The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-08-07
coDvrizhsed by chas. T. Collyer. 19ls-
Assembline NIourners.

where the coffin is placed. The men stand facing the East and the women the West. and having thus arranged themselves they will all bow and vail The master of ceremonies then, in a very ceremonious manner, carries the toilet articles, such as combs and head-bands of the dead man, and pla- ees them near his coffin. In their position he will arrange a variety of refreshments, such as fruit, meat, vegetables, wine. etc. after which the u1ourners vEilFAsteps one by one, into the room making obeisance to the de- ceased and weeping
 In places where the burial Is de- 1ayed for three months, and this often happens, the family must come into the room on the first and fifteenth day of each month and go again through this part of the cerem ony. Should any fresh fruit or vegetables come Into season during this time, as a sacrifice to the deceased before the family make any other use of them
 h the majority of cases the site for the burial will long ago have been de- cided. but always by the aid of a geo mancer, who has been paid a liberal fee for his services
 Locating the Grave.
 When deciding upon the location for a grave there are many things to be borne In mind. The contour of the hills must be studied, and the fact as to whether or not the spot is well sheltered from prevailing winds must not be overlooked One of the drwt questions asked is, What about xhe averaging dragon2 What we should can the lair of the dragon is told bv the shape of the hills; 1t is a mat ter of sincere faith in Korea that ev- cry hfn is a bend in a dragons back and for this reason the people never move stones or other protrusions from the roadway on the hiIlsides for to do so would be a most wanton act, and could be followed by nothing but ca 1ansty.
 when a low line of hills gradually slopes towards and finishes in a plain the site IS generally considered suit able for place of burial The most perfect burial site is meath the shell ter of some mountain peak from which run two short ranges of foot hills, whose crowns are successively lower than the one before them The Korean, in his pantheistic way, be- Heves that each mountain peak, or knoll of a hi1h is the dwelling place of some spirit that to a greater or lesser extent controls his destiny. When these knoIIs are not separated by an intersecting valley they are spo- ken Of as parents and sons. hence to describe a perfect burial place they use the Expression. Hwi-yonE-ko-c ho, (the dragon that comes to look back at or care for. the ancestor-)
 Next in importance to the location Is the view, or prospect, obtained from It. Te be perfect it must be to- wards the South. even to the West, or East, is allowable, but never to of ancient sun worship, for the Ko- rean does not hesftate to tell you, that because the shades are cast to the North it would be extremely unlucky to bury his parent on that side
 Thanking hills on the Fest are called shelter Of these benefcient creatures the grave should be dug in some slight hollow or tndentatton-
 Kewpong.
 All being apparently satisfactory there Is one unpropitious thing that fhe geomancer takes especial care to avoid He sits himself upon the spot selected for the grave he looks all around and carefully notes every mountain and hill-top, then rising, he again seeks the horizon and if he sees any Hilltop that was not observable while he was seated on the ground he points to it and says. There is a Kew pong" (spying peak)s and therefore khe site is absolutely worthless, for ii A will become robbers The idea in this ls not hard to follow for in one hill bop overlapping and overlooking an other it does not require very i'm nginzttve mind to conceive the spirit of evil crouching behind some emin- ence, the while keeping it's baneful eye fixed upon the object of its atten- tion.
 The prop4tfous site having been SC iected there are still other things thai the geomancer alone can decide. Fol Instance. the exact direction of th' grave and the spot upon which thu chief mourner must stand to perforn the rites If there are any othel graves in sight the fresh grave mus not point towards any of them- Mex four long switches are cut and lait upon the ground in the form of z par2lIelograTn, making a rough rep resentation of the Chinese hierog1y- phtc for a 'Twen,'' which is writer with two perpendicular strokes and two transverse ones. From this ha. cone the poetic name for the grave Kum-cheng. or Golden We'll"
 These many details having beer carefully considered, or attended to the work of the geomancer, or ''eartt specialist as he is called. is finished Later. upon the suitable day. tha has been selected by the necromancer the final procession will, in solemn dignity. wend it's way from the hous' to the grave side
 Digging the Grave.
 On the day prior to the interInen the eldest son will again meet the geo maneer at the graveside, and witt him will see that it is carefully mark ed out before the diggers comnenc' their work The depth of the gravt varies though 1t is seldom, or never less cnan four feet It is cut perpen NF-4r1 r1T 1-7ez for erfx q fS eance from which point a hole Is dus only of slightly larger dimensions thar the coffin This on the bottom anS four sides is covered with lime plas ter After the coffin has been plac ed in position, blanks are laid acros rhis hole which is covered to a deptI Of seven inches with lime plaster, thu na.a. r-nndhn- rnffir resfs in a cnncret,