. Lion and dragon in northern China. rhaps it is not to be foundto any great extent in books) is abundant and con-clusive. I have myself seen sacred trees in at leastseven provinces of China—Chihli, Shansi, Honan,Shensi, Sstichuan, Fuhkien and Shantung—and Ihave good reason to believe they are to be found inother provinces as The trees are generallyseen in the neighbourhood of a village or sometimesin the middle of a village-street; their branches areusually hung with votive-offerings and lettered scrolls,and below them are sometimes placed little altarswith incense-burners and small di
. Lion and dragon in northern China. rhaps it is not to be foundto any great extent in books) is abundant and con-clusive. I have myself seen sacred trees in at leastseven provinces of China—Chihli, Shansi, Honan,Shensi, Sstichuan, Fuhkien and Shantung—and Ihave good reason to believe they are to be found inother provinces as The trees are generallyseen in the neighbourhood of a village or sometimesin the middle of a village-street; their branches areusually hung with votive-offerings and lettered scrolls,and below them are sometimes placed little altarswith incense-burners and small dishes of sacrificialfood. Such trees are regarded with veneration, and 1 Philpots The Sacred Tree (Macmillan & Co., 1897), p. 15. 3 As for example in Kansu. For Kiangsu see {ChinaBranch), vol. xxxiv. (1901-2), p. 116. For observations on Chinesetree-spirits see De Groots Religious System of China, vol. iv. pp. 272seq. and vol. v. pp. 653-63 ; and see Folk-lore, June 1906, p. 190; andDennyss Folk-lore of China, p. THE HAUNTED TREE OF LIN-CHIA-YUAN (see p. 381), p. 380] HAUNTED TREES 381 their decay or accidental destruction is looked uponas a public calamity. In north China the sacred treeseems generally though not always to be a Sophoratree, known by the Chinese as huai} But any onewho wishes to be convinced that tree-worship isstill a living faith in China need not travel so far asthe inland provinces : it is unnecessary to go furtherthan Weihaiwei. Close to the picturesque village ofLin-chia-yiian (The Garden of the Lin Family) is afine old specimen of the Ginkgo or Maidenhair tree,2known by the Chinese as the pat kuo or white-fruittree. It is believed in the neighbourhood to be in-habited by the spirit of a Buddha or Bodhisatva. Here we have an interesting example of howBuddhism utilised local legends for its own purposesand for the advancement of its own interests. Closeby the tree stands an old Buddhist temple that datesfrom the Tang dynasty. Had there bee
Size: 1387px × 1801px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1910
