Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/357

 COFFINING. 329 co6Sn, and stand before it There they recite their chant, which is as doleful an account as possible of the troubles endured by the deceased while in life, to rouse the feelings of the hearers into bitter mourning. Just before these chanters, incense is being burnt, and paper, on which are poured spirits, to be burnt Then all dependants and the younger people bow twice. The spirit cup is wiped with a towel, and replenished. The sound of mourning is kept up without a break by all the mourners, under* the Shangjoo. Da Lien, or Coffining proper. There are four or five pecks of the ashes of millet stalk prepared, and five or six sheets of very thick paper,"f' to be placed above the ashes ; a lined rug of silk, a pillow, twenty feet of white cotton ; other two rugs, — one to cover the body on the board, another to cover it in the cofiin. All these are wadded. Six sheets of oiled paper of the common size, and four of larger size ; fifty small cords, ten stout cords ; three thin boards, to put inside the coflBn for a covering ; two small footstools ; cloth to cover the coffin ; and in winter, a piece of felt to cover coffin ; and a screen to hide it, — are all to be ready for the coffining. For laying out the body, a board is required, a screen of wood, a rug wadded with straw, a straw mat, a screen of cloth, a pillow, a rug of silk, clothing (see preceding, p. 318), a coverlid, a comb, a wash bason, and a towel. The coffining of Dalien is on the third day after death ; all the things being arranged in order in the early morning. The coffin is brought into the middle of the hall by the servants, and placed on the two stools, made perfectly level, and the ashes put in. The Shangjoo is not to weep then. The white thick paper is placed above the ashes ; and above the paper is the board called himself. During the whole ceremony in China, Buddhist and Taoist priests chant altemately ; and as Corea is still more fervent a believer in Buddhism than China, this portion cannot fail to be imitated. Conf udanist chanters or reciters are the only ones authorised by the Ritual proper. t Coreans make paper so thick that it is used for rugs on the kang.
 * Tbe original has, "All under Shangjoo," which may or may not include