Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/37

Rh On every seventh day after the death, till forty-nine days have elapsed there is chanting, and the women of the family weep.

Soon after death there is a ceremony to open the road for the spirit; this is done by chanting and is more or less elaborate according to the family means.

A passport to Hades is also burned and the ashes put in or near the coffin and buried.

Immediately after opening the road a ceremony may be performed called 繞棺 jao kuan, to go round the coffin, or 熱血道塲 jé hsüeh Tao ch'ang, hot blood chapel. The Taoist priest chants the 救苦經 chiu-k'u ching save-from-sorrow classic. The ceremony may last from one to three days, according to the means of the family. It is the short way of getting through the funeral ceremonies; the longer will be described later.

Within three days all mourning preparations must be complete. The chief mourners must have white garments, turbans and shoes, with a coarse girdle; sometimes the clothes are of coarse hempen cloth. If a son of the deceased should hold an official position he must vacate office for three years.

The coffin is guarded by sons and grandsons while in the house.

The tablet set up immediately after death, and called 血靈位 hsüeh-ling wei, is only temporary. It is removed, and a new one of wood, sometimes gilded, takes its place 設靈位 shé ling wei. This is carried to the grave at the funeral, brought back, and kept in the house for three years.

At each family meal food is offered to the spirit, in some families for three years, in others only till the funeral, perhaps during seven or fourteen days. Much depends on the position of the family.

The priestly ceremonies: 道塲 Tao ch'ang.

Chanting for the emancipation of the soul is done by Taoist priests and lasts for from three to eight days, according to the family means. The first act of the ceremony is to invite water 請水 ch'ing shui for the cleansing of the altar. The priests go in a body to the river where they bury paper,