90 A CHAPTER OF FOLKLORE 



is fully discussed by Pere Dore in Recherches sur les Super- 

 stitions en Chine, Volume II, page 468. 



The local earth god of Chinkiang ( £P ±. *fi W H ) naturally 

 had his place in the procession, and also the god of riches 

 {U M) and the stellar god of longevity (fill). The 

 two latter are discussed by Pere Dore in Recherches sur les 

 Superstitions en Chine, Volume II, pages 965 and 966. 



In view of the prevalence of disease which was locally 

 attributed to want of rain three spirits were appeased by 

 being granted their places in the procession. They were :-^- 

 the goddess of smallpox, Tou-shen-p'u-sa ( 2i 0$ H jH ) or 

 Hua-shen-p'u-sa ( *E t$ # $£ ), the god of scarlet fever, 

 Sha-shen-p'u-sa ( % tfi|> ) and the god which cures the marks 

 of smallpox, Ma-shen-p'u-sa (Mf$). See Pere Dore, 

 Recherches sur les Superstitions en Chine, Volume II, 

 pages 748 and 749. 



The plan of a hall dedicated to the god of riches in the 

 temple called the Tu t'ien miao ( SJ ^ M at Hai-men-t'ing, 

 given by Pere Dore on page 1039 of his Recherches sur les 

 Superstitions en Chine who places the image of the god of 

 riches holding an ingot in his hand in the central place of 

 honour ( SS ^& fit 18$ •) • On the right is the sun god ( ±[^^g*). 

 and on the left Yen kuang ( Rl %~), the smallpox goddess 

 (It M ) and the scarlet fever god ( ffl> iff ). 



On other occasions numerous other gods have appeared 

 in the procession but were passed over this time. Amongst 

 those omitted were : — 



The City god, Ch'eng Huang (ftfii£). Celebrations in 

 his honour are held in the third, seventh and tenth moons. 

 The valorous Marshal Liu ( 11 $$%), who affords pro- 

 tection against locusts. See Recherches sur les Superstitions- 

 en Chine, Volume II, page 937. San-mao (H^). They 

 are evil gods who frighten children at temples. A former 

 Governor of Suchow, named T'ang Pin (H $i ) did away with 

 his image at Suchow, but the god appears to be much feared. 

 See Recherches sur les Superstitions en Chine, Volume II, 

 page 671. 



There were several side shows in the procession. The 

 one which attracted most attention was a burlesque on the 

 well-known story of Chung Ku'ei ( M fit). Recherches, 

 Volume II, page 852. During the T'ang dynasty he went 

 to the Capital for the triennial examination. The examiners 

 were filled with disgust at the mediocrity of the compositions 

 submitted to them, until they read the happy phrases and 

 balanced periods which adorned his essay. The writer of 

 the paper was the only one who could be designated Chuang 



