, 1876-11-19

being anxious to place the late deceased r.,
on good terms with his new acquaintano.e
In August and September the Ksces ara w..
materially reinforced, for at that time Il!
gates Of He'll are opened and all the snir;t.
| are let loose for short vacation, which tbs~
spend principally in eating. During the.
two months the people give He'll >sta:ed :.
ception dinners and provide food IN crpsI
quantities In fact, the voracity Of the K,.~;
is SO colossal, and the food question seems
to be so intimately connected with Hal,
as to suggest the origin of ~,
current phrase, 81 From He'll to breakf.a, =
It is even generally believed that thera :,
one place in the Province Of Che-Kiano :,
habited almost exclusively by Kwd, who m
known by their casting no shadow in II.
moonlight and by their constant use =,
paper money (being Rag -Babyites) instead n
hard money: In the City Of Fung-tu, alao
there is street one side Of which is inh,h
tied by living men and one by spirits, int
as in every village in this country there il
haunted house.
There is another class of ghosts cai1aa
Hang -shi, whose bodies do not deconno,.
at death, and who are permitted to roam
about at night with united body and son1
# they eat any material food they are imma
diately transformed into living men, tba
only difference being that they are unabla n
behold the light Of day. # they allow tia
sun to shine upon them they melt away .,
surely as q jelly-fsh. There is anotbe,
class of spirits,-the Tu-sien,-who hav,
q great influence upon the minds ot
the people, because through theh
medium they can tell fortunes anf
converse with the dead. They are tb,
spirits Of those who have not been allovsd
to reassu1ne body on account of unful6lled
obligations incurred in former state. Thsv
repay their debts of money or gratitude by
serving their benefactors, who have preced-
ed them in coming again into the world. in
enabling them to acquire wealth by fortune.
telling There is nothing new under the
sun. The raps, supposed to have been dis
covered by the Fox sisters, the tipping ot
tables, the workings Of planchette, the wit,
ten communications, the materialHine al
spirits, the unseen music, the abnormal 1s>
suits Of nance-an the manifestations Of om
so-called spiritua1ism which have sprung up
within the past half-century- are older than
the hills, and have been practiced from time
immemorial in Chins,-the only difference
being that the Chinese have more numerous
and more ingenious developments than We.
= Chinese spiritualism is developed in reg
ular science called FNng-saacny. It is of
almost universal belief and, If possible, hasa
stronger hold upon the educated than
the uneducated class- It has On
literature, embracing yarious
systems and theories, and class of men
called Fang- -shsony- -ssn-sang, or "1uck-doc~
tors, whose duty it is to apply its principles.
This superstition is even consulted in time of
war between dynastes. In the opening Of
canals, the construction Of bridges, the
building Of houses, the choice of professions,
The settlement Of lawsuits, in dyination, a.
trology, palmistry, and fortune-telling, the
science Of Fung- g-ahaony is in constant use.
The Chinese are nation of Spiritua1ista.