The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1892-01-16
Chinese Burial Customs.
From N. Y. Advertiser. j


by six or seven coaches filed with mourn
ers.
"What's the objection p
because it is altogether wrong in the
natural order of things. Suppose, said he,
"a man had SO, 900 in bank, and that all Of
his six little children should die within one
year; and each was given such a funeral as
the one passing. That man would not
have enough money left to buy himself a
decent dinner with after the last funeral.
ssDo you manage these things better in.
China ?"
"Ofcourse-we do. We goon the ground
that nobody has any right to so and die
before they have at least partially atoned
for the many troubles and trials they gave
to their parents, and if they do they don't
deserve an expensive funeral"
"What do you do with them then p
"Well, we have these rules: For all
deaths before the age Of five simple bum
die of hay is wrapped around the body and
tied with the cheapest rope possible. A
hole is dug in the most obscure part Of the
hillside and into it the bundle is thrown,
sometimes covered and sometimes exposed
purposely for the body to be devoured by
dogs and wild beasts. 1t all depends upon
the temperament of the parents offended
by their daring to die so young.
"For all deaths before the age of twenty
and after the age of five, when parents are
yet alive, rough, unpainted pine box is
made, and this coffin is carried, pig fashion,
between two men, and, like the other, is
buried in the obscure places in the noun
tains or hills.
"Those youths who have married, but
have no male issue, are buried quietly in
the family graveyard, but without ceremo-
ny. If they have male issue, and their
own parents are still living, their bodies
will be inferred in the regular family plot
with only half of the usual ceremonies. If
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 cere-
monies of full man or woman, as the case
may be.
'No matter how loving the parents may
be toward their children, they cannot fol-
low their bodies to their graves. 1t is
deemed a sacrilege and a curse to the chill
dren souls. While on the other hand, no
matter how high son may be in official
position, he has to unbraid his long queue,
dress in sack cloth and follow the hearse
of his parents on foot, while other mourn
ers may ride. The eldest son is always the
chief mourner, and daughters are the same
as friends of the family; they cannot be
considered as legal mourners of the family.
During the first month the eldest son
is not allowed to cleanse himself or eat fan
cy food. Every time he meets anyone he
kneels, and the one knelt to must quickly
advance to raise him and give him a word
of comfort.
HHe must dress himself in pure whito
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, and
every time take some eatables, such as
roasted pigs, chickens, etc, to offer to the
starving souls of his beloved parents.
When they die their duties at these graves
are religiously intrusted to their sons.
'Do the Americans wonder why China
men give great dinners for the birth of a
son. and swear like Yankee because it
was girl, who is only brought up for the
benefit of anothers family? The philo-
sophical reason of all the children dying
before the age of five being buried without
even coffin, is because they have only
lived long enough to give their parents
plenty of trouble and pain, and any further
expense in their behalf after death is sim
ply pure waste.
"When they die over FIVE and below
twenty years of age, it is presumed that
they had partially fulfilled their duties to-
ward their parents, therefore they deserve
to have at least coffin and grave, but
yet do not possess merit enough to be in
tered in the family plot, as they were not
married people, and had no use for family
associations. These children who married
and leave male issue before death, have
more than partially fulfilled their filial du-
ties, and, therefore, are given coffin and
a grave in the family plot by the parents
while his own son accords him the proper
funeral rites, as all sons should.
''The highest ambition of Chinaman
may not be to have an expensive marriage
but is always to have glorious funeral
He wants to be sure on this point, and, un
less Chinaman has lots of good relatives
or dutiful son, he usually prepares his
own funeral many years in advance. He
measures and gets his own coffin made, and
carefully lays it away in some part of the
house.
"The richer the dead the longer the
funeral. Some of these bodies lay fol
twenty-One days in state, and during al
that time friends and relatives, far near
come before it to worship it, while Others
who wish to appear friendly to the family
hire one or more professional 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