The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-03-15
Chinese Funerals.

anu prOprleJleS winch regulate Ine
social intercourse and daily life of the
Chinese, there is none so scrupulously
performed as the obsequies of their
higher relatives. The infant may be
laid in some corner to gasp away its
little life and finally wrapped in mating
and be dropped into the river or buried
like a dog in the back garden, but
great is the pomp and interminable are
the ceremonies consequent upon the
| decease of one who has lived long
enough to rear son. II that son is
poor he will pawn his personal effects,
stint himself of food, borrow money at
exorbitant rates of interest, and if there
is no other security he will pawn a
| wife, child, or even sell his own body
rs a slave so as to raise sufficient money
10 defray the cost of his parent S
funeral. Confucian tracts call this by the
name of tilial piety, though everybody
knows that in the majority of cases the
underlying motive is self-interest born
of the most debasing superstition. The
man believes that the least omission of
the orthodox funeral rites will bring the
most terrible calamities upon him and
his posterity; that he will be haunted
until the last moment of his life by the
unhappy ghost of his departed sire, or
in fancy hear the angry voice of his
neglected parent pouring curses upon
his head wherever he goes. He ac-
cOrdingly observes every minute custom
in order to avert these evils and give
repose to the spirit of the dead
Let us suppose the last hour has come
| 4 L.
of doctors have tried in vain to cure, is
lying IN articuLO morris, with his feet
toward the door, ready for his last exit.
His best robes, hat and shoes are
brought out, for all these articles will
be needed when he crosses the chill
border-land of the other world. A
piece or two of silver is put into the
| dying mans mouth, for this, too, will
be needed to pay Charon, the grim fer
ryman. These preliminaries occasion no
look of dismay, but rather q smile that
such loving provision is made for his
long Journey When the last gasps
come that usher death, the eldest son
approaches and closes his fathers eyes,
or perhaps orders the opening of hole
in the roof to facilitate the departure of
| JllC bulCC cDlllIo VI lllC u1lug u.
Life is hardly extinct before the eldest
son or nearest relative issues forth to
buy water, escorted by musicians. He
carries bowl to the nearest river or
well, where he deposits few cash for
the water dragon. With this-so-called
purchased water he proceeds to wash
the corpse, and then decks it in the
cOstliest and gayest clothes ever worn
in life. Buddhist or Taoist priests, robed
in their colored cassocks and chasubles
of brocaded silk, are called in to chant
| the prescribed litanies, to break open
purgatory, to cast the dead mans horo-
scope, to say what form, whether of
man or beast or bird, the dead man as
sumes in another world; to facilitate
his migration to happier realms, or even
procure him passport to the Western
Paradise. At the door of the house is
erected an awning, hung with blue
lanterns and streamers of blue and
white paper, the outward manifesto
| tioEs to passerS-by of house of mourn
ing and death. Inside the house pre-
parations are made for coffining the
corpse. Meats and cakes are piled upon
the table, and lamps, incense and
candles are lighted around the dead.
A Chinese coffin resembles the trunk
of tree planed of, and is made of the
hardest wood procurable. So expen-
sive are these collins that the wood for
one will sometimes cost as much as
$4,000, and no coolie would think of
paying less than 500 for his fathers
case. One of the most appropriate
| Dfc fo+ ;.y+xy s
is considered to be coffin He address
ses the aged one in wordswhich may be
familiarly translated: "Daddie, don t
want you to die, but your box is ready
when you want to 90, and the old man
receives the gift with unbounded graft
tude, discourses upon its merits to
every visitor, proud to possess such q
token of his sons filial duty. The
coffin, therefore, isusually near at hand
When the corpse is ready it is solemnly
removed to the coffin by hired attend
ants, while others proceed to beat the
floor to terrify evil spirits from the
| chamber of death. A coronet of gold
or silver, bracelets, earrings, chains,
watches and other ornaments of gold
silver and jade are put upon the body,
| dCCOlu W uuc RANK anu SEX Oh lue
deceased. With fan in one hand and
a written prayer in the other, the corpse
is now ready for the world of shades
The deceased is then covered with a
white silken shroud or coverlets pre-
sented by relatives and friends, those
not used being committed to the flames
through which they are said TO pass to
the world below. The nearest relative
then presents the nails to the under
taker and holds the coffin while it is
nailed down and Theoretically sealed.
AT given signal the lamentations
begin, hired mourners, mostly women,
lift up their voices, wailing and
bowling till they are nearly
hoarse, the amount Of tears she'd BY
different relatives being limited by
strict regulations. The hollowness of
the whole performance is seen when
some newcomer arrives. In moment
tears will turn to smiles, accompanied
by half audible litter as they eX-
change compliments. Having taken
breath, there comes another weep-up,
more vigorously than before.
After the corpse has been nailed
down it is placed near the ancestral
altar, where stand the portrait of the
| deceased and tablet bearing his name.