Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1889-02-23
THE CHINESE GODS.
Vast Variety of Deities for Every Condi'
ton of Life.

ton of Life.
The Buddhist deities are almost with
out number, and the manufacture o.
idols is one of the most stirring indus
tries of the Chinese Empire, writes the
author of The Dragon. the Images and
the Demon" The gods are male and
female, from the thousand handed
Kwanyin on down or up, according as
you reckon in Chinese mythology.
There is a god of theaters, god OF
sheep, another of snakes. There are
gods of scorpions and of locusts, OF
gold and silver, of tea, salt, snow,
strength. happiness, the list even in
Guiding Wang Papa, the chief of police
in hades, whose statue is made a sort OF
bulletin board for articles lost or stolen.
There are gods of travel, of archery
and of cursing, of bridges, of lamps and
of teapots. There are seventy-two
master gods, who are heads of celestial
boards of deities, in whose hands are
committed every thing that men can
possibly use or think of.
The $50 trades, which, according to
the Chinese, complete the number, are
each provided with god. There are
gods of carpenters, of masons, of fish
ermen, of BARRIERS, of tailors, OF Jug
gIers, and even god of paper cloth
ing. There are the monkey god and
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, a god of frecrackers
and god of revenge. Shorter and
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. The
gods of 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 are always
provided in his honor at his annual
feast. Every tree has its god, and
when a 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 I'M
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 is 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 nape Of
the neck, Shang Kien; god of the neck,
Yu M Kuhn; god of the throat, Pah
Lien Fang; god of the back, NJ Chah;
god of the breast, HUI Pen; god of the
ribs. Pin Kya 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, at
the corners, at cross roads, for the one
anxiety of the Chinese life is to scare
the devil and only by the intercession
of the gods can this very desirable eff
feet be produced; so when Chinese
funeral starts from the house to the
cemetery it never goes in a straight
line, but up the street to the corner,
where stands the statue of some deity,
then suddenly to the left or right, while
the demon, appalled, at the sight of the
god image, waits a 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 one
ever intruding 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 Their
of the pantheon. Boston Herald.