Post by NZBC on Jun 26, 2011 18:32:43 GMT 12
THE CHINESE IN OTAGO.
Deportation of Corpses.
£ dditional particulars are to baud ot the "resurrcction"movementamongte Chinese in Otago, which shows that the inhabitants ot the province of Pon-Yu in Ch'na are the active instigators of the present movement. An accurate record has b.en kept of the date of death and piece of burial of Celestials belonging to each separate province of China, and their friends as a rule know exactly where to put their hand upon such of the remains as may have resisted the touch of time. Many ot the original inhabitants of Pon-Yu, however, have wandered far afield, and these it has been necessary to track to the place of their decease, and permission for disinterment has been obtained from tho local authorities. Thus, from almost tbe length and breadth of the colony the defunct Pan- Yuites have been and are still being slowly gathered iv at the cost of much expense and much labour, too unsavoury to dwell upon. From Lawrence, Waikaia, and a number of country districts we hear that tbe Chinese resurrectionists are diligently at work. Ut Is a general custom among the people to place certain objects in the coffins with their deceased friends, and as each fresh assortment of human remains is brought to light, .an eager and almost affectionate process of identification takes place. The bodies are then placed In fresh' coffins or boxes (as circumstances may re. quire), and forwarded to a place which has been prepared tor their reception pending shipment to China. As may naturally be expectcd,some difficulty has attended the prosecution of these operations, and it is to be feared that in some cases mistakes may even have occurred. The possibility of such a contretemps is especially suggested by the case of one Ah Chook, whose remains, if report speaks truly, were utilised forcertain anatomical purposes at the University hero. The fact, cf tho University beitig mentioned as his last resting-place, however, fortunately suggested no ideas but tbose of ordinary burial to the minds of the resurrectionists, and to satisfy their natural anxiety the following rather amusing letter was addieased to the authorities by a wellknown solicitor whose services were retained in the matter : —
_ ho almond eyed bearer of this epistle has undertaken to achieve the translation of sundry defunct kinsman to the happy land of Pon-Yu, province of Canton. Some slumbered in the Northern and some in the Southern Cemetery, but they have all been "raised," and now lie (strongly bound in toak) awaiting their departure per sailing ship. But one of the band is missing, and h's brethren cannot leave him to languish alone iv the land of the barbarian. It is fondly fancied that he is "bellied" nt the University, but I more than snspect tbat his mortal remains have been sacrificed ou the altar of science. Ho was known in the days of his flesh as Ah -book, and labouicd in his vocation as a peripatetic vendor of vegetables, humble but happy, with a pronounced taste for opium aud pntiy larceny. But de mortuis, &c. He is now a c_pper-coloured shade, haunting the purlieus of the University and the adjacent sewer in a fruitless search for the disjecta, or rather tbe dissecta membra, of his whilom self. Pray hand over to boaror as much of the la'.o ivlr Chook as is stilt ou the premises, ana for mercy's Bake malu.aiu the pious iiciioa of tho "DeHial" at the University,
P.S.—I miy add that the bones aro es« scntiaK and funher, that the avm-age Chimman is not an anatomist. Verb sap.
Whether or no Iho seekers in this instance have been provided with any bones answering to their ideas of their deceased frieod we are not in n position to say, but the abovo affords an exmnple of some of the difficulties with which the indefatigable Celestials have to contend. From the Dunedin Cemeteries alone some 37 bodies li,vo been exhumed, and thi_ number is largely increased by the Dumetous arrivals from the country, and will yet receive considerable further additions, Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 3902, 19 February 1883, Page 4
Deportation of Corpses.
£ dditional particulars are to baud ot the "resurrcction"movementamongte Chinese in Otago, which shows that the inhabitants ot the province of Pon-Yu in Ch'na are the active instigators of the present movement. An accurate record has b.en kept of the date of death and piece of burial of Celestials belonging to each separate province of China, and their friends as a rule know exactly where to put their hand upon such of the remains as may have resisted the touch of time. Many ot the original inhabitants of Pon-Yu, however, have wandered far afield, and these it has been necessary to track to the place of their decease, and permission for disinterment has been obtained from tho local authorities. Thus, from almost tbe length and breadth of the colony the defunct Pan- Yuites have been and are still being slowly gathered iv at the cost of much expense and much labour, too unsavoury to dwell upon. From Lawrence, Waikaia, and a number of country districts we hear that tbe Chinese resurrectionists are diligently at work. Ut Is a general custom among the people to place certain objects in the coffins with their deceased friends, and as each fresh assortment of human remains is brought to light, .an eager and almost affectionate process of identification takes place. The bodies are then placed In fresh' coffins or boxes (as circumstances may re. quire), and forwarded to a place which has been prepared tor their reception pending shipment to China. As may naturally be expectcd,some difficulty has attended the prosecution of these operations, and it is to be feared that in some cases mistakes may even have occurred. The possibility of such a contretemps is especially suggested by the case of one Ah Chook, whose remains, if report speaks truly, were utilised forcertain anatomical purposes at the University hero. The fact, cf tho University beitig mentioned as his last resting-place, however, fortunately suggested no ideas but tbose of ordinary burial to the minds of the resurrectionists, and to satisfy their natural anxiety the following rather amusing letter was addieased to the authorities by a wellknown solicitor whose services were retained in the matter : —
_ ho almond eyed bearer of this epistle has undertaken to achieve the translation of sundry defunct kinsman to the happy land of Pon-Yu, province of Canton. Some slumbered in the Northern and some in the Southern Cemetery, but they have all been "raised," and now lie (strongly bound in toak) awaiting their departure per sailing ship. But one of the band is missing, and h's brethren cannot leave him to languish alone iv the land of the barbarian. It is fondly fancied that he is "bellied" nt the University, but I more than snspect tbat his mortal remains have been sacrificed ou the altar of science. Ho was known in the days of his flesh as Ah -book, and labouicd in his vocation as a peripatetic vendor of vegetables, humble but happy, with a pronounced taste for opium aud pntiy larceny. But de mortuis, &c. He is now a c_pper-coloured shade, haunting the purlieus of the University and the adjacent sewer in a fruitless search for the disjecta, or rather tbe dissecta membra, of his whilom self. Pray hand over to boaror as much of the la'.o ivlr Chook as is stilt ou the premises, ana for mercy's Bake malu.aiu the pious iiciioa of tho "DeHial" at the University,
P.S.—I miy add that the bones aro es« scntiaK and funher, that the avm-age Chimman is not an anatomist. Verb sap.
Whether or no Iho seekers in this instance have been provided with any bones answering to their ideas of their deceased frieod we are not in n position to say, but the abovo affords an exmnple of some of the difficulties with which the indefatigable Celestials have to contend. From the Dunedin Cemeteries alone some 37 bodies li,vo been exhumed, and thi_ number is largely increased by the Dumetous arrivals from the country, and will yet receive considerable further additions, Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 3902, 19 February 1883, Page 4