ABSTRACT
Poor folk have a seasonable proverb: "Now is the time to embrace one's shoulders," i.e. to keep the arms folded on the breast, as Chinese do when they feel cold. On the first of this month, according to custom, people light their portable braziers made of baked white clay set in an iron frame. Such stoves are open, and when filled with coal-balls give out a fierce heat. As no pipes are used, the gas escapes directly into the room. Hence the number of asphyxiation cases each year in Peking among those who sle6p in tiny cubby-holes with windows and doors tight shut. To protect themselves against the odour of carbonic acid gas, sung hua, the tiny flowers of the pine, are thrown into the fire, while a mixture of various candied fruits, called t'ang hu lu,
Third Festival of the Dead
skewered on bamboos, is eaten to counteract its deadly fumes. Why fruit should have power to do this, is not clear. Perhaps the superstition is simply an excuse for enjoying sugared dainties which the Pekingese love, at a season of the year when they can be most successfully prepared. Clear, cold sunshiny days make the best t'ang hu lu. Hot or damp weather affects the syrup mixture adversely. That is the reason Chinese confectioners make a special display in the tenth moon of fruits preserved in honey, and peddlers hawk brochettes of candied grapes, cherries and orange-slices. Grown men, as well as children, may be seen strolling along Peking lanes sucking these bamboos of hatpin length. Small red crab-apples are also strung on strings, worn as necklaces, and gradually eaten on the way home from a fair.
