592 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



quets of white artificial flowers, stuck in balls of clay, are set upon 

 the altar, and the worship of the dead then commences. Many- 

 female relatives stay behind the screen to wail. A child is ap- 

 pointed to watch and give notice of the approach of a worshiper, 

 and at his signal the women wail in chorus. A male relative goes 

 out, receives the guest, and kneels beside him while he bows and 

 touches his forehead to the ground. The guest is then invited 

 into another room to partake of tea, and the wailing ceases until 

 another visitor arrives. Friends of various surnames and clans 

 come during the first six days to pay obeisance to the dead, and 

 bring bundles of spirit-money to be burned before the altar. The 

 son of the recipient of these posthumous honors returns to each 

 a present of a few feet of home-made white cloth, and invites all 

 to the great performances of the seventh day. 



The effigy and altar remain a hundred days, and before them 

 the near relatives bow down and weep twice a day. Those who 

 can wail in verse, eulogizing the departed, gain much approbation. 

 Every morning and evening, so long as the coffin is in the house, 

 or for one hundred days if the burial should be longer delayed, 

 a daughter-in-law puts upon the altar a meal of vegetable food. 

 The deceased is supposed to partake of its essence, and it is after- 

 ward added to the family mess. Beside the fare set forth for the 

 dead man, there is laid upon the table a single chopstick and an 

 egg for the jailer that has charge of the spirit until it is judged 

 in hades. Having but half a pair of chopsticks to use, he must 

 needs eat slowly, and so the dead man may get his share of the 

 viands set forth ! 



Besides the occupations already described, the men of the 

 afflicted family must procure food-stuffs, including pork, geese, 

 and ducks, for the entertainment of guests ; must hire mourning 

 garments, or buy cloth for making them ; must put an awning 

 over the court in front of the house, to enlarge the space where- 

 in the priests are to perform the ceremonies of the seventh 

 day ; and must order at the shops where outfits for ghosts are 

 made all the paper paraphernalia which is to be burned at the 

 funeral. 



The women must, meanwhile, cook abundant meals for all 

 who assist in the obsequies ; must pound bushels of rice into flour 

 for making steamed cakes to offer, with tea, to all comers ; must 

 make many little white bags, and put into each two long rolls of 

 raw cotton, some green peas, some unhusked rice, and two copper 

 coins, and must fasten these bags upon cords, whereby they can 

 be tied around the waist. On the seventh day each son and son's 

 wife wears three of these bags, all the children of the sons wear 

 two bags, and each married daughter and son-in-law wears one 

 bag. Mourning badges must also be made — wristlets of white for 



