FOOTNOTES:

PROTECTIVE CHARMS USED IN WEIHAIWEI.

Weihaiwei also has its witches (wu p'o) and diviners (often calledsuan kua hsien-shêng), who by acting as trance-mediums between the living and the dead, or by manipulating little wands of bamboo or peach-wood,[120]or by the use of a kind ofplanchette, profess to be able to foretell the future[121]or to answer questions regarding the present and past, or to disclose where stolen property has been concealed and by whom it has been taken. I have personally known of a case in which a thief was captured by means of the indications given by a fortune-teller. His method was to take a small stick in each hand and point them both in front of him, keeping his clenched handsclose to his sides. He then moved slowly round, and when the sticks were pointing in the direction the thief had gone the points came together.[122]No doubt there is as much make-believe and quackery about these mysterious doings as there is in the similar practices of many so-called mediums in the West; but I am unwilling to believe that "there is nothing in it." Some day, let us hope, the "spiritualism" of China will be thoroughly studied by scientific investigators, and it will be surprising if the results do not form a most valuable addition to the material collected by the European and American societies for psychical research.[123]

Witches and mediums in Weihaiwei are often applied to for remedies in cases of bodily sickness, for it is supposed that what such persons do not know about herbs and drugs is not worth knowing; and the fact that they are able to throw a little magic into their brews naturally makes their concoctions much more valuable than those provided by ordinary doctors. Chinese medicines, as every one knows, often consist of highly disagreeable ingredients,[124]but some—even when compounded by witches and other uncanny healers—are comparatively harmless. Certain methods of treatment for the bite of a mad dog may perhaps be cited as typical products of the combined arts of medicine and witchcraft in Weihaiwei. The simplest method is to boil the mad dog's liver, heart and lungs, and make the patient eat them. Another is to make a number of little wheat-cakes, moulded into a dog's shape, and administer them to the patient one by one. As he consumes them he should sit at the front door of his house and repeatedly utter in a loud and determined voice the words, "I am not going to die; I am not going to die." This procedure is evidently a curious blend of something like sympathetic magic and cure by self-suggestion. Have the Chinese anticipated the methods of the well-meaning persons who call themselves Christian Scientists? A third way of providing against hydrophobia is to take some of the hairs of the mad dog and burn them to ashes; the ashes are then mixed in a cup of rice-wine and imbibed by the patient. The idea that the hair of a mad dog will cure the person who has had the misfortune to be bitten must be very widespread, for it existed in the British Isles and there is a reference to it in the Scandinavian Edda.[125]

Those who are familiar with the mazes of folk-lore will not be surprised to hear that the madness of a person who suffers from hydrophobia is supposed by many people in Weihaiwei to communicate itself to the very clothes he wears. "If the clothes are put aside in a heap," said one of my informants, "they will be seen to quiver and tremble, and sometimes they will leap about as if alive." Being a truthful man, he added, "I have never actually seen this happen myself." In the market-village of Fêng-lin there is a man of some local celebrity who is said to have effected many remarkable cures of hydrophobia by means of a recipe which he jealously guards as a family secret.

If his prescription cannot be given here, another (supposed to be equally efficacious) may take its place. Cut the tips off a couple of chopsticks (the Oriental substitute for knife and fork), pound them into a pulp and stew them for an hour; add an ounce of hempen-fibre, burnt almost to ashes, and some morsels of the herb known asch'ing-fêng-t'êng. The chopsticks must be of wood, painted red, and they must be old ones that have been often used. The tips consist of the thin ends employed in picking up food. The whole mixture should be well mixed together and boiled in water, and administered to the patient as a liquid drug. The prescription adds that while undergoing this treatment the patient should beware of yielding himself to feelings of nervousness; that for three days he must shun cold or uncooked food; and that owing to the singular efficacy of this medicine, he need not avoid crossing rivers. The mention of the ends of chopsticks as an ingredient in this preparation seems curious, and specially noteworthy is the fact that the medicinal virtue residesonly in old chopsticks, not in new ones. As this ingredient appears in other Chinese medicines besides those intended for the cure of hydrophobia, it may be conjectured that some health-giving quality is supposed to pass into the tips of chopsticks from the food which they manipulate, and that this quality can be transferred from the chopsticks to a living person by the simple process of conveying them in a minced form into his physical system. The red colour is merely intended to improve their efficacy, for red is the hue of health and good luck. The reference to crossing rivers is also worthy of notice. The theory of the Chinese in Weihaiwei is that the man who has been bitten by a rabid dog is liable to be seized by paroxysms of madness if he crosses flowing water. The word hydrophobia (dread of water) is thus as applicable to the popular conception of the disease in China as in Europe, though the belief that the human patient or the mad dog will refuse water as a beverage does not seem to be known in Weihaiwei.

The lives of the Weihaiwei villagers are brightened and diversified by a good number of festivals and holidays. Most of these are observed all over China, others are of local importance, while some of the customs and ceremonies now to be described are observed only in certain villages. The universal holiday-season in China consists of course of the first few days of the New Year, which falls about a month—more or less—later than the corresponding festival in the West. After the hour ofwu kêng(3 a.m.) on the first day of the year, torches are lighted and certain religious or semi-religious observances take place, consisting of the worship of Heaven and Earth (T'ien Ti), the Hearth-god and the Ancestors of the family, and the ceremonial salutation of father and mother by their children, and of uncles and aunts and elder brothers by their respective nephews and younger brothers. Fire crackers are let off at intervalsduring the morning and throughout the day, and from dawn onwards visits of ceremony are exchanged between relations and neighbours. The Ancestral Temple is also visited, and incense burned before the spirit-tablets and the pedigree-scrolls, which are unrolled only on solemn occasions. In conversation all reference to unhappy or unlucky subjects is tabooed, as likely to bring misfortune on the family in whose house such remarks are made.[126]

On going out of doors for the first time care should be taken to choose a "lucky" spot for the first footstep. If a person slip or fall when going out to pay ceremonial visits on New Year's Day, it is believed that he will bring disaster on his own family as well as on the families visited. For the first three days of the year the floors of the house are left unswept. The idea at the root of this custom apparently is that anything thrown or swept out of the house will take the "good luck" of the house with it; even dirty water and the refuse of food must remain indoors until the critical three days are past. New Year is the season of new clothes, and red is, of course, the colour chiefly displayed. Special care is taken to dress the children in the best and most brightly-coloured garments obtainable, as evil spirits hate the sight of such things, and will remain at a respectful distance. At the eaves of the roof are often hung hemp-stalks, which are said to bring perpetual advancement and long life.[127]The observation of the skies on New Year's Day is a matter of importance. If the wind blows from the south-east the next harvest will be a splendid one. If the clouds are tinged with red and yellow it will be moderately good; if they are dark and gloomy it will be very poor.

"The Beginning of Spring" orLi Ch'unis a movable feast, falling usually in the first moon. The ceremonies observed have reference to agriculture, and though they are chiefly official in character they are considered of great importance to the farming public. Ages ago the essential part of the proceedings was the slaughter of an ox, which was offered as a sacrifice to the god of Agriculture—generally identified with the legendary Emperor Shên Nung (B.C.2838). Nowadays the place of the ox is taken by a cheaper substitute. On the eve ofLi Ch'unthe local magistrate and his attendants go in procession to the eastern suburbs of the city for the purpose of ceremonially "meeting the Spring."[128]Theatrical performers, singing as they go, and musicians with cymbals and flutes, follow the sedan-chairs of the officials, and after them are carried the Spring Ox[129]—not a real animal, but a great effigy made of stiff paper—and a similar paper image of a man, known asMang-Shên, who represents either the typical ox-driver or ploughman or the god of Agriculture.[130]When the procession has "met the Spring" outside the city walls it returns to the magisterial yamên, and there the magistrate and his principal colleagues, armed with wands decorated with strips of coloured paper, go through the form of prodding and beating the ox by way of "making him work" and giving an official impetus to agricultural labour. When this ceremony is over the paper ox is solemnly "sacrificed"—that is, he is committed to the flames; and a similar fate befalls theMang-Shên. Besides the paper ox, a miniature ox made of clay is also supposed to be provided. The clay ox, so far as I can ascertain, dates from a remote period when it was considered necessary that the ox-effigy which was carried in procession and sacrificed should for symbolical reasons be made of earth or clay. When paper was substituted, conservatism demanded that oxen of clay should continue to be made as before—for show if not for use.[131]

While the images of the ox andMang-Shênare being prepared for the approaching festival, a careful examination under official direction is made of the newly-issued New Year's Almanac—the Chinese Zadkiel; and the effigies are dressed up and decorated in accordance with the prophecies and warnings of that publication. Hence the crowds of people who go out to watch the procession on its way to meet the Spring do so not only as a holiday diversion but also for the purpose of inspecting the colours and trappings of the effigies and thereby informing themselves of agricultural prospects for the ensuing year. The prognostications are founded partly on astrology, partly on thepa kuaor mystic diagrams of theI Ching(Book of Changes), and partly on calculations connected withfêng-shui. The colours and apparel of the effigies correspond on an arbitrary system with the forecasts of the Almanac. Thus if the people see that the head of the ox is painted yellow, they know that great heat is foretold for the coming summer; if it is green, there will be much sickness in the spring; if red, there will be a drought; if black, there will bemuch rain; if white, there will be high winds and storms. TheMang-Shên, also, is a silent prophet of the seasons. If he wears a hat the year will be dry; if he wears no hat there will be rain; shoes, similarly, indicate very heavy rain; absence of shoes, drought; abundance of body-clothing, great heat; lightness of clothing, cold weather. Finally, a red belt on theMang-Shênindicates much sickness and many deaths; a white one, general good health.

FIRST-FULL-MOON STILT-WALKERS(see p.183).

"WALKING BOATS" AT THE FIRST-FULL-MOON FESTIVAL(see p.184).

It will be noticed that theMang-Shên, being a spirit, behaves in a precisely contrary manner to ordinary mankind, and his garments indicate exactly the opposite of what they would indicate if they were worn by a living man. Thus he wears heavy clothes in hot weather, light ones in cold weather; and as red is among men the colour that denotes joy and prosperity and white betokens grief and mourning, so the Mang-Shên wears red to indicate death and white to indicate life and health. Thus it is that naughty children who take delight in doing the opposite of what they are told to do are sometimes by their long-suffering parents called "little Mang-Shên" or "T'ai Sui."

The Lantern Festival[132]is assigned to the fifteenth day of the first month. As the Chinese year is strictly determined by lunations, this means of course that the festival occurs at the time of the first full moon of the year. Coloured-paper lanterns are hung at the doors of houses and shops and are also carried in procession. Above the doors of the houses are often hung fir-branches, betokening prosperity and especially longevity.[133]The family eat little round cakes of glutinous rice which, being supposed to represent the full moon,[134]may be called moon-cakes. There is nodoubt that in remote times the fifteenth of the first and the fifteenth of the eighth months were devoted to moon-worship. A curious custom observed at the Lantern Festival is called thetsou pai ping—"the expulsion of disease." In some localities this merely consists in a procession of villagers across the neighbouring bridges, the procession returning home by a route other than that by which they set out. The popular notion obviously is that sickness is caused by invisible beings of a malignant nature who on the occasion of this festival can be driven across the local streams and so expelled from the village.[135]In other localities the expulsion of disease is on this occasion performed only by women, who do not necessarily cross bridges but simply walk out into the fields and back by a different route. Male villagers perform a similar ceremony on the ninth of the ninth month.

So far as Weihaiwei is concerned the Feast of Lanterns may be regarded as pre-eminently the holiday season for children. During several days before and after the fifteenth of the first month bands of young village boys dress up in strange garments and go about by day and night acting queer little plays, partly in dumb-show and partly in speech, dance and song. Some of them wear the terrifying masks of wild beasts, such as lions, a few assume the white beards of old men, and many are attired in girls' clothing. The children perform their parts with great vivacity,and go through their masquerades, dances and chorus-singing in a manner that would do credit to the juvenile performers at a provincial English pantomime. They are, indeed, taught their parts and trained by their elders for some weeks before the festival. Every group of villages keeps a stock of masks, false beards, clothes and other "properties," and there are always adults who take pleasure in teaching the little ones the songs and dances which they themselves learned as children in bygone days. In daytime the dressed-up children take a prominent part in processions to the local temples. On such occasions many of them are perched on high stilts, which they manage with great skill. At night they carry large lighted Chinese lanterns and march amid music and song through the streets of their native village, or from one village to another, stopping occasionally in front of a prominent villager's house to act their little play or perform a lantern-dance.[136]

MASQUERADERS AT FESTIVAL OF FIRST FULL MOON.

GROUP OF VILLAGERS WATCHING FIRST-FULL-MOON MASQUERADERS.

No European who has seen a lantern-dance in a Shantung village can fail to be delighted. The graceful movements of the children, their young voices ringing clear in the frosty air, the astonishing dexterity with which they manipulate the swinging lanterns, the weird effect of rapidly-interchanging light and shadow as the gleaming paper moons thread the bewildering mazes of a complicated country-dance,—all these things combine to please the eye and charm the ear. Not the least interesting part of the proceedings is the obvious pleasure taken by the crowds of adult spectators in the performances of their little ones: for the Chinese are devoted to children.

The next notable festival of the year is a movable feast known as the "Awakening of the Torpid Insects," generally held early in the second month. In many villages it is customary to rise before dawn and cook a kind of dumpling, which as it "rises" is supposed to assist Nature in her work of awakening the sluggish or dormant vitality of animals and of vegetation. The presiding deity of this festival is, naturally enough, the Sun, and it is to him that the dumplings are offered. Similar offerings are made by the Emperor himself in his capacity of High Priest. It is believed that if on the evening of this day children wash their faces in a kind of soup made from a certain shrub (Lycium chinense)[137]they will never be ill and never grow old. This reminds us of the old English belief that young people will preserve their youthful beauty indefinitely by going into the fields before breakfast on the first of May and washing their faces in May dew.[138]

On the eighth of the second month it is thought that by observing the direction of the wind it is possible to foretell whether the ensuing weather will be favourable or otherwise to the crops. If the wind comes from the south-east there will be a good rainfall; if it comes from the north-west there will be a drought.

The fifteenth of the second month is known asHua Chao, "the morning of flowers,"—for it is supposed to be the flowers' birthday.[139]

The festival of Cold Food (Han Shih)—so called because it was once customary to partake of no hot provisions on this day and to light no fire—occurs on the eve of the Ch'ing-Ming festival. The Chinese in Weihaiwei have no clear idea why cold food was compulsory on this occasion, but the custom is undoubtedly connected with the ancient rite, once prevalent in many parts of the world, of kindling "new fire" once a year. The ChineseHan Shihwould thus represent an intervening day between the extinction of the old fire and the lighting of the new. The custom seems to be connected with sun-worship. "The solar rite of the New Fire," says Dr. Tylor, "adopted by the Roman Church as a paschal ceremony, may still be witnessed in Europe, with its solemn curfew on Easter Eve and the ceremonial striking of the new holy fire."[140]Another writer observes that "formerly throughout England the house-fires were allowed to go out on Easter Sunday, after which the chimney and fireplace were completely cleaned and the fire once more lighted."[141]It is curious to note that similar observances took place even on the American continent. "In Peru, as in Mexico," says a writer on the religious systems of ancient America,[142]"there was a solemn religious ceremony of renewing at stated periods, by special generation, the fire used in the temples and even in the households.... It is one of the oldest rites of the human race, and it has survived under all religions alike down to the other day, when perhaps it received its death-blow from the lucifer match."

The Ch'ing-Ming or "Pure and Bright" festival is as carefully observed at Weihaiwei as elsewhere throughout China. It is a movable feast generally occurring early in the third Chinese month.[143]Edible delicacies of various kinds are diligently prepared in every household and taken to the family graveyard to be sacrificially offered to the ancestral spirits. At this season, and at the corresponding festival held on the first day of the tenth month, all the members of the family who can attend prostrate themselves on the ground in front of their ancestors' graves.[144]These observances are known asshang fên—"going up to the tombs."[145]This is one of the occasions on which family reunions take place. It is a holiday season and there is plenty of jollity and feasting; but the sacrifices and the "sweeping of tombs" are regarded as sacred duties, the omission of which through negligence would show a discreditable lack of filial piety and might entail misfortune on the present and future generations of the family. The virtues of obedience and submission to authority are also emphasised at this season in the village schools, where the pupils formally salute their teachers. An old custom sometimes observed at this time is the wearing of willow-leaves on the head. This is supposed to produce good weather for agriculture. This practice is not so common in Weihaiwei as in Shansi and some parts of Chihli and Honan, where in seasons of drought—only too common in those parts—men and boys go about for many days wearing on their heads wreaths made of fresh willow-branches. The willow is a tree that loves water and the banks of rivers, and willow-wreaths are therefore regarded as rain-charms.[146]

In the third month comes the festival of Corn-rain (Ku Yü). This is the appropriate time for obtaining written charms as antidotes against snakes and grubs and venomous or destructive reptiles and insects in general.

The so-called Dragon Festival[147]is held on the fifth day of the fifth month. This is the occasion on which the well-known dragon-boat races take place at Canton and elsewhere in south China. According to tradition, the festival was inaugurated in memory of a high-minded statesman and poet named Ch'ü Yüan of the Ch'ü State (south of the Yangtse) who was driven to commit suicide in the fourth centuryB.C.It is with the simulated object of recovering his body that the dragon-boats—so named from their length and peculiar shape—annually dash through the waters of the southern rivers. But there are no boat-races of this kind at Weihaiwei. Little cakes calledtsung-tzŭ—made of rice or millet with a morsel of fruit or sweetmeat inside—are eaten by the people; but there seems to be no local knowledge of the fact that these cakes were originally intended as sacrifices to Ch'ü Yüan and ought to be thrown into flowing water as offerings to his spirit.

The fifth month is regarded as the most "poisonous" of all the months in the year, and antidotes and charms of all kinds are necessary to repel the deadly influences that assail suffering humanity at this period. Children are protected from the many dangers that surround them by tying bands of parti-coloured silk threads round their fore-arms. Among the most efficacious family-charms is the mugwort plant (Artemisia moxa), which is hung over every doorway. Prof. Giles cites an old saying to the effect that "if on theTuan Wufestival one does not hang up mugwort, one will not eat any new wheat"; and explains it by the comment that a famous rebel named Huang Ch'ao gave orders to his soldiers to spare any family that exhibited this plant at its door. But the superstitious use of mugwort is far more ancient than any such story would imply. Its extreme antiquity is shown by the fact that this plant has been similarly used as a valued charm against evil in other parts of the world, including France, Germany and Britain.[148]The custom in such lands was to pluck the plant at the summer solstice (Midsummer Day) and to wear it on the person or (as in China) to hang it over the doorway. This is only one of innumerable examples of the strange unity that seems to underlie old popular customs and superstitions all the world over.

In spite of the terrible potency of the evil things rampant during the fifth month, it is supposed in Weihaiwei that from sunrise to sunset on the fifth of the month (the festival we are now considering) all poisonous and destructive influences—material and spiritual—totally disappear, perhaps owing to the efficacy of the charms universally used against them on that day. It is believed that even poisonous plants are absolutely innocuous if plucked and eaten on the fifth of the fifth moon, while medicinal herbs attain their supreme degree of efficacy.

A well-known custom is to rise early and walk exactly one hundred paces into a grass-field without turning the head; then to pluck one hundred blades of grass, which must be carefully taken home. The grass is put into a pot of water and thoroughly boiled. The water—into which all the virtues of the grass are now supposed to have passed—is poured through a strainer into a second vessel, and the grass-blades are thrown away. A second boiling now takes place, and the liquid is poured into a bottle and kept for use as required. It is believed to be a sovereign remedy for headaches, small wounds and bruises, and various nervous disorders. The Chinese know it aspai ts'ao kao—"hundred-grass lotion." The wise men who hand down this valuable recipe from generation to generation are careful to explain that the medicine will be of no avail whatever if any of the prescribed conditions have been neglected. It is absolutely necessary to walk neither more nor less than one hundred paces, to pluck neither more nor less than one hundred blades of grass, and to boil and strain the water in the manner laid down. Above all, everythingmust be done on the fifth day of the fifth month, as it is only on that day that ordinary grass possessesling—spiritual or health-giving properties.

The seventh day of the seventh month is celebrated throughout China in connection with a love-story to which allusion is constantly made in Chinese literature. It is said that the Herd-boy (the star β γ Aquila) and the Spinning Maiden (α Lyra), separated throughout the rest of the year by the Milky Way, are allowed to cross a mystic bridge made by magpies, and to meet and embrace each other on that night only. In Weihaiwei, where there are large numbers of magpies, it is said that not one of these birds will ever be seen on this day until after the hour of noon: all having gone up to the skies to perform the duty of making a bridge for the celestial lovers. The day is regarded as one of good omen and suitable for fortune-telling and the drawing of lots.

On the preceding evening (the sixth of the month) boys and girls put bowls of water on the window-sill and leave them standing all night. In the morning each child picks a bristle from an ordinary broom[149]and places it carefully on the surface of the water. The shadow made in the water by the bristle is supposed to indicate the child's future lot in life. If, for instance, the shadow seems to take the shape of a Chinese brush-pen, the boy will become a great scholar; if it is shaped like a plough he will remain in the condition of a peasant or farmer. I have been told of a child who saw in the water the form of a fish. This was interpreted to be amu yüor the "wooden fish" of Buddhist temples—a queer hollow instrument of wood that lies on every Buddhist altar in China and is tapped by the monks while reciting their prayers. The wise men of the neighbourhood foretold, therefore, that the boy was destined to become a monk. The prophecy was a true one, for subsequently of his own accord he entered "the homeless state."

Another children's amusement on this occasion is to catch a spider and put it under an inverted bowl. If, when the bowl is turned up, the spider is found to have spun a web, the child and his parents are overjoyed: for it is supposed that good fortune will adhere to him throughout the ensuing year just as a captured fly adheres to a spider's web.

On the fifteenth of the seventh month sacrifices are again offered to the dead. This is a "Festival of Souls."[150]

On the first of the eighth month it is customary to collect some dew and use it for moistening a little ink.[151]This ink is devoted to the purpose of making little dots or marks on children's foreheads, and this, it is supposed, will preserve them from sickness.

On the mid-autumn festival[152]of the fifteenth of the eighth month reverence is paid to the ruler of the night. Offerings of cake, wine and fruit are made to the full moon and then consumed by the worshippers.[153]The occasion is one of family gatherings and festal mirth.

On the Ch'ung Yang festival of the ninth day of the ninth month it used to be the custom in many parts of China to eat specially-prepared flour-cakes calledkao[154]and to drink wine made of the chrysanthemum.

The cakes are still made and eaten in Weihaiwei, but the chrysanthemum wine appears to be obsolete.[155]On this day it is customary for young men (especially those of the lettered classes) to climb to the top (têng kao) of one of the hills of their neighbourhood. The advantages are two in number: it will lead to the promotion of those who are engaged in climbing the steep slopes of an official career, and it will free them for the ensuing year from all danger of sickness. This is equivalent to thetsou pai pingof the women on the fifteenth of the first month.

On the first day of the tenth month the family tombs are visited, and the same ceremonies observed as at the Ch'ing-Ming festival. This is one of the three days in the year that are regarded as specially sacred to the souls of the departed (Kuei Chiehor Festivals of Souls or Spirits): the Ch'ing-Ming (movable) in or about the third month, and the fixed festivals of the fifteenth of the seventh and the first of the tenth months. Similarly there are three festivals specially provided for the living (Jên Chiehor Festivals of Men), and these are marked by feasting and merriment; they are the New Year festival, the fifth of the fifth and the fifteenth of the eighth months. The former list does not, however, exhaust the occasions on which reverence is paid to ancestors. At the winter solstice,[156]for instance, ancestral sacrifices are offered in the family temples; and at the New Year, as we have seen, the living do not forget, in the midst of their own pleasures, the sacred duties owed to the souls of the dead.

On the eighth of the twelfth month it is customary for matrons to regale their families with a concoction made of grain, vegetables and water called La-pa-chou, which means "gruel for the eighth of the sacrificial month." Children are made to partake of an unsavoury cake made of buckwheat, hare's blood, sulphur, cinnabar and tea-leaves. This, it is believed, will protect young people from smallpox—a somewhat prevalent disease among the native children of Weihaiwei.

In the evening of the twenty-third of the twelfth month an important family ceremony takes place known astz'ŭ tsaoorsung tsao—"Taking farewell of the Hearth-god." The hearth-god or kitchen-god (tsao shên) is a Taoist divinity who is supposed to dwell near the kitchen fireplace of every family,[157]and whose business it is to watch the doings of every member of the family from day to day with a view to reporting them in detail at the close of the year to the Taoist Supreme Deity. In order to make his annual report he is supposed to leave the kitchen on the twenty-third of the last month of the year, and ascend to heaven. Before he goes, obeisance is made to him by the family, and he is presented with small round sugared cakes calledt'ang kuaand lumps ofno mi, a glutinous rice. The object of providing the god with these dainties is to make his lips stick together so that he will be unable to open his mouth and make his report. The family is thus saved from any inconvenient results arising from an enumeration of its misdeeds. Needless to say, the matter is not regarded very seriously in most households, and the ceremonies are chiefly kept up as a source of amusement for children, who receive their full share of the sticky cakes. After a sojourn of a week in heaven the hearth-god returns to his own fireside on New Year's Eve.

On the twenty-fourth of the month every house is thoroughly swept out in preparation for the New Year's festivities. The object of this ceremony is not merely the practical and necessary one of cleanliness: the sweeping process will, it is believed, rid the house of all malign influences that may have collected there during the past year, and thereby render it fit for the reception of every kind of joy and good luck. This is an auspicious day for the celebration of marriages.

New Year's Eve (Ch'ü hsi) marks the beginning of the Chinese holiday season, and is a day of mirth and feasting. In many families it is the custom to sit up all night; the phraseshou suihas practically the same signification as our "seeing the Old Year out and the New Year in." In the evening, new red scrolls, such as adorn the outside and inside of nearly every Chinese house, are pasted over the old ones that have now become faded or illegible. The brilliant colour of these scrolls and the felicitous phrases, virtuous maxims and wise literary allusions with which they abound are regarded by the common people (who can rarely read them) as equivalent to powerful charms that will bring happiness and good fortune to all who dwell beneath the shadow of their influence. Fire-crackers, the delight of old and young in China, are let off at every doorstep, helping at each explosion to dissipate any traces of bad luck that may be lingering in the neighbourhood and to frighten away the last malignant spirit who might otherwise mar the happiness of the New Year.

FOOTNOTES:[96]See pp.336,371-7,382,386seq.[97]See pp.95,289.[98]The same tendency, with the same result, showed itself in Burma after the annexation to the Indian Empire.[99]This process, whereby the expelled one ceases to enjoy the rights to which his birth entitles him, is known asch'u tsu,—"expulsion from the clan."[100]Atiaois at present worth approximately eighteenpence.[101]Half atiao.[102]Silk-worms are fed on the leaves of the scrub-oak on the open hillsides.[103]Literally, "not clear" (pu ming).[104]Han tao mi.[105]The Government fruit-grower has recommended the Black Hamburgh, Muscat of Alexandria and Malaya—which ripen in succession—as the best varieties of table-grapes for Weihaiwei, while of wine-grapes the most satisfactory are the Mataro, Alicante Bouschet, Black Malvoise, Grenache, Zinfandel, Charbons and Johannesburg Riesling.[106]See pp.56,57.[107]The local Government—not very wisely from the point of view of sound economics—levies small "wharfage-dues" on imported timber.[108]This is thepai-la shuso well known in Ssŭch'uan in connection with the insect-wax industry, which is also carried on to a small extent in Shantung though not in Weihaiwei.[109]Probably the finest specimen of theginkgoor maidenhair tree in the Territory is that in the grounds of Pei-k'ou Temple. Besides being very tall, it measures fourteen and a half feet in circumference five feet from the ground. See p.381for remarks on another of these trees.[110]For temporary purposes of trade.[111]Sale of children by starving parents is a painful feature of famines in some parts of China.[112]This criticism from a Chinese writer is interesting, when we remember that the practice is much the same throughout the greater part of the Empire.[113]This is exceptionally rare at the present time. The overwhelming majority of women are married before the age of twenty-five.[114]Mercenary views are held all the same.[115]In proportion to the population there are very few concubines in Weihaiwei, and most of them are imported from Peking and other places.[116]It is a curious fact, and one never yet satisfactorily explained, that people of non-European races all seem to lose their native grace of manner after a period of contact with Europeans. This does not apply to Asiatic peoples (Indian and Chinese) only: it is apparently equally true with regard to certain African races. Miss Bleek, in a recent work published by the Clarendon Press under the auspices of the Royal Anthropological Institute, remarks that the Bushmen are by nature truthful, clean, honest and courteous. "Once another Bushman visited ours for a few days. He was so much rougher than the other that our man was asked why his friend was different. He said, 'Missis must excuse: this man lost his parents early and was brought up by white people.'"[117]The United States and China, by Wei-ching W. Yen (American Association for International Conciliation: New York).[118]See illustration.[119]See illustration. TheT'ien Kouis the JapaneseTengu. SeeTrans. As. Soc. Jap.Pt. ii (1908).[120]For the magic uses of peach-wood see De Groot'sReligious System of China, vol. iv. pp. 304seq.[121]"I see no race of men, however polished and educated, however brutal and barbarous, which does not believe that warnings of future events are given, and may be understood and announced by certain persons." Cicero's words, after the lapse of a couple of thousand years, are still true. (See Cic.de Divinatione, i. 1.)[122]A very similar method of divining is practised in the Malay States. See Swettenham'sMalay Sketches, pp. 201-7, and Skeat'sMalay Magic, p. 542.[123]The following remarks in Dennys'sFolk-lore of China(pp. 56seq.) will be of interest to those who are wise enough to regard this subject with unorthodox seriousness: "Divination is in China as popular as, and probably more respectable than, it was amongst the Israelites in the days of the witch of Endor, and it is not perhaps going too far to say that there is not a single means resorted to in the West by way of lifting the impenetrable veil which hides the future from curious mankind which is not known to and practised by the Chinese. From 'Pinking the Bible' to using the Planchette, from tossing for odd and even to invoking spirits to actually speak through crafty media, the whole range of Western superstition in this regard is as familiar to the average Chinaman as to the most enthusiastic spiritualist at home. The coincidences of practice and belief are indeed so startling that many will doubtless see in them a sort of evidence either for their truthfulness, or for a common origin of evil.... It is when we come to the consulting of media, the use of a forked stick, writing on sand, and similar matters that the Chinese practice becomes singular in its resemblance to superstitions openly avowed at home. I would here remark that I am no spiritualist. But how, without any apparent connection with each other, such beliefs should at once be found in full force in the farthest East and the extreme West is puzzling. Is our Western spiritualism derived from China?" It may be added that Japanese "occultism"—to use a disagreeable but useful word—is very similar to Chinese, and offers equally striking analogies with that of Europe. (See Percival Lowell'sOccult Japan.)[124]It is not so well known that almost equally disgusting medicines used to be prescribed in England. One writer says of some old Lincolnshire remedies for ague that they "were so horribly filthy that I am inclined to think most people must have preferred the ague, or the race could hardly have survived." One of these remedies consisted of nine worms taken from a churchyard sod and chopped up small. (SeeCounty Folk-lore, vol. v, p. 117.)[125]Tylor,Primitive Culture(4th ed.), vol. i. p. 84. On this subject see also Dennys'sFolk-lore of China, pp. 51-2.[126]"If the first person who enters a house on New Year's morning brings bad news, it is a sign of ill-luck for the whole of the year."—County Folk-lore: Lincolnshire, p. 168.[127]The knots or joints of the hemp-stalk are supposed to represent successive stages of advancement.[128]Ying ch'un.The ceremonies differ from place to place in minor details. Those here described are observed (with variations) at the district cities nearest to Weihaiwei-namely Wên-têng, Jung ch'êng and Ning-hai.[129]Ch'un Niu.[130]In Shanghai, and probably elsewhere, a real ox is still sometimes used, and he is led by a real child (T'ai Sui) instead of a cardboardMang-Shên. See the Rev. A. Box's "Shanghai Folk-lore" in theJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society(China Branch), vol. xxxiv. (1901-2) pp. 116-7, and vol. xxxvi. (1905) pp. 136-7. Needless to say, no blood is shed nowadays, though it seems not unlikely that at one time a living child and a living ox were both offered up in sacrifice to promote the fertility of the crops. In Northumberland, England, it is or used to be a custom to hold rustic masquerades at the New Year, the players being clothed in thehides of oxen(seeCounty Folk-lore, vol. iv.). It would be interesting to know whether the Northumbrian custom was originally a ceremony to promote fertility.[131]Probably the Spring Ox is still, in some parts of China, made of clay only, not of paper.[132]Shang Yüan Chieh, Feast of the First Full Moon.[133]Cf. pp.262seq.From Gibbon'sDecline and Fall(vol. i. p. 344) we know that long after the establishment of Christianity there was kept up, in Europe, a pagan festival at which it was customary to decorate the doors of houses with branches of laurel and to hang out lanterns. The doors of Roman houses were regarded as being under the special protection of the household gods.[134]Yüan hsiao.[135]For some interesting notes on the bridge-walking customs, see Rev. E. Box's "Shanghai Folk-lore," in theJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society(China Branch), vol. xxxvi. (1905) pp. 133-4. These practices are not confined to China. In Korea, on the fourteenth and fifteenth of the first month the men and boys of Seoul walk over three particular bridges in succession, in order to safeguard themselves from pains in the legs and feet throughout the ensuing year. (See article by T. Watters inFolk-lore, March 1895.) For the beliefs of many races on the subject of the expulsion of evils in general, see Frazer'sGolden Bough(2nd ed.), vol. iii. pp. 39seq., 70seq.[136]This may be compared with the Scottish customs in connection with the guisers or guisards. In Shetland a torchlight procession sometimes formed part of the revelry. (SeeFolk-lore, vol. iii. [Orkney and Shetland], pp. 203seq.)[137]For remarks on the supposed remarkable properties of this shrub, see De Groot'sReligious System of China, vol. iv. p. 320.[138]SeeCounty Folk-lore, vol. iv. (Northumberland) p. 73.[139]In different parts of the Empire the date is variously assigned to the second, tenth, twelfth and fifteenth of the month. For Shanghai customs in connection with this festival, see Rev. A. Box,Journal of the R.A.S.(China), vol. xxxiv. p. 117 and vol. xxxvi. pp. 137-8. In that part of China "the women and children adorn the flowering shrubs with paper rosettes, and recite verses and prostrate themselves in token of respect and in hope of a fruitful season."[140]Tylor'sPrimitive Culture(4th ed.), vol. ii. pp. 277-8, 290seq., 297seq., and p. 432. See also Frazer'sGolden Bough(2nd ed.), vol. iii. p. 251.[141]Gomme'sFolk-lore Relics of Early Village Life, p. 97.[142]J. M. Robertson inReligious Systems of the World(8th ed.), p. 369.[143]In 1910 it falls on April 6, which is the 27th of the second Chinese month.[144]See illustration.[145]See p.257.[146]Instances of similar rain-charms may be found in Frazer'sGolden Bough(2nd ed.), vol. i. pp. 188-9.[147]Tuan WuorTuan Yang.[148]See Frazer'sGolden Bough(2nd ed.), vol. iii. pp. 268, 270, 274 and especially pp. 337-8. See alsoFolk-lore Journal, vol. iii. p. 148.[149]There is supposed to be some magic efficacy attached to brooms, and evil spirits are believed to have a special dread of them. In Europe, as every one knows, a witch must have her broomstick just as she must have her black cat.[150]Kuei Chieh.[151]The so-called Indian ink ordinarily used by Chinese.[152]The ordinary Chinese name isChung Yüan, a reference being understood to theShang Yüan, or the fifteenth of the first month, and theHsia Yüanor the fifteenth of the tenth.[153]Cf. the offerings to Ashtoreth the Moon-goddess of the Hittites. For mention of similar offerings in England itself, see Dennys'sFolk-lore of China, p. 28.[154]There is a play on this Chinese word, which has the same sound as a different character meaningto go uporto receive promotion. He who eats the cake is supposed to be securing his own advancement in life. There is a similar double-meaning in the phrasetêng kao.[155]For remarks on the ancient custom of drinking this wine, see De Groot,Religious System of China, vol. iv. p. 322.[156]See p.277.[157]There is some reason to believe that the Hearth-god was once regarded as an anonymous ancestor of the family, though nowadays this relationship is ignored. The ChineseTsao shênmay be compared with the Japanese Kojin. For some valuable notes on Hearth-worship in general, see Gomme'sFolk-lore Relics of Early Village Life, pp. 87seq.The cult of a hearth-god has been known in western Europe and also in New Zealand.

[96]See pp.336,371-7,382,386seq.

[97]See pp.95,289.

[98]The same tendency, with the same result, showed itself in Burma after the annexation to the Indian Empire.

[99]This process, whereby the expelled one ceases to enjoy the rights to which his birth entitles him, is known asch'u tsu,—"expulsion from the clan."

[100]Atiaois at present worth approximately eighteenpence.

[101]Half atiao.

[102]Silk-worms are fed on the leaves of the scrub-oak on the open hillsides.

[103]Literally, "not clear" (pu ming).

[104]Han tao mi.

[105]The Government fruit-grower has recommended the Black Hamburgh, Muscat of Alexandria and Malaya—which ripen in succession—as the best varieties of table-grapes for Weihaiwei, while of wine-grapes the most satisfactory are the Mataro, Alicante Bouschet, Black Malvoise, Grenache, Zinfandel, Charbons and Johannesburg Riesling.

[106]See pp.56,57.

[107]The local Government—not very wisely from the point of view of sound economics—levies small "wharfage-dues" on imported timber.

[108]This is thepai-la shuso well known in Ssŭch'uan in connection with the insect-wax industry, which is also carried on to a small extent in Shantung though not in Weihaiwei.

[109]Probably the finest specimen of theginkgoor maidenhair tree in the Territory is that in the grounds of Pei-k'ou Temple. Besides being very tall, it measures fourteen and a half feet in circumference five feet from the ground. See p.381for remarks on another of these trees.

[110]For temporary purposes of trade.

[111]Sale of children by starving parents is a painful feature of famines in some parts of China.

[112]This criticism from a Chinese writer is interesting, when we remember that the practice is much the same throughout the greater part of the Empire.

[113]This is exceptionally rare at the present time. The overwhelming majority of women are married before the age of twenty-five.

[114]Mercenary views are held all the same.

[115]In proportion to the population there are very few concubines in Weihaiwei, and most of them are imported from Peking and other places.

[116]It is a curious fact, and one never yet satisfactorily explained, that people of non-European races all seem to lose their native grace of manner after a period of contact with Europeans. This does not apply to Asiatic peoples (Indian and Chinese) only: it is apparently equally true with regard to certain African races. Miss Bleek, in a recent work published by the Clarendon Press under the auspices of the Royal Anthropological Institute, remarks that the Bushmen are by nature truthful, clean, honest and courteous. "Once another Bushman visited ours for a few days. He was so much rougher than the other that our man was asked why his friend was different. He said, 'Missis must excuse: this man lost his parents early and was brought up by white people.'"

[117]The United States and China, by Wei-ching W. Yen (American Association for International Conciliation: New York).

[118]See illustration.

[119]See illustration. TheT'ien Kouis the JapaneseTengu. SeeTrans. As. Soc. Jap.Pt. ii (1908).

[120]For the magic uses of peach-wood see De Groot'sReligious System of China, vol. iv. pp. 304seq.

[121]"I see no race of men, however polished and educated, however brutal and barbarous, which does not believe that warnings of future events are given, and may be understood and announced by certain persons." Cicero's words, after the lapse of a couple of thousand years, are still true. (See Cic.de Divinatione, i. 1.)

[122]A very similar method of divining is practised in the Malay States. See Swettenham'sMalay Sketches, pp. 201-7, and Skeat'sMalay Magic, p. 542.

[123]The following remarks in Dennys'sFolk-lore of China(pp. 56seq.) will be of interest to those who are wise enough to regard this subject with unorthodox seriousness: "Divination is in China as popular as, and probably more respectable than, it was amongst the Israelites in the days of the witch of Endor, and it is not perhaps going too far to say that there is not a single means resorted to in the West by way of lifting the impenetrable veil which hides the future from curious mankind which is not known to and practised by the Chinese. From 'Pinking the Bible' to using the Planchette, from tossing for odd and even to invoking spirits to actually speak through crafty media, the whole range of Western superstition in this regard is as familiar to the average Chinaman as to the most enthusiastic spiritualist at home. The coincidences of practice and belief are indeed so startling that many will doubtless see in them a sort of evidence either for their truthfulness, or for a common origin of evil.... It is when we come to the consulting of media, the use of a forked stick, writing on sand, and similar matters that the Chinese practice becomes singular in its resemblance to superstitions openly avowed at home. I would here remark that I am no spiritualist. But how, without any apparent connection with each other, such beliefs should at once be found in full force in the farthest East and the extreme West is puzzling. Is our Western spiritualism derived from China?" It may be added that Japanese "occultism"—to use a disagreeable but useful word—is very similar to Chinese, and offers equally striking analogies with that of Europe. (See Percival Lowell'sOccult Japan.)

[124]It is not so well known that almost equally disgusting medicines used to be prescribed in England. One writer says of some old Lincolnshire remedies for ague that they "were so horribly filthy that I am inclined to think most people must have preferred the ague, or the race could hardly have survived." One of these remedies consisted of nine worms taken from a churchyard sod and chopped up small. (SeeCounty Folk-lore, vol. v, p. 117.)

[125]Tylor,Primitive Culture(4th ed.), vol. i. p. 84. On this subject see also Dennys'sFolk-lore of China, pp. 51-2.

[126]"If the first person who enters a house on New Year's morning brings bad news, it is a sign of ill-luck for the whole of the year."—County Folk-lore: Lincolnshire, p. 168.

[127]The knots or joints of the hemp-stalk are supposed to represent successive stages of advancement.

[128]Ying ch'un.The ceremonies differ from place to place in minor details. Those here described are observed (with variations) at the district cities nearest to Weihaiwei-namely Wên-têng, Jung ch'êng and Ning-hai.

[129]Ch'un Niu.

[130]In Shanghai, and probably elsewhere, a real ox is still sometimes used, and he is led by a real child (T'ai Sui) instead of a cardboardMang-Shên. See the Rev. A. Box's "Shanghai Folk-lore" in theJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society(China Branch), vol. xxxiv. (1901-2) pp. 116-7, and vol. xxxvi. (1905) pp. 136-7. Needless to say, no blood is shed nowadays, though it seems not unlikely that at one time a living child and a living ox were both offered up in sacrifice to promote the fertility of the crops. In Northumberland, England, it is or used to be a custom to hold rustic masquerades at the New Year, the players being clothed in thehides of oxen(seeCounty Folk-lore, vol. iv.). It would be interesting to know whether the Northumbrian custom was originally a ceremony to promote fertility.

[131]Probably the Spring Ox is still, in some parts of China, made of clay only, not of paper.

[132]Shang Yüan Chieh, Feast of the First Full Moon.

[133]Cf. pp.262seq.From Gibbon'sDecline and Fall(vol. i. p. 344) we know that long after the establishment of Christianity there was kept up, in Europe, a pagan festival at which it was customary to decorate the doors of houses with branches of laurel and to hang out lanterns. The doors of Roman houses were regarded as being under the special protection of the household gods.

[134]Yüan hsiao.

[135]For some interesting notes on the bridge-walking customs, see Rev. E. Box's "Shanghai Folk-lore," in theJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society(China Branch), vol. xxxvi. (1905) pp. 133-4. These practices are not confined to China. In Korea, on the fourteenth and fifteenth of the first month the men and boys of Seoul walk over three particular bridges in succession, in order to safeguard themselves from pains in the legs and feet throughout the ensuing year. (See article by T. Watters inFolk-lore, March 1895.) For the beliefs of many races on the subject of the expulsion of evils in general, see Frazer'sGolden Bough(2nd ed.), vol. iii. pp. 39seq., 70seq.

[136]This may be compared with the Scottish customs in connection with the guisers or guisards. In Shetland a torchlight procession sometimes formed part of the revelry. (SeeFolk-lore, vol. iii. [Orkney and Shetland], pp. 203seq.)

[137]For remarks on the supposed remarkable properties of this shrub, see De Groot'sReligious System of China, vol. iv. p. 320.

[138]SeeCounty Folk-lore, vol. iv. (Northumberland) p. 73.

[139]In different parts of the Empire the date is variously assigned to the second, tenth, twelfth and fifteenth of the month. For Shanghai customs in connection with this festival, see Rev. A. Box,Journal of the R.A.S.(China), vol. xxxiv. p. 117 and vol. xxxvi. pp. 137-8. In that part of China "the women and children adorn the flowering shrubs with paper rosettes, and recite verses and prostrate themselves in token of respect and in hope of a fruitful season."

[140]Tylor'sPrimitive Culture(4th ed.), vol. ii. pp. 277-8, 290seq., 297seq., and p. 432. See also Frazer'sGolden Bough(2nd ed.), vol. iii. p. 251.

[141]Gomme'sFolk-lore Relics of Early Village Life, p. 97.

[142]J. M. Robertson inReligious Systems of the World(8th ed.), p. 369.

[143]In 1910 it falls on April 6, which is the 27th of the second Chinese month.

[144]See illustration.

[145]See p.257.

[146]Instances of similar rain-charms may be found in Frazer'sGolden Bough(2nd ed.), vol. i. pp. 188-9.

[147]Tuan WuorTuan Yang.

[148]See Frazer'sGolden Bough(2nd ed.), vol. iii. pp. 268, 270, 274 and especially pp. 337-8. See alsoFolk-lore Journal, vol. iii. p. 148.

[149]There is supposed to be some magic efficacy attached to brooms, and evil spirits are believed to have a special dread of them. In Europe, as every one knows, a witch must have her broomstick just as she must have her black cat.

[150]Kuei Chieh.

[151]The so-called Indian ink ordinarily used by Chinese.

[152]The ordinary Chinese name isChung Yüan, a reference being understood to theShang Yüan, or the fifteenth of the first month, and theHsia Yüanor the fifteenth of the tenth.

[153]Cf. the offerings to Ashtoreth the Moon-goddess of the Hittites. For mention of similar offerings in England itself, see Dennys'sFolk-lore of China, p. 28.

[154]There is a play on this Chinese word, which has the same sound as a different character meaningto go uporto receive promotion. He who eats the cake is supposed to be securing his own advancement in life. There is a similar double-meaning in the phrasetêng kao.

[155]For remarks on the ancient custom of drinking this wine, see De Groot,Religious System of China, vol. iv. p. 322.

[156]See p.277.

[157]There is some reason to believe that the Hearth-god was once regarded as an anonymous ancestor of the family, though nowadays this relationship is ignored. The ChineseTsao shênmay be compared with the Japanese Kojin. For some valuable notes on Hearth-worship in general, see Gomme'sFolk-lore Relics of Early Village Life, pp. 87seq.The cult of a hearth-god has been known in western Europe and also in New Zealand.

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