Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 5 1887.djvu/247

Rh is opened, and the world-wide custom of introducing a piece of silver to defray his expenses to or in the spirit world is observed.

The white cloth wrapped round the heads of the mourners is supplied by the family. The relatives are dressed in white coats, the females wearing, in addition, trousers of that colour. Sons, daughters, and grandchildren have braided in their hair threads of hemp, or blue or white cotton. No silks, satins, or red garments should be worn for 27 months.

The periods of mourning are five in number, varying according to the relationship of the parties, viz.:

In the event of the father dying before the grandfather, the son, on the decease of the latter, must take his father's place, and mourn for three years.

The colours worn in mourning for a father or mother are—for the first year, white; for the second, blue; for the third, black.

In mourning an uncle, the first colour is blue; the second, black.

If any daughters of the family be married, they must assume mourning, and come to their father's house. There they must wash their heads, and then return to their homes, where they worship the ancestors of their husbands. This done, they return to their father's house as mourners.

A lucky day is selected by a Taoist priest for placing the corpse in the coffin. Large sums are expended on these longevity boards, as they are termed, which are considered to be most suitable presents as from a son to his parents. One thousand dollars is not an extraordinary sum to give for a coffin, and that employed in the burial of Sui Lun, a former Governor-General of the two Kwong provinces, is said to have cost 6000 dollars.

Should the day of decease be an unlucky day, the body may not be