Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-12-18
NUMBER 81.
CHINA.
CurtOus eupersttttoas.
From Onoo q Week.

One very extraordinary way IN which
Chinese superstitution shows itself il
in connection with tho system of an
cestral worship, to which they attach
extreme importance. They seem to
believe that tho unseen world is, in a
certain way, a counterpart of things
visible, and that tho spirits of the de.
parted stand in need of the same sup
port as they did when iving-food,
clothes and houses-reduced, however,
to state suitable for the use of the
invisible, which thex~seem to imagine
is to 7bo attained BY tho process OF
burningl They have curious WY OF
carrying their superstition into effect.
Having to provide, not on the day of
the funeral alone, but in perpetuity,
for the comforts of the departed, they
take care that clothing, furniture, and
money shall cost them as little as pos
slble. They therefore manufacture i'm
itations of these necessarles in paper,
the paper money being covered With
tin or gilt foil; and on some occasions
q paper house, ready furnished, F: is
burned and passed entire into tho un-
seen world:
The food of the spirits is managed
more simply still. The feast is spread,
hot and steaming, and the steam and
fumes arising from the repast appear
to form the nutriment of tho spirits,
for the substantial food il consumed
by the relatives. From this feeling
with regard toancestral worship results
the strong desire of every Chinaman to
have a son instead Of daughter for
should the male line of his family fail,
the ancestral feasts cannot be properly
performed, and then not only his own
spirit will be starved; but all his ances-
tors will be reduced to state of beg.
gary.
Probably the most curious of Chi
nese suporstations isithe flung shuy, OF
geomancy. The two words mean sim.
ply "wind and water;" but the true
sense and import of this name for the
superstition cannot be gathered from
these words. The real object of the
study and profession Of the art Of flung
shuy is to WOO the good aud ward Cd
the evil spirits, in whose existence and
power to bless or curso the Chinese
apparently entertain profound belief.
As northerly winds blow in China from
October to the end of March, it is not
very: surprising that the natives asso-
ciate with them the death of nature, "a
it were, and look upon that quarter Of
the compass as the one from which
evil influences all emanate; and "a
southerly winds prevail during the
rest and more cheerful part of
$ha hat
all good and beneficial influences
come from the south; consequently
oil the temples and houses which can
be so constructed, are built to face the
south. But, observes Mr.. Moule, it il
in tho selection of sites for graves that
tho talent of the professor OF flung shuy
is chiefly displayed, A thoroughly
good situation must be one open 70 the
south, with nothing abruptly to check,
pu1xle, and defeat the tide of evil from
that withering region. If the position
be bad, the dead, irrita&ed and annoyed,
by the unpleasant influence from the
north, make known their resentment
by causing sickness and other calam-
itles to assail the family and finally,
if the mischief 10 not repaired, they
make it wither away.
Each will ge has it's flung shuy, its
luck, and the hand of the man who
would CIT down q lucky tree, thus let
ting in stream of curses from the
north, is said to be paralyzed and with
cred on the spot
Chinese villages are often built in
squares, with houses on three sides,
and the entrance open toward the
south. The two sides. ~ you enter,
have different degrees of honor and i'm
portance. The right hand is the green
dragon, the left the white tiger and
If, BY design or accident, the white IT,
gers head be lifted higher than the
dragons, or if any special sdvantsge
be gained by the left, then the luck Of
the place is gone. It is interesting to
notice that this superstition of flung
shuy, though it prevails 20 widely, and
has taken such . deep root in the
minds of the people, isyet denounced
in the Sacred Ediet % . capital crime.