ABSTRACT
In mandarin establishments, the god of the kitchen furnace is worshipped, in accordance with an ancient custom, as the Superintendent or Inspector of Good and Evil. According to established custom, merchants and grocerymen make out their bills and begin to present them to their debtors about the time the festival commences. A petty mandarin, with a large staff of policemen or constables, is annually stationed on the hill, on the arrival of the day, for the purpose of keeping the peace and quelling the disturbance, should any arise. The preparation of rice-flour to make into a certain kind of sweet cake is also among the restrictions laid upon those in mourning for the loss of a parent. Some families burn the balls of straw and the peas as omens of good luck for horses or cattle, typifying that they will have straw and peas to eat.
