However, most ceremonies of nominal adoption I observed were as simple as I previously described and without any certificate (the Adoption Agreement) or the assistance of a priest.

The Stone God and the Tree God who have become the nominal parent must be worshipped with offerings of incense, spirit money and food regularly, especially at the deity's birthday. On that day, the red silk thread which hangs the amulet must be taken off to be renewed with a new silk thread. Again the amulet with new thread is passed over the incense burner and worn on the neck of the child. The practice is called "Uan-kuin (Renewing the Amulet)".

Moreover, the relationship of nominal adoption lasts, theoretically at least, until the age of sixteen, that is, to adulthood according to Chinese culture. The child must go to her/his nominal parent's temple at its birthday and thank the deity for her/his protection over the sixteen years and return the amulet in front of the deity. The custom is called "Thui-kuin (Taking off the Amulet)" (cf. Topley 1974:243; Wei & Coutanceau 1976:66f). (note.9)

If the child's nominal parent is "the Seven Star goddess" ("Chhit-niu-ma") instead of the Stone God or the Tree God, a rite called "Leaving the House of the Seven Star goddess" is to be performed in addition to the "wearing the amulet".

... offerings are made of daphenes, cockscomb, white jasmine, tree orchids, balsam flowers, and other sweet- scented blossoms. Besides these are offered fruits, white flour, common flowers, glutinous rice mixed with hemp oil, wine and chicken, various types of meat, and strangely enough, lipstick. If there are adults in the family, during an impressive ceremony special offerings are made of Chang, noodles and a "chhit-niu-ma pavilion" -an effigy made of paper, over two feet high, to represent the goddess' home. After the ceremony the family burns gold money, and money on which is printed the picture of clothes; at the same time the paper pavilion is set aflame, a catastrophe surely to anyone appreciative of the construction's intricacy and attention to detail! (Wei & Coutanceau 1976:67f)

The observance in Fuzhou is also noteworthy. The harvest festival, celebrated from the eleventh to the fifteen day of the eighth lunar month, is an occasion for people worship the Seven Star Goddess.

A four sided rice measure with some rice in the bottom is placed on a table in the front of the reception room or in the open court. In it are put ten pairs of chopsticks and images which represent the children of the family. These are about six inches to a foot high, often consisting of a stick of wood with the features painted on it. If the child dies they are placed in the coffin. After the age of sixteen these images are discarded. If the family is in good circumstances a priest is invited to recite incantations. At a certain point in the ceremony the head of the family and the children kneel and worship before this altar. This will prevent them from succumbing to disease, and will ensure long life. Congee made of the rice in the bottom of the measure prolongs life (Hodous 1929:179-80).

The rite of "Leaving the House of the Seven Star Goddess", discarding a stick of images in Fuzhou, and "Taking off the Amulet," all reflect the fact that from that time on the child has reached adulthood, thus leaving the deity's intimate protection. The rite can also be regarded as a puberty rite in Chinese society.

IV. Why They are Favoured as Nominal Parents:

According to analyses by certain field researchers (Feuchtwang 1974b; Wolf 1974), the supernatural world in Chinese popular religion is divided into three categories, that is, gods, ancestors and ghosts. Moreover, because the supernatural world is anthropomorphised as we said in Chapter Four, the category of gods is arranged in a bureaucratic structure. Although the bureaucratic structure differs according to the period and viewpoints of the worshippers, people generally agree that the bureaucratic hierarchy can be divided into three levels: the higher-ranking, the middle-ranking and the lower-ranking. (note.10)In various ritual practices and myths it is depicted as a bureaucratic organisation similar to that of the Chinese imperial government (Cohen 1987:291), despite the latter's demise more than eighty years ago. For example, the Jade Emperor and Emperor Guan and Hian-ten Emperor, Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy), the Granny, the Royal Lords, and the Eternal Mother are bureaucratically very powerful and are classified as higher- ranking (cf. Yu Chun-fang: 1990). They were apotheosised and elevated because of their ethics or morality (cf. Wolf 1974:140f). Obviously, the elevation of them could not have occurred without state and the elite intervention (cf. Watson 1985:323). The Near Water Goddess, the Bed Goddess and the Seven- star Goddess and others belong to the middle-rank. The Tiger God, the Tree Deities, the Land Deities, the Toilet Deity and Stone Deities are in the lower-ranking classification (cf. Ahern 1985:281-2).

Because they are believed to have great protective power, most higher-ranking deities nominally adopt children. Once a child is adopted by a higher-ranking god, a sack containing a talisman, a bit of incense ash, and/or a picture of the god serving together as an amulet is hung on red silk thread which should be worn on the child's neck. However, although belonging to the middle-ranking class, some goddesses are sometimes preferred by people as nominal parents. I hypothesise that the maternal nature of these goddesses overcomes the importance of the bureaucratic hierarchy as a determining factor. The fact that the Earth Mother, the Granny, the Near Water Goddess, the Bed Goddess and the Seven-star Goddess and others adopt innumerable nominal children proves my hypothesis.(note.11)

The deities classified as lower-ranking, such as the Tiger God, the Land Deities, the Toilet Deity, since they are considered as having only little power, rarely have any nominal children. Why, then, are the Stone and Tree God, despite belonging to the lower-ranks, widely favoured as nominal parents? I have collected three different reasons from my field interviews. First, I was told that it is because people believe the natural objects have special protective power over children; that is, they are, according to Chinese tradition, functionally believed to be guardians of children (cf. Graham 1936:60). The second reason is that people believe that the stones and trees are so physically strong that people hope their children might grow as strong as them. In other words, people have the notion that the strength of the bodies of the nominal parents will also be extended to their nominal children. Eberhard relates some similar cults in South China (1970:21-23); the believers there also hope that the nominal children can be as strong as the tree deities. Furthermore, Yuan Chang-rue's field research (1993:4) in South Taiwan also confirms the idea.

The third reason is somewhat different from the previous two. I was told that in Taiwan Hakka people believe that any "fundamentally weak" child is susceptible to dying, unless its parent/s take him/her to be adopted. The adoption can be real or only nominal. If it is nominal, a tree, because it is easy to find, is preferred. When the child's parent chooses a proper tree, he/she ties a red silk thread on the trunk or a branch of the tree and names it the nominal parent of his/her child. Thus, people believe that the child will grow up healthily and the tree will die very soon; it dies for its nominal child. That is, it serves as the scapegoat of the child. For this reason, the tree that people choose cannot be too small to bear the child's unfortunate destiny. Therefore, any big tree is susceptible to becoming the nominal parent. If it does not die, people will think it possesses a magical power and deify it.

V. Why Some are not Favoured as Nominal Parents:

Among the 61 stone deities under this study, 35 deities do not nominally adopt children. Among the 39 tree deities under study here, 20 deities do not nominally adopt children. I find that there are at least five factors according to which these deities do not nominally adopt children. The first factor is that some are newly apotheosised.

In chapter Five, I argue that trees that grow giant and are located beside popular temples are susceptible to deification. The Tree God of Tho.-sian Ward (#T15; see figure 80); the Tree God of Sin-hong Ward (#T17; see figure 82); the Tree God of Khe- te (#T21; see figure 87); and the Tree God of Chheng-bek Ward (#T32; see figure 98) are all newly deified because they have grown giant in recent decades. The stone Turtle of Ken-ki Road (#S56; see figure 61), because of the unusual appearance, and because it has been found in recent decades, has also been newly deified. Moreover, since the prevalence of the Lottery gambling in recent decades, and the Stone and Tree deities have become patron deities of gambling, the Stone God of Ho-peng Ward (#S15; see figure 15); the stone Granny of Ho-peng Ward (#S16; see figure 16); the Stone God of Khe-te Hamlet (#S34; see figure 36); the Tree God of Kim-bin Ward (#T6; see figure 71); and the Tree God of So.-o Urban-town (#T10; see figure 75) are all deified by gamblers. In spite of being deified, because the religious custom that the Stone and Tree Deities nominally adopt unfortunate children has declined in these decades, these newly deified stones and trees do not serve as nominal parents.

The second reason some stone and tree deities take no nominal adoption is that they are located beside deities which are popular for adopting children. A typical example is the Stone Grandfather of Biau-liek City (#S3). The deity is the associate god of the Stone Goddess of Ka-seng Ward (#S2) which is prestigious for adopting children. Although the Stone Grandfather is set beside the Stone Mother as a couple, he does not take any nominal children. I was told that it is because it is enough to be nominally adopted by the Stone Goddess and the Stone Grandfather is only her associate god. Similarly, The Tree God of Uan-lim Town (#T1; see figure 66) is worshipped beside the Stone Buddha of Uan-lim Town (#S5; see figure 5); the Banyan God of Sion-lim Ward (#T18; see figure 83) is worshipped beside the Stone God of Sion-lim Ward (#S33; see figure 35); the Tree God of Chhau-o. Hamlet (#T38; see figure 104) is worshipped beside the Stone God of Chhau-o. Hamlet (#S58; see figure 63), so they do not adopt any children.