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Chapter 3 Paper Charms, and Prayer Sheets as Adjuncts to Chinese Worship (1953)* There are few Chinese rites for which some kind of paper charm or prayer sheet is not necessary. Some of these papers are specific to a particular rite but many may be used in a general way to cover most of the misfortunes which man may encounter wherever he lives. Ill-health, bad luck and poverty, barrenness, quarrels with mothers-in law or husbands, protection sought from evil spirits or people and the need to remove “uncleanness” from a house after sickness or death are all frequent occasions for ritual involving the use of these paper sheets. They are also used widely in seeking the pardon of the gods and in general temple worship, at festivals and at mortuary rites. Some charms can be used for several or all of these purposes, but an individual may prefer, or by trial and error come to regard as more potent, a particular one of the many varieties available. Charms generally carry religious texts, sometimes in Sanskrit or Pali translated phonetically into Chinese characters, and some have a drawing of the god or saint appealed to. Mystic symbols are used to donate constellations, and archaic writing (which needs specialist knowledge in execution and interpretation) adds power to a charm.1 Paper charms are of various kinds, usually with the functions they claim to perform printed on them in bold letters. One of the commonest kinds is the fu2 ฤ [fu] amulet. This is usually written on a long strip of paper and is composed of mystic writing and symbols. The hand-made variety of these are obtained from priests living in temples or in “private practice”, but copies made from wooden blocks may be purchased from * First published in Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS), 26(1)(1953): 63–84. Reprinted by permission of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 1 De Groot, The Religious System of China, Vol. VI, pp. 1024–61. Leyden: E. J. Brill, 1910. 2 Wade’s Chinese romanization is used throughout this paper. 74 Chapter 3 temples and shops. Another type is the ch’ien ᙒ [qian], literally “cash”, used in seeking the pardon of the gods. These are drawings of coins, often printed in a square frame at one end of a long folded strip of yellow paper. Other kinds are tsien ⓗ [jian], edicts, and the tablets of pardon, mandates or injunctions which copy the style of those of the emperor and high officials of dynastic China. The yellow-faced paper which is most popular for charm printing is in imitation of the imperial yellow paper used also by officers of state for writing their orders. A vermillion substance in imitation of that used by such officers is employed for printing the charms. All these devises are used to make charm sheets very “official”, and therefore powerful. The potency of a charm is in the strength of its pronouncements, but it is greatly enhanced by the use of a seal which gives it, as it gives an official order, greater validity and importance. These seals are usually those of popular and powerful gods and exorcisers (see Fig. 26 for a picture of a seal block). Another form of added potency consists of a blood smear made by a medium of a powerful god. Such mediums, when in a trance, sometimes cut their tongue with swords and are given, by their assistants, a basket of charms issued in the name of their temple with their god’s seal attached to lick (Fig. 30). These charms are called hsueh fu ⴊ ╓ [xuefu], blood charms, and can be obtained from most spirit medium temples. Blood-marked fu can be purchased for wearing as amulets and for fixing above the front door of the house. More durable varieties are made of coloured silk. Besides fu with blood marks, there are those written with the blood of the medium, or with a small quantity of his blood spat into the vermillion mixture. The entry of one’s name on some charms — or the “opening” of them with a small hole made with a lighted joss stick, may give the final degree of potency. The nature and import of the more general charms are known widely by the older generation of Chinese and little or no guidance is needed in purchasing them. The use of a more specific charm may call for advice, but this can...

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