NO. 4 RELIGION IN SZECHUAN PROVINCE GRAHAM 3I 



Mr. Torrance gives the following list of the articles which he has 

 gathered in the caves of Szechuan : 



Instead of straw or moveable wooden figures of men you will tind them of 

 burnt-clay, grey and terra-cotta in color, glazed and unglazed, from a few inches 

 high to nearly full life-size. They represent persons of both sexes and various 

 ranks and callings. There are besides models of houses, cooking-pots, boilers, 

 rice-steamers, bowls, basins, vases, trays, jars, lamps, musical instruments, dogs, 

 cats, horses, cows, sheep, fowls, ducks, etc. Standing with your reflector lamp 

 in the midst of a large cave it seems verily an imitation of Noah's Ark.' 



It is true that the Chinese heliexc that the caves of Szecliuan were 

 made and used by aborigines, and call them Aiantsi caves. This is 

 ex])lained by the fact that the old Chinese population was practically 

 exterminated by Tsang Shien Tsong, and the new immigrants would 

 naturally know Httle about the ])ast history of the province. 



\\c therefore advance the following theory : In early Chinese his- 

 tory men provided food for the dead as the Chinese still do to-day. 

 and also placed in the tombs wcaj^ons of war. money, and articles of 

 everyday use. They killed human beings, including wives and ser- 

 vants, to put in the graves with the deceased leaders. The moral 

 development of the people led to the sul)stitution of Ittu'ut-clay images 

 for human beings and the fowls, animals, and the articles of everyday 

 life. The clay images were at first unglazed, but later were glazed. 

 The placing of quantities of money in the graves took it out of circu- 

 lation, and with other valuables tempted the robbers to loot the graves. 

 In time people began to substitute paper money for real money. The 

 paper was burnt, and was transformed by the flames into si)irit money 

 that could actually be used by the departed spirits in the land of 

 shades. X'ow nearly all the articles are l)urnt, so that very little is 

 jilaced in the tombs. Actual food is still offered at the graves and be- 

 fore the ancestral tablets so that the spirits of the dead will not hun- 

 ger. The food offered is not destroyed. The spirit must be sup- 

 posed to in some way secure the essence of the food, and the descen- 

 dants of the dead are permitted to eat what is left. 



After burial, the grave is revisited on occasions, food is ottered to 

 the departed soul, and the ordinary acts of reverence are performed. 

 Mourning for one's parents is kept up for three years, and the 

 ceremonies usually included under " ancestor worship " are ]Km-- 

 formed for three generations of ancestors — jiarents. grandparents, and 

 great-grandparents. 



* Journal of the Xorth-Cliina Branch of tlic Royal .\siatic Society, Vol. XM, 

 1910, p. 68. 



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