dust, and cob-webs with a sweeping pole specially made of a certain flexible kind of bamboo."[1] In China, whence have been derived many Japanese magical and religious practices, we find that in Fuh-kien province, in the 12th month, "On some fortunate day, it is the practice of most families, except those in mourning for the loss of parents, to 'sweep the house' as an omen of good luck. The instrument employed is not the common limber broom, but a broom made out of the branches of the bamboo. Not only is the floor of the house thoroughly swept, but the sides of the rooms, and the posts, etc."[2] The interdiction of this sweeping "to those who are in deep mourning" seems to me evidence of, what its effect on supernatural beings is supposed to be, for other Chinese practices, I think, entitle us to look upon the interdiction as probably due to a fear of disturbing the spirits of the beloved and respected dead, still hovering near their old homes.[3]
The close relationship existing between Japanese beliefs and those of China suffices to cause any information concerning the magical employments of brooms among the Chinese to be of especial interest to us. We learn that in China "Exorcising instruments of special repute are bundles of reeds[4] or twigs, because their use against evil is mentioned in the Classics. … [They] probably were tied together as a broom, if … we may adopt the opinion
- ↑ Customs and Amusements on the Japanese New Year, Tōkyō (Japan Times), pp. 1, 2. In passing, we may observe that Dyak priestesses sometimes "sweep misfortune out of the house with brooms made of the leaves of certain plants …" (Sir J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, 3rd ed. part vi. p. 5).
- ↑ J. Dolittle, Social Life of the Chinese, New York, 1867, vol. ii. pp. 77, 78.
- ↑ Compare with this the Congo Negroes' refraining from sweeping a house for a year after a death has taken place in it; and the Tonkinese avoidance of cleaning a house during a certain festival when the spirits of the dead return to their old homes (Samter, op. cit. p. 33, footnote 6). Also, the converse, the sweeping out of souls after they have been fed, in Borneo (ibid. p. 32) and among the Old Prussians (ibid.; and Frazer, op. cit. part ii. p. 238).
- ↑ Compare W. G. Aston, Shinto, p. 301.
