The Chinese Almanack.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2931, 22 June 1888, Page 3

The Chinese Almanack.

The great value which the Chinese attach to their almanack is shown in many ways. Recently the Chinese residents at Lliassa, in Thibet, implored the Emperor to cause arrangements to be mado which would enable them to receive their copies of the almanack at the earliest possible date «;ach year, A writer, in a recent e of the Chinese Recorder says , the most important book to the Chinese is the almanack. Its space is «too important to be occupied with ! matter that fills "Western almanacks contains astronomical information which is useful; but its great mission is to give full and accurate information fyy lucky places for perform-

ing all the acts, great and small, ot overy-day life. And its succoss on the timo in which and the direction (i.e., the point of the compass) towards which it is done, it is of the utmost importance that every one should have correct information available at all times to enable him to so order his life as to avoid bad luck and calamity, and secure good luck and prosperity, Consequently tho almanack is perhaps the most universally circulated book in China, The writer speaks of it as a terrible yoke of bondage. It is issued by tho Government, and the sale of all almanacks but the authorised one is prohibited. Quite recently the new Chinese Minister to Germany refused to sail for his post on a day which the almanack declared to be unlucky, and the departure of the German mail steamer was consequently detained at the request of the German Minister at Pekiu.