Directory_and_Chronicle_1845 — Page 409

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eastern part of the city; and a second in the suburbs, near which is another temple consecrated to the god of water, shwui shin, ✯.

13. Ching hwáng miau

mentioned on a preceding page, "is the temple of the god of the city." The word hwang seems originally to have denoted the fosse or ditch around the imperial city. Afterwards it became the name of an illustrious individual charged with the protection of the city, and thence was used as the designa- tion of the patron divinity of the city. This use of the phrase has become general, so that the chief city in each district of the empire has its patron god, and his residence is called Ching hwáng miáu. His rank and office correspond to those of the chief magistrate of the city, the chi-hien, "the one rules over the visible world, the people; the jurisdiction of the other is limited to those of the invisible.” The divinity at present supposed to preside over Shánghái, and his residence, are both deserving of notice.

His title is Hien yú peh,. illustrious protector and superior. "This is said to have been conferred on him by the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, previously to his canonization, and while he was yet living. His family name was Tsin, ; his grandfather, at first came to Shanghái as a visitor, at the time of the Yuen dynasty, and subsequently became a resident. His name is recorded in the annals of Shánghái as one of its illustrious visiting

residents, Liú yü, E. His son, the father of the hero-god called Liáng hau,, went abroad to study the language of the Mongols, in which he made great proficiency and became an author. Afterwards he held high office in the imperial court, then established in the southern capital, Nanking. His son, whose name was Yüpeh,

1, accompanied his father both when a student and when in office, and in due time was promoted and sent into the province of Fuhkien. At length, when disorders arose, he withdrew from public life; and when summoned by one of those usurpers who had fixed his residence at Súchau, he declined, first because it would prove himself unfaithful to his late imperial master; and in the second place, because he was then mourning for his mother.

When subsequently Hungwú had established a new dynasty, and seated himself securely on the throne, he sent for Yüpeh, who declin- ed going to court, on account of ill health. The emperor, then with his own hand, wrote after the following tenor: "The people on the seacoast are fond of fighting; Yüpeh is a man of wisdom and genius; now residing there, and refusing to come to court, we fear he will