- "It Was The Custom Of The Ancients To Worship Those Who
Were Before Them.
Thus students worshipped their instructors, farmers
worshipped the first husbandman, workers in silk, the original silk-worker.
Thus when calamities come upon the land, the virtuous among the people make
offerings to the spirits of earth and heaven, the mountains, rivers,
streams, etc.
All these things are profitable. These customs should never
be forgotten.' After such instruction, we are prepared to find fifty-eight
temples of every variety in this little city of about 20,000 inhabitants.
There is a temple to the spirits of Wind, Clouds, Thunder, and Rain, to the
god of silk-workers, to the Horse-god, to the god of locusts, and the eight
destructive insects, to the Five Dragons, to the King who quiets the waves.
Besides these, there are all the orthodox temples to the ancient worthies,
and some modern heroes. Liu Pei and Chang Fei, two of the three great
heroes of the San Kuo Chih, being natives of Cho Chou, are each honoured
with two temples, one in the native village, and one in the city. It is not
often that one locality can give to a great empire two of its three most
popular heroes: Liu Pei, Chang Fei, Kuan Yu."
"Judging from the condition of the country," writes the Rev. W.S. Ament
(p. 120), "one could hardly believe that this general region was the
original home of the silk-worm, and doubtless the people who once lived
here are the only people who ever saw the silk-worm in his wild state.
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