The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1869-08-13

white cloth, tables of provisions are Be
for the RECALLING of this particular spirit
and also to appease such other spirits q
may be lowering around. Among thes,
provisions there must be five kinds o
animal food uncooked, and the five kind
which are cooked; also, variety Of cakes
and dishes of vegetables, with fruits, wine
and tea. The spectator may notice Who'll.
fowls and fish fantastically ornamented
also, pigs head, or an entire hog; will
pyramids of cakes and fruits, and vases o
flowers All these are borne to the grav,
at the time of the interment, where they
are again arranged in order, and suffered
to remain awhile as an offering to the
dead, and are then brought home to fur
nish a repast to the family and friends
Before the body is placed in the coffin
and while the offerings remain upon the
tables, mourning women are gathered
around. who cause the air to resOund with
their wailings. The wife, concubines, anG
daughters-in-law, or any friend, may join
in these wailings; but often there are only
hired mourners.
These lamentations are exceedingly lu
gubrious, and are mixture of sobbing, oil
eulogies of the dead, and of regrets for the
bereavement, and deprecating the sad lol
of those who have been robbed of a friend
or ofa support and provider. The speeches
are generally improvised; but sometimes
are according to formulas which have long
been used, and which have been walled
over myriads of corpses.
Any relation or friend who is so dis
posed may contribute his quota to these
audible demonstrations of grief; and one
will say: 40 thou departed one, / am
thy relative; this day hast thou suddenly
deceased. Never can our affection perish
it is impossible to restrain weeping; from
this time never more may we behold thee.
in the parting our heart is torn; but we
hope that after death thy soul has Joy and
peace, having ascended to the heavenly
palace, there continually to confer pros
perlty on thy children and grand children.
While in life, all thy dealings with men
were benevolent and righteous; with an
upright heart dwelling amongst men, per
forming thy business with wisdom By
right, heaven ought to have prolonge
thy age to hundred years. Wherefore,
then, by this one sickness art thou already
dead? We are thy relatives, we are thy
friends; and how shall not our bowels be
sundered by the force of our distress and
lamentations Alas, alas"
When one mourner ceases another COM
mences and chants his or her dirge, and
says "Alas, alasi Why was it not that
in the land of the living, an inheritor of
Thou, so talented and wise; thou Oughtest
to have been spared to become an officer
of the empire, even as pillar of the royal
palace" And perhaps another adds: 90
thou Oughtest to have been spared to thy
native town, the hope of the inhabitants,
and to whom they look. Thou vast one
who vert able to teach thy sons all
righteousness, end all upright measures.
But now thou art gone. Alas, alasp
We have been told that it is not an un-
common occurrence for old family troubles
to be referred to in some indirect way, as
when a secondary wife with no occasion
for the use of counterfeit sOrrow) will
wall out: "Ah me! Who now will take
my part when oppressed by the mistresss"
and as when the daughter-in-law sobs out
her apprehensions of increasing tyranny
from the mother-in-law, by saying
ALAS! what will become of me since my
only friend is departed?"
At Chinese funerals in San Francisco,
these hired mourning women are some
times put into carriages to follow the body
to the grave. They may be known by
the white garments and white hoods
which they wear-white being the funeral
color.
In many cases band of Chinese musi-
clans 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 barba-
rians are apt to regard it as better adapted
to frighten away evil spirits than to fur
nish agreeable entertainment to disem-
bodied soul.
Funerals of aged men or dignitaries,
which are designed to be very impressive,
often have one or more young men follow
ing the hearse on foot. These represent
the sons of the deceased, and are dressed
scantily in some coarse fabric of dirty
white; they are bare-footed, leaning upon
a cane, and go bowling down with their
face toward the earth, being supported by
friend on either side. All this is en-
blematical not only of their crushing sor-
row, but also of the irreparable loss sus-
tanned by the family; intimating that now
as the head and support of the house is
removed, the survivors will be left without
q provider, and must therefore pursue the
remainder of life's journey in poverty and
sorrow.
Those strips of brown paper, pierced
with holes, to represent strings of copper
coin, and which are scattered in such pro-
fusion as Chinese funeral c0rtege proceeds
to the place of interment, are denOminated
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 interfere and prevent his peace
full settlement at the tomb provided for
him; therefore this paper, representing
money, is scattered everywhere along the
road to buy from the vagrant spirits the
right of way.
At the place of cepulture those pro-
visions previously mentioned are again ar
ranged before the grave; and lbations of
wine and tea are poured out; and large
supplies OF money, clothing, and other
things, supposed to be f1eeded by the de-
ceased in the world to which he has gone,
are sent on after him. The money is pa
per cd: and folded so 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 of
clothing. There may be paper servants,
also a sedan chair with its bearers; and
all these are burned, and thus sent over
into the world of spirits. While the
corpse remained in the house, before the
funeral, these images and paper represent
ations of furniture were arranged around
the body; the servants being represented
as in the act of waiting upon their master.
-Ooertand Monthly.
Manufacturing Popularity.
A letter from Paris in the New York