The second meeting of the season in connection with this Society was held at the Suciety's Rooms on Tuesday evening, for the purpose of hearing Prof. Hitchcock, of che Smithsonian Institution, deliver a lecture on The Ancient Tombs and Burial Mounds of Japan. There was a good attendance.
The President (Chief Justice Hannen) occupied the chair and briefly introduced the lecturer.
"Prof. Hitchcock began by observing that we are accustomed to regard all ancient religious worship as mere superstitious observ ances of ignorant peoples. But the burial customs of prehistoric nations and tribes have preserved to us many precious unmistakable language future life 1s one of the cldest_among the many, far less rational, upheld at sent day. While the form and structure of the Japanese mounds were now known, thanks t" the as yet unpublished researches of his companion in many journeys inJapau, Mr. W. Gowland, their ently origin was yet to be traced. It was surmised that a few at least of the Japanese burial customs were derived from Ci Tu the course of his own travels in the north he bad failed to 3 discover an indications of the existence of mounds like those in Japan; but be still expected to hear of them from sume experienced traveller in the interior of this vast empire. Referring to the origi of the tombs, the lecturer said the first Emperor, who lived in the 7th century B.C., is supposed to be buried in Yamato, and the tombs of his successors are pointed out by the Imperial Household Department, The identity of the sepulchres may be questioned, but it is " fact that we cart distinguish consecutive modifications of form apparently corresponding to suc: cessive periods of time, Several distinct methods. of interment have prevailed at different periods in Japan, They may be conver guished as folk burial ial rock caves, (2) simple earth mounds with or without coftit (3) in rock chambers or dolmens, (4) in double, or Imperial mounds. The lecturer then proceeded ta illustrate the appearance of these different kinds of mounds by the aid of photograph slides thrown on to a screen, He showed that the double mounds i ly protected by "wide and metines by two, and consisted with a depress ble to Japanese reckoning, dates from about the fourth century. The height is a 100 feet and the cin dose 1 yards, The Emp who is ported to have lived last Ewperors known t been buried in a double mound. this form is said to date from "bout th 7th century. Large quantities of clay cyl were used against the effects off the went When for the purpose of preser he terraces
the covering of earth is removed it is found that the stone chamber beneath, which cmtained the coffin, opens through passages often 40 feet and sometimes 60 feet ong. The earth has inn washed away fi rocks which were pil chamber. According to a Japa ity, in all the sepulchres the first order of performing the burials was the pilot up of the earthen mound, leaving an underground tunnel leading from' the outside to the very centre of the mound. This mound completed, the coin, usually carved and made of stone, in which the corpse was placed, and sealed, was then introduced through the tunnel and placed in the centre of the mound, and the tunnel was then filled up with ston The lecturer, however, said the ceti were nut always introduced through the galleries, and the tunnels were certainly hot filled up with stones, although their ends were probably closed with stones He inferred fron his own observation that the chambers were frequently if not usually built round the coffins. Star clay coffins had been found together in cave, showing them to have been contemporaneous, After showing a number of photographs of the pottery discovered in the mounds, the lecturer drew attention to a number of small clay figures representing human beings. He said it was a very ancient custom in Japan to bury the retainers of a Prince standing upright around his grave. Like many other customs this also came from Chin: In the time of the Japanese Emperor Guiuin (97-30 B.C.) his younger brother died a they buried "li who had been in is immediate service, around his tomb alive. For maw days they died not but wept and cried aloud. At last they died. Dogs and ere bled and ate them. The Emperor's compass sion was aroused and he desired tochangeth custom, When the empress Hibstsuhine-no-Miketo died, the Mikado inquired of his officers, saying: We know that the practice of following thedend is not good. What shall be done? Nomi-no-Sukune then said:
'It is not good to bury living men standing, at the sepulchre of a prince, and this carnot be handed down to posterity.' He then proposed to make clay Bgures of men and horses and to bury them as substitutes. The Mikudo was well pleased with the plan and ordered that henceforth the old custom should not be followed, but that clay imhould be set up round the sepulchre Bveu as late as the year 646 an hed forbidding the burial of persons and also the burial of gold, silver brocade, diaper or any kind of varies dated thing." From this it might be inferred that the old custom of living burial was kept up to some extent even to the 7th century. The edict rends; " Let there be complete cessation of all' such ancient practices as strangling one's self to follow the dead, or strangling others to make them follow the dead, or of killing the dead nun's horse, ur burying treasures in the tomb for the dead nun's sake, ur cut" ting the hair, or stabbing the thigh or wail for the dead "man's sake." The figures of clay thus introduced as substitutes for human sacrifices, and aleo to take the plice of horses, are known as tsuchi ninyio, Specinvns of them are now very rare, and this fact leads to the supposition that the 6gures were not buried but left exposed on the surface of the ground, The Chairman, on behalf of the Society, thanked Prof, Hiteheuck for his very inter:
ture, and M, Vosy-Bourbon for is kindness in manipulating the lantern.
In the discussion which' followed, Dr. Eakins pointed out the resemblance which existed between the, stut relics found Japan and China anid in Bucope, as indi cating the existence of communication between distent lands in those days, Tt wat also very interesting to note that, in th very earliest ages, men had been possessed with the ides of " future life for the soul, Dr. Henry observed that the investiga-ion of burial mounds was " field of ant 11 research in which scarcely anything had been done; and he urged that th attention of members should be directed ssimill pointed out the of mounds stretching from Wongdoo to Tachanchow which might repay research, With regard to the custom, of burying alive " number of retainers with a departed monarch, there was a description of such an event' in one of the old Chinese bual The President cised the meeting by thanking the gentlemen who had contributed to the evening's entertainment in the discussion.
'The following fuller report of Dr, Edkine' remark on the paper read by Mr. Kingsmill at the Inst meeting of the Society, will be read with great interest, notwithstanding the accidental delay in its publication Dr. Edkins said that astronomy had always been regarded as a duty by the government. The Chinese had always made it_a part of the regular work of the administration, The traveller in_approaching Peking saw the astronomical observatory over the city wall, and Peking is probably the only capital city of any empire where this can be see! is attention to astronomical observation has marked China uninterruptedly during an immense series years. The subject on which the paper been read this evening is one of very
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.