chieftains under his sway. His warlike exploits earned him a great name. The people speak of him as of an emperor and his name is even known to children in the neighbourhood of Tsinchow. A bric-à-brae shop sells various cups and pieces of china reputed to have been discovered during excavations at Huang-cheng. In Hsikuan there is a temple called Fusi (Fouhi) miao, the founding of which is ascribed, rightly or wrongly, to the Hia dynasty which, so the Chinese believe, reigned before the Flood (2,2o5 B.C.). The temple that stands there now, in the shade of large cypresses, is of no great age, nor are there any stones with inscriptions there dating further back than the Ming dynasty. Inside, the temple is rather empty. Fusi is seated in the centre in three different sizes, one very large, one small and one tiny. He wears a curious dress reminiscent of fish scales. Before him, behind a couple of fences, stand on one side the millstone with which he taught the Chinese to grind and on the other his fiery steed that was brought forth out of the water. In proof of his origin he is depicted with a head of scales.
A beautiful temple called »Y tchyen guan» is situated at Peikuan, or rather, on the slope just outside the suburb. There is said to be a sword there weighing 70o On that belonged once upon a time to a hero, who was called Lingukuan after his death. — In another temple dedicated to Laotjyn there is a stone with an inscription of the T'ang dynasty and .I. of the Sung dynasty. — A few li from the town there is a set of miao buildings on the slope of the S mountain, Nanshan miao, with the ruins of a tower, destroyed by an earthquake, ascribed to the T'ang dynasty. In the courtyard two old, very crooked, but not very thick cypresses are shown that are also ascribed to the time of the Emperor 'r'ang. The main building of the temple is occupied by a large image of Buddha of painted and gilded clay with an exposed, swelling stomach. This is a curiosity, because he is depicted laughing with his mouth wide open and an indescribably voluptuous expression. But the figures that look anything but voluptuous are four individuals of stern appearance and with rolling eyes, who decorate the two end-walls of the building, each one pressing
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