240
CHOI CHI CHEUNG
burnt and vegetarian food was offered by many worshippers there.
At the entrance of the Tao Ch'ang, 4 notices stated: "The water and land cross-over is at this Tao Ch'ang ()" separating the Tao Ch'ang area from the other areas. Within the area, there were 39 worshipping objects. There were three distinct areas to the Tao Ch'ang: i) On one side of the entrance, there were the territorial gods of the human world, and, on the other side of the entrance, there was a god who holds the key to the door between earth and hell (two of his runners were with him). ii) In the main hall, there were tablets of different spirits who were supposed to come from the ten courts of the underworld, and tablets of the Taoist Saints. Two Generals were put in the centre of the hall to watch over the spirits. iii) At the back of the area, was the altar (or Hoza in Japanese) where the priests practised their rituals under the images of the 3 Buddhas and the Goddess of Mercy. Compared with the typical Buddhist arrangement for rituals for appeasing the dead, the Tao Ch'ang area of the Kobe Chinese 'Yue Lan' was more inclusive and closer to Chinese folk tradition, though the priests were all Buddhists.
32
There were 7 types of objects worshipped (Table in the Appendix):
i) Those represented by incense bowls and offerings only.
ii) Paper-made figures.
iii) Paper-made lanterns.
iv) Porcelain statues.
v) Paper-made houses.
vi) Paper-made tablets.
vii) Paintings.
Not all worshippers knew the names and roles of all the objects worshipped. During the festival, worshippers presented incense sticks to all the objects of worship in the festival area. However, besides the Ming-che and the "Ancestral Hall", the two runners attracted the most attention from the worshippers. Worshippers bribed them with bundles of paper money. One Cantonese lady of about 75 years old explained that by doing so, it was hoped that the runners "would take care of our ancestors whose spirits are com-
240
CHOI CHI CHEUNG
burnt and vegetarian food was offered by many worshippers there.
At the entrance of the Tao Ch'ang" 4 notices stated: "The water and land cross-over is at this Tao Ch'ang (KEELIS )" separating the Tao Ch'ang area from the other areas. Within the area there were 39 worshipping objects. There were three distinct areas to the Tao Ch'ang: i) On one side of the entrance there were the territorial gods of the human world, and, on the other side of the entrance, there was a god who holds the key to the door be- tween earth and hell (two of his runners were with him). ii) In the main hall there were tablets of different spirits who were supposed to come from the ten courts of the underworld, and tablets of the Taoist Saints. Two Generals were put in the centre of the hall to watch over the spirits. iii) At the back of the area, was the altar (or Hoza in Japanese) where the priests practised their rituals under the images of the 3 Buddhas and the Goddess of Mercy. Compared with the typical Buddhist arrangement for ritu- als for appeasing the dead," the Tao Ch'ang area of the Kobe Chinese 'Yue Lan' was more inclusive and closer to Chinese folk tradition though the priests were all Buddhists.
32
There were 7 types of objects worshipped (Table in the Appen- dix):
i)
Those represented by incense bowls and offerings only. ii) Paper-made figures.
iii) Paper-made lanterns.
iv) Porcelain statues.
v) Paper-made houses. vi) Paper-made tablets. vii) Paintings.
Not all worshippers knew the names and roles of all the objects worshipped. During the festival, worshippers presented incense sticks to all the objects of worship in the festival area. However, besides the Ming-che and the "Ancestral Hall" the two runners attracted the most attention from the worshippers. Worshippers bribed them with bundles of paper money. One Cantonese lady of about 75 years old explained that by doing so it was hoped that the runners "would take care of our ancestors whose spirits are com-
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