A Chinese ritual guide from the "Hall of Collected treasures" almanac : Part 3, Theurgy

  This is a translation of a ritual guide from the "Hall of Collected treasures" 聚寶樓, Ju bao lou almanac, published in Guangdong.廣東省江門土産進出口有限公司出品 .

This ritual guide provides a fairly detailed overview of aspects of Chinese ritual culture. The guide in its original form is 16 pages long, each page split into two rows, one above the other

In the following translation,  these breaks have been noted; the top row will be called A, and the bottom row, row B. So, [2A] refers to the top row of page 2 etc. 

To make this translation more useable, I have split it into three parts, viz:

1) Making wishes and thanking the gods 
2) Rituals of the new year
3) Worshipping specific gods. <This one>

In this section are found rituals for worshipping various gods, which would be of interest to both practitioner and anthropologist alike. here, we shall find..

- Worshipping Taisui,or the Grand Duke; basically a remedial astrological ritual
- Guanyin opening her stores: A form of religiously-reglated community finance 
- Che Kung and Wong Tai Sin, the two main deities of Hong Kong, along with copious instructions when visiting their temples
- How to consult the Lot-oracle that often is found in temples. 

A Chinese ritual guide from the "Hall of Collected treasures" almanac : Part 2

  This is a translation of a ritual guide from the "Hall of Collected treasures" 聚寶樓, Ju bao lou almanac, published in Guangdong.廣東省江門土産進出口有限公司出品 .

This ritual guide provides a fairly detailed overview of aspects of Chinese ritual culture. The guide in its original form is 16 pages long, each page split into two rows, one above the other

In the following translation,  these breaks have been noted; the top row will be called A, and the bottom row, row B. So, [2A] refers to the top row of page 2 etc. 

To make this translation more useable, I have split it into three parts, viz:

1) Making wishes and thanking the gods 
2) Rituals of the new year <This one> 
3) Worshipping specific gods. 

In this section, are found the instructions for several rituals carried out immediately before Chinese New Year, and shortly after it. We find the homely ritual of Thanking the stove [in which a god is basically bribed!] , the ritual spring-clean before new year, and finally re-opening shops on an auspicious day. 

A Chinese ritual guide from the "Hall of Collected treasures" almanac : Part 1, Making wishes and giving thanks.

 This is a translation of a ritual guide from the "Hall of Collected treasures" 聚寶樓, Ju bao lou almanac, published in Guangdong.廣東省江門土産進出口有限公司出品 .

This ritual guide provides a fairly detailed overview of aspects of Chinese ritual culture. The guide in its original form is 16 pages long, each page split into two rows, one above the other

In the following translation,  these breaks have been noted; the top row will be called A, and the bottom row, row B. So, [2A] refers to the top row of page 2 etc. 

To make this translation more useable, I have split it into three parts, viz:

1) Making wishes and thanking the gods <This one>
2) Rituals of the new year
3) Worshipping specific gods. 

Here is a sample of the original text: 

*** *** ***

In brief, this section teaches the most basic of rituals: making wishes or petitions to the gods, and also the rituals for giving thanks to them. It shows the basic outline of rituals, such as the necessary offerings, etc that are vital context for the 2 other sections. 

A Chinese ritual guide

A Chinese Ritual guide –

UPDATE: 17th July 2022-- Parts that had been accidentally left untranslated are now translated. 

The present ritual guide is taken from "The Chinese People's Calendar" 中國民歷，

 Almanac, pub’d by the Starlite book co.新竹林出版社. This ritual guide is broadly divided into two sections, viz, how to position an altar, how to worship the gods, and the rituals for visiting an ancetsral tomb. 

It is hoped that this will prove to be an as it is an interesting compendium of chinese ritual, and custom. 

The original scans are shown below: