Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/185

 away pestilence. On the streets high platforms are made of square tables piled one on top of the other, and on these the lion-actors perform acrobatic feats of jumping, rolling over to the ground, standing on the head, etc.

The ox lantern is an ox-head painted on a bamboo sieve, with a cloth body and tail. It is used in country towns with the idea that it will bring a full harvest for that year.

A rabbit lantern is pulled along the street by two persons; one, dressed like a Tibetan, leads the rabbit, and another, dressed like a Tibetan woman, drives it. This is connected with the idea that the Tibetan is not only wealthy, but also brings in wealth.

There are also fish, turtle, tortoise, prawn and crab lanterns; the ao shan lantern has camphor mixed with the oil and sheds a pretty green light.

There are displays, which are both elaborate and expensive, of yen ho chia, fireworks. In many of these fireworks much medicine is mixed with the oil; the idea seems to be the driving away of pestilence from the home or community.

The ch‘ing ch‘un chiu is a feast generally given by a landlord to his tenant farmers from the 5th to the 10th of the first moon. Sometimes it is held later and may even be in the second month.

Riddles are written and hung up over the door of the house, and in the light of the lantern festival, people guess the meaning and then, if right, jump up and pull them down; rewards of fruit and sweetmeats are often given to those who make a right guess.

At this time the people eat flour balls with treacle inside; these balls are now called yüan hsiao. There seems to be a kind of concert held in the home, and young men and maidens sing and trip in the form of the figure eight both on the street and in the home. The ballads they sing are called nung an ko, farmers' peaceful ballads; but they have now lost that ideal and have degenerated into mere yin ko sensual songs.