NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM 37 



the bride with her parents a few days, after which he goes and brings 

 her back to her new home (ibid.). There are many variations in these 

 customs. 



If the girl dies after engagement and before marriage, it is the duty 

 of the young man to marry another woman. If she dies after mar- 

 riage, it is his duty to remarry. This is so that he can fulfill his 

 obligation to rear sons who will continue the family line and leave 

 descendants who will carry on the ceremonies of ancestral worship. 

 If the young man dies before marriage, very often the woman will 

 remain unmarried in order to join him in the after life. If he dies 

 after marriage, it is the duty of the woman to remain an unmarried 

 widow and to join him as his wife in the spirit world. In Chengtu 

 I saw the grave of an aviator who was killed during World War II. 

 His betrothed killed herself and was buried with him in the same 

 grave, an act which was highly commended by many Chinese. Years 

 earlier a man living in I-pin was drowned. His wife tried to kill 

 herself by taking opium so as to accompany him as his wife in the 

 world of spirits. 



Before the coming of modern medicine, the death rate in West 

 China was very high. The writer has made inquiries among the 

 Ch'iang and among the Chinese as to how many children were born 

 in a family and how many were still living. A fair average was ii to 

 13 born, and 2 to 4 still living. 



There is a serious lack of knowledge of sanitation, and the germ 

 theory is not understood. Spitting on floors and on the streets is very 

 common. In surgery, except in modern hospitals, the knives, for- 

 ceps, and scissors are not sterilized, so that infections are frequent 

 and often fatal. People often die from simple infections or from 

 boils. Epidemics spread from community to community, causing 

 deaths by the thousands, hundreds of thousands, and sometimes 

 millions. Except for smallpox, vaccine is not understood and used. 

 All diseases are thought to be the work of demons. 



The theory of medicine and sickness is based on the ytn-yang phi- 

 losophy. The human body is believed to be composed of the two 

 elements, yin and yang. Vang is warm, and yin is cold. Normally 

 the two elements are equal and balanced in the body, and the temper- 

 ature is normal. If there is too much of the yang and too little of the 

 yin, the person becomes ill and has a fever, or at least a high temper- 

 ature. If there is too much of the yin and too little of the yang, the 

 temperature of the body is low, and the person has chills. Medicines 

 are also divided into yin and yang; this includes large numbers of 



