40 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



123 



Opening up the Lights, Placing Images (720) 



"A pair of candles shines brightly. People 

 in the future will have no use for the candles. 

 I (the student) will in the future open up 

 the gods' (source of) light. When I have 

 opened the light of the head, the head is well. 

 When I have opened up the light of the eyes, 

 then the two eyes are bright. When I have 

 opened up the ear light, the two ears will 

 hear in all directions. When the nose light 

 has been opened up, then the bridge of the 

 nose will give good light. When the light of 

 the mouth has been opened up, the mouth 

 light will hold 16 pairs. When the hand light 

 has been opened up, dien the hands can be 

 doctors and go in all directions. When the 

 stomach light is opened, there will be inside 

 the abdomen several tens of intestines. When 

 the foot light has been opened up, the feet 

 can be doctors and go in all four directions." 



When they have opened up the lights, the 

 tuan \ting must use incense and candles and 

 burn them for the demons mentioned above. 

 When the light is being opened up in the dif- 

 ferent places mentioned above blood from a 

 rooster's comb is used and smeared on that 

 part of the paper figures that have been cut 

 out and placed in the bamboo container. 



Mahing a Strata Man (721) 



The straw must be taken off a roof of a 

 straw-roofed house. 



"If I am not to make this straw man, I will 

 not make it. When people make straw men, 

 it is very hard. The Emperor Jen Tsung made 

 a vow (to gods) to present 24 human heads. 

 I will make a straw man as a substitute for 

 the sick person's body." 



[At this point the ceremony of opening the 

 lights is repeated as recorded in 720 (above). 

 Exactly the same words are used.] 



He again says, "If I am not to make a 

 straw man, I will not make it. If I myself 

 make a straw man it will not be hard. I will 

 pull off (from the roof) a bunch of straw 

 with which to make him. I will make a man 

 of it to substitute for your body" (as a gift 

 to the demon of sickness who will then desist 

 from trying to capture the patient through his 

 death). '^'5 



[At this point the ceremony for opening 

 the lights is again repeated.] 



Escorting out the Straw Man (722) 



"On the tree is hung out paper (spirit) 

 money that is white like silver. In the future 



^s The straw man is made by placing part of 

 the straw with the heads in one direction and part 

 in another. 



the people will have no use for it (the spirit 

 money). I will use the spirit money to dis- 

 play my glory and skill by driving out de- 

 mons. I will not sweep away the family's 

 wealth or silks (and satins). I will sweep 

 away the demons and quarrels. I will not ' 

 sweep away this family's wealth and happi- 

 ness. I will sweep away this family's demons 

 and quarrels. I will sweep away the sky pes- 

 tilences, the earth pestilences. When I have 

 swept them away your whole bodies will be 

 free from sorrow and sickness. With one 

 sound, I will sweep away the (demons of) 

 prize fighters and doctors who have no pupils 

 (to worship them after death, and therefore 

 become demons), and castrators of animals 

 who are without pupils. I will sweep them 

 upon the hua p'an [the container described in 

 719 above] malarial fevers, and masons who 

 make the foundations for the pillarstones and 

 idols and r.re without pupils (to make offer- 

 ings to their teachers after they have died), 

 roaming demons of carvers, roaming demons 

 of painters, roaming demons of actors, and I 

 will sweep them upon the container {hua 

 p'an) and cause them to straddle the moun- 

 tains and cross the passes. (I will sweep 

 away) the demon of a second son who calls 

 dogs, the demons that whistle for winds, and 

 those who whistle on their fingers (to call 

 dogs) with their lips, and the two who assist 

 the tuan kung (by leaping, called the ma 

 chiao ,f,f$PP), demons of those who were 

 skillful in bending bows and shooting arrows, 

 and the king of demons who controls burials 

 by cremation; I will sweep them onto the 

 container." 



Sending away the Gods {Demons) (723) 



"After you have called the gods to you, you 

 must send them away. The gongs and drums 

 are beating loudly. If the common people 

 beat them, they will be useless. If I beat them, 

 he can escort away those of glory and skill, 

 to send the gods away. To send the gods 

 to the crossings of the great roads, to send j 

 the gods back, to send the gods to the cross- 

 ings of the big roads. The gong resounds, 

 the drum resounds. A wife and a concubine 

 had three (sons) brothers. Lo alone (among 

 them) was taken away to be a soldier. He 

 met (the demons) and fought a battle. The 

 upper part of his body could fight, but the 

 lower part of his body was weak. He fought 

 until the demon's whole body was dripping 

 blood. It was like the hairy caterpillar meet- 

 ing the stinging worm, the offended person 

 (i. e., who has been harmed and is strong 

 because angry) meeting his enemy. If (the 



