The Western advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1872-1874, 1874-07-04
CHINESE SUPERsTITIONs.

We doubt if any race of people under
the sun is, or ever has been, more given
to superstition than the Chinese; they
are, in, fact, intensely supcrstitious in al
most every conceivable way, and it is
very rare indeed to find even an ~individ-
ual who is wholly free from the faint.
Like many otherpeopfe, the great mass
of the Chinese are firm believers in the
"inevitable," and one very disastrous
consequence of this is their reckless care
lessncss with regard to fire; they let off
crackers on the slightest provocation in
their streets, temples or houses, and often
too, in mat-sheds; they are constantly
burning Knock or paper money" in honor
OF deceased relatives, ETC., under similar
conditions and 60 where you will 4into
a temple, q shop or private dwelling
you are almost sure to find smoldering
sticks of incense foreigners call them
joss-sticks) lying about Under these cir
cumstances, and considering that nearly
all their buildings are, to a great extent,
constructed of the most inflammable
materials, 1t is not very surprising that,
IN climate where everything is as dry as
tlnder during great portion of the year,
! their superstitiOus apathy is often the
cause of fearful contlagrations.
| The Chinese stand in much awe of evil
spirits and unpropitious influences, and
| consequently are great believers in the
efficacy of charms, and pay constant at
tentiOn to Omens.
AS a rule, whatever is red is thought
! to act as a talisman; 50 if a man, when
reading the Chinese classics, marks the
stops with red ink, he is thought to adopt
| the surest means of warding off evil from
himself. For similar reason parents
commonly put red in some form or other
on their children, sometimes even braid
! ing red silk into their diminutive queues
The Yi-ching, or Book Of Changes, one
of the Five Canonical works, and the Ia
Hsio, or Great Learning, one of the Four
Books, are held in high esteem as charms
against wicked spirits, especially if put
under the pillow or placed near the bed
ut night; and any one who can repeat
long quotations from them when walking
alone never need fear molestation from
the other world.
A common charm in families is the
money sword" This is usually about
two feet long and is constructed of three
kinds of things, each of which is regard
ed as protection against evil spirits:
two iron rods which form the basis of the
sword; about a hundred copper coins,
either ancient or modern (if ancient so
much the BETTER, which are ingeniously
fastened on these rods, concealing them
from view; the coins are tied on the out
side OF the rods by means of red cords
passed through the square holes in
their centers. Swords of this kind are
suspended at the heads of sleeping
couches and beds that the supposed
guardianship of the sovereigns in whose
reign the coin was issued may keep away
ghosts and evil spirits. They are chiefly
used in houses or rooms where persons
have committed suicide or suffered vio-
lent death, and sick people sometimes re-
sort to them in the hope of Fastening
their recovery Their efficacy is no
doubt fully equal to that of horseshoe
nailed over door, or any Of those infalli-
BILE devices formerly adopted in this
country against witches and ghosts
A species OF silver paddock, called the
"hundrcd families lock-" is considered
wonderful talisman for warding off evil
spirits from a child, and, as it were, lock-
ing him to life. This charm derives it's
name from the way in which it is OBJ
round to hundred different families and
begs from each small subscription, and
he either buys the silver paddock or else
has it made from the silver he has col
| lected. He also procures a small silver
chain or ring, which is placed round the
| child's neck and fastened by the paddock
! Early in the morning, at the beginning
of the fifth mood, Chinese families often
mail up on each side of the front door
and windows of the house a few leaves
OF the sweet flag (acorus gramineus) and
of the artemisia The leaves of the sweet
flag are long and slender, tapering to a
point, and resembling the general shape
of sword" The object is thus to pre-.
vent all manner of evil from entering the
house, and to frighten evil spirits gener-
ally away from it's neighborhood.
A charm called the "warding-off-evil
coin" is in frequent use among children,
being hung from their necks or button
holes; it is made of copper or iron, and
may be round, oblong or hexagonal
Both sides generally bear some charac-
ters with felicitous meaning such as
happiness, riches, etc, and sometimes
one side has on it the twelve animals
which denote the horary characters, or
the periods into which the Chinese divide
the day
The Chinese language abounds in
words and phrases which are looked
upon as omens of good luck.
| The Chinese unicorn is in popular use
as an omen of good. This animal is de-
scribed as having only one horn, with a
body all covered with scales. For sew
eral thousands Of years it has eluded the
vision OF mortals excepting once, when
it is stated to have been seen by Confu-
cius in his old age. He regarded it as
ominous of his approaching death; and
they say that Confucius was the "elf of
! the unicorn ~ hence nerhana tho or;r;n n
OF the saying that an extraordinarily
bright boy is 1.-The son of the unicorn, !"
or the gift of the unicorn"
Bats (which the Chinese call "fei
shoo' or flying mice) are considered good
omens and frequently appear as emblems
OF luck on various articles; the magpie
IS also looked upon as bird of good
omen, and if Chinamap, when busted
about some occupation, chances to hear
It's cry he thinks it presage of good
luck, it being a cheerful sound, and,
therefore, so to speak, a note of encour-
agement. The Chinese, however, have q
proverb respecting the magpie. that
" its voice Is good but its heart is bad .
the meaning of this being that it is giveh
to t1attery. The coming of dog to a
family is an omen of future prosperity.
out a cat is thought to indicate the ap-
proach OF poverty, for it is supposed that
1t can foresee where it will find plenty of
rats and mice in consequence Of house
falling into decay. Crows generally are
looked upon as very unlucky; but there
is kind Of white -necked crow which is
held in great veneration in China. ''7
The Growing of a'hen is thought to be
ominous of something unusual beihp
about to happen to its owners: but iH