ANCESTOR WORSHIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12736, 13 December 1904, Page 6

ANCESTOR WORSHIP.

THE CHONG CHING TONG.

A FAMOUS CHINESE SOCIETY.

[BT TELEGRAPH. —OW.V CORRESrO.VDKNT.]

CiißisrcHrßcn," Monday.

! Mr. Sew Hoy, of Dunedin, speaking to a Press reporter at the conclusion of the Chong Ching Tong case, in which he was a witness, said the Chong Ching Tong was one of the most famous of the Chinese societies. It exist* for the carrying out of the sacred duty of disinterring the bodies of deceased Chinamen who have been, buried abroad, and conveying the remains to China. Its objects lie at the very root of the Chines* religion, that of ancestor worship, and it has existed ever since the Chinese commenced to spread over the world. To-day it is a vast organisation, which has its headquarters in China, and of which 1 branches exist in every country where Chinese dwell. The society works on simple but effective lines. Through its different branches it enrols the names of exiled Chinamen desiring to become members, it collects their subscriptions, it defrays the cost of disinterment and freight, and it arranges for the reception of the bodies in China and their conveyance to their proper destination. in Now Zealand, where a branch exists, two shipments of bodies have been made, one in 1885, which turned out successful, and one in 1902, which did nor. the hoar, foundering shortly after leaving Wellington. Since then the policy of the New Zealand branch has been changed. anil the bodies are sent home to China as soon as possible afterdeath. There are now no burials of members, and consequently no disinterments. Advices are sent to the headquarters of the society in China, informing the officials there that so many bodies are coming by a certain boat, expected to arrive at Hongkong on such and such a date; The caskets containing the bodies are each marked with the name of the, deceased, and are easily identified when the boat arrives at Hongkong. that being the port where all bodies are sent. The headquarter officials superintend the landing of the coffins, identify each one, and forward them to the relatives of the deceased in whatever part of China they may live.

The loss of the Ventnor was mentioned, and the interviewer inquired what would be the effect of the circumstance that the bodies were permanently expatriated from China. Mr. Sew Hoy replied that in such a case a silver plate, bearing the name of the deceased, is either buried in China or kept in the house of the relatives, whichever the latter prefer. That plate tikes the place of the body in representing the spirit of the deceased, and wherever the plate is, there also is the spirit. No further subscriptions had been collected cince the 1902 shipment, but the society, out of the funds in hand, contribute £9 towards the cost of sending home a deceased member. The remainder of the cost, Mine £30. was made up by the relatives. Should the work of collecting further subscriptions be dropped, either the relatives would have to send home, the bodies or the headquarters in China would have to defray the cost. flip New Zealand society, Mr. Sew Hoy added, owns some valuable property in China, and the revenue from that would probably be sufficient to continue the £9 subsidy.