NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



41 



demon) meets us, we will fight a battle. That 

 side will lose and I will win." 



When he has reached this point, all has 

 been spoken. Then the knife in the tuan 

 \ung's hand is circled once around the con- 

 tainer, and his foot is circled around it once. 

 Then he carries it outside the house and the 

 hua p'an, the straw man, the paper money, 

 the paper net, the paper rope, and so on and 

 the demons enticed there, are burned on the 

 crossroads. 



Preparmg Water (724) 



Put a bowl of water on the table. The 

 tuan kting rolls a sheet of paper into a round 

 tube, lights it, and puts it in the water. He 

 must repeat the following incantations: 



"We are preparing a bowl of water which 

 is not ordinary water. It is water from the 

 great ocean of the dragon king. It is snow 

 water, water of commands (command water) . 

 Common people after this will have no use 

 for it. I will use it in the future to conceal 

 my body, and Hea T'o ^^^, water,^^ water 

 to protect the body, water of the six stars 

 of the Southern Cross, of the seven stars of 

 the Northern Dipper, and of Li Lao Chiin 

 (Lao Tzu), water of Kuanyin of the south 

 sea, water of the roaring god of thunder and 

 the drizzling rain, water to protect one's 

 home, water to cut off the heads of the de- 

 mons and the spooks and such strange crea- 

 tures, water of the commanding bugle, of the 

 commanding Erh Lang,'^'^ water of the com- 

 mands of seven sons of the Lotus flower, and 

 water of the commands of five sons who be- 

 came great officials." 



Striding with the Lin P'ai (725) 



"On the table is a lin p'aiJ^ Will the gen- 

 eral with sharp hairs please arise and sit in 

 the large hall for gods? Let the lesser gods 

 arrange themselves in rows on the two sides. 

 Let (the general with sharp hairs) be seated 

 in the center of the hall and (the lesser gods) 

 arrange themselves in rows on each side. Will 

 the general of sharp hairs please arise.? Will 

 the roaring god of thunder and the deity of 



^^ Hua T'o was a Chinese surgeon who lived 

 during the Three Kingdoms. 



^■^ Erh Lang, IIlfiP> is a Szechwan god who 

 is said to be the originator of the irrigation sys- 

 tem of tlie Chengtu plain. 



■^^ The lin p'ai is a piece of wood shaped some- 

 thing like a tongue, on which a charm is carved, 

 which is used by Buddhist and Taoist priests in 

 ceremonies to exorcise demons and by the tuan 

 \ungs when exorcising demons. 



drizzling rain behead unclean demons and 

 behead spooks? Stamp once with your feet 

 and roar once, and then the unclean demons 

 and spooks will at once start off." 



When he has spoken to this point, he must 

 take the lin p'ai and circle it about on his 

 body. When this is done, the tuan f^ung must 

 stamp his seal on the body of the sick person. 



Displaying the Seal (J'^^di) 



The tuan ]{ung takes a seal in his hands ^^ 

 and displays it toward the person who is ill 

 in order to chase away the demons, and re- 

 peats the following: 



"One seal is displayed toward heaven. One 

 seal is displayed toward the earth. One seal 

 falls on the person's head. Ten demons see 

 it and nine demons are sad. 



"Two seals fall on the person's body. The 

 ten demons see it and nine demons fall. 

 Three seals fall on the person's hand (he 

 brings it down three times on the person's 

 hand, and the seal probably prints a charm). 

 When the ten demons see it, nine of them 

 depart. Four seals fall on a person's breast. 

 Ten demons see it and nine go quickly. Five 

 seals on the (sick) person's foot, and the un- 

 clean demons and spooks fall off (the sick 

 person). They fall off his body and off his 

 feet, and he is peaceful." 



Drawing with a Sword (727) 



The tuan \ung holds his hand and circles it 

 about to the left and to the right and repeats 

 the following: 



"I take the sword in my hand and cut off 

 the heads of unclean demons and spooks. I 

 will not behead wealth and silks and satins, 

 but cut off the demons of quarrels. I will not 

 behead wealth and happiness, but I will be- 

 head unclean demons and demons (of quar- 

 rels) with the mouth and the teeth. I will 

 cut off the heads of demons of sky pestilences 

 and demons of smallpox and measles, and 

 of the demons of stiff (paralyzed) legs dis- 

 eases. I have cut off the heads of five demons 

 and of the demons of this year's pestilences. 

 The five demons have five heads. If ten 

 people see it, there will be heads of nine 

 people. The five demons have five bags. If 

 the saints in the sky see it, they will bow 

 themselves (from the waist). The five de- 

 mons in the parlor are sitting. If there is no 

 calamity, there must be woes. The blood of 

 the five demons shines. If you do not become 



''^ In west China the seals of officials and priests 

 are thought to have superhuman potency, and 

 they are often used as charms. 



