ars in Leo, where is a palace called Wu Ti Tso, or
'Throne of the Five Emperors.' In this celestial government there are
also an heir-apparent, empresses, sons and daughters, and tribunals,
and the constellations receive the names of men, animals, and other
terrestrial objects. The Great Bear, or Dipper, is worshipped as the
residence of the Fates, where the duration of life and other events
relating to mankind are measured and meted out. Fears are excited by
unusual phenomena among the heavenly bodies.

Both the sun and the moon are worshipped by the Government in
appropriate temples on the east and west sides of Peking.

Various Star-gods

Some of the star-gods, such as the God of Literature, the Goddess of
the North Star, the Gods of Happiness, Longevity, etc., are noticed
in other parts of this work. The cycle-gods are also star-gods. There
are sixty years in a cycle, and over each of these presides a special
star-deity. The one worshipped is the one which gave light on the
birthday of the worshipper, and therefore the latter burns candles
before that particular image on each succeeding anniversary. These
cycle-gods are represented by most grotesque images: "white, black,
yellow, and red; ferocious gods with vindictive eyeballs popping out,
and gentle faces as expressive as a lump of putty; some looking like
men and some like women." In one temple one of the sixty was in the
form of a hog, and another in that of a goose. "Here is an image
with arms protruding out of his eye-sockets, and eyes in the palms
of his hands, looking downward to see the secret things within the
earth. See that rabbit, Minerva-like, jumping from the divine head;
again a mud-rat emerges from his occipital hiding-place, and lo! a
snake comes coiling from the brain of another god--so the long line
serves as models for an artist who desires to study the fantastic."

Shooting the Heavenly Dog

In the family sleeping-apartments in Chinese houses hang pictures
of Chang Hsien, a white-faced, long-bearded man with a little boy by
his side, and in his hand a bow and arrow, with which he is shooting
the Heavenly Dog. The dog is the Dog-star, and if the 'fate' of the
family is under this star there will be no son, or the child will be
short-lived. Chang Hsien is the patron of child-bearing women, and was
worshipped under the Sung dynasty by women desirous of offspring. The
introduction of this name into the Chinese pantheon is due to an
incide