al but the family, and the father of the
family is supposed to be responsible for the qualities and views of
all his kin. He is rewarded for their virtues, punished for their
faults; the deserts of a son ennoble the father and all his ancestors,
and conversely his crimes disgrace them.

An outcome of this principle is the extraordinary importance in China
of funeral rites, especially in the case of the father. The eldest
son, now head of the family, or, failing him, his first-born or
adopted son, fixes one of the three souls of the dead in the tablet
commemorating his virtues, burns incense to his shade, and supplies
him with paper money and paper representations of everything (clothes,
servants, horses) that he may require in his journey to the other
world. Mourning lasts for three years, during which the mourners wear
white garments and abstain from meat, wine and public gatherings.
Custom, too, dictates that wherever the Chinaman may die he must be
brought back for burial to the place of his birth; one of the objects
of the friendly societies is to provide funds to charter ships to
transport home the bodies of those who have died abroad. Annually, in
May, the white-clad people stream to the graves and mortuary temples
with flowers, fruit and other offerings for the dead. Christian
missionaries have found in this ancestor worship the most serious
obstacle to the spread of a religion which teaches that the convert
must, if need be, despise his father and his mother and follow Christ.

The same elaborate ceremonialism that characterizes the Chinese
funeral customs is found also in their marriage rites and the rules of
their social intercourse generally. Confucius is reported to have said
that "all virtues have their source in etiquette," and the due
observance of the "ceremonial" (_li_) in the fulfilling of social
duties is that which, in Chinese opinion, distinguishes civilized from
barbarous peoples. The Board of Rites, one of the departments of the
central government, exists for the purpose of giving decisions in
matters of etiquette and ceremony. As to marriage, the rule that the
individual counts for nothing obtains here in its fullest
significance. The breeding of sons to carry on the ancestral cult is a
matter of prime importance, and the marriage of a young man is
arranged at the earliest possible age. The bride and bridegroom have
little v