some cases the Ch'ng huang or city god is stood in the sun. I have known of the district magistrate getting angry at the prolongation of the drought and demanding that the city god give him an explanation ; he said, " You govern the dead, and I the living; let us both stand in the sun and the one whose head splits first must bear the blame of the drought." The result was that the idol's head was cracked by the sun.
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Men also go to the dragon pool and carry home a bucketful of water, which is worshipped at the altar. At the pool a chicken is sacrificed and its head thrown to the dragon. On the return journey twigs are stuck into the hair of those who go on this errand.
The pang (梆) pang y or wa (娃) wa y , is a human-headed fish, a kind of mermaid ; it is caught and kept in a tank of water till the rain comes. This is a rare fish, but it has come under my notice on two or three occasions, when thousands of people have run mad after the creature.
When the magistrate is not in favour with the people, they may attack the yamen and demand water for fields or rain.
Another method is to throw the egg. A water butt is prepared and filled with water, and decked round with cedar and willow branches. An egg is selected, over which " thunder" incantations are read morning and evening for three days, after which it is thrown up into the air with the belief that the rain will accompany it on its downfall.
BOOK VI. TIMES AND SEASONS (四季), ssu ch'i
THE SEASONS OF THE YEAR (.二十四節）
Ying ch'un (迎春). Meeting the spring is the farmer's annual holiday. Great crowds go to the city to see the spring ox and the official procession, On the morning of the day, the various small officials of a district city make their way to the magistrate's office, where they get their pay for that day. Later in the forenoon, the magistrate, dressed as a court official, with 16 men bearing his chair and 16 pulling it, comes out in state. Even the yamen underlings ride horses and wear degreed men's hats on this occasion. They proceed to the east gate and meet spring in the form of an earthen ox and an image spoken of as the mang shen (芒神) or ox driver. The spring ox is taken to a field on the east of the city, attached to a plough and taken a few times up and down the field, with the magistrate after it ; the magistrate then approaches the real plough and buffalo, which has been prepared and decorated for the purpose ; this is called kung ching (躬耕), personal ploughing. After worshipping the spring ox and driver, he returns to his office by the south or west gate. That day he gives a feast to all his underlings who have congratulated him on being the priest of spring. This is the only day in many officials' lives when they really can be great. Sometimes he rides in an open chair with
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garlands of flowers and branches over and around him. The day costs him some hundreds of strings of cash and is one of the gala days of the year.
The ox is made by special instructions from the official, and great interest is taken in all the details of colour both of the ox and the driver. If the ox is yellow, the people say that the year will be a fruitful one, and a bumper harvest is expected. If it is red, fire and calamity will be rife ; if white, mourning will be very plentiful ; if green, plague will ravage the country ; if black, sickness and disease will be plentiful. The spring will be early or late according as the tail is uplifted or downhanging. If the ox is lying down it is also an indication of a late spring. If the garments of the driver are stripped off and trousers tucked up then an early spring is expected, but if its shoes are on and down at the heels the spring will be late. If the clothing is properly on with girdle and garters complete, then the spring will be an ordinary one.
The ancient custom of making a mud ball in the shape of a drum during the winter and breaking it at the opening of spring chi t'u ku (擊土鼓) is probably the origin of the spring ox.
Li ch'un or ta ch'un is to begin spring. This is the day following the meeting of spring, and the crowd is much smaller. On this day the farmers will not sweep their floors for fear of sweeping away Mother Earth who has to bring forth her fruits, neither will they disturb her by sowing or digging. The spring ox and driver having been taken the day previous to the yamen court, the official, dressed again in the robes of the priest of spring, makes an offering to them, after which he strikes the first blow at the ox which is speedily demolished by the crowd and carried off to the homes and the fields of the people. The calf inside it is taken and carried to some family which has no sons. The driver is burned and the whole cleared out of sight and the ceremony is now over. Among the rustics all this is very important, and some even believe that if there was no spring ox there could hardly be any harvest.
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Y shui (雨水), spring rain. At this season flowers are transplanted and trees grafted. Aged people, who need to chieh hsien ( 接限) do so with the greatest benefit, they believe, at this season. (See Sorcery.)
Ching chih (驚蟄), the time of moving insects. At this season snakes come forth from hibernation and bees emerge from their hives. The silk-worms' eggs are now taken on to the bodies or into the beds of people, to be hatched.
Ch'un fen, spring equinox, a general holiday for farmers, called the master's gathering, 當家會. No one goes into his field or garden on that day lest he should be troubled with birds and insects through the year. On this date the king of birds is worshipped.
Ch'ing ming, clear brightness. At this season, great crowds of people visit the graveyards, shang fen (上墳), and put flags on the graves. These flags are said to show the grave is still attended, but in some places their purpose is said to be to call the spirit. Incense and paper are burned, and food prepared at home is carried here and eaten picnic style. Many go to weep at the graves, but many more go for a day's pleasure, to drink wine and play at "Morra," and many become deeply intoxicated. It is believed that the departed ancestors present themselves and partake of the offered food. At the New Year and the 7th moon feast the spirits of the ancestors return to the home, but at this season, the living visit the habitations of the dead. In Kwan Hsien this feast is spoken of as lao wa (老鴉 ) hui, or crows' festival.
At this time the city god goes to relieve the orphan spirits shang ku (賞孤), by burning the cash paper. On his return journey, the district magistrate goes to meet the idol procession.
Han shih (寒食) chieh, the cold food feast. This is an ancient feast held the day preceding ch'ing ming. Formerly no one lighted fires in the house on this day, in remembrance of a certain Chieh Chih t'ui (介之推) who was a henchman of one of the princes of the Lieh Kuo period. When on one occasion the prince was about to die of starvation, Chieh Chih
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t'ui cut off a piece of his own flesh and gave it to the prince to eat, and thus saved his life. When the prince got to the seat of power, he forgot his faithful henchman, whereupon he fled with his mother, having a willow twig stuck in his hat, to a certain Mien Shan 綿山. When the prince eventually recollected his friend and benefactor he sent men to seek him; Though it was reported that he was hidden on a certain mountain, they could not find him. So in desperation they set fire to the brushwood on the mountain to force him out, but he would not yield and was burned to death ; and ever since that time some remembrance has been kept of him; though no one refrains from lighting a fire on that day as formerly, still many people wear a twig, of the willow tree, either in the hat or hair, in remembrance of him.
Ku y, rice rain. This is the time when the rice seed bed is sown. Rain and sunshine are both needed at this time.
Li hsia, beginning of summer. Summer is believed to come from the south.
Hsiao man, small fullness. That is, the hsiao ch'un or spring crop is ready for reaping in order to clear the land for the summer crop.
Mang chung, hurrying to plant the rice crop. This is the busiest season of the year, with reaping and ploughing, harrowing and planting.
Hsia chih (夏至 ), the midsummer solstice. At this season the male and female principles are unequal and therefore have to be avoided.
The people now begin to count the days till the dog days or (三伏天) commence. If the three fu (伏) are complete, there will be 30 days, but they rarely are complete, the autumn coming in before these days have run through their course, but after autumn there are still twenty-four autumn tigers,秋老虎, following on the san fu. In each Chinese moon there are three keng (庚), that is, one in every ten days; after mid-summer three of these king are counted and then the dog days begin, and may last from 21 to 29 days.
Hsiao shu, small heat, and ta shu, great heat; these two cover the period just spoken of as the dog days.
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Li ch'iu. The beginning of autumn, which is believed to come from the west. The people are pleased if it is very hot on this date as it means there will be dry grain in the granaries. Again, if this day should happen to be a chia (甲), it will rain for 120 days, if a ping (丙), it will be fine for that time.
Ch'u shu, the finish of the heat; after this date the water is drained from the general crop of rice.
Pai lu, white dew. Cool weather arrives.
Ch'iu fn, mid-autumn equinox.
Han lu, cold dew. At this season the farmers sow turnips, plant cabbages, sow tobacco seeds, the tobacco seedlings standing all through the winter, ready, to be planted out in the spring.
Shuang chiang, descending frost. The military official goes out at this time to meet the frost which is said to appear as a horse-headed woman. This is the time when all nature dies, and the officials follow after Heaven's idea and carry out such executions as may be necessary.
Li tung, the beginning of the winter, which is believed to come from the north.
Hsiao hseh, small snow, and Ta hseh, great snow. These two periods cover a part of the