The Bessemer indicator., 1894-05-12
TOO SACRED TO TOUCH.
Stricken psvn, He Lay whore He IL
Uattl Death Game to His Rsit.s.

TOO SACRED TO TOUCH.
Stricken Down, He Ley whore He FEN
Ustu Death cAms to His Relief.
Tho sx-lord abbot. OF tho Otaui
ssct. who died lately at his residence
In kyoto. was the head OF all tho
Buddhist priests in Japan. He had
been suffering since the fall OF last
year. when ho contracted . GOLD,
which appears to have boon OF tho
character Of influenza. being attend.
cd with much pain and obstinate
fevsr, and which finally wore out the
strength OF the old prelate.
He does not, however. seem to
have been altogether prostrated, for
on the morning OF his last seizure no
was making his way along the cor
ridor attended by . male servant
Tho latter. seeing him fall insensible.
gave the alarm. and instantly clu5-
tor Of women charged with all sorts
OF duties and ceremonial Offices in
tho house OF the prelate. where
state Of ceremony resemb bling that Of
court was observed, ran to the
spot There were about twenty OF
those women, but so inflexible is the
etiquette OF the ex-lord abbott's
household that in the absence OF his
wife not one OF the attendants might
venture to touch the body OF the In
carnate Buddha, even In the moment
OF his death agony. All they could
do was to send report to the official
In charge OF the affairs of the house.
hold and by him the tldings were
conveyed to the present lord abbot
whose residence was about furlong
distant
Some thirty minutes elapsed be-
fore the lord abbot arrived, stimuli
taneously with a ply sician. and dur
ing the whole of that time the ven
erable old man. too sacred to be
touched, however much his humanity
needed tending, lay helpless on the
ground. He died about an hour af-
forward. A court physician. spe-
cially dispatched by tho emperor
from Toxic, had been in attendance
on tho old prelate during the last
days of his illness, and his son. tho
present lord abbot had boen at his
side almost continuously. Yet 1t was
his fate to die as has been described.
His remains having been packed In
vermillion, were laid In state In his
residence. where the public was al
lowed to visit them- Tho ceremony
commenced at 2 q m. and continued
until In tho afternoon, during which
time more chan 10000 persons paid
their last tribute to the Buddha
On tho following day the coffin
was conveyed upon q splendid char
lot to the two temples Of Amida
Daishi, and, high mass having been
performed in Hokushoin. tho remains
were finally laid beside those of his
predecessor. quantity Of Uji tea
and incense having boon laid over the
vermillion Immediately surrounding
the corpse. The coffin itself was OF
pure white pine, without any special
other than its richly
chased gilt mountings 1t was en-
.sloped, however. by gold brocade OF
the finest type. and upon 1t was laid
the atate robes of the deceased. the
magnitcence Of which may be con-
ceived from the fact that they are
said to have cost 10000 yen.
This, however. docs not represent
the final rite Of sepulture. A funeral
ceremony on grand scale was per-
formed ten days later. one feature OF
which was feast at which there
wore present the dead prelates sue
cessor, chief priests OF the branch
temples throughout the empire, the
wife. nearest blood relations and I'm
mediate female attendants Of the de-
ceased, the duties of waiting usually
intrusted to the councillors OF the
household being on this occasion del
egated to the principal male attend
ants of the lord abbot's person.
The viands served were OF the plain
est kinda little misc soup. with
square cut piec Of bean curd. snd
some rice.
Similar simplicity was observed
with respect to food distributed to
the general body OF mourners. IL
WAS limited to ball Of rico and .
few slices Of piokled turnip The
recipients of this oonseorated food
did not eat It They carried it home
and treasured 1t as tallsman against
disease. distributing portions to
friends, who keep 1t Tor the same
purpose.
The bier, as carried In the pro-
cession, was surmounted by golden
phoenix standing on ball OF the
same metal, and from each OF the
corners hung chains supporting swal-
lows also Of gold. In advance
walked six temple officials. repre-
sentinp the .,six roads" OF the Bud.
dhist doctrine. tho fresh bamboo
slaves carried by them being en-
blematical OF the salvation which
Buddhist saint extends to all be-
levers. Tho chief mourner was
shod with hemp sandals on bare feet,
and sixteen la:ies OF the household
had zori OF straw, also on bare feet
Other ancient customs peculiar to
this. the most solemn rite Of the
faith, were carefully observed, and
those privileged to be present on
tho occasion witnessed = most i'm