50
Illustrations of Men and Things in China.
JAN.
causes which produced him-(we would add)—a mode of explaining the crea tion peculiarly Chinese.
2. The light and pure parts of chaos ascended and floated forming heaven.
3. The heavy and foul parts of chaos descended and solidified, forming earth.
Gods are the noble (yang) spirits of heaven; demons are the ignoble (yin). effluence of earth. The light and pure ether was 10,800 years in rising and forming heaven; the glorious and animated portions concreted and made the sun, moon, planets and stars, which when completed all moved in harmonious con- cert. The heavy and foul parts that descended were also 10,800 years in so- lidifying and forming the globe; from the best were made the hills, rivers, and. fountains, and when all were completed, cities and towns arose.
4. The sun is the focus of all the male principles.
5. The moon is the type of the great female principle.
The sun is the lord of life; like a great prince, he nourishes and bestows his favors; the moon, his spouse or queen, is matched to him; together they arrange and marshal their nobles and courtiers, i. e. the stars and planets.
6. The rainbow is called
of heaven and earth..
tae tung, and is the impure vapor
7. The toad in the moon is the bright spirit of the moon.
When the foul vapors rise from the earth, and meet those descending from the sky, a rainbow is the product; it is always opposite to and tallies with the sun, and is duplicated. The Chinese fable that Chang-go drank the liquor of immortality, and straightway ascended to the moon, where she was changed into a toad, which they always trace in the face of the moon.
8. A whirlwind is called a ram's horn.
9. A flash of lightning is called the Thunderer's whip.
10. When the flakes of snow fly in sixes, it is a sign of a fruitful
year.
Snow and rain come from the earth, they do not descend from the high heaven. The flakes of snow and the petals of flowers are usually in fives, and when the snow is in sixes it shows a predominance of the yin principle, or that of the earth, and by consequence that there will be much rain.
11.
The sun is up three rods," is to say that you are late.
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12. "The dogs of Shuh barking at the sun," is a metaphor for those who learn little from what they see.
13. “The oxen of Woo panting at the full moon," ridicules those who are excessively timid.
The hills of the country of Shůh were so high that the days were very short, and the dogs on seeing the sun were terrified, and set up a simultaneous howl.— The country of Woo had oxen which feared the heat, and seeing the moon, be- gan to pant, supposing it to be the sun; just as Poo Fun, who, fearing the cold, shivered as he saw the north through a glass screen.
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14. To cover ones-self with the stars, and to put on the moon, speaks of a fleet post traveling early and late.