The
refreshments were cleared away, the tea poured over the grave, and
the whole company returned home in excellent spirits accompanied by
the music, which had also played at intervals over the grave. The
provisions, as I was informed, were distributed among the poor.
On the following day I witnessed the celebrated Chinese Feast of
Lanterns. From all the houses, at the corners of the roofs, from
high posts, etc., were hung innumerable lanterns, made of paper or
gauze, and most artistically ornamented with gods, warriors, and
animals. In the courts and gardens of the different houses, or,
where there were no courts or gardens, in the streets, all kinds of
refreshments and fruit were laid out with lights and flowers, in the
form of half pyramids on large tables. The people wandered about
the streets, gardens, and courts, until nearly midnight, when the
edible portions of the pyramids were eaten by the proprietors of
them. I was very much pleased with this feast, but with no part of
it more than the quiet and orderly behaviour of the people: they
looked at all the eatables with a scrutinizing glance, but without
touching the smallest fragment.
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