NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM I59 



Worship may be at any convenient time, but there are also special 

 times of worship in the homes, at the wayside shrines, and in the 

 temples. 



In the homes there is generally worship every day, sometimes twice 

 a day, morning and evening. Incense is burned, sometimes candles 

 are lighted, and a male member of the family, with folded hands, 

 bows in worship. On the ist and 15th of each lunar month there is 

 more elaborate worship, when food and wine may be offered. Ances- 

 tral tablets and house gods, and sometimes other gods such as Kuanyin 

 and the god of wealth, are worshiped in the homes. There is also 

 more elaborate worship in the homes on the first days of the new 

 year. In fact, there is no festival during the year, excepting the 

 ninth day of the ninth moon, when there is not special worship of 

 the ancestors and the house gods. 



In the temples, a priest goes to every idol at daylight and at dusk, 

 lights a few sticks of incense, and bows in worship. Often he does 

 not utter a word. During the day any person at any time may per- 

 form his devotions. On the lunar festivals and on the birthdays of 

 the gods the ceremonies are much more elaborate, and often several 

 priests take part. The worship may include music and the chanting 

 of the sacred books. The great festivals on the birthdays of the gods 

 include a feast, a procession through the streets, and theatricals. 

 Broadly interpreted, all these are worship, for the gods, too, are sup- 

 posed to watch and enjoy the theatricals. 



Sacrifices and offerings in West China differ in purpose and mean- 

 ing from those among the ancient Israelites. They are not generally 

 for the propitiation of sins. Not even among the Ch'iang are innocent 

 lambs offered to propitiate for the sins of worshipers — in fact, lambs 

 are not sacrificed at all among these people, but full-grown sheep or 

 goats. 



It is believed that the deceased ancestors after death need the same 

 things as they do in this world, and that it is the duty of the de- 

 scendants to provide them. This they do through offerings during 

 ancestral worship. The gods also need sacrifices and money, and these 

 are provided during worship. 



In ancestral worship the ancestors are invited to come and share 

 the family meal, and it is believed that they are actually present and 

 eat. What they eat is the essence of the food, and what remains is 

 eaten by the living descendants. Houses, sedan chairs, servants, gold 

 and silver ingots, cash, dollars, and many other things are made of 

 paper or of paper and strips of wood and are transformed by burn- 



