Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/152

 that. In some cases of ague a petition is lodged with the kitchen god, beseeching him to use his good offices.

The ague is known by these three names, han ping kuei (寒病鬼), han hsia tsŭ (瞎子), han êrh ko (二哥); the demon of the han ping, blind Han, Han number two, and is a serious sickness among the Chinese. When a person has it a staff is placed beside the wall and the sick man goes out and calls the demon, who, it is believed, takes the staff and walks out after him. When sitting in a house the custom is never to lean against the wall as this blind demon gropes around holding on to the wall and may get you.

Kuei shê (龜蛇), the turtle and snake charm, or shui ho fu, the fire and watercharm. The snake saves from flood and the turtle from fire; it is a picture of a red snake and a black turtle.

Chao yao ching (照妖鏡), illuminate-demon mirror, a round, brass mirror about five or six inches in diameter. It is worn by brides on the wedding day near the breast to frighten away demons who may accompany or meet them on the way; this is an ancient custom, but is dying out.

Chou hsien yin, or (虎符龍節) hu fu lung chieh. It is believed that the seal of the magistrate governs the demons to a depth of three feet below the surface of the ground. The proclamations issued with official seals are often defaced by cutting out the red seal mark. This is carried on the person to drive off demons. Most likely derived from the old-fashioned seals which had a tiger's head and a dragon's image on them; the seals of the present day do not have either. When a house is haunted it is not uncommon for a householder to beseech the official to stamp a few pieces of paper with his seal to hang up in the house.

P‘ei ch‘ih (佩赤) fu, to carry cinnabar red on the person, sometimes mixed with a medicinal preparation.

(門神), mên shên.

There are many guardian spirits of doors of houses, offices, etc., as follows :

Wên and wu mên shên, the literary and military guardians of the door. These are put on the outside doors of dwelling