Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/70

 CHAPTER IV

. 修來世 hsiu lai shih.

is also spoken of as yin kung 陰功 or secret merit. Secret merit is supposed not to be spoken of, and is rarely practised by people under forty, but some, after they have sown their wild oats desire to accumulate merit to counteract their evil practices; as the saying runs 一善阝夊千惡一善改千惡 [sic], one good deed changes a thousand bad ones.

To set free living creatures bought for the purpose, fang shêng 放生, such as birds, fishes, tortoises, eels, etc., is reckoned great merit. So is the building of bridges by subscription. To repair the public roads near the home, when done out of free will is also believed to be very meritorious, but it is expected that travellers will contribute to this work, and has now come to be a respectable way of begging. This kind of work is also inflicted by law for light offences.