Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-08-14
.hon a,.t none Alias alas p

thou art gone. Alas, alas
We have been told that it is no
|. Ian uncommon occurrence for ole
!. family troubles to be referred to il
some indirect way, as when g Sec
ondary wife with no occasion fol
the use of counterfeit sorrow will
wall out. "Ah, mel who will now
take my part when oppressed by
1.-The mistress 2" and as when the
daughter-in-law sobs out her appre-
tensions ofincreasing tyranny from
the mother-in-law, by saying
ftAlasi what will become of me
since my only friend is departed ?'
At Chinese funerals, in San Fran
cisco, these hired mourning women
are sometimes put into carriages to
follow the body to the grave. They
may be known by the white gar
ments and white hoods which they
wear white being the funeral
color.
In many cases band of Chinese
musicians is employed to join in the
procession, and escort the deceased
to his last resting place. Whatever
may be the design in furnishing
this music, we outside barbarians
are apt to regard it as better adapted
to Brighten away evil spirits than to
furnish agreeable entertainment to
disembodled soul.
Funerals Of aged men or digni-
taries, which are designed to be
very impressive, often have one or
moro young men following the
hearse on foot. These represent
the sons of the deceased, and are
dressed scantily in some coarse fab
rio of dirty white; they are bare
footed, leaning upon cane, and go
bowling down with their face toward
the earth, being supported by a |
friend on either side. All this is
embIematical not only of their
crushing sorrow, bat also of the ir.
reparable loss sustained by the fam
lily, intimating that now, as the
head and support of the house is
removed, the survivors will be left
without provider, and must there
fore pursue the remainder of life's
Quincy in poverty and sorrow. |
Those strips of brown paper,
pierced with holes, to represent
strings of copper coin, and which
are scattered in such profusion as a
Chinese funeral cortege proceeds to
the place of interment, are denomi-
mated "money for buying the road. ;"
The theory is, that everywhere
there may be hungry or ill disposed
spirits who have it in their power
to stop on the way the spirit of the
deceased, or by other means to in
terfere and prevent his peaceful
settlement at the tomb provided
for him; therefore this paper, rex
presenting money, is scattered eve-
rywhere along the road to buy
from the vagrant spirits the right
Of way. i.
At the place of sepulture those
provisions previously mentioned
ire again arranged before the
grave, and libations Of wine and
ga are poured out; and large sup
plies of money, clothing and other
Kings, supposed to be needed by
he deceased in the world to which
he has gone, are sent on after him.
The money is paper cut and folded
70 as to represent gold and silver
bars, or copper cash; and this is
burned in large amounts. Paper is
made into boxes to represent chests
If clothing. There may be paper
also a sedan chair with
is bearers; and all these are
burned, and thus sent over into the
world of spirits. While the corpse
in the house, before the
uneral, these images and paper
of furniture were
arranged around the body, the ser
yants being represented as in the
,ct of waiting upon their master.