Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 5 1887.djvu/248

240 encoffined for one day. Should it be still more unlucky, two or three days must be passed, for, if not, another member of the family will surely die. If all goes well, the priest is requested to make a charm to suspend over the door, musicians are engaged, and the encoffining takes place. After nailing down the lid, the friends and relatives must kneel beside the coffin and kotow.

The wives, sons, and daughters of the deceased then go to the door of the house, where they weep and wail. This is called indicating the road; the supposition being that the spirit of the deceased not knowing where to go these weeping persons facing west can thus communicate to it the way it should take to reach the Western Heaven, the Paradise of Buddhists. A similar belief in the power of the survivors to direct the spirit of the deceased may be observed in the wailing cry addressed to the spirit of a person who has died at a distance from his native place, viz., loi kwai loi, loi kwai loi, come home, come home. This is also resorted to in the case of sick persons, the Chinese believing with other nations that illness is caused by the spirit of a man leaving his body to wander to and fro.

During the few days immediately following death the eldest son must fast and weep by the coffin, at night sleeping by its side. For seven days he must kotow to any one visiting him.

This period is known as shan ts’at, or the first seven. Buddhist priests are engaged to chant a liturgy to grant a passage for the soul. The Taoist priests must also go to the idols worshipped by the deceased during his lifetime, and inform them—it would almost appear in grim irony—that their worshipper, having died, is no longer in need of their protection.

Should the deceased have been an opium-smoker or fond of wine, paper opium-pipes and wine-cups are burnt for his enjoyment, as also are paper-houses, furniture, and servants.

On the twenty-first day after death the nearest female relatives must proceed to the house of the genii, or necromancer, clad in white, to inquire whether the deceased is happy or not. In the latter case, they must buy what he requires, and burn it. A present of rice, eggs, cash, incense, and candles must be made to the wizard.

Should the family be a wealthy one, a Buddhist priest is engaged