Directory_and_Chronicle_1881 — Page 44

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the sixth moon.

CHINESE FESTIVALS, FASTS, AND OBSERVANCES.

27th.-Division of the dragon spirits of the atmosphere. 28th.-- Birthday of Vêda, guardian of monasteries and nunneries. 29th.-Heaven pardons

sins.

JULY.-1st.-Auspicious day for worship. Birthday of Yang-si, deified warrior, and of Tsui-pan, judge in hades. Fête day of Mount Tai. 5th.-Day of ill-luck. The spirits report to Heaven. Birthday of Liu Hai-sien, a Tauist saint. 7th.-The Solar term, "little heat;" sun in Cancer. 8th.-Fête day of Lu Can, god of car-

10th.-Fifteenth day of the sixth moon. penters and masous.

11th.-Day of ill-luck. The spirits reports to Heaven. 14th.-Fête day of Kwan-yin, goddess of mercy. 15th. First decade of beat commences. 16th.-Birthday of the god of horses. 18th.-Day of ill-luck. 19th.-Birthday of a god of fire, and of Wang-ling, a deified statesman. Fête day of the god of war, of the god of thunder, and of two Tauist genii, Hwoh and Hoh. 20th.-The earth spirit reigns. 21st.-Birthday of I-lang, and Chen-kiun, Tauist deities. 22nd.-Day of ill-luck.

22nd.-Day of ill-luck. 23rd. The Solar term, "great heat"; sun enters Leo. 24th.-Birthday of the Tauist god of Ursa Minor. Auspicious day for fisting and worship. 25th.-Second decade of heat commences. 26th. First day of the seventh moon. During this moon is celebrated the "feast of all souls," with exhibitions of groups of statuettes, dwarf plants, and silk festoons. Masses are r ad for the dead by Tauist and Buddhist priests, private shrines con- secrated, and finally rice scattered to feed starving ghosts. Paper clothes are burned for those who died on land or sea, and magic incantations, accompanied with dis- tortions of the fingers by priests (so as to imitate Sanskrit characters). Trustees of sacred endowments swear the oath of fidelity. 26th.-Fête day of Tauist philosopher, Lao Tszu. 30th.-Day of ill-luck. The spirits report to Heaven.

AUGUST.-1st.-Birthday of a deified scholar, K'ang shing, also of the god of Ursa Major, worshipped by literati, and of the god and goddess of the bedstea l. 3rd.-Death of an Empress. 6th.-Birthday of Chang-ch'un, a Tauist saint. 7th. -The solar term, "Autumn sets in;" Sun in Leo. 9th.-Fifteenth day of the seventh moon. Birthday of Chung-yuen, Tauist god of the element earth, also of Chang-loh, a Tauist saint. 11th.-Anniversary of the death of Emperor Hien. fung (A.D. 1861). 12th.-Birthday of the three Tauist gods of heaven, earth, and water and of five goddesses. 13th.-Birthday of the regent of Jupiter and the sixty Fête day of planetary year gods. 14th.-The third decide of heat commences.

16th.- Chang, a Tauist saint. 15th.-Birthday of P'u-an, a Buddhist saint. Birthday of the star god of wealth. 18th.-Fête day of the tutelary deity of walled towns, also of Chang Sien, a Tauist saint, and of Nagardjuna (A.D. 150), Buddhist patriarch. 19th.-Anniversary of the death of Emperor Kia K'ing (A.D. 1821). 23rd. The solar term "settled heat;" sun enters Virgo. 24th.-Birthday of the Buddhist god of departed spirits, Ti-ts'ang-wang. 25th.-First day of the seventh intercalary moon. 26th.-Auspicious day for worship. 29th.-Day of ill luck.

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SEPTEMBER.-5th.--Day of ill luck. 7th.-The solar term "white dew;" Sun in Virgo.

8th.—Fifteenth day of the seventh intercalary moon. Auspicious day for worship. 11th.-Heaven pardons sins. 13th.-Auspicious day for worship. 18th. -Day of ill-luck. The spirits report to Heaven. 21st.-Autumnal worship of the lares rustici. 23rd.-The solar term "Autumnal equinox;" sun enters Libra. First day of the eighth moon. Birthday of Hu-sun, a deified physician, and of the Tauist god of the golden armour, worshipped by literati. 24th.-Birthday of the chief of the lares rustici. 25th.-Fête day of the god of the hearth. The gods of the northern bushel descend. 27th.-Fête day of the god of thunder. 30th.-Day

of ill-luck.

OCTOBER.-1st.-Death of the Emperor T'ien-tsung (A.D. 1644). 2nd - Birthday of the god of the Northern Mountain. 3rd.-Death of Emperor Tien- ming (A.D. 1627). 5th.-Birthday of a dragon spirit of the West. 7th.-Fifteenth day of the eighth moon,

Feast of lanterns. 8th.-The solar Worship of the moon. Feast of lanterns. term "eld dew;" sun in Libra. Birthday of Tsai-t'ien, the monkey god (Hanuman)