Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/561

 wealthy people it is usually delayed three months. This gives opportunity to make more elaborate preparations.

A burial site will long ago have been selected through the services of a chigwan, or geomancer. This is a science in itself, and has been described in a separate chapter. The day before the burial the geomancer and the chief mourner go to the grave site and superintend the marking out of the grave, being careful to drive stakes at the four corners, at the head, at the foot and in the middle of the grave plot. Later in the day the mourners bring food and sacrifice to the spirit of the mountain, calling aloud the name of the dead and announcing that he is to be buried at that spot. The chief mourner returns home and announces to the dead that a burial place has been prepared. Those that have remained at the burial site dig the grave, making the measurements very exact, so that the casket will fit. At the bottom they put sand mixed with lime, and pound it down hard, so as to form a solid bed for the casket to rest upon.

Two memorial stones have already been prepared. They are exact counterparts of each other. One of them is to be set up and the other to be buried in the ground at the foot of the grave. If the one that is set up is injured or destroyed, this buried one can be dug up and erected in its place. These stones are called the chisŭk, or "stone descriptive of the character of the dead."

The next work is the preparation of the sangyu, or "death carriage," by which is meant the bier or catafalque. In ordinary cases this is rented for the occasion, but in extraordinary cases a special one is made. It is supposed to resemble in shape the ordinary covered two-man sedan chair, or litter, in which people are carried about in lieu of wheeled vehicles; but it is made longer to accommodate the recumbent posture of the dead. It is covered with a rigid canopy, or roof, and the sides are enclosed. The whole is painted in the most gaudy and fantastic colours, a mixture of the Korean cardinal colours,—red, blue, yellow, white and black,—and is supported on men's shoulders by a network of poles and ropes. The number of carriers is