SOME CHINESE MORTUARY CUSTOMS. 591 



day is usually discovered aud fixed upon. This time having ar- 

 rived, the clothes of the deceased, or new cloth cut into lengths 

 sufficient for a tunic, are distributed among the assistants, are 

 used as girdles while the body is lifted into the coffin, and are 

 afterward kept by the wearers. 



Thrifty, elderly persons have stanch coffins made for them- 

 selves while in good health. They are kept in a loft, receive a 

 new coat of lacquer occasionally, and harden during perhaps a 

 score of years for final use. If the coffin has not been previously 

 prepared, a son buys one from a maker, who gives the buyer a 

 couple of oranges or a package of confectionery, that the transfer 

 of goods may not be an unmixed sadness to his customer. Some 

 person, familiar with the route, must guide the bearers by the 

 shortest road to the house of the purchaser, for an empty coffin 

 imperils the welfare of the inmates of any dwelling to which it 

 is taken, and a mistake in regard to its destination would bring 

 rough treatment to those who carried it. 



After the body is laid in the coffin, a piece of silver, real or 

 counterfeit, is placed under the tongue. It is said that in ancient 

 times the full value of a man's possessions was paid to him by his 

 heirs at his demise, and was deposited with him in his coffin for 

 burial. But later on, though long ago, a man who had foreknowl- 

 edge, warned his children that there would be a rebellion in their 

 day, and that a certain noble would rifle graves to get funds for 

 the carrying out of his treasonable designs. When this man 

 died, the prospective rebel was invited to assist in encoffining the 

 corpse, and the sons put into the coffin only a small piece of silver, 

 which they slipped under his tongue. Years passed, and the 

 prophecy of the dead father was fulfilled ; but, while other graves 

 were opened, his remained undisturbed, because the rebel chief- 

 tain knew it contained no treasure. Since that time the practice 

 of putting a bit of silver under the tongue has superseded the 

 older custom of burying large sums of money with the corpse. 



The evening after the encoffining a supper is spread for all the 

 relatives of other surname than that of the deceased. Those of 

 the same surname, reckoning themselves sinners, and therefore in 

 sorrow, cook and serve the banquet. 



As soon as the corpse is encoffined, a screen of white cloth is 

 stretched across the main room just in front of the shelf on which 

 sit the household gods, opposite the front entrance to the house. 

 The coffin stands parallel with the screen, and close behind it, 

 shut off from the view of those who pass the open door. In front 

 of the screen, at its center, a chair is placed, holding an effigy of 

 the deceased, and dressed in his clothing. This is called the seat 

 of the spirit. Before the effigy a square table is set as an altar, 

 and draped with a white cover and valance. A pair of large bou- 



