New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-09-09
NEGLECTED CORPSES.
Hideous Way of Disposing of the
Dead an China.
Copyright. 1906. by tn. outlook cOmp.ny.l

| The things that strike first and surprise one
| most in such Chinese cities Canton. SOochow
! and Hangchow are the narrowness OF the business
| streets and the width OF the shop doors In our
| cities the streets are always four five times
as wide as the entrances 10 the buildings. but In
I China the reverse is the The front OF a
Chinese shop IS all door. and it's width as a rule.
Is two three times that OF the thoroushfare upon
/ which IL opens. that IL is really easier 20 hand
! a package to a customer the other side OF the
street than to pass II TO him across the width OF
I the door. Great Dragon street.-The Broadway or
: SoOchow-is only six seven feet in width. while
the doors OF the business houses that stand along
\ il would permit the entrance Of two carriages
/ abreast.
AS we approached Hangchow the scenery be-
/ came more rugged and picturesque. and the broad
| canal winding around high. bush covered mis-
carried an ever increasing number OF cargo boats
fishing boats sampans and junks At the imperial
custom house the outskirts OF the city. we cast
of our tOwline and sculled slowly. for a mile and
half, through great extramural suburb. past
floating boat dwellings. where canary birds we're
singing wooden tubs Of blOssomins plants;
past household tunks. in which women were cook
ing. spinning or reeng thread while their hus-
bands rowed past open tank boats filled with
masses Of semi-quid fertilizer. which poisoned
and polluted the air; past temples with turned-up
corners. where worshippers buying candles
and burning strings OF paper money; past markets
hl!ed with dealers IN pork vegetables. apples.
oranges and grapes: and at last into stretch Of
open water between a temple and a camel back
bridge. where finally tied up TO grassy bank
streWn with corpse filed collins. which. apparently,
had been lying there awaiting burial for many
months.
have never been able to ascertain with certainty
why the Chinese. in this part Of the empire leave
the bodies Of their dead lying around the banks
OF canals or In out-Of-the-way hooks and corners
OF waste LAND. instead Of putting them decently
under ground In the northern proyinces-and
especially in Pechili-any old field seems 10 do for
a cemetery. and the small cOnical mounds Of earth
which mark tho resting pieces of this dead
frequently scattered all the cultivated land;
but there the Collins containing the bodies are az
least buried. while in the vicinity OF HsnschOw
they seem 70 be dumped anywhere. and left on the
surface OF the ground 70 be dehled by beasts or
reduced decay by weather and the lapse OF
time. One fails absolutely 20 enter into the
b Of bo sR ar & Fase N 6Tf do
Tested rubbish corner on the bank OF canal where
10 mas e 9eaTes mp ana bTe half
strings Of paper-st coin an order to furnish that
heaven used 70 think that the desire of China
man be brought back from a foreign land after
death and buried IN the Gods acre OF his ancestral
home was rather touching thing; but my OBJ
the fields around HangchOw have modified my
view I hs weFe SeT t qn0u Fs p3peS III
where We tied up TO tie bank for the night; ana
we saw doze-4 more in weed overgrown heds on
Leaving Hangchcw for Shanghai by the regular
through the Grand Caaai al eight. and arrived at
Kashing early the next mOTni-E. When / went
deck, after breakfast, were just entering upon
great fiat, cultivated plain. where II seemed 20
have been raining collins for forty days and forty
nights. The banks OF the canal lined with
them and they lay sprinked over the fields as far
back the could reach. / think il is not
overstatement to say that there were a hundred
90 every square mile. and most Of them had no
other covering than layer Of reeds dried grass.
The only explanation l can suggest of this whole
sale exposure Of collins in open fields is based
ton known TO the Orient a "fengshuL' In China,
IN CO-sa. II is universally believed that the
place selected for the burial OF the dead controls
for good evil, the fortunes of the living. Bench
posed 20 flow from the graves Of dead ancestors.
ana the topography OF the ground in which corpse
is laid determines the luck Of thu surviving family
AS the common people ignorant of the COndt-
tons upon which good evil fortune depends
they are forced to consult professional ground
DOCTORS. or geOmRncers, who, after pretending %
make survey OF the country, select for the grave
place where the green dragon" current and the /
white tiger current OF spiritual influence free
to in the proper direction These ground doc
tors, OF course are not in the business for their
death is unwilling unable pay the fee which
the geOmancer asks for picking out a lucky grave
site 10 must either leave the corpse unbuTied
run the risk of bringing terrible calamity upon IT
where "fengshui' is unprOptiOus The easiest and
cheapest way to escape from this dilemma Is 10
set the coffin out in field and leave il there until
the family gets richer the ground doctor
his terms The Chinese are supposed to be a Tea
sOning we'll ancestor loving and ancestor
Tevering race, but after seeing the n which
they disposed Of their dead l modified view Of
their intelligence and wholly lost faith In
sincerity OF their love and reverence their an
cestOrs. IL they had the brains OF a Siberian
korak they would not believe in ground Doctors
or "fengshui.' and II they really loved cared
for their fathers as civilized races do they would