Chapter XIII: Fables and Proverbial Lore (1)

Chinese Fables numerous—Absence of Native Collections of
Fables—Indo-Chinese Fables—Mr. Thom, and his Translation of
Æsop—The Earliest Chinese Fable—Comparative Antiquity of the Fable
in China and Greece—The Cat and the Mice—Offering a White Pig—Men
and Snakes—The Ass and the Oxen—The Tiger and the Monkey, Ass, Fox,
&c.—The Geese and the Tortoise—The Brother’s Boots—The Crows and
the Owls—The King and the Mill Horses—Borrowing Trouble—The Blind
Man and the Lame Man—The Folly of Avarice—Proverbs, their Extensive
Use in China—Writings of Messrs. Lister and Scarborough—A
Comparison of well-known Chinese and English Proverbs—The Chinese
word for “Heaven”—Conclusion, pp. 146–156.

ERRATUM.

In the footnote, page 84, the paragraphs quoted are wrongly attributed to Mr. C. T. Gardner. They are by an unknown writer in a Shanghai journal.

THE FOLK-LORE OF CHINA.

I.—INTRODUCTORY.

The attention which has of late been attracted to the study of European and Asiatic folk-lore happily renders unnecessary any apology for an effort to bring to the knowledge of English readers the vast, and as yet almost unworked, field of which it is the design of these pages to treat. The numerous and in many cases able works recently published have not only placed at the disposal of students a vast mass of facts bearing on the science, but have so fully vindicated its claims to the consideration of the ethnologist and philologist, that any introductory essay in the same direction is unnecessary. The labours of Professor Max Müller, the Brothers Grimm, Baring Gould, Kuhn, Kelly, Thorpe, Dasent, Wilson, Ralston, and Spence Hardy, of Muir, Bleeke, and others, have satisfactorily paved the way for successors in the field. The widespread traditions of the Aryan family, down to the homely superstitions of our own peasantry, the myths of Oceanica and the popular tales of Scandinavia, have alike received illustration, and often erudite comment from capable pens. In endeavouring to do for the folk-lore of China what has been so well done for that of other countries I shall in one respect enjoy an exceptional advantage. No serious attempt has yet been made to prove its kinship with the familiar beliefs of the Aryan races; and the following pages may therefore claim, on the score of novelty alone, an attention which might otherwise be denied them.

That a population so enormous as that which owns the nominal sway of the Dragon Throne—variously estimated at from 250,000,000 to 400,000,000—should present a field of most interesting enquiry, is less strange than that so few enquirers should as yet have essayed to explore it. The extreme difficulties of the language and the fact that few who study it for even conversational purposes do so except for a specific end, and to fulfil some defined duty, have doubtless mainly contributed to this state of affairs. Whatever the cause, however, the fact remains that the folk-lore of the oldest and most populous nation of the globe, rich in the traditions of a period to which modern history is but a thing of yesterday, has been hitherto almost ignored by even the most successful students of Chinese. Those least acquainted with the people and their customs need not be assured that in China, as in most other parts of the world, there are certain subjects regarding which quaint and curious superstitions, beliefs and practices obtain amongst the populace. Unlike the civilized nations of Europe and America, however, China numbers amongst believers in the truth of these superstitions a vast public of some pretensions to education—such as it is—and of social position in the eyes of their countrymen. The doings of every Chinaman, from Emperor to coolie, are affected and guided by astrological portents, divinations, etc., in which even the more highly educated, who affect to despise them, place a practical trust. The half-cynical disbelief of the mandarin and literate, becomes firm conviction in the peasant; and China presents the now-a-days singular spectacle of an entire nation, numbering over three hundred millions of souls, whose everyday life is framed to meet the exigencies of a puerile system of superstition.

It must not, however, be supposed that these superstitious beliefs differ to any material extent from those current amongst humanity elsewhere. The variations will be found to lie rather in detail than in principle; and just as white replaces black for the mourning colour, but leaves untouched the custom of adopting a special costume as a sign of grief, so it will be found that a variation or even apparent contradiction in the beliefs we are about to deal with are in like manner the outcome of motives common to the inhabitants of almost all countries alike. Thus, the Scottish custom of opening the windows of the room in which a person has died, to give the soul free egress, is, in some parts of China, paralleled by the practice of making a hole in the roof. The Lancashire superstition as to the “first foot” on New Year’s Day finds its Chinese counterpart in the dislike expressed to meeting a woman or a Buddhist priest under such conditions. I forbear to here enlarge upon such agreements in superstition, as they will be found treated of at length in the following pages. The one grand distinction between Chinese and European folk-lore lies, as above intimated, in the different powers they exert over the respective communities. In the one case it is either a matter only of amused indifference or of interested research to all but the lowest classes of the population. In the other it represents an all-pervading system of regulations believed in or complied with by high and low alike. We must not, however, forget at how very recent a date we, who now pride ourselves on our civilization and enlightenment, were emancipated from the thraldom of similar and equally oppressive beliefs. To turn for a moment to the page of western history, we find that the belief in omens, divinations, &c., has, ever since the earliest times, influenced communities beside whom we incline, with somewhat undue arrogance, to term the Chinese “barbarous.” St. Chrysostom and many of the early fathers inveighed against popular superstitions in no measured way. In the eighth century we find a Council of Church dignitaries, Pope Gregory III., Charlemagne and his successors, and the abbots and bishops of Scotland and France, vehemently denouncing beliefs similar in all respects to those in vogue in China. The great Martin Luther himself believed in superstitions as gross as any recorded. [1] We turn with abhorrence from the story of Matthew Hopkins, the witch-finder, and cannot forget that, almost within the memory of our own great grandfathers, the Puritans of the New World outvied in their superstitious bigotry the worst absurdities recorded in Chinese annals. It is well to recall these matters to mind, because the enlightenment of the present day is apt to sneer too unreservedly at the blind gropings after truth of less favoured races. The popular folk-lore of Norway, Germany and Brittany presents features quite as quaint as those we shall come across in dealing with their Asiatic congeners.

Nor, when we leave the domain of what we may term domestic folk-lore—superstitions as to days and seasons, charms, omens, lucky numbers, &c.,—and ascend to that of myths and legends, is the parallelism between Chinese and Aryan belief less striking and interesting. We miss of course all that can be traced to Christianity; but the powers of nature have appealed as strongly to the wonder and dread of the sons of Han as they did to the races of whom we ourselves are the successors and heirs. “Language,” says a recent writer, “in its immature phases, has created, without any conscious exercise of imagination, most of the old-world, pathetic legends, which, different garbs notwithstanding, meet us like familiar friends in the early records of nations so widely divergent that it would be hard to discover any other trace of kinship.” I will not here pause to ask how fully this applies to Chinese. The myth-making faculty is in any case the common heritage of mankind; and narrow as are the limits within which it has been exercised by the Chinese, and grotesque as are the forms assumed by its productions, they evidence the same yearning to idealise the mysterious powers of the universe, the same poetic faculty, if more rudely expressed, as has characterized mankind since the Chaldean astrologers kept their lonely vigils, and found in the star-studded heavens materials for the mythic beliefs of the long-forgotten past.

In view then of the interesting and almost limitless field of research presented by the superstitious beliefs of nearly a third of the human race, it is, as I have said, more than remarkable that no one has yet essayed the task of compiling some record of their peculiarities. Scattered allusions to them undoubtedly pervade a large number of recent contributions to our better knowledge of China, while certain subjects have been dealt with more at length—in some cases with much ability. Mr. T. Watters has struck a rich vein of curious information in his articles on Chinese notions respecting Pigeons, Doves, and Foxes; while Mr. Stent, in his paper on Chinese Legends, has given some interesting examples of the romances or tales which are current among the Chinese. As Mr. Stent says, almost every place in China has some legend attached to it, the whole constituting a mass of material for collectors of folk-lore, not only interesting from its own quaintness, but useful for comparison with the legends of other nations. [2] Mr. Kingsmill’s discussion of the mythical origin of the Chow Dynasty, Dr. Eitel’s account of the curious Buddhist fable which includes the Hwang-ho among the sacred rivers flowing from the Himalayan Lake, and Mr. Mayers’s sketch of the rise and growth of the cult of the god of Literature in China, all contain curious and suggestive matter on this head. They deal however only with portions of the subject.

A writer in the year 1798 remarked that “the study of popular antiquities (of which folk-lore is an important branch) though the materials of it lie so widely diffused, and indeed seem to obtrude themselves upon every one’s attention, does not appear to have engaged so much the notice of enquirers into human life and manners as might have been expected.” But the last seventy years have witnessed an activity in this direction which would allow of the formation of a small library of works dealing only with such matters. It is time that China were added to the list of countries whose folk-lore has been recorded for comparative purposes. And any shortcomings of execution on the part of the present writer will, it is hoped, be condoned on the score of its being the first attempt to deal systematically with the vast array of material at disposal.

Any arrangement of subjects is of course arbitrary; but I shall endeavour to follow what seems to me the most natural order of sequence; and I must here be pardoned for devoting a short space to explaining what I conceive that order to be. The unstudied arrangement of many able works on European folk-lore, although perhaps adding additional charm to their perusal on the part of the general reader, somewhat militates against their use for handy reference by those who care to study them for the sake of comparison. It is therefore much to be desired that some general system could be agreed upon by those who care to make this entertaining subject a matter of serious research. With some diffidence I adopt an arrangement which deals in the first instance with superstitions personal to the individual, such as those relating to birth, marriage and death—superstitions which we find equally disseminated amongst the most degraded and the most civilized peoples of the earth. To these succeed the beliefs accorded to the good or evil luck attaching to days or seasons. Next to them come the credence placed in lucky numbers, portents, auguries and dreams, succeeded by the popular beliefs in charms, spells and divinations. These are followed by accounts of popular superstitions—such as those relating to drowned men, the last piece of edible left upon a plate, the virtues of human blood, &c. Entering the domain of the more technically supernatural, but still dealing with beliefs immediately affecting the happiness or misery of mankind, we come to witchcraft and demonology,—sprites, elves and fairies, such as those who, to quote a native composition, “come in clouds and go in mist;” who make use of “grass that when cut makes horses, or beans that when scattered become fighting men.” [3] Ghosts and apparitions are naturally connected with the foregoing. The next section refers to dragons, serpents, fabulous animals, and monsters, which play as important a part in the popular legends of China as in those of Christendom. Long before our patron saint St. George slew the monster so long depicted on the now extinct five-shilling piece, a doughty Chinese champion (a lady, by the way) had performed a similar feat, and had been also embalmed in popular memory; while the snake, regarded with not less awe as an incarnation of the supernatural in China than in Europe, figures conspicuously in her legendary lore. Natural phenomena, such as typhoons, earthquakes, floods, &c., which I next deal with, have naturally, here as elsewhere, been attributed to supernatural influence from time immemorial. Legends form the next division of our subject, commencing with those of locality; for the hills and vales of Cathay have their haunted spots, and its cities too have their haunted houses. Legends of Locality and Household Tales conclude this branch of the subject, a selection of the best known, and those of an essentially popular nature, being alone given. Fables and Proverbial Lore complete the series; but the latter has been too fully dealt with in separate works and essays to render more than passing reference to its characteristics necessary.

Briefly tabulated, then, the Chapters will be arranged in the following order:—

A—Superstitions as to personal fortune.

Birth, Marriage, Death.
Days and Seasons.
Portents, Auguries, Dreams, Lucky Numbers.
Charms, Spells, Amulets and Divinations.

B—Superstitions as to various subjects.

C—Superstitions involving the interference of supernatural powers.

Ghosts, Apparitions and Supernatural Beings.
Witchcraft and Demonology.
Elves, Fairies and Brownies.
Serpents, Dragons, Fabulous Animals and Monsters.
Superstitions regarding the Powers of Nature.

D—Legendary Folk-lore.

Legends of Locality, Household Tales, &c.

E—Fables and Proverbial Folk-lore.

That it is difficult in all cases to draw the precise line in classification, those who have paid any attention to the subject will readily understand; and the most that can be done is to adopt some system which, however faulty, is handy for reference.

The word “Folk-lore” can be applied to many of the domestic traditions of China only as a matter of literary convenience. The word which, according to Mr. Kelly, was invented (or rather first used in its generic sense) by the late editor of Notes and Queries, [4] is indeed the only one in the language which satisfactorily expresses the subject of which it treats, and has met with general acceptance. But there is this difference between most of the folk-lore of the Aryan races and that of China. In the former case it chiefly relates to legends and superstitions handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth; in the latter it necessarily includes much that is to be found in print at every native bookstall. Old Moore’s and Zadkiel’s Almanacks represent this sort of literature in England, but do not of course contain a tithe of what is current amongst the people. In China such literature flourishes like a rank weed, to the partial destruction of aught else more useful and ennobling. In addition to these native “authorities,” a vast amount of material relating to the subject is to be found in the columns of the foreign and native newspapers. The aid thus afforded has been fully availed of in the following chapters, though it must not of course be supposed that there does not also exist a large amount of veritable lore, a knowledge of which has been perpetuated in the ordinary conversational way. The cheapness of the press has indeed proved in China a powerful help in preserving much that might otherwise have died out. The precise form of any superstition can therefore be frequently traced, thanks to this conservative element, and differing versions of popular myths are easily referred to their true origins.

It does not appear that the great teachers of China have done much, except in an indirect way, to encourage popular superstitions. But faint references—and those chiefly to ceremonial matters—are to be found in the classics, nor does popular belief credit Confucius, Mencius, Lao-tzü, and others with more than inferential approval of the superstitions current in their own day. The principle of filial reverence for age has probably contributed more than anything else to imbue the minds of the people with a respect for anything, from a porcelain bowl to an aphorism or proverb, which savours of antiquity; and folk-lore shares with ethics the benefits of the national bias. As regards details, the folk-lore of China is much the same as that of Europe, with here and there some unexpected contradictions. Many of these superstitions are, and of course must be, equally childish, whether finding their home in a Cornish hamlet or a Chinese town; but it is none the less interesting to find that they often exist in almost identical shape in places so far asunder. To the mind of the present writer they convey far deeper assurances of a common origin between differing races than the often untrustworthy resemblances of isolated words in their respective tongues.

It will probably be found that the theory which refers the greater portion of the folk-lore of Europe to the Oriental cradle of the Aryan races, from whence it was disseminated by their migrations westward, is equally applicable to the folk-lore of China. The first-named supposition has been ably supported by Kelly and his brother workers, and if, as is believed, equally strong grounds can be shewn for adopting the second, a contribution of some importance to ethnology, and indirectly to philology, will have been made. And it is difficult, when the domestic superstitions of Scotland or the tales of New England witchcraft, the drear legends of Iceland or the myths of Thuringia are found to be almost identical with beliefs in little-known China,—when the almond-eyed mother of Kwangtung is found repeating to her offspring the mystic nonsense uttered by her Hindoo or Turkish sister, as she too, under other skies, listens to the prattle of childish tongues—it is, I say, difficult to deny that a strong case has been made out for a common fount whence the folk-lore of at least two continents has flowed Eastward and Westward in ever-accumulating streams. I need not here refer to such essentially related peoples as the Japanese, Tibetans, Mongolians, &c., whose superstitions are so analogous to those of the Chinese as to be fairly classed under the same head. Such information as has been available respecting them, will be found collated in its proper place.

I have slightly touched in a preceding paragraph upon the unusually widespread belief accorded in China to signs and omens, legends, charms, &c., and a passing remark as to the extent to which this belief obtains may not be out of place. The Court of China, like courts elsewhere, sets the fashion in this as in other matters, and both the marriage of the late Sovereign and the recent accession of the new infant Emperor has afforded an apt illustration of how thoroughly superstition is interwoven with the political system of the country. Thus, at the marriage of Tung-chi with Ah-lu-te, the young lady received amongst the bridal gifts ten pieces of green and white jade called ju-i [5]—“Heart’s delight.” They were of mystic import, being supposed to possess the power of conferring joy and happiness on their owner. [6] The lucky days for the various ceremonies were fixed by the court astrologers, and nothing was done without reference to their predictions. Such phrases as “so and so being a lucky day, His Imperial Majesty will proceed &c.,” are of constant occurrence in the court circulars. But the burdens laid upon the august inhabitants of the “Forbidden City” are but light compared to those borne by the rest of the people. Whether it be to build a house or assume office, to marry a wife or open a school, to set out on a journey or complete a bargain, nothing can be done by any Chinese without reference to Geomancy. Nor are more homely details less under the control of superstitious belief. Every act connected with birth, marriage or death, the bringing up of children and the enterprises of manhood, are alike referred to some detail of this curiously all-pervading system. The superstitions indeed exist amongst ourselves, those really affected by them being only the most ignorant of the population. But in China all are, or assume to be, firm believers in the occult influences of the charm or incantation which custom decrees shall be used. The veriest “Lancashire witch” was no more a slave to her own belief in witchcraft than are average Chinese to their faith in the virtues of divination. Folk-lore therefore assumes in China a place almost unknown to it elsewhere, and no student of the manners and customs of its people can overlook its influence on their every-day life.

II.—BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH.

In China, as throughout the western world, curious superstitions attach to human life in all its various stages. The hour and day of an infant’s birth are as much a matter of solicitude to the Chinese female as to the “wise woman” of our own North-country hamlets. [7] The queer-looking almanacks to be found amongst the stock of every native bookshop or stall, invariably contain a series of figures representing a fanciful deity, whose title may be rendered as that of the Emperor “Four Quarters” or “All the Year Round,” each figure having one of the horary characters placed on some portion of its person. Thus, during the spring quarter the sign for from 11 to to 1 o’clock a.m. appears on the forehead; that for from 9 to 11 o’clock on the shoulder; that for from 1 to 3 o’clock upon the stomach; etc. (See illustration). When a child is born these diagrams are consulted, and according as the hour mark occurs upon the forehead, shoulders, hands, legs or other portion of the body, so they augur the future destiny of the child. Thus title and degree will be the lot of him who is born at noon. The child who makes his appearance between 9 and 11 o’clock will have, in the familiar words of the gypsy, “a hard lot at first, but finally great riches.” Toil and sorrow, however, will be the portion of the unlucky baby who first sees the light between 3 and 5 a.m., or p.m., and so on. [8]

The following verses have been kindly placed at my disposal by a friend, who has taken the trouble to put into rhyme some of the doggerel that accompanies the diagrams above referred to:—

THE RHYME OF THE EMPEROR “ALL-THE-YEAR-ROUND.”

In birth, the Emperor’s forehead shows
A fate that never sorrow knows,
Plebeians that rich and honoured be
And rise to title and degree,
The rank they seek is still bestowed;
Nobles that follow a worthy lord
And women, chaste and well-beloved,
Wed and breed scholars true and proved.

The Emperor’s hands in birth portend
The gains that handicraft attend
Abroad, a welcome rich and free,
As home, a well-found family;
One year shall yield a plenteous store,
Next year shall make that plenty more,
Wealth shall flow in on every side,
Wealth with old age shall still abide.

The Emperor’s shoulders mean, I trow,
An heir to goodly gifts that grow
To more and more as years draw on,
Grandsons and sons to honour come,
Rank comes too when the time is fit,
Old age brings fields and farms with it;
If kith and kin at first were cold
“Bitter, then sweet,” is truth of old.

When on the belly falls the sign,
Shalt have enough, as I divine,
Of clothes and food, of acts or arms,
Of music and the pageant’s charms;
Old age with peace and joy shall crown
Mid-age’s office and renown,
And a delightsome halo spread,
Increasing, round thy honoured head.

If on the loins the sign be found,
Then rank with wealth and years is crowned,
With honour when life’s prime is told
And eld y-blessed with yellow gold,
Yea, though arisen from low degree
His fate is true nobility;
His scions, an illustrious band
Who make a name within the land.

But on the leg—the meaning there
Is toil and sorrow, want and care,
Nor clothes nor food enough shall be,
May all thy kin be kind to thee!
Who day by day must drudge and toil
Nor be content for all thy coil.
Yet, when thy bitter youth is past,
Old age shall bring thee bliss at last.

The Emperor’s foot means this—at last
Peace comes from vigil and from fast,
A life-time of tranquillity!
Have nought to do with rent or fee;
Widowed—renew not married life;
Widower—seek no second wife;
Thy path a wilderness unblest,
Flee to a cell and be at rest!

The practices resorted to previous to the birth of children, either to secure that blessing or to ascertain the sex of the expected infant, form in themselves a curious chapter. An idea that adopting a girl belonging to another family will increase a woman’s own likelihood of having children herself, is based upon the belief that each living woman is in the unseen world represented by a tree; and that, just as grafting succeeds with trees, so adoption (which represents the same process in family life) may succeed as regards children. Another superstition is that each woman is represented in the other world by a vase containing a flower. A sorceress is hired to proceed thither and “change the earth.” A third way of securing children is to obtain from the temple of the Goddess of Children a shoe which has been worn by her. This is taken home and, being placed beside the image or tablet of the goddess, receives equal worship; and, should the desired object be attained, a pair of shoes exactly resembling the one obtained must be returned to the temple. Sometimes several are taken from an equal number of temples, and in that case the goddess from whom the last shoe was received is rewarded with most offerings. A flower is in other cases taken from one of the temple vases in place of a shoe, and is supposed to be nearly as efficacious.

Shortly before the birth of the child in Fuhkien a ceremony is performed by a priest, with the intention of frightening away the demons who are supposed to haunt the mother for the purpose of destroying her life in childbirth. “The priest recites the classics proper to the occasion. Ten or twenty pieces of a kind of grass cut up about an inch long, and several likenesses of the crab cut out of common paper, are put in a censer and burned. Or sometimes several live crabs, after being used in the ceremony are taken and turned into the street—by way of frightening or propitiating the spirits. The reason why crabs are used is that the name of one of these demons sounds like that of crab, in the local dialect.” [9]

The formula for ascertaining the sex of a coming child is not very far removed from the children’s amusement of prophesying by buttons, commencing “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, &c.” The mother adds to the number of her age in years that of the month, day and hour she was born: thus if twenty years old and she was born in the sixth hour of the third day of the second month, she would have a total of thirty-one. She then takes a series of pictures of the thirty-six assistants of the Goddess of Children, sold for fortune-telling purposes, and according to the sex of the child in the arms of the thirty-first concludes that her own child will be a boy or a girl. If the number of her age, &c., exceed thirty-six, she commences to count the first picture from number thirty-seven. Childless women also resort to a similar process to ascertain whether they will or will not have children. Those curious to ascertain the religious ceremonies made use of prior to birth may be referred to Mr. Doolittle’s work on Chinese Social Life.

It may be noted, in passing, that the Chinese make but little provision whatever for the birth of female children, which are deemed beneath the notice of augury or portent. At the birth of a child of either sex, however, amongst the boating population, a piece of red coloured cloth is hung from the awning of the sampan in which the birth has taken place. [10]

A superstition obtains in the southern provinces that if three children appear at a birth one of them will eventually become a noted rebel, and it hence becomes a question of “Which is Papa going to keep?” if the luckless father would avoid that direst of Chinese curses, a thoroughly bad son. To decide the question a “wise man” is sent for, by whose directions the three infants are taken into a perfectly dark room. The wise man then takes three pieces of string, each of a different colour, such as white, red and black, and entering the room ties one of these pieces of string round a wrist of each baby. The one that is found when brought out into the light to have the red string on its wrist is drowned like a puppy. [11] Presuming however that the little one has not had such ill-luck as to be the odd one of three, it still undergoes within an hour or two of birth the ceremony of “binding the wrists.” A cash or charm is tied to this part of the arm by means of red cords, which are not untied for some ten or twelve days. Others attach miniature toys, such as a mallet, drum, bell, &c., the red cords being about two feet long altogether, with one foot of loose string between them. Sometimes, however, the cord or tape alone is used, being replaced when dirty, but worn altogether for several months or even a year. [12] This of course has reference to the dread lest evil spirits should harm the child, and the impelling motive finds expression in other countries in a not quite dissimilar way. Thus the Danish women place amulets (garlic, salt, bread and steel) over the cradle of a new-born infant before depositing it therein; [13] while a superstition formerly obtained both in England and the Highlands that a child should not be left alone until it was christened lest it should be stolen or changed by fairies. [14] A practice common amongst nurses is to pass a knife edge downward between the feet of a child just as it commences to run alone. This is called “cutting the cord of his feet,” and is supposed to facilitate his learning to walk. [15]

There is a curious little piece of folk-lore, common alike to the Middle Kingdom and our own fatherland, which I lighted upon by accident. A wide-spread superstition exists at home against rocking a “toom,” or empty cradle. [16] Now, strangely enough, Chinese nurses in the South of China have precisely the same belief. A little four-year old girl, who is a very intimate acquaintance of mine, not long ago began rocking the cradle in which her newly-born sister was usually laid to sleep. An amah who saw her, rushed at the child, exclaiming “You no makee rock so fashion! That baby b’long die, s’posie rock,” As it happened the infant did die, as was fully expected by the medical attendant: but of course the amah found in the anticipated fact a verification of her prediction, and farther enquiry has satisfied me that the superstition is identical with and quite as widespread as our own. The resemblance of belief here certainly seems something more than accidental.

The ceremonies observed shortly after the birth of a child are curious. A package of seed, rush (such as is used for candle wicks), cat’s and dog’s hair, onions or garlic, a pair of chopsticks, and some charcoal, is in Fuhkien tied up with red string in a piece of red paper and suspended on the outside of the door where the mother is lying. [17] In the extreme South some of these articles are omitted. “A pair of the trousers of the child’s father are put on the frame of the bedstead in such a way that the waist shall hang downward or be lower than the legs. On the trousers is stuck a piece of red paper, having four words written upon it intimating that all unfavourable influences are to go into the trousers instead of afflicting the babe. The hair on the package outside the bedroom door is to keep the noises which may be made for eleven days by the dogs and cats in the vicinity from frightening the babe. The coal is to aid in making it hardy and vigorous. The onions are to cause it to be quick-witted and intelligent. The pith (rush) is explained as contributing to make it fortunate or successful in life.” [18] On the fourteenth day the parcel and trousers respectively are taken away. Odd as the custom above referred to may seem, it is exactly parallelled by those prevailing in both Germany and Scotland. In the former country it is usual to lay in the cradle a package of snapdragon, blue marjoram, black cumin, a right shirt sleeve and a left stocking; while, on the authority of Mr. Henderson, it may be noted that in Scotland “the little one’s safeguard is held to lie in the juxtaposition of some article of dress belonging to its father.” [19] Of the hair of cats or dogs I shall have more to say in a future chapter. But I may remark that a superstition as to the curative and evil-warding power of hair exists at this day in both Wales and Gloucester. [20]

There is a custom called “Worshipping the Measures” frequently performed by Chinese during the eighth month if they have sickly children. The “measures” are two constellations in the Northern and Southern hemispheres respectively. They are generally identified as the four stars α, β, γ, δ, in the dipper (Ursa Major) and ζ, λ, μ, σ, and τ in Sagittarius. For the purpose under notice they are represented as two old men, the “Northern Measure” being the god of longevity, who keeps the book in which is recorded the date of each person’s death, while the “South Measure” is the god of emoluments. Longevity and riches are thus to be secured by worshipping them. The legend in which this custom is based is thus given: [21]—“A long while ago a certain lad on going into the street one day met an old man who proved to be a celebrated fortune-teller named Kwan-lo. He addressed the lad saying: ‘You are a fine boy. What a pity that your life is to be so short.’ The lad at once asked him how long it was to be, and he told him that he was to die at the age of nineteen. This frightened the lad, who was already near that age, and he went home crying and told his mother what he had heard. She in turn was very sad also, but told the lad to go and enquire further of the fortune-teller. He did so and was instructed to take a plate of preserved venison and a bottle of wine and carry them to the top of a certain mountain where he would find two old men playing chess. He was told to place the venison and the wine down by them without saying a word, and then wait patiently till they had finished the game, when he might advance and make known his requests. The lad proceeded to do as he was instructed, and was surprised to find two men engaged in a game of chess. After he had silently placed the food and drink by them they kept on playing until they had finished the game without noticing the lad. They then seemed hungry and began to eat of the provisions they saw by their side. After they had done eating and drinking the lad advanced and told his story, weeping while talking, and besought them to save him from dying at so early an age. They heard the lad and then took out their records, and found on examination that his life was indeed nearly finished. They however took a pen and interpolated before the nineteen the Chinese figure for nine, thus making the record read ninety-nine. They then ordered the boy to return home and tell the old man he met in the street that he must not do in like manner again; that the time appointed by heaven was not to be divulged to mortals. The lad thanked the old gentlemen, who were no other than the ‘North Measure’ and ‘South Measure,’ went home and narrated what had occurred.”

The superstitions regarding marriage are as plentiful in China as we should expect to find them amongst a people in which its ceremonies are held in such extreme honour. Of the outward symbols of the married state there is, as we all know, a great importance attaching to the wedding ring. Now it is very certain that the Chinese did not take the idea of wearing wedding rings from us. Yet we find that in certain parts of China, and in Java, the custom of sending the “measure of the finger-ring” previous to marriage is well known. Turning to Chinese annals we find the preparing of a “united-hearts’ finger-ring” mentioned amongst the preliminary ceremonies to marriage. More than that, just as the purchase of the ring is considered by us as having morally bound the intended bridegroom, so in parts of China it affixes legal responsibility upon him; a failure to carry out the marriage then subjecting him to the penalties of breach of promise of marriage. [22] Bearing in mind the symbolic nature of a ring in the western world—that of something without end—it is interesting to find a value attached to it out here similar to that we ourselves endow it with at home. In Durham, for instance, the breaking of the wedding ring forbodes death, and its loss, the loss also of the husband’s affection. Not less interesting is it to find that, while our north-country good-wives throw a plateful of shortcake over a newly-made bride as she returns to her future home, [23] the Chinese go through the same ceremony with rice, which is a sign of abundance. [24] As regards the lucky day for marrying, the Chinese have numerous portents. The first, sixth, and tenth of the month are laid down in the Imperial almanacks [25] as the most suitable, but marriages of course take place on almost all days except those specially noted as “uncanny.”

The ceremonies of betrothal are of course deeply interwoven with superstitious observances. When children are thus engaged, a pair of fowls, a pair of ducks or geese, and a few pounds of vermicelli, are sent by the bride’s to the bridegroom’s family, who retain the male birds and return the hens. Widows who re-engage themselves are prohibited from wearing gaudy—that is, red or other bright-coloured—skirts, and must confine themselves to black, white or blue. A curious superstition also hinges, in the case of betrothals put an end to by the death of the intended bride, on shoes. The bridegroom goes to the house of mourning and asks for the last pair which she wore previous to death. These he takes home and burns incense to for a space of two years, believing that her spirit will be present, enticed thither by the shoes. In thus doing he acknowledges her as his (intended) wife. As most readers will know, betrothals are managed by go-betweens, who settle the match on behalf of the parents without consulting the principals. The first thing to be examined by the agent is the horoscope of the girl in order to compare it with that of the future husband, and, if all preliminaries are happily arranged, certain articles and presents are interchanged which are mostly intended to have a symbolical meaning. If any unlucky accident happens during the three days allotted for final consideration, the negociation is broken off. If all be right, there are provided, in addition to the betrothment cards, four large needles and two red silk threads, and two of the former threaded with one of the threads are stuck into each card. The red thread is supposed to represent that with which the feet of all mortals are in the spirit-world tied to those who are fated to be husband and wife—in other words, it represents unalterable fate. A similar thread is used to tie together the cups out of which the bride and bridegroom drink. I am unable in the authorities at my command (some twenty works on the Folk-lore of various countries) to trace any resemblance to this custom elsewhere.

A curious ceremony is frequently observed shortly before a marriage takes place. The wedding garments of the bride, and in some cases those of the bridegroom, are placed in succession in a sort of bamboo sieve which is then passed over a fire kindled in a brazier. In Fuhkien it is customary while this operation is being performed to repeat sentences like the following: “A thousand eyes, ten thousand eyes we sift out; gold and silver, wealth and precious things we sift in.” [26] The ceremony is supposed to have a purifying effect, evil influences being thereby warded off. No female must, however, touch the bride’s clothes after undergoing this process until she is married—especially a pregnant woman or one in mourning. Another superstitious custom consists in placing five cash of the reigns of five different emperors under the bed mat, and hanging up five bundles of boiled rice (each bundle consisting of five smaller ones) tied with red string to the curtain frame.

Amongst the beliefs which, so far as I can ascertain, are peculiar to the Chinese, is one which relates to the first interview of a bride and bridegroom. On such occasions the bride’s assistants often request the bridegroom to rub the feet of his future spouse under the belief that his compliance will prevent her feet from aching in future. [27]

The ceremonies which take place after the first meeting of the bride and bridegroom recall in a minor degree certain superstitions which obtain elsewhere than in China. Thus the bride’s face is hidden by a long white veil not unlike that worn by Egyptian women when they venture abroad. This points to a motive similar to that inducing amongst the old Anglo-Saxons the use of the “care cloth,” made of white linen, which was held over the pair as the nuptial benediction was pronounced, to hide the blushes of the bride. If the bride was a widow, this was dispensed with, and similarly in the rare event of a Chinese widow re-marrying she dispenses with a veil. The bride and bridegroom after their first interview go through an act of worship known as “worshipping Heaven and Earth.” A table is set out, and on it are placed some lighted candles, a lighted censer, and the following articles: two miniature white cocks made of sugar, five kinds of dried fruit, a bundle of chopsticks, a foot measure, a mirror, a pair of shears and a case containing money scales. [28] The fruits are frequently placed on a platter of willow wood, which, as every one knows, is supposed to possess supernatural properties in places other than China. The precise signification of the shears is not very clear to the Chinese themselves, but they regard them as typifying industry. It is odd, however, to find that knives known as “bride knives” formed part of the wedding outfit of our great-great-grandmothers. Mirrors, says Brand, [29] “were formerly used by magicians in their superstitions and diabolical operations, and there was an ancient kind of divination by the looking glass.” As regards the white cock, I shall have more to say about this bird under the heading of superstitions connected with deaths. When its images made of sugar are used as above described, an attendant breaks off a portion of each and gives them to the newly-married pair to eat. All the articles displayed are intended to be omens of prosperity and future harmony. Upon the same table as these are shewn on, are placed two oddly-shaped goblets, which are filled with a mixture of wine and honey, of which both bride and bridegroom partake. Honey plays a similar part at Sicilian marriages, a spoonful of the pleasant, but sticky, liquid being administered to each of the contracting parties by two of the attendants directly the marriage ceremony has been performed.

The candles placed upon the offering table are speedily transferred to the bride’s chamber, where, however, they are shortly replaced by others intended to continue burning during the night. I have not been able to trace any analogous custom at Western weddings, but the idea underlying the use of candles in this respect by the Chinese is as old as the oldest superstition. It is thought to be extremely unlucky if one or both of these bridal candles be accidentally extinguished, as it would denote the speedy death of one or both of the parties. Nor should the wax and tallow of which these candles are made melt or trickle down the sides, the tricklings being an emblem of tears, and signifying either that the husband and wife will not agree together, or that they will have much sorrow. If both candles burn about the same time, it foreshadows the death of the bride and bridegroom at an advanced age within a short period of each other. If one burns much longer than the other, it means that either the wife or the husband will long survive the other. Now all this superstitious respect for flame seems to refer to a Chinese version of the Promethean Legend. It does not indeed say that fire was brought from heaven to animate man, but it makes fire typical of man’s vital force, and is doubtless a dim fragment of an older legend identical with that of Prometheus. “Candle omens” of a different sort are familiar in Northern England, and amongst the Greeks the brilliancy or dulness of a candle flame was an omen of good or bad fortune. In like manner the lamps and candles used in the above ceremony, and still more directly the large lighted lanterns carried in front of all Chinese bridal processions, find a parallel in the old Roman custom of carrying torches before a bride. The gypsies of Calabria observe a similar custom, as do also, I believe, the Japanese; and there is some ground for believing that it was formerly a custom in England. [30]

Before leaving the subject of marriage I may note that the number three, usually considered lucky, is expressly avoided in many matters of its ceremonial. At the ceremony of worshipping ancestral tablets and relatives, the latter are invited to bow in return, four times instead of three, as the latter, “being an odd number, is regarded as inauspicious.” On the other hand, the bride goes to visit her parents three days after marriage, and the bridegroom, who follows her to the house of his father-in-law, is regaled with three cups of tea and three pipes of tobacco. The sedan, by the way, in which the bride is borne on such visits has painted on it as a charm the image of a Taoist priest who, according to the legend, succeeded by his magical powers in counteracting the powers of the evil spirits who lie in wait on such occasions to harass and make ill the bride.

The use of bride-cake at weddings appears to be, in some form or other, both of remote antiquity and common to nearly every nation. “The ceremony used at the solemnization of a marriage was called confarreation in token of a most firm conjunction between the man and wife with a cake of wheat or barley.” It was and is customary in Yorkshire to cut the bride-cake into little square pieces and then throw them over the bride and bridegroom’s head. In China a quilt is held in front of the bride’s sedan by its corners, and four bread cakes sent from the bridegroom’s family for the purpose are tossed up in the air in succession and caught in the quilt. In neither case is the omen involved in this proceeding very clear, unless it be taken as an offering to the deities who preside over marriages, and in our own case retained as a custom which has lost its primary significance.

The custom of preventing the bride’s feet from touching the threshold of the bridegroom’s house obtains in China as in Europe. Usually the entrance is covered with red cloth for this purpose. “In some parts of the country she is lifted out of the sedan, over a pan of charcoal placed in the court and carried to her chamber.” [31] Amongst the ancient Romans, “fire and water being placed on the threshold, the bride touched both; but starting back from the door she refused to enter, till she at length passed it, being careful to step over it without touching it.” [32] (A wedding usage in Yorkshire, by the way, is to pour a kettle full of boiling water over the door-step just after the bride has left her old home. Without their having any apparent connection the coincidence of usages is curious.) The ancient superstition mentioned in Popular Antiquities was that the bride was not to step over the threshold on entering the bridegroom’s house, but was to be lifted over by her nearest relations. [33]

One of the most singular coincidences of Chinese with Western intention, is connected with shoes. It is customary at a marriage in South China for the bride to present her husband with a pair of shoes, by way of signifying that for the future she places herself under his control. These are carefully preserved in the family and are never given away, like other worn-out articles, it being deemed, that to part with them portends an early separation between husband and wife. Now, in a work published in 1640, mention is made of an ancient custom, “when at any time a couple were married, the sole of the bridegroom’s shoe was to be laid on the bride’s head, implying with what subjection she should serve her husband.” A writer in an old number of the London Notes and Queries (quoted by Mr. Henderson) remarks:—The throwing shoes after the Bride and Bridegroom ... is usually said to be “for luck,” but is rather a symbol of renunciation of all right in the bride by her father or guardian, and the transference of it to her husband. In the Story of Ruth you will recollect that her kinsman plucked off his shoe, as a sign of his renunciation of his claim to marry her. “Over Edom have I cast out my shoe” (Ps. lx. 8), meaning “I have renounced Edom,” is another illustration. So that the ceremony now observed by Chinese brides has in all probability a reference to that current of old in Palestine and at the present day known throughout England.

Those acquainted with Scandinavian folk-lore will have noted how many points relating to marriage turn upon the bride’s endeavours to get her husband to do something implying future subjection to her will. Thus if a Swedish bride drop her handkerchief, and the bridegroom, from politeness, stoops to pick it up, his act is regarded as an omen that he will play second fiddle during his married life. [34] Now the Chinese girl does something very similar, when, it being time for the bridegroom and herself to sit down together, she endeavours to sit upon a part of his dress; [35] in which case he may conclude that

“I’ll be no submissive wife
No not I!”

pretty fairly expresses the bride’s thoughts. If he sits on her skirt, however, the omen is reversed, though from what is known of Chinese brides it may be concluded that they do not often succeed in being the “one” into which the two are made. [36] There is a point about the selection of the husband or wife which I may, by the way, notice. In China marriages are forbidden between people of the same family name, even though they are not in any way connected. Now in Yorkshire it is very unlucky to marry a man whose name begins with the same letter as the bride’s. [37] May not the two ideas have a common origin?—both being evidently at one time founded on the idea of blood-relationship. That “Matches are made in heaven” is a confirmed belief in China.