Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/165

Rh Lang chung (閬中) hui, the birthday of Chang Fei. This is the day for butchers, soldiers, and archers, and falls on the 22nd of the 3rd moon.

Ts‘ai shên hui, the birthday of the god of wealth, the patron deity of the silversmiths, cash shops, and business men in general.

Yüeh wang hui, the birthday of the god of medicine, worshipped by doctors and medicine shop keepers. This falls on the 28th of the 4th moon.

Wang yeh hui, the boatmens' god festival. Said to be Yang Ssŭ wang (楊泗王), of the Sung dynasty. His title is Chên Chiang wang (鎮江王); the date is the 6th of the 6th moon. The festival is kept by boatmen, raftsmen and all who trade on the waterways.

Ling tsu hui, the festival of the witch, wizard and sorcerer, on the 16th of the 6th moon.

Yen ti hui, the birthday of the god of fire; in some cities a great procession parades the streets on this date.

Lu pan (魯班) hui, the birthday of Lu pan or the carpenters' god, said to have been the son of a statesman of Lu who lived in Ch‘ü fou (曲阜) about 500 B.C. He is said to have been clever at inventions and is now worshipped by carpenters, masons, hewers, sawyers, and carvers.

Lo (羅) tsu hui, the birthday of Lo tsu the barbers' god. On that day the barbers have one of their few holidays. It falls on the 13th of the 7th moon.

Ts‘ai lun hui, the birthday of the paper-makers' god, a general holiday for the paper factory employees.

Mêng t‘ien hui, the birthday of the pencil-makers' god. The workers have a holiday on this day.

San huang hui; this is the festival of the fortune tellers and quack doctors.

Hsuan yüan hui, festival of the tailors' god.

K‘ung Tzŭ hui, the birthday of Confucius. In schools the tablet of Confucius is worshipped. Chair-bearers also worship the sage because they believe that he invented the sedan chair.