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where offerings are burned. In another dream the deceased said money was wasted. Excessive food was placed on the altar. Conversely, in another dream she complained that people were hon (cold) and foo (bitter) because they did not put out enough for her to eat. But she was pleased with the arrangements for her funeral.
A friend was told in a dream to go to the home of the deceased to collect a piece of jade which she wished her to have. Another person dreamt that the deceased instructed the young to respect their elders more. In another dream an associate had been informed by the dead person that the maid had wiped her face, first with a cold and then with a hot towel. The previous morning, it transpired, the maid had, in fact, wiped the deceased's picture, first with a wet and then with a dry cloth.
In another dream the dead woman told a friend she was staying in the house of the Chan family and that she was to be reincarnated as a boy. "He" would be easy to recognise, playful and would turn a somersault in front of "her" eldest daughter. The eldest daughter later dreamt that the deceased, who seemed neither happy nor sad, appeared. She then disappeared and a little boy stood in her place.
Survey
During 1992 and 1993, the author questioned 122 Hong Kong Chinese men and women to ascertain whether they believe in reincarnation. This sample can be divided roughly into two. Most of the first section of interviewees (but not all) had completed secondary studies. Generally, they live in housing estates and work at white or blue-collar level, similar to the bulk of the population in Hong Kong. Of this group of 46 persons, 35 said in a convincing way that they believed in reincarnation, eight did not and three "did not know".
The interviewees in the second group work in the professions or at senior management level. They had all received university or college education and most had studied or worked for periods overseas. Of this better-educated group of 76, 35 said they believed, 25 did not, and 16 "did not know".
The conclusions emerging from this survey were not only that the better-educated and the western-educated are less likely to believe, but that men are less likely to believe than women. In six cases women admitted they believed in reincarnation although they were Christians.