[347] The Rev. Ernest Box, writing on "Shanghai Folk-lore" in the Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (vol. xxxv. 1901-2, p. 123), mentions that human sacrifices are said to have taken place in the building of one of the silk-filatures at Soochow. "I am also informed," he says, "that in the potteries in Kiangsi a new furnace is secretly consecrated by the shedding of a child's blood, as a sacrifice to ward off evil influences or accidents." Mr. Box seems to be inclined to ascribe the custom to the desire of propitiating the spirits of the earth.
[351] It is probable that similar stories are told of other city-gods, for the Rev. Ernest Box (J.R.A.S. (China Branch), vol. xxxiv. p. 109) mentions a case in connection with Lutien, a place a few miles north-west of Shanghai.
[352] As the functions of the T'u Ti are, on a reduced scale, similar to those of the Ch'êng Huang, it follows that in walled towns it is the Ch'êng Huang who receives reports of death.
[354] Ancestor Worship and Japanese Law, by Mr. Nobushige Hozumi, p. 25.
[355] Shinto, p. 10.
[356] Rev. Sir G. W. Cox, "Religion of the Ancient Greek and Latin Tribes," in Religious Systems of the World (8th ed.), p. 224.