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A CHINESE
BURIAL |
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Harper’s
Weekly, January 28, 1882, page 62 (Illustrated
Article) |
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Chinese have a profound reverence for the dead, and the worship of
ancestors is one of the most solemn rites of their religion. They
carry the custom into foreign lands, and pay great attention to the
graves where their dead find a temporary resting-place previous to
removal to their native land. |
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A
Chinese Burial in Lone Mountain Cemetery,
San Francisco, California
January 28, 1882, page 56
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illustration on page 56 represents a scene in Lone Mountain
Cemetery, San Francisco—one of the Chinese temporary burial-places
in California. Their funerals are gala excursions. Hacks and coaches
are at a premium. The procession is headed by musicians with gongs
and other musical instruments, followed by friends of the deceased
and hired mourners. The latter, dressed in white, chant the praises
of the dead in discordant strains. |
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| After the
burial, lighted tapers are placed on the grave, which is covered
with dishes of the choicest Chinese cookery; and as experience has
taught our Celestial friends that their Hoodlum enemies will make
free work with the provisions if left on the ground for the benefit
of the departed, it has become the custom to consume them on the
spot. Meanwhile a native priest chants, rings a bell, and sprinkles
the grave with consecrated water. |
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Harper’s
Weekly, January 28, 1882, page 62 (Illustrated
Article) |
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