The hall of ancestors is found in the house of almost every member of the family, but always in that of the eldest son. In rich families it is a separate building; in others a room set apart for the purpose, and in many a mere shelf or shrine. The tablet consists of a board called shin chu, i. e. house of the spirit, about twelve inches long and three wide, placed upright in a block, and having the name, quality, and date of birth and death, carved in the wood. A receptacle is often cut in the back, containing pieces of paper bearing the names of the higher ancestors, or other members of the family. Incense and papers are daily burned before them, accompanied by a bow or act of homage, forming in fact a sort of family prayer. The tablets are ranged in chronological order, those of the same generation being placed

CHARACTER OF THE ANCESTRAL WORSHIP.

269 in a line. When the hall is large, and the family rich, no pains are spared to adorn it with banners, and insignia of wealth and rank, and on festival days it serves as a convenient place for friends to meet, or indeed for any extraordinary family occasion. A person residing near Macao spent about $1500 in the erection of a hall, and on the dedication day, the female members of his family assembled with his sons and descendants, to assist in the ceremonies. The portraits of the deceased are also suspended in the hall, but effigies or images are not now made.

In the first part of April, during the term called tsing-ming, a general worship of ancestors, called pai shan, or "worshipping at the hills," is observed. The whole population, men, women, and children, repair to their family tombs, carrying a tray containing the sacrifice, and libations for offering, and the candles, paper, and incense, for burning, and there go through a variety of ceremonies and prayers. The grave is also carefully repaired and swept, and at the close of the service, three pieces of turf are placed at the back and front of the grave, to retain long strips of red and white paper; this indicates that the accustomed rites have been performed, and these fugitive testimonials remain fluttering in the wind, long enough to announce it to all the friends as well as enemies of the family; for when a grave has been neglected three years, it is sometimes dug over, and the land resold. "Such are the harmless, if not meritorious forms of respect for the dead," says Davis, "which the Jesuits wisely tolerated in their converts, knowing the consequences of outraging their most cherished prejudices; but the crowds of ignorant monks, who flocked to the breach which those scientific and able men had opened, jealous, perhaps, of their success, brought this as a charge against them, until the point became one of serious controversy, and reference to the pope. His holiness espoused the bigoted and unwiser part, which led to the expulsion of the monks of all varieties." And elsewhere, he says, the worship paid to ancestors is "not exactly idolatrous, for they sacrifice to the invisible spirit, and not to any representation of it in the figure of an idol." This distinction is much the same as that alleged by the Greek church, which disallows images, but permits gold and silver pictures, having the face and hands only painted; for Sir John Davis, himself being a Protestant, probably admits, that worship paid to any other object besides the true

God is idolatry; and that the Chinese do worship their ancestors, and implore their assistance, is evident from the prayer offered at the tombs, a translation of one of which is here introduced.

"Taukwang, 12th year, 3d moon, 1st day. I, Lin Kwang, the second son of the third generation, presume to come before the grave of my ancestor, Lin Kung. Revolving years have brought again the season of spring. Cherishing sentiments of veneration, I look up and sweep your tomb. Prostrate I pray that you will come and be present; and that you will grant to your posterity that they may be prosperous and illustrious; at this season of genial showers and gentle breezes, I desire to recompense the root of my existence, and exert myself sincerely. Always grant your safe protection. My trust is in your divine spirit. Reverently, I present the five-fold sacrifice of a pig, a fowl, a duck, a goose, and a fish; also, an offering of five plates of fruit, with libations of spirituous liquors, earnestly entreating that you will come and view them. With the most attentive respect, this annunciation is presented on high."

It is not easy to perceive, perhaps, why the pope and the Dominicans were so much opposed to the worship of ancestral penates among the Chinese, when they performed much the same services themselves before the images of Mary, Joseph, Cecilia, Ignatius, and hundreds of other deified mortals; but it is somewhat surprising that a Protestant should describe this worship as consisting of "harmless, if not meritorious forms of respect for the dead." Mr. Fortune, too, thinks "a considerable portion of this worship springs from a higher and purer source than a mere matter of form, and that when the Chinese periodically visit the tombs of their fathers, to worship and pay respect to their memory, they indulge in the pleasing reflection, that when they themselves are no more their graves will not be neglected or forgotten." This feeling no doubt actuates them, but it is mingled with idolatry; and there can be no dispute, one would think, about its idolatrous character; and it is an idolatry, too, which is likely to form one of the greatest obstacles to the spread of the gospel. The few Chinese who have embraced the doctrines of the New Testament, and who may be supposed qualified to judge of their own acts and feelings, regard the rites as superstitious and sinful. It is a form of worship, indeed, which presents fewer revolting features than most systems of false religion, merely consisting of pouring out libations, and burning paper and candles

at the grave, and then a family meeting at a social feast, with a few simple prostrations and petitions. No bacchanalian companies of men and women run riot over the hills, as in the Eleusinian mysteries, nor are obscene rites practised in the house; all is pleasant, decorous, and harmonious, the junior members of the family coming from a distance, sometimes two or three hundred miles, to observe it, and the family meeting on this occasion is looked forward to by all with much the same feelings that Christmas is in Old England, or Thanksgiving in New England. Brothers and sisters, cousins and friends, join in the worship and the feast, and it is this intimate and pleasant reunion of dear ones, perhaps the most favorable to the cementing of family affection to be found in heathen society, which constitutes its power, and will present such an obstacle to the reception of the gospel, and removal of the "two divinities" from the house.

The funeral ceremonies here described are performed by children for their parents, especially for the father; but there are few or no ceremonies and little expense, for infants, unmarried children, concubines, or slaves. These are coffined and buried without parade in the family sepulchre; the poor sometimes tie them up in mats and boards, and lay them in the fields, to shock the eyes and noses of all who pass. The municipal authorities of Canton issued orders to the people in 1832, to bring such bodies as had no place of burial to the potter's field, where they would be interred at public expense; and societies exist in all the large cities, whose object is to bury poor people. In some parts the body is wrapped in cloth or coffined, and laid in graveyards on the surface of the ground; but a more common disposition of the poor dead is to erect buildings for receiving the coffins, where they remain many years. Few acts, during the late war, irritated the people about Canton against the English more than forcing open the coffins found in these mausolea, and mutilating the corpses. One building near the city walls contained hundreds of coffins, from which, when opened, a pungent aromatic smell was perceptible, and the features presented a dried appearance. One of the Romish missionaries tells a story of his guide, when he was conducting him over the hills in Hupeh, ordering him to conceal his blue eyes, by putting on green spectacles, as they were approaching some houses, and describes his surprise at finding them all filled with coffins arranged in an orderly man

ner. Graves are seldom inclosed by a fence, cattle pasture among them, and paths lead over and through them.

Epitaphs are very simple, merely stating what dynasty reigns, where the deceased was born, what generation of the family he belonged to, and his ancestral name. Dr. Medhurst describes some square, dome-covered tombs in Shantung like topes, destitute of inscription, but very solidly built. He also noticed one stone in that province, bearing an epitaph to the memory of a faithful wife by a sorrowing husband. Laudatory expressions are very rare on Chinese tombstones, nor are quotations from the classics, or stanzas of poetry, introduced to convey a sentiment. The corpses of officers who die at their stations are carried to their paternal tombs, sometimes at the public expense, and the emperor, in some instances, orders all the funeral rites of distinguished statesmen to be defrayed out of the treasury; this was done during the late war, in the cases of commissioner Yukien, and General Hailing, who burned himself at Chinkiang fu.

Besides these funeral rites and religious ceremonies to their departed ancestors, the Chinese have an almost infinite variety of superstitious practices, most of which are of a deprecatory rather than intercessory character, growing out of their belief in demons and genii, who trouble or help people. It may be said that most of the religious acts of the Chinese, especially those performed in temples, are intended to avert misfortune rather than supplicate blessings. In order to ward off malignant influences, amulets are worn and charms hung up, by persons of all ranks. Among the latter are money-swords, made of coins of different monarchs strung together in the form of a dagger; and leaves of the sweet-flag (Acorus) and Artemisia tied in a bundle, or a sprig of peach-blossoms; the first is placed near beds, the latter over the lintel, to drive away demons. A man also collects a cash or two from each of his friends, and gets a lock made, which he hangs to his son's neck in order to lock him to life, and make the subscribers surety for his safety; adult females also wear a neck lock for the same purpose. Charms are common. One bears the inscription, "May you get the three manys and the nine likes ;" another, "To obtain long eye-browed longevity." The three manys are, many years of happiness and life, and many sons. Old brass mirrors to cure mad people, are hung up by the rich in their halls, and figures or representations of the