St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-03-16
the CHINESE GODS

THE CHINESE GODS
Av.,s vsx,ssy .e Delsiss fer Every css6'
tiou q LARA
Tia Buddhist deities arc almost VIM
cut number. and the manuiacsore VI
dolls il one of the most stirring INDUS
tries Of the Chinese Empire. writes 'ne
author Of ..The Dragon. the Images ana
the Demon" The gods are male ana
female. from the thousand : nanoeo
Kwanyin on down or up. according =
you reckon in Chinese mythology:
There b . god Of theaters. . goo OF
sheep, another Of snakes. Ihere arc
gods Of scorpions and OF locusss' Oh
gold and silver. Of tea, SALT snow
strength. happiness. the list even ,"-
cluding Wang Papa, the chief oil poi'co
in hades, whose statue Is made q SORT Oh
bulletin board for articles lost or stolen.
There ars gods of travel. OF archery
and of cursing. Of bridges. OF lamps ano
OF teapots. There arc seventy-t"o
master gods, who are heads Of celestiA
boards II deities, in whose hands are
committed every thing that men can
possibly use or think Of.
The $50 trades, which. according 70
the Chinese. complete the number. arc
each provided with a god. There arc
gods Of carpenters, OF masons, OF hsh-
ermen, OF BARRIERS, of tailOrs. OF Jug
elers, and even a god Of paper cloth
ing. There are the monkey god ana
the fish god; there are gods Of parasites
eack kind having its own deity; there Is
a god OF the Punch and Judy show. .
god of cruelty. q god Of 6recrackers
and . god OF revenge. Shorter ana
Blower. the English translation OF Hen
and Ha, gods Of storms and rains. are
warlike deities, and their statues are
frequently seen ON the frontier. The
thunder has two gods. Mr.. and Mrs.
Thunder, while every pestilence. every
kind Of disease. has its own god. Ihe
gods O! tide were once enemies. but
are now reconciled. one bringing in. the
other taking out the tide.
The rivers all have gods each having
his individual characteristics, the deity
of the Yellow river being particularly
fond OF theatricals. which arc always
provided in his honor at his annual
feast. Every tree has its god. and
when tree is to be cut down notice is
sent to all the neighbors to remain in
doors lest the tree god. finding himself
deprived Of his roosting place. should
take summary vengeance on any un-
fortunate mortal who strayed out OF
doors from the protection OF his own
household deities. There are gods OF
the body: The god Of the hair Il called
Chwang wa; god OF the brain. Using
Ken; god Of the eye, Ming Chang; god
of the nose. Yu Lung; god Of the ear.
K'ung Yen; god Of the tongue. Tung
Ming; god OF the teeth. Muh Fung; god
Of the heart. Tan Yuen; god Of the
lungs, KaO Wa; god Of the liver. Lung
Yien; god Of the kidneys, Yuen Ming;
god of the spleen. Chang Tsai; god Of
the gall. Lung YaO; god Of the dia-
phragm. Tao Kung; god Of the nspe Of
the neck. Shang Kien; god Of the neck.
Yu Nu Kuhn; god of the throat Pah
Lien Fang; god Of the back. Nu Chah;
god Of the breast. HUI Pen; god OF the
ribs, Pin Kys Ma; god Of the stomach,
Tung Lien YOh; god Of the bowels.
Chao Ten Kang; god Of the hand. Wen
Yin: god of the feet, Chuen Lien Lib;
god of the skin. Tang Chang.
In short, there are gods for every
thing: gods painted on the walls, NJ
the corners, at cross roads, for tho one
anxiety OF the Chinese life il TO scare
the devil and only by the intercession
OF the gods can this very desirable ef-
feet be produced; 50 when a Chinese
funeral starts from the house to the
cemetery it never goes in . straight
line, but up the street to tho corner
where stands the statue OF some deity.
then suddenly to the left or right while
the demon, appalled, Mt the sight Of the
gods image. waits q moment and thus
the funeral gets the start OF him.
Every deity. however. OF the Chinese
mythology-it is satisfactory to know
has definite work to attend to. and gives
it the closest possible attention. no ono
ever ntruding into the province OF an
other. so that, on the whole. the Chi
nese consider their mythology very
economical. for each and every person
in any line OF trade or occupation wor-
ships heaven and earth In general. and
his only deity in particular. thus claim
ing exemption from devotion to the rest