Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/567

 CHAP. III. TOMBS. TOMBS. 465 Like all people of Turanian origin, one of the most remark- able characteristics of the Chinese is their reverence for the dead, or, as it is usually called, their ancestral worship. In consequence of this, their tombs are not only objects of care, but have frequently more ornament bestowed upon them than graces the dwellings of the living. Their tombs are of different kinds ; often merely conical . ^ 495. Chinese Grave. (From Fortune's 'Wanderings in China.') mounds of earth, with a circle of stones round their base, like those of the Etruscans or ancient Greeks, as may be seen in Woodcut No 495, which would serve equally well for a restora- tion of those of Tarquinia or Vulci. A very common arrangement is that of a horseshoe-shaped platform, cut out of the side of a hill. It conse- quently has a high back, in which is the entrance to the tomb, and slopes off to nothing at the entrance to the horseshoe, where the wall generally terminates with tWO lions or dra- 496- Chinese Tomb. (From Fortune's 'Wanderings in China.') gons, or some fantastic ornament common to Chinese architecture. VOL. II. 2 G