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Show MARRIED TO A VASE. H Unique Ceremony Not Infrequent In IJJJ the Celestial Empire. JJJ One of the numt extrnnrdluary or , JJB Chinese customn to Western inlnda JH is the not Infrequent practice of mar- IJH ryiiiK celebiated wldown to natlvu ,IJH ases. An American traveler wit- IJH tiessed such a ceremony, which wan JJJ performed with great pomp. Tho JJJ widow wan of high station. When tho IIH news of her hmbnuil'H death reached IJJJ her eho was inconsolable and wished pJJJ yto enter the state or widowhood, hut IJJJ liar rather demurred. Somebody sub- IJJJ posted that jmothor husband might ho H forthcoming, and, an may readily tin H curmlsed, at this, Htiigo of the procoed- H lugs tho woman wnB In dospnli', A wlsu H tcaeher or tho Confucian philosophy H was consulted and ho recalled to mind H tho ancient ceremony or h marriage to t u (lower vase. It was a rlto of great antiquity legend attributing Its urlglu H to ii n empress who ruled beforo tho H Christian era. It was docided that H tho woman might "marry tho red B vase." It was necessary, howuvur, ' H to prociiro tho Impcrlnl sanction. This H tho great wealth of her fatliur obtain- H ed, und on May 1 tho wedding, was 'sol- LH In fin procosslou tho vase wan car- H rled uutler a tdlltun canopy on a palan- H quln borne by joiUIih or nohlo birth, H while tho brldo followed In mother IjH palanquin guarded by twolvo maidens ; H and twelve matrons. A military guaid H aud a civic escort inndo up tho parado. H Her bridegroom, the vnso, Is a sped- H men of groat value and antiquity; In- H deed, it Is said to excel in dollcacy ot H ornamentation anything of its kind jH hi tho Flowery Kingdom. H |