iSo SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



festations of the "Buddha nature." Most people in West China re- 

 gard them as different deities. 



Dipanhara Buddha, Buddha of fixed light, sometimes the 



Jan-teng-fo, the god with lights who heals. 



Maitreya, Mi-lo-fo, the coming Buddha. 



Mania, Yao-shih-fo, the healing Buddha, god of medicine. 



Manjusri, Wen-shu, or Wen-shu-shi-li. 



Samantabhadra, P'uhsien. 



Avalokitesvara, Kuanyin, goddess of mercy. 



Marici, Chun-t'i, goddess of the dawn. 



Veda, Wei-t'o, protector of Buddhist temples and Buddhist law. 



Bodhidharma, Ta-mo-chu-shih, a leader in Zen Buddhism, deified. 



Amitabha, 0-mi-t'o-fo, god of infinite light and compassion. 



Kshitigarbha, Ti-tsang-p'u-sa, overlord of hell. 



Sakyamuni Buddha, Shih-chia-mu-ni, the founder of Buddhism. 



The ID rulers of hell. 



The 18 Arhats or Lo-hans, and the 500 Arhats or Lo-hans. 



The triad called in Chinese Kuei-e-fo, Kuei-e-fa, and Kuei-e-shen. 



The following are more distinctly Taoist gods and are generally 

 found in Taoist temples: Hsi-\vang-mu, P'an-ku, Lao-tzu, Yuan- 

 shih-t'ien-chen, the original immortal, Yii-huang-shang-ti, the Jade 

 Emperor, Hsuan-t'ien-shang-ti, the ruler of the skies, the eight im- 

 mortals, Chang Tao-ling, the first Taoist pope, Tou-mu, the dipper 

 mother, Heng-ha-er-chiang, the two blowing and snorting generals, 

 and the triad T'ai-ch'in, Yii-ch'in, and Shang-ch'in. 



A few of the gods would not be rated high in moral character, as 

 for instance the chicken-footed god and Wu-er-yeh, who take the 

 souls of the deceased to Hades to be judged. They and their spouses 

 often have opium smeared on their lips, for it is believed that they 

 love opium. When a person has boils on his legs he may imagine that 

 Wu-er-yeh has spanked his soul ; he thereupon puts some opium on 

 the lips of the god, after which he expects to get well. Then there 

 is a god of thieves who helps thieves and robbers steal successfully. 

 It is my impression, however, that on the whole the Chinese gods are 

 much higher morally than the gods of Tibet and India, some of which 

 are very lustful and cruel. 



Chinese gods have a superhuman wisdom and power which they 

 make available to their worshipers. I have seen shrines and temples 

 which were allowed to go to ruin because the people thought that 

 their gods had lost their superhuman power. 



KARMA AND TRANSMIGRATION 



The doctrines of karma and transmigration are entirely lacking in 

 the ancient Confucian and Taoist writings. They did not originate 



