76 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 80 



very well dressed, is reputed to have taught the Chinese how to make 

 and to wear clothing. 



At the gateway of the Ta O Si temple on Mt. Omei is an idol 

 which is the image of a man who is still living — at least, he was in 

 the summer of 1925. He is an old man who is deeply devoted to 

 Buddhism, and who has given much money to the Ta O Si temple 

 He was therefore deified while he was still alive. The writer has heard 

 of a similar case in Yachow. 



The mummified priest is a peculiar form of a deified hero. The Wan 

 Fuh Din temple and the Ch'ien Fuh Temple on Mt. Omei each have 

 one of these. They were priests who in their respective temples went 

 into seclusion until they died, when they were mummified and wor- 

 shipped as gods. Another god who is said to be a mummified priest 

 is across the river from Kiating near the Great Buddha. Still another 

 is the principal deity of the T'ai Tsi Miao, a temple near the summit 

 of Mt. Omei. It is claimed that the last one is the mummified son of 

 an emperor. He helps the worshippers secure the birth of sons. 



In Tibet there is another form of the deified man, the Hoh Fuh or 

 Living Buddha. He is thought to be a reincarnation of a god. Tradi- 

 tion says that there was once such a reincarnation of P'ushien on 

 Mt. Omei. That is what is meant by the sentence quoted on a pre- 

 vious page. " In the Manchu Dynasty there appeared here a Living 

 P'ushien." 



Not a few of the gods in the Buddhist and Taoist temples are great 

 religious leaders who in the past have rendered distinguished service 

 to their religious organizations, and who consequently have been 

 deified. 



Every occupation has its patron deity. Scholars worship Uen 

 Ts'ang P'usah, the God of Learning, expecting that he will assist 

 them in acquiring knowledge. Merchants worship the God of Wealth 

 who helps them secure financial prosperity. Lu Ban is the God of 

 Carpenters. Rice planters worship Kuh Wang. There is a God of 

 Brewers. No boatmen will begin a journey without first worshipping 

 Wang E. Physicians and owners of medicine shops worship loh 

 Wang, the God of Medicine. There are gods of butchers and of cooks. 

 At Li Chuang there is a god of the coolies who carry water, and one 

 for people who gather leaves and twigs for fuel on the river banks, 

 on the hillsides, or in the forests. In a temple at Ngan Lin Ch'iao 

 there are two idols who are worshipped by thieves, and who assist 

 them in their undertakings. They themseh'-es are said to be experts 

 at stealing. 



