Missionary Visitor, The (1912) . beginning of the worldthat the children in this far-away land hear. China is full of superstition, and youwill like to hear of some that touch thelives of the boys and girls. When boysand girls are born their fortunes aretold. The babys father gets the childs eight characters written down on apiece of paper. Two of the charac-ters tell the year, two the month, twothe day, and two the hour when the littleone came into the world. This fortune-teller, who is very often blind, has agreat deal to do with babys fate. If,for instance, he says that fire enters intoits
Missionary Visitor, The (1912) . beginning of the worldthat the children in this far-away land hear. China is full of superstition, and youwill like to hear of some that touch thelives of the boys and girls. When boysand girls are born their fortunes aretold. The babys father gets the childs eight characters written down on apiece of paper. Two of the charac-ters tell the year, two the month, twothe day, and two the hour when the littleone came into the world. This fortune-teller, who is very often blind, has agreat deal to do with babys fate. If,for instance, he says that fire enters intoits disposition and some one else has afortune connected with wood, then thechild will surely bring bad fortune tothat person, for fire burns wood. Thepeople believe what the blind man says,and so the poor little baby is often givenaway or even put to death. When baby j» JJ 9k ? .-—... Jg • Ikj ? mmi ^^afl mm f M I I ¥w1 / 1 B ~^ jj time. .**V^ • ?, f i Chinese Gentlemen, to Be. 306 The Missionary Visitor September1912. Nobodys Boys. Dying for a little bit of love. grows older it is supposed to be indanger from wicked spirits, and so littlegold idols are put in its cap to frightenaway these demons, a favorite figurebeing that of a roly-poly bald idol, calledFat Strength. When he gets older, atiny round tray, food measure, and a pairof scissors are sewed on the front bandof its cap for the same purpose. Coins,charms of copper and silver, and littlesquare bags of incense powder, with thenames of idols written on them, are alsohung round childrens necks to keepaway the evil spirits. Forklike prongs stick out from theroofs of the houses tc drive away de-mons. Streets and roads often for noreason turn a sharp corner, and the fur-rows plowed in the field are awry sothat the spirits may lose their way andnot come along there to hurt think there are spirits of the door,and spirits under the eaves, and spiritsof the rafters and spirits of the bed. Homes differ as much in
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherelgin, bookyear1912
