[269] The bridegroom leads off the procession, and the bride follows shortly afterwards in an elaborately-gilt sedan-chair, closed in on all sides so that the occupant cannot be seen.
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[270] Here again we have the common Chinese belief that fate is fate only within certain limits, and is always liable to be altered at the will of heaven.
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[271] This is another curious phase of Chinese superstition, namely, that each individual is so constituted by nature as to be able to absorb only a given quantity of good fortune and no more, any superfluity of luck doing actual harm to the person on whom it falls.
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[272] The word here used is fan, generally translated “barbarian.”
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[273] The disciples of Shâkyamuni Buddha. Same as Arhans.
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[274] There is no limit as to age in the competitive examinations of China. The San-tzŭ-Ching records the case of a man who graduated at the mature age of eighty-two.
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[275] In 1665, that is between fourteen and fifteen years previous to the completion of the Liao Chai.
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[276] See No. I., [note 36].
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[277] Religion and the drama work hand in hand in China.
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[278] Always the first step in the prosecution of a graduate. In this case, the accused was also an official.
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