254 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



contradictory and self-destructive beliefs 

 appear to exist side by side in the mind 

 of the same person, and of the most 

 opposite character mentally and morally. 

 In many ways the Chinese are kind 

 hearted and considerate and at times 

 the most callous hearted. If a man or 

 boy catches a rat he will nail its feet fast 

 to a board and keep it there until the rat 

 starves to death, and if one falls into the 

 water and is in danger of drowning, no 

 matter how many Chinese are near or how 

 many boats may be passing, no one will lend 

 a helping hand to get the man out of the 

 water. The reason for such callous indiffer- 

 ence is the belief that an evil spirit has got 

 hold of the man and that if anyone goes to 

 his rescue the evil spirit will also attack 

 the would-be rescuer and cause him to 

 be drowned. 



The Buddhists have a way of destroying 

 the power of the evil spirits of the water. 

 Passing along the canal at Soochow one 

 may see stone posts, each with eight sides, 

 planted in tlie ground on the shore of the 

 canal, and on each face of a post there is the 

 name of a Buddhist saint. The posts are 

 planted along the banks of the canal where 



