village--or, if a town, the ward--in which he was assaulted. Then the
headman of such town or ward is summoned before the authorities and
fined, proportionately to the offence, for allowing rowdy behaviour in
his district. The headman takes good care that he does not pay the fine
himself. In the same way, parents are held responsible for the acts of
their children, and householders for those of their servants.



CHAPTER III--RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION

The Chinese are emphatically not a religious people, though they are
very superstitious. Belief in a God has come down from the remotest
ages, but the old simple creed has been so overlaid by Buddhism as
not to be discernible at the present day. Buddhism is now the dominant
religion of China. It is closely bound up with the lives of the people,
and is a never-failing refuge in sickness or worldly trouble. It is no
longer the subtle doctrine which was originally presented to the people
of India, but something much more clearly defined and appreciable by
the plainest intellect. Buddha is the saviour of the people through
righteousness alone, and Buddhist saints are popularly supposed to
possess intercessory powers. Yet reverence is always wanting; and crowds
will laugh and talk, and buy and sell sweetmeats, in a Buddhist temple,
before the very eyes of the most sacred images. So long as divine
intervention is not required, an ordinary Chinaman is content to neglect
his divinities; but no sooner does sickness or financial trouble come
upon the family, than he will hurry off to propitiate the gods.

He accomplishes this through the aid of the priests, who receive his
offerings of money, and light candles or incense at the shrine of the