OBJECTS OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIAL 177 



393. Bronze hear, on hase. — Height, 1 inch. Laos, Further India. 

 (Cat. No. 217546, U.S.N.M.) 



394-402. — Nine griffins, or dragons, on bases. — Bronze. Called by 

 the Laos "noble animals," which peacefully roam through the splen- 

 did gardens of the gods. Height, % to 3K inches. Laos, Further India. 

 (Cat. Nos. 217537-217545, U.S.N.M.) 



403. Demon-queller (Chinese, Chung Kw'ei; Japanese, STiolci). — 

 Made of wood; carved and painted. On his head in the upstanding 

 hair is perched a dragon; at his feet is a crouching demon, and over 

 the belt is carved the mask of a monster. The demon queller is in 

 Chinese mythology supposed to be a ghostly protector of the Emperor 

 Ming Hwang (713-762 A. D.). He is usually represented as a trucu- 

 lent giant, clad in official garb and armed with a 2-edged sword. He is 

 sometimes shown as riding upon a lion, but more commonly is engaged 

 in punishing the pigmy demons. The subject forms one of the most 

 frequent inspirations of the Japanese artist, and appears in numberless 

 specimens of porcelain, ivory, wood carving, and other works. 



This statuette is a specimen of old Japanese carving. Height, 39 

 inches. Japan. (Plate 68, Cat. No. 130461, U.S.N.M.) 



404. Devil dancer's dress. — Consisting of a blue cotton jacket with 

 thin strips of palm leaves stuck into it, giving it the form of fur. 

 Ceylon. (Cat. No. 154980, U.S.N.M.) 



405. Devil dancer's dress. — The same as No. 404, only that the 

 jacket is of white cotton. Ceylon. (Cat. No. 154981, U.S.N.M.) 



406. Devil dancer's lasli.— Ceylon. (Cat. No. 154982, U.S.N.M.) 

 Sir James Emerson Tennent gives the following explanation and 



description of the devil dance in Ceylon : 



The Singhalese have demon or Sanne for each form of disease, who is supposed 

 to be the direct agent and infiicter, and who is accordingly invoked for its removal. 

 Hence on every domestic occurrence, as well as in every domestic calamity, the 

 services of the katadias or devil priests are to be sought and their ceremonies 

 performed * * *, Especially in cases of sickness and danger the assistance 

 of the devil-dancers is implicity relied on: An altar, decorated with garlands, is 

 erected within sight of the patient, and on this an animal, frequently a cock, is 

 to be sacrificed for his recovery. The dying man is instructed to touch and ded- 

 icate to the evil spirit the wild flowers, the rice, and the flesh which have been 

 prepared as the pidarieys, or offerings to be made at sunset, at midnight, and the 

 morning; and in the intervals the dancers perform their incantations, habited in 

 masks and disguises to represent the demon which they personate, as the immedi- 

 ate author of the patients' suffering. In the frenzy of these orgies the kaladia, 

 having feigned the access of inspiration from the spirit he invokes, is consulted 

 by the friends of the afflicted, and declares the nature of the disease, and the 

 probability of its favorable or fatal termination. At sunrise, the ceremony 

 closes with an exorcism chanted to disperse the demons who have been attracted 

 by the rite; the devil dancers withdraw with the offerings and sing, as they retire, 

 the concluding song of the ceremony, "that the sacrifice may be acceptable and 

 the life of the sufferer extended." '' 



" Sir J. E. Tennent, Ceylon. An account of the island, physical, historical, and topographical. London, 



1860, vol. 1, p.540. 



