NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM 1 55 



of the faith of the common people in their old religions was an im- 

 portant contributing cause. 



OATHS, \^OWS, PRAYERS, SACRIFICES, 

 AND OFFERINGS 



Oaths are generally resorted to when a person is accused of a 

 crime or when his truthfulness is in question. They are made in 

 the name of one of the gods. For example, if a person is accused of 

 stealing a pig, he may say, "If I stole that pig, may the god of thunder 

 strike me dead." Few guilty people will swear such an oath, for they 

 believe that if they did the god would actually strike them dead. In 

 1924 I was crossing the Ta-hsiang-lin Pass west of Ya-an and 

 stopped at an inn to rest. The carriers with me drank some tea and 

 proceeded to pay for it. The landlady asserted that one of the men 

 had not paid enough and demanded some more money. After a time 

 the head coolie said to the landlady, "Will you swear by a certain god 

 that you are telling the truth, and if not that the god may burn down 

 this house?" "I will not swear that oath," she replied. The carrier 

 did not pay the money demanded, and all believed that the woman 

 had been telling a lie. 



Vows are almost inseparable from prayers, for they arc promises 

 connected with prayers. The request may be for almost any favor, 

 or for an object, but very often it is for healing from some sort of 

 pain or sickness. Practically every vow is paid, for it is believed 

 that otherwise the god will get angry and punish the offender. The 

 vow may be that if the person is healed a pilgrimage will be made to 

 Mount Omei, or that the god will be given a new suit of clothes (a 

 new coat of paint), or that the shrine or the temple will be repaired, 

 or that the worshiper or his family will give the god a chicken or 

 a pig, some spirit money, or something else. 



In An-lin-ch'iao on March 28, 1930, a woman was very ill. The 

 relatives prayed to a god to heal her and promised that if he did they 

 would give the god a wife. The sick woman recovered, and the family 

 gave the god a straw woman with white paper marked with ears, 

 eyes, and nose as a face, and paper as a dress. A chicken was also 

 presented to the god. 



I have heard of many cases in which a suppliant with a sore hand 

 or foot prayed to a god for healing and promised that if he were 

 healed, he would present the god with a hand or a foot. After the 

 healing, a straw hand or a straw foot was presented to the god. 



Among the simplest prayers are those in which there is a request 



