152 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



pieces, and the little ox efiSgies with which it had been filled are scrambled for 

 by the crowd. Those who are fortunate enough to secure them take them to 

 well-to-do farmers who give presents of money in return for them. These little 

 oxen are supposed to bring luck to the farm for the ensuing year. 



The following is my description of this ceremony, which I wit- 

 nessed in I-pin: 



In 1925 this ceremony was performed in Suifu on the twenty-lirst and twenty- 

 second days of the twelfth moon. In the magistrate's yamen a large paper water- 

 buffalo, and also a paper boy called a vgao mer, had been previously prepared. 

 Over one hundred small water-buffaloes made of clay had been placed inside 

 the paper water-buffalo. 



On the morning of the twenty-first, the magistrate first worshiped the two 

 paper images in the court of his yamen to the accompaniment of horns that 

 sound a little like Scotch bagpipes. Then the magistrate joined in the proces- 

 sion going out of the North Gate to a special plot of ground where a plow and 

 a live water-buffalo were waiting. In the procession the paper images were 

 carried in front of the magistrate. On reaching the plot of ground, the magis- 

 trate again worshiped the two paper images, which had been brought along 

 in the procession, then plowed three furrows with the plow and the live water- 

 buffalo. The magistrate and other dignitaries drank tea together, after which 

 the procession returned to the yamen through the East Gate. This day's cere- 

 mony is called welcoming spring. 



The next day the two paper images were again taken in the procession to the 

 plot of ground which is called the Yin Ch'uen Ba, or the flat where spring is 

 welcomed. The magistrate again did obeisance to the two paper images. There 

 were about 20 officers called the ch'im-kuan or spring officials. After the 

 magistrate had worshiped or kowtowed to the two paper images, the 20 

 spring officials fell upon the paper images with clubs and beat them to pieces. 

 At this point the onlookers rushed up and tried to secure one of the mud 

 images of the water-buffalo. Those who were not successful snatched pieces of 

 the paper images. I was told that these relics were taken by the lucky ones 

 to their homes where they were supposed to protect the inmates from evil 

 spirits. The second day's ceremony is called da che'uen or beat spring. The main 

 object of the two days' ceremony is to induce spring to come so that the crops 

 may grow and prosper. (Graham, 1928b, p. 43.) 



Qiinese friends have informed nic that during the entire year there 

 is no festival in which there is a feast — with the single exception of 

 that on the ninth day of the ninth moon — during which the ancestors, 

 the house gods, and Heaven, or T'ien-lao-yeh, are not regarded as 

 present and worshiped with incense, candles, and spirit money, and 

 offerings of food and wine. The deceased ancestors are an important 

 part of the family and are therefore expected to be present and to 

 partake of these family meals. 



Whatever values these festivals may have had. real or imaginary, 

 they have met a real need of the Chinese people for release from the 



