The object of this paper is to discuss as comprehensively as possible Chinese paper charms in the changing society of Hong Kong. There are collected seven kinds of paper mock money, seven kinds of paper mock clothes, and nearly forty kinds.of paper charms that are sold in Hong Kong in the early 1970's. As long as the paper charm is a materialization of the Taoist cult, the paper charm must be drawn up by the Taoist priest. This is what the paper charms and other magic scripts should be. In fact, it was one of the chief pursuits of Taoist priests in the former days to draw up paper charms. In Hong Kong today, however, paper charms are "ready to use" ones, which are printed in factories in large quantities and are passed from wholesalers to superstitious believers through the retail shops in towns and villages. There are more than three hundred and fifty paper charm shops isted in the yellow pages of the local telephone directory for 1970. All these shops are small in size and run by people whose schooling is generally less than five years in duration. Authentic ritual experts are hardly to be found throughout this industry. The industry as a whole seems to be depend on one's knowledge of how to choose the most suitable paper charms according to each case. This practical knowledge has been handed down by word of mouth. Being ready made, paper charms are easily obtainable from the retail shops found eleswhere in Hong Kong at a reasonable price. Rites with these charms are also simple, generally "do-it-yourself" projects with no priests needed. The rite can be performed at the nearest temples, at the gate of the house, or even by the roadside. Incense, red candles and foods would be offered there. Murmuring against desires one has, one burns paper charms, mock money, mock cloth and sometimes papier mache. One specific characteristic of local paper charms is then transformation from Taoist document such as Su 疏 or petition, Tieh 牒 or communication/order, Ch'uan chang 全章 or order, and P'ai 牌 or notification to paper charms. Each of these Taoist documents is modelled after official documents of the country during, dynastic periods. Originally each of the Taoist documents ought to be read by the Taoist priests during the rite, and burnt at the final stage of the rite. However, as the rite itself has been abridged in Hong Kong, so the document has also been abridged. Only the envelope in which originally the document was enclosed, is burnt as a sort of paper charm. Unlike the ordinary paper charms in due form, local paper charms include many illustrated ones. Magic words are sometimes completely replaced by the illustrations. Another type of local paper charm is the "Composite charm" on which the paper charm in due form, illustrations, documents, etc. are combined. While rural people still paste lucky or exorcising charms on door gates, urban people who are packed into modern skyscrapers pay less attention to door charms. Urban people sometimes burn those door charms instead of pasting them in. In general, however, both rural and urban people still share the same kind of paper charms. Although there were many kinds of paper charms in old China, local paper charms under the mass-printing system of today have only limited kinds. Many kinds of paper charms seem to have been abolished in the course of time. In the earlier stage there were many kinds of paper charms for curing people of diseases, whereas we find only one local paper charm for that purpose. Both modern sanitation practices and up-to-date medical facilities have spread so far and wide, that paper charm curing for diseases has been abolished accordingly. There were also many paper charms for fecundity, especially those for granting boys, as well as paper charms for easy delivery. To have numerous children was a great desire of all Chinese, since manpower was essential to the agrarian communities. To have many boys was a great desire of all family members too, since men bore the responsibility for ancestor worship which was considered as the greatest duty of human beings. Child-bearing women begged to grant them easy delivery, since unfortunate mothers who died in childbirth were allegedly said to de plunged into the Bloody Pond of Purgatory. Then, there were also many paper charms preserving the children from the effects of malicious ghosts and of all diseases, since the death rate of infant children was higher than it is now. Modernization of Hong Kong in terms of econmic life, family pattern and sanitary improvement, all in all, have made a clean sweep of paper charms concerned, leaving only four kinds of paper charms. It ia fair to say that the present variation of Hong Kong paper charms has settled down after a double impact in the past, that is to say, the mass-printing system and social changes. All paper charms today have been singled out for survival; in other words, they have been adhered to so deeply that they could survive among numerous paper charms in the past. Of the present local paper charms, the best seller is "Grand Catastrophes", a collection of selected paper charms, mock money mock cloth and a paper boat to which the sickness or misfortunes are transferred. This is a manifestation of people's desire to avoid the troublesome choice of paper charms. " Orders for Five Treasures" is one of the good sellers. It consists of five different paper charms, each in the form of an envelope, conferring happiness, emolument, longevity, wealth and a harmonious union respectively. Then, there is a variety of paper charms concerning Kwai-yan (貴人) or Honourable Man and Luk-ma (緑馬) or Green Horse. I feel these paper charms stand in some relation to the social life of Hong Kong where human relationship is very much complicated and mobile. Throughout local paper charms today, such traditional conceptions as the horoscope, the time of birth for life-reading purposes, barriers, malicious ghosts, wandering ghosts, five demons, earth spirits, etc., are still performing valuable functions among the traditional minded Cantonese of this part of the world. Comparing Taiwanese Taoist rites conducted by real Taoist priests with local paper charms, it is suggested that the paper charms represent a simplified version of the original rites. The rite itself is transferred onto the paper charms, since illustrations on paper charms sometimes represent paper gods and paper offerings used for rites. Taoist documents on paper charms are also reduced, and simplified drawings of the documents are burnt as magic papers. It is understood that replacement of actual rites by paper charms was, perhaps, brought about by a lack of real Taoist priests. A lack of real Taoist priests impilled the society to produce the paper charms with illustrations, so that Taoism could survive even in a society without real Taoist priests. As I understand it, Taoist rites have continued vin a new and popularized form : the paper charm shop. The industry of paper charms is not, therefore, merely the corruption of Taoist rites but one of the new forms by which the Taoist rites could continue to survive persistently even in such a changing society as Hong Kong.
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