CHINA. 



251 



Feast of 

 lanterns. 



Feast of 

 boats. 



fce!!gio. cows are carried in procession, which are afterwards bro- 

 V " - ~"Y""' ken i. pieces and distributed among the people ; a cir- 

 cumstance, which gives this ceremony some resemblance 

 to the worship of Osiris in Egypt, from which it has 

 not improb b.y bitn supposed to derive its origin, 

 revivals. As tl;t re is no regular day of religious rest in China, 

 and experience proves, that certain seasons of cessation 

 from labour are necessary for human beings, there are a 

 number of public festivals in the course of every year, 

 wh:ch may be considered both in the light of recreations, 

 New year, and of rrligious observances. One of the most remarka- 

 ble of these takes place at the new-year ; and is univer- 

 sa'ly c Itbrated throughout the empire, at great expence. 

 Every one endeavours t > collect some money for the oc- 

 casion, dresses in his best apparel, dispenses with every 

 kind of business, and particularly provides himself with 

 new shoes. The new-year is welcomed by firing im- 

 ment-e quantities of crackers, with the fragment* of which 

 it is> said the streets are sometimes so completely covered, 

 that the pavement cannot be seen. The day is employ- 

 ed in paying visits! g'-ing presents, and congntiilating 

 almost every one that comes in the way. Red papers are 

 suspended around the doors, as a mean of securing good 

 fortune through the year ; and some quarters are illumi- 

 nated with lanterns. 



On the 15th day of the first moon of the year, occurs 

 UK reast of lanterns, which frequently continues for se- 

 veral days ; and which is celebrated by suspending num- 

 bers of lanteras before the doors of the houses, and in the 

 middle of the streets; while the more wealthy give en- 

 tertainment* to their friends, and exhibit shows, tire- 

 works, 6cc. to he populace. Different and very trifling 

 reasons are assigned by the Chinese for the origin of this 

 ceremony ; one of which is, that the daughter of an emi- 

 nent mandarin having fallen into a river, in which she was 

 drowned, her father and the people of the place sought 

 her a long time in vain, with the help of lanterns ; while 

 another story bears, thai one of their emperors, displeased 

 that his pleasures should be interrupted by the continual 

 alternation of day and night, resolved, with the advice of 

 one of his wives, to build a palace which shuuld be im- 

 penetrable to the ray or the un. which he lighted up 

 with a multitude of lanterns, and in which lie kept him- 

 self continual y shut up amidst his dissipations; but that 

 the pe>ple rose in a tumult, destroyed his palace, and 

 drove him from his tlirone ; and that the feast of lanterns 

 is annually observed at the date of this event, as a warn- 

 ing to voluptuous monarchs. 



On the tilth d..y of the fifth moon i the feast of boats, 

 which i,- said t. hav.- originated in a search made with 

 boats for tin- dead body of a drowned mandarin. On 

 th s occasion, they make use of long narrow boats, paint- 

 ed with var ous figures, and containing oflen more than 

 60 rowers in each. These move along to the sound of 

 drums and copper kettles, sometimes slowly, and at 

 other times with great rapidity, striving to outstrip each 

 other in their course ; but, in this contest, boats are so 

 frequently overact or dashed to pieces, and sometimes so 

 many lives I at, that the mandarins often prohibit the 

 celebration of the festival. 



In the months of July and August, solemn processions 

 are made, and in seasons of great drought, sometimes 

 public fasts are observed, to supplicate the gods for rain, 

 and to procure nn abundant harvest. The country is at 

 these seasons often covered with processions of this kind, 

 accompanied with music, and carrying flags and small 

 shrines, while the mandarins repair to the temples to in- 

 tercede with the idols ; and it in generally forbidden to 

 ''ill a hog, or to eat flesh till the object of these peti- 



Solemn 

 pr"iei$ion 

 in time of 

 brought ; 



tions be granted. There are great processions in autumn, Religion^ 

 in which are carried lanterns, and large paper fishes ; and jj arve ^ 

 four men support a table loaded with fruits, on which 

 stands a young girl, with a younger one at her side, and 

 another before dressed in the habit of an old man. The 

 march begins with music and firing of crackers, while the 

 inhabitants of the places through which the procession 

 passes, cover tables at their doors with fruits, betel, and 

 tobacco, which they present to the persons who compose 

 the company. Similar processions also are made, chiefly 

 during the spring months, in honour of the dead ; and 

 the order of march in these cases is generally as follows : 

 A person first appears carrying gilded papers, followed In ' lon0 "'. 

 by musicians, and children holding in their hands figures of ' 

 of men, horses, and birds, made of paper; next a compa- 

 ny with lanterns, blue and white flags, parasols, and pa- 

 per shrines ; after these, a small wooden pagoda, attend- 

 ed by seven or eight bonzes uttering prayers j and last 

 of all, a party well dressed, or clothed in mourning. Lan- 

 terns are lighted at the periods of new and full moon ; 

 and during eclipses of the sun or moon, when the Chi- 

 nese imagine that these luminaries are in danger of being 

 devoured by a dragon, then there is a general assemblage 

 in every town or village, of mandarins, literati, citizens, 

 and peasants, offering prayers for the safety of the la- AtEclipie*. 

 bouring planet, beating upon drums and kettles to fright- 

 en the devouring dragon, and continuing the din with- 

 out intermission till the termination of the eclipse. These 

 and similar festivals may be regarded as the remains of the 

 more ancient system ; but the superstitions of the several 

 later sects are incapable of arrangement or enumeration. 



There are numbers of temples and pagodas in every Templet, 

 part of China, many of wlrch are very extraordinary 

 structures. These are in general named Miao, and may 

 be distributed into two classes ; first, those which are of 

 considerable size, and which are well endowed with hou- 

 ses and lands ; *nd secondly, those which have been built 

 by private individuals, or a few priests ; and one of this 

 description may be seen in the vicinity of almost every pa- 

 lace belonging to the emperor. In every spot, also, where 

 there is any kind of danger to be apprehended, bmall pa- 

 godas are erected, where travellers go to implore the pro- 

 tection of the spirit to whom they are dedicated; or, if 

 they are prevented from entering the place, they burn 

 their bits of paper, and beat upon their copper kettles as 

 they pass. The temples have a great resemblance to the 

 convents of Europe, are generally built in a simple style, 

 and have their courts adorned with trees. They are con- 

 stantly open ; and at the entrance there is seen, in a hall 

 or pavilion, a large drum and bell, upon which the wor- 

 shipper strikes with a wooden mallet. In the apartment 

 of the principal divinity, is placed a table covered with 

 nosegays and vessels of perfumes ; and a spiral candle 

 composed of sandal wood and odoriferous gums is sus- 

 pended before him, winch is kept continually burning. 

 In every city, almost, there is a temple dedicated to Con- 

 fucius, as a tutelary spirit, in which either his statue or 

 picture is preserved ; and, in the seasons of spring and 

 autumn, sacrifices are offered there in honour of this phi- 

 losopher and his disciples, particularly by those who are 

 about to undergo any literary examination. Besides these 

 temples, numerous small chapels are to be seen in the 

 country and villages, dedicated to the different spirits 

 presiding over the land, the water, the mountains, &c. ; 

 but frequently, instead of a temple, there is merely a stone 

 placed upright at the foot of a tree or bamboo bush, 

 with the name of the tutelary divinity engraved upon it, 

 and a few papei flowers by way of ornament. 



One of the pagodas at Canton is thus described by M. Pagoda* 



