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We have seen that this people approaches the southern Chinese in many respects, but this is likewise true of all the other tribes under discussion and, hence, we are not justified, on anatomic grounds, in considering the Tinguian as distinct, because of Chinese origin. The testimony of historical data and language leads us to the same conclusions.
If all these fail, and the patient dies, the family and relatives at once don old garments, and enter on a period of mourning, while friends and relatives assist in the disposal of the corpse. A funeral is a great event in a Tinguian village. The dead is bathed, "so that his spirit may be clean," and is placed in a bamboo seat at the end of the house.
The hostile attitude of Penñarubia encouraged adventurers from the coast in the seizure of lands and the exploitation of the pagans, and thus a deep resentment was added to the dislike the Tinguian already held for "the Christians."
In a culture, in which the influence of custom is as strong as it is here, it would seem that the care of the corpse, which is intimately related to the condition of the spirit in its final abode, would be one of the last things to change, while the proceedings following a death are to-day so uniform throughout the Tinguian belt, that they argue for a considerable antiquity.
It has already been seen that he begins very early to take an active part in the village life, but it is many years before he assumes a position of importance in the group. It is only when age and experience have gained for him the respect of his fellows that he begins to have a voice in the more weighty affairs of Tinguian life. Engagement and Marriage.
In modern music it is extremely unusual to find notes grouped in fives, or measures having the rhythmic value of five beats, or periods made up of measures in fives. A study of the tabulation shows that the Tinguian have a rather natural bent for groupings in this number. It seems easy for them to drop into that metric form.
It is true that the tales give sanction to some things not in agreement with Tinguian usage such, for instance, as the marriage of relatives, or the method of disposing of the dead and it may be that we have here a remembrance of customs which long ago fell into disuse. In a previous paper the writer showed that there have been many migrations into Abra from the north, south, and west.
While in the practice of magic, and in their communication with nature, celestial bodies, and spirits, these "people of the first times" far excelled the present Tinguian, they had a material culture and ceremonial life much like that still found in Abra.
When comparing the Tinguian versions of these fables with those of the Ilocano, one is impressed with the fact that while the incidents upon which they are founded are often identical, the stories themselves have frequently been moulded and changed by the tellers, who have introduced bits of old customs and beliefs until they reflect, in a way, the prevalent ideas of the people.
The close relationship which exists between the father and the unborn babe is clearly brought out by various facts; for instance, the husband of a pregnant woman is never whipped at a funeral, as are the other guests, lest it result in injury to the child. The fact that these mythical happenings and magical practices do not agree with his actual knowledge in no way disturbs the Tinguian.
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