Note 130 — Chapter VIII · VILLAGE CUSTOMS, FESTIVALS AND FOLK-LORE

In Shanghai, and probably elsewhere, a real ox is still sometimes used, and he is led by a real child (T'ai Sui) instead of a cardboard Mang-Shên. See the Rev. A. Box's "Shanghai Folk-lore" in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (China Branch), vol. xxxiv. (1901-2) pp. 116-7, and vol. xxxvi. (1905) pp. 136-7. Needless to say, no blood is shed nowadays, though it seems not unlikely that at one time a living child and a living ox were both offered up in sacrifice to promote the fertility of the crops. In Northumberland, England, it is or used to be a custom to hold rustic masquerades at the New Year, the players being clothed in the hides of oxen (see County Folk-lore, vol. iv.). It would be interesting to know whether the Northumbrian custom was originally a ceremony to promote fertility.