ABSTRACT
The common people believe him to receive the reports of the higher class of the gods in regard to the transactions done on the earth, and to examine into the merits and demerits of mortals, rewarding or punishing them according to their just deserts. Ma Chu, the goddess of sailors, is very extensively worshipped by all heathen families which have business connected with the navigation of rivers or the ocean. The largest and most costly temple in the southern suburbs of the city was built by traders from Ningpo for the worship of the sailors’ goddess. Kuang Ta, the Chinese god of war, or the Chinese Mars, was a distinguished military officer, as well as a faithful and honest courtier, who flourished in the time of the after Han dynasty, during the wars which agitated the three states. Ung Chiong Ta Kung, the god of literature, is universally worshipped by literary men.
