“A favourite amusement is the flying of kites. They are made of paper and silk, in imitation of birds, bats, butterflies, lizards, spectacles, fish, men, and other objects; but the skill shown in flying them is more remarkable than the ingenuity displayed in their construction.”6 Not only boys, but grown men, take part in this amusement, and the sport sometimes consists in trying to bring down each other’s kites by dividing the strings, which are rubbed together. The ninth day of the ninth moon is a festival devoted to kite-flying all over the land. On this day the people repair to the highest piece of ground or the loftiest roofs available, and employ their time in flying kites and drinking wine in which chrysanthemum petals have been soaked. The origin of this custom has to be sought for nearly a thousand years ago. Legend has it that during the later Hàn Dynasty a certain Huán Jîng (桓景), of Rûnán (汝南), pupil of the magician Fèi Chāngfáng (費長房), was suddenly warned by the latter to betake himself with his family to a high mountain, to escape a calamity which was destined to overtake the district in which he lived. On the mountain-top he was bidden to wear a bag containing fragments of dog-wood (Evodia rutaecarpa), and to drink wine in which the petals of chrysanthemums had been soaked, to ward off evil influences. These injunctions he obeyed to the letter, and was rewarded by escaping from an overwhelming catastrophe which destroyed his flocks and herds in the plain below. In memory of this signal deliverance, people on this day go up annually to the mountains and hills in imitation of Huán Jîng. The kite-flying, which is now invariably associated with these expeditions, finds no foundation in the original fable, and was very likely suggested by the combination of circumstances, a high elevation, and a fresh autumn breeze. It is also said that kites are flown in honour of Mèng Jiā (孟嘉), 4th century, A.D., of whom it is recorded that, when his hat was blown off by the wind at a picnic, he remained quite unconscious of his loss. Kites (風事), were used as early as the 2nd century B.C. for purposes of military signalling. To some kites a kind of Aeolian harp is attached. Bamboo frames, with fire-crackers attached are sometimes sent up the string, the crackers being timed to explode on reaching the top.
Theatrical entertainments constitute a common amusement, and are often arranged by the priests for the ostensible purpose of repairing their temples (vide DRAMA).
“The general and local festivals of the Chinese are numerous, among which the first three days of the year, one or two about the middle of April to worship at the tombs, the two solstices, and the festival of dragon boats, are common days of relaxation and merry-making; only on the first, however, are the shops shut and business suspended.”7 (Vide ANCESTRAL WORSHIP, DRAGON, FIRE).
Ânanda
(阿難)
“A first cousin of SHÂKYAMUNI (q. v.), and born at the moment when he attained to Buddhaship. Under Buddha’s teaching, Ânanda became an Arhat, and is famous for his strong and accurate memory; and he played an important part at the first council for the formation of the Buddhist canon. The friendship between Shâkyamuni and Ânanda was very close and tender; and it is impossible to read much of what the dying Buddha said to him and of him, as related in the Mahâparinirvâna Sûtra, without being moved almost to tears. Ânanda is to reappear on earth as Buddha in another Kalpa.”8
Ancestral Worship
(祭祖)
A very ancient cult of the Chinese, consisting in the honours paid to the manes or departed spirits, either at the grave-side, or before the ancestral tablets set up in the house. The tablet is generally about twelve inches long and three inches wide, bearing the name and date of birth, and having a receptacle at the back, containing a paper setting forth the names of the more remote family ancestors. Incense is burnt and ceremonial offerings of food are made in honour of the dead; the worship on the hills (拜山), or at the tomb, takes place in spring and autumn.
The filial piety, which is so great a moral asset of the people, has its origin in ancestral worship. If the departed souls are not reverenced, it is believed that they will work evil upon their living kindred. “Filial piety,” said Confucius, “consists in obedience; in serving one’s parents when alive according to propriety; in burying them when dead according to propriety; and in sacrificing to them according to propriety.” The reviling of a person’s ancestors is regarded as the worst form of abusive language.
All Souls’ Day, or the Buddhist Festival of Departed Spirits, is called in Chinese Yú Lân Pén Huì (孟蘭盆會), Sanskrit, Ullambana, lit.: “the vessel to hold offerings.” It is celebrated on the 15th day of the 7th moon, chiefly for the purpose of saying masses for the solitary souls (孤魂), of those who died away from home, and have nobody to perpetuate their memories by ancestral worship. During the Festival of Tombs, qïngmíng (清明), at the end of the 2nd moon, occasion is also taken for the worship of departed spirits. This festival is also for the purpose of celebrating the spring, and was originally the time for the rekindling of the cooking fires, which were supposed to be put out for three days, when cold food (寒食), was eaten by all the people.
Ant
(媽議)
The composition of the written symbol for the ant denotes that it is the righteous (義), insect (虫), in reference to its orderly marching and subordination.
The internal arrangements of the chambered nest of earth, in which the ants maintain a perfect system of order, store their provisions, and nurture their young on the milk of the aphis, have been described by Chinese writers with considerable accuracy.
The white ant (白嬉), or termite, in its larval stage, commits great depredations upon the woodwork of buildings in South China. It is sometimes attacked and destroyed by a species of small black ant. A variety of pine-wood (眞杉木), is said to resist the ravages of white ants, and is therefore employed for the construction of the beams and joists of Chinese houses.
The ant is the emblem of virtue and patriotism, but at the same time it symbolises self-interest, and striving for filthy lucre, as evidenced in the metaphorical expression: “Ants cling to what is rank smelling” (羣織附獲), which has this significance. The Chinese people have been compared to ants, on account of the manner in which they overcome difficulties by dint of mere numbers; while they resemble these minute animals no less in their persevering and untiring industry.
Apple
(薩果)
The true apple, Malus sylvestris, is not cultivated in China; the varieties found are more akin to M. prunifolia,