This is the Feast of the Three Beginnings—that of the year, the months, and the days.

From break of day, which is saluted in every house with formidable detonations of crackers, all the functionaries of the capital betake themselves to the Imperial Temple to present their respective congratulations to the Sovereign in person before the tablet which bears the name of His Majesty. This duty accomplished, they present their homages in order to the temples of Heaven, of Confucius, of the God of Literature, and of the God of War. After this they pay calls to each other, an exchange of courtesies which lasts for four or five days.

On entering a relation’s house, it is the rule, first of all, to salute the tablets which represent the ancestors. If the visitors are newly married, besides tea and cakes, a bag of oranges and water-melon seeds is offered to them. Both these signify that it is hoped they may be blessed with a large family.

Parties are given every day in turn at the different houses of friends, and these are made the occasion for games of every description. At the same time presents are distributed amongst the servants of one’s friends and relations, whilst to the children of one’s acquaintance one gives ingots of silver or pieces of silver coin wrapped up in red paper, or coins threaded on red strings, which are called lucky coins. I may mention here, since I am speaking about children, a striking peculiarity, which is specially noticeable in the case of very young children; that is, that in China we don’t count people’s ages by the number of their days, but from year to year. Thus a child born on the 31st of December is two years on the evening of the next day, that is, on January 1st of the following year.

The fourth day of the first moon is the Feast of the God of Wealth and of Happiness. All the drawing-rooms are then lighted up in honour of these divinities, which are represented either by images or by a simple piece of writing on paper.

The seventh day is consecrated to the Feast of Man, and the ninth to that of God, and so on; for the feasts almost daily follow in quick succession up to the end of the Feast of Lanterns.

During this time all that the people think about is to organise pleasures, and to give themselves up to enjoyment. Debts have all been paid off at the end of the old year, and the public and private holiday, which is general, gives all the liberty needed. The season of the year is not favourable to travelling, and so all that remains for pastimes are the indoor games which are best adapted for killing time. There is a great deal of playing in China at the time of year under consideration. Games are played with cards, with dominoes, with dice, and with the twelve beasts. There is also a more instructive game, which represents the steps of official promotion. I need hardly say that music is not wanting at these fÊtes.

Many families do not eat meat on New Year’s Day. According to Lie-Tseu, this custom originated as follows:

This is a pretty tale with a delicate sentiment. Superstition is not, however, wanting. With regard to the crackers which one might suppose are only let off for fun, or in invitation to noisy revelry, it appears that a good many people fancy that they serve to frighten off evil spirits, who would never dare to knock at doors behind which such terrible explosions are taking place.

But there is more than this. Many people paint a charm on their doors, or draw a cock, or two guardians, which are thought to be capable of swallowing whole any demon who might take it into his head to show himself.

The astronomical works published under the dynasty of the Han family state that one can judge from the wind that is blowing at daybreak on New Year’s Day what kind of weather one is going to have throughout the ensuing year. Thus a south wind means general dryness, a south-westerly wind partial drought, and so on. An easterly wind on New Year’s Day morning means war, a north-westerly wind a good harvest, a north wind a moderate harvest. A north-easterly wind indicates a peaceful year, wind from the west warns one of coming floods, and from south-east of epidemics.

In the same way, the first word that one writes on New Year’s Day gives its character to the whole year, good or bad. So, to make sure, people always begin their letters on that day with such words as, Happiness, Wealth, Felicity, Long-Life, and so on.

This manner of ensuring a happy New Year has inspired a woman philosopher with the four following lines:

I may add, that in spite of this excellent advice everybody continues to ask for what is unobtainable—the pauper for a little wealth, the rich man for more than he can have.

Fables which take something from superstition know how to mingle with it a certain amount of wisdom. I will give in proof the following story:—

It is evident that this means that without luck, fortune itself is worth nothing.

The God of Wealth, whose good works we have just related, is nowhere more fÊted than in the town of Canton. Every evening, after the shops are closed, candles are lighted and incense is burned before his altars, which are fitted in niches on the outside of the shops. The whole town is illuminated and perfumed. This is an universal adoration to which no inhabitant of the Chinese empire gives himself up more fervently than the Cantonese, who are the most commercial of the Chinese. Now, the God of Wealth is also the God of Commerce, and that is as it should be, for commerce is money after all; at least, money is the object of trade and of traders. Plutus is the complement of Mercury.

The spring equinox, which we call the beginning of spring, often falls on the first days of the new year. Then, there is a great fÊte.

A veritable procession is organised in each town. At the head come the prefects and sub-prefects, and all the members of their official staff in gala uniform. Each holds in his hand a spray of artificial flowers, representing the peony, the flower of the spring. They ride in their open sedan-chairs, escorted with music and soldiers. By their side are carried tablets, on which are written their titles and the services they have rendered.

This is the procession of the spring ox.

Behind the official procession is carried the gigantic statue of an ox, made of clay, which is plastered over with papers of many colours. Each colour stands for some atmospheric change—fine weather, drought, change, and so on.

Behind this statue comes the real ox, all gay with ribbons and rosettes. A statuette is stuck up on its back, which represents the coming year. Its dress also portends the weather that is going to be prevalent throughout the coming year. If it has shoes on its feet, that means that the year will be a dry one; if it has clogs, that the year will be rainy. A clog on one foot and a shoe on the other, mean that the year will be a temperate one.

The whole procession makes its way towards the temple of the God of Agriculture, where the sacrifices take place. The ox is slaughtered and its flesh is distributed amongst the crowd.

Thus in the extreme East the “spring ox” is being led in procession at about the same time that the Parisians are leading round their Carnival “fat ox.” The two ceremonies are evidently agricultural feasts, such as formerly were celebrated in Egypt with the ox Apis. Man is the same everywhere; his customs, languages, and institutions are different, but those are only differences of form, the substance is everywhere the same.