Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (Volumes 1 and 2)-18

THE EIGHTH COURT.His Infernal Majesty, Tu Shih, reigns at the bottom of the

great Ocean, due east below the Wu-chiao rock, in a vast noisy

Court many leagues in extent, subdivided into sixteen wards as

follows:—In the first, the wicked souls are rolled down mountains in carts.

In the second, they are shut up in huge saucepans. In the third,

they are minced. In the fourth, their noses, eyes, mouths, &c. are

stopped up. In the fifth, their uvulas are cut off. In the sixth,

they are exposed to all kinds of filth. In the seventh, their extremities

are cut off. In the eighth, their viscera[747] are fried. In

the ninth, their marrow is cauterized. In the tenth, their bowels

are scratched. In the eleventh, they are inwardly burned with fire.

In the twelfth, they are disembowelled. In the thirteenth, their

chests are torn open. In the fourteenth, their skulls are split and

their teeth dragged out. In the fifteenth, they are hacked and

gashed. In the sixteenth, they are pricked with steel prongs.Those who are unfilial, who do not nourish their relatives while

alive or bury them when dead, who subject their parents to fright,

sorrow, or anxiety—if they do not quickly repent them of their

former sins, the spirit of the Hearth will report their misdoings and

gradually deprive them of what prosperity they may be enjoying.

Those who indulge in magic and sorcery will, after death, when

they have been tortured in the other Courts, be brought here to

this Court, and dragged backwards by bull-headed horse-faced

devils to be thrust into the great Gehenna. Then when they have

been tortured in the various wards they will be passed on to the

Tenth Court, whence at the expiration of a kalpa[748] they will be sent

back to earth with changed heads and faces for ever to find their

place amongst the brute creation. But those who believe in the

Divine Panorama, and on the 1st of the 4th moon make a vow of

repentance, repeating the same every night and morning to the

Spirit of the Hearth, shall, by virtue of one of three characters,

obedient, acquiescent, or repentant, to be traced on their foreheads at

death by the Spirit of the Hearth, escape half the punishments

from the first to the Seventh Court inclusive, and escape this Eighth

Court altogether, being passed on to the Ninth Court, where cases

of arson and poisoning are investigated, and finally born again from

the Tenth Court among mankind as before.To this God added, “Whosoever may circulate the Divine

Panorama for the information of the world at large shall escape

all punishment from the First to the Eighth Court inclusive. Passing

through the Ninth and Tenth Courts, they shall be born again

amongst men in some happy state.”THE NINTH COURT.His Infernal Majesty, P‘ing Têng, reigns at the bottom of the

great Ocean, away to the south-west, below the Wu-chiao rock.

His is the vast, circular hell of A-pi, many leagues in breadth,

jealously enclosed by an iron net, and subdivided into sixteen wards,

as follows:—In the first, the wicked souls have their bones beaten and their

bodies scorched. In the second, their muscles are drawn out and

their bones rapped. In the third, ducks eat their heart and liver.

In the fourth, dogs eat their intestines and lungs. In the fifth, they

are splashed with hot oil. In the sixth, their heads are crushed in

a frame, and their tongues and teeth are drawn out. In the

seventh, their brains are taken out and their skulls filled with

hedge-hogs. In the eighth, their heads are steamed and their brains

scraped. In the ninth, they are dragged about by sheep till they

drop to pieces. In the tenth, they are squeezed in a wooden press

and pricked on the head. In the eleventh, their hearts are ground

in a mill. In the twelfth, boiling water drips on to their bodies.

In the thirteenth, they are stung by wasps. In the fourteenth, they

are tortured by ants and maggots; they are then stewed, and finally

wrung out (like clothes). In the fifteenth, they are stung by

scorpions. In the sixteenth, they are tortured by venomous snakes,

crimson and scarlet.All who on earth have committed one of the ten great crimes,

and have deserved either the lingering death, decapitation, strangulation,

or other punishment, shall, after passing through the

tortures of the previous Courts, be brought to this Court, together

with those guilty of arson, of making ku poison,[749] bad books,

stupefying drugs, and many other disgraceful acts. Then, if it be

found that, hearkening to the words of the Divine Panorama, they

subsequently destroyed the blocks of these books, burnt their

prescriptions, and ceased practising the magical art, they shall

escape the punishments of this Court and be passed on to the Tenth

Court, thence to be born again amongst the sons of men. But if,

having heard the warnings of the Divine Panorama, they still

continue to sin, from the Second to the Eighth Court their tortures

shall be increased. They shall be bound on to a hollow copper

pillar, clasping it round with their hands and feet. Then the pillar

shall be filled with fierce fire, so as to burn into their heart and

liver; and afterwards their feet shall be plunged into the great

Gehenna of A-pi, knives shall be thrust into their lungs, they shall

bite their own hearts, and gradually sink to the uttermost depths of

hell, there to endure excruciating torments until the victims of their

wickedness have either recovered the property out of which they

were cheated, or the life that was taken away from them, and until

every trace of book, prescription, picture, &c. formerly used by

these wicked souls has disappeared from the face of the earth.

Then, and only then, may they pass into the Tenth Court to be born

again in one of the Six States of existence.O ye who have committed such crimes as these, on the 8th of the

4th moon, or the 1st or 15th (of any moon), fasting swear that you

will buy up all bad books and magical pamphlets and utterly destroy

them with fire; or that you will circulate copies of the Divine

Panorama to be a warning to others! Then, when your last

moment is at hand, the Spirit of the Hearth will write on your

forehead the two words He obeyed, and from the Second up to the

Ninth Court your good deeds will be rewarded by a diminution of

such punishments as you have incurred. People in the higher ranks

of life who secure incendiaries or murderers, who destroy the

blocks of bad books, or publish notices warning others, and offer

rewards for the production of such books, will be rewarded by the

success of their sons and grandsons at the public examinations.

Poor people who, by a great effort, manage to have the Divine

Panorama circulated for the benefit of mankind, will be forwarded

at once to the Tenth Court, and thence be born again in some happy

state on earth.THE TENTH COURT.His Infernal Majesty, Chuan Lun,[750] reigns in the Dark Land,

due east, away below the Wu-chiao rock, just opposite the Wu-cho

of this world. There he has six bridges, of gold, silver, jade,

stone, wood, and planks, over which all souls must pass. He

examines the shades that are sent from the other courts, and,

according to their deserts, sends them back to earth as men,

women, old, young, high, low, rich, or poor, forwarding monthly a

list of their names to the judge of the First Court for transmission

to Fêng-tu.[751]The regulations provide that all beasts, birds, fishes, and insects,

whether biped, quadruped, or otherwise, shall after death become

chien,[752] to be born again for long and short lives alternately. But

such as may possibly have taken life, and such as must necessarily

have taken life, will pass through a revolution of the Wheel, and

then, when their sins have been examined, they will be sent up on

earth to receive the proper retribution. At the end of every year a

report will be forwarded to Fêng-tu.Those scholars who study the Book of Changes, or priests who

chant their liturgies, cannot be tortured in the Ten Courts for the

sins they have committed. When they come to this Court their

names and features are taken down in a book kept for the purpose,

and they are forwarded to Mother Mêng, who drives them on to the

Terrace of Oblivion and doses them with the draught of forgetfulness.

Then they are born again in the world for a day, a week, or

it may be a year, when they die once more; and now, having forgotten

the holy words of the Three Religions,[753] they are carried off

by devils to the various Courts, and are properly punished for their

former crimes.All souls whose balance of good and evil is exact, whose period,

or whose crimes are many and good deeds few, as soon as their

future state has been decided,—man, woman, beautiful, ugly, comfort,

toil, wealth, or poverty, as the case may be,—must pass

through the Terrace of Oblivion.Amongst those shades, on their way to be born again in the world

of human beings, there are often to be found women who cry out

that they have some old and bitter wrong to avenge,[754] and that

rather than be born again amongst men they would prefer to enter

the ranks of hungry devils.[755] On examining them more closely it

generally comes out that they are the virtuous victims of some

wicked student, who may perhaps have an eye to their money, and

accordingly dresses himself out to entrap them, or promises marriage

when sometimes he has a wife already, or offers to take care of an

aged mother or a late husband’s children. Thus the foolish women

are beguiled, and put their property in the wicked man’s hands.

By-and-by he turns round upon and reviles them, and, losing face

in the eyes of their relatives and friends, with no one to redress

their wrong, they are driven to commit suicide. Then, hearing[756]

that their seducer is likely to succeed at the examination, they beg

and implore to be allowed to go back and compass his death.

Now, although what they urge is true enough, yet that man’s

destiny may not be worked out, or the transmitted effects of his

ancestors’ virtue may not have passed away;[757] therefore, as a

compromise, these injured shades are allowed to send a spirit to the

Examination Hall to hinder and confuse him in the preparation of

his paper, or to change the names on the published list of successful

candidates; and finally, when his hour arrives, to proceed with the

spirit who carries the death-summons, seize him, and bring him to

the First Court of judgment.Ye who on the 17th of the 4th moon swear to carry out the precepts

of the Divine Panorama, and frequently make these words the

subject of your conversation, may in the life to come be born again

amongst men and escape official punishments, fire, flood, and all

accidents to the body.The place where the Wheel of Fate goes round is many leagues

in extent, enclosed on all sides by an iron palisade. Within are

eighty-one subdivisions, each of which has its proper officers and

magisterial appointments. Beyond the palisade there is a labyrinth

of 108,000 paths leading by direct and circuitous routes back to

earth. Inside it is as dark as pitch, and through it pass the spirits

of priest and layman alike. But to one who looks from the outside

everything is seen as clear as crystal, and the attendants who guard

the place all have the faces and features they had at their birth.

These attendants are chosen from virtuous people who in life were

noted for filial piety, friendship, or respect for life, and are sent here

to look after the working of the Wheel and such duties. If for a

space of five years they make no mistakes they are promoted to a

higher office; but if found to be lazy or careless they are reported

to the Throne for punishment.Those who in life have been unfilial or have destroyed much life,

when they have been tortured in the various Courts are brought

here and beaten to death with peach twigs. They then become

chien, and with changed heads and altered faces are turned out

into the labyrinth to proceed by the path which ends in the brute

creation.Birds, beasts, fishes and insects, may after many myriads of

kalpas again resume their original shapes; and if there are any

that during three existences do not destroy life, they may be born

amongst human beings as a reward, a record being made and their

names forwarded to the First Court for approval. But all shades

of men and women must proceed to the Terrace of Oblivion.Mother Mêng was born in the Earlier Han Dynasty. In her

childhood she studied books of the Confucian school; when she

grew up she chanted the liturgies of Buddha. Of the past and

the future she had no care, but occupied herself in exhorting

mankind to desist from taking life and become vegetarians. At

eighty-one years of age her hair was white and her complexion like

a child’s. She lived and died a virgin, calling herself simply

Mêng; but men called her Mother Mêng. She retired to the

hills and lived as a religieuse until the Later Han. Then, because

certain evil-doers, relying on their knowledge of the past, used to

beguile women by pretending to have been their husbands in a

former life, God commissioned Mother Mêng to build the Terrace of

Oblivion, and appointed her as guardian, with devils to wait upon

her and execute her commands. It was arranged that all shades

who had been sentenced in the Ten Courts to return in various

conditions to earth should first be dosed by her with a decoction of

herbs, sweet, bitter, acrid, sour or salt. Thus they forgot everything

that has previously happened to them, and carry away with

them to earth some slight weaknesses such as the mouth watering at

the thought (of something nice), laughter inducing perspiration, fear

inducing tears, anger inducing sobs, or spitting from nervousness.

Good spirits who go back into the world will have their senses of

sight, hearing, smell, and taste very much increased in power, and

their physical strength and constitution generally will be much

bettered. But evil spirits will experience the exact contrary of this,

as a reward for previous sins and as a warning to others to pray and

repent.The Terrace is situated in front of the Ten Courts, outside the

six bridges. It is square, measuring ten (Chinese) feet every way,

and surrounded by 108 small rooms. To the east there is a raised

path, one foot four inches in breadth, and in the rooms above-mentioned

are prepared cups of forgetfulness ready for the arrival of

the shades. Whether they swallow much or little it matters not; but

sometimes there are perverse devils who altogether refuse to drink.

Then beneath their feet sharp blades start up, and a copper tube

is forced down their throats, by which means they are compelled

to swallow some. When they have drunk, they are raised by the

attendants and escorted back by the same path. They are next

pushed on to the Bitter Bamboo floating bridge, with torrents of

rushing red water on either side. Half way across they perceive

written in large characters on a red cliff on the opposite side the

following lines:—

“To be a man is easy, but to act up to one’s responsibilities as such

is hard.

Yet to be a man once again is harder still.

For those who would be born again in some happy state there is no

great difficulty;

It is only necessary to keep mouth and heart in harmony.”

When the shades have read these words they try to jump on shore,

but are beaten back into the water by two huge devils. One has

on a black official hat and embroidered clothes; in his hand he

holds a paper pencil, and over his shoulder he carries a sharp

sword. Instruments of torture hang at his waist, fiercely he glares

out of his large round eyes and laughs a horrid laugh. His name is

Short Life. The other has a dirty face smeared with blood; he has

on a white coat, an abacus in his hand and a rice sack over his

shoulder. Round his neck hangs a string of paper money; his

brow contracts hideously, and he utters long sighs. His name is

They have their reward, and his duty is to push the shades into

the red water. The wicked and foolish rejoice at the prospect of

being born once more as human beings; but the better shades weep

and mourn that in life they did not lay up a store of virtuous acts,

and thus pass away from the state of mortals for ever.[758] Yet they

all rush on to birth like an infatuated or drunken crowd; and

again, in their early childhood, hanker after the forbidden flavours.[759]

Then, regardless of consequences, they begin to destroy life, and

thus forfeit all claims to the mercy and compassion of God.

They take no thought as to the end that must overtake them;

and finally, they bring themselves once more to the same horrid

plight.APPENDIX B.ANCESTRAL WORSHIP.“The rudimentary form of all religion is the propitiation of dead

ancestors, who are supposed to be still existing, and to be capable

of working good or evil to their descendants.”—Spencer’s Essays.

Vol. iii., p. 102.—The Origin of Animal Worship.BILOCATION.“As a general rule, people are apt to consider it impossible for a

man to be in two places at once, and indeed a saying to that effect

has become a popular saw. But the rule is so far from being

universally accepted, that the word ‘bilocation’ has been invented

to express the miraculous faculty possessed by certain saints of the

Roman Church, of being in two places at once; like St. Alfonso di

Liguori, who had the useful power of preaching his sermon in

church while he was confessing penitents at home.”—Tylor’s

Primitive Culture. Vol. i., p. 447.BURIAL RITES.“Hence the various burial rites—the placing of weapons and

valuables along with the body, the daily bringing of food to it, &c.

I hope hereafter, to show that with such knowledge of facts as he

has, this interpretation is the most reasonable the savage can

arrive at.”—Spencer’s Essays. Vol. iii., p. 104.—The Origin of

Animal Worship.DREAMS.“The distinction so easily made by us between our life in dreams

and our real life, is one which the savage recognises in but a vague

way; and he cannot express even that distinction which he perceives.

When he awakes, and to those who have seen him lying

quietly asleep, describes where he has been, and what he has done,

his rude language fails to state the difference between seeing and

dreaming that he saw, doing and dreaming that he did. From this

inadequacy of his language it not only results that he cannot truly

represent this difference to others, but also that he cannot truly represent

it to himself.”—Spencer’s Essays. Vol. iii., pp. 103, 104.SHADE OR SHADOW.“The ghost or phantasm seen by the dreamer or the visionary is

an unsubstantial form, like a shadow, and thus the familiar term of

the shade comes in to express the soul. Thus the Tasmanian word

for the shadow is also that for the spirit; the Algonquin Indians

describe a man’s soul as otahchuk, ‘his shadow;’ the Quiché

language uses natub for ‘shadow, soul;’ the Arawac ueja means

‘shadow, soul, image;’ the Abipones made the one word loákal

serve for ‘shadow, soul, echo, image.’”—Tylor’s Primitive Culture.

Vol. i., p. 430.SHADOW.“Thus the dead in Purgatory knew that Dante was alive when

they saw that, unlike theirs, his figure cast a shadow on the

ground.”—Tylor’s Primitive Culture. Vol. i., p. 431.THE SOUL.“The savage, conceiving a corpse to be deserted by the active

personality who dwelt in it, conceives this active personality to be

still existing, and his feelings and ideas concerning it form the basis

of his superstitions.”—Spencer’s Essays. Vol. iii., p. 103.—The

Origin of Animal Worship.TRANSMIGRATION.“Whether the Buddhists receive the full Hindu doctrine of the

migration of the individual soul from birth to birth, or whether they

refine away into metaphysical subtleties the notion of continued

personality, they do consistently and systematically hold that a

man’s life in former existences is the cause of his now being what he

is, while at this moment he is accumulating merit or demerit whose

result will determine his fate in future lives.”—Tylor’s Primitive

Culture. Vol. ii., p. 12.TRANSMIGRATION.“Memory, it is true, fails generally to recall these past births,

but memory, as we know, stops short of the beginning even of this

present life.”—Tylor’s Primitive Culture. Vol. ii., p. 12.TRANSMIGRATION.“As for believers, savage or civilised, in the great doctrine of

metempsychosis, these not only consider that an animal may have a

soul, but that this soul may have inhabited a human being, and thus

the creature may be in fact their own ancestor or once familiar

friend.”—Tylor’s Primitive Culture. Vol. i., p. 469.TREE-SOULS.“Orthodox Buddhism decided against the tree-souls, and consequently

against the scruple to harm them, declaring trees to have

no mind nor sentient principle, though admitting that certain dewas

or spirits do reside in the body of trees, and speak from within

them.”—Tylor’s Primitive Culture. Vol. i., p. 475.THOS. DE LA RUE AND CO., PRINTERS, BUNHILL ROW, LONDON.INDEX TO THE NOTES.VOL.PAGENOTE

Abstinence from Wine and Meat

i.

23

52Actors

i.

218

188

Adoption

„

„

i.

386

310ii.

156

492ii.

272

611Adulteration

ii.

332

675Age of graduates

i.

345

274Age to marry

i.

113

112

Alchemy

„

i.

65

83ii.

313

654

Alms’-bowl

„

i.

246

211i.

395

320Amusements, Literary

i.

215

186Anatomy, Chinese

ii.

253

590“Angels” of Taoism

i.

17

48Arbiter of Life and Death

i.

226

194Archery

i.

91

92Aristocracy, The

i.

186

156Auspicious Sites

i.

336

268

Bad

Sons

„

„

„

„

i.

147

131ii.

212

545ii.

281

622Bambooing

i.

55

76Banquets, Theatrical Entertainments during

ii.

54

396Beadles

ii.

17

373Beauty, Chinese

ii.

123

449Beggars

i.

246

212

Betrothals

„

„

i.

108

108i.

193

165i.

227

195Bikshu

i.

395

320Blowing into meat

ii.

306

647Blue China Epoch

ii.

303

645Bôdhisatva

i.

208

182Bridal procession

i.

338

269Bridegroom living in bride’s family

i.

193

163

Brotherly

deference

„

dependence

i.

314

247i.

318

250Brothers having separate establishments

ii.

322

669Brown deer of Formosa

i.

399

329Buddha, Repeating the name of

i.

367

293“Bull’s hide” trick, The

ii.

180

518

Burials

i.

197

171Burying stray bones, &c.

ii.

147

485Caligraphy

ii.

174

512

Capping

verses

„

„

i.

332

262ii.

57

399

Cash

„

i.

6

42ii.

171

503Cat and dog Restaurant

ii.

308

649

Catalepsy

„

i.

4

40ii.

73

410Celibacy

i.

23

52Censorate, The

i.

229

197Chai-mui

i.

333

265Chamber of Horrors

i.

93

94Change of residence

i.

321

251Charitable gifts

i.

137

129Chess, Chinese

i.

46

66Chou, General

ii.

221

557Chowry

ii.

71

407Clay-image makers

ii.

276

616Clepsydra

i.

49

70“Climbing trees to catch fish”

ii.

305

646

Coffins

„

„

deposited in Temples

„

for poor people

„

Sleeping in

i.

102

104i.

197

172i.

237

203ii.

316

658ii.

354

691Concubines

i.

395

321Confucius, Descendants of

i.

33

61Conservatism

i.

427

348Contemplation, Priestly

ii.

71

406Coroners

ii.

196

530Counting cattle, Method of

ii.

255

594Cow-herd and the Lady

i.

27

55Cricket-fighting

i.

75

85Crows, Feeding the

i.

279

229Cumquats

ii.

301

644Cycle, The Chinese

i.

180

152Cynthia, The Chinese

i.

171

147Damon and Pythias

i.

166

143

Death

„

Fear of

i.

150

134i.

101

103Death-summons, The

i.

150

134Decapitation

ii.

78

414Degrees, The three

i.

1

37Devils, Good and bad

ii.

201

534Dice

ii.

145

480Divorce

i.

360

288Doctors

ii.

293

634Dogs, Chinese

ii.

309

651Dolphin, Fresh-water

ii.

43

386Double-entendres

ii.

176

515Dragon-boat festival

ii.

168

497

Dragons

„

ii.

112

439ii.

349

686Dreams

ii.

250

586Dwarfs

i.

224

193

Drunkenness

„

„

i.

30

59i.

365

292ii.

30

378Eating

ii.

111

438

Education

„

i.

297

237ii.

322

668

Elixir

of Immortality

„

„

i.

19

49ii.

168

498

Examinations,

Competitive

„

„

„

„

i.

195

168ii.

64

403ii.

91

426Eye, Pupils of the

i.

8

43Fa Hsien’s journey

ii.

232

567Fabulous Lion

ii.

343

682Facing the South

ii.

103

431

Falconry

i.

22

51Fan, An Autumn

i.

361

289Fantan

i.

421

343Fatalism

i.

340

270Feet of betrothed tied together

i.

431

354Fêng-Shui

ii.

322

667Feudal Governor

ii.

287

628“Fiancé,” Death of a

i.

99

101Figure-head

ii.

54

395Fire-wells

ii.

238

575Flageolets

i.

28

58Folk-lore in the North and South

ii.

329

674Fondness for children

i.

401

332Foot-binding

i.

192

161Fortune-tellers

i.

47

68Foundries, Iron

ii.

216

549Four Books, The

i.

297

237Four Seas, The

ii.

116

444Fox influence

i.

32

60Foxes, Soothsayers possessed by

ii.

358

694Gambling

i.

421

343Ganges, The

ii.

28

377Gates of a city shut at night

ii.

262

598Geese

i.

255

217“Gentleman,” The Chinese

i.

168

145Geomancy

i.

227

195Gioros

i.

66

84Girdles, The pearl

i.

283

230

Glass

„

i.

249

214ii.

233

571

Go-betweens

„

i.

187

157ii.

154

490God of War, The

i.

2

39“Golden lilies”

i.

188

159“Golden Orchid” Societies

i.

196

170Gongs

ii.

105

433Good fortune, Absorbing only a certain quantity of

i.

342

271Graduates by purchase

i.

202

177Graduates, Senior

i.

199

175Grave, The

i.

240

207Great beam, Fixing the

ii.

267

602Greed

ii.

74

411Han dynasty

i.

258

219Han-lin, The Chinese National Academy

i.

195

169Heart, The

i.

96

97,

98Homicide

i.

353

285Honesty in olden times

ii.

250

587“Hsi-yüan-lu,” The

i.

98

100“Hu,” The name

i.

89

90Hué

i.

397

325Human life, Value of

ii.

338

678Hungry devils

ii.

270

607Immortality

i.

157

139Immortals, Record of the

ii.

88

423Imperial mandates

ii.

240

578Impressment

i.

220

190

Infernal

Regions

„

„

ii.

95

427ii.

354

690Inheritance, Law of

ii.

345

683Initiation of a Priest

ii.

69

405

Inner

apartments

„

„

„

„

i.

53

74i.

252

215ii.

46

388Jelly-fish

ii.

332

676Judas tree

ii.

151

488Judges

ii.

96

429Jugglers

ii.

189

527Khakkharam, The

i.

395

320Kangs

ii.

133

469Keeping secret professional knowledge

ii.

255

593Kidnapping

i.

183

154Kite-flying Festival

ii.

268

605

Knife Hill, The

ii.

205

539Kot‘ow, The

i.

388

314K‘u-ts‘an

ii.

255

592Kuan-yin

i.

241

208Lanterns, Feast of

i.

99

102Li T‘ai-poh

ii.

144

476Lictors

ii.

205

537Lighting the Eyes

ii.

224

558Lingering death, The

i.

396

322Literary chancellor

ii.

284

626Literati, The

ii.

36

384Literature, God of

ii.

320

662Liu Ch‘üan and the melon

ii.

351

689Living Lictors of Purgatory, The

i.

207

180Loans

ii.

171

501Locusts

ii.

242

579Lohans

ii.

321

666Long Robes

ii.

273

612Lots, Drawing

ii.

73

409Love-matches

i.

115

113Lucifer Matches

ii.

120

447Lunatics

ii.

30

378Lü Tung-pin

ii.

296

639Magic Sword

i.

62

80Mandarin Dialect

i.

398

327Manslaughter

i.

222

192

Marriage

Ceremonies

„

„

„

„

„

„

i.

10

45i.

181

153i.

227

195i.

228

196

Marriages

„

i.

108

109i.

193

165Marrying a second time

i.

112

110Mars, The Chinese

i.

2

39Medical testimonials

ii.

292

633Memorial tablet, Inking

ii.

224

558Mercy, The Goddess of

i.

241

208Messengers of good tidings

ii.

252

589Milky way, The

i.

152

135Miracles

i.

396

323“Mirror and Listen” trick

ii.

251

588Misappropriation of funds

ii.

224

559

Moon,

The Goddess of the

„

The Lady of the

i.

19

49i.

19

49Mothers-in-law

i.

315

249Mourning for a father

i.

199

174Mules

ii.

242

580Murders

i.

230

198

Names,

Family

„

Personal

i.

92

93ii.

132

466Night, Divisions of the

i.

215

187Nine grades of official life

i.

388

313Nunneries

i.

262

221Oath of confederation

ii.

146

482Oblivion, Potion of

ii.

207

544

Official

corruption

„

responsibility

ii.

79

415i.

232

199Officials

i.

237

202Old age

ii.

31

379Olive, the sign of peace

i.

324

256

Paper

men

„

money

„

„

i.

49

71i.

391

317ii.

172

505Pao Shu

i.

166

143

Patra,

The

„

„

i.

395

320i.

246

211Pawn-shops

i.

198

173Persia

ii.

25

376Phœnix Tower

ii.

270

608Physiognomy, Professors of

ii.

290

630Planchette

ii.

295

638

Playing wei-ch‘i for money

ii.

271

609Poetical proficiency

i.

33

62Police system

i.

221

191Politeness

ii.

203

536Poor scholars

i.

160

142Pope of the Taoists

i.

118

114Porterage

ii.

181

519Posthumous Honours

i.

305

241Praying for good or bad weather

ii.

294

637Praying-mat

ii.

183

521Precedence at table

i.

332

261

Predestination

„

i.

48

69i.

156

138Primogeniture

i.

203

179

Prisoners

in China

„

„

„

„

i.

372

299ii.

96

428ii.

261

597P‘u-hsien, God of Action

ii.

232

569Pulse, The

i.

39

64Punishments

i.

381

306Pupils taken by priests

ii.

119

446Purgatory, Capital of

ii.

238

575Quail-fighting

i.

75

85Quail’s Tail, A

i.

209

183Rebel, The first

ii.

52

392Red-garment figure, The

i.

19

50Red-haired barbarians

ii.

179

517Relationship, Test of

ii.

278

619Religion and the drama

i.

345

277Resemblance between soul and body

ii.

280

620

Retinues

of mandarins

„

„

„

„

i.

389

315ii.

174

510ii.

175

513Returning invitations

ii.

227

561

Revenge

„

for adultery

i.

310, 311

243,

244i.

62

81Reward of filial piety

i.

351

283Rising when spoken to

ii.

280

621Roc, The

ii.

341

680Rosary, The Buddhist

i.

369

295Royal Mother, The

ii.

187

525Rulers of animal and vegetable kingdoms

i.

292

235Running water

ii.

110

437Sacred edict, The

i.

203

179

Sale of

children

„

degrees

i.

183

154ii.

170

499Salt monopoly

ii.

215

547“Same-year men”

i.

136

128

Saving

life

„

„

ii.

200

533ii.

214

546Scribbling and carving names

ii.

123

451Sea-serpent, The

ii.

113

441Secret societies

i.

196

170Sections of Purgatory, The nine

ii.

205

538Senses, The five

i.

259

220Separation of sexes

ii.

167

496

Shaking

hands

„

„

i.

287

233ii.

151

489Sham entertainment

i.

323

254Shampooing

ii.

53

393“Shang-yang” brings rain

ii.

131

464“Shoes” of silver

i.

148

133Short weights

ii.

325

670Shun, The Emperor

i.

37

63Shun Chih, The Emperor

ii.

184

522