Evening star., 1938-08-16
OF STARS,
MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress
in Field, Laboratory
and Study.
Bv THOMAS r. HENRY.


The stork doesn't bring little Chinese
babies. Some of them are brought by
creature with the body OF deer, the
feet of a horse, the tail of an OK and
single horn in the center Of its FORE
head. Others are brought by an old man
on mule back.
A comprehensive report on infant
life in China by Rev. Sidney Turner,
medical missionary in the interior city
of Yuanling, a place with bad reputa-
tion for black magic, has just been issued
by the Catholic Anthropological Con-
ference here. 1t is the general belief,
he says. that there are hundreds OF
These spirits roost in trees. Conse-
quently trees believed to shelter one or
more of them receive offerings Of cam
dies, paper money, josh sticks and wine
from families which seek to have chill
dren.
The chief of the baby-giving spirits is
a certain goddess Chu-sheng- -niang-
niang, who has a special friend, YEN
wang, who is master of the Buddhist
hell. When the souls there have been
sufficiently restored he hands them over
to her for distribution among her hui
IidIt IL ACllOo oIlu dOAlAlClos AoAAASoAAAASS
the spirits are sent back to earth riding
astride a pink, white or blue cloud.
X ~
On the third day after birth the
baby receives its first bath and its milk
name" This is the name it will bear
throughout childhood within the home.
Typical boy names are Peace. Love,
Bright Happiness, Happiness Bringer
o,,l nn,th1o- Ho rrinacc Girls given
such names as Winter-Sister, SPRING
Flower and Fourfold Happiness. Often.
however. the child of either sex is given
frankly ridiculous name like Little
Beggar, Calf. Puppy, Big Dog or Magpie.
This is to fool jealous spirits into think
ing that the newcomer is of no value,
lest they be inclined to steal it. When
a girl baby is few months old she is
given a flower name to be used outside
the family. When the child is old
enough to go to school it gets schoo!
name. In the course of life ones name
may change dozen times.
On the 40th day Of life comes one OF
the truly momentous events in the career
of the child when. with due ceremony,
its spirit is padlocked into its body.
Once real paddock was hung by a
a
silver representation takes its place,
generations having found that it worked
lust as we'll. 1t is to prevent the soul
escaping through the mouth.
A variation of this is the hundred
family paddock" purchased with col
lection of money obtained from 100
families. Even this paddock is not con-
sidered quite sufficient l. is supple
mented by lucky collar" This collar
consists of band of metal. most often
wirelike, which il Strengthened out would
be about 18 inches long. 1t is worn
like a stiff necklace, having just a little
less circumference than the head OF the
child. 1t can be adjusted to the size OF
the neck as the child grows older. Rlch
families provide collars of gold. Even
the poorest infant usually has silver
collar.
Both these restraints on the spirit
appear ineffective. Two-thirds OF the
babies die before reaching their seventh
year. The parents recognize that the
spirit may escape through the hands or
feet as we'll as through the mouth. To
prevent this every child is supplied with
lucky bracelets and lucky anklets. These
ordinarily are made of silver with jim
Cling bells and other trinkets attached
to them.
A curious form of adoption Is re-
sorted to in order to further safeguard
the life of the child from evil spirits
who may be trying to steal 1t away
Some families have unusual success in
rearing youngsters. Supposedly the
marauding sprites. avoid them, for rea-
sons best known to themselves. So chill
dren from less fortunate families under
90 formal adoption. in which they take
the name of a spirit immune household,
in order to fool the soul thieves.
Little value seems to be attached to
girl babies, either by the parents or by
the spirits. There are girl-earrings and
boy earrings to differentiate them, but
actually boys usually are given the in
sigma of the opposite sex to fool the
supernatural beings. They will not try
very hard to steal little girls soul.
When children of richer families reach
the age of year they are provided with
"hundred-family dresses" One of these
garments is made from 100 pieces OF
cloth begged from 100 families. The
contributors all consider the child to
some degree their own. This also is con-
sidered a protection against spirits who
| may hesitate to bring down upon them
selves the vengeance of such a large
group. The same theory holds for the
"string of the hundred families" A piece
| of string is obtained from each of 100
families and made into tassel which is
worn by the child.
A big occasion in the life of the child
| is it's first haircut, when the head is
scraped bare with a razor except for
| one small tuft of hair near the base OF
| the skull which is left in order that the
| infant will have brains" A lucky day
| must be selected for this ceremony by
magician and it is the time for gen.
eral family drinking spree.
No Cancellations!