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JAPANESE AND JEWISH FESTIVALS, FASTS, AND OBSERVANCES. Hwui, the disciple of Confucius. 23rd.-Solar term, "hoar frost descends "; sun enters Scorpio. 26th.-Fifteenth day of the ninth moon. Fête day of Chu Hi (A.D. 1131), the founder of modern Chinese philosophy. Fête day of the Tauist god of the sombre altar. 27th.-Fête day of the god of the loom. 28th.-Fête day of Koh Hung, a Tauist philosopher, also of the golden dragon King and of the god of wealth. 29th.-Fête day of Tsü Sung, one of the inventors of writing. 30th. The spirita report to Heaven.
NOVEMBER. 3rd.-Fête day of Yang Sze, a deified warrior. 7th.-Solar term, "winter sets in;" sun in Scorpio. Death of an Empress. 10th.-Fête day of Hwa Kwang, the god of fire, and of Ma, a deified physician. Death of an Empress. 10th. -Fête day of Vaidurya Buddha. 11th.-Eclipse of the sun. First day of the tenth moon. Fête day of the god of the Eastern Mountain. A Tauist fast day. 13th.- Fête day of the three brothers, San Mao. 14th.-Day of general abstinence. 15th.-Fête day of Bodhidharma (A.D. 529), a Buddhist patriarch. 16th.-Fête day of the inferior celestial spirits. 19th.-Day of general abstinence. The spirits report to Heaven. 22nd.-Solar term, "little snow" ; sun enters Sagittarius. 25th. -Fifteenth day of the tenth moon. Fête day of Ha Yuen, the Tauist god of water, also of the god of small-pox, and of the god and goddess of the bedstead. Fête day of Wen, a deified warrior. 26th.-Fête day of Wu Shan, the goddess of sorcery. 30th.-Fête day of Hu," a Tauist mystic. Auspicious day for fasting and prayer.
DECEMBER.-1st.-The spirits report to Heaven. 6th.-Fête day of the gods of the five Sacred mountains, and of the five ancient supreme rulers. 7th.-Solar term, "great snow "; sun in Sagittarius. Fête day of Tszu-mi, the star goddess of malaria. 10th. First day of the eleventh moon. 13th. Fête day of Confucius (born 551 B.C.), the founder of Chinese ethics and politics. 15th.-Fête day of Yut Kwang, the supreme god of the Tauist pantheon, and of the god of the Western Mountain. The spirits report to Heaven. 20th.-Fête day of Ta Yib, the star god of the sick. 21st.-Day of general abstinence. 22nd.-Solar term, "winter solstice"; sun enters Capricorn. Death of Emperor Kang Hi (A.D. 1723). 24th.-Fifteenth day of the eleventh moon. 26th.-Fête day of Amitabba, the Buddha of the Paradise in the West. 27th.-Day of general abstinence, 28th.-Fête day of the Bodhi- sattva, called "nine lotus flowers." Auspicious day for fasting and prayer. 30th.- The spirits report to Heaven.
JAPANESE.
NEW YEAR'S DAY.-First of January.
GEN-SHU-SAI. The festival of opening all public business.
KI-GEN-SETSU.—The 11th of February; the Commemoration of Jimmu-Yennō, the first emperor of the present dynasty.
TEN CHO-SETSU.-The 3rd of November, the birthday of the reigning Emperor.
JEWISH.
The festivals of the Jews are held weekly, monthly, and yearly. Each seventh and fiftieth year, moreover, is kept with peculiar solemnities.
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The weekly festival is the Sabbath, a day consecrated to rest and cheerful devo- tion. It was instituted when God rested, on the seventh day, from the work of crea- tion, and the precept was renewed to the Hebrews in the wilderness of Sin (Ex. XVI.), ere yet the Decalogue had been given from Sinai. It is kept from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday.
The monthly festival is held on the day of the new moon, or the first day of every month, which is proclaimed by sound of trumpet; the law, however, did not oblige the people to rest on these days, though it appointed particular sacrifices.
The Feast of the Passover, of Pentecost, and of Tabernacles, were the three principal festivals observed under the law, and they were times of real joy and festi- vity. As all the male inhabitants throughout the country were required on these