72 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 8o 



does nothing else but give sons. The Deo Ma Niang Niang heals mea- 

 sles and smallpox. The Tsua Sen Niang Niang aids in securing a quick 

 and safe delivery at childbirth. 



A few gods are found in almost every home. One has already 

 been described — the red scroll that is hung up in the central and most 

 important place in the main room. Merchants sometimes substitute 

 for this the god of wealth, who is also represented by appropriate 

 characters on a scroll of red paper. There are also two door gods. 

 The main entrance of a Chinese home generally has double doors which 

 open inward, and one god is pasted or painted on each door. They 

 are guards of the home to keep demons from entering. Every home 

 also has a Kitchen God. He is painted or printed on paper and pasted 

 up near the kitchen stove where he supervises the household economy, 

 preventing extravagance. The classic to the Kitchen God also indicates 

 that he looks after the moral conduct of the inmates of the home. 

 His position in the kitchen would make it very convenient for him to 

 do so. On the twenty-third day of the twelfth moon he ascends to 

 heaven and reports the conduct of the household to the Pearly Em- 

 peror. He returns and is formally welcomed and his image pasted 

 vip on New Year's Eve. The classic of the kitchen god, while in 

 many respects similar to that of the bloody basin, has a higher moral 

 tone, and more nearly represents the moral and religious ideals of 

 the Chinese people. 



There are five gods that are often found in shrines, or unprotected 

 from the weather, at intervals along the roadsides to protect the 

 travelers from the demons that might do harm. One is the Goddess 

 of Mercy who is apt to be found anywhere that people are in need 

 of her help. The second is called T'ai Shan Shih Kan Dang, or the 

 T'ai Shan stone that dares. It is generally made of stone, and the 

 inscription is meant to imply that the stone is from the sacred Mount 

 T'ai Shan, and therefore surcharged with power. The image of a 

 fierce being having four tusks and holding a dagger in his mouth is 

 carved on the top of the stone. He is made terrible in appearance 

 so as to inspire fear in the hearts of the demons. A third deity is Lin 

 Kuan, or Deo K'eo Kong, the prince whose mouth is like a peck- 

 measure. He wields a club, and in his fierce wrath opens his mouth 

 so wide that it resembles a peck-measure. He is primarily a demon- 

 chaser. Under one of these images the writer saw an inscription 

 which means. " When he points with his finger the demons depart. 

 At a glance of his eye all diseases are healed." A fourth wayside god 

 is the Tu Di P'usah or the local s:od of earth. He is a minor official 



