38 WORLDLY,OTHER-WORLDLY RESIDENCES WORLDLY,OTHER-WORLDLY RESIDENCES 39 addition the inside of the walls between the outermost and the Town craftsmen show a good sense of proportion.Especially fine middle portals to the family homes are more fully decorated.On are the engraving and polishing of windows,house doors,and the middle of the wall directly opposite the middle gateway are eaves.West Town windows deserve a special treatise to them usually painted four large characters in black,Ts selves.I have not discovered two windows which are of the same bsien,1 while on each of the other two walls are painted large design.The craftsmen have cleverly worked out all kinds of pat- landscapes representing certain peaks of Ts'ang Shan,the moun- terns within the framework of a window-bars,circles,squares, tain west of West Town,r"modern"buildings similar to those parallelograms,andamultitud of others.The doors are engraved frequently seen in Shanghai and Hongkong during the nine- with birds,flowers,and vases,in addition to the simpler patterns teenth century,or modern means of transportation- -the train, of bars and squares.The tips of the tile-supporters at the outer the steamer,and the aeroplane.On one of the walls of the three margins of the eaves are often embellished with the same fastidi- houses illustrated I saw four kinds of conveyance represented in ous care. one picture:a"modern"five-story building was bordered at the All this work is time-consuming and costly.Usually a family left by the open sea,on which was a steamer.In the sky were two cannot afford the best work on its house at first.Like the con- aeroplanes,and in the foreground was a speeding train.In front structionof the house itsef,the engraving and polishing is done of the house was a man driving a horse cart.The steamer was by slow stages.Thus,the Ch house,as shown in one of the dia- about to run aground on the sandy beach;the two aeroplanes grams,still lacks a wing,while the Y house has so far only had were about to crash into each other;while the driver of the cart did not yet seem aware of an imminent collision with the train. windows and doors facing courtyard varnished.One house has an uncompleted garden;one is awaiting the addition of a The picture,such as it was,represented painstaking local crafts- courtyard;another needs a third row of rooms.West Town manship-for every line in the picture was carefully drawn. houses are in various stages of completion at any given period of In addition to the four walls of a compound there is always time,and work is always in process.With few exceptions the pro- another short wall,called a"shadow wall."This is a separate seg- cedure is always according to the same pattern.Like some middle- ment of wall,about as high as the others,but standing alone class English parents who defer their children's education for opposite the main portal to the family home.Sometimes a family some years pending the time when they will be able to send them has two or three such walls,each standing opposite one of the tosome public school,West Town families prefer to wait for the several portals.On such a wall are also usually four large black day when they can afford more skillful men and better materials characters,being either merely a legend,as is the one mentioned for their worldly residences. above,or an indication that the family is descended from schol- arly ancestors (shu bsiang sbib mei).Such a"shadow wall"makes The incongruity of paintings having European cultural ele- ments on a traditional wall without other signs of Europeaniza- the enclosure of the family home complete;it "shadows"the tion shows clearly that such European predilections are merely openings caused by the portals.The family.home is something attempts to enhance the owner's prestige in the traditional way, that must not be exposed in any direction. not to change their traditional scheme.This is why the construc- Where western influences have not marred their work,West tion of every new house follows closely in detail all the features of the houses built generations ago,complete with plaques and shadow walls.This is also why the wealthiest family in the com-
40 WORLDLY,OTHER-WORLDLY RESIDENCES WORLDLY,OTHER-WORLDLY RESIDENCES 4I munity,although they did build a huge modern house near the celebrates the occasion by entertaining a lot of relatives and lake,decorated and furnished in the European fashion and look- friends and by inviting a number of priests to read the scriptures ing like the science hall of some Western university,built also an for several days and nights.The priests,by reading the scriptures extra-large family home in the town proper according to the and by the ritual distribution of paper money and clothes and traditional style. porridge,aim to propitiate the superior gods and send away all Within this conformity to tradition the houses give evidence jealous and unsatisfied spirits which may be maliciously disposed of a high degree of competition for superiority.Worldly resi- toward the house and its owner.Otherwise these jealous spirits dences are not so much places to house the individual members might cause the house to catch fire,to collapse,or to be disturbed in comfort and ease as they are signs of unity and social prestige by strange mysterious noises which will make it uninhabitable. for the family group as a whole-the dead,the living,and There are good grounds for jealousy among men too.The the generations to come.Through unity the prestige attained poorer people have to live in structures way below the ideal stand- by any individual member of the household and lineage be- ard.The houses of the poor are usually one-story affairs,with comes the prestige of the group as a whole.For this reason the thatched roofs,but no courtyard.The entire house may consist names of the most prominent ancestors are the most ostenta- of only one wing,considerably smaller than any one side of the tiously displayed.It is in the light of this principle that the fol- bigger family homes.Some of these houses are found in West lowing custom may be explained.On the last night of the lunar Town proper,but they are more numerous in the outlying vil- year,the main portal to every family home is ritually sealed.On lages.The little house ofa poor family illustrated here was found the following morning the same portal is ritually opened.The in Sha Ts'un,a village southwest of West Town.The B rooms are ritual sealing is done in the name of the dead ancestor who held bedrooms,but one of them contains the kitchen as well.A is a the highest official rank or attained the highest imperial honor smaller room,where the family shrine is located.D is a paved ever held or attained by any member of the family.The ritual space (or terrace)for leisure,the entertainment of guests,and opening is done by the living member of the family who holds, some work such as sewing,knitting,and the preparation of food has held,the highest honor or official rank attained and held by Space Cis directly above D.It is used for storage and is supported any living member of the family.Each of these names is written by boards projecting above the entrance to A.The goods stored on a piece of red paper,and the two pieces are posted crisscross are protected from falling by wooden bars. over the crack between the double doors of the gate.When the The construction of such a house is usually crude.The walls are gates are opened the next morning these paper hangings are not even white washed,to say nothing of being decorated with broken in two. pictures.There are no plaques.There are no spare rooms.In every Any struggle for superiority implies that some families or indi- respect they bear witness to the harshness of life. viduals will be left behind.For this reason the families which It must be pointed out that between the houses of the compara- have achieved superiority must guard against malicious jealousy tively poor and those of the comparatively rich there is no definite A newly built family home is,therefore,an object of envy,not demarcation.Gradual gradations lead from one to the other.But only on the part of the living,but also of ghosts.Approximately at any given point of time the contrast between the extremes is three years after the completion of a new house the owner usually obvious. L
WORLDLY,OTHER-WORLDLY RESIDENCES 43 GRAVEYARDS There are three places of residence for members of the family who have passed away-the graveyard (or graveyards),the fam- ily shrine,and the clan temple.The graveyard is to house the bodies of dead members of the family;the other two,their spirits. Naturally,only the richer families can afford to spend much on their graveyards,but a "good"graveyard is the concern of every family,rich or poor.The rich view their graveyards with pride;the poor look upon those of the rich withenvy.Every fam- ily which has any means has a graveyard of its own.A proper graveyard is just as essential to the family as a proper house.A family which has to entombits dead in a public graveyard is an object of pity. A very wealthy family may own a graveyard which coversa large area.One of the graveyards of the C family,a family dis- tinguished by the fact that one of its ancestors was a cabinet min- ister in the government at Peking during the early years of the Chinese Republic,lies on the lakeside slope of a mountain between two high points and covers about 35 acres.The slope is terraced, and the oldest traceable ancestors are entombed on the highest terrace.More recent ones are arranged more or less in order on the different terraces.Graveyards are not as a rule surrounded by walls,but each has an enrance arh,with inscriptions identifying the family.Several such arches stand on different levels in this C family graveyard.This indicates that at various times the graveyard had been extended as need arose.The remote ancestors marked only the uppermost part of the slope as their graveyard. As years went by,lower parts had gradually been added.Today A Center room (shrine) there are several irregular groups of tombs beyond the lowest B Bedroom arch. Floor Pian c Storage Spece In principle,entombment should follow a certain order with Dea映d respect to generation,age,and sex.Seniority in generation and age entails entombment on the upper terraces;if on the sameter THE HOUSE OF A POOR FAMILY race,a senior should be entombed at the left of a junior.Aman
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46 WORLDLY AND OTHER-WORLDLY RESIDENCES WORLDLY,OTHER-WORLDLY RESIDENCES 47 and his wife should be entombed side by side,the man at the left The kinship terms are the literary terms used by Ego,the in- of the woman.The left-hand side is regarded as the side of higher formant.Here tombs of grandfather and grandmother are sepa- honor.In practice these principles are rarely observed.In most rated by tombs of a higher generation,and the tomb of the great- graveyards not only are tombs miscellaneously arranged but as grandmother is placed at the left instead of the right of that great husbands and wives are often placed at a distance from each other. grandfather. Sometimes they even lie in two different graveyards.An analysis In the graveyard of a Y family the most prominent member of the diagrams showing the arrangement of two graveyards of and his wife are honored with a special temple. a Y clan,will make the situation clear.This clan is wealthy and There seem to be several factors which bear on this disregard of possesses a very elegantly written copy of a genealogical record the basic principles of the social categories,such as generation, of sixteen generations.There is no reason to suppose that the clan age,and sex.The first one is limitation of space.The cost of land has fallen below the traditionally required standard. in general has restricted the size of many family graveyards,so Obviously,in both graveyards the generation principle is al- that most families own graveyards which contain not more than most entirely ignored.Persons of the most remote generations one or two terraces each.Even when the graveyard is larger,the are entombed on ground lower than that used for more recent generations.In some cases they are entombed on the same terrace. accumulation of tombs throughout the generations soon makes it In the older of these two graveyards,the tombs of first-generation .Thisis,perhaps,why the relative positions of tombs.An even more important factor ancestors,which should have been located in the very highest positionre relegated to terace far below.Also,oer brothers is that members of the clan who have attained high honors de serve special consideration and at the same time bring glory and are often-entombed at the right instead of at the left of their honor to the graveyard in which they are laid.In the graveyard younger brothers.Some husbands and wives are entombed side by represented by the diagrams this may be clearly seen.In order side;others are far apart.Tombs of outstanding male members to give the older graveyard the benefit of the honors,the descend- of the clan are given prominent places in the family graveyards, ants evidently found it necessary to entomb the wives of the two whereas their wives are sometimes relegated to some other grave- yards.2 most prominent members of the family in that graveyard,rather than with their husbands.This predilection can be seen in almost Such violations of the basic principles in the arrangement of every graveyard.Individual achievements have become the all- tombs is very common.In the smaller graveyard of another fam- important factor and may supersede all other principles of rank ily (Ch)are found on one terrace the following tombs: in the arrangement of tombs. (9) (8) (7)(6) (5) (4) (3) (2)() Another closely-related factor is the practice of individual T'ang Great Great Grand-T'ang T'ang Grand-T'ang T'ang competition.Not only whole graveyards but also individual grand-grand-grand-father great-great mother third third mother mother father grand-s and- mother father grand. tombs are arranged according to geomancy.Geomancy,or the art of"wind and water,"may be applied to the location of a house, a graveyard,a tomb,a city wall,or to any place inhabited by living or dead human beings.In connection with the grave- yard,they are based on the idea that the prosperity of the de- best and most cemtral places in the newer graveyard. scendants depends upon the places where their ancestors rest in