The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-04-08
Chinese Funeral.

Some eight or ten days ago Ie Chow
Wing. a prominent member of the Hop
Wo Chinese Company, died in Sacrament
to full Of years and full of hOnOrs (from
a Monaghan stand pointl. He had long
been Il resident of San Francisco, but
did not 90 among Americans, preferring
rather TO remain at his ownquarters.
and receive the homage of his people. to
going abroad and .'roughing" it; for he
was inclined to luxurious living and
easy times. !. Bnt death calls upon the
heathen as well as the Christian, and
when he was summoned, he quietly fold
ed his arms across his breast, took a last
look at the image of joss, which had
been set up i'm his room, babe alden to
his friends, aml-passed out upon the
shoreless sea of eternity.
The Chinese generally being very
poor. are obliged, in order to save ex-
pensc. or for some other reasons. to bury
their dead in the course of lew days
after death. This is considered disIepu-
| table. and a mark of the very lowest
poverty, or that the dead is destitute of
friends and relatives who take an inter
est in the honor OF the family. If the
body is buried I'm a few days after death,
it is called the .'blood burial,s or buri-
al of blood. The corpse is believed 10
have blood i'm it, or the blood has not yet
dried up. BLOOD burial is used as a
term of reproach, and refers to hasty bu-
rails. proceeded by few mourning So
IDENTITIES. =
The remains of the dead man having
been placed i'm a magnificent burial case,
were conveyed into large room, where
they lay i'm state for several days. Near
| the coffin were arranged. as an Offering
to tie dead, a bucket of boiled rice, plates
of meats, fish, vegetables, and kind OF
cake called 81 and two swall lanterns, on
one of which were two characters which
meant hundred children" and on the
other were two characters which meant
Thousand grandchildren" While these
things were being offered sacrifice to
the names of the dead. number of per-
sons, clothed in long white gowns. pros
trated themselves with their heads to-
ward the coffin, and sent up low. wall
| ing melancholy cry. A tablet to repre-
sent the dead, having been properly
marked. lies upon the coffin near the CELL
ter. and remains there until few mill
| utes before the coffin is carried from the
house for the purpose OF being removed
to the burial ground.
At length. sufficient time having
elapsed TO permit the blood to dry up,
the funeral took place from Sacramento
street, and was celebrated in the most
lavish style. The procession was headed
by a wagon containing a company OF
Chinese musicians, with their flies drums
and horns. In this wagon were two
white lanterns. This was followed by a
carriage containing the longevity pic
ture and the tablet OF the deceased; also
dishes containing burning incense.
from this vehicle a man scattered, at in
tervals along the street, mock money OF
a peculiar kind. The friends OF the de-
ceased came next. and then the hearse
containing the coffin. Then followed
friends i'm carriages. The funeral cor
tege. as it moved through the streets, at
tracted a great deal of attention from our
citizens, who stopped upon the side
walks and looked at the bizarre process
sion as it passed by in wonderment. The
remains were temporarily deposited in
Lone Mountain Cemetery, and will re-
main there for several months. after
which they will be conveyed to ChiG;a
and placed alongside the ancestors of the
deccased.-Daiiy Cat9 Morning Cal.