CHAPTER V

RITES AND SUPERSTITIONS (_continued_)

Burial rites--Philology--Legends and fables.

The exorcisms of the "Padjao" directed towards expelling disease from the bodies of the Cham are too similar to those of the Moï sorceress to merit description, which would be little more than repetition.

On the other hand, the burial rites of the Kaphir Cham are highly characteristic.

Children who die before the age of puberty, and therefore not initiated into the full rights and mysteries of manhood, are buried in the earth, while adults of both sexes are cremated. The reason for this distinction is not far to seek. The adults are regarded as a class set apart with its own complex of funeral rites and observances. Further, those who die while still of tender years die in innocence and need no such purification from their sins as is implied in the practice of submitting the bodies of their elders to the scourge of fire.

After death the spirits of the little ones are supposed to dwell in the bodies of rats, and their memory is perpetuated from time to time by ceremonies in which the head of the family, clad in a new robe for the occasions, makes offerings, waves his hands in the air to imitate the movements of a bird, performs certain mystical passes, and puts a red flower in a bronze vase.

The burial rites which are still practised by the Kaphir Cham of Phanrang and Phanry serve as excellent comments on the duties of the priest in case of the death of any inhabitant of a village.

The fundamental notion on which all the observances are based is that the soul of the deceased must have a new body in which it may take refuge after the loss of its earthly dwelling-place. All the ceremonies are designed to create this new body. It is universally agreed that rice alone can operate the necessary transformation, and as the rice must be of the finest quality procurable, each family preserves the best stalks from the harvest and lays them up in anticipation of a death.

When the dread moment arrives the selected grains are mixed in a bowl into which a gold ring, symbol of immortality, has been dropped. The priest now glues a few grains together with melted wax to form a soft round ball, which is introduced under the dead man's tongue. A few mystical passes, and the soul leaves its old shell for the new ætherial body thus called into existence. The next and last step is to give the soul its necessary directions. These depend upon the manner of life of the deceased. Virtuous men are sent to the sun, women against whom there is no reproach to the moon. If the credit and debit items of a man's moral account balance out he is dispatched to the planets. The wicked are dispersed among the clouds, as are also the poor and lowly, an inequitable disposition worthy of a theocracy!

The actual ceremony of cremation follows after a period which is determined by the state of the corpse and the financial position of the deceased's family. From the moment of death to the cremation custom exacts that all visitors to the family should be housed and fed at the expense of the relations. These visitors come to keep the deceased company and pretend to entertain him by their wit and conversation. They also cheer up the relations and do their best to keep sorrow at a convenient distance.

The family build a special shed under which the corpse is laid, after having been dressed in eight robes, one over the other. Thus swathed in white linen the body looks exactly like a package with the head, covered with a thin veil, emerging from one end. It is strictly forbidden to offer any nourishment to the deceased before he leaves his own house. The bed on which the corpse is laid is turned towards the south and surmounted by a kind of canopy from which hang birds cut out of paper. It seems that the function of this winged escort is to conduct the soul to its future home. Clumps of hemp and various foods are strewn around the bier and the walls of the shed are hung with martial trophies.

Three times a day the priestess prepares a meal for the deceased. An orchestra plays from morning to night almost without intermission. It is soon plain that this lying-in-state, so far from being a rite of mourning, is more like a festival. The guests consume enormous quantities of food and drink, and only the unfortunate relations are under ban to refrain from meat until after the cremation.

When at length the great day arrives the priests construct a catafalque adorned with paper figures, the mourners line up in procession behind, and all proceed to the appointed place. Every villager dons his white scarf--white being the colour of mourning--brandishes a spear, sword, or flag, and joins in the cortège. The bearers perform the most remarkable evolutions with the body, carrying it now feet first, now head first, or turning it round and round in order to confuse the spirit and prevent it from finding its way back. This essential object is also secured by a priest, known on these occasions as "Pô Damoeun," "Lord of Sorrow," who remains in the house of the deceased, shuts himself in, and calls on every object, animate and inanimate, to prevent the soul from entering and molesting the living.

When the funeral procession is within a hundred yards from the exit from the village a priest takes a spade and marks out the spot destined for the funeral pyre. Wood is brought and piled up and the corpse is stripped of its wrappings and offered its last meal. As soon as the flames break out the clothes of the deceased are thrown into them. Now comes the moment, marked by the passage of the soul to the life beyond, when the living send gifts to their dead relations. Each man writes his list of presents on a slip of paper and then burns it. The list is exhaustive, including such homely and necessary articles as a pipe, spittoon and the inevitable receptacle for betel and lime. Even underclothing and small change are not forgotten. During the progress of the conflagration the spectators joke and chatter together, leaving the serious business of desolation to the hired mourners, who weep aloud and tear their hair. At the conclusion of the ceremony the frontal bone of the deceased is carefully broken in nine pieces, which are collected in a metal box, the "klong," a special kind of urn. Every man provides himself with one of these receptacles in anticipation of his own death, but the usual practice is to conceal it in some place known only to his family, as it is not altogether pleasant to be perpetually reminded of the terror to come.

The fragments of bone are now subjected to a long and tedious process of purification, after which they are buried at the foot of a tree, which is carefully noted, as being only a temporary depository. For the next seven years on each anniversary the family dig up the box, carry it back to their house, and offer sacrifices in its honour. After the seventh year the interment is permanent. A spot is chosen near to the best of the family ricefields, trees are planted round it, and a tombstone is erected.

Sometimes the rites require that for the first interment the "klong" of a man and a woman must be used together. It follows that in small families where many years may elapse between the deaths of its members the first "klong" runs a great risk of exceeding its seven compulsory years of waiting before reaching its final resting-place.

The direction in which the urn is placed varies with the sex of the deceased. The "klong" of a woman points to the west, that of a man to the east.

I have described these rites at some length on account of their intrinsic interest, but it would be illuminating to compare them with similar ceremonies obtaining among other groups.

The Man Quan Trang, or "white-breeched" Man of Tonkin, bury the hair and portions of the nails and bones in a different place from that of the corpse itself. The reason for this is that these fragments are considered the abode of the Material Soul and the Vital Spirits.

The Bouriates of Siberia bury some of the bones of their priests at the foot of a tree.

The Egyptians made a set speech to their dead, in which they gave directions for the guidance of the soul to the distant regions, and enumerated a list of necessary articles to accompany it. The recitation of these articles dispensed with the necessity of furnishing them. The will was thus considered as good as the deed.

Lastly the funeral rites I have described find analogies among the Laotians and the peoples of Cambodia. Here also a death is celebrated as a happy event, as being merely a step to a new existence far more blessed than the life on earth. The face of the corpse is covered with a mask in gold leaf which is moulded to the features, and the process of decomposition is retarded by the introduction of mercury. The catafalque is large or small according to the social position of the deceased. A king, for example, has a regular monument known as the "Mén." A Minister of State or a High Priest is honoured with a rather smaller edifice, while those of humble estate have to be content with a simple pyramid. A large white cloth is hung over the catafalque, of which the opening is guarded by a small figure in the mask of a monkey. This is "Yéac," a subject of Couvera, the God of Riches, whose statue adorns every place where a mystical transformation is to be accomplished. The quaint figure holds in its hand a reel of white cotton, of which one end is secured to the coffin and which will guide the soul after it has left the body. The torch which fires the funeral pyre is lit at a brasier which contains the sacred embers which must never be extinguished. When cremation is complete the bones are collected into a box made of precious metal, which is buried under a tower, the height of which varies with the wealth of the deceased.

All these rites, however much they vary among themselves in detail, seem to be based on the same popular ideas of the significance of death.

* * * * *

Like ourselves, the Cham write from left to right. Their alphabet varies in different regions. In Cambodia it comprises four vowels, two diphthongs, and twenty-nine consonants. In Annam there are five short vowels, five long vowels, and four diphthongs. Both of these alphabets have two special signs which correspond to the "Anusvara" and "Visarga" of Sanscrit. There are also certain signs usually employed in conjunction with the vowels which influence their pronunciation. With the exception of the figures 4 and 0 the numerals are only a modified form of the letters.

The popular pen is a short bamboo cut to a point and manipulated like a paint-brush. The European pen is, however, coming into fashion with the progress of Western ideas.

In Cambodia manuscripts are written in a beautiful free hand on paper of Western form and manufacture. On the other hand, the Cham of Annam use sheets of rice-paper of tremendous size imported from China. Occasionally the traveller meets with inscriptions made with a needle on palm-leaves.

The priests of Annam employ a hieratic writing, which they call "Akhar Rik," especially for such purposes as engraving magical inscriptions on amulets. A secret system and an abbreviated system are also used when occasion requires.

A curious feature of their books is that the authors display a tendency to coin new words from Sanscrit or Arabic roots even when the idea expressed in those roots has only the remotest similarity to the meaning they wish the word to convey.

The Cham Bani of Phanrang are the proud possessors of the manuscript of a Bible, the text of which has been modified in many places by Mohammedan influence. The truth of this will be demonstrated from the examples translated by Father Durand.

"This Book tells the story of the beginnings of Earth and Heaven.... The creation of the Sun God and the Moon Goddess. The Lord Uwlwah--Allah--then created the Pô Adam and the woman Hawā, whom he took from the man's side.... Their children numbered nine and ninety, an equal(!) number of boys and girls. They died in the Kingdom of Judah."

Then follow the story of the flood, the lives of Abraham and David, without conspicuous discrepancies.

"The son of Nabi Dalawat--Daoud, David--(the Cham have no final d) was called the Nabi Suleiman--Solomon. Allah commanded him to build the Caabah--temple--and gave him a mountain of gold and silver. Suleiman covered the walls of his Caabah with these precious metals and it became wondrously beautiful. He was appointed Chief of the Priests therein.... Then Nabi Esā--Issa, Jesus--was born in the country of Baitelem and him Allah took to himself.... Then Mohammat--Mahomet--for forty years decreed all the Doctrine in the Kingdom of Makah--Mecca--and died in the Kingdom of Madjanah--Medina.... Then Adam and Hawā produced the seven Royalties. The sum of these seven epochs gives the total of 7306 years to the cyclic year of the Tiger....

"That is all...."

The Cham, like the Kmer, have taken little trouble over the composition of their legends and fables.

Apart from certain legends which by internal evidence and local flavour can only be regarded as having originated among the Cham, all the others are more or less successful adaptations of Hindu tales. In almost all countries, and conspicuously in the Far East, popular fancy fastens and feeds on the fabulous, or, at least, incredibly romantic, adventures of the ancient Kings. It is at least true to say that these adventures furnish a canvas on which imagination has worked wondrous pictures.

The origin of the special tight-fitting costume worn by the Cham women is explained on this wise.

In the darkness of the Past a Cham Prince named Hon Hoî declared war on a Laotian Princess, whose ricefields he coveted. In accordance with the customs of the women of her race, the Princess, Diep Lieu, was arrayed in nothing more than a scanty covering of bamboo fibres. The barbarity and ignorance of her subjects was incredible. All buying and selling went on by night, and in the darkness it was impossible to determine the quality of the wares displayed except by their fine smell. The Prince had no difficulty in overwhelming her forces and making her his prisoner. But she found favour in his sight, and within a short time she exchanged captivity for freedom and honour as his wife. The Prince, however, was shocked at the summary attire of his betrothed and for the wedding-day he gave her a costume of his own making. This was a kind of sack, at the top of which was a narrow hole for the head to come through. The Cham also honour the thesis that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so the women adopted this new mode with avidity, and it has survived all the attacks of time and feminine caprice.

* * * * *

A legend has gathered round each of the kings who has been raised to the ranks of divinity by the Cham. Pô Klong Garai was born of a Virgin Mother, Pô Sah Ineu, who rose alive from the waves. Though hardly yet a woman she conceived her son while sipping water from a stream which flowed through a rock. The child was smitten with the horror of leprosy from birth. While he rested near a rock, a dragon emerged from a cavern, licked the sores caused by the fell disease, and the child was immediately cured. From that day he felt himself endowed with matchless celestial powers. On one occasion, when about to make a distant journey, and at a loss for a receptacle in which to carry water he saw a pumpkin.

At the first touch of his hand the fruit broke its stalk and offered its services as a gourd. When this magician became King he built several dams in the valley of Phanrang and turned an arid desert into a fertile plain. So great were his services to his people that finally the gods rewarded him by calling him to be one of themselves.

Hardly less humble in origin than this prince was Pô Romé. He also was born of a Virgin Mother, whom the family drove from their doors in horror at the alleged crime. Nature, too, was not more kindly to the tiny bastard, who had neither arms nor legs and rolled over the ground like a cocoa-nut (a peculiarity from which he soon took that name). In spite of his deformity, however, the reigning sovereign praised him to his mother and appointed him to guard the cattle. Destiny was watching over him and a Dragon soon appeared to tell him of all the glories the future had in store. Warned of the approaching miracle by the court astrologers, the King set himself to win the regard of one who might one day prove a formidable rival to himself. He finally decided to abdicate in the young man's favour and added to his benefits by giving him the hand of his daughter in marriage and two other wives of the second and third degree. But Cocoa-nut was not happy even with his three wives. Hardly had he ascended the throne than he lost his crown through the artifices of his second wife. This lady was the daughter of the King of Annam who coveted his neighbour's lands and was not above treachery to secure them. At this time the tutelary deity of the Cham was shut up in the trunk of a tree, known as the "Kraik," and so long as this tree was alive no misfortune could befall the race beneath its ægis. The second wife, adopting the counsel of her evil father, pretended to be smitten with a grave malady. She refused all cures and asserted that her only hope was the destruction of the Kraik. Cocoa-nut, who had a strong affection for this wife, had her carefully examined by the four most eminent medicine-men of his kingdom. All four agreed that the illness was a sham, and all four paid for their truthfulness with their heads. Meanwhile the lady's condition seemed to go from bad to worse, and the King decided to fell with his own hand the tree on which hung the destinies of his people. Streams of blood flowed from the smitten trunk and soaked the ground around. The King had not long to wait for retribution. Betrayed by his treacherous spouse, his kingdom was wrested from him and he was hacked in pieces by his triumphant foe. His incisors alone were restored to his first wife that she might pay the honour due to his remains. The ex-Cocoa-nut, become Pô Romé, now dwells among the Gods, but even there, it seems, his domestic tribulations have pursued him, and he is often glad, when distracted by the factious quarrels of his womenfolk, to get away from his palace and leave it to them.

The Cham have a certain partiality for songs and lyrical poems not destitute of taste and feeling have acquired popularity among them. A romance which the girls of Phanrang sing on their fishing expeditions is as follows:

"Do you go forth to set sail, my Lord, that you look at the leaves for the direction of the wind? Ibrahim, my soul of gold ... hard would it be if you left me....

"Pity your little sister fair as gold itself! Do not leave her, like an orphan, to wander in the forests where fear and danger lurk....

"You will stay! Oh joy! Life will be naught but play and laughter and walks together, hand in hand!"

Finally, there is the skeleton, not much more, of a literature. Here are some extracts from a bedside book which all girls are supposed to study before making their own homes.

"Liver and Bile of thy mother, approach, my child, and learn what a woman should know.

"When thou speakest with thy husband, let thy tone above all be modest.

"Strive not to appear superior or even as his equal, for the man it is who should lead the woman.

"My child, the boat will not leave its moorings if the stake is solid and secure! In a family the husband is the keystone of the structure!

"The honour he gains goes to the credit of his wife.

"My daughter, ever remember that the happiness of a household lies in the hands of the wife. She must not waste the goods he entrusts to her.

"Waste not then the least trifle. See that every door has always its bolt.... Follow these precepts and wert thou as hideous as an ape thou shalt keep the love of thy husband, for thy presence shall be more profitable to him than a bar of gold, were it the height of a cocoa-nut tree...."

Of such homely advice consists the very ancient manuscript which Moura translated and which escaped the wreck in which all the others were lost.

I expect modern young ladies will find these mother's words somewhat out of date. But what European husband would not occasionally envy the Cham so perfect a partner?

THE END

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I have kept the scientific side of my researches in the background in this book, but the curious may consult the following works with advantage:

AYMONIER, E., "Les Tjames et leurs Religions." Paris, Leroux, 1891; "Légendes historiques des Chams," in _Excursions et Reconnaissances_, No. 32, 1890.

BARTH, "Les Religions de l'Inde." Paris, Fichbacher, 1879.

BARTHÉLÉMY, DE, "Au pays Moï." Paris, Plon Nourrit, 1903.

BERNARD, DR. NOËL, "Les Khas, peuple inculte du Laos," in _Bulletin de géographie historique et descriptive_, 1904.

BERGAIGNE, A., "L'Ancien Royaume du Champa dans l'Indochine," in _Journal Asiatique_. Paris, 1886.

CABATON, ANTOINE, "Nouvelles recherches sur les Chams." Paris, Leroux, 1901; "Notes sur les sources européennes de l'histoire de l'Indochine," in _Bulletin de la Commission Archéologique de l'Indochine_, 1911; "Les Malais et l'avenir de leur langue," in _Revue du Monde Musulman_. Paris, 1908; "Les Chams musulmans de l'Indochine," in _Revue du Monde Musulman_. Paris, 1907.

CADIÈRE, LE PÈRE, "Croyances et dictons populaires de la vallée du Nguon Son," in _Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême Orient_. Hanoi, Schneider, 1902.

CRAWLEY, E., "The Mystic Rose." London, Macmillan, 1902.

CREMAZY, "Le droit coutumier de l'Extrême Orient à travers les ages." Conférence faite à l'École Coloniale en 1909.

CUMONT, FRANZ, "Les Religions Orientales dans le paganisme romain." Paris, Leroux, 1907.

CUPET, COMMANDANT. See Pavie.

DIGUET, LE COLONEL E., "Les montagnards du Tonkin." Paris, Challamel, 1908.

DOUDART DE LAGRÉE. See Garnier.

DOURISBOURE, LE PÈRE, "Les sauvages Bahnars." Paris, Téqui, 1904.

DULAURE, J. A., "Les divinités génératrices, ou du culte du Phallus chez les Anciens et les Modernes." Paris, 1805. A new edition by the Société du Mercure de France. Paris, 1905.

DURAND, LE PÈRE, "Les Moï du Song Phang," in _B. G. D. H._ Paris, 1900; "Les Chams Banis," in _B. E. F. E. O._ Hanoi, 1903; "Notes sur les Chams," in _B. E. F. E. O._ Hanoi, 1905; "Les Archives des derniers Rois Chams," in _B. E. F. E. O._ Hanoi, 1907.

FILLASTRE, LE PÈRE ADRIEN, "Bois d'aigle et bois d'aloès," in _Revue Indochinoise_. Hanoi, 1905.

FINOT, LOUIS, "La Religion des Chams d'après les monuments," in _B. E. F. E. O._ Hanoi, 1901. Cours d'Histoire et de Philologie Indochinoises professé au Collège de France, 1908.

FOUCART, GEORGE, "Histoire des Religions et Méthode Comparative." Paris, Picard, 1912.

FRAZER, "The Golden Bough." London, Macmillan, 1900.

GARNIER, F., "Voyage d'exploration en l'Indochine." Paris, Hachette, 1873.

GENNEP, ARNOLD VAN, "Religions, Mœurs et Légendes." Paris, Mercure de France, 4 vols. 1908 à 1911; "Mythes et Légendes d'Australie." Paris, Guilmoto, 1908; "Les Rites de Passage." Paris, E. Nourry, 1909.

HAVELOCK, ELLIS, "Studies in Sexual Psychology."

HOLBÉ, T. V., "Les poisons Moï et recherches sur le Cai voi-voi." Montpellier, Serre et Roumegous, 1905.

HUTEREAU, A., "Notes sur la vie familiale et juridique de quelques populations du Congo Beige," in _Annales du Musée du Congo Belge_. Brussels, 1909.

JOYCE, T. A., "Notes ethnographiques sur les peuples communément appelés Bakuba, ainsi que sur les peuplades apparentées Les Busongo," in _Annales du Musée du Congo Belge_. Brussels, 1911.

KEANE, A. H., "On the Relations of the Indo-Chinese and Inter-Oceanic races and languages," in the _Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland_. London, 1880.

KEMLIN, LE P., "Les rites agraires des Reungao," in _B. E. F. E. O._ Hanoi, 1910; "Au pays Jaraï," in _Missions Catholiques_. Paris, 1909.

LANDES, A., "Légende djarai sur l'origine du sabre sacré par le Roi du Feu," in _Revue Indochinoise_. Hanoi, 1904.

LEFÈVRE, PONTALIS, "Notes sur l'écriture des Khas," in _L'Anthropologie_. Paris, 1892; "Notes sur quelques populations du Nord de l'Indochine," in _Journal Asiatique_. Paris, 1892.

LEMIRE, CH., "Les anciens monuments des Kiams en Annam et au Tonkin," in _L'Anthropologie_. Paris.

LETOURNEAU, CH., "La littérature synthétique des premiers âges," in _Bulletin de la Société d'Anthropologie_. Paris, 1894.

MAÎTRE, H., "Les régions Moï du Sud Indochinois." Paris, Plon, 1909; "Les jungles Moï." Paris, E. Larose, 1912.

MALGLAIVE, CAP. DE. See Pavie.

MASPERO, "Le Royaume de Champa," in Toung-Pao. 1910 à 1912.

MOURA, J., "Le Royaume du Cambodge." Paris, Leroux, 1883.

NEÏS, DR. P., "Explorations chez les Sauvages de l'Indochine," in _Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_. Paris, 1883.

PAVIE, AUGUSTE, "Mission Pa vie en l'Indochine, 1879-1895." Paris, E. Leroux, 1901 à 1911; 6 vols. (See Cupet and Malglaive, in collaboration.)

REINACH, SALOMON. "Cultes, Mythes et Religions." Paris. E. Leroux.

RIEDEL, J. G. F., "Prohibitieve Teekens en Tatuage--vormen op het ecland." Batavia, 1907.

SAINTYVES, P., "Les Vierges Mères et les naissances miraculeuses." Paris, E. Nourry, 1908.

SÉBILLOT, P., "Le Folklore de France." Paris, Guilmoto, 1905.

SKEAT, W. W., "Some records of Malay magic." Singapore, 1898.

TORDAY, E. See Joyce, in collaboration.

TOURNIER, COLONEL, "Notice sur le Laos Français." Hanoi, 1900.

ZABOROSKI, "Les Tsiams. Origine et caractère," in _Revue Scientifique_. Paris, série IV.; "De la circoncision des garçons et de l'excision des filles comme pratiques d'initiation," in _Bulletin de la Société d'Anthropologie_. Paris. 1894.

X., "Notes analytiques sur les collections ethnographiques du Musée du Congo, publiées sous la direction du Musée. Tome I., fascicule II. La Religion." Bruxelles, 1906.

_Printed at The Chapel River Press, Kingston, Surrey._

FOOTNOTES

[1] According to the measurements of Dr. Noël Bernard the cephalic index of the living male is 76. The transverse nasal index varies between 84 and 95.

[2] Pronounced Tiam, Tiampa. Ch = tia.

[3] _Les Tjames et leurs religions_, by Aymonier. _Nouvelles Recherches sur les Cham_, by A. Cabaton.

[4] See Bibliography at end.

* * * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Diacritical markings have been made consistent. Otherwise the text, including hyphenated variants, has been transcribed as printed.