A CHAPTER OF FOLKLORE 87 



twenty thousand dollars ($15,000 or $20,000). On famous 

 occasions in the past the total is said to have been as much 

 as $50,000. All the beggars and unemployed were gathered 

 in and received payment for their work. One consequence 

 was the absence of beggars and disorderly characters. 

 The good behaviour of the crowds which gathered from the 

 surrounding towns and villages was very noticeable. 



The Tu t'ien pu-sa does not appear in any foreign book 

 of reference to which I have had access. Processions in his 

 honour have always taken place during the fourth moon. 

 No particular date is assigned for them; the day appears 

 to be chosen by the elders of the Guild. 



Owing to the long-continued drought and fear that the 

 ground would be too hard to plant rice, the rumour was 

 spread that the deity was affronted at the lack of respect 

 shewn to him by the non-observance of the ceremony of a 

 procession in his honour, and showed his resentment by 

 withholding the rain. The remedy was obviously to remove 

 the cause, and placate the deity by holding the procession. 

 The lack of rain was held to be the cause of the large amount 

 of sickness prevalent, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and such like. 

 The special gods which control diseases were honoured at 

 the same time. Other genii holding offices in the hierarchy 

 which controls rain and the transport of rice, and also gods 

 bringing blessings desired by the people received their share 

 and took their place in the general celebration. 



The notice in the Chronicles of the Tantu (Chinkiang) 

 Magistracy (Tan-t'u Hsien Chih) ( j^r ££ IS JS ) which deals 

 with the Tu t'ien Pu-sa is to the effect that in early days a 

 temple in his honour stood to the left of the Lieh-ti M ^r 

 temple, below the Ting Shih hill (J& 5 ). During the reign 

 of the last Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Ch'ung Cheng 

 (^ £$ ) a priest named Jo-mei ( fe 1^ ) built a, new temple 

 to the east of the hill on the bank of the Grand Canal. 

 In recognition of the god's services in making water plentiful 

 and the rice to grow abundantly the Emperor Ch'ien Lung 

 in the sixtieth year of his reign bestowed on him the title 

 of "The Spirit which bestows" (HHH). The Emperor Chia 

 Ch'ing added the title of "He who facilitates the passage 

 of rice and protects from flood" ( $£. : M B JUS S3 f£ £ M ), 

 and ordered festivals in his honour to be held in the spring 

 and autumn. Later the Emperor Hsien Feng added a title 

 of "The Spirit which protects" (ffi #*). The temple was 

 destroyed by the T'ai ping rebels. After General Feng 

 Tzu-ts'ai ( $f 3P M ) had relieved Chinkiang, his force was 

 surrounded by rebels. Mysterious lights appeared on the 

 hill above the temple where no man was. The rebels were 



