NO. 4 RELIGION IN SZECHUAN PROVINCE GRAHAM I5 



to attend the funeral. He sent thirty dollars for the funeral expenses 

 in care of a friend \\iio was to make the proper arrangements and 

 jiay the bills. The friend did things very poorly, merely covering the 

 coffin with a little dirt. The money he saved he used himself. The 

 second daughter married, but her husband soon died. l,ater she 

 married a man named Tsu. This man Tsu previously had a wife, but 

 it is thought that he made away with her in order to marry the second 

 daughter. The oldest daughter married a man named Tsao. Mr. Tsu 

 died at Chungking and the second daughter came to Suifu. Her father 

 was about to remarry when a curious thing happened. 



The second daughter became black in the face and began to utter 

 words incoherently. She then began to talk as though she were her 

 mother. She said that the reason her mother had not complained 

 before was that in hades when she first intended to complain the god 

 told her that she should first sufifer misery three years in hades, then 

 make her complaints ; that Mr. Tsu, on hearing that the second 

 daughter was about to be married, seriously objected, anrl raised a 

 row with the dead Mrs. Ch'en : that since Mrs. Tsao was unable to 

 bear children, Mrs. Ch'en demanded that a second wife or a concubine 

 be found for Mr. Tsao so that he should not be without descendants; 

 and lastly, that the grave of Mrs. Ch'en must be ])Ut in first-class 

 condition. 



^Ir. Ch'en proposed that much pa])er (jr spirit money should be 

 burnt for IVIrs. Ch'en so that she should have plenty of money to 

 spend in hades. Mrs. Ch'en replied that this was not a matter of 

 primary importance, but that she would ])ermit Mr. Ch'en to spend 

 much money in this way. She said that the king told her in hades 

 that within three days she must comjiel ^Tr. Ch'en to agree to carry 

 out all these matters. H Mr. Ch'en did not, the god would rob him of 

 his soul so that he would die. 



Mr. Ch'en agreed to all these conditions, and secured two middle 

 men who were to guarantee the execution of all these demands. They 

 were all carried out, so that Mr. Ch'en suffered no harm. 



It was believed that Mrs. Ch'en had come from hades, and taken 

 possession of the second daughter, Mrs. Tsu, and had used i\Irs. T.su's 

 mouth so as to be able to speak. It was asserted that s])irits cannot 

 speak audibly because they have no bodies. 



6. SUM MAR v 



So prominent is the belief in and fear of demons in .Szechuan that 

 one is tempted to say with Dorc that the essence of the Chinese 



