Note 6 — IV.—PORTENTS OR OMENS, AUGURIES, LUCKY NUMBERS AND DREAMS.

The first words heard after making a resolution are supposed in China to be ominous. Thus, if a man who has decided to do a certain thing—say, for instance, recover a debt—hears the first person he meets say mei-yu or m’hai (according to the dialect he speaks) he will defer his visit. No Chinaman will open a shop, marry a wife, or engage in any important undertaking without casting lots to see if the fates are propitious.6 The method of carrying this out is as follows: Each temple in China has belonging to it about a hundred stanzas of poetry relating to a variety of subjects; each stanza is numbered and printed on a separate piece of paper; in addition to this, there are a quantity of lots made of bamboo slips about eight inches long, corresponding to the number of stanzas, and referring to them by number. The individual who wishes to make application to the god presents himself before his image on his knees, and after performing the ko-tow by touching the ground with his head nine times, states his name and residence, the object of his inquiries, and whether on his own or another’s account. He then takes a bamboo tube containing the lots, and shakes it gently before the idol until a slip falls to the ground. He then rises from his knees and picks up this slip, and places it so that the god can see the number of the lot written on it; he then takes two pieces of wood, each having a round and a flat side. After passing these through the incense, he tosses them into the air before the idol; if they fall so that both round sides are uppermost, the answer is negative and everything is unpropitious; if they fall with one round and one flat side up, the answer is in the affirmative, and the man may go on his way rejoicing.7