NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM I4I 



Knives, swords, and daggers are sometimes used as charms. They 

 are believed to be especially efficacious after they have been used 

 to execute criminals or to kill somebody. Wooden swords, knives, 

 and daggers are sometimes made and hung up above doors as charms, 

 to keep away demons. I have seen this done by Tibetans and by 

 Ch'uan Miao. 



An unusual substance used as a charm is amber. It is transparent 

 and sparkling, and can pick up bits of paper. The amber sometimes 

 encloses leaves, bits of grass, or insects, and is therefore assumed to 

 possess potency through use as a charm. Often a hole is drilled 

 through a small piece of amber, and it is hung around the neck by a 

 string drawn through the hole. 



Red Cross emblems on flags were first used in I-pin in 191 6 and 

 in other parts of West China about the same time. Generally they 

 were used in connection with hospitals and dispensaries. The com- 

 mon people got the idea that there was special power in the Red Cross 

 emblem and began to make small red crosses of cloth and to sew 

 them onto the clothing of children to keep away demons. 



A small silver charm sometimes worn on a child's hat, in the center 

 above the forehead, is a silver replica, about i^ inches in diameter, 

 of the round, flat bamboo basket used for winnowing or for sewing. 

 In it are tiny silver imitations of a pair of scissors, a Chinese flatiron, 

 a ruler, an almanac, an abacus, and a small object used for ironing 

 clothing in small and difficult places. These are among the most com- 

 monly used objects in Chinese homes and so are assumed to have 

 special potency. Here is an example of the fact that among primitive 

 people the most useful objects are likely to be sacred and regarded as 

 having superhuman power. 



When parents fear that a son may die, they sometimes call in a 

 Buddhist or a Taoist priest who puts a chain or a wire around the 

 child's neck or his arm, using a lock to fasten it on. It is believed 

 that this may keep the child from dying. 



Sometimes a boy whose mother has died takes a lock of her hair 

 and ties it around his neck in the belief that this will protect him 

 from demons. Small silver images of Buddha or of the i8 arhats 

 are seen on the hats of boys as talismans. 



As jade is supposed to have potency, many charms are made of 

 this substance. Jade cicadas that were placed in the mouths of the 

 dead have been found in Han dynasty tombs throughout China. 



A common charm is the fu-shon-ch'ien, or "happiness and long 

 life charm." It is generally made of bronze, but sometimes of brass 



