144 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



from about i-| inches wide and 6 inches long, to over ij feet wide 

 and 2 feet long. While some seem carelessly done, others are artistic 

 and more nearly perfect. 



Dore, in "Chinese Superstitions," volumes i to 3, shows many 

 charms in color and tells of their uses, but even this work is not 

 nearly exhaustive. While a large proportion of these charms have 

 to do with protecting from demons, driving them away, and re- 

 moving their effects, there are also many other uses. One is inclined 

 to say that there are few situations in which a person is in distress 

 and needing help for w hich there is not a charm to provide this help. 



Among many people in West China, great potency is ascribed to 

 that which cannot be understood, as for example the incantations 

 transliterated from foreign languages and charms written so strangely 

 that an ordinary person cannot read and understand them. Some- 

 times the little that can be understood enhances this belief. For 

 instance, I have seen charms, parts of which could be understood to 

 read, "(the god of) thunder (will) cut off (your) ears." This is be- 

 lieved to inspire fear in the demons, for the god of thunder is very 

 powerful, and nobody wants his ears cut off. 



In short, incantations and charms are supposed to make use of 

 superhuman potency, often by the help of the gods, to accomplish 

 desired results. 



THE CHINESE LUNAR FESTIVALS 



The Chinese word for festival is chieh ch'i. Chieh means joint 

 or node, or limit of time, and ch'i means air or breath. Prof. Lewis 

 Hodous explains the words chieh ch'i as meaning "a joint or node, 

 which marks the critical time in the breathing of nature when it 

 passes from one mood to another." (Hodous, 1929, p. i.) Many 

 centuries ago the Chinese divided the year into 12 lunar months of 

 30 days each, and into 24 periods of 15 days each, which are called 

 "joints and breaths of the year." (Bredon and Mitrophanow, 1927, 

 p. 18.) Some lunar festivals are much more important than others, 

 and we shall describe briefly only the most important ones. 



The New Year is by far the most important Chinese festival. It 

 is a time for family reunions, and every member of the family who 

 possibly can comes home to kt<o nien, to pass the New Year season 

 with the rest of the family. 



Throughout the year the kitchen god rules over the affairs of the 

 home from his throne in the kitchen, keeping careful watch over the 

 industry, the economy, and the morals of the home. The inmates are 



