In Brazil, masks were used in dances performed in honor of the dead. The mask represented animals, birds, and insects. They obtained their magical power by the wearer imitating the movements and actions of these creatures. For instance, the butterfly masks came by their magic through the dance of two men who imitated the play of these brilliant insects fluttering on the wing, settling on sand banks and rocks. The magic of the swallow masks came through the imitation of the swallow, and so it was with the owl, spider, vulture, beetle, toad, jaguar mask, and others. After the dance the masks were burned in order to drive the indwelling spirits back to their haunts. Even idols needed masks to give them life, and special power over disease and disaster. These masks must be as enduring as the gods themselves, so they were made of terra cotta, shell, and stone. Among the gifts made to Columbus when he landed in San Salvador were some of these sacred masks. Masks originated in Asia just as they did in Africa and America, through man’s fears and superstitions. In India, China, Japan, and throughout the Orient, they have been used for centuries in religious ceremonies. Gradually they were introduced into court functions, such as wedding and birthday celebrations, and finally animal masks were used to entertain the common people. The highly involved religions of these eastern peoples, with their countless deities, brought infinite variety to their masks. Their civilization, being old and rich in tradition, gave to the mask subtleties and refinement of characterization that could not be conceived of by primitive peoples. Their masks reflected their clear, well-defined ideas, and showed their artists’ amazing ability to recognize and analyze expressions of the human face. Tranquillity, mirth, cunning, scorn, wrath, and subtle shades of feeling are portrayed. The idea in the mind of the mask maker was so clear that we are never left in doubt as to the meaning of the mask. They are emotional interpretations, never realistic portraits. Chinese priests used the mask in morality plays showing the rewards and punishments that will be meted out in their many heavens, hells, and purgatories. Their masks are usually horrible or terrifying, sometimes humorous, rarely beautiful. They are worn by gorgeously costumed priests who enact the plays, in pantomime, on stages erected in the temple courtyards. In Siam, Burma, Java, and Ceylon, the mask passed from the temple to the theater and the strolling players. Much of its old symbolism has been lost, and it frequently becomes merely an elaborate piece of decoration.