Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-09-03

OF the last dowager empress oi japan
in 1ss7-and full preparations have
been made to display even greater roy
al pomp-the most remarkable burial
ceremony of a great ruler will be wit
messed which modern times has ever
seen.
There will be no "Miserere" OF
"Benedictus," no Ego sum resurrec-
ito ct Vita; no crucifix placed in the
folded hands; no cake OF flour and
honey placed in the hand as bribe
to Cerberus; no obolus In the mouth
as a fee for Charon; no amounting with
spices and swathing in linen bands:
no immolation Of the widow; no ly-
ing in a coffin Of cypress wood a foot
thick, bound with rawhide and COW
cred with lacquer, and being kept q
year or more until millions can be
spent to make q suitable roadway oveI
which to carry the corpse to its final
abode on a day approved by those
stepped in the mysteries Of Fung-Shui
but, according to the cablegrams the
late mikado Is to be buried with full
Shinto ritual, the full services lasting
three daye
Not thus have all Japanese rulers
been buried. Among the most re-
markable of the archaeological re-
mains of ancient Japan are the sepul-
chral monuments of their grandees
and sovereigns. These are mounds OF
varying shape and character, called
misasagi in the case. Of emperors, en-
presses, and princes Of the blood. Ac-
cording to the antiquarians, the en-
peror's tombs in the most ancient
times were simple mounds; but before
the advent Of the Christian era these
had become highly specialized and
continued to go for several centuries.
The misasag was really composed
of two mounds, one conical, in which
the body was inferred, and the other
triangular and lower, probably used
as q platform on which the ceremo-
MES were performed. The whole was
moat- enclosed, sometimes by two con-
centric moats with a narrow strip OF
land between. Side view, the mounds
look like a saddle hill. Sometimes
there are two smaller mounds at the
base of the larger ones. Terraces mark
the slope Of these tumuli, and on these
are set, at intervals Of inches, curious,
coarse cylinders Of baked clay from
one to two feet high. The cylinders
are buried in the earth, only the up
per rim showing, and they number, Of
ten, in the thousands. The purpose of
these is disputed; but many connect
them with the ancient custom Of bury
ing images of an emperor's retainers
around his grave instead Of the living
servants, which barbarous custom was
in vogue B. c. 2. In that year the
Emperor Suinin, having been made
sad by the crying Of the servants
buried standing around the tumulus OF
his brother, commanded his ministers
to devise some plan by which this an
cient custom might be done away with.
These tombs varied greatly in size.
The one of the Emperor Ojin, near
Nara, measures 312 yards around the
outer moat, while a good sized village
has been built on the flank Of that of
the emperor buried in Kawachi.
Generally the misasagi contains a
large vault of great unhewn stones,
laid without mortar, converging to-
ward the top, and often rooted by
slabs weighing many tons. A long,
low gallery constructed with its right
wall in line with the right wall Of the
tomb, led into the vault. In later
times the entrance faced south, so that
the deceased might occupy the most
honorable north quarter. Excavations
have disclosed the use Of both stone
and pottery sarcophagi.
Few Of these old mounds have es-
capped desecration, some being sites of
cabbage patches, a road running
through that Of Emperor Yuryaku,
others being quarried. for building
stones, while many have become tree
clad and the homes Of the paddy bird; !;
but of recent years imperial tombs
have been better cared for by the
government, being fenced in, provided
with honorary gateways, and visited
once or twice yearly by embassies.
Under Buddhism, for centuries the
state religion of Japan, this manner of
emperor burying fell into disuse, the
priests teaching that such costly
structures were a burden to the people
and fostered false notions Of the real
value OF the mortal body.
The imperial family of Japan. like
the Chinese, lavish great sums of
money on funerals, s350,000 being the
amount appropriated from the nation
al treasury when the empress dowager
died. At that time the funeral pomp
lasted several weeks, the procession
was two miles long, the final cere-
mony lasted over twenty-five hours
during which time the imperial prin-
cess stood almost barefoot in the snow
without food. If she had died In 1867
when gigantic funerals were the pop
ular craze Of the country. one wonders
what 1t would have been.
The magnificent coffin was drawn on
an ox-cart, as will be that Of the late
Mutsuhito. According to ancient usage
the wheels were possibly built to
creak mournfully. The body was pre-
served in vermilion. The three oxen
were harnessed in single file, the lead
er being jet black: the next, dun
fiecked with black; the third, spotted
white and black with white star or
the forehead and four white stockings
The schools were closed for a week;
no music was heard for q month; the
court suspended festivities for year
and thousands of criminals were li5er-
ated.
Shinto has been the state religion
since the restoration in 1868. Accord
ing to native commentators, no mora,
code is needed, such is the innate per-
fection of Japanese humanity. Shin
toism boasts of no sacred book
breaches neither heaven nor hell
though its followers believe In con-
tinued existence. OF the 500 or more