[ { "id": 209128, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1981", "page_number": 31, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "FOLK MEDICINE IN BORNEO. DIAGNOSIS AND CURE\n\n17\n\nthe danger of illness; and both have techniques for diagnosing and for setting things right when they go wrong. For the Melanau the most important way of avoiding danger is to follow the adet; but if he fails to do so and gets into trouble, then there are experts who will guide and help him. If, in spite of the guidance of the adet and commonsense, combined warnings from omens and dreams, he does get into trouble and does not immediately die, then he can resort to mediators who are expert in diagnosing or guessing the cause of the trouble, and in prescribing the correct expiation and remedy for restoring the balance of nature and right relations among the different orders of being. On the whole the Melanau, unlike the western doctor, does not look for the cause of an upset in the economy of the body itself, though their first course of action may be to do just that. A man who feels unwell probably goes in the first place to a herbalist who can supply medicines that will, he says, cool or heat the body. He may attribute the illness to what we would call natural causes, and point out that the patient has eaten unwisely, or he may tell an anaemic woman after childbirth that she has lost her blood to the child and that the birth has therefore left her subject to 'coldness'. On the other hand, he may attribute the trouble to 'wind' which is always present in the air, and which through human folly or some accident weakens the proper relationship between the body, the soul, the emotions, and life.\n\nA visit to the herbal doctor is only the first step, and if he cures the condition, well and good. The most general cause of misfortune and illness is thought to be disrespect or disregard of proper behaviour in one or other of its many forms. To mock the natural order in any way, as, for example, by laughing at or by teasing animals, puts everybody in grave danger; for the angered spirits who act as guardians of order will certainly send down thunder, lightning, and hail and maybe even turn a whole village into stone. Or again, a man who unnecessarily spears a frog while his wife is pregnant puts his unborn child in danger of being born with deformed features and no control over its orifices. But punishment for disrespect in the form of misfortune or illness is more usually linked to a particular act of disrespect to another being rather than to the order of things as a whole. A man who goes into the forest and puts his foot into a hole may well have disturbed the home of a spirit; and he will not be surprised if some days later he develops sores on his leg. Or if he cuts down a tree without offering an apology to the spirit who may dwell in it, or if he ignores", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211355, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1988", "page_number": 71, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "47\n\nThe first was in the Magistrate's Amendment Ordinance of 1912. It empowered magistrates to deal with juvenile offenders up to the age of sixteen in a special manner so as to keep them out of gaol and association with adult criminals. Hong Kong, however, had no adequate provision for juveniles who needed custodial care.\n\nThe second provision concerned a section (26A) of the Offences Against Persons Ordinance passed in 1913. This provided protection against the ill-treatment, neglect or abandonment of children under the age of sixteen.\n\nThese provisions brought the Hong Kong law more into line with that of Great Britain in these matters, but there were still no provisions regarding child labour as such.\n\nMiss Pitts' speech on the welfare of children 1918\n\nMiss Pitts, a missionary of seventeen years standing in Hong Kong, fired the first gun in the direct attack on child labour. In December 1918 she delivered a speech to the Church of England Men's Society on the welfare of children in Hong Kong. She was the first woman to speak to the Society and to mark the event ladies were invited to attend. A newswriter called these innovations \"a sign of the times\".\n\nMiss Pitts spoke on five issues relating to child labour in Hong Kong: (1), the employment of children to carry loads to the Peak; (2), the conditions of children working in factories; (3), the question of domestic servants; (4), the lack of school places for children of school age; and (5), the need to bring pressure to bear on parents and guardians to send children to school. She estimated that only one-fourth of the children of school age attended school.\n\nShe then set out six concrete proposals to correct the situation: (1), the appointment of women inspectors for factories; (2), the framing of factory laws; (3), compulsory education, industrial and technical training for half the day; (4), establishment of free schools and provision of playgrounds where possible; (5), laws against selling children and the registration of servants; and (6), restricted immigration.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211356, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1988", "page_number": 72, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "48\n\nThe proposals indicate that the problem of working children was closely connected with the need of adequate provision for education. This theme runs through all the subsequent discussion on child labour.\n\nAfter Miss Pitts had concluded, Mr. Bowley briefly commented on the absence of laws on child welfare in Hong Kong. The Anglican Bishop in proposing a vote of thanks to Miss Pitts congratulated the Men's Society for tackling social problems.\n\nProposals of Mr. Bowley to open meeting of Church of England Men's Society 1919\n\n—\n\nMiss Pitts' speech was followed a few months later by another made to the same society by Mr. Bowley. It set the legal framework for a general discussion of the subject in open meeting.\n\nMr. Bowley's remarks on \"Suggested Reforms for Women and Children in Hong Kong\" were prompted by the conviction that action should follow Miss Pitts' airing of the problem. He pointed out that Hong Kong was governed by the law in force in England in 1843 as it had been modified by local ordinance since then. In England there had been, in the years since 1843, much agitation which had resulted in social reforms. There was legislation regarding the employment of children in factories, their education, and safeguards to their health. Not much of the legislation passed in Britain had been incorporated into the Hong Kong law code.\n\nHe made various proposals which would bring Hong Kong law closer to that of Britain, bearing in mind that special problems existed where Chinese custom was different from England.\n\nHe referred to the need for registration of adopted children and child servants. The Bastardy Act passed in Britain in 1845 had not been made applicable to Hong Kong, hence fathers of illegitimate children were not liable for their support. Mr. Bowley proposed that the legal age of marriage should be raised from twelve to sixteen. Some action should be taken regarding education, for neither parents nor guardians were then responsible for the education of children. There was need for factory legislation. He pointed out that in Hong Kong \"children and women of", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 211366, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1988", "page_number": 82, "title": "RAS-1988", "content_text": "58\n\nGovernment, but the Government had not at present a plan to create a post of Factory Inspector.\n\nThe Problem publicised in Britain\n\nMiss Pitts and Mr. Bowley both left Hong Kong for leaves in England in June 1919. During their stay they might have pushed the matter of child labour in Hong Kong, for in May 1920 there was published an article in the Child Guardian setting forth the situation of children in Hong Kong. This magazine was the organ of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The recommendations proposed by Mr. Bowley at the meeting of the Church of England Men's Society already referred to were published on the first page of an issue of the magazine. These were accompanied by the comment, “Judging from the necessity of bringing such proposals forward, it may be imagined this British Colony is a long way behind in its treatment of children”. It was noted, however, that a great many influential people in Britain were worrying the Colonial Office on the subject. The editor surmised, \"the Governor must be having quite a busy time answering the inquiries of the Colonial Office in regard to these questions“.\n\nIn November 1920 a Director of the British National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children asked the Secretary for the Colonies for an interview with Mr. Claude Severn, the Hong Kong Colonial Secretary who was on leave in England, to discuss with him the matter of the welfare of children in Hong Kong.\n\nParliamentary question\n\nDecember 1920\n\nMr. A. Davies in December 1920 asked in a Parliamentary Question if there was any legislation in Hong Kong controlling the type of work done by children, the hours they worked, or their employment in work injurious to their health. The Government spokesman replied that there was none, but the Governor was being asked for a report on the subject of child labour.\n\nAnother question was raised at a session soon after. Mr. Cope asked if the Secretary of State for the Colonies was aware that the resolution of the Sanitary Board passed in May 1919 regarding child labour had", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1988.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ft84gb83q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214246, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1998", "page_number": 104, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "67\n\nAn image of Hariti is present in both the Pi-yun Ssu and the Ta Pei Ssu. She is portrayed in both temples as a middle-aged Chinese woman with a full face, dressed in colourful robes and crown, resting her left hand on the head of a small pig-like winged demon with a child on his shoulders.\n\n7] Bodhidruma who is also known in Chinese as P'u-t'i Shu Shen 提樹神\n\nThis is an Indian Vedic goddess, the guardian of the Bo-tree; the 'wisdom tree' [peepul tree] under which Sakyamuni obtained enlightenment and became the Buddha. She is one of the group of Twenty or Twenty-four Devas and is also known in Sanskrit as Pippala, a peepul tree, after the tree in question.\n\nImages of Bodhidruma are present in both the Ta Pei Ssu and the Pi-yun Ssu. The image in the former has a human body and demonic face. It is difficult to make out the sex of this deity with him/her having black skin, colourful decorated robes and black pill-box cap with red band, and small sunburst on the front. He/she holds a tablet before his/her chest clasped in both hands. His/her face has the large flat nose, the slightly jutting wide jaw and round eyes. In the Pi-yun Ssu his/her image depicts him/her with white skin, a calm and benign face, standing, dressed in colourful decorated robes and crown and with his/her hands pressed together before his/her chest in prayer.\n\n8] Sarasvati known in Chinese as Pien-ts'ai Tien\n\nShe is the Vedic goddess of speech and learning, the goddess of rhetoric, and female energy. It is widely accepted in India that she was the inventor of Sanskrit. Originally a mother-goddess she has developed over the centuries into her present role as the goddess of wisdom and learning, and the patron deity of music. An image of Sarasvati is present in both the Pi-yun Ssu and the Ta Pei Ssu. In both she is depicted as an eight-armed goddess, standing dressed in colourful, decorated robes and crown, with six of her hands each holding a symbolic object. The main pair of hands are pressed together before her chest in prayer. She is barefoot in both temples.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 214356, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1998", "page_number": 214, "title": "RAS-1998", "content_text": "179\n\nwas the decapitation of a Fox Fairy, possibly the wicked King's concubine, Dan Ji. In legend the spirit of a fox inhabits the body of a beautiful young woman who then bewitches and captivates men. When killed such woman immediately revert to their fox body origins. In the exhibit the young woman is standing and as the sword descends her head rolls off and rolls about on the floor before immediately reverting to its original position on her body. The boys were only too delighted to press the button to cause the head to roll again and again. Another was the birth of the Third Prince out of his caul. In legend he is born an apparent monster but after a swift slash with a sword the caul opens and the child emerges. Once more the boys played this for us several times.\n\nThis was possibly not the most ideal way to be introduced to the Fengshen Yanyi. A year or so earlier my daughter and I heard of the small temple dedicated to Zhou Gong, located at the foot of Phoenix Mountain in a rural area north of Qi Shan in Shaanxi province. We drove there to find in the main hall of a memorial temple, which had just been renovated, an image of Jiang Ziya flanked by two mythological deities, Na Zha and Yang Jian [see Note 8]. The first of the two, is a seven year old youth who caused havoc in Heaven and, better known as the Third Prince. He is nowadays the primary guardian of temple altars in Taiwan where his image stands on the altar table before the main altar. His is a traditional story tracing the age-old conflict between generations, and conflict of power and responsibility. Yang Jian has certain magic powers, which he used during the conflict but is also regarded as a potent deity who protects against demonic attack. He is often referred to as Er Lang, and he and his small dog are to be seen in a number of temples and in many he is regarded as the patron deity of dogs. The murals across the whole of the main hall's side walls depict episodes from the Fengshen Yanyi complete with Jiang Ziya first mobilising the deities of heaven to help the Duke Fa, and finally, the scene of the Investiture itself on the Terrace of the Investiture.\n\n10\n\nA number of temples in the central-west of China used to contain large gilded 'mountains', carved structures representing a mountain with crags and caves on which were superimposed a number of carved wooden gilded images of Daoist deities. The vast majority of these were also characters from the Fengshen Yanyi.11", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1998.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215082, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2000", "page_number": 178, "title": "RAS-2000", "content_text": "135\n\nCelestial Stems, in the form of the Five Planetary deities, and the other five their counterparts according to the Five Elements. As an example we shall look at just one of the Five Planetary deities, the first stem, Jia, together with its counterpart humanised form the element Wood. The individual Planetary deity portrayed, Jia, is carrying a dish of peaches and is identified as Jupiter. This is the same deity as the one seen elsewhere with the small arms and hands emerging from the eye-sockets. A second wall dedicated to the Lord of the Southern Dipper, Nan Dou Xingjun, depicts the other Five Planetary deities and their counterparts.\n\nReverence of, and Ritual and Sacrifice to Taisui\n\nEach of the sixty Taisui is a guardian of the individual year, and is regarded as the deity in charge of his particular year responsible for the happiness of mankind, and for births and deaths during that year. Chinese place their offerings on the altar before or under the image of Taisui bearing their cyclic year-date of their birth. When such cyclical characters are used they are interpreted from a chart held by the temple keeper who is able to read off the year. In the City God temple in Yau Ma Ti in Jiulong, each of the sixty images which stand in serried rows down a side wall, is an identifiable deity but without its individual name or title being displayed. In Chinese folk religion temples in both Cambodia and Thailand, Taisui is presented with offerings 30 days after the safe birth of a child to ensure that a full life span is pre-ordained. In several of the Macau temples, slips of red paper have been pasted above each of the sixty images identifying the year and title of each of the Taisui. In other places, a number of characters on the front face of the base of each image identify which year of the sixty-year cycle the particular image represents, and in two temples at least, presumably for simplicity's sake, the number of the year is clearly written in ordinary characters.\n\nIn Hong Kong and South-east Asia, devotees place placatory offerings of spirit money under the image which bears the two characters for their year of birth of the sixty in the cycle, together with an oral request for a good year. Such piles of paper spirit money are a sure identification of the Taisui cult. These wads of \"hell\" paper money, either printed notes on the Bank of Hell25 or gold paper \"ingots\"26 [sheets representing offerings of precious metal], are placed beneath", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2000.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/nk328168n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 216044, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2002", "page_number": 343, "title": "RAS-2002", "content_text": "277\n\npleaded with him and explained that she was a good person and truly loved her husband. She added that she was due to bear his child in the not too distant future. The Abbot, who is the villain of the tale, would have none of it and White Snake at her wits end called on her allies, the fish and crustaceans of the Great River to her aid. The violent and prolonged rainstorm flooded the entire area around Jin Shan island in an attempt to free her husband and as the waters rose White Snake again pleaded with the Abbot offering to call off the dangerous river waters. He refused to listen, used his own cloak to quell the waters and even tried to catch her in his magical urn to incarcerate her but to no avail as she was protected by Wen Chang, the God of Literature, as her future son was destined to achieve the status of Zhuang Yuan, the First Scholar in the whole country. The Abbot immediately knew that he was no longer able to catch or destroy White Snake but would be able to do so once she had borne the child.\n\nThe Abbot gave Xu his magical urn and explained that once the son had been born he was to capture her in it and she would then be incarcerated forever. Xu returned home and after tearful explanations from both husband and wife they were reconciled, though once the child was born Xu threw the urn at his wife. Having been captured by the magic urn she turned back into her original form. Almost immediately the Abbot materialised and took the urn with its prisoner and placed it under the Thunder Peak Pagoda on the shores of Hangzhou's lake. Xu bitterly repented betraying his wife and sought obscurity as a solitary Buddhist monk far away.\n\nThe son grew into a handsome and talented youth and only when he had become the long forecast First Scholar, a Zhuang Yuan, was he told the sad tale of his ill-fated father and mother. At an auspicious time on an auspicious day he prepared an elaborate sacrificial ceremony in memory of his mother and there, before the Thunder Peak Pagoda he knelt in prayer. His mother, freed for a very short period as a gesture by the local guardian deity, appeared dressed in white. She approached her son and full of tears explained her love for his father and the sad ending, and especially the dreadful punishment she was suffering for having caused the deaths of so many innocent people in and around Zhenjiang by ordering the land to be flooded. She was escorted back to the Pagoda to continue her agony - for all eternity.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278", "rank": 0 } ]