Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1892-02-04

1ey ah sae Aas1&ttt SIatcfAfu,
/ but without ceremony. II they
; have male issue, aud their own
. parents are still living, their bodies
.. win be inferred in the regular fam
lily plot with only half of the usual
ceremonies. III their parents are
! both dead, then no matter how
young they may be, so long as they
are themselves the parents of a legal
SON their bodies are Inferred with
the full ceremonies of full man
or woman, as the. case may be.
NO matter how loving the parents
may be toward their children, they
cannot follow their bodies TO their
graves. 1t is deemed a sacrilege
and curse to the children's souls.
While on the other hand, no mat
ter how high son may be in Off
cial position, he has to unbraid his
long queue, dress in sack cloth and
follow the hearse of his parents on
foot, while other mourners may
ride. The eldest son is always the
chief monrner, and daughters are
the same as friends of the family;
they cannot be considered as legal
mourners of the family.
sDuring the first month the eldest
son is not allowed to cleanse him
self or eat fancy food. Every time
he meets anyone he kneels, and the
one knelt TO must quickly advance
to raise him and give him word of
comfort.
He must dress himself in pure
white from head to foot for two
years, and on the third or last year
of his mourning he wears only
black. As long as he lives he must
decorate and worship the graves of
his parents. Four times each year,
aud every time take some eatables,
such as roasted pigs, chickens. etc.,
to offer to the starving souls oi his
beloved parents. When they die
their duties at these graves are
religiously instrusted to their sons.
DO the Americans wonder why
Cinnamon give great dinners for
the birth of son, and swear like a
Yankee because it was girl, who
'- ~.-ls' h-nnght M, for tho henefit
of another's family? The philo-
sophical reason of all the children
dying before the age of five being
buried without even q coffin, is
because they have only lived long
enough to give their parents plenty
of trouble and pain, and any fur
ther expense in their behalf after
death is simply pure waste.
when they die over five and
below twenty years of age, it is
presumed that they had partially
fulfilled their duties toward their
parents, therefore they deserve to
have at least q coffin and n grave,
but yet do not possess merit enough
to be inferred in the family plot, as
they were not married people, and
no use for family associations.
These childron who married and
leave male issue before death, have
more than partially fulfilled their
filial duties, and, therefore, are
given q coffin and grave in the
family plot by the parents, while
his own son aecords him the proper
funeral rites, as all sons should.
The highest ambition of a China
man may not be to have an expen-
siye marriage, but is always to have
glorious funeral. He wants to be
sure on this point, and, unless q
Chinaman has lots of good relatives
or dutiful son, he usually pre-
pares his own funeral many years
in advance. He measures and gets
bis own coffin made. and. carefully
lays 1t away In some part OF the
house.
The richer the dead the longer
the funeral. Some of these bodies
lay for twenty-one days in state,
and during all that time friends
and relatives, far near, come before
it to worship ii, while Others who
wish to appear friendly to the
family hire one or more profession
al mourners to cry and weep for
them. These hired weepers do not
have to weep long; five minutes is
the usual time. The feast upon
these occasions are Just as grand as
upon frst-class weddings.
The Chinese do not spend .s
much money upon their sons mar
riages as they do upon their fathers
funerals. II they did the neighbors
and relatives would accuse them of
being undutiful and ungrateful.'
Then in the end family's fun
erals will cost as much in China as
they do here!'
Perhaps more; q great deal more.
But the expense in each case is
regulated by reason, and is accord
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