330 FLOWERS FOR THE GRAVES. [Cuaap. XVII. 
The flowers which the Chinese plant on or 
among the tombs are simple and beautiful in their 
kind. No expensive camellias, moutans, or other 
of the finer ornaments of the garden are chosen for 
this purpose. Sometimes the conical mound of 
earth, —when the grave is of this kind, —is crowned 
with a large plant of fine, tall, waving grass; at 
Ningpo wild roses are planted, which soon spread 
themselves over the grave, and, when their flowers 
expand in spring, cover it with a sheet of pure 
white. At Shanghae a pretty bulbous plant, a 
species of Lycoris, covers the graves in autumn 
with masses of brilliant purple. When I first dis- 
covered the Anemone Japonica, it was in full flower 
amongst the graves of the natives, which are round 
the ramparts of Shanghae ; it blooms in November, 
when other flowers have gone by, and is a most ap- 
propriate ornament to the last resting-places of the 
dead. 
The poor, as well as the rich, often keep their 
dead in their dwelling-houses for a long time; I 
should imagine, from the numerous coffins which I 
met with in such circumstances, that many are thus 
kept for years. The coffins are remarkably thick 
and strong, and the joints so carefully cemented 
that no unpleasant smell is emitted during the de- 
cay of the body. 
Much of the respect which is paid by the Chinese 
to the memory of their deceased relatives, may 
doubtless be a mere matter of form, sanctioned and 
