Page:Madras Journal of Literature and Science, series 1, volume 6 (1837).djvu/277



The religious festivals of the Chinese are numerous, and specifically laid down by the board of religious rites in China. The sacrifices are divided into three great classes; the first and most important of which is subdivided into sacrifices offered to the azure heavens, to the earth, to the great abode of ancestors, and to the Shay Tscih, or gods of the land. The inferior sacrifices are offered to the planets, ghosts of great and good men, Confucius, the deities presiding over the elements, thunder, clouds, mountains, &c. Those which appear the most attractive in Chinese colonies are the Yuen Tan, on their new year's day; the feast of lanterns in the first moon; the sacrifices at the tombs, Tsing-ming, in the third moon; the feast of the dragon and Quantai, in the 5th moon, and that of Shaou-e, to the manes of their relations in the 7th moon.

The festival of Shaou-e commences on the 1st of the 7th Chinese month, and continues to its conclusion. Strictly speaking, the last fifteen days should constitute its duration. It is offered to the souls of the dead, which, during the month, are supposed by the Chinese to issue forth from the invisible world and visit their relations on earth. Supernatural noises, whisperings, and the rush of these aerial beings through the air, are pretended to be heard. It is said to have been instituted in honour of the descent of a mortal into Hades, who rescued his mother, as Orpheus endeavoured to rescue Eurydice, from Pluto's