CO129-588-6 Provision of Chinese cemeteries 6-12-1940 - 28-2-1941 — Page 7

No. 488.

1.

7

My Lord,

71/53532/40.

RECEIVED

12 FEB 1941

.0.0. RECY

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONG KONG,

6th December, 1940.

As foreshadowed in my despatch No.446 of 23rd October, 1940, I have the honour to address Your Lordship · on the subject of the provision of Chinese cemeteries in

this Colony.

2.

As Your Lordship is aware, the burial system, conveniently known as the "ten year exhumation cycle", which is followed in this Colony conforms admirably with Chinese custom. The dead are buried in wooden coffins in cemeteries laid out in terraces on hillsides; after seven years or so, if the soil is well drained, decomposition is complete and in the eighth year the bones are exhumed and transferred to earthenware urns which are permanently deposited in separate urning cemeteries; for the ninth year the soil is allowed to lie fallow and consolidate and in the tenth year it is ready to receive more wooden coffins. Given a stationary population this cycle could be allowed to repeat itself indefinitely and only the urning cemeteries, which take up comparatively little space and can be located on land that is useless for any other purpose, need to be enlarged from time to time. population of this Colony is, however, not stationary and in recent years the problem of providing burial space has become more and more serious. The following table shows

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

LORD LLOYD OF DOLOBRAN,

The

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