Cremation Is Now Entirely
Disused, Except In Two Cases; One, That Of The Obsequies Of A Buddhist
Priest, And The
Other that in which the coffin instead of being buried has
been exposed in the fields, and in the lapse
Of time has become decayed.
But it is impossible to reject the evidence that it was a common practice
in Polo's age. He repeats the assertion that it was the custom at every
stage of his journey through Eastern China; though perhaps his taking
absolutely no notice of the practice of burial is an instance of that
imperfect knowledge of strictly Chinese peculiarities which has been
elsewhere ascribed to him. It is the case, however, that the author of the
Book of the Estate of the Great Kaan (circa 1330) also speaks of
cremation as the usual Chinese practice, and that Ibn Batuta says
positively: "The Chinese are infidels and idolaters, and they burn their
dead after the manner of the Hindus." This is all the more curious,
because the Arab Relations of the 9th century say distinctly that the
Chinese bury their dead, though they often kept the body long (as they do
still) before burial; and there is no mistaking the description which
Conti (15th century) gives of the Chinese mode of sepulture. Mendoza, in
the 16th century, alludes to no disposal of the dead except by burial, but
Semedo in the early part of the 17th says that bodies were occasionally
burnt, especially in Sze-ch'wan.
I am greatly indebted to the kindness of an eminent Chinese scholar, Mr.
W.F. Mayers, of Her Majesty's Legation at Peking, who, in a letter, dated
Peking, 18th September, 1874, sends me the following memorandum on the
subject: -
"Colonel Yule's Marco Polo, II. 97 [First Edition], Burning of the
Dead.
"On this subject compare the article entitled Huo Tsang, or 'Cremation
Burials,' in Bk. XV of the Jih Che Luh, or 'Daily Jottings,' a great
collection of miscellaneous notes on classical, historical, and
antiquarian subjects, by Ku Yen-wu, a celebrated author of the 17th
century. The article is as follows: -
"'The practice of burning the dead flourished (or flourishes) most
extensively in Kiang-nan, and was in vogue already in the period of the
Sung Dynasty. According to the history of the Sung Dynasty, in the 27th
year of the reign Shao-hing (A.D. 1157), the practice was animadverted
upon by a public official.' Here follows a long extract, in which the
burning of the dead is reprehended, and it is stated that cemeteries were
set apart by Government on behalf of the poorer classes.
"In A.D. 1261, Hwang Chen, governor of the district of Wu, in a memorial
praying that the erection of cremation furnaces might thenceforth be
prohibited, dwelt upon the impropriety of burning the remains of the
deceased, for whose obsequies a multitude of observances were prescribed
by the religious rites. He further exposed the fallacy of the excuse
alleged for the practice, to wit, that burning the dead was a fulfilment
of the precepts of Buddha, and accused the priests of a certain monastery
of converting into a source of illicit gain the practice of cremation."
[As an illustration of the cremation of a Buddhist priest, I note the
following passage from an article published in the North-China Herald,
20th May, 1887, p. 556, on Kwei Hua Ch'eng, Mongolia: "Several Lamas are
on visiting terms with me and they are very friendly. There are seven
large and eight small Lamaseries, in care of from ten to two hundred
Lamas. The principal Lamas at death are cremated. A short time ago, a
friendly Lama took me to see a cremation. The furnace was roughly made of
mud bricks, with four fire-holes at the base, with an opening in which to
place the body. The whole was about 6 feet high, and about 5 feet in
circumference. Greased fuel was arranged within and covered with glazed
foreign calico, on which were written some Tibetan characters. A tent was
erected and mats arranged for the Lamas. About 11:30 A.M. a scarlet
covered bier appeared in sight carried by thirty-two beggars. A box 2 feet
square and 2-1/2 feet high was taken out and placed near the furnace. The
Lamas arrived and attired themselves in gorgeous robes and sat
cross-legged. During the preparations to chant, some butter was being
melted in a corner of the tent. A screen of calico was drawn round the
furnace in which the cremator placed the body, and filled up the opening.
Then a dozen Lamas began chanting the burial litany in Tibetan in deep bass
voices. Then the head priest blessed the torches and when the fires were
lit he blessed a fan to fan the flames, and lastly some melted butter,
which was poured in at the top to make the whole blaze. This was frequently
repeated. When fairly ablaze, a few pieces of Tibetan grass were thrown in
at the top. After three days the whole cooled, and a priest with one gold
and one silver chopstick collects the bones, which are placed in a bag for
burial. If the bones are white it is a sign that his sin is purged, if
black that perfection has not been attained." - H.C.]
And it is very worthy of note that the Chinese envoy to Chinla (Kamboja)
in 1295, an individual who may have personally known Marco Polo, in
speaking of the custom prevalent there of exposing the dead, adds: "There
are some, however, who burn their dead. These are all descendants of
Chinese immigrants."
[Professor J.J.M. de Groot remarks that "being of religious origin,
cremation is mostly denoted in China by clerical terms, expressive of the
metamorphosis the funeral pyre is intended to effect, viz. 'transformation
of man'; 'transformation of the body'; 'metamorphosis by fire.' Without
the clerical sphere it bears no such high-sounding names, being simply
called 'incineration of corpses.' A term of illogical composition, and
nevertheless very common in the books, is 'fire burial.'" It appears that
during the Sung Dynasty cremation was especially common in the provinces
of Shan-si, Cheh-kiang, and Kiang-su.
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