PROCESSIONS.
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A FORTNIGHT later Mr. Graham saw a large, Leonard a small, portion of a
funeral procession, and Sybil was very anxious afterwards to hear all
about it, for Leonard had told her that it seemed even grander than the
marriage one.
"Please, father," she said, "tell me all that the Chinese do when
anybody dies."
"I do not think I could tell you all," was her father's reply, "because
it would take too long, and I do not know all myself; but I dare say I
can tell you quite enough to satisfy your curiosity. When a Chinese
thinks that a relation is likely to die soon, he places him, with his
feet towards the door, on a bed of boards, arranging his best robes and
a hat, or cap, quite close to him, that he may be dressed in these just
before he dies. It would be considered a dreadful thing if he were to
die without putting them on. Soon after he is dead, a priest--usually a
priest of Taou--is called in to ask the spirit to make haste to Elysium,
and to cast the man's horoscope, so as to see how far the spirit has got
on its journey."
"What does casting his horoscope mean?"
"Finding out the hour of a man's birth, and then foretelling events by
the appearance of the heavens. More clothes are then put upon the dead
man, who, if he be a person of rank, would wear three silk robes. Gongs
are beaten, and when the body is placed in its coffin, every corner of
the room is beaten with a hammer, to frighten away bad spirits. A crown
is also put on any person of rank. Widows and children, to show their
grief, sit on the floor instead of on chairs for seven days, and sleep
on mats near to the husband and father's coffin. On the seventh day
letters are written to friends, informing them of the death, when they
send presents of money to help to defray the funeral expenses. I saw a
very strange letter of thanks yesterday, a copy of which had been sent
to each giver of a present, and besides money, food is sometimes given
or priests are sent. The letter, as far as I can remember, ran thus:
'This is to express the thanks of the orphaned son, who weeps tears of
blood, and bows his head; of the mourning brother, who weeps and bows
his head; of the mourning nephew, who wipes away his tears and bows his
head.' Then a letter is also written to the departed, and burnt, that it
may reach him, whilst cakes and other presents are also sent to him by
means of burning.
[Illustration: MEN ENGAGED TO WALK IN FUNERAL PROCESSIONS.]
"On the twenty-first day after death a banquet is prepared in honour
of the spirit, which is supposed, on that day, to come back to his home,
when the entrance doors are shut, for fear any one should come in and
vex the spirit. On the twenty-third day three large paper birds are put
on high poles in front of the house, to carry the soul to Elysium; and
for three days Buddhist priests pray to the ten kings of Buddhist hell
to hasten the flight of the departed soul to the Western Paradise.
"The coffin is kept in the house for seven weeks, where an altar is set
up, near to which the tablet and portrait of the deceased are put.
Banners, which are looked upon as letters of condolence, are fixed upon
the walls, and on these the merits of the dead man are inscribed.
"Pictures of the three Buddhas are also to be seen in the house. A lucky
place and day have then to be fixed, by fortune-tellers, for the burial,
and should these not be forthcoming, the coffin would be placed on a
hill till they can be found. Burial is considered of so much importance,
that should a man be drowned his spirit would be called back into a
figure of wood or paper, and buried with pomp. Before the grave-diggers
begin their work, members of the family worship the genii of the
mountain, and write letters to these gods, asking them to be so kind as
to allow the funeral to take place."
"But how are these letters made to 'arrive?'"
"They are set on fire and burnt."
"Leonard says he saw a number of people dressed in white in the
procession."
"Those were the relatives in deep mourning, white, you remember, being
the deepest, white and blue lesser, mourning."
[Illustration: CHE-YIN.]
"And he says he is sure he saw his friend Che-Yin among the mourners.
You know, father, Che-Yin is really a great friend of Leonard's, though
he is so much older than himself, and now he is taking great trouble to
teach him to play on the musical instrument which he plays so well
himself. I believe if Leonard were going to stay longer here he would
really learn to play it quite well. Is it not kind of Che-Yin? But I
must not interrupt you any more," Sybil went on, "and this is so
interesting. Leonard said he wondered so much what could be happening
once when he heard a tremendous noise, and saw people rushing out into
the streets screaming."
"I think I know what that meant," was the missionary's answer. "On the
day of burial the relatives weep and lament very loudly. They carry a
long white streamer, called a soul-cloth, to the ancestral hall, for the
spirit to say 'Good-bye' to its ancestors. At three or four o'clock in
the morning all decorations, that have been put up in front of the door,
are taken down, and a banquet is made ready, of which the spirit is
invited to partake. You remember I told you that they believe one spirit
is buried with the body. Well, some kind of paper is now again burnt,
while the spirit is asked to accompany the body, and the tablet and
portrait of the dead man are put in a sedan-chair by his eldest son,
over the top of which is a streamer of red satin, on which his name and
titles are written.
"Distant relations remain standing out in the streets; but I expect what
Leonard saw was people rushing out of the house, dreadfully frightened,
for fear that after all the day might not be lucky, and the spirit
should be vexed, and send trouble to them, in consequence.
"As the coffin is brought out offerings are also again presented to the
spirit. Two men walk first, carrying large lanterns, on which are
written the name, title, and age of the man who has died. Then come two
other men with a gong, which they beat from time to time."
"Leonard heard that."
"Then follow musicians, and behind these some men walk with flags,
others with red boards, on which are inscribed, in golden letters, the
titles of the ancestors of the deceased."
"Then Leonard saw some gold canopies and sedan-chairs."
"Offerings made to the dead are carried under gilded canopies, and these
canopies also follow the ancestral tablets. The portrait of the dead man
is in one sedan-chair, and his wooden tablet in another.
"I believe somewhere about here are more musicians, then comes a man
scattering pieces of paper fastened to tinfoil. This is supposed to be
mock-money for hungry ghosts, the souls of those people who have died at
corners of the streets, and this money is to make peace with them, so
that they shall not injure the soul of the man now being buried. The
eldest son carries a staff, whilst a person walks on either side to
support him."
"But Leonard said he saw a white cock, when he could not help laughing.
What could this be for?"
"The cock is also carried to call the soul to go with the body. Behind
the eldest son comes the bier, carried by men or drawn by horses.
"Many other persons follow. All the people that can, go in the
procession. Women with small feet, unless carried on their slaves'
backs, can only go a short way. At the grave, grains of rice are
scattered over the coffin, when the priest and all the people lift the
cock and bend their bodies forward three times. The tablet is taken out
of the chair, on which the nearest relation makes a mark with a red
pencil; then the sons kneel down, and a priest, if present, addresses
them."
"Then a priest is not obliged to go to the funeral?"
"No; sometimes only a man skilled in geomancy is present. Geomancy is a
kind of foretelling things, by means of little dots first made on the
ground and then on paper. The tablet is marked, I believe, to bring good
luck to the sons, and then every one knocks his head on the ground and
does homage to it."
Sybil was looking very serious, though she was smiling too.
"Oh, father!" she said, "how much you, and other missionaries, will have
to teach these people! What a pity it is that they cannot know that the
soul is never buried, and that they can't learn to worship and pray to
God, Who would send them such real happiness in answer to their
prayers!"
"It is indeed, my child," was the missionary's answer.
"And is anything more done for the dead after this except worship being
paid to them?"
"Yes; for many days feasts are prepared for the departed relative, hot
water is carried to him to wash his face and hands, and I have also
heard of another way that the Chinese have of 'conveying' spirits to the
kingdoms of Buddhistic hell. Little sedan-chairs are made of bamboo
splints and paper, with four little paper bearers, and sometimes there
is a fifth little paper man, holding an umbrella. These are burnt like
the paper mock-money; and sometimes, after the death of another friend,
a little paper trunk, full of paper clothes, is supplied for one already
dead, and burnt, when the senders believe that the person who died last
is conveying this trunk to the other in safety for them."
"They think that people need a great many things in the other world,
then," Sybil said. "And do children often worship at their parents'
tombs?"
"Yes; at certain seasons of the year they make pilgrimages to the tops
of high hills, or to other distant parts, where they prostrate
themselves, this being supposed to continue the homage and reverence
which they showed to them on earth; and they believe that in a great
measure the happiness of the spirits depends upon the adoration and
worship which they pay to them, whilst those who render it secure for
themselves favour from the gods. Twice a day do children also pay
adoration to their dead parents, before a shrine set up in the house to
the memory of departed ancestors."
"But what is the use of preparing feasts for the dead?" Sybil asked.
"They cannot think that the dead really eat the food?"
"They seem to do so, and not only lay a place for them, but even put
chop-sticks for their use."
Another procession Sybil and Leonard saw one day, and this Sybil
described in the last letter that she wrote to her friend, before she
left China. Some men carried an image of the Dragon King, others carried
gongs, drums, and green and black and yellow and white flags, whilst
boys, walking in the procession, called out loudly from time to time.
The children could not possibly imagine what this procession could be
all about.
Some characters were written on the flags.
One man who, as Leonard thought, had a very happy, smiling face, had a
pole slung across his shoulders, from which hung two buckets of water.
In his hand he held a green branch of a shrub which, from time to time,
he dipped in the water, and then sprinkled the ground; while he also
continually called out something. Other men were carrying sticks of
lighted incense. Most of the people, in the procession, wore white
clothes, and white caps without tassels.
[Illustration: SPRINKLING WATER.]
Sybil and Leonard were afterwards told that this was praying for rain,
because for some time there had been none.
The Dragon King was carried, because he is supposed to be the god of
rain. Besides the Dragon King there is a River Dragon, who is both
feared and worshipped. His mother, Loong-Moo, is often worshipped by
people engaged in river traffic.
The men and boys were calling out "Rain comes!" The yellow and white
banners were to represent wind and water, and the green and black,
clouds.
The inscription on the flags was, when translated, "Prayer is offered
for rain."
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