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differences between Catholicism, the Non-Conformists and the Orthodox Churches. Similarly, it is not really surprising that there are marked differences within Chinese folk religion (the religion practised by the common folk) and with aspects of Buddhism and Taoism that Chinese popular religion commonly embraces.
It is interesting to compare observations in this paper with those of Judith Strauch at a tun fu ceremony held at Tai Po (Strauch, 1983, 147). The ceremony at Pat Heung, described in detail in this paper, it must be stressed again, was largely within a Hakka community. With a Cantonese ceremony there are marked differences and sometimes the comb of a cock is cut, its head is pierced, or it is even nailed to a tree in order to obtain its blood. This is smeared on the talismans and allowed to drip on the pots. Such customs frequently shock westerners (Grout, 1971, 204). Rooster's blood is considered to possess magical properties and is used during the swearing of oaths, for conducting sacrifices and for bringing the statue of a god to life (Burkhardt, 1982, 267). The cockerel is, of course, one of the twelve animal signs of the Chinese Zodiac and its comb depicts a crown denoting literary success.
Again, with some village tun fu ceremonies, restrictions are placed on inhabitants who are not allowed to leave their village, in some cases for a period of three or four days after the ceremony (Hayes, 1983, 125). In addition, villagers only partake of vegetarian food - Buddhist fashion. This mixing of folk religion (such as tun fu), Taoism and Buddhism, in varying proportions, is of course in line with Hong Kong's practice of syncretising religion. Nevertheless, irrespective of the religion, obligations frequently seem to be less stringent these days. For instance, with a Chinese funeral, today the number of weekly rites, which used to number seven, is now sometimes reduced to five. Again, for a tun fu ceremony, villagers are often not now confined to their village for a period of days. Life is also easier for Catholics. For a long time they have been able to eat meat on Fridays.
Tun fu ceremonies again differ because, although the priests and masters who perform them may practise the same basic rules, they often have different beliefs when it comes to some details. For example, as previously mentioned, exactly where pots should be placed in a village and the number of talismans that should be put in them.