Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 May 1920 — It's the High Cost of Dying in China [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

It's the High Cost of Dying in China

The Chinese bury their dead on the mountain side where the earth is dry and there is less danger of floods. The monuments are buih along the highway to inform the public of the great men who have lived and died in the neighboring villages. A brief history of the dead man •serves as an epitaph, and a tortoise or dragon, carved into the stone, symbolizes eternal life. Death is an expensive proposition for the Chinaman. Only the leaders of community life are honored by monuments along the highway. But by the time even the average citizen’s funeral expenses are paid—with numerous pallbearers and feasts for the mourners—well, it’s cheaper to live. There is an average of one doctor to every 400,000 Chinese. So the Intsfchurch World Movement, in which America’s evangelical bodies arc cooperating, intends to cut down funeral expenses for China by opening a large number of new hospitals and by strengthening existing institutions-

A Typical Chinese Monument