China -- Social life and customs; National characteristics, Chinese
On one occasion there was a civil war being carried on between two
powerful clans. Scores on each side armed with guns and pitchforks, and
any deadly weapon that could be got hold of, made fierce forays against
each other, and inflamed with passion risked their lives in their mad
desire to kill their enemies. In one of the houses that lay on the
borderland of the fight a man had recently died, and fearful lest the
attacking party should set fire to the building and so burn the coffin
with the corpse inside, a number of the relatives made a rush with it from
the house, and in a cleft of the rock that went by the name of the
"Crow's Beak," they placed the coffin in the narrow opening. It was so
called because in the distance it exactly resembled the mouth of a crow as
it looks when it is perched motionless on a branch. Hastily thrusting it
into the very mouth of the bird, they flew down the narrow path that led
to the village, and taking up their arms they again joined in the battle
that was going on.
After hostilities had ceased and peace was proclaimed between the two
parties, a geomancer was called to find a lucky spot in which they might
bury the man who for the time being had been thrust with so little
ceremony into the "Crow's Beak." He belonged to a well-to-do family, and
they could afford to engage the services of such a man. On their way to a
specified locality where a suitable place was likely to be obtained they
passed along the foot of the hill which contained the "Crow's Beak."
Casting his eyes up towards it, this gentleman caught sight of the coffin,
and in the greatest excitement exclaimed, "There is no need of our
proceeding any further, for you have already laid the dead in the finest
Fung-Shuy that could be obtained in all this district. The coffin is in
the very place of power, and if you value the comfort of your deceased
relative and the honour and prosperity of your family you will not remove
it from the place it now occupies."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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