The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1876-06-01
ChineiO Ghost Stories.

that they Do not always fully materialize,
but are frequently seen in incomplete
form, the head first becoming visible, then
the feet, then the body, aud so on. An
other quaint belief is that the ghosts have
no chin, and to say to Cantonese, "Nima
ha pa'-you've no chin-is. equivalent to
saying "you're ghost" Like English
ghosts they appear during the hours Of
darkness, and are compelled to vanish at
cock CROW; but the conventional white
clothing is absent from the Chinese idea
A ghost in China always appears in the
dress he commonly wore during life, and
his advent is announced by candles burn.
ing not blue, but green; the Greeks cal,
supernaturalterrOr green fear"
Animals also have their ghosts. A resi-.
dent at Canton, named Ling, had very
intelligent monkey, which, having been
severely whipped for some mischief, be-
came sulky, refused food and died. Short
" after the monkeys ghost began to
haunt the house; Food placed on the ia
BILE mysteriously disappeared, and strange
.annoyances took place. At length a fire
broke out in the house unaccountably and
Mr.. Ling shifted his residence. But the
monkeys ghost still followed and perse-
cuted him. Again he moved, and
again the ghost accompanied him,
kuntil, as: q last resource, he took
room in the temple of the Five
Hundred Worthless; the monkeys ghost
did not dare to face the gods, and left him
in peace. Mr.. Ling was still residing in
the temple last year.
Ghost stories of the ordinary kind are
numerous. A mandarin met his death in
the late collision between the Chinese
steamer Fusing and the British steamer
Ocean. The Fusing was sunk and over
sixty drowned. The mandarin's ghost
appeared to his wife, who was living in
Soochow, streaming with water from
head to foot. He told her he had been
drowned, and that he had sent by acertsin
friend some money for her use before he
took passage in the Fusing, and that the
friend would arrive shortly. Two days
after the friend named arrived with the
money, and shortly after came the intelli-
gence of the Fusing's disaster.
The commander of a Chinese man Of
war belonging to the Foochow arsenal
fleet, was taken suddenly ill and died at a
friends house. After his death, the friend
frequently saw. his ghost, and one night
addressed it, saying: "You should not
lament; it was your fate; you should be
satisfied with it." Thereupon the ghost
disappeared, and never showed itself again
to the same party, but continued often to
appear to the men on board the ship he
had been commanding, being frequently
seen to pace up and down the deck as he
was wont during his lifetime at night, and
would sometimes place himself in the stti.
Jude Of drilling the men. =
Here is a parallel to the celebrated
Berkely square story. 1t must be noted
that, the ghosts of suicides are distin-
guished by wearing red silk handker-
chiefs. "Outside the north gate of Hang
chow there was house haunted by evil
ghosts, where no human being dared re-
side, Of which the doors were ever barred
and locked. Ascholar named Ts'a al bought
the house; people all told him he was do
ing a dangerous thing, but he did not heed
them. None of his family would enter the
house, so Ts' al vent by himself, opened the
doors, lit candle and sat down. In the
middle of the night woman slowly ap-
preached, with a red silk handkerchief
hanging to her neck, and, having saluted
him, fastened . rope to the beam of
the ceiling, and put her neck in
the moose. Ts'ai did not in the least
change countenance. The woman again
fastened rope and called on Ts'ai to do
as she had done, but he only lifted his
leg and put his foot in the moose. The
woman said: You're wrong Ts'ai
laughed and answered e On the contrary,
it was you who were wrong long. time
ago, or else you would not have come to
this pass The ghost cried bitterly, and
having bowed to Ts'ai, departed, and
from that time, the house was no longer
haunted: This Ts'ai was: satterward a
very. dtstip suished scholar, known as the
Provincial Chaucellor.". !. - - 3
The writer remembers having read some
time ago 81 similar curious story of a
police cell, 10 which woman had COM
mitted suici ie by hanging herself, after
!. which inmtta after inmate continued TO
attempt to DO the same, till at last a girl
declared thst fendish little woman ap.
peared in tn scell at night and commanded
her to hang herself, which she felt IRE
sistibly CON PEELED to attempt doing. The
cell, it is said, had to be closed and aban.
doned.-Hoag Kong Chino Reuie,o.