The folk-lore of China

III.—DAYS AND SEASONS.

Reading edition

The fifteenth day of the eighth moon is a day on which a ceremony is performed by the Chinese which of all others we should least expect to find imitated amongst ourselves. Most people resident in China have seen the moon-cakes which so delight the heart of the Chinese during the eighth month of every year. These are made for an autumnal festival often described as “congratulating” or “rewarding” the moon. The moon, it is well known, represents the female principle in Chinese celestial cosmogony, and she is further supposed to be inhabited by a multitude of beautiful females; the cakes made in her honour are therefore veritable offerings to this Queen of the Heavens. Now in a part of Lancashire, on the banks of the Ribble, there exists a precisely similar custom of making cakes in honour of the “Queen of Heaven”—a relic, in all probability, of the old heathen worship which was the common fount of the two customs.

除 1 13 25 Very lucky.

滿 2 14 26 Neither lucky nor unlucky.

平 3 15 27 Neither lucky nor unlucky.

定 4 16 28 Very lucky.

執 5 17 29 Neither lucky nor unlucky.

破 6 18 30 Very unlucky.

危 7 19 .. Very unlucky.

成 8 20 .. Very lucky.

收 9 21 .. Neither very lucky nor unlucky, rather unlucky.

開 10 22 .. Neither lucky nor unlucky.

閉 11 23 .. Unlucky.

建 12 24 .. Neither lucky nor unlucky.

The foregoing table shews the practical application of this system.

Thus it may happen that in a given month the 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 18th, 23rd, and 30th days of a month are very unlucky.

The 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 24th, 26th, 27th and 29th are neither lucky nor unlucky.

The 9th and 21st are rather lucky; while the 1st, 8th, 13th, 20th and 25th are very lucky.

The 10th and 22nd in the month above given do not carry an invariably lucky status with them, it depending very much upon the month in which they occur. They are, however, always propitious for hunting and fishing. The 9th and 21st, in addition to being, as above noted, good for babies, are fortunate for building, cutting wood, seeing friends, proposing in marriage, marrying, and making and mending drains—a sufficiently incongruous selection of employments. Finally upon the 1st, 4th, 8th, 13th, 16th, 20th, 25th and 28th, anything can be done, while the 8th and 20th are the luckiest days of all.

St. Swithin’s day, if thou dost rain,

For forty days it will remain;

St. Swithin’s day, if thou be fair,

For forty days ’twill rain nae mair:

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · Dion Cassius, who wrote in the third century of our era, gives the explanation of the nature of the Egyptian week, and of the method in whic Note 2 · It must not however be supposed that in the “Good old Times” our ancestors were one whit better than the Chinese, and I quote the following Note 3 · We often hear the warning given by old dames to young people never to go courting on Friday; but, on the other hand, Good Friday is stated t Note 4 · One of the cardinal principles of astrology was this: That every hour and every day is ruled by its proper planet. Now, in the ancient Egypt Note 5 · In some parts of England certain days are chosen for cutting a baby’s nails; Friday is the most unlucky which can be selected. ↑Note 6 · A recent article in a home Magazine on North Country folk-lore says:—Never allow a female to enter the house first on Christmas Day: it is a Note 7 · This falls with us on July 15. ↑Note 8 · There is a rule generally believed in, in South Germany, that if no snow fall at Christmas there will be snow at Easter, and vice versa; the Note 9 · The Chinese carry out the idea of lucky days to a remarkable extent. While we now saddle only one day in the week with ill luck, they have s Note 10 · A book in popular circulation in Southern China called the 黃歴通書 (hwang-li-tung-shu) gives an exhaustive return of lucky and unlucky days, fr Note 11 · From the explanations affixed we learn that the 6th, 18th and 30th of the month shewn, though unlucky in other respects, are lucky for hunti Note 12 · But New Year’s day is for certain things the day of luck. According to Chinese belief you may on this date, in almost any year, present reli Note 13 · Another curious coincidence between Chinese and British belief is afforded in the fact that the former people have a sort of “St. Swithin’s Note 14 · and I need not more particularly allude to the legend concerning him—how the violation of his grave was followed by the “40 days rain.” A co