NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM IO3 



been able to learn. Certain it is that it grew steadily during the days 

 of the Republic, until it had temples in most of the cities of Szechwan. 

 In 1928 there was one temple in I-pin, with a population of 100,000, 

 and in 1948 there were three. A nearby city with a population of 

 10,000 had one temple. In 1948 Chengtu, with a population of over 

 600,000, had seven Ju T'an temples. None of the other religious sects 

 erected temples, except the Confucian, the Buddhist, the Taoist, and 

 the Mohammedan, although some of them rented, borrowed, or 

 bought places in which to meet and worship and to put up their 

 signs. 



The word ju means Confucian or the literati. The Confucian re- 

 ligion is often called the Ju Chiao, and thus the Ju T'an borrowed the 

 prestige of the literati or the Confucian scholars. Many officials be- 

 longed to this sect, but they also belonged to the Confucianists, the 

 Taoists, or the Buddhists. 



The Ju T'an produced and used ceremonially its own sacred books, 

 with the same purposes and the same expected results as among the 

 Buddhists and the Taoists. They had charms and incantations, con- 

 ducted funerals and memorial ceremonies, and exorcised demons, but 

 they did not have a celibate priesthood. Their greatest distinction 

 was that they obtained messages from the gods or from deceased 

 relatives and ancestors. Often they used the planchette, a table cov- 

 ered with sand, on which two persons skillfully manipulated a pen so 

 as to write characters that they read as messages. Sometimes these 

 revelations were published in books, and some of these books con- 

 tained the words of Jesus, called the Chi-tu-chiao-chu. 



In some of the Ju T'an temples there were dark rooms in which 

 were left pens, ink, and paper ready for writing. No one was sup- 

 posed to be inside, but later when the door was opened, characters 

 appeared on the paper, supposedly written by the gods. Sometimes 

 a man was left inside who was supposed to do the writing under the 

 guidance of the gods. I heard of one of these men who was supposed 

 to be very illiterate, but when the gods used him to write characters, 

 his writing was beautiful. Most doubting Thomases were convinced 

 during these exhibitions, and I suspect that they were very skillfully 

 and cleverly arranged. 



Even more impressive are the works of the mediums in getting 

 messages from deceased husbands, wives, and ancestors for their liv- 

 ing friends, relatives, and descendants. These are dehvered verbally. 

 In one instance the widow of a wealthy church member at Chi- 

 t'ien-pa, south of I-pin, was the recipient of such a message. She 

 was, of course, able to make a very sizable contribution. In due time 



