Ports of the world - Canton/The City of Death

by the United States Bureau of Naval Personnel

THE CITY OF DEATH

OMBINING temple, cemetery, and morgue, the "City of Death." or "The City of the Dead," as it is variously known in Canton, is one of the strangest of the many strange places in this amazing capital of the province of Kwangtung, China.

There are scores and sometimes hundreds of dead bodies in coffins placed in stalls arranged along narrow aisles, which, in turn, are flanked by altars; banners inscribed with Chinese diameters; paper creations of many sizes and shapes, coated with gilt; porcelain jars, and masses of flowers whose heavy odor makes the air seem sickish sweet.

Some of the bodies have been in the "City of Death" for weeks, some for months, and some even for years. The sojourn of the dead in this gruesome place is determined, evidently, of the wealth of the respective relatives or friends who are called upon by priests and sorcerers to pay for the privilege of keeping the bodies in the stalls of the "City of Death."

The time for removal of the bodies from the "City of Death" is decided upon by the priests after solemn consultations. The time arrives, usually, when either the purse or the patience of the dead person's family is exhausted. One traveler relates that he viewed a coffin containing a mandarin's body which had been placed in one of the stalls immediately after death seven years before and had since remained there in charge of the Chinese priests.

There is no more morbid, unnatural place in the world than the "City of Death" in Canton, unless it be the catacombs under Paris, where the bodies of six millions of people are buried; or the ghoulish room in the European church, so graphically described by Mark Twain, where the walls are decorated with skulls and delicate frescoes made from human finger bones and where niches in the walls are occupied by mummified bodies of men long dead.

Probably the bodies of the dead would not remain in this combination of temple, morgue, and cemetery in Canton for so long, if some arrangements were made whereby the native priests and sorcerers could be kept from both collecting the rent and deciding the "favorable" time for regular burial. But so long as the keepers of the "City of Death" are allowed to receive the tainted "rent money" just so long will the bodies of the dead—with wealthy relatives—continue to repose undisturbed in their stalls along the narrow aisles—flanked by altars, banners, porcelain jars, and flowers—of the "City of Death."

The people of Canton are persuaded to place their dead in the "City of Death" because they believe in doing so they will please the spirits which might otherwise bring harm to the loved one who has joined the "silent multitude." And this brings us naturally to the religions of the country.

China is a land of five religions—Confucianism. Taoism. Buddhism. Mohammedanism, and also Christianity, which gained a foothold in the country over a thousand years ago and has recently made rapid progress because of the devoted, untiring labors of the missionaries of all Christian churches in China.

 

Ancient Stone Guardian of Five-Story Pagoda

 

Confucianism. Taoism, and Buddhism, in order named, are far ahead of the others in China, however, mainly because their philosophies—at the present time—appeal most strongly to the Chinese nature, and also because they have a start of centuries over other religions in China.

 

Cantonese Girls on Bund

 

With Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism there is a sharply defined belief in good and evil spirits, and those who embrace the three religions believe it is necessary—for their own good—to propitiate both good and evil spirits for the purpose of keeping a balance between them.

Ancestor worship, which involves the question of appeasing both good and evil spirits, is regarded as being the mainspring of China's religious life, while Confucianism serves as a moral code, and Buddhism and Taoism furnish the "rituals or outward forms of observance."

An interesting base of Buddhism is the standards its devotees must uphold "if they are to live happily in another life." The five great commandments of Buddhism prohibit "killing, stealing, adultery, lying, and drunkenness." Buddhists must also maintain the "right view, right judgment, right language, right purpose, right profession, right application, right memory, and right meditation." Other virtues especially commended by the Buddhist religion are "almsgiving, purity, patience, courage, charity, contemplation, and knowledge."

The progress of Christianity in China was slow for many centuries, but the

 

West on Central Promenade, Place of Foreign Legations		Shappat Po Street, Where European Shops Are Found, Canton

 

patience and perseverance of the missionaries have had their effect, and the well-known "heathen Chinee" is not such a heathen as in former years.

Christianity was introduced into China in the sixth century. The Jesuit fathers, Ruggiaro and Ricci, went to Asia in 1579 and 1581. A Protestant mission, led by Robert Morrison, landed at Canton September, 1807. According to the latest estimates the Roman Catholic Church has 1,363,697 converts, 59 bishops, 1,426

 

Chinese Mother and Child

 

foreign and 701 native priests in China, while the Protestants have about 325,000 converts in China.

One of the principal missions in Canton is the Canton Christian College, maintained by the American Union Missions. The Roman Catholic Cathedral stands in Canton proper, and the Anglican chapel on the island of Shameen. Seminaries and schools are supported in Canton by the American Baptist and Presbyterian Churches. The Y. M. C. A. building on the Bund—the main thoroughfare, running along the water front—was erected as a memorial to Robert Morrison. the first Protestant missionary in Canton.