[52] Cross, quoted by Mac Mahon, Far Cathay, p. 202 sq. Mason, ‘Religion, &c. among the Karens,’ in Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, xxxiv. pt. ii. 203.
[53] de Groot, Religious System of China, (vol. ii. book) i. 659.
[54] Giles, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, ii. 147, n. 11.
[55] Indo-Chinese Gleaner, iii. 161.
[56] Legge, Religions of China, p. 200.
[57] Maspero, Dawn of Civilization, p. 689. Jeremias, Die babylonisch-assyrischen Vorstellungen vom Leben nach dem Tode, p. 54 sqq. Halévy, Mélanges de critique et d’histoire relatifs aux peuples sémitiques, p. 368.
[58] See Schmidt, Die Ethik der alten Griechen, ii. 97 sqq.; Granger, Worship of the Romans, p. 37 sqq.; Aust, Die Religion der Römer, p. 226 sq.
[59] Sophocles, Antigone, 454 sq. Euripides, Supplices, 563.
So also among peoples who practise cremation the dead themselves are considered to be benefited by being burned. The Nâyars of Malabar are of opinion that no time should be lost in setting about the funeral, as the disposal of a corpse either by cremation or burial as soon as possible after death is conducive to the happiness of the spirit of the departed; they say that “the collection and careful disposal of the ashes of the dead gives peace to his spirit.”[60] The Thlinkets maintain that those whose bodies are burned will be warm and comfortable in the other world, whereas others will have to suffer from cold. “Burn my body! Burn me!” pleaded a dying Thlinket; “I fear the cold. Why should I go shivering through all the ages and the distances of the next world?”[61] The ancient Persians, on the other hand, considered both cremation and burial to be sins for which there was no atonement, and exposed their dead on the summits of mountains, thinking it a great misfortune if neither birds nor beasts devoured their carcases.[62] So also the Samoyedes and Mongols held it to be good for the deceased if his corpse was soon devoured by beasts,[63] and the Kamchadales regarded it as a great blessing to be eaten by a beautiful dog.[64] The East African Masai, who likewise, as a rule, expose their dead to the wild beasts, say that if the corpse is eaten by the hyænas the first night, the deceased must have been a good man, as the hyænas are supposed to act by the command of ’Ng ais, or God.[65]
[60] Fawcett, ‘Nâyars of Malabar,’ in the Madras Government Museum’s Bulletin, iii. 245, 251.