. The mythology of all races. and he maybe considered as a special guardian of this part of China. He isrepresented as a man of noble bearing carrying a cross-bow andarrows. Above his head are clouds in which are seen the sunand the heavenly dog, reputed to devour the sun at the time ofeclipses. In addition to his ability to give children to suppli-ants, he was also able to ward off calamities. He is given thecentral position in the All Childrens Hall {Pai-tzu T^ang),but worship of this deity has never been wide-spread. It is asingular example of the failure of an Emperor to supplant theworshi
. The mythology of all races. and he maybe considered as a special guardian of this part of China. He isrepresented as a man of noble bearing carrying a cross-bow andarrows. Above his head are clouds in which are seen the sunand the heavenly dog, reputed to devour the sun at the time ofeclipses. In addition to his ability to give children to suppli-ants, he was also able to ward off calamities. He is given thecentral position in the All Childrens Hall {Pai-tzu T^ang),but worship of this deity has never been wide-spread. It is asingular example of the failure of an Emperor to supplant theworship in temples of the foreign goddess Kuan Yin by that ofa purely indigenous deity who would have been worshipped inthe home, and as such it deserves notice. For once Imperialpatronage failed to divert the people from an earlier choice. CHAPTER VIIIGREAT NATIONAL HEROES AMONG the mythical heroes of China none are more pop-ular than those who were immortalized by Chu Yiian,332-295 , in his poem Falling into Trouble (Li Sao).. Fig. 22. Ta Ssu Ming Chii Yiian rose to high office in his native state of Chu, butwas impeached on trivial grounds and expressed his disap-pointment in this poem. He retired to a quiet life, andfinally committed suicide by jumping into a river on the vm—7 86 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY fifth day of the fifth moon. In memory of him the peopleof his district offered sacrifices to him annually on this dateand the custom gradually spread until it was transformedinto the Fifth Moon Feast, or, as it is often called, theDragon Festival. The most interesting part of Falling intoTrouble is the Nine Songs in which eleven heroes are
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