[As an illustration of the cremation of a Buddhist priest, I note the following passage from an article published in the North-China Herald, 20th May, 1887, p. 556, on Kwei Hua Ch’eng, Mongolia:  “Several Lamas are on visiting terms with me and they are very friendly.  There are seven large and eight small Lamaseries, in care of from ten to two hundred Lamas.  The principal Lamas at death are cremated.  A short time ago, a friendly Lama took me to see a cremation.  The furnace was roughly made of mud bricks, with four fire-holes at the base, with an opening in which to place the body.  The whole was about 6 feet high, and about 5 feet in circumference.  Greased fuel was arranged within and covered with glazed foreign calico, on which were written some Tibetan characters.  A tent was erected and mats arranged for the Lamas.  About 11:30 A.M. a scarlet covered bier appeared in sight carried by thirty-two beggars.  A box 2 feet square and 2-1/2 feet high was taken out and placed near the furnace.  The Lamas arrived and attired themselves in gorgeous robes and sat cross-legged.  During the preparations to chant, some butter was being melted in a corner of the tent.  A screen of calico was drawn round the furnace in which the cremator placed the body, and filled up the opening.  Then a dozen Lamas began chanting the burial litany in Tibetan in deep bass voices.  Then the head priest blessed the torches and when the fires were lit he blessed a fan to fan the flames, and lastly some melted butter, which was poured in at the top to make the whole blaze.  This was frequently repeated.  When fairly ablaze, a few pieces of Tibetan grass were thrown in at the top.  After three days the whole cooled, and a priest with one gold and one silver chopstick collects the bones, which are placed in a bag for burial.  If the bones are white it is a sign that his sin is purged, if black that perfection has not been attained.”—­H.C.]

And it is very worthy of note that the Chinese envoy to Chinla (Kamboja) in 1295, an individual who may have personally known Marco Polo, in speaking of the custom prevalent there of exposing the dead, adds:  “There are some, however, who burn their dead. These are all descendants of Chinese immigrants.”

[Professor J.J.M. de Groot remarks that “being of religious origin, cremation is mostly denoted in China by clerical terms, expressive of the metamorphosis the funeral pyre is intended to effect, viz. ’transformation of man’; ‘transformation of the body’; ‘metamorphosis by fire.’  Without the clerical sphere it bears no such high-sounding names, being simply called ‘incineration of corpses.’  A term of illogical composition, and nevertheless very common in the books, is ‘fire burial.’” It appears that during the Sung Dynasty cremation was especially common in the provinces of Shan-si, Cheh-kiang, and Kiang-su.  During the Mongol Dynasty, the instances of cremation which are mentioned in Chinese books are, relatively speaking, numerous.  Professor de Groot says also that “there exists evidence that during the Mongol domination cremation also throve in Fuhkien.” (Religious System of China, vol. iii. pp. 1391, 1409, 1410.) —­H.C.]