How to Bury the Chinese During WW1

This year we can obviously expect to hear a lot about the First World War. We’ll also be hearing something about the Chinese involvement in the European war through the men of the Chinese Labour Corps (the CLC or “Coolie Corps”), the Chinese recruited to help with logistics and clearing the battlefields by the British and French. I’ve blogged on the Coolie Corps before (here, here, here and here). I’ve also blogged about friend and veteran China hack Mark O’Neill who’s grandfather was a missionary in China and worked with the CLC – Mark has a short book on the CLC out this spring (more on that nearer the time).

Inevitably some of the Chinese men died at the Front and needed to be buried and then remembered after the war. The passage below is from the notes advising on how the graves of Chinese should be placed and handled in France issued in 1918. It comes from the superb and beautifully written history of the War Graves Commission and the man behind it Fabian Ware, Empire of the Dead: How One Man’s Vision Led to the Creation of WW1’s War Graves, by David Crane. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

the way to bury the Chinese ideally,

“is on sloping ground with a stream below, or gully down which water always or occasionally passes. The grave should not be parallel to the north, south, east or west. This is especially important to Chinese Mohammedans. It should be about 4ft deep, with the head towards the hill and the feet towards the water. A mound of earth about 2ft high is piled over the grave…Whenever possible the friends of the deceased should be allowed access to the corpse, and should be allowed to handle it, as they like to dress it and show marks of respect.”