Note 104 — XIV. JUDGE LU.

“Boards of old age” and “Clothes of old age sold here” are common shop-signs in every Chinese city; death and burial being always, if possible, spoken of euphemistically in some such terms as these. A dutiful son provides, when he can afford it, decent coffins for his father and mother. They are generally stored in the house, sometimes in a neighbouring temple; and the old people take pleasure in seeing that their funeral obsequies are properly provided for, though the subject is never raised in conversation. Chinese coffins are beautifully made; and when the body has been in for a day or two, a candle is closely applied to the seams all round to make sure it is air-tight,—any crack, however fine, being easily detected by the flickering of the flame in the escaping gas. Thus bodies may be kept unburied for a long time, until the geomancer has selected an auspicious site for the grave. return to footnote anchor 104 return to footnote 172