CHAPTER XI.
PROCESSIONS.
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.
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."
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.
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."
