her)--and, having inducted or persuaded the spirit
to enter the 'soul-tablet' which accompanied the funeral procession
(which took place the moment the tablet was 'dotted,' _i.e._ when
the character _wang_, 'prince,' was changed into _chu_, 'lord'),
carried it back home again, set it up in a shrine in the main hall,
and fell down and worshipped it. Thus was the spirit propitiated,
and as long as occasional offerings were not overlooked the power
for evil possessed by it would not be exerted against the surviving
inmates of the house, whom it had so thoughtlessly deserted.

The latter mourned by screaming, wailing, stamping their feet,
and beating their breasts, renouncing (in the earliest times) even
their clothes, dwelling, and belongings to the dead, removing to
mourning-sheds of clay, fasting, or eating only rice gruel, sleeping
on straw with a clod for a pillow, and speaking only on subjects of
death and burial. Office and public duties were resigned, and marriage,
music, and separation from the clan prohibited.

During the lapse of the long ages of monarchical rule funeral rites
became more elaborate and magnificent, but, though less rigid and
ceremonious since the institution of the Republic, they have retained
their essential character down to the present day.

Funeral ceremonial was more exacting than that connected with most
other observances, including those of marriage. Invitations or
notifications were sent to friends, and after receipt of these _fu_,
on the various days appointed therein, the guest was obliged to send
presents, such as money, paper horses, slaves, etc., and go and join
in the lamentations of the hired mourners and attend at the prayers
recited by the priests. Funeral etiquette could not be _pu'd, i.e._
made good, if overlooked or neglected at the right time, as it could
in the case of the marriage ceremonial.

Instead of symmetrical public graveyards, as in the West, the
Chinese cemeteries belong to the family or clan of the deceased,
and are generally beautiful and peaceful places planted with trees
and surrounded by artistic walls enclosing the grave-mounds and
monumental tablets. The cemeteries themselves are the metonyms of the
villages, and the graves of the houses. In the north especially the
grave is very often surmounted by a huge marble tortoise bearing the
inscribed tablet, or what we call the gravestone, on its back. The
tombs of the last two lines of emperors, the Ming and t