Il6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



and preserve the most auspicious environment for the grave, the ancestral temple, 

 and the home. 



There is copious native literature on the subject with elaborate rules, plans 

 and theoretical information (Couling, 1917, p. 175). 



To sum up, fengshui is the outworking of the yin and the yang in 

 nature. It is a mysterious power or potency that affects for good or 

 ill the welfare of families, cities, and larger regions. It is often 

 localized in strange and awe-inspiring trees and stones. It is affected 

 by the natural features of the landscape, such as mountains, hills, 

 streams and valleys and their directions, and by the sun, the moon, 

 and the stars, and also by artificial features such as pagodas, temples, 

 houses, towers, railways, roads, and tunnels. It is understood by the 

 professor of yin-yang and fengshui, who uses a lo-p'an as an instru- 

 ment to make his calculations. There are a number of books that ex- 

 plain its operations, and I have been told that it requires about three 

 years of study to become a professor of yin-yang and fengshui. 



There are many customs in West China that can be explained by 

 the assumption that there is a strange, mysterious, superhuman 

 power which can be injurious, but which also can be used for the 

 benefit of men. A few illustrations will be given. 



There is a bird in West China that migrates at night, flying in 

 flocks north in the spring and south in the fall. The members of the 

 flock call to each other as they fly, and their voices vary in pitch. 

 There is a very strong belief in Szechwan that this is a nine-headed 

 bird, with two legs and two wings. One man tells you that his father 

 saw one, and another that his grandmother saw one. When they 

 fly over a house, the people beat on the doors and shout to frighten 

 the bird away. They believe that if a drop of blood or a feather or 

 some of the offal of this bird should fall on the family property, 

 members of the family would become ill and possibly die. 



In the medicine shops, bones of leopards, tigers, and other fierce 

 creatures are sold as medicine. It is assumed that because these ani- 

 mals are very powerful, their bones possess an unusual power to heal 

 diseases. 



A short distance from I-pin is a large white mass of sandstone 

 that is worshiped as a god. A temple has been built around it, and 

 other idols have been added. For a small sum of money the priest 

 will permit you to rub off a few grains of sand and take it away. 

 It is assumed that the grains of sand possess a peculiar power, so 

 that if they are put in water and the water drunk, the mystic power 

 will heal diseases. 



