Taoism. The trinity of Taoism consists of three Supreme Gods, each in a separate Heaven. The three Heavens were formed from the three airs, which are the subdivisions of the one primordial air. The first God is the source of all truth, the second God is the custodian of the sacred books and also calculates time, dividing it into epochs. The third God is the teacher of kings and emperors and the reformer of successive generations. Connected with Taoism, but not exclusively associated with it, is the worship of the Three Causes; Heaven, Earth, and Water. They are the sources of happiness, forgiveness of sins, and deliverance of evil.

Kitchen God.-The Kitchen God is a Taoist invention, but is worshipped universally by all families in China. Over sixty million pictures of him are prayed to twice a month, at new and full moon.

The God of Riches is worshipped everywhere in China and there are countless images and portraits of him. He is represented as a visitor accompanied by numerous attendants carrying all the treasures that men, women and children could possibly desire.

The God of Longevity is a domestic deity, of happy countenance with a very high forehead. He rides a stag and has a flying bat above his head. He holds in his hands a peach and a gourd and scroll are attached to his staff. The stag and bat indicate happiness while

the peach, gourd, and scroll are symbols of a ripe old age.

Polytheism.-The names of the Gods of China are legion, and it would be impossible to name, much less to discuss, them all. There are Gods and Goddesses of wind, rain, snow, frost, oxen, horses, trees, flowers, rivers, tides, theatres, dogs, pigs, sheep, goats, locusts, snakes, gold, tea, salt, lamps, gems, wells, tailors, barbers, carpenters, masons, jugglers, street-walkers, wine, monkeys, lice, fire crackers, fornication, revenge, midwives, brothels, combs, innkeepers, gamblers, oculists, smallpox, liver complaint, stomach ache, Punch and Judy, butchers, bakers, candle-stick makers, shoes, ships, sealing wax, cabbage, jewellers, canaries, seed, goldfish, stallions, cobblers, chemists, strolling singers, fortune tellers, etc., etc. Not only is there a God of the eye, but there is a God of the Light of the eye. There is a special deity for smallpox and another special deity for the pock-marks which the smallpox leaves.

LEGENDS

Ministry of Thunder and Storm. Affairs in the "Other World" of China are managed by official Bureaux or Ministries. First in importance is the Ministry of Thunder and Storms. An assortment of officials make up this body, the principal ones being Lei Tsu, the Ancestor of Thunder; Lei Kung, the Duke of Thunder; Tien Mu, the Mother of Lightning; Feng Po, the Count of Wind; and Yu Shih, the Master of Rain.

The President of the Ministry of Thunder has three eyes, one in the centre of his forehead. A ray of white light extends from the centre eye for a distance of two feet. Mounted on a black unicorn he covers millions of miles in the twinkling of an eye. The Duke of Thunder is an ugly, black, bat-winged demon with a monkey's head, claws, and an eagle's beak. The noise of thunder is produced when the Duke beats drums with a chisel and hammer which he carries with him. The Mother of Lightning wears a gorgeous robe of blue, green, red, and white. In both hands she holds a mirror from which emerge two broad streams of light. The Count of Wind is an old man with a white beard, yellow cloak, and blue and red cap. He holds a large sack and with it directs the wind which comes from his mouth in any direction it pleases him. The Master of Rain wears yellow scale-armour with a blue hat and yellow plume. He stands on a cloud and pours rain upon the earth from a watering can.

Water Dragons.-In China the Dragon controls the prosperity and peace of the country. He decides about

the harvest and can make the Master of Rain pour water upon the earth if he so desires. Mountain dragons are harmful while those of lakes and rivers are friendly and helpful. Dragons differ in appearance but usually have the head of a horse, the tail of a snake, and wings. They have four legs. The imperial dragon has five claws on each foot while ordinary dragons have but four. The horns resemble those of a deer, eyes those of a devil, the claws those of an eagle while the soles of the feet are like those of a tiger. Some have ox-like ears while others hear through their horns.

The small dragon is like a caterpillar while the large dragon fills Heaven and Earth. Suspended from the neck of the dragon is a pearl which represents the sun. He has the power of transformation and may be visible or invisible at will. In the Spring he ascends to the skies but in Autumn prefers the water. Some have no wings and rise in the air simply because they are dragons. A celestial dragon guards the mansions of the gods and supports them so that they do not fall. The earth dragon marks out the courses of rivers and streams while the dragon of the hidden treasures watches over the wealth concealed from mortals.

Sometimes mere mortals can actually see a dragon. If you see a cloud floating about with a curious con-figuration or a serpentine tail it is a dragon. The Sea-dragon kings, however, bury themselves in gorgeous palaces in the depths of the sea where they feed on opals and pearls. There are five Sea-dragon monarchs, all immortal. Their palaces, of multi-coloured transparent stones with doors of crystal, have often been seen early in the morning by persons gazing into deep waters.

The disposition of a dragon can always be deter-mined by his colour (just in case you happen to meet with one). The blue dragon is the 'most compas sionate. A red dragon will bestow his blessings upon you and you will have good luck during your visit to China. A yellow dragon will hear all petitions and grant wishes.

Ministry of Fire.-The Celestial organization of Fire is presided over by a President, Lo Hsuan, and five subordinate ministers. The President has a face the colour of ripe fruit of the jujube-tree, red hair and beard, and three eyes. He wears a red cloak and his horse snorts flame from his nostrils while fire darts from his hoofs.

Ministry of Epidemics.-The Ministry of Epidemics is made up of a President, Lu Yueh, and four disciples. The President wears a red garment, has a blue face, red hair, long teeth, and three eyes. In his many hands he holds a celestial seal, plague microbes, the flag of plague, and the plague sword.

Star Worship.-The star deities are adored by parents on behalf of their children. They control courtship and marriage, bring prosperity or adversity in business, send war, regulate drought, and command angels and demons. Every event in life is determined by a star ruler. In case of sickness in the family ten paper star gods are lined up, five good on one side, five bad on. the other, and a feast placed before them. When the bad star gods have eaten enough they fly away and then prayers to the good star gods are offered, they listening without interference from the bad ones. The Star of Pleasure decides on betrothals, binding with silver cords the feet of those destined to become lovers. The Bone-piercing Star produces rheumatism. Fathers or mothers are killed during the year if the Morning Star is not worshipped. The Pear-Blossom Star controls lunacy, the Three-corpse Star suicide, and the Balustrade Star lawsuits.

Myth of Time.-T'ai Sui is the celestial spirit who presides over the year. He is the President of the Ministry of Time and is greatly feared by all. Whoever offends him is certain to be destroyed and he strikes when least expected. In order to avert calamities T'ai Sui is worshipped extensively for he may injure rich and poor alike at any time and at any place. He has one peculiarity which makes prevention of disaster easier. He does not injure persons in the district where he happens to be but in the adjoining district. Thus precautions may be taken by neighbouring areas if he is located in one. This is done by an elaborate diagram which verifies his geographical position.

SUPERSTITIONS

Superstitions among the uneducated Chinese run rampant from babyhood to old age and beyond. Superstitions concerning the dead are as multiple as they are of the quick. Evidences adorning the younger generation, every fetish at which the tourist stops to marvel, have roots so fundamental in Chinese tradition that they live on, presumably forever.

You will 'see them about the streets, children wearing padlocks attached to the neck with a silver band or chain. They are intended to chain them to existence and the padlocks keep the youngsters from being taken by death. These padlocks may be found in all silver-smith shops, in all sizes and shapes.

The silver collars look like dog collars and the idea originally was taken from a dog dollar. Chinese dogs live discouragingly long lives and are very healthy. It is the idea of the parent to put a collar around a child's neck so that he will do likewise. The circlet also hems in life and prevents the soul from deserting the body.

Earrings and Spirits.-Little girls wear two earrings, little boys one. Evil spirits cannot be bothered about mere girl babies and for that reason the boys are also made to wear the feminine ornament. The general idea is that evil spirits, seeing the earring, will believe that the child is a girl and go away, disgusted.

No explanation is offered as to why if one earring is effective two wouldn't be better. They are shaped like the weights of clocks, thereby giving the impression that they are heavy and hard to raise. Evil spirits are notoriously lazy and no spirit is going to bother about taking a child along who has a clock weight attached to one ear. Sometimes boy babies are even given girls' names to delude the evil spirits. The name, plus the earring, makes the boy reasonably safe.

The single strand of hair which you will see dangling down the forehead from an otherwise shaved head of a Chinese child, is not merely the Chinese idea of tonsorial pulchritude. If the lock is shorn the child is thereby exposed to an untimely death. According to stories told by the Taoist priests a youngster has to pass many barriers along the roadway of youth and if that lock of hair is missing when he arrives at the road of life the road is promptly barred and the child dies. Fortune tellers, with their rigmarole of cycles and dates, determine just when the lock may be cut off.

Engagements.-Getting engaged in old style Chinese fashion involves more red tape than a League of Nations agreement. Principals in the drama play small parts, merely following the dictates of superstitious custom The heavy role is played by the matchmaker who tours from one family to another making overtures, agreeing upon purchase price and dowry, and getting the con-tract signed. Enters the fortune teller. He takes the card upon which the prospective bridegroom has written the cyclic characters indicating year of his birth, day, and hour, and a similar one made out by the bride-to-be. From this information he figures out whether the destiny of the one corresponds to the destiny of the other. This he does by comparing the characters with the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Then he compares the two cyclic animals which have presided over the births of the parties interested, in order to ascertain whether they will abide together in harmony. The decision is based on the liking or disliking of the cyclic animals for each other. For example, the tiger is the sworn enemy of the serpent. Compatibility of elements is also determined. For instance, fire never did like water.

The lucky day for the wedding is fixed by the aid of the calendar which is carefully marked in black and yellow. Yellow is lucky, black unlucky. Another document is made out by the fortune teller and given (for a price) to the matchmaker. This fixes the day on which the wedding will take place and is sent by the young man to the family of his future bride. A third document attests that an engagement has actually taken place and is accompanied by presents. A contract is again drawn up, the young man sending his agreement to the parents of the young lady. Along with it he sends a certain sum of money, the amount being fixed by the matchmaker. There is also an assortment of knick knacks such as hair pins, ear-rings, rings, bracelets, and jewels, according to the standing of the parties. The bride-to-be begins to have a good time. Her family also prepares a betrothal agreement, drawn up almost on the same terms as that of the future bridegroom, and sends it to his family.

Here Comes the Bride.-After the girl has been duly informed that she is to become Mrs. So-and-so, her family again visits the fortune teller to determine the month in which she may be married in safety, the day already having been determined by the combined efforts of fortune teller and matchmaker. This is determined by the animal who presided over the month in which she first saw the light of day. For instance, if it was a hog, wedding bells (firecrackers, to be exact) must sound in the third month. If it was a monkey the young lady is doomed to be married in the eighth month. Her fiance does the same thing and sends his information around with more presents in a red box. The bride's family sends back a collection including herbs which will destroy evil spirits, flowers which portend riches, and vegetables which will insure num-erous progeny.

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The highly agitated young man finally gets around to chartering a sedan chair and goes to fetch his lady. Before stepping into his chariot he makes obeisances to all his family, the household gods, all the neighbours, and all the neighbours' household gods. A boy child must also be put into the sedan chair. After calling for his fiancee she accompanies him in another sedan chair. Before he returns her family gives him a pair of chopsticks and a couple of wine cups. These are supposed to bring cheer to the future household. Both the sedans are turned in the direction of the God of Joy while the presentation is going on, said direction having been determined by a guide chart. Sometimes the young lady's feet are padlocked. In the back of her chair there dangles a sieve and a mirror. Another mirror is attached to the bridal gown of the bride-to-be with which she does not part until she is seated on the nuptial bed. There are, of course, female attendants, equivalents of the Occidental bridesmaids and maids of honour. Before they are chosen they also are submitted to a fortune teller who determines if their respective cyclic animals are in harmony with the bride's.

Goddess of Fecundity.-The first wish of Chinese newlyweds is to have children. In every temple in every village in China there is a "wantchee baby" altar where earnest entreaties and offerings are laid daily. Kwan-yin is the most efficient Goddess to address on this score. A small shoe is usually offered and around any Kwan-yin shrine may always be found a number of shoes which, for some unknown reason, are never stolen. Presumably even the thieves of China respect the baby business. The shoe has to be a borrowed one, otherwise it won't work, and should the blessed event be forth-coming the shoe is returned to the original owner after the birth, toge-ther with a new pair of shoes. The Goddess of Fecundity obtains her little souls from the God of Hades, souls resurrected from Hell, and pours the souls into bodies.

In addition to Kwan-yin, numerous gods are also invoked. The God of Literature is one. Some families don't care whether their children grow up to wear spectacles and impress

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people or not. In that case the God of Literature is ignored. But families of official standing and the literati persistently entreat this god to bless them with his favours. A drawing of the God is hung in the nuptial chamber. In his arms he holds a child wearing an official academic headdress. The youthful descendant is not actually expected to put in his appearance in such a garb, but the general idea is that the sooner he gets into it the better.

There are numerous other pictures of a suggestive nature which immediately surround the young bride, and continue to surround her until her child-bearing days are over. Every Chinese home where there are young married people is adorned by a resplendent painted phoenix carrying an infant in its bill and headed in the general direction of the bride. There is one popular picture of the hundred children, all males of course, who share among their hundred selves all the honours and dignities of the world.

Diplomatic Fortune Teller.-When a Chinese baby is about to put in his appearance a fortune teller is consulted in regard to the sex of the child. He usually predicts that it will be a boy so as not to incur the displeasure of the future parents. A few days previous to the birth the potential mother carries a mirror around to ward off evil spirits. Many prayers are said, mostly to Buddha, to whom it is promised that the progeny will become a monk, should it be a boy. Of course he can be ransomed later on, if a few offerings are made. The practical side of the bargain is never forgotten.

After the child is born it has to wait three days before getting a bath, but on the third day it is cleansed and the fortune teller is once more summoned to cast the infant's horoscope. By that horoscope its parents are guided all through the baby's young years. Then begins the battle with the evil spirits which surround the child. Peach wood amulets are made which are either put over the "cradle" or shot into the air by archers who believe they are puncturing the evil spirits thereby. The new mother shouts curses at the devil and hires watchmen to guard the premises day and night with knives.

Neither mother nor child can leave the house, even cross the threshold, for a month after birth. Before they do go out the baby's head is shaved and the hair mixed with dog hair, which is rolled into a ball and sewn on the child's clothing. Henceforth the neigh bours have nothing to fear from his presence in their homes. Copper cash is also sprung on a string and hung around a god's neck to charm away evil spirits. Later on the necklace is retrieved and put around the baby's neck. When babies learn to walk bells are tied on the little toes to frighten away hovering bad spirits,

Many people in Shanghai have, at some time or other, been presented with scarlet colored hard boiled eggs by a grinning servant who proudly announces that he has "catchee one piecee boy baby." Red is the Chinese colour of joy and it is also a lucky omen. When the babies are old enough to be taken out into the streets they may be seen with dabs of gory red on their wee noses and cheeks and foreheads.

Extreme Unction.-Dying in proper style is almost as ceremonious as getting married or being born. As soon as it becomes fairly apparent that there is to be a death in the household the relatives of the sufferer pray to summon back the soul. Half a dozen men are sent to the nearest Temple to bring a god, which is placed on a portable altar-chair to which is attached two long poles. Four men carry the chair by putting the poles over their shoulders. They chant like coolies as they walk along with their celestial burden. The other two men precede the chair, beating gongs heartily. This is to warn people along the route that the god is passing and to pay him due homage. Quantities of firecrackers are exploded along the way until finally the home of the sick man is reached, the god is deposited, and the bearers adjourn.

The visiting god is then importuned by the sorrowing relatives to cure the invalid or, at least, to give them some advice on the subject. Once more the bearers are summoned and the god is taken to an apothecary shop where its advice on the proper drugs to use is asked. To help him out the family points to various articles around the room. If the god remains immobile when they point to a certain drug, the drug is useless, but if he moves (due to accidental moving by the bearers) the family purchases the chemical which happens to be in that general direction.

When it becomes certain that the sick man is going to die in spite of all precautions (or perhaps because of them) the family set about getting his dying outfit together. if the sufferer is a man he must be provided with hoots and a ceremonial headdress. The soles of the boots are soft and flexible so that they will not hurt his feet on his journey to Heaven. Next comes a long gown and an overcoat. Neither garment must have brass buttons, of which the Chinese ale usually very fond. Brass buttons, however, would weigh down the deceased so that he could not ascend to Heaven so easily. The underwear must be padded, even in the hottest weather, as must the trousers and waistcoats. The Chinese believe that padded clothing keeps the corpse from putrefaction. Women are clothed in a long gown, an over-mantle, a veil, and padded under-clothing.

All of the clothing, of course, is new. None of it must be fur lined or otherwise contaminated by animal skins for there is a superstition that should the de-ceased come into contact with anything from an animal the departed soul returns to earth as an animal.

Significance of Colours -All colours may be used but red and yellow are reserved for scholars and officials. White is only used by the very poor people as colour costs money in China. Silk and satin are used if possible. Fastenings of all sorts are left off the garments and a simple string is tied around the waist. The usual girdle is believed to be used to carry off children and it is thought that should a girdle be included in the dead man's wardrobe he might be lone-some and take a child with him.

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A dying man is not permitted to lie in a family bed for, in that case, the bed would be forever haunted. Usually a door is laid across two trestles and the dying man is placed on it, even though moving him may hasten death.

No curtains are allowed in the room where a dying man lies, because curtains are thought to resemble fish-nets and the mourners fear that he might turn into a fish if his last hours were so influenced. Pillows are removed, for should the dying man happen to gaze upon his feet, if only to look at his new boots, misfortune would then befall the children. By lowering the head this dire possibility is eliminated.

ANCESTOR WORSHIP

In the majority of homes in China, no matter how great or how humble, there is a domestic shrine or temple before which members of the family worship daily. In April of every year people gather at family graves to worship the departed.

Many children necessarily worship at the graves of ancestors whom they have never seen, but as they grow older those ancestors are exchanged for nearer ones, grandmothers and grandfathers who held them when they were babies or first taught them to, walk. Ancestor worship extends back only to immediate ancestors.

All this tends to make family relations stronger and to build a lasting tie between brothers and sisters. It produces the filial obedience and reverence for which China has long been famed. Although ancestor wor-ship arises from purely superstitious motives it inevit-ably makes for the tremendous strength of the Chinese people as a race, their close affiliations and habits of clinging together in every walk of life.

Bird Parade.-As is well-known, the Chinese are great lovers of cage birds, and an unusual proof of this can be witnessed early morning or late afternoon of any fine day on the South section of Thibet Road, opposite the Race Course. Here scores of fanciers adjourn. for the purpose of displaying and "airing" their pets, which are of many types and sizes. The commercial side is not altogether lost sight of and the owrer of some particular songster may occasionally be induced to part with it for a consideration.