During the second day, through beautiful country in beautiful weather, I
came across some people who I presumed were Li-su, and I regretted that
my films had all been exposed. The Li-su tribe is undoubtedly an
offshoot from the people who inhabit south-eastern Tibet, although none
of them anywhere in Yuen-nan--and they are found in many places in
central and eastern Yuen-nan--bear any traces of Buddhistic belief, which
is universal, of course, in Tibet. The late Mr. G. Litton, who at the
time he was acting as British Consul at Tengyueh traveled somewhat
extensively among them, says that their religious practices closely
resemble those of the Kachins, who believe in numerous "nats" or spirits
which cause various calamities, such as failure of crops and physical
ailments, unless propitiated in a suitable manner. According to him, the
most important spirit is the ancestral ghost. Li-su graves are generally
in the fields near the villages, and over them is put the cross-bow,
rice-bags and other articles used by the deceased. "It is probably from
foundations such as these," writes Mr. George Forrest, who accompanied
Mr. Litton on an excursion to the Upper Salwen, and who wrote up the
journey after the death of his companion, "that the fabric of Chinese
ancestor worship was constructed," a view which I doubt very much
indeed.
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