Note 43 — II.—BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH.

Most who have read anything about China are aware of the great importance attached to selecting a lucky place for a grave. Dr. Williams, in writing on this subject, laments the way in which the Chinese are befooled by the doctrines of Fung-shuey in this regard; but we are not so certain that Englishmen, at best, can afford to look down upon China from any very high elevation. A spot free from water and white ants, and commanding a good view, while at the same time under favorable geomantic influences, is what the Chinese aim at. Our people of the Border counties, more enlightened, (?) prefer the South side of a churchyard as the “holiest ground,” reserving the North for suicides and stillborn infants. A rare tract, published in 1589, sneers at a deceased man because he would not be laid East and West “for he ever went against the hair.” The South wind, says the same authority, ever brings corruption with it.43 It is quite certain that traces of a very widespread superstition as to the depth, direction and general lucky aspect of graves still exists in England, though now-a-days surviving only in remote districts.