NO. 4 RELIGION IN SZECHUAN PROVINCE — GRAHAM 33 



According to Chinese philosophy death and evil have their origin in the yin, 

 or female principle of Chinese dualism, while life and prosperity come from the 

 subjection of it to the yang, or male principle; hence it is regarded as a law of 

 nature to keep woman completely under the power of man, and to allow her 

 no will of her own. The result of this theory and the corresponding practice 

 is that the ideal for women is not development and cultivation, but submission. 

 Women can have no happiness of their own, but must live and work for men, 

 tlie only practical escape from this degradation being found in becoming the 

 mother of a son. Woman is bound by the same laws of existence in the other 

 world. She belongs to the same husband and is dependent for her happiness 

 on the sacrifices offered by her descendants.^ 



This statement of Dr. Smith is extreme in some respects, but he 

 is right m his description of the yinyang principle, and of its vital 

 connection with Chinese social customs and conceptions. 



The yin and the yang have their source in the great extreme, or 

 the fae gih. 



2. FENGSHUI 



In China a great deal is heard about the fcngshui. Sometimes you 

 see a peculiar rock in the river, interfering w^ith traffic and causing 

 w^recks. You look at the great line of boats that is passing by, realizing 

 that every boat is endangered by the rock. You think of the constant 

 loss of life and property. You know^ that it would be easy to destroy 

 or to remove the rock in low water. To your suggestion that this 

 be done, your Chinese friend answers, " P'ang pith tcJi.' That is, 

 it must not be touched. Why? Because it is a fengshni stone. 



Near Gioh Ch'i is a place where a creek makes a great bend, 

 returning practically to its starting point before proceeding again in 

 the general direction of the stream. By cutting through an earth bank 

 less than 15 feet thick, the stream cotild be made to flow in a straight 

 line, and acres of land could be saved for cultivation. To the sug- 

 gestion that this be done, the farmer replied that someone had at- 

 tempted to do this, but that the neighborhood had objected on the 

 ground that it would injure the fengshui, causing all to sufifer. 



There is a fengshui stone at Ngan Bien or An Pien, a town about 

 20 miles up the Yangtse River from Suifu. Some Chinese would like 

 to remove the stone, but the general sentiment of the town will not 

 permit it, although every year boats are wrecked and people are 

 drowned. If that stone were injured, all sorts of calamities might 

 occur in Ngan Bien. 



Fengshui stones occur on dry land. About 20 miles up the Aiin 

 River from Suifu, at Kiang Gioh Ch'i there is such a stone on the 



' Ibid., pp. 30S-6. 



