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In China, the emperor is the representative of the primitive ancestors, and stands, as it were, between them and the supreme cosmic deities Heaven and Earth who are superadded to them, and who answer to the Tangaloa and the Maui of the Polynesians.
Tangaloa langi tuavalu, Tangaloa of the eighth heaven; Tangaloa faatupu nuu, Tangaloa the creator of lands; Tangaloa asiasi nuu, Tangaloa the visitor of lands; Tangaloa lafoai nuu, Tangaloa the abandoner of lands these were some of the names by which this god superior was known. At one place he was seen in the moon, and principally worshipped in the month of May.
They cooked some food one day, but it was not half done. The enraged family set upon the two. Destruction had his neck broken by a stick thrown at him; but Heron escaped by having his neck pulled long, as it is to this day. This was the name of one of the great land gods, in opposition to Tangaloa, the god of the heavens.
The month was also called Aitu tele, great god, from the principal worship of the month. At another place it was named Tangaloa tele, for a similar reason. This month was called Toe utu va, or digging again, and so named from the yam crop. The name is also explained as the further digging up of the winds to raise storms.
To this Tangaloa agreed without argument, resigning himself like a little child to O'olo's guidance, and making no demur when the Tongan said: "Let us rise and go, for by dawn we must be on the heights, and beyond pursuit."
The god Tangaloa came down and stood on the bow of their canoe and told them not to go to Savaii or Upolu, lest they should be trampled upon, but remain where they were. Then Tupuivao vomited a quantity of land he had swallowed at Fiji, and so made Manono and its neighbouring island Apolima.
With all respect for the distinguished authorities on the other side, I cannot find good reasons for accepting the theory that the cosmic deities who are superadded to deified ancestors even in China; who are found all over Polynesia, in Tangaloa and Maui, and in old Peru, in the Sun are the product either of the "search after the infinite," or of mistakes arising out of the confusion of a great chief's name with the thing signified by the name.
"As God sees me that I will perform," said Tangaloa, "and now in my extremity I perceive the worth of true dealing with every man, for all my past years stand in witness to my honor, and he who trusted me has never been deceived."
After a time his hair was cut and the restriction taken off, and hence also the rocks and the earth were called Sa ia Moa, or as it is abbreviated, SAMOA. Tangaloa of the heavens had two children a son called Moa, and a daughter called Lu. Lu married a brother chief of Tangaloa, and had a son, who was named Lu after herself. One night when Tangaloa lay down to sleep, he heard his grandson singing
Offerings were presented on war occasions; and he was also presented with gifts, and had prayers offered to him, before going to fish, before planting some fresh section of bush land, and also in times of sickness or special epidemic. It was firmly believed that if there was no prayer to Tangaloa there could be no blessing. Thunder was a sign that the prayer was heard.
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