GLIMPSES OF KOREA AND CHINA 



931 



STREET SPRINKUNG: PEKING, CHINA (SEE PAGE 930) 



claim some scientists have made that this 

 serpent-Hke structure is the only object 

 on the earth's surface which can be dis- 

 tinguished by our distant neighbors on 

 the planet Mars. 



Mr. Toole's account of the Great 

 Wall, while humorous, contains some 

 historical facts. He says : ''The most 

 important building in China is the Great 

 Wall, built to keep the Tartars out. It 

 was built at such enormous expense that 

 the Chinese never got over it, but the 

 Tartars did. The way they accomplished 

 the feat was 'One went first and t'others 

 went arter.' " 



Wedding processions, always interest- 

 ing in every land, are quite spectacular 

 in China, and, like funeral pageants, are 

 preceded by music, if the sounds pro- 

 duced by the pipers can be so termed. 

 In the street procession the groom ap- 

 pears to have no part, his chair, borne by 

 eight coolies, forming an independent 

 parade. 



The variety and splendor of funeral 

 processions is one of the features of 

 Peking. There is a Chinese proverb 

 which reads, "The most important thing 

 in life is to be buried well." If this im- 



plies being placed well underground, the 

 conditions are not generally carried out, 

 for in no country, according to our ob- 

 servation, were so many half-buried 

 coffins seen as here ; but if the reference 

 is to pomp and extravagance, could the 

 deceased have seen the displays it was 

 our privilege to view they would have 

 crawled back to their caskets to resume 

 their long sleep with the consciousness 

 that the purpose of their lives had been 

 most satisfactorily achieved. 



The city of the dead in Canton, South 

 China, has storage capacity for 500 cas- 

 kets. This silent city is made up of a 

 great number of small one-story stone 

 buildings, each house having two rooms 

 of about 8 by 16 feet in size. A cum- 

 brous coffin with the name of the de- 

 ceased inscribed in Chinese characters on 

 the foot occupies each room. The only 

 other object in the room is a small shrine 

 near the entrance, upon which light re- 

 freshments are placed. Here, amid the 

 fragrance of smouldering incense, the 

 spirit of the departed may dailv enjoy 

 a quiet cup of tea and a small cake, pro- 

 vided that surviving relatives continue 

 to pay the expense. 



