NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM 185 



says, "In all its various forms, the religion of the masses aims at 

 earthly blessings. We may dismiss this as primitive. However, we 

 cannot be blind to the glaring fact that the Chinese masses keep their 

 eyes on the ground so far as religion is concerned." (Chan, 1953, 

 p. 173.) It is true that the Chinese people now believe in karma and 

 transmigration, and in heavens and hells, but it is also true that the 

 folk religion of the Chinese, in almost all its phases, is primarily con- 

 cerned with this life and with the satisfying of human needs in this 

 world. 



In 1930 the writer was reading with the help of a Chinese teacher 

 the Taoist sacred book, "The Sacred Book of the Original Vows of 

 the Kitchen God." The teacher remarked, "You ought to take notice 

 of an important fact. Almost every phase of the religion of our 

 common people is supposed to be of some practical benefit to them." 

 He emphasized the fact that virtually every ceremony, every prayer, 

 and every god is supposed to be of some practical value in the every- 

 day lives of the people. 



In "The Sacred Book of the Original Vows of the Kitchen God" 

 it is asserted that the religion that it represents helps people to avoid 

 illness and cures them of diseases so that sicknesses depart; helps the 

 aged ; protects homes from demons ; insures rain at the proper times ; 

 protects people from danger and saves them from calamities ; tames 

 wild animals so that they will do no harm ; causes worthy sons to be 

 born; gives an easy childbirth and saves the new-born baby and the 

 mother from illness ; and helps people escape the punishments of hell. 



Every occupation, great or small, important or unimportant, has 

 at least one patron deity, and some have several. Conversely, most 

 of the gods are patron deities or at least are supposed to benefit the 

 worshipers in practical ways. In the survey of the temples of Suifu, 

 published in the Chinese Recorder in February 1930, I noted many 

 gt)ds that were patron deities of one or more occupations. During the 

 survey of the temples of Chengtu, which was done later, a student 

 made a list of 100 gods and the people or occupations they were sup- 

 posed to benefit. There is a god for those who raise pigs, and another 

 for those who sell them. There is a god for those who make fire- 

 crackers, and another for those who sell them. There is a god for 

 those who carry water from the rivers and creeks to sell, and another 

 for the men, women, and children who gather twigs, grass, and leaves 

 on the hillsides to burn in their stoves. There is even a god of thieves, 

 who helps them to steal successfully. 



The following is a very incomplete list of gods and the occupations 

 for which they are patron deities : 



