{"id":3646,"date":"2015-05-31T05:00:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-31T12:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=3646"},"modified":"2015-06-02T13:03:34","modified_gmt":"2015-06-02T20:03:34","slug":"3646","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/3646\/","title":{"rendered":"REVISITING THE MANILA CHINESE CEMETERY"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Main<\/a>

Main entrance to the cemetery, photo courtesy of Henson Wongaiham<\/p><\/div>\n

One thing I like about blogging is all the interesting, unexpected connections that have come from it. One of my most recent connections was with an architectural student from Manila. Lucas contacted me a couple of weeks ago about some information he\u2019d found on my blog. He wanted to incorporate it into his study of the Manila Chinese Cemetery.<\/p>\n

The blog post he was referring to was something I posted on November 3, 2013, Manila\u2019s Chinese Cemetery<\/a>. The post was based on my memories of a visit to the cemetery way back in what was probably 1973. I\u2019d searched my photo albums and found a faded photo of my husband standing next to the statue of his great-grandfather, the primary founder of the Chinese Cemetery.<\/p>\n

\"Great-grandfather's<\/a>

Great-grandfather’s statue, Chinese Cemetery, Manila<\/p><\/div>\n

That photo and my words were far from adequate when trying to describe a cemetery that is like no other in the world. I borrowed some excellent photos from other blogs. But Lucas Mangulabnan did me one better. He and his associate put together a video. It\u2019s an excellent video. I encourage you to watch it. Here\u2019s the link: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VphelVDivNY&feature=youtu.be<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Chong<\/a>

Chong Hok Temple, photo by Henson Wongaiham<\/p><\/div>\n

The particular portion of my post that interested Lucas was near the end. I wrote that our family had stopped at the beautiful Chong Hock Tong Temple on the cemetery grounds to look around and to find some shade. Along the side of the temple there was an engraved stone tablet attached to the wall. It was a list of rules set down from the founding of the cemetery.<\/p>\n

The strange thing was, most of the rules were meant to make lavish displays of wealth impossible. But now, more than a hundred years later, that\u2019s exactly what the cemetery is known for. Instead of being buried in graves marked with a simple tombstone, the \u201cresidents\u201d of the Chinese Cemetery are interred in marble and granite \u201chouses\u201d with balconies, kitchens, chandeliers, sinks with hot and cold running water, chairs, tables, bars and flush toilets. (See my blog post<\/a> and\/or Lucas\u2019 video<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"Inside<\/a>

Inside a mausoleum, photo by Henson Wongaiham<\/p><\/div>\n

Here are some of the rules that my husband translated for me from the Chinese:<\/p>\n

No one can be refused burial on the land.<\/p>\n

The poor will be given land free of charge.<\/p>\n

The rich should be frugal and simple in their burial, and the burial should conform to Chinese traditions. These traditions are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. There should be no obstruction between the grave mound and the sky.<\/li>\n
  2. One plot for each body<\/li>\n
  3. Grave site design should be simple and dignified.<\/li>\n
  4. Family members who wish to be buried together can own up to two plots.<\/li>\n
  5. To discourage displays of opulence, the unit price of lots beyond two are set on a geometric progression.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I\u2019m surprised I took notes that day, even more surprised that I found them so many years later and after multiple moves. It\u2019s I good thing I did, because that beautiful temple has recently been razed to the ground. I didn\u2019t know about it until recently, thanks to watching Lucas\u2019 video.<\/p>\n

    One more thing: After don Carlos Palanca Y Tan Quien Sien died, his son took his body back to China to the village of his birth. In 1983, we visited his grave. Because he was an ambassador and also the richest Chinese in the Philippines, his grave was more than a simple marker. But it could not compare with the mausoleums in the cemetery he founded.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"Eugene's<\/a>

    Eugene’s great grandfather’s grave<\/p><\/div>\n

    \"my<\/a>\"my<\/a>Check out my novel, Tiger Tail Soup. <\/em>It’s available in bookstores, also on Amazon<\/a>, barnesandnoble.com<\/a> and AppleiBooks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    One thing I like about blogging is all the interesting, unexpected connections that have come from it. One of my most recent connections was with an architectural student from Manila. Lucas contacted me a couple of weeks ago about some information he\u2019d found on my blog. He wanted to incorporate it into his study of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[317,13,148],"tags":[153,803,800,802,804,801],"class_list":["post-3646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogging","category-china","category-philippines","tag-don-carlos-palanca-y-tan-quien-sien","tag-lavish-houses-for-the-dead","tag-manila-chinese-cemetery","tag-the-destruction-of-chong-hock-tong-temple","tag-the-rules-for-burial-in-the-manila-chinese-cemetery-were-ignored","tag-video-of-manilas-chinese-cemetery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s3Kn1e-3646","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":767,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/philippines\/manilas-chinese-cemetery\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":0},"title":"Manila’s Chinese Cemetery","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"November 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A Sunday outing with Uncle Gregorio. The air-conditioner in Uncle Gregorio\u2019s car sputtered in a lame attempt to reach the back seat where I sat with two of our three daughters. Since the Chinese Cemetery was on the far side of town, we'd left the baby at home with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philippines"","block_context":{"text":"Philippines","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/philippines\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Main entrance to the cemetery, photo courtesy of Henson Wongaiham","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/P1130803.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/P1130803.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/P1130803.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4129,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/4129\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":1},"title":"Second Anniversary of my Blog","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"September 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Okay. I admit, I missed it. I should have celebrated the anniversary of my blog on August 7. But the occasion totally slipped my mind until one day I clicked on Timo\u2019s post, \u201cSecond Blogaversary.\u201d You see, Timo started his blog Crazy Chinese Family a few days after I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "blogging"","block_context":{"text":"blogging","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Celebration","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/celebrate.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3244,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/blogging\/3244\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":2},"title":"One Hundred Posts and Counting","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"February 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Today I\u2019m celebrating my 100th blog post! Hurray! It\u2019s taken me a year and a half to do it, but here I am, at milepost one hundred. If you\u2019re not a blogger, you may wonder why anyone would want to be one. I can\u2019t speak for all bloggers, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "blogging"","block_context":{"text":"blogging","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Celebration","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/celebrate.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5596,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/tiger-tail-soup\/the-true-story-of-a-foreign-ghost-in-a-chinese-cemetery\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":3},"title":"The True Story of a Foreign Ghost in a Chinese Cemetery.","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"October 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We're fast approaching that time of year when souls and saints appear. A time for recalling and repeating tales of the unexplained. So come along, I invite you to revisit this true tale of a little boy who encounters a foreign ghost in a Chinese cemetery. My late husband Eugene\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "China"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eugene and Anna 002","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Eugene-and-Anna-002-e1413832203959.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":894,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/visiting-gulangyu\/the-fall-of-the-bamboo-curtain\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":4},"title":"The Fall of the Bamboo Curtain","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"September 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"China, out of reach When I was growing up, large portions of the earth were simply off limits to us\u2014the Soviet Union, cut off by the Iron Curtain; East Germany, blocked by the Berlin Wall; and China, hidden from view behind the Bamboo Curtain. And we just accepted it. 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