Harling Point Chinese Cemetery (Part 3)

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A Brief History of Harling Point Cemetery 

Harling Point Chinese Cemetery is a unique landscape in Victoria which represents a history of discrimination, tradition, and reform.  In 1903, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association created an entirely new, exclusively Chinese, cemetery at Harling Point as an alternative to the nameless graves being washed away from within the highly segregated Ross Bay Cemetery¹.

The cemetery included a large open-air altar, which may still be seen today, as well as a bone house which was demolished in 1950¹.  As the only Chinese cemetery in Canada at the time, Chinese Canadians from across the country shipped the remains of loved ones to be stored, and exhumed for seven years until their bones could be retrieved, cleaned, and shipped back to China to be with their ancestors¹.

 

In 1937 – upon the break out of the Sino-Japanese war – all shipments to China were halted, and in 1961 thirteen mass graves were dug to accommodate the 900 individuals who would not be returning to China².  More recently, funding from the Chinese community of Victoria and its corresponding benevolent association has been put into the upkeep of the Harling Point cemetery, and in 1996 the cemetery was designated as a national historic site². 

  

Relating back to my group’s question over why five out of six grave markers in our data set date back to 1961, while the sixth – grave number two on our map – says 2004, it appears that during ongoing refurbishment of the cemetery in the late 1990s and 2000s grave marker #2 may have been replaced².  It seems that the significance of “1961” being written on graves is the date in which the grave was sealed, and given the less worn, polished appearance of grave marker #2 it is very likely that the older marker was replaced in 2004.

Sources:

1. http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/1682

2. http://www.oldcem.bc.ca/cem_ch1.htm

Our Map

View Chinese Cemetery on Harling Point in a larger map

Grave Marker #4 

Grave marker #4, represents one of thirteen mass graves dug in 1961 and contains the remains of citizens of Heshan county in China.  The marker is similar to 1-6 in that it is made from red granite, faces upwards, and has identical inscriptions to markers 1,3,5,6 with its lettering facing the ocean. This grave stone measures 30 inches wide, 24 inches long, and 3 inches deep, matching the red granite markers of graves 1,3,5,6.  There is what appears to be black paint behind the lettering on the marker which is less weathered than seen on the other markers.

Proceed to the next section on Harling Point Cemetery

Hanging Coffins of the Bo people

Upon googling “strange funerary rituals”, I came across the very alternative method of hanging coffins which was practiced by a group in China known as the Bo people.  Before I get into the practice of hanging human remains from trees, I will gloss over about 2500 years of a rich cultural tradition and history.  

 According to very unofficial sources, the Bo – or “Sons of the Cliff¹” – were an ethnic minority group which began to flourish approximately 3000 BP².  The Bo and their ancestors continued to flourish until approximately 400 years ago during the Ming Dynasty.  Most unfortunately for the Bo – and indeed other ethnic minority groups of the time – the imperial army oppressed and massacred their people, and ultimately forced the group into fleeing the area and hiding their identities forever².  

On a less depressing note, archaeologists have been fortunate to uncover 300 or so of these mysterious    coffins in Gongxian County of southwest China's Sichuan province³.  The coffins are found some 300 feet high along cliff sides; some are placed into niches along the cliff wall, while others are balanced on logs jutting out from notches in the cliff¹.  Some coffins are found to have murals painted on them depicting – presumably – the lives of the individual found in the coffin¹.  

What I think is really cool about this practice is the fact that the communities would have had to somehow carry these (400 lbs) coffins up a cliff, and plan out how and where to place it.  Clearly there was something very significant to these people about elevated burial.  Unfortunately, the cultural knowledge of the Bo disappeared with them during the Ming Dynasty so it is unlikely that archaeologists will ever be able to uncover the origin or meaning behind this ritual.

 One modern explanation for how the coffins were placed is the theory that the – enormously heavy and awkward – coffins were lowered down the rock face with ropes.  This would certainly make the job of getting the coffin to its destination less difficult than scaling a cliff with a coffin strapped to you!

Another point of interest is obviously why this was done.  Some modern theories include: 

1. To create a ladder of sorts to aid in climbing cliffs² (This sounds like something someone who spent the majority of their life in a box, secluded from religion, art and ritual might come up with!  In other words, I think that this could have been an eventual function for the coffins, but it seems unlikely that this was the original purpose.  Kind of morbid to plan for your Grandma to be placed in a cliff as the fifth rung, no?)

2.  The highly elevated coffins may have been considered as a lucky or auspicious locations².  (I like this idea better than the first as it tries to bring a cultural symbolic element into the ritual.  People don’t just do difficult things consistently for the hell of it; there must be some reason – practical or symbolic – for elevating the coffins)

Sources

1.  http://www.archaeology.org/9109/abstracts/bo.html

2.  http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/55407.htm

3.  http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_curiosity/2004-10/26/content_62633.htm

Picture:    

1.http://www.beerandheavymetal.com/random/the-hanging-coffins-of-the-bo-people/

2. http://www.colorful-china.com/resources/_wsb_296x199_Luobiao$2C+Bo+Hanging+Coffins+from+close+up+3.jpg