WESTERN HUPEH 15 



green), Gleditsia, Cypress, Ginkgo, and Pine are planted near 

 the temples and add much to the beauty of the scene. Such 

 temples are well built, but unfortunately, since the interior is 

 usually dark, filthy, and uninviting, a close inspection robs 

 them of most of their charm. From the distance they look 

 most picturesque, the style of architecture being in harmony 

 with the surroundings, and one admires very much the taste and 

 culture which called them into existence. The preservation of 

 the " Good Luck " of towns, villages, and communities by the 

 warding off of evil influences is a matter of great moment in 

 China, and with this good work the temples are associated. 

 The pagodas, found all over China, have been erected solely 

 with this end in view. Geomancy enters very largely into 

 Taouism and holds a most important place in Chinese thought, 

 and, in fact, governs many of their actions. As illustrating this 

 we will take an example at Ichang. Facing the town, on the 

 right bank of the river opposite, is a pyramidal hill nearly 600 

 feet high, called by foreigners the " Pyramid." This hill was 

 supposed to exert a baneful influence over the town, and was 

 held responsible for the town's poverty in local literati. Not 

 until a temple was built on an eminence behind the town, 

 sufficiently high to enable it to overlook the Pyramid, was this 

 evil influence counteracted, and the Goddess of Good Luck 

 induced to smile on the town. The very year this temple was 

 completed a student passed the provincial examinations with 

 high honours. Was not this the beneficial result of the 

 building ? The temple, called Tungshantzu, is richly endowed 

 and forms a strikingly conspicuous object from all points of 

 approach. The logic of " Fung Shui," as this cult is called, is 

 beyond the grasp of the average Occidental brain, but of its 

 effect on the Chinese mind one is constantly made familiar. 



Too wild and savage for extensive agricultural development, 

 and with a marked absence of useful mineral deposits, western 

 Hupeh is one of the poorest, most sparsely populated, and 

 least known parts of China. For these same reasons it is of 

 particular interest to the botanist, since the vegetation there 

 has been less molested than is usually found to be the case in 

 China generally. Even here, it is hardly necessary to say, 

 every available bit of land either is, or has been, under cultiva- 



