Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 October 1884 — Burial Customs in China. [ARTICLE]

Burial Customs in China.

How,far the American version of the Chinese funeral differs fron the Celestial original may be judged from the following account, whi*h is kindly furnished by Mr. Frederick Carman, of the State Board of Health, and for many years a resident of the Floweik Kingdom. On the death of a man the relatives are notified of the sad event, and repair to the house to condole with the bereaved. The eldest son immediately jiroceeds, bowl in hand, to the nearest well or river, to procure water with which to wash the remains of his father. Some money is carried in the bowl, and thrown into the well, or river, so that it may appear that the water is purchased, and not the gift of charity. The body is then attired in the most costly robes possible, to produce the impression of respectability in the spirit world, and is placed in the coffin with a fan in one hand and a piece of paper in the other,' upon which a Chinese prayer is written. The coffin, which is called the “longevity boards,” is constructed of stoutuplanks, three or four inches thick, rounded on the top, and resembling, when finished, the trunk of a tree. Into this the body is laid, resting upon a lining of lime. The edges are closed with mortar to guard against the escape of any offensive odor. It is thus an hermetically sealed casket. This home for the dead is sometimes a costly ininvestment, ranging all the way from $5 to $2,000. When sufficient means are collected to defray the expenses of interment (which may not occur for two or three years after death), a procession is formed, headed by a band of sacred musicians, with a cooly sent a long way in advance to scatter paper money by the road, so that the devils can be occupied picking it up long enough to give the body a chance to slip by. The ancestral tablet is then sent along carefully inclosed in a Sedan chair and carried on the shoulders of two. stout bearers, and accompanied by sign bands, showing the rank and greatness of the deceased. The coffin comes next, after which the mourners follow dressed in white, with white bands around their heads. These usually occupy wheelbarrows or chairs, or are supported upon the arms of strong men, and give expression to their grief secundum artem in the most vociferous strains. On arrival at the grave crackers are fired off, libations poured out, prayers recited, and all the needs of the deceased supplied by burning paper money, servants’ clothes, aad furniture, which are immediately converted by the fire into the identical articles used in the spirit land. The grave is a mound of conical shape. A lucky place is selected, where water cannot reach or white ants attack the coffin. The chief mourners approach and kneel before the coffin, knock their heads, and scatter their libations freely, and amid a volley of fire-crackers the bereaved party take leave of their beloved, and leave him to pursue his own sweet pleasure “wandering among the genii.”— Albany Argus.