IV.— THE DOMESTIC ALTAR. 



JAMES HUT SON. 



[Mr. Hutson has made an exhaustive study of Chinese life in the- 

 province of Ssu Ch'uan. He says, "the first requisite of a worker in 

 Chinese is a knowledge of the language and a knowledge of the people. 

 Both are difficult to get." He has been collecting data for many years 

 and his notes cover most of the ground. He has classified all these and 

 one short section is now printed in the Journal. 



As is well known practices that are universal differ in detail in 

 different parts. This chapter will help those interested in the subject 

 to compare the practices current in Ssu Ch'uan and other places with 

 those recorded by Le P. Henri Dore in Becherches sur les Superstitions 

 en Chine. — Editor.] 



^& 



Hit B 



^ The Domestic Altar. — It is also called the 

 or W M spirit niche. On the top part is an incense 

 pot and below in the notch the large ±. *fi is situated. This 

 cupboard is the last thing to leave the house when a removal 

 is taking place, and as long as it remains, the owner thereof 

 still claims to be in possession; when he removes the cup- 

 board he invites the domestic gods to follow him, this is 

 called f$ ^ 5f$ . The colloquial for worshipping the domestic 

 gods is $ ^ ifr . 



Ji Jffi fi il ffl The Heaven and Earth Tablet.— This 

 tablet is dedicated to Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Ancestors 

 and Teachers. It is said that this tablet had its origin in the 

 Emperor £3 -T* ^ 3E . That before this man became Em- 

 peror he was being pursued by soldiers who sought to take 

 his life. Some people who favoured his becoming emperor 

 stopped him and asked him to write a tablet for the family 

 altar, and he wrote the above five characters with the follow- 

 ing explanation 55 *ft # & ft £ J8L m 2 # 3i ± £ J&r 

 & n ft ^ If ± JR Iff fi # §fc IT £ JS, that is "Earth 

 has a supporting and Heaven a covering grace; emperors 

 have the land-giving grace; parents have the nurturing and 

 rearing grace; teachers have the teaching and exhorting 

 grace." It is also said that $1 SE B. (who subjugated the 

 western boundaries of Kansu -jf It and kept it in peace for 

 18 years) when leaving the district wrote these five characters 



