CHAPTER III. 



GENERAL INFORMATION. 

 § 1. Suormous light-giving mountain gods. 



The Shmi hai king ' describes the god of Mount Chung as 

 follows: "The god of Mount Chung is called 'Enlightener of the 

 Darkness'. By looking (i. e. by opening his eyes) he creates day- 

 light, and by closing his eyes he creates night. By blowing he 

 makes winter, by exhaling he makes summer. He neither eats 

 nor drinks nor does he rest. His breath causes wind. His length is 

 a thousand miles. He is in the East of Wu-k'i ('Without bowels'). 

 As a living being, he' has a human face, the body of a snake 

 and a red colour. He lives 'at the foot of Mount Chung". The 

 commentator Kwoh P'oh ^ explains this passage in the following 

 words: " 'Enlighten er' is a dragon; he enlightens the nine yin 

 (darknesses, i. e. the nine points of the compass at the opposite, 

 dark side of the earth, which is a flat disk; these nine points are 

 North, South, East, West, North-east, North-west, South-east, 

 South-west, and the Centre)". According to the Hwai nan tsze it 

 is "a god with a human face and a dragon's body, but without 

 legs" \ 



We may quote here a passage from the T^ung ming ki^, a 

 work of the beginning of our era, to which De Groot ^ refers 

 as follows: "The Thmg ming ki says, that in the year 99 before 

 our era the emperor Wu convoked a meeting of magicians and 



zm ^ B mm . M^m. m%^. vk^^ . \>^% 



2 JK ^1 (who died in A. D. 322; author of the Shan hai king t'u tsan, |Jj 



3 ^)Ii^X0f|;^ffij#S>£' Q"°'ed '1 t'^e commentary 1.1. 

 4. >)EI ^ =n . Ch. III. 



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