for the tree branches are almost interlaced, and in summer-time nearly every grave has its own canopy of foliage; moreover, instead of the omega or horse-shoe tombs of the south we find only little hillocks and unpretentious gravestones. A Chinese grave in Weihaiwei is not indeed very different in appearance--looked at from afar--from a grave in Europe; though instead of the long mound in front of an inscribed stone we find in Weihaiwei a circular or sometimes oval-shaped mound _behind_ the stone, which is an upright whitish block with very little ornamentation. The inscription usually contains nothing more (in modern times) than names and dates and position in the family. The names of husband and wife are inscribed on the same stone--for the two are always buried in the same grave, the wife's coffin being placed on the right of the husband's.[190] On the stone are frequently carved the names of the surviving members of the family by whom it has been erected. These are always persons in the direct line of descent; or, if the deceased left no heirs of his body, his adopted son. The translation of a typical inscription will be found on the next page. It is not customary to erect a tombstone soon after a burial; the mound is sufficient to indicate to the family the exact position of the grave, and all necessary dates and names are carefully entered on the pedigree-scroll or inscribed on the ancestral tablets. In front of each grave will often be seen a small stone altar or pedestal or a stone incense-jar. Here are offered up the ancestral sacrifices at the festivals of Ch'ing-Ming and the first of the tenth moon.[191] At one extremity of the graveyard will often be found a large upright stone slab on which is engraved in deep bold characters the name of the family to which all the tombs belong. The inscription is as simple as possible, usually consisting of four Chinese characters. _Chou Shih Tsu Ying_[192]--to take an example--may be rendered THE ANCESTRAL GRAVEYARD OF THE CHOU FAMILY [Illustration: THE IMPERIAL CH'ING DYNASTY THE TOMB OF A MEMBER OF THE YAO FAMILY, AN ELDEST SON, WHOSE PERSONAL NAME WAS SHIH-JUN AND OF HIS WIFE A DAUGHTER OF THE WANG FAMILY This stone is erected on the twelfth day of the second month of the first year of Hsüan T'ung (March 3, 1909) by Yao Fêng-lai, a son, Yao Yüeh-i, a grandson, and Yao Wan-nien, a great-grandson ] [Illustration: THE ANCESTRAL GRAVEYARD OF THE CHOU FAMILY.]