Page 351 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 344
day of the year. People in either of whose names the word shi = stone occurs, never use
appliances or equipment of any kind made of stone.
A cult involving stones as sacred objects was known in various parts of China. In
general, prayers were made to these stones for rain: if rain still did not fall, the stones
were beaten. Then again there were stones on which women who wanted a son sat. In a
temple in Sichuan province there was a stone with five openings in it; women who
wanted to have children bought small stones which they tried to throw into one or another
of these holes. If the stone went into the topmost hole, it was a sign that riches were
coming the woman’s way; a stone into the bottom hole meant that she would get
honoured status. A hit scored on the left-hand hole presaged the birth of a son, on the
right hand one a daughter.
‘Master Stonehead’ is a patron god of children in Taiwan. Women pray to him for
sons who are as strong as stone. If a son is born, the mother makes sacrifice four times a
year to Stonehead, until the boy is sixteen years old.
Stones erected at street corners or in front of buildings bearing the
inscription ‘The stone dares to stand guard’ (shi gan dang) refer to
Taishan, and the belief associated with him, that his stone can drive off
demons.

Stone and orchid

Official buildings often have stone lions in front of them. Stone seals grace the desk of
the scholar. ‘Stone Drums’ – i.e. stones which look like drums – suddenly begin to
sound when rain or war is imminent. In Korea and often in South China ‘stone fights’
were held between villages at New Year. In Taiwan, they were usually held on the