A CHAPTER OF FOLKLORE 97 



other the water carrier 51 7jc !& ^ . He is chiefly worshipped 

 in his notch in the kitchen, but is occasionally worshipped 

 in the chief room of the house. He takes special care of the 

 domestic animals, such as chickens, dogs, cats, and some- 

 times a picture of these animals is put up just below his 

 shrine. In the kitchen fire nothing dirty is allowed to be 

 burned for fear of offending him, and neither dog nor cow's 

 flesh is allowed to be cooked in his pot for the same reason. 

 No quarrels are allowed in the kitchen for fear he hears and 

 reports. The saying runs as follows: — 



m fi * n $; ft m & $ & m Pi 



"If in the kitchen the smell of dog or cows annoys me, 

 I will send calamity. 

 If the family quarrels in my presence making me un- 

 comfortable I will send calamity." 



#^ffi^^£±tfJ»$iSB*A^ Domestic Law. 

 The first style refers to the husband and the second to his 

 wife. This is the domestic precinct god of long life, and 

 good luck, the husband seeing to the long life, and the wife 

 to the good luck of the household. His particular day is the 

 7th of the 7th moon when special offerings are laid upon his 

 shrine. His place in the house is just below the Heaven 

 and Earth tablet. It is said that the precinct god is the 

 4 1 H ffi or something akin to the Roman penates or house- 

 hold gods. If the family worship a $§. %$ or altar of lemuria 

 (shades), then that spirit looks after the animals; but if there 

 is no altar to the lemuria in the house this duty falls to the 

 lot of the kitchen and precinct gods. Very often if a child 

 gets sick or the pig takes the measles, then an offering is 

 made to the precinct god. He has two slaves; one is called 

 the m M M * and the other M » IP % . The names ft tit 

 and M M are often given to dogs, and indicates that the dog 

 is a lucky animal. Hence the saying #$ Bj & ^ when a dog 

 comes he governs the wealth of the household. 



iJSljl T'an Shen. The Altar of the Lemuria or Ghosts. 



jE—£j&*J:ffiftH»L The Spirit of the lemuria 

 altar is believed to have been named Chao St and the follow- 

 ing scrolls seems to give his history a" H 1 ^ l§ ^ t?, 



* n m s tfs m w? . 



Formerly he was a prefect in Nan Yang j?j |fg in Kiang 

 Nan 7X ffi , Now he is the god of the lemuria in Western 

 Ssuchuan. 



7 



