[306] See No. LIV., [note 293].
[return to text]
[307] The God of Literature.
[return to text]
[308] See No. LXXVII., [note 76].
[return to text]
[309] See No. XXVI., [note 182].
[return to text]
[310] A fleshy protuberance on the head, which is the distinguishing mark of a Buddha.
[return to text]
[311] The eighteen personal disciples of Shâkyamuni Buddha. Sixteen of these are Hindoos, which number was subsequently increased by the addition of two Chinese Buddhists.
[return to text]
[312] Literally, “wind and water,” or that which cannot be seen and that which cannot be grasped. I have explained the term in my Chinese Sketches, p. 143, as “a system of geomancy, by the science of which it is possible to determine the desirability of sites,—whether of tombs, houses, or cities, from the configuration of such natural objects as rivers, trees, and hills, and to foretell with certainty the fortunes of any family, community, or individual, according to the spot selected; by the art of which it is in the power of the geomancer to counteract evil influences by good ones, to transform straight and noxious outlines into undulating and propitious curves, and rescue whole districts from the devastations of flood or pestilence.”
[return to text]
[313] As a rule, only the daughters of wealthy families receive any education to speak of.
[return to text]
[314] A reprehensible proceeding in the eyes of all respectable Chinese, both from a moral and a practical point of view; “for when brothers fall out,” says the proverb, “strangers get an advantage over them.”
[return to text]
[315] Chinese tradesmen invariably begin by giving short weight in such transactions as these, partly in order to be in a position to gratify the customer by throwing in a trifle more and thus acquire a reputation for fair dealing.
[return to text]