Books with title The Feast Of Lanterns

Jack Stinge is a miser and a cheat, the most despised man in town. Having earned the favor of the Devil, he thought he was untouchable. Now his fortunes are threatened by the arrival of a stranger, whose words are turning the village against him.As Hallowe'en draws ever nearer, Jack must keep his secrets tight within his grasp, lest his unholy debt be squared at last.

Jack Stinge is a miser and a cheat, the most despised man in town. Having earned the favor of the Devil, he thought he was untouchable. Now his fortunes are threatened by the arrival of a stranger, whose words are turning the village against him. As Hallowe'en draws ever nearer, Jack must keep his secrets tight within his grasp, lest his unholy debt be squared at last.

Chinese lack them but for centuries it had suffered from one outstanding disadvantage: prolific in its marriages, those nuptials rarely had resulted in the birth of a girl. The gods had been besought and bribed, offerings made lavishly, vows proffered, temples built, but all to scant avail, for still the wives of the family brought forth men children only. Since a girl must be dowered, the Chinese poor pray for a preponderance of sons, but for a great and ridi noble to be daughterless is to be afflicted and pitied. A lady of the Ch engs had invented China ssweetest wind instrument, and composed three of the great classic love-songs, and at a time of sharp peril had won back to their allegiance the revolting aborigines by her diplomacy, her beauty and her playing of the flute. A nother had invented an imperid glaze, one had improved the telescope, and discovered a constellation, another had excelled all the other court ladies at embroidering, another sl poetess of the Tang dynasty had enriched Chinese literature, one when a decadence of classical learning threatened opened a school, and, lecturing from behind a crimson curtain, to some hundred men and youths, averted the catastrophe, and one had eaten the peaches of immortality that grew in the garden of Hsi Wang Mu, the lady of the West, and that ripen but once in three thousand years, and is now a god with the gods. But these were Ch engs but by marriage, and had been all but barren of daughters; and the few girls bom to the family had been ordinary, in appearance and in gifts; none of the few had achieved distinction, done China or her own clan a great service or made an imperial marriage.(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forg

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from The Feast of LanternsEvery Chinese is born into surroundings of pre eminent beauty-beauty of form, beauty of color, beauty of exquisite juxtapositions - natural beauty and beauty of all things that are made; into beauty, and into an almost untainted atmosphere of good-taste and intrinsic kindliness.Consciously or unconsciously every Chinese is a sin cere lover of nature and of everything lovely. No other people has so stern and uncompromising a sense of justice, so ready a sense of humor, more balance, more unflinching loyalty, or less exaggerated estimate of the importance of self. It is a proud people without vanity - a self-reliant, strong people, lacking brutality; suave without affectation, dignified without self-as sertion - free from ridiculousness, industrious, con tented; hard-working dreamers who, too, are shrewdly practical, honest above all other races, home-keeping, home-loving; first of all peoples in its love of children, and in its chivalrous treatment and just estimate of womanhood.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.