44 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



123 



to you, Ntzi. Above I will inform Ntzi's 

 heavenly palace. Below, I will inform the old 

 people, De Bo (Te' bo-") and Te Zye (Te' 

 Se"). I have come to thank you, to express 

 thankfulness to you. I am going to drive the 

 horses and return home. Leap off the horses, 

 leap off the backs of the colts, steady the 

 horses, for we are going to go back. Duv, 

 duv, duv, duv, we have come back and are 

 getting off the horses." 



At this time the titan \ting must again 

 cast the bamboo divining sticks and say, "See 

 if the three him and the seven p'o are complete 

 or not, if they have come or not." (Here 

 again he casts the divining instruments. If 

 not correct, the souls are not all present.) He 

 must once get a yang l^ita f^ ^l^ throw. He 

 must also get three yin kjua ^ %^ throws in 

 order to protect the body of the sick person. 

 When this is done he has finished this part of 

 the ceremonies. 



Sending Bac\ the Gods and Mentioning the 

 Demons (730) 



A lump of meat must be used with wine, 

 and arranged properly, and the tiian l\iing re- 

 peats the following: 



"In the midst of sending back the gods, you 

 must send away the demons. If I am not to 

 mention demons, I will (nevertheless) men- 

 tion them. When mentioning demons, the de- 

 mons' hair is untied and worn on the back 

 of the head with the tongue hanging out, and 

 I call it a tiao ching J{uei.^^ If I am not to 

 mention demons, I will not. This demon is 

 beneath the bed. A person sleeps on the bed. 

 If I am to mention demons, I will mention 

 them. Speaking of demons, they sit on the 

 rafters. Tonight, I know you. Ntzi Yin (an 

 ancient tuan Jiung) and Bo Sun (a woman 

 who talks in a tone pleasant to hear) will 

 come and catch you. If we do not speak of 

 demons, we will yet speak of them. Speaking 

 of demons, they are upstairs. Tonight, in the 

 night, I know about you. Yang Shih Giiin 

 Tzu will make things clear of you (demons). 

 If we do not mention demons, we will then 

 mention them. To mention the demons, they 

 live in the cowpen. Tonight I know you. The 

 T'u Ti of the south gate will clear things of 

 you. If we do not mention demons, we will 

 then mention them. To mention demons, 

 they are in the pigpen. Tonight, I know you. 

 The gods of the pen door will exorcise you. 



"Not to mention demons, we then mention 

 them. The demons live on the stove. To- 



^^ The demon of a person who died by hanging. 



night I know you. The kitchen goddess will 

 exorcise you. Not to mention demons, we will 

 mention them. The demons are sleeping in 

 the bedroom. Tonight I know you. The king 

 of the bed curtain will exorcise you. Not 

 to mention demons, we will mention them. 

 The demons are in the firepit. Tonight I 

 know you. The fire god's heir to the throne 

 will exorcise you. Not to mention demons, 

 we will mention them. The demons are sit- 

 ting in die guest room. Tonight I know you. 

 The family gods and family demons (the 

 souls of the ancestors) will exorcise you. To 

 mention the demons, they are sitting below 

 the door (the crosspiece at the bottom of the 

 door). Tonight I know you. The god of 

 wealth and the door spirits will exorcise you. 

 A grain of rice is sharp on both ends. To- 

 night I will injure you. I will not harm the 

 family's wealth or silks or satins. I will in- 

 jure the demonic mouths and tongues (of 

 demons). I will injure the sky pestilences 

 and the earth pestilences, annual pestilences, 

 monthly pestilences, daily pestilences, and 

 hourly pestilences. Tonight I will take you 

 away. I will take you away so that men will 

 not associate with demons, and demons will 

 not associate with men." 



Calling Bac\ Soids of the Dead (731) 



"Pl'ei lo (pl'ei^ lo*'), pl'ei lo (souls come, 

 souls come). Ah, souls, come quickly. Ah, 

 souls, all come. The soul was reborn (as a 

 babe) and came back.^* It was reborn in 

 another person and still came back. He went 

 into a family's flower garden and came back. 

 He went into the deep creek, stopped, and 

 came back. Come quickly, come quickly." 



When the tuan J{ung has repeated to this 

 point, he uses an ax and strikes the cross- 

 beam at the bottom of the main door. 



Setting up the Family Gods (732) 



A pair of candles must be lighted, or a 

 sheet of grass paper rolled up into a thin roll. 

 The tuan \ung carries these in his hand and 

 walks around and around toward the center 

 of the house. Then he says — 



"If the people of a family are not free from 

 demons (if they are ill), the family gods are 

 not at peace. When the hua t'an (flowery altar) 

 ceremony is completed, I will open the light 

 and I will sprinkle some chicken's blood. 



"When a pair of beeswax candles burns, 

 then the smoke arises, and it shines brightly 



^* The soul can leave the body temporarily, or 

 permanently and cause death. Pl'ei may be pro- 

 nounced blei. 



