New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-09-09
CHINESE BURIAL CUSTOMS.
VARIED AND CURIOUS PRACTICES TT
INSURE COMFORT TO THE DEAD.

Annoy, the city which has just been brought
prominently before the world account of it's
occupation by the Japanese troops The pict-
uresque hills which surround Annoy are dotted
with thousands of horseshoe shaped tombs Of
glittering white. which produce a somewhat un-
canny effect.
But of all the odd graveyards near Annoy none
Is so strangely weird as the one depicted in the
accompanying view. 1t is the last resting place
died of disease were killed half a century or
more ago They lie there side by side like the
burrows of plOughed field or the waves of
lazy sea; the men in positions corresponding to
those which they would have held in the ranks.
and the officers in advance of them as they
would have been on parade or in action. These
graves are the only the writer saw in
China that in shape aspect resembed those
of Europeans. Each mound has been carefully
cemented to insure preservation. and well
has the work been done that the elements might
be defed for centuries With the succeeding
years these easements have grown harder and
harder. and although little or no attention is
ever paid to the strange graveyard it is won
derfully free from the weeds that one would
naturally expect to find fourishing there. Each
grave bears the name of its occupant.
The little valley in which they lie is a sin
gularly beautiful spot. The granite faced hills
which lean back from it show alternate patches
of glittering rock and clumps of the greenest
vegetation. The crowded city of the living al
though only a stones throw away. is hidden.
So still and serene the immediate surround
ings that one might imagine ones self thou
sand miles from the maddening crowd.
The ground was chosen for it's propitious
''fung-shui." This extraordinary superstition is
one of the foundations of the Chinese social sys-
TEN. and could adequately be described only
in long article. It's chief features, how
ever may be briefly told To the Chinese the
whole face of nature is full of signs and omens
The course of river, the position of pile OF
rock and the like, replete with significance
to those who pretend to understand these mys-
teries. The flung shut" may be translated as
wind and water rules" and the fung-shui
doctors the men who preserve what China
has of natural science and spiritualism The
system is Old of course. It's present form, in
deed, has changed little since the twelfth CEN
fury It's application to burial customs is it's
most important development.
Round the mystery of death revolves the
whole religious system of the Chinese. The
powers of nature are stern and relentless, but
they may be proptiated by the intercession Of
the departed spirits who have at heart the well
fare of the living. This is the reason that the
only form of religion which appeals to the Ordi-
nary Chinese is that OF ancestor worship. a
large staff of ancestors hattered by the careful
descendant into continual intercessiOn for his
material prosperity, is obviously a valuable
asset Therefore the comfort of the dead is the
first thought of the living. for although The
spirit of the dead is free, the body must lie in
it's grave, and at ease, or the spirit is annoyed.
Exposure to the elements, the nature of the soil.
the configuration of the hillsal these affect the
comfort of the occupant of the grave.
To avoid burying ones relatives in the
clutches of some earth dragon or leaving them
exposed to some evil current Of the air. it is
necessary to call in the services of fung-shui
doctor This doctor will that the man is
buried in such fashion that he will bear no i'll
will toward his descendant. Sometimes the
corpse will remain for years unburied. while the
family seeks for a spot full of lucky fung-shui
saves money to buy such a place. The two
earth currents. those of the dragon and the
tiger must be on the right and the left of the
grave The geomancer arranges these things
by the direction of streams, the position OF
male and female ground" the position of the
stars, and the like. The whole system is OF
incredible confusion and absurdity, but it af-
fords fine living to it's learned professors.
The fung-shui is most to be considered st
burial but the observance of many customs is
entailed by the severe laws of precedent, which
to a great extent govern Chinese life. Customs
vary in the different provinces. At Annoy the
breath is no sooner out of a body than a hols
is bored through the roof to permit the escape
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