Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/147

Rh Ssŭ kuan (四官) ts‘ai shên is the god of wealth for the four seasons of the year.

Huo (活) ts‘ai shên. The living god of wealth; a low-bred priest dressed up as a god of wealth. He wears a high-crowned hat. In one hand he carries a tray containing a piece of white metal, and in the other a palm-fibre whip; he visits the houses of the people from the fifteenth of the first moon till about ch‘ing ming, using the whip to drive away the demons who hinder the prosperity of the family. He never speaks unless he is spoken to.

Yin hun chih kuei wei (淫昏之鬼為) ts‘ai shên. It is said that the demon of lust is the god of wealth; this is a wide-spread idea, hence the saying 笑貧不笑淫,. [sic] They laugh at poverty, but not at lust, that is, they will get rich at any cost.

Wu cho (五濁) shên. The god of wealth is styled thus because in mammon worship all manner of wickedness is said to be included and permitted to the devotees; business men have a secret language for talking about their prices before their customers; cow and pig dealers put their hands up each other's sleeves and talk by signs, all to deceive people.

It has been said that Tao Chai (盜蹠), the younger brother of Liu Hsia hui (柳下惠), is the real god of wealth; but the common people have a saying which runs thus: 敬財神不如餂勾子, It is better to flatter the rich than worship the god of wealth. A foreigner is not infrequently styled the god of wealth because it is believed that foreigners wealth is unlimited.

Charms, Hua fu (畫符).

The charm to put over the door is made of paper or calico which is pasted or nailed up. Over the doors of headmen the writing is in large characters, common people use smaller. Yellow is the most common colour, but small charms often have a stripe of white running through them. In ancient times it was customary to nail a piece of peach-wood over the door at New Year time, believing that this