172 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



THE GODS 



Polytheism, the worship of many gods, is common among all the 

 peoples of West China. Among the Chinese, the Tibetans, and many 

 other ethnic groups there is also the worship of images. These be- 

 liefs and practices seem as natural to the people of this region as 

 monotheism does to Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans. 



At Suifu a Buddhist priest came to the Christian hospital to be 

 healed of a disease. He and I became very good friends and discussed 

 religious matters together. In one of these discussions I explained 

 that Christians worshiped one god only. The priest replied, "One 

 god is not enough for the Chinese, for there are too many people in 

 China." He did not believe that one god could adequately care for 

 450 million people. 



Among both the Chinese and the non-Chinese of West China there 

 is the belief that when you have the picture or the image of a god, 

 the deity whose image you have is actually present. It is also true 

 that unless there is a picture or an image of a god in a home, a shrine, 

 or a temple, the deity is generally regarded as not present and is not 

 worshiped in that place. 



One day while walking by the Min River near I-pin I drew on a 

 sandbank with a walking stick a picture of Kuanyin. A country boy 

 came by and looked at the picture. To test him I said, "This is the 

 goddess Kuanyin. You ought to worship her." He looked at the 

 image a moment, and seeing that it was an image of Kuanyin, he 

 folded his hands and bowed in worship. 



In Shanghai in 191 1, and many times later in Szechwan and Sikang, 

 I had an interesting experience. When I tried to take a picture of 

 natives with whom I was not acquainted, they would run away as 

 fast as they could as though their lives were in danger. The explana- 

 tion given me by natives and by missionaries was that it is believed 

 by many orientals that by taking one's picture you capture his soul, 

 or at least a vital part of it, and that it enables you to shorten his 

 life by several years, to injure him in other ways, or even to cause 

 his death. Many times when I was taking a picture the bystanders 

 have said, "He is going to take you to a foreign country." They 

 meant not just the person's picture, but a vital part of the person him- 

 self. This goes a long way toward explaining image worship in China. 

 It is assumed and believed that if one has the picture or the image of 

 a person or a deity, the soul, mind, or personality of the one who is 

 pictured or imaged is present. Generally the people regard it as a 

 great advantage to see the image of the god whom they are worship- 



