[336] A dying man is almost always moved into his coffin to die; and aged persons frequently take to sleeping regularly in the coffins provided against the inevitable hour by the pious thoughtfulness of a loving son. Even in middle life Chinese like to see their coffins ready for them, and store them sometimes on their own premises, sometimes in the outhouses of a neighbouring temple.
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[337] See No. LXXIII., [note 62].
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[338] The Chinese distinguish sixteen vital spots on the front of the body and six on the back, with thirty-six and twenty non-vital spots in similar positions, respectively. They allow, however, that a severe blow on a non-vital spot might cause death, and vice versâ.
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[339] Certain classes of soothsayers are believed by the Chinese to be possessed by foxes, which animals have the power of looking into the future, &c., &c.
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[340] The Yü Li or Divine Panorama.
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[341] The Divine Ruler, immediately below God himself.
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[342] See No. XXVI., [note 182].
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[343] See Author’s Own Record (in Introduction), [note 28].
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[344] The three worst of the Six Paths.
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[345] That the state of one life is the result of behaviour in a previous existence.
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