Note 3 — XI.—SUPERSTITIONS REGARDING THE POWERS OF NATURE.

If we except the somewhat bold speculations of certain modern religionists who place the hereafter within the fiery orb forming the centre of our system, European legend and belief have but little to say about the sun. The Chinese however have not failed to assign it as the dwelling-place of mysterious beings, one account making it the residence of a spirit named Yuh I, while others allege that a three-legged bird of supernatural attributes is its ruling demon. The sun rules the masculine principle and is supposed to be the offspring of a female named Hi Ho.3 Other popular Buddhistic legends allege the names of the solar genius to be—Su-li-ye 蘇利耶 or Su-mo 蘇摩. We must turn to the fire-worshippers of Persia or Mexico, to the worshippers of Baal or the sun-worshippers of Phœnicia for precise analogies in this direction. Dr. Kitto concludes that the latter worshipped not the sun itself but an astral spirit residing in it. The most singular fact in connection with the Chinese beliefs is, after all, their compatibility with an absence of any extended system of Sun-worship, though that luminary is adored as Tai-yang-ti-chün—the “Sun ruler” who presides over the soul of man.