* JUN 26 1908 * Division Section GrR^O b4 "7fT THE FOLK-LORE OF CHINA. PRINTED AT THE “CHINA MAIL” OFFICE, HONGKONG. THE FOLK-LORE OF CHINA, AND ITS AFFINITIES WITH THAT OF THE ARYAN AND SEMITIC RACES. V N. B. DENNYS, ph.d., f.k.g.s., JI.R.A.S. ; AUTHOR OF “A HANDBOOK OF THE CANTON VERNACULAR,” &C. “ Unus utricle error , sed variis illudit partibus” —Horace. LONDON: TRUBNER AND Co., 57 & 59, LUDGATE HILL. HONGKONG: “CHINA MAIL” OFFICE. 18 7 0. \_All rights Reserved .] Entered at Stationers' Hall . To REAR ADMIRAL The Hon. FRANCIS EGERTON, m.p. &c., &c. t &c. A SLIGHT TOKEN OF THE RESPECT AND GRATITUDE OF THE AUTHOR. I . PREFACE. The following compilation consists of a series of Articles contributed to the China 'Review, and now repub- lished with a few additions and corrections. Of their many defects no one is more sensible than the author, who has moreover necessarily been debarred from access to numerous authorities which a residence at home would have placed within his reach. It is nevertheless hoped that this slight contribution to a better knowledge of Chinese popular be- liefs, arranged as it is in a more compendious form than was hitherto accessible, will find some favour. The author desires to express his obligations to the Eev. J. Chalmers, m.a., and to Mr. Christopher T. Gardner, of H.M. Consular Service, Canton, who very kindly placed valuable manuscript notes at his disposal. Most of his numerous obligations to previous publications are acknow- ledged in the foot-notes. N. B. Lb Hongkong, November , 1876. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Attention of Late Bestowed on the Study of Folk-lore — China Presents a most Interest- ing Field of Enquiry — Little as yet Done to bring together what is Known upon the Subject — Similarity between Chinese and Western Beliefs — Our Own Recent Emancipation from Superstition — The Myth-making Faculty Common to all Man- kind — Previous Allusions to Chinese Folk-lore — Arrangements of Subjects — Chi- nese Folk-lore Extensive — Probable Derivation from the Cradle of the Aryan Races — Importance of Popular Beliefs in Chinese Estimation, pp. 1-8. CHAPTER II. BIRTH, MARRIAGE, AND DEATH. Superstitions as to Day and Hour of Birth — Practices to Ascertain Sex of Expected Child — Frightening Away Demons — Three Children at a Birth — Binding the Wrists — Cutting the Cord of the Feet — Rocking an Empty Cradle — Ceremonies after Birth — Worshipping the Measures — Superstitions as to Marriages — Wed- ding Rings — Betrothal Ceremonies — Using the Sieve — Rubbing the Bride’s Feet — The Marriage Veil — Worshipping Heaven and Earth — Shears, Honey &c . — Bridal Candles — Lucky Numbers at Weddings — Bride Cake or Bread — Touching the Threshold — Shoes — Sitting on the Dress — Death — Purchase of Coffins before- hand — Burial Clothes — “Saining” a Corpse — Cash from the Corpse’s Sleeve — Reversing the Body — Opening the Roof — White and Black Cocks — Watching Spirits — Watching the Dead — Clothes, Arms, Food, &c., for the Dead — Offer- ings after Dqath. — Throwing Earth upon the Coffin — A Lucky Place for a Grave — White the Mourning Colour — Aversion to Disturbing a Grave, pp. 8-27. CHAPTER III. DAYS AND SEASONS. Lucky and Unlucky Days — The Chinese Sabbath — Persian Derivation — Congratula- ting the Moon— Unlucky Days in Each Month— Tabular Arrangement of Ditto- New Year’s Day — The “First Foot” — St. Swithun’s Day in China — An Ob- scured Moon,.. PP* 27-32. II CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. . PORTENTS OR OMENS, AUGURIES, LUCKY NUMBERS, AND DREAMS. Upsetting the Oil Jar — Crows, Magpies and Ducks — Dogs and Cats — Crowing Hens — Swallows — Owls — Setting an Even Number of Eggs — Superstitions as to Mirrors — Crooked Paths — Eclipses, Comets, and Stars — Bells — Drawing Water at Certain Hours on a given Date — Omens of Personal Sensation, Itching, Shivering, Sneezing &c. — A Shaky Finger — Trousers — Sitting in a Warm Chair Meeting a Funeral or Coffin — People with Joined Eyebrows — Itching of the Palm and Specks on the Nails — The First Words heard after making a Resolution — Casting Lots — Lucky Numbers, 3, 5, and 7 — Numerical Categories — Even Numbers, Lucky — Chinese beliefs as to Dreams — Comparison of Chinese and Japanese Superstitions as to Dreams, . pp. 33-45. CHAPTER V. CHARMS, SPELLS, AMULETS, AND DIVINATIONS. Attempted Cure of Diseases by Charms and Incantations — Magic Mirrors — Fire- Crackers as Charms — Exorcising the Spirit of an Executed Criminal — Firing Cannon at the Pei-ho — Shooting Arrows at a Tidal Wave — Iron Plates Sunk as Charms — Anti-Demoniacal Powers of Certain Woods — The Bamboo, Peach, W r illow and Plum — Charms Affixed to Buildings — Coffin Nails — Cats in Clay as Charms — Stone Lions — Coins under Door Sills — Cash Swords — Triangles — The “Evil Eye” — The Svastica or Thor’s Hammer — The Eight Diagrams — Arrows on the Roof — Stone Slabs — Red Cloth — Murderer’s Knives, the Classics and Fishing Nets &c.— Drawings of Reptiles or Animals— Taking a Hair of the Dog that Bit You — Lustrations by Spittle — Characts or Written Charms — Red and Yel- low, Lucky Colours — Ashes of Burnt Paper Charms taken in Tea, &c. — Amulets — Lucky Cash — Lock and Hook Amulets — Bells as Amulets — Divinations — Divin- ing Sticks — Spirit Rapping — Somnambules or Media — Form of Incantation- Divination by Willow-wood Images — Mesmerism — Chinese Sortes Virgiliance — Divination by Paper Slips — Trained Birds — Chiromancy or Palmistry — Physio- gnomy — Divination by Leaves, * pp. 45-63. CHAPTER VI. SUPERSTITIONS AS TO VARIOUS SUBJECTS. The Hare and Its Attributes — Discovery of Drowned Bodies — Casting Salt into the Water — The last Piece left upon a Plate — Feng-shui — Value of Human Blood and Flesh as Medicinal Aids — Chinese Cannibalism and its Reason — Blood Bread Sold at Peking after Executions — Blood of Unborn Infants — Restorative Properties of Human Flesh — Ancient Rain Stones — Gymnastics ; Curious Belief as to Effects of Practising Them — Bridges and the Beliefs Concerning Them — Curing Swellings — How to Prevent Water from Boiling over and Eggs from Cracking — Cinnebar and Vermilion as Antidotes to Sickness — Superstitions as to the Female Principle and Silkworms— Signs by Corpses if Dissatisfied, pp. 64-71. CONTENTS. Ill CHAPTER VII. GHOSTS, APPARITIONS, AND SUPERNATURAL BEINGS. Prominent Part played by Ghosts on the Chinese Stage — The False Ghost at Chinkeang Chinese Terms for Ghosts ; Their Shapeless Form — Candles Burning Green in the Presence of Ghosts — Apparition at Shanghai — The Ghost from the S. S. Fusing The Foochow Gun-boat Ghost — Ghosts of Suicides and of W^omen who Die in Child-bed — Ghosts of Murdered People — Haunted Houses — Sanding Floors to Detect Ghostly Visitants — Intelligence of Ghosts — Pauper Ghosts — The Shen of Offence— The Ghost in a Chinese Farce — Idol Ghosts — Ghosts Permitted to Re- visit the Earth— Charms against Malevolent Ghosts— Animal Ghosts, pp. 71-79. CHAPTER VIII. WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY. Antiquity of Witchcraft in China — Witches not Persecuted in China — Summoning Genii — Chinese Ideas of Genii — Taoistic and Confucian Opinions respecting them — Celebrated Genii — Isles of the Genii — Clay Images of Persons whom it is desired to Injure— Paper and Feathers as used by Wizards — The Mao-shan and Shan-ching- kwei — Demon Monsters — Taoistic Chiefs of the Genii — People possessed by Spirits — “ Devil Dancers ” — Reputed Powers of Christian Converts as Exorcists — Charm against Witches — Cats and Witchcraft — Hares, &c. — Tigers — Carp, &c. — Dragons — Foxes and Demonology — Curious Fox Stories — Fox Myths amongst the American Indians and Japanese — Stones possessed by Spirits, pp. 79-96. CHAPTER LX. ELVES, FAIRIES, AND BROWNIES. Chinese Ideas regarding Fairies —Fairy Haunts — Storm Fiends — Rip van Winkle Legends and Fairies — The Fairy Home — Brownies — The Shan-sao — Stealing the Fairy Dress Fairy Flies and Bees — Chinese Kelpies — The Goddess of the Palace of the Moon — Fairy Tales — The word Shen and its meanings pp. 97-102. CHAPTER X. SERPENTS, DRAGONS, FABULOUS ANIMALS, AND MONSTERS. The Serpent and Universal Legend — Healing Qualities of Serpents’ Flesh— Human Beings assuming Serpent form— British Parallels — The Fuhkien Snake Story— Serpent Worship and its Temples — Serpents as River Gods —Precious Stones in the Heads of Serpents — The Snake and the Butcher’s Block — Dragons and their Serpent Origin — Serpent Worship in India and China — Five-Clawed Dragons — British Drag#ns — Chinese Description of the Dragon — River Dragons — Domestic Dragon Worship— Ah Tseung and the Bob-tailed Dragon- — Chinese Version of St. George and the Dragon — The Phoenix and Unicorn — The Blood-yielding Baboon — Sea Serpents and Strange Fish — Mermaids and their Original Home — Popular Beliefs respecting the Straits of Hainan, ,....pp. 102-115. IV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. SUPERSTITIONS REGARDING THE POWERS OF NATURE. The Sun, Moon and Stars, and Beliefs regarding them — The Lunar Goddess, Frog, Toad, Hare, &c. — Planetary Influences — Cosmical Phenomena and Native Records — The “ Old Man of the Moon” — The Goddess of the Moon — The Lunar Hare and its Legend— Th» Moon and Tides — The Sun and Chinese Beliefs regarding it — Stars and Planets, Chinese Legends respecting them — The Mirage — Meteors and their Portentous Attributes — Thunder and Lightning — The God of Fire — A Peking Legend — “ Fire Pigeons ” — Mountains and their Presiding Divinities — Legends respecting the Formation of Islands — The Rain God and his Misdeeds — A would-be “ Rain-priest ” — Superstitions as to Tides — Earthquakes — Natural Hairs — Blood from the Sky — The Legend of Lake Man — Emission of the Chiao — Blood from the Earth — Dragons and Waterspouts — Human Beings Transformed into Stone — A Fall of Chinese Manna, pp. 115-128. CHAPTER XII. LEGENDS OF LOCALITY, HOUSEHOLD TALES, &c. Numerous Legends current amongst the Chinese — The Yangtsze and Yellow River — The Entrance to Purgatory — The Demons of Teng-chow — Imprisoned Genii — The Golden Cup of Hercules and Pei-tu — The Valley of the White Deer Spirits of the Gorges — Transformed Dogs — The Source of the Hwang Ho— Mountain of the Genii — The Legend of the Bell — Pro patrid mori — A Chinese Ali Baba — The Loadstone — Magic Tombs — Good Deeds Rewarded — Words Engraved upon the Heart — Punch and Judy Shows and their Origin — Legendary Origin of Tea — Origin of the Cocoa-nut — Mercury and the Philosopher’s Stone — The Judgment of Solomon — Magic Bread — The Swan Maidens and a Lewchewan Legend — Use of Household Tales and Legends for Comparative Purposes — Chinese Story Radicals, pp. 129-145. CHAPTER XIII. FABLES AND PROVERBIAL LORE. Chinese Fables numerous — Absence of Native Collections of Fables — Indo-Chinese Fables — Mr. Thom, and his Translation of A3 sop — The Earliest Chinese Fable- Comparative Antiquity of the Fable in China and Greece — The Cat and the Mice — Offering a White Pig Men and Snakes — The Ass and the Oxen— The Tiger and the Monkey, Ass, Fox, &c — The Geese and the Tortoise — The Brother’s Boots — The Crows and the Owls— The King and the Mill Horses — Borrowing Trouble — The Blind Man and the Lame Man — The Folly of Avarice— Proverbs, their Extensive Use in China — Writings of Messrs. Lister and Scarborough — A Com- parison of well-known Chinese and English Proverbs — The Chinese word for “ Heaven” — Conclusion, :...pp. 146-156. Erratum. In the footnote, page 84, the paragraphs quoted are wrongly attributed to Mr. C. T. Gardner. They are by an unknown writer in a Shanghai journal. THE FOLK-LORE OF CHINA I.— INTEODUCTORY. The attention whieh has of late been attracted to the study of European and Asiatic folk-lore happily renders unnecessary any apology for an effort to bring to the knowledge of English readers the vast, and as yet almost unworked, field of which it is the design of these pages to treat. The numerous and in many cases able works recently published have not only placed at the disposal of students a vast mass of facts bearing on the science, but have so fully vindicated its claims to the consideration of the ethnologist and philologist, that any introductory «ssay v in the same direction is unnecessary. The labours of Professor Max Muller, the Brothers Grimm, Baring Gould, Kuhn, Kelly, Thorpe, Dasent, Wilson, Ralston, and Spence Hardy, of Muir, Bleeke, and others, have satisfactorily paved the way for successors in the field. The widespread traditions of the Aryan family, down to the homely superstitions of our own peasantry, the myths of Oceanica and the popular tales of Scandinavia, have alike received illustration, and often erudite comment from capable pens. In endeavouring to do for the folk-lore of China what has been so well done for that of other countries I shall in one respect enjoy an exceptional advantage. No serious attempt has yet been made to prove its kinship with the familiar beliefs of the Aryan races ; and the following pages may therefore claim, on the score of novelty alone, an attention which might otherwise be denied them. That a population so enormous as that which owns the nominal sway of the Dragon Throne — variously estimated at from 250,000,000 to 400,000,000 — should present a field of most interesting enquiry, is less strange than that so few enquirers should as yet have essayed to explore it. The extreme difficulties of the language and the fact that few who study it for even conversational purposes do so except for a specific end, and to fulfil some defined duty, have doubtless mainly contributed to this state of affairs. Whatever the cause, how- ever, the fact remains that the folk-lore of the oldest and most populous nation of 2 THE FOLK-LOEE OF CHINA. the globe, rich in the traditions of a period to which modern history is bnt a thing of yesterday, has been hitherto almost ignored by even the most successful students of Chinese. Those least acquainted with the people and their customs need not be assured that in China, as in most other parts of the world, there are certain subjects regarding which quaint and curious superstitions, beliefs and practices obtain amongst the populace. Unlike the civilized nations of Europe and America, however, China numbers amongst believers in the truth of these superstitions a vast public of some pretensions to education — such as it is — and of social position in the eyes of their countrymen. The doings of every Chinaman, from Emperor to coolie, are affected and guided by astrological portents, divinations, etc., in which even the more highly educated, who affect to despise them, place a practical trust. The half -cynical disbelief of the mandarin and literate, becomes firm conviction in the peasant ; and China presents the now-a-days singular spectacle of an entire nation, numbering over three hundred millions of souls, whose everyday life is framed to meet the exigencies of a puerile system of superstition. It must not, however, be supposed that these superstitious beliefs differ to any material extent from those current amongst humanity elsewhere. The variations will be found to lie rather in detail than in principle; and just as white replaces black for the mourning colour, but leaves untouched the custom of adopting a special costume as a sign of grief, so it will be found that a varia- tion or even apparent contradiction in the beliefs we are about to deal with are in like manner the outcome of motives common to the inhabitants of almost all countries alike. Thus, the Scottish custom of opening the windows of the room in which a person has died, to give the soul free egress, is, in some parts of China, paralleled by the practice of making a hole in the roof. The Lancashire superstition as to the “first foot” on New Year’s Day finds its Chinese coun- terpart in the dislike expressed to meeting a woman or a Buddhist priest under such conditions. I forbear to here enlarge upon such agreements in superstition, as they will be found treated of at length in the following pages. The one grand distinction between Chinese and European folk-lore lies, as above intimated, in the different powers tliey"exert over the respective communities. In the one case it is either a matter only of amused indifference or of interested research to all but the lowest classes of the population. In the other it represents an all- pervading system of regulations believed in or complied with by high and low alike. We must not, however, forget at how very recent a date we, who now pride ourselves on our civilization and enlightenment, were emancipated from the thraldom of similar and equally oppressive beliefs. To turn for a moment to the page of western history, we find that the belief in omens, divinations, &c., has, ever since the earliest times, influenced communities beside whom we incline, with somewhat undue arrogance, to term the Chinese “barbarous.” St. Chrysostom and many of the early fathers inveighed against popular supersti- tions in no measured way. In the eighth century we find a Council of Church dignitaries, Pope Gregory III., Charlemagne and his successors, and the abbots and bishops of Scotland and France, vehemently denouncing beliefs similar in all INTRODUCTORY. 3 respects to those in vogue in China. The great Martin Luther himself believed in superstitions as gross as any recorded.* We turn with abhorrence from the story of Matthew Hopkins, the witch- tinder, and cannot forget that, almost within the memory of our own great grandfathers, the Puritans of the New World outvied in their superstitious bigotry the worst absurdities recorded in Chinese annals. It is well to recall these matters to mind, because the enlighten- ment of the present day is apt to sneer too unreservedly at the blind gropings after truth of less favoured races. The popular folk-lore of Norway, Germany and Britanny presents features quite as quaint as those we shall come across in dealing with their Asiatic congeners. Nor, when we leave the domain of what we may term domestic folk-lore — superstitions as to days and seasons, charms, omens, lucky numbers, &c., — and ascend to that of myths and legends, is the parallelism between Chinese and Aryan belief less striking and interesting. We miss of course all that can be traced to Christianity ; but the powers of nature have appealed as strongly to the wonder and dread of the sons of Han as they did to the races of whom we ourselves are the successors and heirs. u Language,” says a recent writer, ‘ ‘ in its immature phases, has created, without any conscious exercise of imagina- tion, most of the old-world, pathetic legends, which, different garbs notwith- standing, meet us like familiar friends in the early records of nations so widely divergent that it would be hard to discover any other trace of kinship.” I will not here pause to ask how fully this applies to Chinese. The myth-making faculty is in any case the common heritage of mankind ; and narrow as are the limits within which it has been exercised by the Chinese, and grotesque as are the forms assumed by its productions, they evidence the same yearning to idealise the mysterious powers of the universe, the same poetic faculty, if more rudely expressed, as has characterized mankind since the Chaldean astrologers kept their lonely vigils, and found in the star-studded heavens materials for the mythic beliefs of the long-forgotten past. In view then of the interesting and almost limitless field of research pre- sented by the superstitious beliefs of nearly a third of the human race, it is, as I have said, more than remarkable that no one has yet essayed the task of com- piling some record of their peculiarities. Scattered allusions to them undoubtedly pervade a large number of recent contributions to our better knowledge of China, wliile certain subjects have been dealt with more at length — in some cases with much ability. Mr. T. Watters has struck a rich vein of curious information in his articles on Chinese notions respecting Pigeons, Doves, and Foxes ; while Mr. Stent, in his paper on Chinese Legends, has given some interesting examples of * Luther himself believed in the existence of a stone (the cetita), which superstition gave out was to be found in eagle’s nests, and which possessed the power of detect- ing thieves ! It is not, we imagine, ge- nerally known that Luther was grossly superstitious — but he was. It is, we think, in the Colloquia Mensalia> edited by Lau- terbach, that Luther is said to have ex- pressed bis belief in, among other tradi- tions, the following — that three toads spitted on a stick extracted poison from wounds ; that the swan sang sweetly before death ; that the electors of Germany could touch for the scrofula, and that the 38th year of man’s life was one of peculiar danger to hi m.— Englishman. THE FOLK-LORE OF CHINA. 4 the romances or tales which are current among the Chinese. As Mr. Stent says ; . almost every place in China- has some legend attached to it, the whole constitut- ing a mass of material for collectors of folk-lore, not only interesting from its own* quaintness, but useful for comparison with the legends of other nations.* Mr. Kingsmill’s discussion of the mythical origin of the Chow Dynasty, Dr. Eitel’s account of the curious Buddhist fable which includes the Hwang-ho among the sacred rivers flowing from the Himalayan Lake, and Mr. Mayers’s sketch of the rise and growth of the cult of the god of Literature in China, all contain curious and suggestive matter on this head. They dfeal however only with portions of the subject. A writer in the year 1798 remarked: that “the study of popular antiquities (of which folk-lore is an important branch) though the materials of it lie so widely diffused, and indeed seem, to obtrude themselves upon every one’s attention, does not appear to have engaged, so much the notice of enquirers into human life and; manners' as- might have been expected..” But the last seventy years have wit- nessed an. activity in this direction which would allow of the formation of a small, library of works dealing only with such matters. It is time that China were added to the list of countries whose folk-lore has been recorded for comparative purposes. And any shortcomings of execution on the part of the present writer will, it is hoped, be condoned on the score of its being the first attempt to deal systematically with the vast array of material at disposal. Any arrangement of subjects is of course arbitrary; but I shall endeavour to follow what seems to me the most natural order of sequence ; and. I must here be pardoned for devoting a short space to explaining what I conceive that order to be. The unstudied arrangement of many able works on European folk-lore, although perhaps adding additional charm to their perusal on the part of the- general reader, somewhat militates against their use for handy reference by those who care to study them, for the sake of comparison. It is therefore much to be desired that some general system, could be agreed upon by those who care to make- this entertaining subject a matter of serious research. With some diffidence I. adopt an arrangement which deals in the first instance with- superstitions personal, to the individual, such as those relating to birth,, marriage and death — supersti- tions which we find equally disseminated amongst the most degraded and the- most civilized peoples of the earth. To these succeed the beliefs accorded to the good or evil luck attaching to days or seasons. Next to them come the credence placed in lucky numbers, portents, auguries and dreams, succeeded by the po- pular beliefs in charms, spells and divinations* These are followed by accounts; of popular superstitions-^-such as those relating to drowned men, the last piece of edible left upon a plate, the virtues of human blood, &c. Entering the domain of the more technically supernatural, but still dealing with beliefs immediately affecting the happiness or misery of mankind, we come to witchcraft and demonology, — sprites, elves and fairies, such as those who, to quote a native composition, “come in clouds and go in mist;” who make use of “grass that when cut makes horses, or beans that when scattered become fighting men.”f- * See Report N. C. B. R. A. S., 1873. + Wade’s Wen tapien , Ch. xvm. INTRODUCTORY. 5 Ghosts and apparitions are naturally connected with the foregoing. The next section refers to dragons, serpents, fabulous animals, and monsters, which plaz- as important a part in the popular legends of China as in those of Christendom. Long before our patron saint St. George slew the monster so long depicted on the now extinct five-shilling piece, a doughty Chinese champion (a lady, by the way) had performed a similar feat, and had been also embalmed in popular memory ; while the snake, regarded with not less awe as an incarnation of the supernatural in China than in Europe, figures conspicuously in her legendary lore. Natural phenomena, such as typhoons, earthquakes, floods, &c., which I next deal with, have naturally, here as elsewhere, been attributed to supernatural influence from time immemorial. Legends form the next division of our subject, commencing with those of locality ; for the hills and vales of Cathay have their haunted spots, and its cities too have their haunted houses. Legends of Locality and Household Tales conclude this branch of the subject, a selection of the best known, and those of an essentially popular nature, being alone given. Fables and Proverbial Lore complete the series ; but the latter has been too fully dealt with in separate works and essays to render more than passing reference to its characteristics necessary. Briefly tabulated, then, the Chapters will be arranged in the following order : — A — Superstition's as to personal fortune. Birth, Marriage, Death. Days and Seasons. Portents, Auguries, Dreams, Lucky Numbers. Charms, Spells , Amulets and Divinations. B — Superstitions as to various subjects. C — Superstitions involving the interference of supernatural powers. Ghosts, Apparitions and Supernatural Beings. Witchcraft and Demonology , Elves, Eairies and Brownies. Serpents, Dragons, Fabulous Animals and Monsters. Superstitions regarding the Powers of Nature. D — Legendary Folk-lore. Legends of Locality, Household Tales, fyc. E — Fables and Proverbial Folk-lore. That it is difficult in all cases to draw the precise line in classification, those who have paid any attention to the subject will readily understand ; and the most that can be done is to adopt some system which, however faulty, is handy for reference. The word “ Folk-lore ” can be applied to many of the domestic traditions of China only as a matter of literary convenience. The word which, according to Mr. Kelly, was invented (or rather first used in its generic sense) by the late 6 THE FOLK-LORE OF CHINA. editor of Notes and Queries * is indeed the only one in the language which satisfactorily expresses the subject of which it treats, and has met with general acceptance. But there is this difference between most of the folk-lore of the Aryan races and that of China. In the former case it chiefly relates to legends and. superstitions handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth ; in the latter it necessarily includes much that is to be found in print at every native bookstall. Old Moore’s and Zadkiel’s Almanacks represent this sort of literature in England, but do not of course contain a tithe of what is current amongst the people. In China such literature flourishes like a rank weed, to the partial destruction of aught else more useful and ennobling. In addition to these native “authorities,” a vast amount of material relating to the subject is to be found in the columns of the foreign and native newspapers. The aid thus afforded has been fully availed of in the following chapters, though it must not of course be supposed that there does not also exist a large amount of veritable lore, a knowledge of which has been perpetuated in the ordinary conversational way. The cheapness of the press has indeed proved in China a powerful help in preserving much that might otherwise have died out. The precise form of any superstition can therefore be frequently traced, thanks to this conservative element, and differing versions of popular myths are easily referred to their true origins. It does not appear that the great teachers of China have done much, except in an indirect way, to encourage popular superstitions. But faint references — and those chiefly to ceremonial matters — are to be found in the classics, nor does popular belief credit Confucius, Mencius, Lao-tzu, and others with more than inferential approval of the superstitions current in their own day. The principle of filial reverence for age has probably contributed more than anything else to imbue the minds of the people with a respect for anything, from a porcelain bowl to an aphorism or proverb, which savours of antiquity ; and folk-lore shares with ethics the benefits of the national bias. As regards details, the folk-lore of China is much the same as that of Europe, with here and there some unexpected con- tradictions. Many of these superstitions are, and of course must be, equally childish, whether finding their home in a Cornish hamlet or a Chinese town ; but it is none the less interesting to find that they often exist in almost identical shape in places so far asunder. To the mind of the present writer they convey far deeper assurances of a common origin between differing races than the often untrustworthy resemblances of isolated words in their respective tongues. It will probably be found that the theory which refers the greater portion of the folk-lore of Europe to the Oriental cradle of the Aryan races, from whence it was disseminated by their migrations westward, is equally applicable to the folk-lore of China. The first-named supposition has been ably supported by Kelly and his brother workers, and if, as is believed, equally strong grounds can be shewn for adopting the second, a contribution of some importance to ethnology, * Kelly’s Indo-European Traditions and Folk-lore , Preface, p. ix. * INTRODUCTORY. 7 and indirectly to philology, will have been made. And it is difficult, when the domestic superstitions of Scotland or the tales of New England witchcraft, the drear legends of Iceland or the myths of Thuringia are found to be almost iden- tical with beliefs in little-known China, — when the almond-eyed mother of Kwangtung is found repeating to her offspring the mystic nonsense uttered by her Hindoo or Turkish sister, as she too, under other skies, listens to the prattle of childish tongues — it is, I say, difficult to deny that a strong case has been made out for a common fount whence the folk-lore of at least two continents has flowed Eastward and Westward in ever-accumulating streams. I need not here refer to such essentially related peoples as the Japanese, Tibetans, Mongolians, &c., whose superstitions are so analogous to those of the Chinese as to be fairly classed under the same head. Such information as has been available respecting them, will be found collated in its proper place. I have slightly touched in a preceding paragraph upon the unusually wides- pread belief accorded in China to signs and omens, legends, charms, &c., and a passing remark as to the extent to which this belief obtains may not be out of place. The Court of China, like courts elsewhere, sets the fashion in this as in other matters, and both the marriage of the late Sovereign and the recent accession of the new infant Emperor has afforded an apt illustration of how thoroughly superstition is interwoven with the political system of the country. Thus, at the marriage of Tung-chi with Ah-lu-te, the young lady received amongst the bridal gifts ten pieces of green and white jade called — “ Heart’s delight.” They were of mystic import, being supposed to possess the power of conferring joy and happiness on their owner, f The lucky days for the various ceremonies were fixed by the court astrologers, and nothing was done without reference to their predictions. Such phrases as “so and so being a lucky day, His Imperial Majesty will proceed &c.,” are of constant occurrence in the court circulars. But the burdens laid upon the august inhabitants of the “ Forbidden City ” are but light compared to those borne by the rest of the people. Whether it be to build a house or assume office, to marry a wife or open a school, to set out on a journey or complete a bargain, nothing can be done by any Chinese without reference to Geomancy. Nor are more homely details less under the control of superstitious belief. Every act connected with birth, marriage or death, the bringing up of children and the enterprises of manhood, are alike referred to some detail of this curiously all-pervading system. The superstitions indeed exist amongst ourselves, those really affected by them being only the most ignorant of the population. But in China all are, or assume to be, firm believers in the occult influences of the charm or incantation which custom decrees shall be used. The veriest “Lancashire witch” was no more a slave to her own belief in witchcraft than are average Chinese to their faith in the virtues of divination. Folk-lore therefore assumes in China a place almost unknown to it elsewhere, and no student of the manners and customs of its people can overlook its influence on their every-day life. t Marriage of the Emperor of China : By L. M. F,, p. 25, 8 THE FOLK-LORE OF CHINA. II. — BIRTII, MAKEIAGE AND DEATH. In China, as throughout the western world, curious superstitions attach to human life in all its various stages. The hour and day of an infant’s birth are as much a matter of solicitude to the Chinese female as to the “wise woman” of our own North-country hamlets.* The queer-looking almanacks to be found amongst the stock of every native bookshop or stall, invariably contain a series of figures representing a fanciful deity, whose title may be rendered as that of the Emperor “Four Quarters” or “All the Year Round,” each figure having one of the horary characters placed on some portion of its person. Thus, during the spring quarter the sign for from 1 1 to to 1 o’clock a.m. appears on the fore- head ; that for from 9 to 11 o’clock on the shoulder; that for from 1 to 3 o’clock upon the stomach ; etc. (See illustration). When a child is born these diagrams are consulted, and according as the hour mark occurs upon the forehead, shoul- ders, hands, legs or other portion of the body, so they augur the future destiny of the child. Thus title and degree will be the lot of him who is born at noon. The child who makes his appearance between 9 and 11 o’clock will have, in the familiar words of the gypsy, “ a hard lot at first, but finally great riches.” Toil and sorrow, however, will be the portion of the unlucky baby who first sees the light between 3 and 5 a.m., or p.m., and so on.f The following verses have been kindly placed at my disposal by a friend, who has taken the trouble to put into rhyme some of the doggrel that accompanies the diagrams above referred to : — THE RHYME OF THE EMFEROR “ ALL-THE- YEAR-ROUND.” In birth, the Emperor’s forehead shows A fate that never sorrow knows, Plebeians that rich and honoured be And rise to title and degree, The rank they seek is still bestowed ; Nobles that follow a worthy lord And women, chaste and well-beloved, Wed and breed scholars true and proved. * Children born between midnight and dawn are thought by the North country folk to be endowed with a sort of second sight, “ so that they see spirits,” or, as a nurse puts it, “ are bairns that see more than other folk.” — See Henderson’s Notes on Folk-lore , p. 3. + If the Chinese lay great stress on the hour of birth, we no less attribute to the day a talismanic influence over the future of the newborn child ; as witness the good- wives’ rhyme : — Monday’s child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, Thursday’s child lias far to go, Friday’s child is loving and giving, Saturday’s child works hard for its living, But the child that is born on the Sab- bath day Is blythe and bonnie, and good and gay. Or, as another version has it : — Born on a Sunday a gentleman, Born on a Monday fair of face, Born on a Tuesday full of grace, Born on a Wednesday sour and glum, Born on a Thursday welcome home, Born on a Friday free in giving, Born on a Saturday work hard for your living. BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH. 9 The Emperor’s hands in birth portend The gains that handicraft attend Abroad, a welcome rich and free, As home, a well-found family ; 10 THE FOLK-LORE OF CHINA. One year shall yield a plenteous store, Next year shall make that plenty more, Wealth shall flow in on every side, Wealth with old age shall still abide. The Emperor’s shoulders mean, I trow, An heir to goodly gifts that grow To more and more as years draw on, Grandsons and sons to honour come, Rank comes too when the time is fit, Old age brings fields and farms with it ; If kith and kin at first were cold “ Bitter, then sweet,” is truth of old. When on the belly falls the sign, Shalt have enough, as I divine, Of clothes and food, of acts or arms, Of music and the pageant’s charms ; Old age with peace and joy shall crown Mid-age’s office and renown, And a delightsome halo spread, Increasing, round thy honoured head. If on the loins the sign be found, Then rank with wealth and years is crowned, With honour when life’s prime is told And eld y-blessed with yellow gold, Yea, though arisen from low degree His fate is true nobility ; His scions, an illustrious band Who make a name within the land. But on the leg — the meaning there Is toil and sorrow, want and care, Nor clothes nor food enough shall be, May all thy kin be kind to thee ! Who day by day must drudge and toil Nor be content for all thy coil. Yet, when thy bitter youth is past, Old age shall bring thee bliss at last. The Emperor’s foot means this — at last Peace comes from vigil and from fast, A life-time of tranquillity ! Have nought to do with rent or fee ; Widowed — renew not married life ; Widower — seek no second wife ; Thy path a wilderness unblest, Flee to a cell and be at rest! The practices resorted to previous to the birth of children, either to secure that blessing or to ascertain the sex of the expected infant, form in themselves a curious chapter. An idea that adopting a girl belonging to another family will increase a woman’s own likelihood of having children herself, is based upon the belief that each living woman is in the unseen world represented by a tree ; and that, just as grafting succeeds with trees, so adoption (which represents the BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH. 11 same process in family life) may succeed as regards children. Another supersti- tion is that each woman is represented in the other world by a vase containing a flower. A sorceress is hired to proceed thither and “ change the earth.” A third way of securing children is to obtain from the temple of the Goddess of Children a shoe which has been worn by her. This is taken home and, being placed beside the image or tablet of the goddess, receives equal worship ; and, should the desired object be attained, a pair of shoes exactly resembling the one obtained must be returned to the temple. Sometimes several are taken from an equal number of temples, and in that case the goddess from whom the last shoe was received is rewarded with most offerings. A flower is in other cases taken from one of the temple vases in place of a shoe, and is supposed to be nearly as efficacious. Shortly before the birth of the child in Fuhkien a ceremony is performed by a priest, with the intention of frightening away the demons who are supposed to haunt the mother for the purpose of destroying her life in childbirth. “ The priest recites the classics proper to the occasion. Ten or twenty pieces of a kind of grass cut up about an inch long, and several likenesses of the crab cut out of common paper, are put in a censer and burned. Or sometimes several live crabs, after being used in the ceremony are taken and turned into the street — by way of frightening or propitiating the spirits. The reason why crabs are used is that the name of one of these demons sounds like that of crab, in the local dialect.”* The formula for ascertaining the sex of a coming child is not very far re- moved from the children’s amusement of prophesying by buttons, commencing “ Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, &e.” The mother adds to the number of her age in years that of the month, day and hour she was born : thus if twenty years old and she was born in the sixth hour of the third day of the second month, she would have a total of thirty-one. She then takes a series of pictures of the thirty-six assistants of the Goddess of Children, sold for fortune -telling purposes, and according to the sex of the child in the arms of the thirty-first concludes that her own child will be a boy or a girl. If the number of her age, &c., exceed thirty-six, she commences to count the first picture from number thirty-seven. Childless women also resort to a similar process to ascertain whether they will or will not have children. Those curious to ascertain the religious ceremonies made use of prior to birth may be referred to Mr. Doolittle’s work on Chinese Social Life. It may be noted, in passing, that the Chinese make but little provision what- ever for the birth of female children, which are deemed beneath the notice of augury or portent. At the birth of a child of either sex, however, amongst the boating population, a piece of red coloured cloth is hung from the awning of the sampan in which the birth has taken place. f * Doolittle’s Social Life of the Chinese , Yol. I., p. 117. f The ring of the door is bound with a white linen cloth in Holland — See Brand's Pop. Antiq. t vol. 2, p. 72. This appears to have had a superstitious origin quite distinct from the practice into which it has degenerated in England of “ muffling” the knocker, so that its use may not disturb the mother and child. 12 THE FOLK-LORE OF CHINA. A superstition obtains in the southern provinces that if three children appear at a birth one of them will eventually become a noted rebel, and it hence becomes a question of “Which is Papa going to keep?” if the luckless father would avoid that direst of Chinese curses, a thoroughly bad son. To decide the question a “ wise man” is sent for, by whose directions the three infants are taken into a perfectly dark room. The wise man then takes three pieces of string, each of a different colour, such as white, red and black, and entering the room ties one of these pieces of string round a wrist of each baby. The one that is found when brought out into the light to have the red string on its wrist is drowned like a puppy.* Presuming however that the little one has not had such ill-luck as to be the odd one of three, it still undergoes within an hour or two of birth the ceremony of “binding the wrists.” A cash or charm is tied to this part of the arm by means of red cords, which are not untied for some ten or twelve days. Others attach miniature toys, such as a mallet, drum, bell, &c., the red cords being about two feet long altogether, with one foot of loose string between them. Sometimes, however, the cord or tape alone is used, being replaced when dirty, but worn altogether for several months or even a year.f This of course has re- ference to the dread lest evil spirits should harm the child, and the impelling motive finds expression in other countries in a not quite dissimilar way. Thus the Danish women place amulets (garlic, salt, bread and steel) over the cradle of a new-born infant before depositing it therein while a superstition formerly obtained both in England and the Highlands that a child should not be left alone until it was christened lest it should be stolen or changed by fairies. § A practice common amongst nurses is to pass a knife edge downward between the feet of a child just as it commences to run alone. This is called “cutting the cord of his feet,” and is supposed to facilitate his learning to walk.|| There is a curious little piece of folk-lore, common alike to the Middle King- dom and our own fatherland, which I lighted upon by accident. A wide-spread superstition exists at home against rocking a “toom,” or empty cradle. % Now, strangely enough, Chinese nurses in the South of China have precisely the same * The Romans admired the number 3, and numerous Western superstitions are based on its being regarded as a “ lucky number.” — See Predictions Realized , by H. Welby, p. 15. + Doolittle’s Social Life of the Chinese , p. 121. Mr. Doolittle refers the tying of the wrists to a different motive. “ It is,” he says, “ thought that such a tying will tend to keep the child from being trouble- some in after life and from meddling with what does not belong to it, just as though he or she was bound. When boys or girls are naughty or troublesome they are often asked if their mammas did not bind their wrists ? Implying that if their wrists had been properly bound when an infant they would have been restrained from mis- conduct in subsequent life.” I am dis- posed, however, to refer the origin of the custom to the belief I have stated in the text, though the Chinese of to-day may look upon it rather as symbolical than efficacious as regard demons. X Brand’s Pop. Antiq., vol. II. p. 73. § The modern Greeks entertain a similar belief referring to the first eight days of a child’s life. || Social Life of the Chinese , vol. I. p. 127. H The first verse of a fragment given in Henderson’s Folk-lore of the Northern Counties says : — “ Oh rock not the cradle when the baby’s not in, For this by old women is counted a sin, It’s a crime so inhuman it may na’ be forgi’en, And they that would do it ha’e lost sight of heaven.” birth, marriage and death. 13 belief. A little four-year old girl, who is a very intimate acquaintance of mine, not long ago began rocking the cradle in which her newly-born sister was usually laid to sleep. An amah who saw her, rushed at the child, exclaiming “You no makee rock so fashion ! That baby b’long die, s’posie rock,” As it happened the infant did die, as was fully expected by the medical attendant : but of course the amah found in the anticipated fact a verification of her prediction, and farther enquiry has satisfied me that the superstition is identical with and quite as widespread as our own. The resemblance of belief here certainly seems some- thing more than accidental. The ceremonies observed shortly after the birth of a child are curious. A package of seed, rush (such as is used for candle wicks), cat’s and dog’s hair, onions or garlic, a pair of chopsticks, and some charcoal, is in Fuhkien tied up with red string in a piece of red paper and suspended on the outside of the door where the mother is lying.* In the extreme South some of these articles are omitted. “A pair of the trousers of the child’s father are put on the frame of the bedstead in such a way that the waist shall hang downward or be lower than the legs. On the trousers is stuck a piece of red paper, having four words written upon it intimating that all unfavourable influences are to go into the trousers instead of afflicting the babe. The hair on the package outside the bedroom door is to keep the noises which may be made for eleven days by the dogs and cats in the vicinity from frightening the babe. The coal is to aid in making it hardy and vigorous. The onions are to cause it to be quick-witted and intelligent. The pith (rush) is explained as contributing to make it for- tunate or successful in life.” f On the fourteenth day the parcel and trousers respectively are taken away. Odd as the custom above referred to may seem, it is exactly parallelled by those prevailing in both Germany and Scotland. In the former country it is usual to lay in the cradle a package of snapdragon, blue marjoram, black cumin, a right shirt sleeve and a left stocking ; while, on the authority of Mr. Henderson, it may be noted that in Scotland “the little one’s safeguard is held to lie in the juxtaposition of some article of dress belong- ing to its father.” f Of the hair of cats or dogs I shall have more to say in a future chapter. But I may remark that a superstition as to the curative and evil-warding power of hair exists at this day in both Wales and Gloucester. § There is a custom called “ Worshipping the Measures” frequently performed by Chinese during the eighth month if they have sickly children. The “measures” are two constellations in the Northern and Southern hemispheres respectively. They are generally identified as the four stars /3, y, in the dipper ( Ursa Major ) and ?, x, p,