The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1894-03-24
A FunsRA,. IN CHINA.
rhs Most snowy Eveat .n u Chinainan's
life IL VIa EungraI.

Life Is His Funorai. !
The r,ost important event In China I
mans life is his funeral. A Chinese |
crowd ia the elimination of human
noise, ana the Chinese are never so
noisy as at funeral. They have
hearty appetitrs at all times, but they
never eat so much as they do at
funeral fenst. When I first lived in
China used to find IL almost impossi-
BILE to distinguish between funeral
procession and marriage procession.
In the center of one the coffined corpse
is borne on the shoulders of men. In
the center of the other similar men
bear upon their shoulders the bride,
who is IN an inclosed sedan chair, and
she is followed by her bridesmaids.
But to the casual observer the two
ends of the two professions are quite
alike in every respect. Tom-toms, red
clothed coolies carrying roasted pigs
| and other dainties, smaller coolies car
rying cheap paper ornaments of
Mongolian theatrical type-thcse are
the invariable elements of both pro-
cessions.
The Chinese are to-day the most
unique, the most ancient and the most
misunderstood people on the earth. ]
say the most ancient because they are
the least changed from what they were
long centuries ago. The least changed!
They are not changed at all. The
Chinese of to-day is the China Marco
Polo knew. A few of us have been in
China. i am not speaking of the mis-
sionaries; L regard them as people
apart. What have we gained in China?
A strange experience Ito me u pleasant
one), pound of perfumed tea and a
bale of flowered crepe, for both of
which we have paid right handsomely.
We have been treated in the main po-
itely, but sooner or later most of us
are bowed out of China, if not by the
emperor, why then by the climate.
The Chinese have at least three reli
yions - Confucianism, Buddhism and
Toaism. But the funeral rites of the
three sects are identical. There are
several reasons for this. The three re-
Ligions are much alike and are all
largely founded upon Indian Buddhism.
! Moreover, religion is very second
class affair in China. The priests of
two sects often live together in the
.hummiest way. Filial devotion is the
real religion of China. All China is
one huge family, and the emperor is
the "Great Father BY the way,
Great Father is what the North Amer
lean Indians call God. And the Chi
nese consider their emperor god.
There is one more reason why all Chi
nese funerals are greatly alike. China
is a land of ceremonials, and the small
est details of those ceremonials are
prescribed by the ''Lelle," or book of
rites To disobey the least rule of this
great national manual is crime, and
a severely punished one. In two re-
spects only does one Chinese funeral
differ from another. The first is in the
amount of money spent, and the sec
ond is in the period after death at
which burial takes place.
The first ambition of every China
man is to have a splendid coffin. A
poor Chinaman will half starve him
self and his family for years that he
may daily hoard few ''cash" toward
the sum needed for the purchase of the
coveted casket. When the coffin is
really bought it is brought home with
great ceremony. 1t is given the place
|
as the most valuable piece of furniture
in the establishment. Among the
poorer classes it is customary to buy a
very thick coffin. No self-respecting
Chinese family-and the Chinese are
. the most self-respecting of all nations
will bury a parent until they can dc
it with more or less Mongolian mag.
. nificence. Hence, in China, death by
no means implies immediate burial.
When Chinaman dies his neighbors
, come in and help the women of the
family to make the shroud. The body
t is put in it's coffin. Then the funera
ceremonies begin, if there is money
enough. If there is not, the coffin i.
put back in its place of honor until the
r family finances look up
The day of the death, or the day
after, the relatives not living in th,
house and the friends come to pay tn.
i last duties of respect to the deceased
When the visitors arrive, they arr
shown into a room in which are all the
women and children of the establish
ment. These latter set up disma
howl, in which the visitors join, or t.
/, which they listen mpathetically
: When the tympanum of even a Chinese
: ear begins to ache, the guests ar,
ushered into another apartment, where
the men of the house give them tie,
Il and refreshment. The refreshmen
varies according to the means of TIL,
< family. In the house of the rich it il
dinner. After the visitors hav,
drunk and eaten they are bowed ou
,. by one of the kinsmen of the dead
e A we'll conducted Chinese funeral il
+ the most gorgeous sight in Asia.
e may seem to us a little tinselly, bu
It that is mere matter of taste And |
II who make bold to like the Chinese, cal
IS not claim that they have supera bun
n dance of taste. AT the front of tn,
d funeral procession walk the noisy
d musicless musicians. Then come mel
IS (they may be friends, they may be coo
o lics) bearing the insignia of the dig
nifty of the dead, ii he had any. Mex
walk more men, carving figures o
idols, umbrellas and blue and whit
', streamers. After them come men ear
- rying pans of perfume. Just befor
= the coffin walk BONES, Chinese priests
- Over the coffin canopy is usually ear
y ried. The casket is borne by about
score of men. Immediately behind TIL
coffin walk the children of the de