38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



herbs, and also parts of living creatures, including bones of leopards 

 and tigers. 



If a person has a yang sickness, there is too much of the yang in his 

 body and too little of the yin, and he must take yin medicine to bring 

 about a balance. Large doses of medicine are sometimes advised. If 

 a person has a yin sickness, he must take yang medicine to restore 

 the balance. It is not surprising that in some cases the medicine kills 

 the patient. 



The yin-yang postulate may seem inconsistent with the theory that 

 diseases and other calamities are caused by demons, but both theories 

 are held. Consequently, resort to the exorcism of demons is also a 

 very common practice. A tiian kiing, or sorcerer, and a Buddhist or 

 Taoist priest are supposed to be about equally efficient in exorcising 

 demons. They use charms, incantations, and chant their sacred books. 



Occasionally a patient, or one or more of his relatives, will go to a 

 temple, worship the deity, pray for healing, and make a promise or 

 vow. Sometimes the vow relates to giving the god or goddess a new 

 coat of paint, called new clothing. Sometimes it entails the repair of 

 part or all of the temple, or the making of a gift to the god, the priest, 

 or the temple, such as a chicken, a pig, or spirit cash or actual money. 

 If the person recovers, the promise is fulfilled. 



An example of a practice that is often disastrous is the cutting of 

 the umbilical cord after the birth of a child with an unsterilized knife 

 or pair of scissors. The cutting instrument is sometimes washed 

 in cow manure. The result, of course, is the death of many new-born 

 babies a few days after birth. The special name for this disease is 

 ch'i t'ien feng, or seven-day malady. 



Acapuncture is practiced in West China. The practitioner drives a 

 large, unsterilized metal needle deep into the flesh several times in 

 several places, often to the bone. The operation is painful, and a fatal 

 infection may follow. 



Sometimes a sick person becomes convinced that he is about to die 

 and stops eating and drinking properly, so that death does actually 

 ensue. A Christian friend, ISIr. Ho Yu-i, believing that his end was 

 near, called his wife and children to his side, and made a farewell talk 

 admonishing them to be good and highly commending Christianity. 

 Soon afterward he died. His son informed me that it was very im- 

 pressive. During my stay in I-pin, I went to Chi-t'ien-pa and there 

 called on Mrs. Chang, a widow who was a church member. She was 

 ill and in bed, her daughter was sitting beside her, and in her room 

 was her coffin. Mrs. Chang informed me that she was about to die. 



