CHINESE FOLK-LORE TALES
BY REV. J. MACGOWAN, D.D.
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1910
GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD.
CONTENTS
I. THE WIDOW HO II. KWANG-JUI AND THE GOD OF THE RIVER III. THE BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER OF LIU-KUNG IV. THE FAIRY BONZE V. THE MYSTERIOUS BUDDHIST ROBE VI. THE VENGEANCE OF THE GODDESS VII. "THE WONDERFUL MAN" VIII. THE GOD OF THE CITY IX. THE TRAGEDY OF THE YIN FAMILY X. SAM-CHUNG AND THE WATER DEMON XI. THE REWARD OF A BENEVOLENT LIFE
I
THE WIDOW HO
One day in the early dawn, a distinguished mandarin was leaving the temple of the City God. It was his duty to visit this temple on the first and fifteenth of the moon, whilst the city was still asleep, to offer incense and adoration to the stern-looking figure enshrined within.
This mandarin was Shih-Kung, and a juster or more upright official did not exist in all the fair provinces of the Empire. Wherever his name was mentioned it was received with the profoundest reverence and respect; for the Chinese people have never lost their ideal of Tien-Li, or Divine Righteousness. This ideal is still deeply embedded in the hearts of high and low, rich and poor; and the homage of all classes, even of the most depraved is gladly offered to any man who conspicuously displays this heavenly virtue.