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to become restless spirits is well known. Soldiers who died in battle or in remote garrisons obviously belong to this category. Denied a proper funeral and those rites through which families regularly acknowledged their debt to the dead, spirits became restive. But no Chinese source claims that they expressed their grievances through baying dogs and, apt as the metaphor may be, it is probably not Chinese.
The text goes on to mention the use of branches and charms12 which seems appropriate in this context. Roaming spirits often turned malevolent and the wood of certain trees had long been held to possess apotropaic powers. Even the length of the branches originally had a magical significance but the measurements given here are garbled and meaningless.
Thus, short as it is, P.3106, cannot be dismissed, as B. Laufer once said, of another divinatory manuscript, as an “ungrateful and unpleasant subject of research”14. Not only does it reveal new aspects of traditional Chinese lore but it may also serve to illustrate how possibly alien material was adapted and incorporated into Chinese folklore.
N° of
Column
1. 2. 3. 4. TRANSLATION OF P.3106 Omens .. on a well or a stove, there will be a water or fire disaster. If a dog howls or barks it bodes ill for the master of the house, ? a trip. If a dog howls in a doorway it bodes ill; there will be deaths. A dog. + disasters. If a dog howls on the ceremonial platform it bodes ill for the eldest son. A dog howls. + .... a room, it bodes ill for women. If a dog first howls and then growls, misfortune will inevitably follow. If a dog howls at the sky, family ruin will inevitably follow. If a dog howls at the foot of a wall. • :Page 210
Page 211
188
to become restless spirits is well known. Soldiers who died in battle or in remote garrisons obviously belong to this category. Denied a proper funeral and those rites through which families regularly acknowledged their debt to the dead, spirits became restive. But no Chinese source claims that they expressed their grievances through baying dogs and, apt as the metaphor may be, it is probably not Chinese.
The text goes on to mention the use of branches and charms12 which seems appropriate in this context. Roaming spirits often turned malevolent and the wood of certain trees had long been held to possess apotropaic powers. Even the length of the branches originally had a magical significance but the measure- ments given here are garbled and meaningless.
Thus, short as it is, P. 3106, cannot be dismissed, as B. Laufer once said, of another divinatory manuscript, as an “ungrateful and unpleasant subject of research"14. Not only does it reveal new aspects of traditional Chinese lore but it may also serve to illustrate how possibly alien material was adapted and incorporated into Chinese folklore.
N° of
Column
1.
2.
3.
4.
TRANSLATION OF P. 3106
Omens
.. on a well or a stove, there will be a water or fire disaster. If a dog howls or barks it bodes ill for the master of the house,
? a trip. If a dog howls in a doorway it bodes ill; there will be deaths. A dog.
+
disasters. If a dog howls on the ceremonial platform it bodes ill for the eldest son. A dog howls.
+
.... a room, it bodes ill for women. If a dog first howls and then growls, misfortune will inevitably follow. If a dog howls at the sky, family ruin will inevitably follow. If a dog howls at the foot of a wall.
•
:
Page 210Page 211
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