32
June V. Moon.
17
20
22
CHINESE FESTIVALS, FASTS, AND OBSERVANCES.
13 National fête of Kwân-ti, god of war, and of his son General Kwan. 16 Fête of Chang Tao-ling, (A.D. 34.) Ancient head of the Tauist sect. His descendant still continue to claim the headship. It is said "the succession is perpetuated by the transmigration of the soul of each successor of Chang Tao-ling, on his decease, to the body of some infant or youthful member of the family, whose heirship is supernaturally revealed as soon as the miracle is effected. Fête of Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Bud- dhism.
18 Summer solstice.
July VI. Moon.
4
1
16
13
22
24
27
19
The first day of the sixth moon.
Fête of Lu Pan, the god of carpenters and masons. Fête of the goddess of mercy (see 27th March).
21 Fête of the god of horses.
24 Anniversary of Kwán-ti's ascent to heaven. Fête of Chuh Yung, the
spirit of fire; and of the god of thunder.
Aug. VII. Moon.
3
8
9
17
19
20
222 22
21
24
228
26
27
31
1 First day of the seventh moon. During this moon is held the festival of all souls, when Buddhist and Tauist priests read masses to release souls from purgatory, scatter rice to feed starving ghosts, recite magic incanta- tions accompanied by finger play imitating mystic Sanskrit characters which are supposed to comfort souls in purgatory, burn paper clothes for the benefit of the souls of the drowned, and visit family shrines to pray on behalf of the deceased members of the family. Exhibitions of groups of statuettes, dwarf plants, silk festoons, and ancestral tablets are combined with these ceremonies, which are enlivened by music and fireworks. Fête day of Lao Tszu, the founder of Tauism.
6
"Autumn sets in."
7 Fête of the god of Ursa Major, worshipped by scholars, and of the seven goddesses of the Pleiades, worshipped by women.
15 Fête of Chung Yuen, god of the element earth. 17 Death of the Emperor Hien Fêng, A.D. 1861,
18 Fête of the three gods of heaven, of earth, and of water, and of the five
attendant sacrificial spirits.
19 Fête of the ruler of the planet Jupiter, and of the sixty year gods. 20 Fête of Chang Fi, A.D. 220. A leader of the wars during the Three Kingdoms. He is said to have been at first a butcher and wine seller. After many heroic exploits, he perished by the hand of an assassin, 22 Fête of the god of wealth.
24 Another fête of Sheng Wang, the tutelary god of walled cities, and of
Chang Sien, the patron of child-bearing women.
25 The Emperor Kia K'ing died A.D. 1821. Fête of Hü Sün-ping, a Tauist
eremite.
29 Fête of Ti Ts'ang Wang, the patron of departed spirits. Sept. VIII. Moon.
1
1 First day of the eighth moon. Fête of Hü Sun, a deified physician, wor- shipped by doctors, and of Kin Kiah (god of the golden armour) worshipped by the literati,
2 Fête of the gods of land and grain.
4 Descent of the star god of the northern measure, and fête of the god of the hearth.
2
4
9
9
The Emperor T'ien Tsung died A.D. 1644.
11
11
The Emperor T'ien Ming died A.D. 1627.
15
15
21
21
National fetê day. Worship of the moon, and feast of lanterns. Autumnal worship of the gods of the land and grain.
23
23
Autumnal equinox. The Emperor Yung Ching died A.D, 1735,
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