O swift dogs of the door of heaven,
Come, open the gates of paradise for this man.
This mention of dogs is due to Chinese influence; in Islam they occupy a degraded position and are considered unclean. Contrary to the general usage of Islam, white is the mourning colour, as in China. The funeral procession to the grave is headed by professional mourners, and accompanied by a mulla, who reads sentences from the Koran on the way, and conducts the service at the grave.
Women do not attend at the graveside, but mourn at a neighbouring mosque: “O my father! My brave father! My good father!” or “O my mother! My beautiful mother with black eyebrows! Thou leavest us and we are alone.” One curious custom is that of driving a stick into the grave near the head of the corpse, which Grenard considers to be a survival of the ancient practice of offering food to the dead. On the third day a solemn feast is held in the house of the deceased. The mourning lasts for forty days, and upon the termination of this period a second feast is given, and the normal life is then resumed by the mourners.
The system of medicine at Kashgar is based on the ancient Greek theory as taught by Hippocrates, Galen and Plato, whose works were translated into Arabic and Persian, especially by Abu Ali bin Sina, known in Europe as Avicenna. Diseases are divided into the categories of “hot” and “cold,” to be cured by medicines and food of the opposite category. For instance, in the case of fever, cock’s flesh, which is “cold,” is eaten, or fish. Hen’s flesh is considered “hot” in Persia, but in Kashgar there is some difference of opinion among the faculty.
The Kashgar doctors believe implicitly in giving pigeon’s or duck’s blood in cases of poisoning, and, moreover, prescribe the flesh of a nestling sparrow torn in two to ease swellings in the groin; they stop bleeding by means of a pad composed of burnt felt, or a bit of leather covered with mud or filth. Rheumatism and dropsy are treated by burying the patient in hot sand or by wrapping him in the skin of a recently killed sheep, and abdominal complaints by sticking several lighted candles into a loaf and placing it on the patient’s stomach.
So much for the doctors of Kashgar; but, as their reputation is very low, recourse is had to other means of curing sickness. Among the most common is the female diviner, who, when called in, kneads flour into a ball, recites some gibberish in which the names of the archangels and of Solomon are mentioned, and solemnly buries the ball under the fire, reciting the names of all the holy men who are buried in the neighbourhood. Whichever of these saints is being mentioned when the ball bursts has to be propitiated. Oil is taken to his shrine, where it is boiled and the steam is inhaled by the patient, after which it is mixed with food, part of which is distributed to the poor and part eaten for seven days by the sufferer. This ceremony is termed chachratku or “bursting of a ball of kneaded flour” and is regarded as most efficacious.
The power of the evil eye is firmly believed in by all classes, and children usually wear round their necks a little leather case containing a verse of the Koran as a protection against it. If a child is believed to be possessed, an old woman recites the following:
“Allah is sublime. Praise be to Allah! There is no god but Allah. If thou art an evil eye depart, as this place is not for thee. Go to a deserted watermill; go to a deserted house; go to a grave; go to the house of the Kazi. These are the commands of Allah, of Solomon and of the Saint.” The evil eye cannot withstand this invocation and leaves the sufferer forthwith.
In cases of possession by the devil, a magician is called in, and chants as follows: “Another head has come to the head; another body has come to the body. Your master has come; a jade lamp and blood sherbet are here. You will soon be like ashes, for I have an iron knife to cut you with and coal bullets to shoot you with.” The devil, hearing these threats from the magician, quits the patient without more ado.