A CHINESE FUNERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6422, 17 June 1882, Page 7

A CHINESE FUNERAL.

Descrtbisg a Mongolian funeral, a New York paper saj's :—The emaciated remains of Cha Afuch, a middle-aged Chinaman, lay in a simple pine coffin at his home in Divi-sion-street, aud the friends of the dead man had assembled to pay the last tokens of respect to his memory and perforin the mortuary rites of the Buddhist creed. Full 25 bareheaded and tearful Mongols sat in the room instraugely embroidered fc, suot*, M black pantaloons and shoes of a marvellous design. At the foot of the coffin a roasted pig savored the air, and all around it were strewn fragments of gold and silver paper that reflected the flames of a score of brightly burning wax candles. A few 14 joss" sticks protruded from among the flimsy emblems of temporal riches, and bright strips of coloured silk were pendant from the walls. In the midst of all this lowly splendour lay the dead Mongol, with ghastly, upturned face and folded arms. A few minutes of complete silence passed, and three Chinamen entered the room. They were assuming the duties belonging to the Buddhist priests and each wore a soft black felt liat bound with a strip of white crape. The central one of the three began to chant a prayer in the gutteral Cantonese dialect, and at every pause he made his two assistants f chanted a; response. Sometimes they reverently kneeled, but they stood during most of the ceremony, always facing the corpse. It was a strango Bight, this Buddhist ritual in; the heart of a Christian city, but never for a ■moment did the prayerful voices flag and , never for a moment did the mourners remove their eyes from the face of their departed comrade. There was, perhaps, one of the assemblage who did cast greedy eyes at the roast pig, but it is said he was converted'to Christianity two years ago. After the prayers to Joss had been duly rendered and the prayer-sticks were lighted, the coffin was borne out of the house and deposited in a; hearse. The deceased was a member of the Loon Ye Tong, or United Chinese Brethren, and the hearse was driven to the rooms of the society at No. 18, Mott-street Here a German brass band was drawn up on the sidewalk and as the little cortege filed into the | Chinese colony the musicians played the i Dead March from " Saul." Then the mem- I bers of the Loon Ye Tong walked two and J two from the club rooms and formed in pro- i cession behind the hearse. Each one was dressed in native costume and wore a white silk apron, upon which, in black, velvet, was worked a square and compass—the symbol of the Order. The first section of the mourners carried a red serge flag, trimmed with white, Which bore in white Chinese characters the name, age, time of birth and time of death of Cha Afuch. Behind there came two black banners, on which were embossed white hieroglyphics, which freely translated were, " Rest in Peace* 1 and "We Mourn Our Loss." The body was preceded by a line of policemen and the noisy brass band. When the march began there were fully a thousand persons attracted to the scene, and it was with difficulty that the procession could make auy progress through the crowd. The remains were taken to the Grand-street ferry and hero the policc escort departed. When the funeral line was formed in Williamsburg a number of rowdies created a disgraceful clamour, but some sensible citizens drove them, away, and the hearse and its followers reached the Evergreens Cemetery without further incident. The coffin was then lowered into the grave, a handful of earth was thrown on the cover by each mourner, the mound was quickly raised and sodded, the company dispersed, and, with three flags floating over him, and about twenty prayer sticks at his head, Cha Afuch awaits the coming of Buddha and the resurrection.