ABSTRACT
The loud lamentation at death is often heard on the death of persons not married, and not the head of a family, nor arrived at adult age. The ceremony of “informing the ten kings of hell of the death of the individual” is introductory of all the meritorious ceremonies. Friends and relatives sometimes present to the family on the occasion a pair of hangings made of paper, or silk, or broadcloth, on which are inscribed a couple of popular mottoes or sentences. These are hung up in some conspicuous place in the rooms occupied for public purposes during the period of mourning. The mourning family again provide a feast for invited relatives and friends. The eldest son approaches and kneels down before the corpse. Several Tauist priests are employed to prepare the “bridge-ladder,” and aid in the celebration of the ceremony, at the expense of the son-in-law’ or sons-in-law of the deceased.
