Page 346 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 339

that the street in Qu-fu, connecting the grave of Confucius with the Hall, was
called shen-dao, the ‘Way of the Spirits’.
All shen once lived on the earth as mortal men. During their life-time – in some cases,
after it as well – they did good deeds, and they died without leaving a son behind them on
earth. Confucius had a son, who did not become a deity.
The spirits of hanged and of drowned people (shui gui) are dangerous. Of
them it is said that they cannot be reborn until they have provided
themselves with a ‘representative’ or ‘proxy’ – that is, until they have
arranged for another man to be hanged or drowned at the same place.
The word shen is also used for anyone who is particularly skilled in, good at some art
or craft: thus, shen nü (‘god-girl’) is a prostitute. The word xian = holy man, saint, is used
in similar fashion. A ‘god-staff’ (shen gun) is a shaman (male or female). A female
shaman can also be described as a shen-tong = ‘godboy’. Taoist gods and popular deities
are usually represented as wearing the robes of an official; goddesses are depicted in
the clothing that the wife of such an official would wear. It is often difficult to be sure
exactly what sort of god is being addressed or depicted. Apart from Buddha himself,
Buddhist gods are always decorated in various ways, and are equipped with emblems
which make it easier to identify them.
In ancient times, a question might be put to the oracle by carving the words on a
bone and throwing it into fire; the answer came from the world of the spirits. The cracks
made in the bone by the heat were seen as a kind of script which adept priests of the
oracle could interpret.
Periods of deep philosophical insight coupled with a rational ordering of society and
the natural environment were followed by periods of rank superstition. This happened,
for example, in the case of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 24). The court was
then virtually ruled by shamans and magicians (fang-shi). ‘The atmosphere was thick
with gods and spirits’ (Richard Wilhelm).
Spitting Spitting

kou-shui

Chinese has various metaphors for spittle: ‘jade-spring’, ‘jade-sap’, ‘jade-drop’, ‘gold-
drop’. Spitting three times on the ground corresponds to saying ‘touch wood’. Spitting
can do a lot to keep one out of harm’s way, probably because ghosts and evil
spirits are rendered incapable of further metamorphosis if they have been spat on. If
there were grounds for believing that a child was really a demon, everybody spat on it.
To this day, every house has its spittoon.