166
descendents experimenting with the locations in the light of family events over that time, since anything untoward would be attributed to bad siting of the urn.* If, however, good fortune smiled on the family, it might then be decided to prepare a formal, horseshoe grave on that site, or perhaps on another equally auspicious or even better location. The services of a geomancer were obligatory on such occasions as few families would possess a member with the necessary skills. Thus, by the time a new grave appeared on a hillside, there had been a great amount of prior thought and activity among the responsible persons in the family, as well as considerable expenditure. Sometimes, this included paying those villagers living in the vicinity of the grave, persons with customary rights of grazing, and somebody to cut the grass around the grave occasionally.
Some Typical Grave Inscriptions
The following inscriptions on two old graves recorded from the Tsuen Wan District, with translations and comments, will indicate the care taken with burials, and the obvious importance attached to the process. The first is from a grave belonging to the Tang family of Kam Tin, New Territories. This inscription, dated 1853, has been chosen from among many others of the kind, because it exemplifies the strong family feeling that motivates descendents in regard to ancestral worship and their duties toward the living and the dead:
Ancestor Wing-shing, alias ...-yue, alias Shan-fung, was the second son of Ancestor Kwan-leung. He was born in Chien Lung ping-san year (1736) and died in Chia Ch'ing kap-shut year (1814). By his wife, who was from the Man family, he had one son, Ying-yuen, a kui-yan of 1789.
Ancestor Hin-sing, alias Kwing-yue, alias Kang-sham, was the only son of Ancestor Kwan-chak.
These two gentlemen were grandsons of Ancestor Kwok-yın.
[Hin-sing] was born in Chien Lung mou-san year 1748, and died in Chia Ch'ing san-mei year 1811. By his wife, who came from the Liu family, he had two sons. One, Ying-..., who held fu kung-sang degree had a [second] wife from the Man family, by whom he had two