{"id":767,"date":"2013-11-03T05:00:17","date_gmt":"2013-11-03T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/?p=767"},"modified":"2013-11-04T22:28:32","modified_gmt":"2013-11-05T06:28:32","slug":"manilas-chinese-cemetery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/philippines\/manilas-chinese-cemetery\/","title":{"rendered":"Manila’s Chinese Cemetery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Main<\/a>

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

A Sunday outing with Uncle Gregorio.<\/b><\/p>\n

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, w<\/span>e’d left the baby at home with the maid. The weather was too hot for a baby born in Seattle.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019d left behind the gated villages of Makati and the colonial charm of Uncle Gregorio\u2019s house in Malate and were driving through the poor barrios in the north of the city. Our destination: the Chinese cemetery founded in the late 1800s by my husband\u2019s great-grandfather, don Carlos Palanca y Tan Quien Sien.<\/p>\n

As we approached the cemetery, Uncle Gregorio slowed and children ran along beside us. \u201cWatch car, sir?\u201d they shouted. \u201cWatch car?\u201d<\/p>\n

Alighting from the driver’s side, Uncle Gregorio raised his chin at one of the boys. Then, leaving his car under the protection of a proud ten-year-old, he led us toward the gate while the boy whipped out a rag and rubbed a spot on the windshield.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>

photo courtesy of Glenn Martinez<\/p><\/div>\n

Manila\u2019s Chinese cemetery was unlike anything I\u2019d ever seen before. No grass, no grave markers or tombstones. It was a city for the dead with streets and street names and full-sized houses. Some of the marble and granite “houses” had balconies, kitchens, chandeliers, sinks with hot and cold running water, chairs, tables, bars and flush toilets. (See BoyWander<\/a>\u2019s blog).<\/p>\n

\"Inside<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
Inside a mausoleum, photo by Henson Wongaiham<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

\u201cThese houses are used once or twice a year on All Saints\u2019 Day and All Souls\u2019 Day,\u201d Uncle Gregorio said. \u201cThe families of the departed bring boom boxes, playing cards, dice and plenty of food, and they party sometimes all night long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"modern<\/a>

modern mausoleum, photo courtesy of Henson Wongaiham<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just glad my great-grandfather can\u2019t see this,\u201d my husband grumbled, shaking his head.<\/p>\n

Taking my daughters by the hands, I followed Uncle Gregorio up one street and down another. The sun radiated off the concrete and marble and bounced back in our faces. \u201cI\u2019m thirsty, Mommy,\u201d the oldest whined.<\/p>\n

I looked at Eugene. Hadn\u2019t we seen enough of these ostentatious mausoleums? Uncle Gregorio, who\u2019d lived in the Philippines all his life, looked like he could continue sightseeing under the hot afternoon sun for another couple of hours. He\u00a0wasn’t even sweating.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go to the temple now,\u201d Eugene suggested, reading my thoughts.<\/p>\n

\"Chong<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
Chong Hock Tong Temple, photo by Henson Wongaiham<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Chong Hock Tong Temple, at one end of the cemetery, was shaded by a big tree. We felt a<\/p>\n

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

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

little better in the shade, though not exactly cool. We paid our respects to the statue of Eugene\u2019s great grandfather. Then we walked around to the side of the temple (See Traveler on Foot<\/a>.) where the original rules of the cemetery were carved in stone. My husband translated them for me:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. No one can be refused burial on the land.<\/li>\n
  2. The poor will be given land free of charge.<\/li>\n
  3. The rich should be frugal and simple in their burial, and the burial should conform to Chinese traditions. These traditions are:\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<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The rules were in a shadowy, outdoor part of the temple. Moss grew on the stone-engraved characters. They obviously hadn\u2019t been read for a long long time.<\/p>\n

      \"my<\/a><\/p>\n

      Next week’s post: “My Interracial Marriage”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      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 maid. The weather was too […]<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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":""},"categories":[148],"tags":[151,152,149,154,153,150],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-philippines","tag-all-saints-day","tag-all-souls-day","tag-chinese-cemetery","tag-chong-hock-tong-temple","tag-don-carlos-palanca-y-tan-quien-sien","tag-manila"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-cn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3646,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/3646\/","url_meta":{"origin":767,"position":0},"title":"REVISITING THE MANILA CHINESE CEMETERY","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"May 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"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. 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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":2792,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/tiger-tail-soup\/a-foreign-ghost-in-a-wartime-cemetery\/","url_meta":{"origin":767,"position":2},"title":"A Foreign Ghost in a Wartime Cemetery","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"October 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Do you believe in ghosts? Do you think there are some people who can see spirits that are invisible to the rest of us? Do these so-called \"ghost whisperers\" possess a special sensitivity? Or are they just more imaginative than we are? I don\u2019t know. But if such people do\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":4129,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/4129\/","url_meta":{"origin":767,"position":3},"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":767,"position":4},"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":1509,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/remembering-being-remembered\/","url_meta":{"origin":767,"position":5},"title":"Remembering … Being Remembered","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"May 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When you\u2019re gone \u2026 After you\u2019re gone, will anyone put flowers on your grave? On Memorial Day, will they still remember you? I can almost hear you scoffing \u2026 Who cares? I\u2019ll be dead by then. Dust to dust. Throw my ashes to the wind. 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