22 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
and pl. 11, jig. 20, represents the interior of a temple in which the Zoku- 
Najir is worshipped with strange ceremonies. Religious festivals and pro- 
cessions are very numerous ; especially in July and August, the dry season 
in China, when these solemn trains may be seen in every province, invok- 
ing the gods for a plentiful rain (pl. 6, fig. 9). 
The religion of this idolatrous people abounds like that of other nations 
of antiquity in superstitious rites; one of these, the inquiry into the future, 
is illustrated on pl. 6, jig.10. The figures to the left represent a Chinese with 
his friend who, about to enter upon some important undertaking, as mar- 
riage, the building of a house, or a distant journey, seeks first one of those 
little temples which abound in every city and village, and are even to be 
found in the forest and on the mountain top. They are always open in 
order to enable any one to repair there and seek counsel. The inquirer 
having entered approaches the altar before the hideous idol, and takes the 
cup with the little wooden sticks; this he shakes until one of these staves 
falls out, and is carefully examined on both ends upon which different words 
are inscribed. The priest seated to the right now endeavors to find in the 
book of divination (which is always kept in the temple) the corresponding 
sign and its interpretation. This ceremony the inquirer repeats three times, 
and if he meets with one favorable stick during the process, he considers it 
a propitious omen. His friend behind him looks on with anxiety vividly 
depicted on his countenance. If the enterprise turns out favorably, the 
grateful worshipper returns to the temple and acknowledges his indebted- 
ness by burning a few sheets of colored paper upon the furnace which is 
seen to the right of the idol, and then deposits a few coppers for the support 
of the temple. 
5. JAPANESE MyrTHonoey. 
The Japanese, whose religious systems are classed here for the same 
reason as those of the Chinese, namely, on account of the prominence 
of Buddhism, enjoy like the Chinese great religious toleration. Hence 
the variety of different creeds professed not only by different families, but 
also frequently by the different members of the same household. 
The oldest religion of the island, and that which would be still the pre- 
vailing and state religion if political causes had not obliged many of the 
inhabitants openly to acknowledge one of the sects of Buddha, is the Xznto 
or Sinto religion. 
This system teaches the existence of a supreme invisible being inhabiting 
the infinite regions of eternity, and that of a race of great but inferior gods 
who dwell in the visible heavens. 
But the great king is thought of too lofty a nature to be represented by 
images or worshipped in temples, while the other gods are considered as 
wholly indifferent to all the affairs of man. No altars are therefore erected 
to either, nor religious worship paid to them. Their existence is only recog- 
nised as objects by which to swear. The gods that are worshipped by the 
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