Usually, however, outside help is invoked. Chung K’uei
with his awful face is ready with his help for those who seek
it. It is said that he was a scholar in the Sung dynasty who was
frightfully disfigured by an evil spirit on the night previous to
taking his examination for the highest literary degree. As a
result of the dreadful condition of his face he was not able
to take his examination, and therefore he swore vengeance
against these demons. Being a man of extraordinary intelli-


FOLK-LORE


153


gence in life, he has been able since death to use his great gifts
in the spirit world in combatting the evil influence of devils
which are intent on injuring mankind. The name of Chiang
T’ai Kung, i.e. Chiang Tzu-ya, cut on stone — “ Chiang T’ai
Kung Tsai Tz’u ” — and placed at the end of an alley-way or
written on paper to be hung over doors, is sufficient to frighten



away evil spirits. The name of Shih Kan of T’ai Shan is also
commonly cut on stone — “T’ai Shan Shih Kan Tang” —
and used in the same way as that of Chiang T’ai Kung. The
most potent name of all is that of the “ Celestial Teacher ”
( t'ien shih), who is the lineal successor of Chang Tao-ling.
Mystical characters written by him are hung at places where
their help is needed in the home. In 1707 the then incumbent
of the post of “ Celestial Teacher ” was ordered by the Em-


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


154

peror K’ang Hsi to offer sacrifices at all the five great moun-
tains, and while on his journeys also to charm away the ghost
of the “ white sheep ” at Huang-chow, and the “ red monkey ”
on the Tung-t’ing Mountain of the T’ai Hu, near Wusih in
Kiangsu Province. Witches are called in by women to chant
incantations against evil influences, and the aid of powerful

ancestral spirits is invoked
by the use of medicines.
The entire range of human
inventiveness has been can-
vassed to discover propitious
means for averting misfor-
tunes.

The portentous influence
of dreams is clearly recog-
nized, as dreams are
supposed to be due to the
inspiration of spirits. A re-
cluse of T’ai Shan dreamed
that the goddess of the
mountain, Niang Niang, in-
structed him to proceed to
Peking to cure the illness of
the Emperor Chen Tsung,
997-1022 a.d., of the Sung
dynasty. On arrival he
found that the Emperor was
in great pain caused by a large boil. He prescribed treatment
and relieved the Emperor of his trouble. The mother of Chang
Tao-ling is said to have dreamed that the spirit of the Pole
Star descended and gave her a fragrant herb which scented her
clothes with its perfume. On awaking she found herself with
child and in due course gave birth to a son who became the
great mystic. A man in Shanghai dreamed that he was in a



Fig. 59.


The Goddess of T’ai-s.han,
Niang Niang



PLATE VI

Chang Tao-lin, Taoist Patriarch

See pp. 13 ff.





FOLK-LORE


1 55


place at the rear of a certain temple where he suddenly came
upon a hidden treasure of gold. As soon as he awoke he went
to the place, dug a hole and discovered a large quantity of gold,
each piece of which was marked with his own name. An old
man and woman are said to have appeared in a dream to the
Prince of Yen who became the Emperor Yung Lo, 1403-1425
a.d., of the Ming dynasty. He had just completed the building
of the present city of Peking with its nine gates and magnificent
palaces. The people were loud in their praise of the beauty
and strength of the city, and looked forward to a period of
great prosperity and peace. Unfortunately it was not long
before a severe drought ensued and the wells were all dried
up. The cause of the drought was reported by this old man
and woman to have been the disturbance of the abode of two
water-dragons at Lei Chen K’ou, a village to the east of Peking
outside the Tung Pien Men. The dragons decided to gather
up all the water of the district in two large baskets and retire.
Before doing so they wished to obtain the consent of the Prince,
and for this purpose assumed the guise of the old man and
woman in the dream. The Prince consented, but on awaking
in the morning and realizing what he had done, he concluded
that this old man and woman were none other than the dragons.
He put on his armour, mounted a black horse, and with spear
in hand, hurried out of the palace and through the city gate in
pursuit. He overtook them, plunged his spear into their
baskets, and out came a plentiful supply of water.

Cruelty, which seems inherent in human nature, has taken
many forms in China, most of which are associated with super-
natural events. The practice of burying servants and workmen
in the tombs of early Emperors seems to be well-authenticated.
Cannibalism has been practised in all the great famines which
have so often happened. The black art ( iso tao ) has been re-
sponsible for many evil practices, and laws directed against it
were very strict in the late Manchu dynasty. Among the ten


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


156

inhuman crimes {pt tao ) mentioned in the fourth volume of
the Legal Code of this dynasty, the fifth crime includes the
mutilation of the living body to obtain certain organs for use
in witchcraft, the manufacture of the ku poison, or witch’s
potion, and the employment of incantations or charms to inflict
the curse of the “ Nightmare demon ” (Yen Mei). A case of
mutilation of the bodies of young girls in order to secure their
vital powers was punished in 18 10. The Commentary on the
Code also states that those who practise witchcraft after invok-
ing the Nightmare demon, take the eyes and ears of human
beings, cut off their hands and feet and fasten these members
upon a carved or moulded image which they employ for their
own diabolical purposes. The blood of criminals who have
been beheaded is gathered on pieces of cloth or absorbed on bits
of food which are then used as charms against evil influences.
The custom of drinking a cup of the blood of a notorious enemy
who has been slain in battle or executed after capture, was
performed by a well-known Viceroy in 1904. This potion
was supposed to add courage to the one who drank it. The
Code also mentions an abominable kind of cruelty which con-
sisted in kidnapping young persons in order to roast their organs
and bones for the purpose of manufacturing medicine. All
forms of witchcraft and sorcery which led to the maiming or
killing of persons, were punishable under the Code with the
severest penalties, viz., death by the slicing process, confiscation
of property and banishment for life of wife and sons. Such
practices were considered an illegitimate use of supernatural
powers.

Of all the animals which can influence human events, the
fox enters chiefly into popular tales. As an illustration of this,
the following is a summary of the tale of two sisters, taken
from the “ Strange Stories of the Liao Studio,” {Liao Chat
Chih /). There was once a young student named Shang, a
native of T’ai Shan. One evening as he was wandering alone


FOLK-LORE


157


in his garden, a beautiful young girl appeared, walked and
talked with him and entertained him vastly with her beauty and
wit. She introduced herself as the third daughter of the Hu
family, and thus called San Chieh, but would not tell him
where she lived. Night after night she appeared and their
friendship advanced. But one evening as he was admiring her
beauty she told him that she had a younger sister, Ssu Mei, who
was much more beautiful than she. At his request, she brought
Ssu Mei with her the next night, and Ssu Mei proved to be
indeed lovely. When San Chieh rose to leave, Shang begged
Ssu Mei to stay for a while. Hardly had San Chieh left when
Ssu Mei warned Shang that San Chieh was a fox, and that,
but for her own intervention, he would surely have been be-
witched. She gave him a charm to paste on his door, for, she
said, though she was also a fox herself, she knew the arts of
the Immortals and could protect him. The next day San Chieh
returned but was unable to pass the charm on the door, and
left, with bitter rebukes for her sister’s ingratitude. However,
even Ssu Mei’s beauty could not hold the fickle Shang, for,
when some days later she was obliged to be away a short while,
he allowed himself to be charmed by an attractive young
woman who approached him with a gift of money, telling him
that the Hu sisters could never bring him a cent, and asking
him to provide a feast for her that evening in his rooms.
Shang was perfectly willing, but as the evening was proceed-
ing gaily, the two Hu sisters appeared, drove out the intruder,
who was also a fox, and re-established their old friendship with
Shang. But affairs were not to continue thus. One day a man
appeared from a distant Province. He had been searching the
country over for the evil spirits who had killed his brother,
and found them in the house of Shang. Shang himself had
kept secret his friendship with the Hu sisters, but his father
and mother were alarmed, invited the traveller in, and told
him to act as he pleased. He at once produced two bottles,


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


158

muttered various charms, and suddenly four slender threads
of smoke were seen to pass into the bottles. He at once sealed
up the bottles, declared with joy that this whole family was
now safe, and sat down to feast with Shang’s parents. Shang
himself could not feast while his friends were suffering their
sad fates, and he wandered over to the bottles. Bending over
them he heard the voice of Ssii Mei begging him to release
her. She gave Shang directions how to proceed, and soon one
little thread of smoke disappearing into the clouds was his last
view of the charming young Ssii Mei. Ten years later she ap-
peared to him one day and told him that she had attained im-
mortality. He begged her to stay with him, but as an Immortal
she could no longer mingle with mortal affairs. Only once
again did he see her, twenty years later, when she appeared in
his room, beautiful as ever, to tell him that she had come to
announce to him the approaching day of his death, so that he
might put his affairs in order, and that he need fear nothing,
for she would see him safely into the other world. And on
the day appointed, Shang died.

Evil spirits also assume the form of snakes, and conversely
snakes present themselves as ordinary mortals. One of the
most famous stories of snakes is that of the “ White Serpent ”
of Hangchow, which came from the Green Mountain near
Ch’eng-tu in Szechuan Province where it had lived from an-
cient times, and was accustomed to take the form of a woman
accompanied by a maid-servant. The victory of this White
Serpent over a Black Serpent which had lived in Hangchow
before the combat, is told in the novel called “ Thunder Peak
Pagoda ” and is as follows: “ Hang-chow is a most beautiful
place. The residences of princes and nobles are here, and
beautiful flower-gardens and ancient temples are scattered
all over the place. Among these, the garden of Prince Chow
was pre-eminent for beauty; but Prince Chow had long been
dead, and his beautiful garden was deserted by mankind.


FOLK-LORE


159

In it were altars, pavilions, and fountains almost equalling in
splendour the gardens of the Imperial palace. Here there
resided a huge black serpent, which had been in this place for
more than eight hundred years. This serpent could ascend
into the clouds, and take the human form; and when she saw
the white serpent coming in, she hurried to prevent her en-
trance, saying: ‘Whence comest thou thus to invade the pri-
vacy of my garden? Dost thou not fear my wrath? ’ The
white serpent, who had assumed human form, as had the other,
merely smiled and said: £ Don’t talk about your power, but
pay attention to what I am going to say. I am a powerful
white serpent, come from the mountain-cavern of the winds,
where I have resided more than eight hundred years; but be-
cause I am not so powerful as I could wish, I have determined
to change my abode, wherefore you must let me take up my
residence in this garden. Besides this, why should we quarrel,
being both spirits in the form of serpents? ’ But the black
snake was not so easily pacified, and angrily exclaimed: ‘This
is my garden, and you are a spirit from some distant place.
How then do you dare thus to deprive me of mine own? If,
moreover, you think yourself more powerful than I am, let us
contend together three times for the mastery.’ The white
serpent smiled slightly, and said: ‘ It is no desire of mine that
we should contend together, as I do not wish to injure one of
my species; but since you so much wish it, I will contend with
you, but upon this condition only, that whoever shall be victori-
ous in the strife, shall become the mistress, and that the con-
quered one shall always act as a slave.’ The black snake, still
angry, snatched a sword and cut at the white serpent, but she,
drawing two swords, put them before her in the form of a
cross. In a few minutes the superior talent of the white serpent
became evident, for by muttering a powerful spell, the sword
was snatched from the hand of her adversary by some invisible
means, and she was left defenceless. The black serpent at this


i6o


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


was very much frightened, and kneeling down, respectfully
addressed the other, saying: ‘ Do not contend any longer. I
acknowledge you as my superior, and am willing to serve you as
your slaved Matters being thus settled so satisfactorily, the
mistress and servant entered the garden together.”

These are but a few examples of folk-lore and are entirely
insufficient to give the reader an adequate idea of the number
and variety of popular tales. This can be obtained by reference
to such books as Giles’ Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio y
MacGowan’s Chinese Folk-Lore Tales , and other books. The
examples here given are intended only to illustrate the wide
scope of the traditional beliefs and customs of the Chinese
people.


CHAPTER XIII


EXEMPLARY TALES

T ALES with a moral are very popular. Of these none is
ranked higher by general consent than the series col-
lected by Kuo Chii-yeh of the Yuan dynasty, and known as the
“ Twenty-four Examples of Filial Piety ” (Erh-shih-ssu
Hsiao). Each of the persons cited left an example of filial
piety worthy to be emulated by succeeding generations.

(i) The first on the list is the Emperor Shun, 2317-2208
b.c. His mother died when he was very young, and his fa-
ther took a second wife by whom he had a son Hsiang. He
preferred this son and tried frequently to do away with Shun.
The house in which he lived was set on fire, and on another
occasion he was thrown into a well, but was miraculously pre-
served. Escaping from these plots against his life he main-
tained the same respect for his father and love for his younger
brother. His exalted virtue was known to Heaven and Earth
so that when he ploughed the fields, beasts hurried from un-
known places to pull his plough, and when he weeded, birds
came to assist him. When he was only twenty years of age he
became known to the great Emperor Yao, who gave him his
two daughters, Hsiang Fu-jen, to wife, and later set aside his
own son in order that he might confer the Empire upon this
filial youth.

(2) The Emperor Wen Ti, 179— 156 b.c., of the Han
dynasty, who, during his mother’s illness of three years never
left her apartment nor changed his clothes.

(3) Tseng Ts’an, 505-437 b.c., a disciple of Confucius and
the reputed author of “ The Great Learning,” was on the hills


i 62


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


as a child gathering firewood when his mother bit her finger.
He also felt the pain at once and hastened to her aid. While
weeding in a garden he carelessly cut the root of a melon,
whereupon his father beat him mercilessly. When he related
the incident to Confucius, Confucius blamed him for not hav-
ing got out of his father’s way lest he should have inadvertently
been so unfilial as to have been the cause of his father put-
ting him to death. Even after such treatment by his father,
he was so full of affection that he would never eat dates be-
cause his father had been fond of them. He only prepared
food once in three days and changed his clothes once in ten
years.

(4) Min Sun, sixth century b.c., was also a pupil of Con-
fucius. He was treated badly by his step-mother who favoured
her own two sons. He was so sparsely clad that his hands be-
came numb and he dropped the reins when driving a cart. At
last the harsh treatment of his son enraged the father and he
decided to divorce the woman, but Min Sun pleaded for her,
saying that it was better that one child should be cold than
three left motherless.

(5) Chung Yu, 543-480 b.c., another disciple of Confucius,
is more frequently spoken of as Tzu-lu. When he had been
promoted to high honours he grieved for his deceased parents
and longed for his childhood days when he carried rice for more
than a hundred U in helping to support his parents.

(6) Tung Yung, second century a.d., had no money to pay
the funeral expenses of his father and sold himself into servi-
tude in order to raise the necessary amount. When he re-
turned home he met a young woman who offered to marry him
and to release him from bondage. The creditor demanded
three hundred pieces of silk, which the prospective bride gladly
set herself to weave. She finished the work in a month and
then informed Tung Yung that she was “ The Weaving Dam-
sel ” (Chih Nii), who had been sent by God to reward him for


EXEMPLARY TALES


i^3

his devotion to his father. The name of Tung’s birthplace was
changed to Hsiao Kan, which is a station on the Peking-Hankow
Railway, just north of Hankow.

(7) Yen Tzu is said to have lived in the Chow dynasty.
His parents having expressed a desire for doe’s milk, he dressed
himself in deer’s skins, mingled with a herd of deer, and thus
obtained the milk.

( Chiang Ko who lived about 500 a.d., during the trou-
blous times of the Six Kingdoms, rescued his mother from
robbers by carrying her a long distance on his back.

(9) Lu Hsu, of the first century a.d., was imprisoned for
complicity in a treasonable plot. His mother went to the prison
carrying food which the jailer delivered to him. At the sight
of it he knew that it had been prepared by his mother.

(10) T’ang Fu-jen, or as she is frequently called, Ts’ui Shih,
is the only woman mentioned for her devotion to her family.
Her mother-in-law had lost her teeth on account of age, and
T’ang Fu-jen nourished her with milk from her own breast.

(11) Wu Meng, fifth century a.d., would not drive the
mosquitoes away from himself lest there should be more of
them to annoy his parents.

(12) Wang Hsiang, 185— 269 a.d., was a native of Shan-
tung. In order to gratify the desire of his step-mother for fish
during winter, he lay down naked on the ice of a pond till a
hole was thawed from which jumped two fish which he carried
home to her.

132


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


Kung in whose powers he was led to believe by observing that
he slept every night in a gourd which hung on his door-post.
When Fei had completed his studies and was about to start out
for his home, Hu Kung presented him with a magical rod by
the use of which he could instantly transport himself without
effort from one place to another. He thought when he reached
home that he had been absent only for a short time, but discov-
ered that more than a half-score years had passed. When he
laid down his staff in his home it became a dragon, and there-
after he was able to control the powers of darkness.

One of the most popular legends is that of “ The Weaving
Damsel ” (Chih Nii). She was deprived of her lover, “ The
Shepherd Boy ” (Niu Lang) in his youth, but magpies have
taken pity upon her in her loneliness. Every year, on the sev-
enth day of the seventh moon, magpies fly to the Milky Way
{t'ien ho), over which they make a bridge by each catching the
head-feathers of the bird nearest to him. On this bridge the
separated couple are able to pass to each other and renew their
vows of eternal love.


CHAPTER XI


OCCULTISM

T HE records of the earliest events in the life of the Chinese
people reveal a race fond of speculative ideas which had
a constant tendency toward occultism. Their powers of obser-
vation were remarkable, but what they saw was absorbed rather
than analyzed. They studied natural phenomena not for the
purpose of seeking an explanation of their origin, but chiefly to
know the effect of these upon human life. They were a very
practical people in all matters relating to the facts of daily life,
while at the same time they gave loose rein to their imagination
in interpreting these facts. In other words, they were practi-
cal in recognizing effects and imaginative in interpreting causes.

The occult sciences, ao-tse } in one form or another, are found
at the beginning of Chinese history and have been practised con-
tinuously down to the present time. There have been, however,
epochs when these sciences flourished with especial strength.

Before the dawn of history the time to which the largest
number of myths trace their origin is the age of the Yellow
Emperor, as has already been mentioned in Chapter II. In
historical times the first Imperial promoter of occult sciences
was the Emperor Shih Huang 221—209 b.c., of the Ch’in dy-
nasty. He was the inheritor of the speculations found in Lieh
Tzu and Chuang Tzu which were bitter in their destructive
criticism of the ceremonial order favoured by Confucius and
Mencius, while at the same time they were wholly receptive to
belief in all kinds of marvellous events. According to these two
books, men could pass through fire without being burned, could
travel through the air, could walk through solid rock and jump


vni — 10


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


134

from high precipices without taking harm. These books, which
are professed expositions of Lao Tzu, form a curious combina-
tion of ethical precepts with occult practices. They were the
forerunners of the policy and ideas of Shih Huang, who is al-
most as famous in Chinese history for his patronage of occult-
ism as for his burning of the classical books and his melting the
ancient bronze vessels to make statues.

The reigns of Wu Ti, 140-86 b.c., and of Yuan Ti, 48-32
b.c., of the Han dynasty, were periods when occultism was in
especial favour 5 and also the reign of Ming Ti, 58-76 a.d., of
the later Han dynasty, during whose reign and that of Ho Ti,
89—105 a.d., the magician Chang Tao-ling received high hon-
ours. Another Wu Ti, 265-290 a.d., was also an eminent pa-
tron of these sciences. He was of the Western Chin dynasty.
The time of the Warring States, 420-618 a.d., was especially
favourable to the spread of all forms of experimentation in su-
pernatural affairs, so that when T’ai Tsung, 627-650 a.d., came
to the throne and succeeded in bringing the whole country un-
der the sway of the T’ang dynasty, he found the minds of the
people accustomed to and filled with belief in magical and
occult events. It was during his reign and that of his successor
Kao Tsung, 650-684 a.d., that these beliefs were organized
into the Taoist religion as it has been known since that time.
Kao Tsung was under the influence of a learned magician, Yeh
Fa-shan. This Emperor ennobled Lao Tzu and made his book
a classic {King) under the name of Tao Teh King. Another
T’ang emperor, Hsiian Tsung, 713—7 56 a.d., popularly known
as Ming Huang, raised the book Lieh Tzu to the rank of a
classic under the name of Ch’ung Hsu Chen King , and Chuang
Tzu’s book to the same rank with higher grade, calling it Nan
Hua Sheng King, sheng being one step higher than chen. He
was a firm believer in the magical powers of Yeh Fa-hsi, who is
said to have taken the Emperor with him on a journey to the
moon. The most flourishing period of occultism in the Sung


OCCULTISM


135


dynasty was during the reign of Hui Tsung, 1 101-1126 a.d.,
when it absorbed many Buddhistic practices and incorporated
them into the body of Taoist ceremonials. The short-lived
Yuan dynasty excelled all other periods, however, in patronage
of occultism and in intense belief in Taoism. During this pe-
riod the two great Taoist temples of Peking were built, the Po
Yun Kuan outside the Hsi Pien Men, and the Tung Yo Miao
outside the Ch’ao Yang Men. Both of these were under Im-
perial patronage.

These occult practices are at the present time an essential part
of the life of the Chinese people, and it is necessary to examine
their origin and content in detail. They may be roughly clas-
sified under the headings of divination, geomancy, astrology
and alchemy.

Divination is practised in many ways, the two most ancient of
which are founded ( 1 ) upon the lines made by heating the inner
carapace of the tortoise, and (2) upon the arrangement of stalks
of the plant milfoil or reed-grass. Divination by means of the
tortoise is credited to the Yellow Emperor, 2600 b . c ., to the
Emperor Yao, 2300 b . c ., and to the Emperor Yu, 2200 b . c .
The hi Ki gives many instances of it during the Chow dynasty,
1 1 22-1 255 b . c . It was by this method of divination that the
will of the Supreme Ruler, Shang Ti, was ascertained. Accord-
ing to Chapter XXIV of the Chow hi the tortoise was first be-
smeared with the blood of a sacrificial victim which was being
offered to the discoverer of this method of divination. The
inner carapace of any one of the six kinds of tortoises was heated
until five cross lines appeared. These referred to the five ele-
ments. Neither the upper nor lower portion of the carapace
was taken into consideration 5 it was only the right and left sec-
tions which were interpreted. The marks on these were called
the “ four omens ” (ssu chao ). These omens determined deci-
sions concerning eight contingencies, which were military ex-
peditions, heavenly appearances, grants, treaties, results, arrival,


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


136

rain and pestilence. In divination by milfoil only the stalks of
this plant were used and these were cut into two sizes, full
length and half length. These were thrown down and then
spread out into nine groups, which were called by the names of
the nine ancient augurs. The names and meanings of the
groups corresponded to those of the Eight Diagrams, and their
interpretation was given accordingly. There is no explanation
of the connection between the use of milfoil combinations and
the Eight Diagrams} the fact of their being used simultane-
ously is, however, undoubted.

The Eight Diagrams {pa kua ) reputed to have been dis-
covered by the mythical Emperor Fu Hsi, are stated by the
Chow Li to have been used in divination and to have been di-
rectly connected with the use of the tortoise and milfoil. They
are eight combinations of lines of full and half length. The
first has three whole lines, one over the other, and is called
ch'ien , i.e. “ Heaven ” or “ the active principle of the universe.”
The last consists of three divided lines, and is called k'un,
“ Earth ” or “ the passive principle.” The second refers to
breath, the third to fire, the fourth to thunder, the fifth to
wind, the sixth to water and the seventh to mountains. This is
the generally accepted explanation of the curious names given
to these Diagrams. These names have given rise to theories on
the part of several foreign writers that they are of foreign
origin, but this is entirely improbable. The Diagrams fit in too
closely with the other features of ancient Chinese life to lend
any credence to such theories. The “ Book of Changes ” (/
King ) says that the great primordial principle, or Apex {t*ai
chi ) evolved the two principles, Hang i; the two principles pro-
duced four exemplars, ssu hsiang, and from these came the
Eight Diagrams {pa kua). The “ two principles ” referred to

are (1) a continuous straight line called yang i , and (2)

a broken line called yin i. Yang is the active or male

principle of nature and corresponds to Heaven and light. Yin



PLATES IV, V


Court of the Tung Yo Temple, Peking,
Showing the Tablet Written by Chao
Meng-fu

Court of the Tung Yo Temple, Showing
Reverse of the Tablet Written by Chao
Meng-fu


See pp. 23, 71, 135.






OCCULTISM


137

is the passive or female principle and corresponds to Earth and
darkness. The “ four exemplars ” are (1) two unbroken lines
one over the other — ; (2) an unbroken over a broken line
(3) a broken over an unbroken line — : — ; and (4) two
broken lines, one over the other ~ The first, called t’ai
yang , corresponds to the sun and warmth in nature, to the eyes
and mind in man, and to supreme power in the state. The sec-
ond, called shao yin, corresponds to the moon and cold in nature,
to the ears and emotions in men, and to the unifying central
power in the state. The third, called shao yang , corresponds to
the stars in nature, to the nose and the outward appearance in
man, and to rightful power in the state. The fourth, called
t’ai yin, corresponds to the planets in nature, to the mouth and
the bodily frame in man, and to usurpation in the state. All
these metaphysical ideas are in full agreement with the state-
ments of the earliest records of China. It is thus certain that
the origin of the Eight Diagrams is connected with ancient ob-
servations of the powers of nature and with the desire to fore-
tell and explain their workings in relation to the life of man-
kind.

The three philosophical systems of divination developed
from the Eight Diagrams of Fu Hsi are known as lien-shan,
kuei-ts' ang and chou~i , which may be roughly translated as
“ connections,” 11 collections ” and “ transmutations.” It is said
by some writers that the “ connection system ” ( lien-shan ) was
that used in the Hsia dynasty, 2205— 1766 b.c., and the “ col-
lection system” (kuei-ts ) ang) in the Shang dynasty, 17 66—
1122 b.c., while the “ transmutation system ” was developed by
Wen Wang, 1231— 1135 b.c., the author of the “Book of
Changes.” Wen Wang, while he was imprisoned by the tyrant
Chou, studied the Eight Diagrams and added to each one a
short explanation ( t’uan ). He is also said by some authorities
to have been responsible for the expansion of the Eight Dia-
grams into sixty-four by the process of multiplying each origi-


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


138

nal diagram with itself and the seven others. A sixfold multi-
plication of these gives three hundred and eighty-four diagrams
( kua yao ). It is claimed that a further multiplication of these
lines brings the number up to sixteen million seven hundred and
seventy-seven thousand, two hundred and sixteen (16,777,216)
forms, which would seemingly be sufficient to include all pos-
sible changes in future events.

In Tso’s Commentary on the “ Spring and Autumn Annals ”
{Ch’un Ch'iu) many instances are given of the use of the tor-
toise and milfoil in divination. In the Chapter on the Duke of
Min, the commentator says that just before the birth of Ch’eng
Chi, the Duke Huan, who was one of the Five Chieftains who
domineered the country during the seventh century b.c., asked
the father of Ch’u-ch’iu, master of divinations, to consult the
tortoise-shell. He received an answer that the child to be born
would be a boy who would be a great help to the reigning
House. He then consulted the milfoil and was assured that
the child would be as distinguished as his father. This answer
was predicated upon the conjunctio n of tw o sets of milfoil, one
in the shape of the ta-yu diagram ~ . and the other in the
shape of the ch'ien diagram ? — . This is given as an example

of the method of divination. The commentator mentions other
incidents when there were consultations regarding the marriage
of a daughter, the advisability of joining the service of a cer-
tain feudal lord, military expeditions, and other events.

Since the time of the T’ang dynasty the popular methods of
divination have been by the use of bamboo slips (ch’ien\ and
by the dissection of ideographs ( ts'e tzu). According to the
Ling Ch’ien Shu , in divination by bamboo slips one hundred
long thin slips are prepared, on one side of which are written
cyclical characters such as chia chia y chia i, etc. The other side
is left blank. The meaning of the slip which is drawn by the
enquirer is interpreted by the standard explanation of the two
characters written thereon. There are several other systems of


OCCULTISM ‘


139


using bamboo slips. One of these uses forty-nine slips ; in an-
other poetical stanzas are written on the slips, which are then
called “divining poems” (ch’ien shih ). In the use of the
bamboo slips an amusing tale in the life of Ti Ch’ing, eleventh
century a.d., is told by Dore. He was appointed by the Sung
Emperor Jen Tsung, to suppress the rebellion headed by Nung
Chih-kao in the distant Province of Kuangsi. Desirous of en-
couraging his soldiers to believe in the certainty of victory he
ordered a consultation of the bamboo slips in the presence of
his entire army. The slips which were chosen were all most
favourable, and it was not discovered until later that these slips
were written on both sides.

The practice of divination by the dissection of characters, i.e.
onomancy, is said by the Lang Y a to have begun with the name
of Wu Wang, founder of the Chow dynasty. The radical of
this character Wu is chih , which means “ to stop,” and the pho-
netic is ko , which means “ arms ”5 the combination of the two
dissected parts means “ to stop the use of arms,” i.e. to bring
peace. His name was therefore prophetic of his great work in
bringing peace to the country. This method was also resorted
to by Kung-sun Shu (ob. 36 a.d.) who was led by the favour-
able result obtained to proclaim himself Emperor of Shu, the
modern Szechuan. This practice has been defended and ob-
served by leading men of all succeeding generations and is still
in vogue among the people.

Connected with divination is physiognomy, hsiang mien> i.e.
reading fortunes by the features of the face. This is a very an-
cient practice in China, as is evidenced from the fact that it is
denounced by Hsiin Tzu in the third century b.c. The name
of T’ang Chu of the fourth century b.c. is preserved as a noted
reader of countenances. Details of the appearance of all the
great men of antiquity are given in books on this subject. There
is probably no other branch of the occult sciences which has had
greater influence in determining events of national importance


140


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


than physiognomy. Confidence in powers which a man is cred-
ited with on account of the contour of his face has often deter-
mined courses of action. Belief in this art and recourse to it are
common among all classes of people at the present time.

Geomancy, of which the popular name is feng shut and the
classical name k'an yii } was first explained in detail by Kuo P’o,
276-324 a . d ., who is said in his youth to have received from
Kuo Kung a black sack containing writings on occult subjects.
Kuo P’o is the reputed author of T sang Shu (“ Book of Burial
Customs”). In this work he says that, in burial, advantage
should be taken of the “ spirit of life ” or “ life breath ” ( seng
ch’i), in which case the winds would be scattered and the water
of the locality stopped. This attention to the winds (feng) and
water (shut) of the place of burial is what has come to be known
as feng shui or “ geomancy.”

There is a difference of opinion among Chinese writers re-
garding the time when this science originated, but the writings
of Kuo P’o show that it was generally accepted in his time.
The term k’an yii is found in the Chapter on Arts in the History
of the Han dynasty, but it is variously interpreted. Hsu Shen,
author of the Shuo Wen , who died 120 a . d ., had already ex-
plained these two ideographs in the sense of supervision of
heavenly and earthly laws, and this meaning is followed by
Yen Shih-ku in his annotated edition of the Han History, thus
disagreeing with the interpretation of Meng K’ang, of the third
century a . d ., who is the standard commentator on this History.
It is thus evident that Kuo P’o was writing about a custom which
was well-established and generally recognized in his time.
This view is confirmed by a reference in Chapter XVIII of the
Li Ki to the white linen clothes which should be worn by an
enquirer, and to the skin cap worn by the interpreter when the
carapace of the tortoise was examined to decide upon the place
of burial of a high officer of state. The development of the
science into the determination of the fortunes of relatives and


OCCULTISM


141

descendants according to the lucky or unlucky site of the grave
of a deceased person, was a development later than the time of
Kuo P’o in the Han dynasty, and was due to the influence of
astrologers, together with other workers of magical charms.
The original idea of feng shut is easily understood when the
geographical conditions of early China are considered. “ The
wind ” {feng) must be kept in mind when a burial site is on an
elevation, otherwise the strong winds might blow away the
earth of which the grave-mound is made. “ Water ” {shut)
must be guarded against in low places lest the grave should be
permeated with water. This natural solicitude on the part of
relatives and descendants was easily taken advantage of by as-
trologers to use their own magical devices in determining sites
and in adding their promises of lucky or unlucky consequences.
The practice of feng shut is now universal in China in the choice
of burial places. It was also extended before the T’ang dynasty
to the selection of a site for the residence of the living. Many
books have been written explaining and commenting upon the
“ Burial Customs ” of Kuo P’o, and two different schools of
interpretation have arisen. One school bases all burial rites
upon the indications given by the Five Planets and also upon the
Eight diagrams {fa kua). The second school bases its theories
of burial entirely upon the external appearance of the locality
and the relation of the surrounding water-streams to the dragon.

mounted by Chang Tao-ling when he ascended to Heaven, ac-
cording to some accounts j others represent him as mounting a
dragon. Lao Tzu made his ascent on a cow. The tiger is often
painted on portals where it acts as guardian. It is reputed to
live to a great old age. The fox (hu li ), is the symbol of
cunning, and associates with fairies. The monkey ( hou ), has
control of witches and hobgoblins. The rabbit (yV), is said
to live in the moon where it pounds out the drugs from which
the elixir of life is made. The Shan Hai King mentions many
curious animals, such as the heavenly dog (fien kou\ which
has a white head and the general appearance of a fox; also


104


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


a water-horse {shut mu), with striped back and the tail of an
ox. There are four other animals with names which have
sounds similar to the symbolic meaning with which they are
connected. An example of this imitative use of words is the
word for lion which is shih. As this is also the sound of the
word which means teacher, a lion is the suggestive symbol for
a teacher. The sound of the character which means deer is
lu ; it also is that of the character meaning promotion, and thus
a deer symbolizes promotion. The word for a bat, fu, has the
same sound as the word for happiness; an eagle, yin, as that
for the answer to prayer; and each suggests its appropriate
meaning when used pictorially. The crane, hsien ho, is a sym-
bol of longevity, and the rooster a guardian against evil influ-
ences. Tseng Ts’an, a disciple of Confucius, spared the life
of a wounded crane which flew away and later returned with
its mate, each of them carrying in its mouth a pearl. These
were presented to Tseng Ts’an as a reward for his kindness.
Though there are few ancient myths connected with any of
these inferior animals which are spoken of in this paragraph,
they appear in the fairy-tales which are narrated later in this
volume, and it is well to be familiar with their symbolic mean-
ing. They are the creations chiefly of the scholars of the
T’ang and Sung dynasties, who used the marvellous tales
connected with these animals as a means of impressing the com-
mon people with the extraordinary quality of the Taoist doc-
trine, in the same way as the Buddhist propagandists gained a
hearing through accounts of the miraculous powers of their
deities.

In the vegetable kingdom several trees are especially hon-
oured on account of their supposed magical influence. The
peach-tree is a symbol of longevity. It is said that one of
these trees ( -p’an t y ao ) grew near the palace of Hsi Wang Mu
and that its fruit ripened only once in three thousand years.
This fairy mother bestowed the fruit upon the mortals whom


THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE WORLDS 105

she favoured, such as Mu Wang and Wu Ti. Mingled with
ashes of the mulberry-tree it could cure disease and confer im-
mortality. According to the Feng Su T’ung, in ancient times
the two brothers Shu ,Yii (or Shen Shu) and Yu Lei had great
power over evil spirits. They hung an amulet on a peach-tree
which would frighten all demons. They could also bind evil
spirits with reeds and throw them to tigers for food. It is
in memory of these two men, who are called “ peach men ”
(T’ao Jen), that reed grass is hung over the door at New Year
time and a tiger painted on the door in order to ward off evil
influences. The frunus or plum-tree ( mei ), is also an emblem
of longevity. Lao Tzu is said to have been born under a plum-
tree. Both the pine {sung) and the bamboo {chu) are emblems
of longevity. The willow is reputed, like reed grass, to be
able to ward off evil influences, and is also hung over the door
for this purpose. Several shrubs and plants are also used as
symbols. The pomegranate {shih I'm ), and the lotus {lien
hua ), on account of the large number of seeds which their
fruit contains, are symbolic of offspring, as is also the date-
tree, which is used on account of its name, tsao tzu. The two
characters for date have the same sound as two other characters
with the meaning of “ bringing offspring into the world.”
The symbolic meaning attached to these trees and shrubs has
been given to them since the rise of Taoism as an organized
religion in the T’ang dynasty, and although they are now
commonly used with the symbolic meanings just mentioned,
there are no ancient myths attached to them. Their symbolism
is of comparatively modern origin.

According to the Pen Ts’ao Kang Mu there are many hun-
dreds of medicinal herbs in China, and from their ability to use
them for curative purposes, several characters famous in Chi-
nese lore have arisen. The most popular of these is Yo Wang,
the god of medicines. One of the accounts of his life says that
he was a hermit who lived during the reign of Hsiian Ti,


10 6 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

827—781 b.c.j and that he was a pupil of Ch’iu Chen-jen. He
continually wandered about, and one of his most famous en-
counters was that with Sun Ssu-miao who died in 682 a.d.
Sun was a native of Shensi and was a precocious child who
studied the doctrines of Lao Tzu while still very young. One
day Sun saw a shepherd who was beating a serpent. He took
off his own clothes and gave them to the shepherd as a price
for allowing it to go free. A few days later, while he was
wandering in the fields, he saw a horseman dressed in white
approaching him. The man dismounted and saluted Sun say-
ing: “ My father has ordered me to come to you with the re-
quest that you will visit him and receive his thanks.” He
asked Sun to mount his horse, and soon they were in a won-
derful city at the gate of a palace. When Sun entered he was
met by a nobleman who greeted him with profuse thanks.
Shortly after a young woman brought in a child dressed in
blue, and said to Sun: “ This child of mine went out to play
and a shepherd beat him frightfully. You gave your gar-
ments as a price for his liberty, and I desire to thank you.”
This child was the serpent whom Sun had saved a few days
before. Sun found that his host was Ching Yang and that the
beautiful house was the “Palace of Waters” (Shui Kung).
After this incident Sun returned to his quiet house in the
mountains where he spent his time in preparing elixirs of
immortality and performing miracles. One concoction would
give immunity from pestilence if drunk on New Year’s Day.
Sun is the reputed author of several books on medical subjects.
There is another account of the origin of Yo Wang. When
Han Ch’i, 1008—1075 a.d., the great statesman who opposed
the agrarian theories of Wang An-shih, was six or seven
years of age he was very ill. He suddenly cried out: “ There
is a Taoist leading a dog who will cure me.” Thereupon he
broke out in a violent perspiration and was cured. According
to the Lieh Hsien Chuan , the person who cured him was Chang


THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE WORLDS 107

Shan-chiin, a native of Peking during the reign of the Empress
Wu Hou of the T’ang dynasty, 684-705 a.d. He practised
the Taoist magical arts and always led around a black dog
which was called “Black Dragon” (Wu-lung). According
to this account it is Chang who is popularly spoken of as “ King



Fig. 37. Hua T’o, The Great Physician


of Medicines” (Yo Wang). The person who is generally
credited with having become Yo Wang is Hua T’o, who died in
220 a . d ., the physician of Ts’ao Ts’ao. During his life-time
he was able to perform many wonderful cures for internal
diseases and also many surgical operations. His supernatural
power is now besought by worshippers at his shrine.


CHAPTER X


SUPERNATURAL BEINGS


T HERE are three grades of supernatural beings. The
highest is composed of “The Holy” (Sheng). These
are men of extraordinary ability and perfect virtue. The
second rank is that of “ The Perfect ” (Chen Jen). These are

persons who have perfected
their knowledge of the Way,
or Tao. Their bodies are
ethereal, and they are able to
fly through the air on the
wings of the wind. They
pass on the clouds from one
world to another and live in
the stars. They are superior
to all natural laws and are
rulers over the Immortals.
The third class is “ The Im-
mortals ” (Hsien, or Hsien
JSn). These are the ascetics
with old bodies and eternally
young spirits. They enjoy
perfect health, free from dis-
ease and death, and are for-
tunate possessors of all kinds
of happiness. It is probable that these three grades of super-
natural beings are taken from the earlier classical allusion to the
three grades of the “ Worthy, the Holy and the Heavenly ”
(Hsien, Sheng, T’ien).



Fig. 38. The Taoist Trinity
T’ien Pao, Ling Pao, Shen Pao


SUPERNATURAL BEINGS


109


At the head of the Holy beings are “ The Three Purities ”
(San Ch’ing) who compose the Taoist Trinity. This Trinity
is not an imitation of the Buddhist Trinity, but was probably
also taken from classical tradition. The T so Chuan refers to
“ The Three Venerable Ones ” (San Lao, i.e. Rung Lao, Shang
Lao, Lung Lao). The Li Ki mentions “ The Three Officials ”



Fig. 39. Yuan Shih T’ien Tsun


(San Kuan) 5 the Shu King speaks of “ The Three Notables ”
(San Kung, i.e. T’ai-shih, T’ai-fu, T’ai-pao); and there was
also the tradition of “The Three Emperors” (San Huang).
“ The Three Purities ” are also frequently interpreted as “ The
Three Heavens,” viz., Yu (“jade”), Shang (“superior”),
and T’ai (“highest”). In the Taoist pantheon the “Three
Purities ” are (1) Yuan Shih T’ien Tsun, the “ Eternal,” popu-
larly known as T’ien Pao, (2) Tao Chiin, chief of all super-
natural beings, who is popularly known as Ling Pao, and (3)


1 10


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


Lao Tzu, who in this connection is popularly spoken of as
Shen Pao. The first of these is sovereign of the “Jade
Heaven” (Yu Ch’ing) the second is sovereign of the “ Supe-
rior Heaven ” (Shang Ch’ing), and the third is sovereign of
the “ Highest Heaven ” (T’ai Ch’ing). In enumerations of
this Taoist Trinity the place of the first Divinity, Yuan Shih,



is frequently taken by the Jade Emperor, Yu Huang. With
the San Ch’ing are associated “ The Four Guardians ” (Ssu
Wei), otherwise known as “The Four Heavenly Kings”
(Ssu T’ien Wang). Though this Trinity of “ Three Purities ”
was an invention of the scholars of the T’ang dynasty, it was
not until the Yuan dynasty that the myth assumed its present
form.

According to the Shen Hsien T’ung Chlen , the first of the
Trinity, Yuan Shih, was a son of the “Great Creator ” (P’an
Ku). After the work of creation was completed, P’an Ku de-


SUPERNATURAL BEINGS


hi


sired to see what he had done. His spirit transported itself
on the wings of the wind to Fu Yu Tai where he met “ The
Holy Woman” (T’ai Yuan), “The Great Original.” She
was a virgin who had attained the age of eighty years and
lived as a recluse on the mountain of Ch’o Wo. She sub-
sisted solely on air and clouds, and in her own person com-
bined both the active and passive powers of nature. P’an Ku
was charmed with her
purity and made an oc-
casion to enter her body
in the form of a pure
ray of light. The
woman became preg-
nant and remained in
this condition for
twelve years, when
she gave birth to Yuan
Shih, who was able to
walk and talk from the
time he was born. A
cloud of five colours
surrounded his body.

The deity Chen Wu is
a reincarnation o f
Yuan Shih. He is the
ruler of the abode of
darkness, and his full title is Hsiian Then Shang Ti. He is also
called “ god of the North Pole ” (Pei-chi Chen Chun). While
he does not take the place of Yuan Shih in the Trinity, he is
given a shrine to himself in large Taoist temples. The second
person of the Trinity is said to have been a man who fought for
the tyrant Chou Hsin, the last sovereign of the Shang dynasty.
He is represented as wearing a red garment richly brocaded,
and riding a one-horned monster, k’uei mu. It is recorded in



1 12


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


the Feng Shen Yen I that he was succoured by Lao Tzu In his
unsuccessful warfare, and that he devoted the rest of his life
to study and meditation. The third person of the Trinity is the
philosopher Lao Tzu, whose ethical teachings are entirely over-
looked in the accounts of supernatural powers which were con-
ferred upon him by the last Emperors of the Sung dynasty, as
well as by all the Emperors of the Yuan dynasty. Among

these tales of Lao Tzu the
most popular is that of
his journey to the west
mounted on a white don-
key.

In a class by himself, in-
ferior to the Trinity but
with great prestige, is
Wen Ch’ang, the god of
literature, who is supposed
to reside in the Great Bear
constellation. There are
many differing accounts of
his earthly life, but the
most usually accepted is
that he was one Chang Ya-
tzu who lived during the
Chin dynasty in the third
or fourth century a.d.
The Emperor Hstian Tsung, 713-756 a.d., conferred upon him
the retrospective title of President of the Board of Rites. Dur-
ing the reign of Chen Tsung, 997-1022 a.d., of the Sung dy-
nasty, Wen Ch’ang appeared to the general Lei Yu-chung, who
had been appointed to suppress a rebellion, and called himself
the “ Deity of Tzu-t’ung ” (Tzu-t’ung Shen). This name was
taken from the tradition that Chang Ya-tzu lived in the Tzu-
t’ung district of the Province of Szechuan. During the Yuan




SUPERNATURAL BEINGS


ii3

and Ming dynasties the place of Wen Ch’ang as the god of lit-
erature became solidly established. He has a separate shrine in
large Taoist temples, and in many places separate temples are
built in his honour. In front of his image is a black horse,
saddled and bridled, attended by two servants who are called
T’ien-lung (“the celestial deaf one”), and Ti-ya (“the
earthly mute”). The explanation of the names of these two
attendants is that there are great secrets in literature which no
one can penetrate even if he be gifted with the greatest intelli-
gence. In its deepest meanings literature is deaf to appeals for
explanation and is dumb in its attempts to make men under-
stand.

The term “Perfect Ones” (Chen Jen) is taken from the
philosopher Chuang Tzu (third century b.c.), who speaks of
Kuan Yin and Lao Tan as “ Very Great Perfect Beings ” (Po
Ta Chen Jen). The same philosopher gives a definition of the
word “ perfect ” ( chen ) as meaning “ thoroughly sincere,”
inching ch?en chih chili). During the flourishing periods of Tao-
ism several individuals have come to the high state of perfection.
The most notable of these “ Perfect Ones ” are Sun, whose
birthday is celebrated on the third day of the first moon; Liu,
born on the first day of the second moon; Tu, who ascended
to Heaven on the twenty-sixth day of the third moon; the twins
Lang, whose birthday was the twenty-sixth day of the sixth
moon, and Hsu Hsiin, 240—374 a.d., of whom the following
incidents are related. He was appointed magistrate of Hsiian-
yang in Szechuan Province, but did not retain his office for any
length of time. He preferred to resume his studies of occult
subjects to which he had devoted his youth. Returning to his
home at Hung-chow (modern Nanch’ang) in Kiangsi Province,
he retired to the mountains. Here he perfected himself in the
occult arts as taught by Wu Meng, by means of which he was
able to do much good to the people of the neighbourhood. He
slew dragons and caused water to gush from a rock. At the


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


1 14

age of one hundred and thirty-four, he gathered his family of
forty-two souls together and with them all was translated to
Heaven. He is known as Hsu Chen-jen.

“ The Immortals ” (Hsien) are the most interesting of the
three classes of spiritual beings. Two different Chinese char-
acters are used for the word “ Hsien,” one with the meaning
of “ a mountain-man ” and the other with the meaning of “ a
frolicking capering being.” These Immortals or Fairies are
primarily persons who retire to the mountains for study and
meditation. The ideograph Hsien, meaning “ mountain-
man,” is not found in any books written previous to the Han
dynasty, and it is probable that it was invented during the reign
of the Emperor Shih Huang of the Ch’in dynasty who was a
devoted patron of the magical arts. The Immortals have the
appearance of human beings and wear ordinary clothes. They
live to a good old age, and when they die their material body
is scattered and the soul rises into the immortal ether. Other
accounts of them say that their bodies never grow old, and that
after a thousand years they have still the appearance of youth.
They have fixed abodes in the known universe, but are able to
move about from place to place at pleasure.

There are two official abodes of the Fairies. The one for
male Fairies is called Tung-hua. This is under the control of
Tung Wang. His disciples are called “ Gentlemen of the
Wood ” (Mu Kung). The fairyland for females is Hsi-hua,
and it is under the control of Hsi Wang Mu. Other places
of residence are spoken of as the “Nine Palaces” (Chiu
Kung), or as the “ Mountains of the Immortals,” (Hsien
Shan), or as the “Territory of the Immortals,” (Hsien
Ching), where everything is obscure and quiet, and where there
is no disturbance by the surrounding earth or air, or as Tung
Fu. Another abode is stated to be Chiu I, a mountain which,
according to the “ Water Classic,” has nine peaks, the second
of which is Hsien T’an, “ The Altar of the Fairies.” The most


SUPERNATURAL BEINGS


ii 5

delightful abode of the Immortals is, however, “ The Three
Isles of the Blest ” (San Hsien Shan). These three “Island
Mountains ” are P’eng-lai, Fang-chang and Ying-chou.
These islands were supposed to be in the Eastern Sea, and it
was to them that the Emperor Shih Huang of the Ch’in
dynasty, on the advice of An-ch’i, sent a sea-expedition to secure



Fig. 43. Tung Wang Kung and Hsi Wang Mu

from them the plant of immortality. The expedition was led
by Hsu Shih and Lu Sheng. It is said that the Emperor sent
in his ships three thousand youths and maidens, together
with all manner of seed grain and skilful artisans. The ships
were all lost in a fierce storm. These Isles are frequently
spoken of as part of the “Happy Land” (Fu-ti). The
“Huai-nan Wang” song tells of the abode of the King
of Huai-nan in these Isles of the Blest, where he lived as a

She died at twenty years of age, but continued to exercise her
spiritual powers on the sea. She is worshipped by all sea-faring
persons. She was canonized by the Emperor Yung Lo, 1402-
23A.D., of the Ming dynasty, as “ Heavenly Consort ” (t’ien
fei). There is a large temple in her honour on the North
Soochow Road, at the corner of Honan Road, Shanghai, which
was for many years used as the home of envoys going from or
returning to China. She is also worshipped by persons jour-
neying on rivers and canals. Ch’uan Hou, goddess of streams,


SPIRITS OF NATURE


73

is a variation in name of this goddess. There is also a ruler of
water, Shui Chun, who rides on a horse in the water and has a
human form. He is followed in his course by fish. In the lat-
ter part of the Han dynasty he is said to have been seen during
a sacrifice to the rivers.

The wind god is called either Feng Po or Feng Shih. He is
identified with the constellation Sagittarius, as strong winds
come from the north-west. The rain god, Yu Shih, is associ-
ated with the constellation Hyades in the south-west. These
two controllers of wind and rain are mentioned in the Chow Li.
There is another deity, Yen Kung, who has power to calm wind
and waves. The Emperor Ta Ti, 222—252 a.d., of the Wu dy-
nasty, is said to have erected an altar to Yen Kung outside the
West Gate of Shanghai. This deity protected Shanghai during
an attack of pirates in the reign of Chia Ching, 1522-1567 a.d.,
by causing a huge tidal wave to swamp their boats during the
darkness of the night.


CHAPTER VII


DOMESTIC RITES

R ELIGIOUS ceremonies connected with the home are cele-
brated at the New Year season and on special occasions
such as birthdays, departure on journeys and moving into a new
residence. These domestic ceremonies are usually spoken of

as the “ five sacrifices ” (wu ssu) —
(a) the hearth ( tsao ), (b) the portal
(men), (c) the house (hu), (d) de-
parture on journeys ( hsing ), and (e)
the interior of the residence (chung-
liu). These ceremonies all originated
among the early inhabitants of China,
though the present forms of observance
came into vogue centuries later. None
of them show traces of any foreign in-
fluence.

Worship of the god of the hearth,
Tsao Shen, is universal. On the night
of the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth
moon elaborate offerings of food and
wine are arranged before a paper image
of this god, after which the image is
burned, together with horses, chariots,
paper money and domestic utensils,
whereupon Tsao Shen ascends to Heaven to make his report to
the Most High regarding the condition and prospects of the
family. In the hands of this god is the prosperity or adver-
sity of the household, depending wholly upon the statements
which he makes concerning its ideals and practices.



Fig. 15. Tsao Shen,
God of the Hearth


DOMESTIC RITES


75

It is generally agreed by historical writers that the first offer-
ing to the Prince of the Furnace, Tsao Chun, as he was origi-
nally called, was made by the Emperor Wu Ti, 140-86 b.c.,
of the Han dynasty. A mystic named Li Shao-chiin assured
the credulous monarch that he had received from the Prince
of the Furnace the double blessing of freedom from growing
old and from eating in order to live. He referred to the knowl-
edge of alchemy possessed by the Emperor Huang Ti by which
he was able to produce gold, and thus make a golden table-
service which caused the food served in it to confer immortality
upon those who partook of it. The Emperor Wu Ti demanded
to see an image of this new god, and one night when he had
already retired behind the curtains of his bed, Li Shao-chiin
exhibited it to him. This satisfied the curiosity of the emperor
and he decided in 133 b.c. to offer a solemn sacrifice to the god
in the hope of being able to produce gold and to obtain immor-
tality. Li Shao-chiin was taken into the palace, and a year
later attempted a bolder trick. He wrote a number of mysteri-
ous sayings on silk which he caused a bull to eat. He then as-
sured the Emperor that he would find marvellous writings in
the stomach of an animal. Accordingly the bull was brought
forward as the animal which had been specified by Li, and when
it was slaughtered the writing on silk was found, but, unfortu-
nately for Li, the Emperor recognized the penmanship to be
that of Li himself. He ordered Li to be executed, but contin-
ued his sacrifices to the god. At this time, i.e. in the second
century b.c., the chief function of this god was supposed to be
the control of the furnace in which metals could be transmuted
into gold and the pill of immortality produced.

It is narrated by another writer that during the reign of the
Emperor Hsuan Ti, 73-48 b.c., the Prince of the Furnace
(Tsao Chun) appeared to the Emperor in human form and
called himself by the name of Ch’an Tzu-fang, which suggests
a connection with Buddhistic propaganda. Ch’an Tzu-fang


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


76

wore yellow garments and his hair fell unkempt over his shoul-
ders. The Emperor was greatly impressed by this appearance
and offered the sacrifice of a lamb in his honour. Ch’an Tzu-
fang received many emoluments from the Emperor. It is said
that his great-grandson was the uncle of the Empress, Lieh
Hou, consort of the Emperor Kuan Wu, 25-58 a.d.

Between the Han and Sung dynasties the Prince of the Fur-
nace (Tsao Chiin) whose powers were connected with alchemy,
was transformed into the god of the hearth, Tsao Shen, the
word tsao meaning both “ furnace ” and “ hearth.” As far as
I know there are no records of the way in which this change took
place, but the probability is that it occurred during the first
years of the T’ang dynasty, when the process of creating new
deities by the Taoists, and of ascribing new powers to deities
already known, flourished at the height of its popularity. The
first historical reference to the universality of the worship of
the god of the hearth at the close of the year occurs in a collec-
tion of poems called Shih Hu Tz’u , by Fan Ch’eng-ta, who
lived in the reign of the Efnperor Kao Tsung, 1127-1162 a.d.,
of the Southern Sung dynasty. The poet says that every family
made presents to this god preparatory to his departure to pre-
sent his report of family affairs to the Ruler of Heaven, but no
account of the origin of the custom is given. The poet refers to
the custom of worshipping this god as being universal in the
country at that time. It needed no explanation to those for
whom his poem was written.

There is much intermixture of the conceptions concerning
the god of the hearth, Tsao Shen, and the god of fire, Ho
Shen. The origin of both is traced back to Chu Jung, one of
the five ancient sacrifices ( wu chi) of the Hsia dynasty. In the
Yiieh-ling Chapter of the “ Book of Rites ” ( Li Ki ), it is stated
that Chu Jung is the god of the Fourth Month. The Hung
Chien (“Historical Annals”) explains that Chu Jung refers
to a grandson of the legendary Emperor, Chuan Hsu, 2513-


DOMESTIC RITES


77

2435 b.c.j who was an officer of fire {Ho cheng). Chu Hsi,
the standard commentator on the Confucian classics, identifies
Chu Jung as tsao, i.e. “ furnace ” or “ hearth,” but this is only
one of several explanations of the “ five sacrifices,” a subject
on which only little information is available. Another inter-
pretation of Chu Jung makes it equivalent to Ho Shen, the god
of fire, presumably on account of the constant interchange of
the use of tsao, “ furnace ” or “ stove,” for the fire, ho, con-



Fig. 16. Men Shen, Guardians of the Portals


tained in it. In the Han dynasty five soldiers were grouped to-
gether as a mess and used one tsao (“ cooking range ”). The
head man of the mess was called ho po and not tsao po as might
have been expected, thus showing the use of these two words
tsao and ho as having one meaning in that connection. From
this it may be justly inferred that these two words are used in-
terchangeably in the names of these two deities.

At the New Year season the double doors at the entrance of
every house are decorated with the pictures of two guardians,
Men Shen. These are usually in military dress with swords,
arrows or spears in their hands, and are reputed to ward off all
evil influences. These pictures are not alike in various parts


78 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

of the country. According to the Feng Su T y ung the earliest
was that of Ch’eng Ch’ing, an ancient warrior who is repre-
sented with a long outer garment and carrying a sword. An-
other early representation was that of Ching K’e who died 227
b.c., and who was a bold adventurer. He plotted to slay the
Prince of Ch’in, but lost his life in the attempt. The two

brothers, Shu Yu and Yu Lei were
also portrayed as guardians of the
portal, but there is no further account
of them than that they were noted
warriors of antiquity. From the time
of the first Emperor of the T’ang
dynasty, Ch’in Ch’iung and Hu
Ching-te have been most commonly
represented as the two guardians.
These were two statesmen who of-
fered their services to the Emperor
T’ai Tsung when he was nightly dis-
turbed by evil spirits during a serious
illness. They promised to remain at
the gate of his palace throughout the
whole night. During their vigil no
spirits interfered with the repose of
the Emperor, but it was at the ex-
pense of the health of his Ministers.
After a few days the Emperor called
an artist to the palace and had portraits made of the two Min-
isters in the hope that these would have the same effect as the
actual presence of the men themselves. He had these portraits
attached to the doors and, true to his expectations, they had the
same effect of warding off the evil spirits as the presence of the
statesmen. The custom rapidly spread until it is now universal
in the country. In official residences there are four guardians,
two military and two civil.



Fig. 17. Ts’ai Shen, God
of Riches


DOMESTIC RITES


79

The god of riches, Ts’ai Shen, is worshipped universally in
families during the first days of the New Year, usually on the
fifth or eighth of the first moon. He is usually represented as
a visitor who desires to enter the home and is accompanied by
many servants carrying treasures which he is ready to dispense
freely to those who offer him obeisance. His origin is traced
back to Chao Kung-ming, a hermit from Mount O-mei in



Fig. i 8. Chao Kung-ming, God of Riches


Szechuan, who supported with magical incantations the Shang
dynasty in its conflict with the men who founded the Chow dy-
nasty. When Chiang Tzu-ya was aiding the cause of the Chows
he decided that he must destroy the supernatural assistance
which Chao Kung-ming was giving to the Shangs. Chiang
made a straw effigy of Chao before which he recited incantations
for twenty days. On the twenty-first day he shot an arrow of
peach-tree wood from his bow made of mulberry-tree wood,
hitting the effigy in the heart. At this very moment Chao


8o


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


Kung-ming, who was in the camp of the enemy, was seized with
mortal illness and died. During a subsequent visit to the deity
Yuan Shih T’ien Tsun, Chiang Tzu-ya was commanded to bring
into the god’s presence the deceased Chao Kung-ming, where-
upon Chiang was led to express regrets for having killed Chao,
and to praise the virtues of his life. In the name of the deity

Yuan Shih, he pro-
nounced a decree can-
onizing Chao Kung-
ming and promoting
him to the presidency
o f the Ministry o f
Riches. This is the ac-
count given in the
Feng Shen Yen I. In
addition to the family
worship of the god of
riches many temples
have images of him to
which incense is offered,
especially during the
first moon.

The interior of the
home ( tse ) is distin-
guished from the ex-
terior which is described
by the term hu. This interior is 'also called the chung-liu , orig-
inally the air shaft which afforded light and air to homes ex-
cavated in the sides of hills. There are still many people who
live in these excavated houses in the hills of Honan, Shansi and
Shensi. This air shaft, being in the centre of the house, was
the place where the family god was placed and the god himself
came to be known by the name of the shaft, Chung-liu. In
parts of the country where ordinary houses are constructed of



DOMESTIC RITES


81


brick, the usual name for the household god is Tse Shen. I
have not been able to find an account of the origin of this cus-
tom, although there can be no doubt that it has been observed
from the earliest antiquity. This deity has never been asso-
ciated with any particular individual.

Another family ceremony, mentioned in the Tso Chmn> is
that of those moving into a
house offering sacrifice to all
persons who had resided at
any previous time on the site.

It is recognized that previous
to their own residence in this
particular spot countless gen-
erations have lived in the
same place. The object of
the sacrifice is to show respect
to those departed ones who in
; familiar with
spot where the
family has come to live.

At the time of birthday
celebrations, offerings are pre-
sented to the stellar deity,

Shou Hsing, god of longevity.

The star from which this
deity takes his name is iden-
tified as Canopus, the second
brightest star in the heavens. When it can be seen, national
peace is assured j when it is invisible, dire calamities may
happen. This deity was worshipped by Shih Huang of the
Ch’in dynasty in 246 b.c., according to the records of the
Han dynasty. There are also records of the worship of Shou
Hsing by Emperors of the T’ang and Ming dynasties. At the
present time pictures of him on paper or elaborately embroid-


their day wer
this particular



Fig. 20. Shou Hsing, Nan-chi
lao- jen God of Longevity



82


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


ered on silk or satin are used on the occasion of birthday cere-
monies. He is now represented in human form as an old man
with elongated forehead and pointed head, carrying in one
hand a crook and in the other a peach, and mounted on a fawn
which is turning its head so that it can see the face of its rider.
He is often associated with the spirits of happiness and pros-
perity, and the three are then known as Fu-shou-lu. He is also
called the “Old Man of the Southern Pole” (Nan-chi lao-
jen). Longevity is considered by the Chinese as the greatest
of all human blessings.

Another domestic deity worshipped by members of the fam-
ily who propose to start on a journey is the god of the road,
Hsing Shen. The origin of this worship is prehistoric. The
son of the fabulous Emperor Huang Ti, was named Lei. He
was fond of constant travelling and finally died while on a
journey. He was deified as the protector of wayfarers.

Among the Chinese there is no more notable characteristic
than the desire for offspring. Pilgrimages are made to temples
and prayers are made to deities whose favourable replies are as-
sumed to be readily obtainable. The chief object of such wor-
ship is the Buddhist deity, Kuan Yin, goddess of mercy. Wor-
ship of Kuan Yin began during the period of the Six Dynasties
and is now observed in all parts of the country. It was already
wide-spread at the time of the foundation of the Sung dynasty
in 960 a.d., but this did not prevent an attempt being made to
replace this worship of a foreign goddess by that of a Chinese
deity. The first Emperor of the Sung dynasty tried to elevate
Chang Hsien to the position of the deity to whom prayers for
offspring should be addressed, but his efforts were not rewarded
with success. There are conflicting tales as to the identity of
Chang Hsien. One of these states that his name was mentioned
to the Emperor by the Lady Fei who had been taken from being
the concubine of M8ng Ch’ang, the last ruler of the Shu state
of Szechuan, to be the concubine of the first Sung Emperor.


DOMESTIC RITES


83

She had a portrait hanging at the doorway of her apartments
which was presumably that of her first husband ; but when
questioned as to whose portrait it was, this clever woman an-
swered that it was that of Chang Hsien, a recluse of the period
of the Five Dynasties. Another account states that the por-



Fig. 21. Chang Hsien


trait was one of the founder of the T’ang dynasty, and that
Chang Hsien was only a supposititious name given to him by
this woman. In a collection of poems called Su Lao-ch’iian Tsi.
it is said that the full name of Chang Hsien is Chang Yiian-
hsiao. He was a native of Mei-shan, in Szechuan province, and
retired for contemplation as a recluse to the Ch’ing Ch’eng
Mountain in the Kuan district, also in Szechuan Province. The
author of this poem was himself rewarded for praying to Chang
Hsien by the birth of two children. This deity is reputed to


84 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

have taken up his spiritual abode in the Chia Hsien pavilion at
Chiung Chow in Szechuan Province. All the references to
Chang Hsien connect him with Szechuan Province and he may
be considered as a special guardian of this part of China. He is
represented as a man of noble bearing carrying a cross-bow and
arrows. Above his head are clouds in which are seen the sun
and the heavenly dog, reputed to devour the sun at the time of
eclipses. In addition to his ability to give children to suppli-
ants, he was also able to ward off calamities. He is given the
central position in the “All Children’s Hall ” ( Pai-tzu T y ang ),
but worship of this deity has never been wide-spread. It is a
singular example of the failure of an Emperor to supplant the
worship in temples of the foreign goddess Kuan Yin by that of
a purely indigenous deity who would have been worshipped in
the home, and as such it deserves notice. For once Imperial
patronage failed to divert the people from an earlier choice.


CHAPTER VIII

GREAT NATIONAL HEROES

A MONG the mythical heroes of China none are more pop-
ular than those who were immortalized by Ch’u Yuan,
332-295 b.c., in his poem “ Falling into Trouble ” {Li Sao).



Fig. 22. Ta Ssu Ming


Ch’u Yuan rose to high office in his native state of Ch’u, but
was impeached on trivial grounds and expressed his disap-
pointment in this poem. He retired to a quiet life, and
finally committed suicide by jumping into a river on the
vm — 7


86


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


fifth day of the fifth moon. In memory of him the people
of his district offered sacrifices to him annually on this date
and the custom gradually spread until it was transformed
into the Fifth Moon Feast, or, as it is often called, the
Dragon Festival. The most interesting part of “ Falling into
Trouble ” is the “ Nine Songs ” in which eleven heroes are



celebrated. These eleven are really only nine, for Ssu Ming
is divided into two persons, senior and junior, and under Hsiang
Chun the two daughters of Yao, Hsiang Fu-jen, are treated
each under a separate heading. If these four headings are
combined into two as is usual in literary references, the £C Nine
Songs ” in reality are connected with nine heroes. These were
all heroes originally of the State of Ch’u, which is the modern
Hupeh (and part of Hunan), but have become national by the

PLATE III


Po Yun Kuan, Taoist Temple, Peking

1. Third Court.

2. Fourth Court.

See pp. 23, 135.







EARLY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS


5i


more and more lost sight of among the multitude of gods cre-
ated in the likeness of man and other living creatures. High
ethical precepts relating to Heaven were submerged in the ris-
ing tide of nature worship.

The Emperor Shun sacrificed to the Liu Tsung or “ Six Hon-
oured Ones.” Legge suggests that “ In going to worship the
hills and rivers and the hosts of spirits, he must have supposed
there were certain tutelary beings who presided over the more
conspicuous objects of nature and its various processes. They
were under God and could do nothing except as they were per-
mitted and empowered by him; but the worship of them . . .
paved the way for the pantheism which enters largely into the
belief of the Chinese at the present time, and of which we find
one of the earliest steps in the practice, which commenced with
the Chow dynasty, of not only using the term Heaven as syno-
nym for God, but using also the combination Heaven and
Earth.” These Six Honoured Ones have been variously ex-
plained by Chinese authors. Meng K’ang says that they were
the stars, heavenly bodies, father of the wind, master of the
rain, arbiter of the cosmic space, and arbiter of fate. Another
authority divides them into two classes of three each : the heav-
enly class consists of the sun, moon and stars, the earthly class
of the T’ai Mountain, rivers and sea. Whatever may be the
correct explanation, the worship paid to these Six Honoured
Ones by the Emperor Shun proves conclusively that ancient
Chinese worship was a system of polytheism in which the Su-
preme Ruler, high above all others, was the source and standard
of all moral authority.


CHAPTER V


COSMOGONY AND COSMOLOGICAL
THEORIES

I T is not possible to state that there is among the early Chinese
any clearly defined theory of the origin of the universe.
There is a vague ascription to Shang Ti of infinite creative
power, which is involved in the worship paid to him as the Great
Ruler of the universe. We have already pointed out, however,
that the worship of Shang Ti was also associated with that of
the spirits of the earth and air, as well as of ancestors. It was
also considered to be on the same plane as the worship of
Heaven, and the two seemed to have been interchangeable.
Shang Ti, the Great Ruler, was Heaven, and Heaven was
Shang Ti} both represented the Great Law to which everything
in the universe is subject. It was not conceived of as a personal
entity, but as an all-pervading force under which all things live
and move and have their being. This conception fitted in well
with the Conservative view as to the right of kings to rule and
princes to decree justice. The regulation of all creation under
the supreme rule of Heaven found an adequate illustration in
the relation of the subjects to the ruler of a state. As the views
of the Conservative School were chiefly occupied, in their final
analysis, with the control of the state, it was deemed by them
unnecessary to inquire too closely into the nature of the Great
Ruler of the universe. For them it was enough to know that
his power is omnipotent and his will supreme. Speculation con-
cerning him was considered superfluous; their only desire was
to comply with his immutable decree.

According to the most obvious interpretation of Chapter VI


COSMOGONY — COSMOLOGICAL THEORIES 53

of the Tao Teh King , Lao Tzu seems to have ventured into the
realm of cosmogony; and whatever may be thought of the trust-
worthiness of the text there can be no doubt of the fact that its
conceptions have been adopted by all later writers of the School
of Tao. Wang P’i of the third century a.d. interprets this dif-
ficult passage of the Tao Teh King in a sense which has been
generally accepted as bringing out its original meaning; but
Giles professed at one
time that he had “not
the remotest idea what
it meant.” Wang P’i
says in explaining the
meaning of Ku Shen
(“ the spirits of the
valley”), that “a val-
ley is the abode of va-
cuity and silence, which,
though nothing else can
be found in the valley,
still remain without
form.” It is thus evi-
dent that the “ spirits
of the valley ” mean
the “ spirits of vacuity and silence.” I have translated hsii as
“silence” in the sense of the word in Hood’s sonnet:

“ There is a silence where hath been no sound,

There is a silence where no sound may be.”

The whole passage (Chapter VI) may be translated: “The im-
mortal spirits of the valley are called the great void. The great
void is called Heaven and Earth. Continually it endures, work-
ing without conscious exertion.” Stripped of all unknown im-
plications, Lao Tzu’s theory of the universe is that out of a
great void came Heaven and Earth whose laws are immutable.



Fig. 7. Lieh Tzu


54


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


There is little or nothing in Chuang Tzu or Lieh Tzu which
amplifies or explains the mysterious Chapter VI of the Tao Teh
King , but in the “ History of the Great Light ” ( Hung Lieh
Chuan ), the philosopher Liu An, commonly known as Huai-
nan Tzu (ob., 122 b . c .) has written what is in reality a com-
mentary upon it. Huai-nan Tzu gave little attention to the
ethical teachings of Lao Tzu; his concern was with the trans-
mutation of metals and the search for the elixir of immortality.
He gathered around him large groups of ascetics ( fang shih ),
who devoted their time to occult practices and researches. This
type of study led Huai-nan Tzu into the consideration of the
phenomena of nature and of the original creative force.

Huai-nan Tzu emphasized the doctrine of spontaneity,
which, he said, is the original law of creation. Dragons live in
water; tigers and leopards in the mountains — all following
the natural instincts given them by Heaven and Earth. When
the spring wind blows the fragrant rain falls, bringing life to
all things; birds hatch their young and animals multiply; plants
and trees bud and leaf; the processes are not visible and yet
they come to completion. Again when autumn comes with cool
breezes and frosty air, the trees bow and are stripped of their
leaves, reptiles and insects burrow into the ground or hibernate;
still no outward compelling forces are to be seen. This law of
spontaneity is also true in individual conduct. One should dis-
play the kindness which is innate in the human heart and avoid
craftiness which defiles original innocence and purity. Follow-
ing this law further, the philosopher does not need to hear
sounds or see forms in his study of natural phenomena; for in
the midst of silence and loneliness he is conscious of both.
Everywhere we find around us the works of nature, yet nature
itself cannot be found by searching, though on the other hand it
forces itself upon our attention. If it be piled up, it will not be
high; if it be dug down it will not be low; addition will not in-
crease it, neither will subtraction diminish it; if planed it does


COSMOGONY — COSMOLOGICAL THEORIES 55

not become thin, if cut it remains uninjured ; it is neither deep
nor shallow. “ Shadowy and indistinct, it has no form; indis-
tinct and shadowy, its resources have no limit.” Nature is the
great force that sustains Heaven and Earth, spreads to the four
quarters, fills up all within the Four Seas, supplies light to the
sun, moon and stars, and is divided into male and female prin-
ciples, Yang and Yin. By its force the sky revolves, the earth is
motionless; the wind rises, clouds gather, thunder rolls and rain
falls. All are the result of the spontaneous action of nature.
Huai-nan Tzu draws from this law the teaching that man
should be in harmony with nature, tranquil and content. As
an example of compliance with this law he states that, in early
times, Fu Hsi and Shen Nung understood the laws of nature
so that they were in communion with the Creator and were able
to assist in ordaining all things within the universe. There are
many difficulties to a full understanding of the meaning of
some passages in the text of Huai-nan Tzu, but their general
tenor seems to be in accord with this law of spontaneity.

The venerable mystic who revealed himself to Liu Hsiang,
80-9 b.c., while he was absorbed in his nightly study of the
stars, told him the mysteries of creation. He explained also
the evolution of nature from the five elements (wu hsing) —
water, fire, wood, metal and earth. Before vanishing into space
the mystic declared himself to be the Essence of the Great
Centre — T’ai I Ching. Liu Hsiang was the author of the
“ History of the Han Dynasty ” and the founder of the mod-
ern style of historical composition, but he spent all his leisure
time in occult studies. From his time onward the scholars who
belonged to the School of Tao paid scant attention to ethical
problems, but gave all their attention to speculation about the
origin of life, its prolongation and its mysteries; just as Chang
Tao-ling a century later is the starting-point for the magical
practices which have almost absorbed all else in Taoism. From
Liu’s time forward it is impossible to determine just when the


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


56

various elements were introduced which went to form the cos-
mological systems as explained by writers during the T’ang
and Sung dynasty in such books as the Sung Li Ch’iian Shu , and
it is fruitless to attempt any chronological arrangement. There
was much confusion of thought and divergence of view until
general consent and wide acceptance were obtained for the fol-
lowing theory.

This theory is that the great self-existent, wu chi , produced
finite existence, t y ai chi. The finite evolved the two essential
elements of nature, Yang and Yin, which may be translated as
the male and female principles, or as positive and negative, or
as light and darkness. Chu Hsi’s account says that first was the
self-existent and then the finite. The finite moved and there
was Yang (light or the male principle)} the finite rested and
there was Yin (darkness or the female principle). In other
words the sexual principle as known in propagation of animal
life was predicated of nature as manifested in the finite} but
there was no attempt to describe the infinite self-existent in
terms of human forms or human experience. This primordial
cause was unknowable and unexplainable.

The T’ai Hsi King , which may be translated “ The Classic
of Breath Control,” is a further elaboration of the sixth Chap-
ter of Lao Tzu. This classic is without date, and the name of
the author is not known, but from its contents the probability
is that it was written during the Yuan dynasty, when so much
attention was given among the Taoists to the control of breath-
ing as one of the necessary steps in attaining immortality. The
teaching of this book is that in the universe there is but one aura,
ch y i y and from this comes all life and death. All finite things
are produced from the vast and inexhaustible reservoir of
this aura. For this reason the aura is called a mother, that is,
the Yin or female principle of nature which combines with the
Yang or male principle of nature to form the eternal Tao. The
Yang, male principle, is the “ Spirit of Vacuity ” (K’ung Shen).


COSMOGONY — COSMOLOGICAL THEORIES 57

The virility of this spirit unites with the receptivity of the aura
to form the creative power of the universe. The spirit and aura
both come from the original chaos, and neither of the two can
ever be increased or diminished. It is evident that this theory
of creation is a product of the Taoist School which devoted its
attention chiefly to breath control. There are other cosmologi-
cal theories in later books based upon Taoist teachings of occult-
ism, many of them being intermixed with Buddhistic theories.
The Hsin Yin King , or “ Classic of Heart Revelation,” is an
example of such books, but their influence, either on the ortho-
dox Taoist or on popular conceptions, has not been sufficient to
warrant detailed consideration.

The scholarly interpretations of cosmogony which have been
given above are entirely eclipsed by the vulgar theories of Tao-
ism which have captured the minds of the majority of the Chi-
nese people and which may be accepted as the teachings of
present-day Taoism. According to these the Great Creator
was P’an Ku. He came from the great chaos, and his body was
four times the size of that of an ordinary man. Two horns
projected from his head, and two tusks from his upper jaw.
His body was thickly covered with hair. Knowing the prin-
ciples of Heaven and Earth and the inherent changes of the
dual fires of nature, he was able to excavate the deep valleys
and pile up high mountains. He taught men to build boats and
bridges} he understood the qualities of the rocks and was able
to select those that were of value to mankind. With his ham-
mer and chisel he wrought the universe into shape. From his
high throne he issued his instructions to the people, whom he
divided into the two classes of nobles and commoners. Above
are the sun, moon and stars, he said, and below are the four
seas. Listening to his discourse on the manner in which chaos
was reduced to order, the people forgot their fatigue. After he
had exhausted his instructions to them, one morning he disap-
peared and was never again heard of. Thus the impersonal


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


58

powers of nature became personified in P’an Ku, who is entirely
an anthropomorphic conception. According to Jen Fang who
wrote the Shuh I Chi at the commencement of the sixth century,
this myth was introduced into China by delegates returning
from the Kingdom of Siam. It is not mentioned in the
T’ung Chien W ai Chi by Liu Shu in the eleventh century.

Another illustration of
the personification of what
had been originally con-
sidered as impersonal law
or principle, occurred dur-
ing the Sung dynasty, when
the Shang Ti, or “ Great
Ruler ” of the classical
writings became Y ii Huang,
the Jade Emperor of Tao-
ist teaching. After the dis-
graceful peace made by the
Emperor Chen Tsung in
1005 a.d. with the Kitan
Tartars, by which northern
portions of the Empire
were ceded away, the Em-
peror tried by every means
to regain his prestige. He
sought out the soothsayers,
geomancers and interpreters of dreams. In this he was en-
couraged by his Minister, Wang Ch’in-jo, who explained
to him that the revelations reputed to have been given to
the early Emperors were only inventions to secure obedience,
and that if the Emperor were to fabricate similar tales con-
cerning himself, the people would be won back to loyal obedi-
ence. In 1012 a.d. the Emperor called his Ministers together
and told them of a dream in which he had received a letter



Fig.


8. Yu Huang, the Jade
Emperor


COSMOGONY — COSMOLOGICAL THEORIES 59

from Yu Huang which stated that Yu Huang had sent two
letters to his ancestor, the founder of the Sung dynasty, and
that now his Imperial ancestor was coming to pay him a visit.
The Emperor later informed his Ministers that his august an-
cestor had duly appeared to him in accordance with the promise
of Yii Huang. The Imperial History, T’ung Chien Kang Mu t
records these facts, and states that this is the first appearance of
Yii Huang, and that absolutely nothing is known of his origin
or life. No one previous to the dream of the Emperor had
ever heard Yii Huang spoken of. He was the invention of a
deceitful Emperor aided by a Minister who was spoken of in
the reign of his successor as “ obscene.” This revelation (t'ien-
shu) to the Emperor Chen Tsung, was acquiesced in by another
famous Minister, Wang Tan, in consideration of a large present
by the Emperor, and his cowardice in doing so has been fre-
quently commented upon by later writers.

Notwithstanding this fraudulent origin, Yii Huang received
during the reign of the Emperor, Hui Tsung, 1 101-1 125 a.d.,
the highest possible honour in being given the title of Hao
Then Yii Huang Shang Ti, which means “ The Great Ruler,
Almighty Heaven, Yii Huang,” and to this title was prefixed
the statement that at creation he was the arbiter of divination,
the controller of time and the true embodiment of Tao. This
identification of Yii Huang as Shang Ti, the Great Ruler of the
universe, was the highest possible ascription that could be made
to him.

After this time stories of the life of Yii Huang were in-
vented. His father was Ching-te, King of a fabulous country.
The Queen was called Pao-yiieh, “The Precious Month.”
Having come to middle life she had not yet borne a male child.
The King called priests to the palace to recite prayers with the
object of obtaining an heir to the throne. During the following
night the Queen had a dream in which Lao Tzu appeared to
her, mounted on a dragon and carrying a male child in his arms.


6o


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


He flew through the air and came toward her, whereupon the
Queen begged him to give her this child as heir to the crown.
Lao Tzu consented and tossed the child to the Queen. She fell
on her knees and thanked him. This was her dream. Awaken-
ing the next morning she felt herself pregnant, and at the end
of a year brought forth a child. From his earliest years the
child showed himself generous to the poor, giving away all the
riches of the palace. On the death of his father he was crowned
King, but after a few days, he ceded the crown to the Prime
Minister and left the kingdom in order to become a hermit at
P’u-ming in the Province of Shensi. Here he attained perfec-
tion of life and spent his time in healing the sick. In the midst
of his deeds of charity he died. This is the fabulous account
of his life as recorded in the Sou Shen Chi. To the common
people of China, Yu Huang and P’an Ku are the great origin
of all finite things, and to them worship is paid as the Great
Creators.

THE THREE EMPERORS


3i


cultural implements. He established markets at which the
products of one part of the country could be exchanged with
those from other parts. He studied plants and their uses in
curing diseases of the body. In one day he discovered seventy
kinds of vegetable poisons. He classified three hundred and
sixty-five species of medicinal plants and wrote a book on them.
He lived to the great age of one hundred and sixty-eight and
then became an immortal.

Two other mythical tales of the period of the Three Em-
perors need to be mentioned. One is that of Ts’ang Chieh, the
legendary inventor of the art of writing, who is said to have
had four eyes. He derived his first inspiration to invent writ-
ing from noticing the marks of birds’ feet in sand, and the spe-
cial style of ancient characters, to the number of five hundred
and forty, is known as “ bird foot-prints writing ” (niao chi-
wen). The other is that of Nil Kua who is said to have been
the sister and successor of Fu Hsi. The two characters of which
her name is composed naturally lead to the surmise that she was
a woman, though some early traditions discard the seeming im-
plication of the name, and assert that Nii Kua was a man. The
intertwining of her body with that of Fu Hsi on the bas-relief
of Wu Liang Tz’u suggests either that the two were brother
and sister, or husband and wife. A third possible explanation
which seems to me nearer the truth is that Fu Hsi was assisted
during his reign by his sister Nii Kua. In the Ti Wang Shih
Chi it is stated that Nii Kua had the body of a serpent and the
head of an ox. She instituted marriage ceremonies and assisted
her brother Fu Hsi in invocation of the gods. The statements
of the Shih Chi are that Nii Kua had the endowments of a
divine sage and succeeded her brother Fu Hsi as sovereign.
Toward the end of her reign one of the feudal princes, Kung
Kung, rebelled and sought to overthrow the influence of Nii
Kua. He was defeated in battle, whereupon he struck his head
against the Pu-chou Mountain and razed it to the ground. This


32


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


shook the pillars of Heaven and destroyed the corners of the
Earth. In order to repair the damage to the heavens, Nii Kua
melted stones of five colours and cut off the feet of the tortoise
in order to replace the four corners of the Earth. She burned
reed grass to ashes which she used for stopping great floods,
and thus rescued the land of Ch’i, which was the home of the
later sovereigns of China.

In this chapter I have followed the written records in class-
ing Fu Hsi, Shen Nung and Huang Ti as the Three Emperors.
The bas-reliefs of Wu Liang Tz’u have a different classifica-
tion. Fu Hsi and Nii Kua together form the first panel, Chu
Jung occupies the next, and the third is that of Shen Nung,
Huang Ti being assigned a later place among the Five Sov-
ereigns. This divergence in the two lists of the Three Em-
perors is thus seen to have been current in the Han dynasty, but
as the list which I have adopted became the usually accepted one
in later dynasties, it has seemed wise to discard my usual method
of preferring the evidence of existing monuments to that of
books, and to adopt the generally accepted list.


CHAPTER III


OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS

A S Fu Hsi symbolized the Age of Hunting, Shen Nung
that of Agriculture, and Huang Ti that of Invention, so
the Great Yao and Shun are the legendary models for an Im-
perial rule based on righteousness. These are the two early
sovereigns whom Confucius taught his countrymen to regard as
the model rulers whose virtues were resplendent to all genera-
tions. The Shu King says that Yao was universally informed,
intelligent, accomplished and thoughtful, and that his glory
filled the empire. The commentary of the annals of the
“ Bamboo Books ” ( Chu Shu) states that when Yao had been
Emperor seventy years, a brilliant star appeared in one of the
heavenly constellations, and phoenixes were seen in the court-
yards of the palace ; pearl grass grew and grain was abundant ;
sweet dews moistened the ground and crystal springs issued from
the hills j the sun and moon appeared like a pair of gems and
the five planets looked like threaded pearls. In the Imperial
kitchen a piece of flesh was seen which was as thin as a fan.
This, when shaken, made such a wind that all eatables were
kept cool and did not spoil. On each side of the palace-steps
grew a kind of grass which produced one pod each day up to
the fifteenth of the month. On each following day of the
month one pod shrivelled up, but did not fall. This was called
the lucky bean, also the calendar bean. There was a great flood
which was assuaged by the Emperor, but he attributed the merit
of his work to his Minister Shun, in whose favour he wished to
resign. On account of the flood he fasted and purified himself,
building altars near the two rivers Ho and Lo, after which he


34


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


selected a fortunate day and conducted Shun and other follow-
ers up the Shou Mountain. On the island of the Ho, five old
men were seen walking about. These were the spirits of the
five planets. They conversed together and said: “ The Ho T’u
will soon appear and inform the Emperor of an auspicious time.
He who understands this is Huang Yao, each of whose eyes has



two pupils.” Thereupon the five old men flew away like float-
ing stars and ascended into the constellation Mao (Pleiades).
On the Hsin-ch’ou day of the second month, between daylight
and dark, the ceremonies were all prepared. When the day
began to decline a glorious light came forth from the Ho River,
and beautiful vapours filled all the horizon ; white clouds rose
in the sky and a dragon-horse appeared bearing in his mouth a
cuirass covered with scales, with red lines on a green ground.


OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS


35

This dragon-horse ascended the altar, laid down the P«-draw-
ing, and departed. The cuirass was like a tortoise shell nine
cubits broad. The t*u contained a tally of white gem in a casket
of red gem covered with yellow gold and bound with a green
string. On the tally were the words: “ Gratefully presented to
the Emperor Shun.” It also said that Y u and Hsia would be the
recipients of special orders from Heaven. The Emperor wrote
down these words and deposited them in the eastern palace.
After two years, during the second month, he led his Ministers
to the Lo River into which he threw a round disk. After the
ceremony he rested and waited for the close of the day, then a
red light appeared} a tortoise arose from the waters with a writ-
ing in red lines on its back, and rested on the altar. This writ-
ing said that he should resign the throne to Shun, and accord-
ingly the Emperor did so. This is a variant account of the
origin of the “ho t’u ” and “lo shu i.e., of the graphic arts
of painting and calligraphy.

It is said of Shun in the Shu King that he was in a low and
undistinguished position when Yao heard of his great intelli-
gence and first proved him in many difficult situations with the
idea of making him successor to the throne. The “ Bamboo
Books ” state that he had a miraculous birth. His eyes, like
those of Yao, had double pupils, for which reason he was
known as “ Double Brightness.” He had a countenance like a
dragon, a large mouth and a black body. His parents disliked
him. They made him plaster a granary, and then set fire to it}
but the bird-made clothing which he wore enabled him to fly
away. They put him in a well to dig it deeper, and then at-
tempted to fill it with stones from above} but on this occasion
he wore dragon-made clothing and was able to get out. Later
he dreamt that his eyebrows were as long as his hair.

On the accession of Shun, the lucky bean grew about the
stairs, and phoenixes nested in the courts. When the musical
stones were beaten in the nine ceremonial performances all the


36 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

beasts came frolicking one after the other, and a brilliant star
appeared. In the fourteenth year of his reign, at a great per-
formance with bells, resonant stones, organs and flutes, before
the service was concluded there came a great storm of thunder
and rain. A violent wind overthrew houses and tore up trees.
The drum-sticks and drums were scattered on the ground and
the bells and stones dashed about in confusion. The dancers
fell prostrate and the director of music ran madly away; but
Shun, keeping hold of the frames from which the bells and
stones were suspended, laughed and said: “How evident it
is that the Empire does not belong to one man. This is in-
dicated by these bells, stones, organs and flutes.” Thereupon
he presented Yu to Heaven and made him perform ceremonies
such as are undertaken only by an Emperor; then harmonious
vapours responded on all sides and felicitous clouds were seen.
They were like smoke and yet were not smoke; were like
clouds and yet were not clouds; they were brilliantly confused,
twisting and whirling. The officers in mutual harmony sang of
these felicitous clouds, the Emperor leading the chorus and
saying: “ How bright are ye, felicitous clouds! In what good
order are ye gathered together! The brightness of the sun
and moon is repeated from morn to morn.” All the ministers
then came forward, and bowing low said: “Brilliant are the
heavens above, where the shining stars are arranged. The
brightness of the sun and moon ennoble our Emperor.” The
Emperor then again sang: “ The sun and moon are constant;
the stars and other heavenly bodies have their motions; the four
seasons observe their rule. The people are sincere in all their
services. When I think of music, the intelligences that re-
spond to Heaven seem to be transferred to the sages and the
worthies. All things listen to it. How thrilling are its rolling
sounds! How does it inspire the dance! ” When the great
brightness was exhausted, the clouds shrivelled up and disap-
peared. Thereupon the eight winds all blew genially and


OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS


37

felicitous clouds collected in masses. The crouching dragons
came hurriedly out of their dens. Iguanadons and fishes
leaped up from their deeps ; tortoises and turtles came out
from their holes, thus carrying Yu away to found the dynasty
of Hsia. Shun then raised an altar at the Ho River, as
had been previously done by Yao. When the day declined
there came a fine and glorious light, and a yellow dragon
came to the altar bearing on his back a /’^-drawing, on which
lines of red and green were intermingled. The writing
on this t y u was to the effect that Shun should resign in favor
of Yu.

The Emperor Yu marked out the nine Provinces, followed
the course of the hills, deepened the rivers, and defined the
taxes on the land as well as the articles which should be pre-
sented as tribute. These are the statements of the Shu King
concerning him. The “ Bamboo Books ” say that his mother
was named Hsiu-chi. She was a falling star, and in a dream her
thoughts were moved until she became pregnant, after which
she swallowed a pearl and gave birth to a son. He had a tiger
nose, and a large mouth ; his ears had three orifices. When he
grew up he had the virtue of a sage, and attained the great
height of nine feet six inches. He dreamed that he was bathing
in the Ho River and drank up all its water. He also had the
happy omen of seeing a white fox with nine tails. As he was
looking at the Ho River one day a tall man with a white face
and a fish’s body came out and said: “I am the spirit of the
Ho. Wen Ming shall regulate the waters ” (Wen Ming be-
ing the personal name of Yu). Having so spoken he gave the
Emperor a chart of the Ho which contained necessary regula-
tions concerning the control of the flooded waters ; then he re-
turned to the deep. Yu set about his work, and when he had
finished, Heaven gave him a dark-coloured mace with which to
announce his completed work. When the fortunes of the Hsia
dynasty which he founded were rising, all vegetation was lux-


vm — 4


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


38

uriant. Green dragons were seen, and from the Lo came the
writing on the shell of the tortoise called “ The Great Plan.”

There is another myth concerning Yii which must not be
omitted. While he was on his way south, in the middle of the
river which he was crossing, two yellow dragons took the boat
on their backs. All who were with him were afraid, but Yii
laughed and said: “ I received my appointment from Heaven
and labour with all my strength to benefit man. To be born is
the course of nature 5 to die is by Heaven’s decree. Why be
troubled by the dragons? ” Hearing this the dragons went
away, trailing their tails behind them.

The next of the great Emperors was the founder of the
Shang dynasty. He is called T’ang, or Ch’eng T’ang, i.e.,
M T’ang the Successful.” His family is reputed to have been
of ancient descent, and before his own miraculous birth there
had been at an earlier time another instance of this miracle. It
is said that the lower part of his face was broad, and that the
upper part tapered to a point. His face was white and whisk-
ered, his body was larger on one side than on the other, and
his voice was loud. He was nine feet high, and each of his
arms had four joints. When he came east to Lo to see the altar
that had been erected by Yao, he dropped a gem in the water
and stood at some distance. Immediately yellow fishes leaped
up in pairs. A black bird followed him and stood on the altar,
where it was changed into a black gem. There was also a black
tortoise with red lines forming ideographs, which said that the
Hsia Emperor, Chieh Kuei, was a man of low principles, and
that T’ang should supersede him. A spirit dragging a white
wolf with a hook in its mouth, entered the court of the new dy-
nasty Shang, which T’ang was called upon to found. During
his reign silver overflowed from the hills, and all metals were
plentiful.

The Shang dynasty continued for a period estimated to have
been about six hundred years. It produced no outstanding fig-


OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS


39


ures around whom mythical tales could be woven. Its best
known figure is the tyrant Chou Hsin, whose cruelty brought
about its downfall. His cruel deeds are notorious in later his-
tories. He is represented as a man gifted with sharp senses,
extraordinary mental ability and great physical strength. His
wide knowledge enabled him to make light of the frequent
remonstrances made to him by his Ministers, and his eloquence
enabled him to gloss over his own vicious acts. He constantly
boasted of his ability, and attempted to increase the reputation
of his Empire by giving prominence to his own wonderful
deeds. He was devoted to wine and debauchery, and was in-
fatuated by his consort, Ta-chi, to whom he lent a willing ear.
The deeds of this woman are recorded with the evident purpose
of teaching the folly of an Emperor’s yielding to the influence
of a debauched woman. The Shu King says that she was shame-
lessly lustful and cruel ; the most licentious songs were com-
posed for her amusement, and the vilest dances exhibited. A
palace was erected for her at Ch’i with a famous terrace, two-
thirds of a mile in width, surrounded by a park which was
stocked with the rarest animals. The expenditures for the
building of this palace made necessary heavy exactions which
provoked the resentment of the people. At Sha-ch’iu, which
is the modern district of P’ing-hsiang in the Province of Chihli,
there was still greater extravagance and dissipation. There was
a pond of wine, and the trees were hung with human flesh 3 men
and women chased each other about quite naked. In the palace
there were places where large parties spent the whole night
drinking and carousing. When these excesses brought about
rebellion by the princes, the Empress Ta-chi protested that the
majesty of the throne was not being maintained, that punish-
ments were too light and executions too infrequent. She there-
fore devised two new instruments of torture, one of these was
called “ the heater,” and consisted of a piece of metal made hot
in a fire, which people were forced to take up in their hands.


40


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


The other was a copper pillar covered with grease and laid
above a pit of live charcoal. Culprits were compelled to walk
across this pillar and when their feet slipped and they fell into
the fire, Ta-chi was greatly delighted. This punishment was
called “ roasting.” These fearful enormities caused the whole
Empire to be filled with indignation. One of the worst in-
stances of Chou’s cruelty was his treat-
ment of Pi Kan. Pi Kan was a rela-
tive of the tyrant, and being a man of
good character, remonstrated with
Chou upon the debauchery of the
court. Chou became very angry and
ordered the heart of Pi Kan to be torn
out, saying that he had always heard
that the heart of a man of superior
virtue had seven orifices and that he
wished to see whether or not his rela-
tive Pi Kan was what he claimed to be.

During the reign of Chou Hsin the
small principality of Chow came into
prominence, and the Duke of Chow,
canonized as Wen Wang, led in the
rebellion which overthrew the Shang
dynasty. The site of this principality
of Chow was in the vicinity of the
present city of Hsi-an, capital of
Shensi Province. The younger son of the Duke of Chow be-
came the first sovereign of the new dynasty which took its name
from this small principality. He is known in history as Wu
Wang. As might be expected, tradition has woven many won-
derful tales around this founder of a dynasty which is con-
sidered by the Chinese as more responsible than any other for
its wide-spread civilization.

The ancestry of Wu Wang is traced back to the Emperor Kao



Fig. 6. Pi Kan



OTHER PREHISTORIC EMPERORS


4i


Hsin, whose wife became a mother in a miraculous manner.
After the birth of her child, she decided to make away with him
and left him in a narrow lane, but the child was attended by
sheep and cattle so that he did not die. She then placed him in
a forest where he was attended by a wood-cutter and his life
preserved. She then laid him upon ice in the river, but a large
bird came and covered him with one of its wings. Finally the
mother made no further attempts to dispose of the child, but
nursed him and brought him up, giving him the name of Ch’i
or “ Castaway.” The lower part of this child’s face was unduly
developed, and his appearance was very extraordinary. When
he grew up he became Minister of Agriculture to the Emperor
Yao and rendered great service to the people.

INTRODUCTION


9


human activities as found in social organizations. These are
only general distinctions and cannot be pressed too far, but are
sufficient to indicate the diverging tendencies of thought in
China from earliest time.

It is convenient to start with Confucius and Lao Tzu of the
sixth century b.c., as the point from which two distinct systems
take their origin, although these men are only exponents of
systems which had already become settled. Tao, nature, with
its constant changes, became the centre of Liberalism in opposi-
tion to the Confucian theory of absolutism represented by the
Emperor. The Liberal School believed in bringing the head
of the state to the same account for his personal actions as the
humblest person} whereas under the Conservative system of
Confucius, the Emperor is restricted by no law. Even though
it is conceded that moral considerations should determine his
conduct, no legal pressure could be brought to bear upon him
as upon an ordinary man. The standard commentator of the
Liberal School, Pan Ku, makes I Yin, who is said to have lived
in the eighteenth century b.c., the first exponent of the prin-
ciples of Tao. It was I Yin who advised T’ang to plot rebellion
against the existing Hsia dynasty, and remained with him as
adviser when he established the new dynasty of Shang. The
next two exponents of the Tao are given by this commentator
as T’ai Kung and Yu Hsiung, who were attached to Wen Wang
at the time when he was planning a revolt against the cruel rule
of the last years of the Shang dynasty. The next exponent of
Tao, according to Pan Ku, was Kuan I-wu, Chief Minister of
the state of Ch’i, and the first to make a feudal state assume he-
gemony among the other states while acknowledging the nomi-
nal authority of the ruling Chow dynasty. These authoritative
examples of the early Tao teaching show it to have been in
marked contrast with the Conservatism of the School of Letters
which looked with tolerance upon the action of rulers simply for
the reason that they were rulers.


10


INTRODUCTION


The greatest political support of Liberalism was the Emperor
Shih Huang, the founder of the Ch’in dynasty. His Prime
Minister, Li Ssu, was the most untiring opponent of the Con-
servative School of his time or of any subsequent time. Both
the Emperor and his Prime Minister were firm believers in the
principles of the School of Doctrine or Tao. In personal con-
duct as well as in the establishment and administration of his
government, Shih Huang reflected no honour upon the teach-
ings of the School of Lao Tzu. He was a cruel tyrant, passion-
ate in temper, intolerant of any form of opposition and entirely
dominated by his own imperious self-will. He burned the
books of the Conservatives and destroyed their ceremonial uten-
sils in the hope of cutting himself off from the restrictions im-
posed by those who had gone before him, and of establishing
a new order. His success was only partial, for though he estab-
lished a bureaucratic form of government which continued in
its general principles down to the Republican Revolution of
1 91 1- 1 2, it was controlled after his death not by the principles
in which he believed, but by those of the Conservative School.
The task of the Han dynasty, which succeeded the Ch’in estab-
lished by Shih Huang, consisted in retaining the form of gov-
ernment established by Shih Huang and of bringing it under the
domination of the philosophical ideas of the Conservative
School. If Shih Huang had been a man of a higher type of
personal character, the dynasty which he established might have
had a good chance of survival. As it happened, his government
survived in form, but came entirely under the control of an
opposing set of principles.

During the Han dynasty, about 150 b.c., the sayings of
Confucius were compiled by one of his descendants, K’ung
An-kuo. This compilation, called Lun Yu Hsiin Tz y u , was
based upon the comparison of two texts. One of these was
found with other texts, pi chung shu , in a wall of the home of
Confucius when it was being demolished by Kung Wang, son


INTRODUCTION


ii


of the Emperor Ching Ti, who was appointed by his father to
be King of the Principality of Lu (modern Shantung). This
text was written in the so-called “ tadpole ” characters, k’o-tou
wen , and is known as the “ ancient text,” ku wen. The other
text came from the neighbouring principality of Ch’i and, being
written in the characters which were used in the last years of the
Chow dynasty, is known as the “ modern text,” chin wen. The
compilation of K’ung An-kuo, with some emendations, has re-
mained the standard of the Conservative School for all succeed-
ing generations, and as it includes the Ch’un Ch’iuy or “ Spring
and Autumn Annals,” it carries back the account of China’s an-
cient civilization to a great antiquity.

It is thus evident that there have been from ancient times two
lines of development in Chinese thought, one conservative and
the other liberal. These have not been mutually exclusive, but
have flourished side by side and not infrequently have been
found together in the writings of one person. From the western
point of view there is a lack of precision in the differences be-
tween these two schools, but to the Chinese the contrast lies in
their general ideas rather than in details.





CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


CHAPTER I
TAOISM

T HE School of Doctrine, Tao, has gathered around it almost
all the mythological characters of Chinese history; and
it is necessary to understand the gradual development of this
school into one of the national Three Religions — Confucian-
ism, Taoism and Buddhism. The emphasis placed upon my-
thological subjects having taken place after the establishment
of Taoism as a religion, and the object of this book being to dis-
cuss these subjects and not ethical ones, it will not be necessary
in the following pages to make any further use of the term
School of Doctrine, Tao. In its stead the term Taoism will be
used in a generic sense as including all that went before as well
as all that followed after its recognition as a religion.

There are three distinct stages of Taoism. The first of these,
which may be called the ethical, can be dated conveniently as
having begun with Lao Tzu and his writings which are included
in the Tao Teh King. This was the stage of philosophic discus-
sion, beginning about the close of the sixth century b.c. The
second stage or the magical, as it may be called, began in the
first century of the Christian era and is centred around the per-
sonality of Chang Tao-ling. He retired to seclusion in the
mountains of western China and devoted himself to the study
of alchemy and to the cultivation of purity by means of mental
abstraction. Here he was sought out by large numbers of dis-
ciples, who paid him five pecks of rice a day for their keep, from


i4


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


which his teaching became known as the Wu Tou Mi Tao or
the “ Doctrine of Five Pecks of Rice.” This congregation of
Chang’s disciples was the first stirring of the movement which
later was organized into a religion. Chang called himself
“Celestial Teacher” ( t’ien shih). This was a term used by
Chuang Tzu, who states that it was conferred upon a youth of
Hsiang Ch’eng by the Yellow Emperor. According to the Su
Wen it was also given to Ch’i Po, one of the assistants of the
Yellow Emperor, who is known as the founder of the art of
healing. This was the stage of development of the magical arts
and was based upon the mysteries of “ The Book of Changes ”
rather than upon the ethical teachings of Lao Tzu. The third
stage, or that of an organized religion, came in the seventh cen-
tury a.d. during the reign of the illustrious founder of the
T’ang dynasty, Li Shih-min, whose dynastic title is T’ai Tsung.
Profoundly influenced by the tradition that the family name of
Lao Tzu was Li, and that this was his own patronymic, T’ai
Tsung lent his influence to the establishment of Taoism as a
religion on the same basis as the flourishing Buddhistic religion
in whose mysteries he was also a profound believer. Accord-
ing to Fen Yen Chien Wen Chi , T’ai Tsung claimed Lao Tzu
as the progenitor of his branch of the Li family.

As a religion Taoism was founded in the seventh century a.d.,
and in its religious aspects is an imitation of Buddhism. It
adopted the Buddhistic custom of building temples in which
groups of ascetics were collected for the purpose of performing
religious rites and of propagating doctrine. Early Chinese his-
tory was searched for personages who could be matched with
those from India introduced into China by Buddhism. Lao Tzu
took the place of Sakyamuni; the Four Heavenly Kings (Ssu
T’ien Wang) that of the Four Lokopolas; the Three Pure Ones
(San Ch’ing) that of the Three Precious Ones (San Pao), etc.
There was little attempt on the part of this new Taoist religion
to refute any of the doctrines of Indian Buddhism, although a



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CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


close analysis of the doctrines of these two sects would show
that they are not in harmony on fundamental questions. Bud-
dhism aims at exterminating both soul and body, while Taoism
strives to etherealize the body until it reaches a state of im-
mortality. The radical difference in doctrinal teachings was
glossed over in the zeal of the T’ang Emperor to transpose the
popular belief in Buddhism into nationalistic lines. Every-
thing in Taoism is of purely Chinese origin, and however much
its form may have been influenced by the importation of Bud-
dhism, the entire body of the Taoist doctrine springs from
national sources. Taoism is a revolt against Buddhism because
of its foreign origin, while at the same time it did not hesitate
to copy slavishly its whole system of organization.

The influence of the ethical philosophy of Lao Tzu in the
organized development of Taoism was largely overshadowed
by the magical arts of Chang Tao-ling, who reverted to an
earlier source than Lao Tzu for his authority. He went back
to “ The Book of Changes ” (7 King), of which Confucius said
in the “ Analects ” ( Lun Yii): u If my number of years were in-
creased, I would give fifty of them to the study of the I King
and then I might come to be without great faults.” “ The Book
of Changes ” is the earliest of the Chinese classics, and, it may
be added, remains the one least understood. It must have origi-
nated several centuries earlier than the time of Confucius and
Lao Tzu, but after the time of Wen Wang, 1231-1135 b.c.,
who expanded the original Eight Diagrams into sixty-four, such
as are found in this classic. The 7 King is concerned with the
discussion of lucky and unlucky events which are mysteriously
entwined with the names of the Sixty-four Diagrams. It speaks
of good fortune in such events as choosing a wife, in returning
home, in going on an expedition. It couples morality with good
fortune in such phrases as u there is prosperity for the hero who
is correct in conduct.” It gives great honour to the ruler of
the state, and this is probably the reason that Confucius so


TAOISM


17

strongly approved of its teachings, and was content to pass over
its magic. It is the text of the official phrases used by diviners,
who, it must be remembered, were high officials in the early
governments of China. The rare passages in this classic which
refer to a philosophic conception of government are submerged
by the constant allusions to good and ill luck and to divination.

There are also three other early books which are filled with
accounts of extraordinary happenings. The Shan Hat King
(“ Mountain and Sea Classic ”) would appear from its name
to have been devoted to geography, as the Shut King (“ Water
Classic ”) might have been expected to treat of water-ways. In
reality both these treatises, which are considered classical, con-
tain accounts of all sorts of strange things in the animal and
aquatic worlds. In its present form the Shan Hai King was not
compiled until after the beginning of the Christian era, but the
tales contained therein are popular legends which had their
origin as far back at least as the Chow dynasty. The “ Critical
Catalogue ” of the Emperor Ch’ien Lung’s library, or Ssu K y u
Ch’iian Shu , denies that the tenets of this classic are those of
Lao Tzu, but Taoist authors have usually claimed it as belonging
to their sect. The third classic is the Yin Fu King (“ Myste-
rious Tally”), the authorship of which has been credited in
Taoist circles to the mythical Emperor, Huang Ti. This book
is largely devoted to ethical discussions in which an attempt is
made to fit the one side of the tally which covers the visible
phenomena around us with the other half which relates to the
unseen world. It discusses the hidden harmony which exists
in all animate things where only discord appears on the surface,
and reconciles the apparent disagreements between the seen and
the unseen. Special mention is made of this classic in order to
point out the fact that in addition to Lao Tzu there were other
accredited Taoists who gave their attention to ethics at the same
time as there was a constant succession of those who devoted
themselves to magical and miraculous arts.


i8


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


The Tao Teh King was given this name by Hsiian Tsung,
seventh Emperor of the T’ang dynasty, during the early part
of the eighth century a.d., but its contents are rightly reputed
to be mainly the sayings of Lao Tzu. Direct quotations from it,
as well as paraphrases of its leading truths, are given by several
philosophers earlier than the Christian era, the one nearest to
the time of Lao Tzu having lived little more than one hundred
years subsequent to him. There seems little reason to doubt
the historical tradition that such a person as Lao Tzu existed,
and that the record of his sayings is found in the Tao Teh King ,
even though we allow that this book may also contain interpola-
tions and additions made by later writers. The doctrines of
Lao Tzu are stated in crisp sentences, the meaning of which has
caused endless speculation among Chinese commentators and
foreign students. The first chapter discusses the word “ Tao ”
which subsequently gave its name to the Taoist religion. Tao is
at the beginning of all things, existing before the creation of
the world. When it takes a form it is called Ming, “ a name.”
The proper relation of a philosopher to the universe is non-
action, wu weiy and quietness, ching. In general terms this
classic shows how Tao is the true teacher of man, instructing
him in humility, self-control, quietness, consideration for oth-
ers and meekness. By following its principles, man can achieve,
without striving or seeming to do so. There are a few traces of
supernatural and mysterious influences which were easily di-
verted by later Taoist teachers to the support of their magical
practices and mysterious investigations; but taken as a whole
the classic maintains a high level in moral discussions. It has
only a forced relationship to the Taoist religion of the T’ang
dynasty, which may be justly compared to the forced relation-
ship which Li Shih-min, T’ai Tsung of the T’ang dynasty,
claimed with Li Erh, Lao Tzu, whose sayings are found in the
Tao Teh King.

The references to the teachings of Lao Tzu made by the phi-


TAOISM


i9


losophers Chuang and Lieh, as well as their own disquisitions,
are chiefly devoted to ethics. The nature of their discussions
might naturally have been considered sufficient to protect the
teachings of Lao Tzu from seizure by Chang Tao-ling of the
Han dynasty and the Emperor T’ai Tsung of the T’ang dynasty,
as a basis upon which a structure of magic could be built and a
religion established. The only reasonable explanation of their
having been unable to do so is, that since it was impossible to
harmonize the magical arts of Chang with the teachings of the
Conservative School represented by Confucius, the only possible
resort of the Emperor T’ai Tsung in founding a nationalistic
religion was to Lao Tzu whose teachings had been expressed in
such ambiguous terms that they admitted of many differing
interpretations. The Conservatives stood for the existing order,
whereas a new religion demanded changes. T’ai Tsung gave
all due respect to the Conservative class which rallied to his
support as Emperor and appreciated his patronage of orthodox
literature and art. At the same time his profound belief in the
religious teachings of Buddhism impelled him to borrow there-
from all the essential principles which should be worked over
into a new nationalistic religion for China, based upon Liberal-
ism, while at the same time it ran no risk of conflicting with
Confucian Conservatism for the reason that both had a common
origin in the ancient civilization of China.

From the foregoing it will be seen that Taoism, as developed
into a national religion in the T’ang dynasty, had a very mixed
origin. By adopting Lao Tzu as the philosophic founder of
this religion, Taoism selected the ancient sayings found in the
Tao Teh King as capable of interpretation in support of magical
arts and alchemy, and as containing nothing which could be
used against the incorporation of these grosser elements into
the new religion. The amplifications of the teaching of Lao
Tzu by Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzu, Han Fei Tzu and Huai-nan
Tzu, which are accepted as standard interpretations of his teach-


20


CHINESE MYTHOLOGY


ing, contain proportionately many more references to mysteri-
ous events and supernatural abilities than the original sayings
of the Tao Teh King , while at the same time they carry the
views of Lao Tzu concerning immortality well along the road
toward the magical practices, mystical charms and alchemic
studies of Chang Tao-ling. From the time of Chang to that of
T’ai Tsung at the opening of the Han dynasty, the influence of
the Conservative School and the Confucian classics was at a
low ebb, due in large measure to the rising popularity of Bud-
dhistic teaching which came in upon China like a flood during
this period. The whole trend of thought during those six hun-
dred odd years, was in the direction of belief in miraculous
events, worship of idols, and admiration of an ascetic life as most
conducive to religious purification. With this state of mind,
which had lasted for so long a time, T’ai Tsung found a soil
well-prepared for the new religion of Taoism in which asceti-
cism was favoured and magical arts were practised under the
sanction of the ethical teachings of Lao Tzu. To asceticism and
magic the Conservative Confucian school was unalterably op-
posed, but the mixture of Lao Tzu’s ethical teaching in Taoism
and its backward look to the early historical and mythical char-
acters of China, saved Taoism from any persecution by the Con-
servative class, not only at the time of its origin, but also during
all later centuries. Buddhism was persecuted because it was
foreign ; Taoism, which contained more superstition than its
foreign rival, was looked upon with favour because its whole
atmosphere was nationalistic.

https://archive.org/details/mythologyofallra111gray/page/n10


 THE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL RACES

Volume XI

LATIN-AMERICAN

 PLATE I

Top face of the monolith known as the “ Dragon ”
or the “ Great Turtle ” of Quirigua. This is one of
the group of stelae and “ altars ” which mark the
ceremonial courts of this vanished Maya city (see
Plate XXIII); and is perhaps the master-work
not only of Mayan, but of aboriginal American art.
The top of the stone here figured shows a highly
conventionalized daemon or dragon mask, sur-
rounded by a complication of ornament. The
north and south (here lower and upper) faces of the
monument contain representations of divinities; on
the south face is a mask of the “ god with the orna-
mented nose ” (possibly Ahpuch, the death god),
and on the north, seated within the open mouth
of the Dragon, the teeth of whose upper jaw appear
on the top face of the monument, is carved a serene,
Buddha-like divinity shown in Plate XXV. The
Maya date corresponding, probably, to 525 A. D.
appears in a glyphic inscription on the shoulder of
the Dragon. The monument is fully described by
W. H. Holmes, Art and Archaeology, Vol. IV, No. 6.
 
 THE MYTHOLOGY
OF ALL RACES

IN THIRTEEN VOLUMES
LOUIS HERBERT GRAY, A.M., PH.D., Editor

GEORGE FOOT MOORE, A.M., D.D., LL.D., Consulting Editor

latin-american

BY

HARTLEY BURR ALEXANDER, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA

VOLUME XI

BOSTON

MARSHALL JONES COMPANY

M DCCCC XX
 

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M/

Copyright, 1920
By Marshall Jones Company

Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London
All rights reserved

First printing, April, 1920

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS   '

BOUND BY THE BOSTON BOOKBINDING COMPANY
 TO

ALICE CUNNINGHAM FLETCHER

IN APPRECIATION OF HER INTERPRETATIONS OF
AMERICAN INDIAN LIFE AND LORE

/

Jl. O' Ks O
 
 AUTHOR’S PREFACE

IN aim and plan the present volume is made to accord as
nearly as may be with the earlier-written volume on the
mythology of the North American Indians. Owing to diver-
gence of the materials, some deviations of method have been
necessary, but in their main lines the two books correspond
in form as they are continuous in matter. In each case the
author has aimed primarily at a descriptive treatment, follow-
ing regional divisions, and directed to essential conceptions
rather than to exhaustive classification; and in each case it
has been, not the specialist in the field, but the scholar with kin-
dred interests and the reader of broadly humane tastes whom
the author has had before him.

The difficulties besetting the composition of both books have
been analogous, growing chiefly from the vast diversities of the
sources of material; but these difficulties are decidedly greater
for the Latin-American field. The matter of spelling is one of
the more immediate. In general, the author has endeavoured
to adhere to such of the rules given in Note i of Mythology of
All Races, Vol. X (pp. 267-68), as may be applicable, seeking
the simplest plausible English forms and continuing literary
usage wherever it is well established, both for native and for
Spanish names (as Montezuma, Cortez). Consistency is prag-
matically impossible in such a matter; but it is hoped that the
foundational need, that of identification, is not evaded.

The problem of an appropriate bibliography has proven to
be of the hardest. To the best of the author’s belief, there
exists, aside from that here given, no bibliography aiming at a
systematic classification of the sources and discussions of the
mythology of the Latin-American Indians, as a whole. There

15389
 Vlll

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

are, indeed, a considerable number of special bibliographies,
regional in character, for which every student must be grate-
ful; and it is hoped that not many of the more important of
these have failed of inclusion in the bibliographical division
devoted to “Guides”; but for the whole field, the appended
bibliography is pioneer work, and subject to the weaknesses
of all such attempts. The principles of inclusion are: (i) All
works upon which the text of the volume directly rests. These
will be found cited in the Notes, where are also a few references
to works cited for points of an adventitious character, and
therefore not included in the general bibliography. (2) A
more liberal inclusion of English and Spanish than of works in
other languages, the one for accessibility, the other for source
importance. (3) An effort to select only such works as have
material directly pertinent to the mythology, not such as deal
with the general culture, of the peoples under consideration, —
a line most difficult to draw. In respect to bibliography, it
should be further stated that it is the intent to enter the names
of Spanish authors in the forms approved by the rules of the
Real Academia, while it has not seemed important to follow
other than the English custom in either text or notes. It is
certainly the author’s hope that the labour devoted to the
assembling of the bibliography will prove helpful to students
generally, and it is his belief that those wishing an introduction
to the more important sources for the various regions will find
of immediate help the select bibliographies given in the Notes,
for each region and chapter.

The illustrations should speak for themselves. Care has been
taken to reproduce works which are characteristic of the art
as well as of the mythic conceptions of the several peoples;
and since, in the more civilized localities, architecture also is
significantly associated with mythic elements, a certain num-
ber of pictures are of architectural subjects.

It remains to express the numerous forms of indebtedness
which pertain to a work of the present character. Where they
 AUTHOR’S PREFACE

IX

are a matter of authority, it is believed that the references to
the Notes will be found fully to cover them; and where illus-
trations are the subject, the derivation is indicated on the
tissues. In the way of courtesies extended, the author owes
recognition to staff-members of the libraries of Harvard
and Northwestern Universities, to the Peabody Museum,
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the American Museum
of Natural History, and the Museum of the University of
Nebraska. His personal obligations are due to Professor
Frank S. Philbrick, of the Northwestern University Law
School, and to the Assistant Curator of the Academy of
Pacific Coast History, Dr. Herbert I. Priestley, for valuable
suggestions anent the bibliography, and to Dr. Hiram Bing-
ham, of the Yale Peruvian Expedition, for his courtesy in
furnishing for reproduction the photographs represented by
Plates XXX and XXXVIII. His obligations to the editor
of the series are, it is trusted, understood.

The manuscript of the present volume was prepared for the
printer by November of 1916. The ensuing outbreak of war
delayed publication until the present hour. In the intervening
period a number of works of some importance appeared, and
the author has endeavoured to incorporate as much as was
essential of this later criticism into the body of his work, a
matter difficult to make sure. The war also has been respon-
sible for the editor’s absence in Europe during the period in
which the book has been put through the press, and the duty
of oversight has fallen upon the author who is, therefore,
responsible for such editorial delinquencies as may be found.

HARTLEY BURR ALEXANDER.

Lincoln, Nebraska,

November 17, 1919.
 
 CONTENTS

PAGE

Author’s Preface.........................................  vii

Introduction................................................ i

Chapter I. The Antilles.................................... 15

I   The Islanders................................. 15

II   The First Encounters.............................. 18

III   Zemiism.......................................... 21

IV   Taino Myths...................................... 28

V   The Areitos....................................... 32

VI   Carib Lore........................................ 36

Chapter II. Mexico......................................... 41

I   Middle America.................................... 41

II   Conquistadores.................................... 44

III   The Aztec Pantheon............................... 49

IV   The Great Gods................................... 57

1   Huitzilopochtli............................... 58

2   Tezcatlipoca................................. 61

3   Quetzalcoatl................................. 66

4   Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue................... 71

V   The Powers of Life................................ 74

VI   The Powers of Death.............................. 79

Chapter III. Mexico (continued)............................ 85

I   Cosmogony......................................... 85

II   The Four Suns.................................... 91

III   The Calendar and its   Cycles...................... 96

IV   Legendary History................................105

V   Aztec Migration-Myths............................ 111

VI   Surviving Paganism................................118

Chapter IV. Yucatan........................................124

I   The Maya......................................... 124

II   Votan, Zamna, and Kukulcan.....................131

III   Yucatec Deities..................................136
 xii   CONTENTS

PAGE

IV   Rites and Symbols...............................142

V   The Maya Cycles.................................146

VI   The Creation..........•......................152

Chapter V. Central America...............................156

I   Quiche and Cakchiquel...........•............156

II   The Popul Vuh....................................159

III   The Hero Brothers...............................168

IV   The Annals of the Cakchiquel....................177

V   Honduras and Nicaragua..........................183

Chapter VI. The Andean North.............................187

I   The Cultured Peoples of the Andes...............187

II   The Isthmians....................................189

III   El Dorado.......................................194

IV   Myths of the Chibcha........................... 198

V   The Men from the Sea............................204

Chapter VII. The Andean South............................210

I   The Empire of the Incas.........................210

II   The Yunca Pantheons..............................220

III   The Myths of the Chincha........................227

IV   Viracocha and Tonapa............................232

V   The Children of the Sun.........................242

VI   Legends of the Incas............................248

Chapter VIII. The Tropical Forests: the Orinoco and

Guiana..............................................253

I   Lands and Peoples...............................253

II   Spirits and Shamans..............................256

III   How Evils Befell Mankind........................261

IV   Creation and Cataclysm..........................266

V   Nature and Human Nature.........................275

Chapter IX. The Tropical Forests: the Amazon and

Brazil..............................................281

I   The Amazons.....................................281

II   Food-Makers and Dance-Masks......................287

III   Gods, Ghosts, and Bogeys........................295

IV   Imps, Were-Beasts, and Cannibals................300

V   Sun, Moon, and Stars............................304

VI   Fire, Flood, and Transformations.............311
 CONTENTS

xiii

PAGE

Chapter X. The Pampas   to the Land of Fire............316

I The Far South....................................316

II   El Chaco and the Pampeans.......................318

III   The Araucanians.................................324

IV   The Patagonians.................................331

V   The Fuegians....................................338

Notes....................................................345

Bibliography.............................................379
 t

'X;
 ILLUSTRATIONS

FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE   FACING PAGE

I The Dragon of Quirigua — Photogravure . Frontispiece
II Antillean Triangular Stone Images...... 24

III   Antillean Stone Ring........................ 28

IV   Dance in Honor of the Earth Goddess, Haiti ...   34

V   Aztec Goddess, probably Coatlicue........... 46

VI   Tutelaries of the Quarters, Codex Ferjervary-Mayer

— Coloured................................... 56

VII   Coyolxauhqui, Xochipilli, and Xiuhcoatl....... 60

VIII   Tezcatlipoca, Codex Borgia — Coloured.......... 64

IX   Quetzalcoatl, Macuilxochitl, Huitzilopochtli, Codex

Borgia — Coloured............................ 70

X   Mask of Xipe Totec............................. 76

XI   Mictlantecutli, God of Death................... 80

XII   Heavenly Bodies, Codex Vaticanus B and Codex

Borgia — Coloured............................ 88

XIII   Ends of Suns, or Ages of the World, Codex Vatica-

nus A — Coloured............................. 94

XIV   Aztec Calendar Stone..........................100

XV   Temple of Xochicalco..........................106

XVI   Section of the Tezcucan “Map Tlotzin” — Col-
oured ...............................................112

XVII   Interior of Chamber, Mitla.....................118

XVIII   Temple 3, Ruins of Tikal......................*126

XIX   Map of Yucatan Showing Location of   Maya Cities 130

XX   B as-relief Tablets, Palenque................ 136

XXI   B as-relief Lintel, Menche, Showing Priest and

Penitent.....................................144

XXII   “Serpent Numbers,” Codex Dresdensis   — Coloured 152

XXIII   Ceremonial Precinct, Quirigua..................160
 XVI

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE   FACING PAGE

XXIV   Image in Mouth of the Dragon of Quirigua . . .   168

XXV   Stela 12, Piedras Negras........................178

XXVI   Amulet in the Form of a Vampire................190

XXVII   Colombian Goldwork.............................196

XXVIII   Mother Goddess and Ceremonial Dish, Colombia .   200

XXIX   Vase Painting of Balsa, Truxillo................206

XXX   Machu Picchu...................................212

XXXI   Monolith, Chavin de Huantar.....................218

XXXII   Nasca Vase, Showing Multi-Headed Deity ....   222

XXXIII   Nasca Deity, in Embroidery — Coloured ....   226

XXXIV   Nasca Vase, Showing Sky Deity..................230

XXXV   Monolithic Gateway, Tiahuanaco..................234

XXXVI   Plaque, probably Representing Viracocha ....   236

XXXVII   Vase Painting from Pachacamac — Coloured . . .   240

XXXVIII   Temple of the Windows, Machu Picchu.............248

XXXIX   Carved Seats and Metate........................264

XL Vase from the Island of Marajo....................286

XLI Brazilian Dance Masks.............................294

XLII Trophy Head, from Ecuador........................304

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

FIGURE   '   PAGE

1   Chart showing Culture Sequences in Mexico and Peru . . .   367

2   Figure from a Potsherd, Calchaqui Region............369
 INTRODUCTION

THERE is an element of obvious incongruity in the use
of the term “Latin American” to designate the native
Indian myths of Mexico and of Central and South America.
Unfortunately, we have no convenient geographical term
which embraces all those portions of America which fell to
Spanish and Portuguese conquerors, and in default of this,
the term designating their culture, Latin in character, has
come into use — aptly enough when its application is to
transplanted Iberian institutions and peoples, but in no
logical mode relating to the aborigines of these regions. More
than this, there are no aboriginal unities of native culture
and ideas which follow the divisions made by the several
Caucasian conquests of the Americas. It is primarily as
consequence of their conquest by Spaniards that Mexico and
Central America fall with the southern continent in our
thought; from the point of view of their primitive ethnology
there is little evidence (at least for recent times) 1 of southern
influence until Yucatan and Guatemala are passed. There
are, to be sure, striking resemblances between the Mexican
and Andean aboriginal civilizations; and there are, again,
broad similarities between the ideas and customs of the less
advanced tribes of the two continents, such that we may
correctly infer a certain racial character as typical of all Amer-
ican Indians; but amid these similarities there are grouped
differences which, as between the continents, are scarcely less
distinctive than are their fauna and flora, — say, calumet
and eagle’s plume as against blowgun and parrot’s feather, —
and these hold level for level: the Amazonian and the Inca
 2

INTRODUCTION

are as distinctively South American as the Mississippian and
the Aztec are distinctively North American.

Were the divisions in a treatment of American Indian myth
to follow the rationale of pre-Columbian ethnography,2 the
key-group would be found in the series of civilized or semi-
civilized peoples of the mainly mountainous and plateau
regions of the western continental ridge, roughly from Cancer to
Capricorn, or with outlying spurs from about 350 North
(Zuni and Hopi) to near 350 South (Calchaqui-Diaguite).
Within this region native American agriculture originated;
and along with agriculture were developed the arts of civiliza-
tion in the forms characteristic of America; while from the
several centres of the key-group agriculture and attendant
arts passed on into the plains and forests regions and the great
alluvial valleys of the two continents and into the archipelago
which lies between them. In each continent there is a region
— the Boreal and the Austral — beyond the boundaries of
the native agriculture, and untouched by the arts of the
central civilizations, yet showing an unmistakable community
of ideas, of which (primitive and vague as they are) recurrent
instances are to be found among the intervening groups. Thus
the plat and configuration of autochthonous America divides
into cultural zones that are almost those of the hemispherical
projection, and into altitudes that are curiously parallel to'
the continental altitudes: the higher civilizations of the
plateaux, the more or less barbarous cultures of the unstable
tribes of the great river basins, and the primitive development
of the wandering hordes of the frigid coasts. The primitive
stage may be assumed to be the foundational one throughout
both continents, and it is virtually repeated in the least ad-
vanced groups of all regions; the intermediate stage (except
in such enigmatical groups as that of the North-West Coast
Indians of North America) appears to owe much to definite
acculturation as a consequence of the spread of the arts and
industries developed by the most advanced peoples. More-
 INTRODUCTION

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