File:Social life of the Chinese - with some account of their religious, governmental, educational and business customs and opinions, with special but not exclusive reference to Fuhchau (1865) (14780817034).jpg

Identifier: sociallifeofchin02dool (find matches)
Title: Social life of the Chinese : with some account of their religious, governmental, educational and business customs and opinions, with special but not exclusive reference to Fuhchau
Year: 1865 (1860s)
Authors: Doolittle, Justus
Subjects:
Publisher: New York : Harper & Bros.
Contributing Library: Princeton Theological Seminary Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Princeton Theological Seminary Library

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ght and conquer the lion. The sham-fightwith the artificial lion is a kind of amusement which pleasesand excites the common people to no small extent when welldone. The other sport alluded to is that of manoeuvring with animage representing the dragon. This image, as regards itsframe-work, is made out of bamboo splints, some of them tiedso as to be nearly circular. This frame-work of hoops is cov-ered with cloth, and is so arranged that it can be lighted upin the inside. To the under part of the whole, when com-pleted, several short poles are affixed in such a manner that itcan be elevated several feet above the heads of the men whocarry it. It is sometimes several tens of feet long, and can beturned and twisted into various shapes, on account of the na-ture of its frame-wrork, not being stiff and straight, but consist-ing of hooplike preparations of bamboo, covered with a flexi-• ble material, as cloth. Manoeuvring or playing with the drag- 292 MISCELLANEOUS OPINIONS AND PRACTICES.
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MANtEUYiUSCi THE DRAGON. on is quite common in the festivities connected with celebra-tions in the first Chinese month. It often appears as a partof an idol procession in the night-time. When used in thenight it is illuminated, and then carried several feet abaye theheads of the people, those who carry it making it bend andwind about in the same manner as they are pleased to imaginethe dragon goes. When brightly illuminated in a dark nightit presents a singular spectacle, much as the old dragon him-self might be expected to present. The head of the dragon,according to the ideas of the Chinese, is a very large and ill-favored object, and when illuminated as represented in thesecelebrations, it adds an unearthly and fiendish character to thesight. Playacting. The Chinese seem to be as devotedly attached to seeingtheatrical plays acted out as they are to the worshiping ofidols and the observance of superstitious customs. One of the gods or patron deities worshiped by playactorswas an emp

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