114 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



or some other kind of a tree, but it is always a large, old tree. The 

 fengshui stones are very often stones that are prominent in the land- 

 scape and strange and striking in appearance. Such trees and stones 

 are alike in that they aflfect for good the fengshui of the family, city, 

 or region concerned, and in that they simply must not be cut or in- 

 jured, for that would spoil the fengshui and bring calamities instead 

 of good fortune to those concerned. 



In the rear of the Ta-o-ssu monastery on Mount Omei, inside the 

 temple and growing up through the roof is a great pine tree that is 

 worshiped as a god and is also the fengshui tree of Omei-hsien. Near 

 the Hsin-k'ai-ssu monastery on Mount Omei is another great pine 

 tree that is the fengshui tree of of Ch'ien-w'ei, which city is 120 li 

 down the Min River from Lo-shan. Near Hsiiin-chien-ssu, very close 

 to the cliff in which is the sacred cave called the Chin-sha-tung, or 

 Golden Sands Cave, is the fengshui tree of a powerful family that 

 lives not far away. At Kan-pai-shou on the Min River above I-pin 

 is an old dead cypress tree that is the fengshui of that town. These 

 instances could be multiplied indefinitely. 



Formerly the streets of I-pin were very narrow, and in them were 

 several large fengshui stones that made it more difficult for people 

 to pass up and down, especially when carrying loads or sedan chairs. 

 No one dared to chip them down so that they would not obstruct 

 traffic — that would certainly cause calamities among the people of the 

 city. In 1929 I-pin had a progressive mayor who widened and 

 paved the streets, and had stone masons chip away the stones. Noth- 

 ing harmful happened to the people of I-pin, and this lessened their 

 fear of, and respect for, fengshui stones. 



Between An-pien and Lou-tung, west of I-pin on the north shore 

 of the Yangtse River, is a strange-looking rock that for decades has 

 been the fengshui stone of the important Lin family of Lou-tung. 

 At Chiang-chioh-ch'i, about 20 miles up the Min River from I-pin, 

 a large, round, pointed rock that resembles the upright piece of wood 

 to which boatmen attach their oars is the fengshui stone of the nearby 

 village of Chiang-chioh-ch'i. A short distance below P'in-shan, which 

 is west of I-pin on the Yangtse River, is a strange-looking rock that 

 is the fengshui stone of P'in-shan. 



Across the Yangtse River from An-pien, in the mouth of the 

 Huen-chiang River, is a large rock on which many boats have been 

 wrecked every year, with much loss of life and property. It could 

 easily be broken to pieces and removed at the time of low water, but 

 the people are afraid to do so. It is the fengshui stone of An-pien, 



