NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM I77 



shiped. About 15 years later when I again visited this temple, the 

 priests said that this man had died and his image was still being wor- 

 shiped. Near I-pin, at the foot of the mountain near the black 

 pagoda, is a temple called T'si-hang-kuan. In this temple is the image 

 of one Lo Hsin-hsuen, who in 1930 still lived near I-pin. Because he 

 had donated the money with which the temple was built, people deified 

 him and worshiped him as a god while he was still alive. Most of the 

 gods whose images are in the temples are deified men. 



Most of the people of West China regard inanimate things as alive. 

 The sun, the earth, the moon, the stars, mountains, rivers, trees, and 

 rocks are thought of as living, animate beings. It is little wonder, 

 therefore, that rocks and trees are sometimes worshiped as gods. 



West of Mu-p'ing in Sikang Province is the village of Yao-chi. 

 Among the people of this region many white stones are actually wor- 

 shiped as gods and are called in Chinese, pusahs or Boddhisatvas. 

 On one mountain I saw a number of gray stones that had been stood 

 on end and were worshiped as gods. Between Ch'ien-wei and Lo- 

 shan laborers working on a road came upon a large rock that they 

 could not easily remove. A priest suggested that it might be a king 

 of rocks, so the laborers burned incense to it and worshiped it as a 

 god. Inside the city of Chengtu a large sandstone rock in a special 

 temple built for it is worshiped as a deity. It is reported that the 

 rock fell from the sky, but in composition it is exactly the same as 

 much of the sandstone near Chengtu. Rev. Orlando Jolliffe reported 

 to me that while he lived in Tseliutsing there was a stone in the yard 

 of his compound that was worshiped as a god by the local people. 

 West of I-pin near the Yangtse River is a large piece of white sand- 

 stone that is worshiped as a god. When people began to worship it, 

 a small temple was built around it and other idols were added. It 

 is believed that if a person takes a few grains of this sandstone, mixes 

 them with water, and drinks the water, it will cure diseases. 



A peculiar kind of stone worship in the Suifu prefecture is the 

 worship of foundation stones used under the bases of wooden pillars 

 in large buildings and temples. Some such stones are called T'an- 

 shen-teng-teng and are worshiped as lesser deities, lower than the 

 t'u-ti. Sometimes they are seen in private homes, sometimes by the 

 sides of roads, and sometimes in temples. It is believed that if this 

 god is worshiped frequently, sincerely, and elaborately, he will help 

 the family in many ways, but if the family neglects him or has to be 

 too economical in his worship, he becomes spiteful and injures the 

 family. 



