184 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I42 



cauldron of oil, having mouth or feet burned by fire, the abdomen 

 cut open, nails driven into the head, being bitten by snakes, ground 

 up between two large grinding-stones, and numerous others. 



The idea of hell as portrayed in the Buddhist temples is not dis- 

 puted by the Taoists. In fact, I have seen at least one Taoist temple, 

 the Tung-yo-miao outside the west gate of Li-chuang, which has a 

 hell very closely resembling those of the Buddhists. The hell of the 

 Buddhists is so fully accepted and believed in by the Chinese people 

 that it is an important part of the popular religion of China. 



One day during World War II I was in a bus going from Chengtu 

 to Lo-shan. As usual at that time, the roof of the bus was covered 

 with baggage and with passengers sitting on the baggage. Inside, the 

 seats were crowded, and quite a few people crawled through the 

 windows and literally sat on the passengers inside. A big fat woman 

 crawled through a window and sat on two passengers nearby. For the 

 men she was sitting on, her weight was painful. I decided to try a 

 little psychology on this woman. Speaking out loud in Chinese I 

 said, "Won't some people suffer in hell. Nien Wang (king of hell) 

 will look in his book and note those who have crowded in and sat on 

 others. Some will be thrown onto sword mountain, some will be sawn 

 in two, and some will be thrown into the boiling cauldron of oil." 

 The fat woman said to the other passengers, "I'm going to get out at 

 the next station," and she did. Hell with its dreadful punishments was 

 very real to her. 



The Buddhists have a western heaven presided over by Amitabha 

 (some Buddhists and some Taoists believe in many heavens and many 

 hells). There many become Buddhas and are free from sin, sorrow, 

 and suffering. They may also escape transmigration. This appeals to 

 some very devout Buddhists, but not to the Chinese people in gen- 

 eral. They want to enjoy the present life or to accumulate merit so 

 as to enjoy a happy and fortunate existence after rebirth. The Chi- 

 nese are an optimistic, life-loving people, and in spite of sorrow, hard- 

 ships, and suffering, they prefer life in this world. 



PRIMARY CONCERN WITH PRACTICAL BENEFITS 



In 1935 I published an article on the religion of the Chinese in 

 Szechwan in the Chinese Recorder, which began with the statement 

 that the popular religion of the Chinese in Szechwan is exceedingly 

 practical. Many times in this present publication it has been empha- 

 sized that the Chinese people expect practical results in their every- 

 day lives from the practices of their religion. Prof. Wing-tsit Chan 



