Arizona republican., 1895-03-06
A COREAN FUNERAL.
Strange Antics Performed by the
 Natives ct Eurials.
The Odd Mixture of Simplicity and Gu ming Which Charaoterizes the Singular Ce-emony-Good and Bad
 Spirits.

A funeral procession in Corea is very different from the sad and solemn cere- mony we are accustomed to in Europe. When the tine for buria. has come, the cuain containing the dead body is placed in an open palanquin, which is gHyiy painted in the brightest colors, and decorated with paper Japanese lanterns. This palanquin Is carried shoulder high by the bearers, and is ac- c1nnpanied by professional mourners, who are known as the dancers of the dead" These men, says e foreiGn ex- change, are three in number, and one of them performs fn front of the coffin, while the other two dance, one on each side. They are grotesquely dressed, and wear on their heads those horrible and fantastic masks in which the Chinese delight, and which their sol diers formerly wore to strike terror into @e enemy. During the whole of the ceremony they keep their positions round the palanquin, performing the dance of the dead, and throwing them selves into the most horrible contor Eons.
 But the Coreans have a superstition that the coffin is accompanied by ghost Ig attendants as well as by the human mourners- They believe that every man has two spirits, good and a bad mre, which sway every action during fife, and in death dispute the posses sion of his body. No Corean can be happy in the after life unless his evil spirit has been prevented from follow mg him into Che grave, and it is the duty of the paIanquin bearers to see Shat the evil spirit is not allowed to taIR possession of the dead mans body. For this purpose they employ every ruse aad stratagen that wit can invent or fiat tradition has handed down to de- cehe the evil spirit.
 The procession starts at a slow and dignifed pace, Very often in direction exzctly opposite to that in which the Burial ground lies. When the bearers think that the evil spirit has been luIled into security, they suddenly jump, palanquin, coffin and all, over hedge, and run across country at full speed. Then they stop without any warning, snt take another direction, wading f11iuough streams, forcing their way through woods, end trying to conceal themselves behind every obstacle that comes in their way, in the ondeavor to Erow the evil spirit off their track, xmd prevent it from following them to E1e grave. When this desirable end has been accomplished to their satis- Aetion, the circuitous journey is brought to an end, and the dead man R triumphantly Inferred with only his good spirit in attendance.
 But the curious part of this super ssfsion is that although the evil spirit, which is supposed to be terribly cum nfug and malicious, is thus thrown of tue scent. yet the good but simple spirit Tfeyer loses sight of the procession, and AEays presTdes at the burial. When E,a funeral is over, but one thing more remains to be done, and that is to put Hla good spfrit in it's last resting place. For this purpose sn ornamental box or urn is prepared, into which the good spirit subnlissfvely enters, and then the HIn. which thus contains all that was good rn tho spiritual part Of the dead C0rean, is pLaced among the souls of his ancestors fn the mortuary chamber mthe family.