SUPERSTITION IN CHINA.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 242, 31 January 1877, Page 2

SUPERSTITION IN CHINA.

j it ::; lt-.iviilip.ihr.; to find in so old a I '.-ivilifiiiicn as China the prevalence of ' from which the younger en- [ ii'/lii'-nmcnt of Europe is free. The Yaw- • pirr- Pan'c v: .rtill. it seems, raging amongst 1 the Chin-jse. whereas we liavc not been I i:-.:nbi-.-d virh vn alarm of vampires in this i c.'Untrv for many years ; and even the ! !i:'i.'it euf-r.;ec:'c of panic-mongers would ' i-vr:,:b]r fail to create much terror by ' :--u\.-:'.d''iig a report of their appearance. ! The •'•'p::p-ji--iiian " superstition which is j .■.•om-jelod with the "'"' vampira-panic " is ■ ;-i'it-];: r i:;?-.la:ice of a grossly ridiculous i j ; dc-lu.::i'!i!. The Chinese actually believe ; \h-..i a. •'"paper-man"—not a iiesh-and-I ! Jfiod - medium," be it observed, but a : '•' i\v>---\t.j " cunningly shaped out of mere • p:;por—may be made by "apt words," as j the lawyers say, to mount up to the ceili i:vj;. A Chinese lady, we are told by the i Tnu::.; correspondent, performed this i feat the other day, and that, too, \ in the '"' presence of a magistrate " —a feat ! notably without parallel in this country. : The s.'anco was held at nine o'clock one : evening: The Lid}' sat down at a table : and produced a pp.per sprite, which, after certain incantations, was induced to fluli tcr and mount to the ceiling. Here the •'•' paper-man" is supposed "to make a chalk mark through which" he descends at night," a vampire upon pleasure bent. The writer here seems to be conscious that his account • of the matter is a little j

vague, and explains that he only. " indicates an element in the process." It is not surprising to learn, however, that a "brass man" was found in the lady's possession which performed certain wonderful feats at her request. Nothing is more essential to all manifestations of this kind than a " brass man." In the meantime, however, the lady's " accomplices " are in custody, and are to be handed up for trial by superior authorities under the Chinese Vagrant Act.