NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM II7 



On Mount Omei there are bronze pagodas that are supposed to 

 have been erected during the Ming dynasty. Pilgrims rub brass or 

 copper coins on them and carry the coins away to use as charms, be- 

 Heving that power to protect people from diseases, demons, and 

 calamities has been transferred to the coins by rubbing them on the 

 sacred objects. In the Wan-nien-ssu on Mount Omei is a bronze 

 statue of P'uhsien riding a bronze elephant. So many of the pilgrims 

 rubbed coins on the statue or on the bronze elephant, in order to turn 

 the coins into charms, that a protecting fence was built around the 

 statue to keep it from being ruined. In the Green Goat temple at 

 Chengtu are two brass goats. A person who has a sickness or a 

 pain first rubs a spot on one of these goats corresponding to the lo- 

 cation of his pain, then rubs himself in that spot, believing that this 

 will heal him. It is assumed that there is a transfer of power by 

 rubbing. 



The number of charms is almost endless. The almanac, mirrors 

 of glass or of metal, pieces of jade or of amber, charms of copper, 

 brass, or bronze that look like large coins, and literally hundreds of 

 kinds of paper charms are used. The print of the seal of an official 

 or a similar print of the official seal of a titan kung or of a Buddhist 

 or a Taoist priest is valued and used as a charm. Written or printed 

 paper charms are hung above the front doors of houses, on beds, 

 or on other places in houses, stores, or temples in the belief that they 

 have superhuman power to protect from demons or calamities. All 

 charms are believed to have this superhuman power. 



Certain stones and trees are worshiped as gods, and other gods are 

 made of clay, wood, stone, and many kinds of metal. They vary in 

 height from a few inches to that of the great Buddha at Lo-shan, 

 which is over 200 feet high. They all have one thing in common — 

 they are believed to possess marvelous superhuman power to help 

 or to harm people. Sometimes an idol is believed to have lost this 

 power, and then he is neglected, and he and his shrine or temple 

 are allowed to go to ruin. 



There is one important sentence, known by practically all Chinese 

 in West China, which is used to sum up the philosophy underlying the 

 practices of medicine and healing, divination, fcngshui, geomancy, 

 astrology, magical ceremonies, and all practices and beliefs related 

 to the use of a superhuman potency. It is, "The Chaos gave birth 

 to (or produced) the Great Extreme, the Great Extreme gave birth 

 to the Two Powers, the Two Powers gave birth to the Four Primary 

 Combinations (or Symbols), the Four Primary Combinations pro- 



