802 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



THJv Si-MPJJ'IST KIND OF SKUAN CHAIR 



arrives, which may be months after 

 death, a Hve fowl is carried before the 

 coffin to convey the spirit to the grave, 

 and paper representing money is scat- 

 tered all along the road "to buy the way" 

 from the devils or spirits of the nnbiiried 

 dead, who are everywhere. At the end 

 of five years the body is taken up, the 

 bones cleaned, and replaced in an earthen 

 vessel. This is the proper burial. 



Every year the relatives go to the grave 

 to offer provision and pay reverence to 

 this "grave spirit." This is why all 

 Chinamen desire to be buried by their 

 relatives and in China, else their spirits 

 may become wandering devils. For the 

 same reason they make every endeavor 

 to have the bones of their relations trans- 

 ported to China if they die abroad. 

 Prosperity and health are only secured 

 to the survivors by the proper observance 

 of these ceremonial offices. 



To the third order of spirits belongs 

 particularly ancestral worship. By elab- 

 orate ceremonies the third spirit is in- 

 duced to enter what is called an ancestral 



tablet prepared by the family on the 

 approach of death. This tablet is the 

 sacred symbol of the ancient religion of 

 China, which Confucius found existing 

 in his day, 600 years before the time of 

 Christ. This tablet, containing the spirit 

 of the father, is set upon the principal 

 tible in the house or is sent to a Con- 

 fucian temple. In either case all the 

 family ])ay their devotions before it. 

 This is ancestral worship or filial piety. 

 The Chinese are also firm believers in 

 the transmigration of souls. 



The fourth order are the spirits of the 

 unburied dead. They are those which 

 have no friends, no graves, no tablet, 

 and which have never been conducted to 

 the place of spirits. They are an in- 

 numerable host, wandering spirits, ghosts, 

 or devils. They are everywhere — in 

 caves, in mountains, and in valleys. They 

 wander through the country roads and 

 in the city streets. They are in stones 

 and trees and houses. They pass through 

 the air only a few feet above the ground. 

 For this reason houses in China are only 



