CHINA. 



of i heir 



teoipt any work in which he might be in danger of re- 

 ceiving some injury ; he placet a small stone upright, 

 surrounds it with a few candle*, burnt two or three gild- 

 ed papers, and then appliet t his labour with p. rfect 

 confidence. When they have any dread or 1 ting thrir 

 children, they consecrate them to some divinity } and, in 

 this view, they picrc- the ear of the child, and suspend 

 from it a small plate of c ppcr, ilvvr, or gold, with tin- 

 name of the tutelary spirit insciib^d upon it; or they 

 imply tie the hair of the head on each side, into the 

 form of a tnull tuft, which indicates that they are de- 

 voted to some god, who will preserve them from acci- 

 r and dents and misfortune*. They pay great regard to lucky 

 and unlucky days ; and the government even publishes 

 an annual calendar, in which, among other matters, the 

 favourable moments in that season are properly marked. 

 Midnight is always a lucky point of time, because in 

 their opinion the world was created at that hour. But, 

 of all their superstitions, the two following are the most 

 prevalent, and form the chief object in their various acts 

 Calculation o f worl hip in the temples 1. The calculation of their 

 destiny, which they call S loan-ming, and which is gene- 

 rally done by blind musicians, who g>i from house to 

 house, playing on tome musical instrument, and offering 

 their services for a little m< ney ; whose art consists 

 chiefly in astonishing their hear r- by speaking learnedly 

 of the position and influence of the stars, and in descri- 

 bing the proper idol to whom sacrifices must be offered, 

 or the Bonze whose prayers must be secure/]. 2. The 

 securing a good influence, and fortunate exposure, in 

 building their habitations or sepulchres, which is called 

 Fong snooy, " or wi.-:d and water." Upon this de- 

 pends every one's success and happines in life ; his natu- 

 ral abilities and genius, his advancement to honours, his 

 commercial prosperity, good health, a numerous family, 

 are all ascribed to his house or his burying-place having 

 a happy situation, and his thus possessing a lucky Fong- 

 -hopy. They are constantly empl- yed in devising means 

 to render this circumstance or influence favourable. 

 Much depends upon having the doors of their habita- 

 tions placed under the protection of a proper spirit, ar- 

 ranged in a proper order, or constructed in a proper form. 

 A round door is f rtunate. and there is generally one at 

 least in every Chine e dwelling. It is bad to have two 

 doors directly opposite to each other, as the evil spirit, 

 in tiiat case.'more easily tutu . When this cannot be 

 avoided, they put up screens of wood to stop the ge 

 mui in hm progress, or form their doors in the shape of 

 a fan, a flower, a leaf, which all contribute to bewilder 

 the malignant spirits, and to make them afraid to leap 

 over. Should a neighbour build a house close to another, 

 but not upon the same plan, or should there be any cor- 

 ner or slanting of the ro.T, so placed as to cross that of 

 the other, this is enough to occasion desolation and dis 

 tre;s to the proprietor, who lives in constant apprehen- 

 aion of some malignant influence. Should a law suit fail 

 to relieve him from the adverse encroachment, his only 

 resource is to raise on the middle of his roof an enor- 

 mous figure of a dragon, in baked earth, darting a fu- 

 rious look upon the fatal angle, and opening its mouth 

 so a* to bwallow the offending object : this removes all 

 apprehension, and restores the tranquillity of the house- 

 hold. 



But, in both the last mentioned superstitions, great de- 

 pendance is placed upon casting of lots, which is prac- 

 tised in two ways. One is to burn incense before an 

 idol. Inch stands upon an altar, containing a number of 

 small flat -ticks, from eight tci twelve inches in length, 

 upon which arc traced a variety of unintelligible figures, 



toti. 



supposed to contain answers to the questions of every 

 supplicant. After various prostrations and ceremonies, ~ .- 

 the pcrun, consulting the oracle, draws out at random 

 one of these small sticks, and receives an explanation 

 from the B nze, who accompanies him, or finds a tablet 

 upon the wall of the temple containing solutions of the 

 scviril enigmas. Another w iy is to take two pieces of 

 wood, about six or seven inches long, cut in the form of 

 a split bean ; and to throw them up in the air, repeat- 

 ing the operation till they fall in a fortunate position. 

 These consultations are accounted necessary before un- 

 dertaking a journey, commencing a law suit, entering 

 into the married state, building a house, or engaging in 

 any important business. They are the chief i 

 of the numerous Chinese who are seen in the temples ; 

 and, as they find these oracles in the pagodas both of 

 Lao tse and Fo, they repair to either of them indiscri- 

 minately. 



The other religious sects, known in China, but who 

 are chiefly foreigners, are Jews, Mahometans, and Chris- 

 tians. 



The Jews arc supposed to have found their way into 

 China, after Alexander, by his conquests in the E ist, had 

 opened a communication with India ; and their arrival in 

 the country is said to be noticed in the historical records 

 of China. The date of that event is fixed by some in 

 the year 206, and by others in ihe year 258 before 

 Christ. They abound chi. Hy in the silk provinces, es- 

 pecially in the neighbourhood of Hang-tchoo-foo, and 

 are the best manufacturers of that article ; whence it ha* 

 bicn conjectured, that they fust introduced the silk-worm 

 into the empire. They arc not very numerous, and are 

 called by the Chinese, Hoey, or Lang-mao-hoey, that 

 is, Hoey with the blue bonnets, because they wear a 

 species of turban of that colour, when they assemble in 

 their synagogues. 



Some Mahometans are supposed by the missionaries Mahon& 

 to have entered China about the y<.ar599, which is how- tans, 

 ever twelve years sooner than Mahomet appeared in the 

 character of a prophet. Many learned Mahometans, 

 from Balk and Sdinarcand, accompanied the Western 

 Tartars when they invaded China, A. D. 1279 ; and were 

 of great use to the vanquished Chinese, in improving their 

 astronomy, correcting their calendar, and introducing the 

 knowledge of various philosophical instruments. They 

 became extremely numerous under the following dynasty 

 of Ming, who expelled tin- Tartars, and began to reign 

 A. D. 1368. The method, which they employed to in- 

 crease their sect, was to purchase children, or to collect 

 the foundlings, whom they educated in their tenets ; a:.d 

 the various calamities of the times supplied them >vith 

 many at that tender a^e, whom their parents were unable 

 to support, or who had lost their relatives amidst the de- 

 solations of their country. There are not many of this 

 sect in the body of the empire ; but numerous tribes of 

 them inhabit the extremities of the province Shen see, 

 distinguished by the Chinese into three different bodies, 

 according to the mode in which they cover their heads. 

 Of these, about 100,000 are supposed to have been cut 

 off by the orders of Kien-long, during the insurrection 

 which they excited in 178-t. 



During the seventh century, about the year 635, a few chritia, 

 Christians of the Nestorian sect passed from India 10 

 China ; and were tolerated by the government nearly two 

 centuries, under the designation of priests of Ta-tsin. But, 

 in the year 81-5, they were proscribed by the emperor 

 Voo-tsong at the instigation of some of his favourite 

 and, after suffering a severe persecution, appear 

 to have been completely extirpated. In the beginning 



