Chinese Funeral Customs.docx

Chinese Funeral Customs.docx

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ChineseFuneralCustoms

ChineseFuneralCustoms

Sincecremationistraditionallyuncommon,theburialofthedeadisamattertakenveryseriouslyinChinesesociety.Improperfuneralarrangementscanwreakillfortuneanddisasteronthefamilyofthedeceased.

Toacertaindegree,Chinesefuneralritesandburialcustomsaredeterminedbytheageofthedeceased,causeofdeath,statusandpositioninsociety,andmaritalstatus.

AccordingtoChinesecustom,aneldershouldnevershowrespecttosomeoneyounger.So,ifthedeceasedisayoungbachelor,forexample,hisbodycannotbebroughthomeandmustremainatthefuneralparlor.Hisparentscannotofferprayerstotheirson,either:

Sincehewasunmarried,hedidnothaveanychildrentowhomhecouldperformthesesamerites.（Thisiswhythebodycannotcomeintothefamilyhome.）Ifaninfantorchilddies,nofuneralritesareperformedeithersincerespectcannotbeshowntoayoungerperson.Thechildisthusburiedinsilence.

Funeralritesforaneldermustfollowaprescribedform:

Ritesbefittingaperson'sstatus,age,etc.,mustbeperformedevenifthismeansthefamilyofthedeceasedwillgointodebt.

Preparationforafuneraloftenbeginsbeforeadeathhasoccurred.Whenapersonisonhis/herdeathbed,acoffinwilloftenhavealreadybeenorderedbythefamily.AtraditionalChinesecoffinisrectangularwiththree'humps',althoughitmorecommoninmoderntimesforawesternstylecoffintobeused.Thecoffinisprovidedbyanundertakerwhooverseesallfuneralrites.

Whenadeathoccursinafamilyallstatuesofdeitiesinthehousearecoveredupwithredpaper（nottobeexposedtothebodyorcoffin）andallmirrorsareremoved（itisbelievedthatonewhoseesthereflectionofacoffininamirrorwillshortlyhaveadeathinhis/herfamily）.Awhiteclothishungoverthedoorwaytothehouseandagongisplacedtotheleftoftheentranceifthedeceasedisamale,andtotherightiffemale.

Beforebeingplacedinthecoffin,thecorpseiscleanedwithadamptoweldustedwithtalcumpowder,anddressedinhis/herbestclothes（allotherclothingofthedeceasedisburned）beforebeingplacedonamat（orhayinruralareas）.Thebodyiscompletelydressed,includingthefootwear,andcosmetics（iffemale）,althoughthecorpseisneverdressedinredclothing（thiswillturnthecorpseintoaghost）.White,black,brownorbluearetheusualcolors.Beforebeingplacedinthecoffinthecorpse'sfaceiscoveredwithayellowclothandthebodywithalightblueone.

 TheWake

Thecoffinisplacedonitsownstandeitherinthehouse（ifthepersondiedathome）orinthecourtyard（ifthepersondiedawayfromhome）.Thecoffinisplacedwiththeheadofthedeceasedfacingtheinsideofthehouse,restingataboutonefootfromthegroundontwostools;wreaths,giftsandaportraitorphotographofthedeceasedareplacedattheheadofthecoffin.Thecoffinisnotsealedduringthewake.Foodisplacedinfrontofthecoffinasanofferingtothedeceased.Thedeceased'scombisbrokenintotwo--onepartisplacedinthecoffinandtheotheriskeptbythefamily.

Duringthewake,thefamilydoesnotwearjewelryorredclothing（redisthecolorofhappiness）.Traditionally,childrenandgrandchildrenofthedeceaseddidnotcuttheirhairfor49daysafterthedeath,butthiscustomisnowusuallyonlyobservedbyoldergenerations.Itiscustomaryforbloodrelativesanddaughters-in-lawtowailandcryduringmourningasasignofrespectandloyaltytothedeceased.Thecriesareparticularlyloudifthedeceasedhasleftalargefortune.

Atthewake,thefamilymembersofthedeceasedgatheraroundthecoffinpositionedaccordingtotheirrankinthefamilyandspecialclothingisworn:

Childrenanddaughters-in-lawwearblack（signifyingthattheygrievethemost）;grandchildren,blue;andgreatgrandchildren,lightblue.Sons-in-lawwearbrightercolors,suchaswhite,sincetheyareconsideredoutsiders.Thechildrenanddaughters-in-lawalsowearahoodofsackclothovertheirheads.Theeldestsonsitsattheleftshoulderofhisparentandthedeceased'sspouseontheright.Relativesarrivinglatermustcrawlontheirkneestowardsthecoffin.

Analtarwhereburningincenseandalitwhitecandleareplacedispositionedatthefootofthecoffin.Josspaperandprayermoney（toprovidethedeceasedwithsufficientincomeintheafterlife）areburnedcontinuouslythroughoutthewake.Funeralguestsarerequiredtolightincenseforthedeceasedandbowasasignofrespecttothefamily.Therewillalsobeadonationboxsincemoneyisalwaysofferedasasignofrespecttothefamilyofthedeceased.Thismoneywillalsohelpthefamilydefraythecostsofthefuneral.

Duringthewakethereisusuallyagroupofpeoplegamblinginthefrontcourtyardofthedeceased'shousebecausethecorpsemustbe"guarded,"andgamblinghelpstheguardsstayawakeduringtheirvigil.Thiscustomalsohelpstolessenthegriefoftheparticipants.

Thelengthofthewakedependsonthefinancialresourcesofthefamily,althoughitshouldbeatleastonedaylongtoallowfortheofferingofprayers.Whilethecoffinisinthehouse（orcompound）amonkwillchantversesfromBuddhistorTaoistscripturesatnight.Itisbelievedthatthesoulsofthedeadfacemanyobstaclesandeventormentandtortureforthesinstheyhavecommittedinlifebeforetheyentertheafterlife:

Prayers,chantingandritualsofferedbythemonkshelpeasethepassageofthedeceased'ssoulintoheaven.Theseprayersareaccompaniedbymusicplayedonthegong,fluteandtrumpet.

 FormoftheFuneralCeremony

Therearetwomaintraditionsobserved:

1.Thefuneralceremonytraditionallylastsover49days--thefirstsevenbeingthemostimportant.Prayersaresaideverysevendaysfor49daysifthefamilycanaffordit.Otherwise,theperiodcanbeshortenedbythreetosevendays.Usually,itistheresponsibilityofthedaughterstobearthefuneralexpenses.Theheadofthefamilyshouldbepresentforatleastthefirstandpossiblythesecondprayerceremony.Thenumberofceremoniesconducteddependsonthefinancialsituationofthefamily.Theheadofthefamilyshouldalsobepresentfortheburialorcremation.

2.Inthesecondtradition,theprayerceremonyisheldevery10days:

Theinitialceremonyandthreesucceedingperiodsof10daysuntilthefinalburialorcremation.

After100daysafinalprayerceremonyisconducted,butthisisoptionalandnotasimportantastheinitialceremonies.

IntheMahayanatraditionofBuddhism,towhichmostChineseBuddhistsbelong,itisbelievedthatbetweendeathandrebirththereisanintermediateperiodcalled"Antarabhava"inSanskritor"Bardo"inTibetan.Itisanimportantperiodthatinfluencestheformthattherebirthwilltake.Ifthefamilyensuresthatproperassistanceintheformofprayerandremembranceceremoniesaredulyperformed,thedepartedwillbemoreequippedforafavorablerebirth.

 FuneralCeremonyandProcession

Whentheprayerceremoniesareover,thewailingofthemournersreachesacrescendoandthecoffinisnailedshut（thisprocessrepresentstheseparationofthedeadfromtheliving）.Thenyellowandwhite"holy"paperispastedonthecoffintoprotectthebodyfrommalignantspirits.Duringthesealingofthecoffinallpresentmustturnawaysincewatchingacoffinbeingsealedisconsideredveryunlucky.Thecoffinisthencarriedawayfromthehouseusingapieceofwoodtiedoverthecoffin,withtheheadofthedeceasedfacingforward.Itisbelievedthatblessingsfromthedeceasedarebestoweduponthepallbearer,sothereareusuallymanyvolunteers.

Thecoffinisnotcarrieddirectlytothecemeterybutisfirstplacedonthesideoftheroadoutsidethehousewheremoreprayersareofferedandpaperisscattered.Thecoffinisthenplacedintoahearsethatmovesveryslowlyforonemile（morerarely,itiscarriedforamile）,withtheeldestsonandfamilymembersfollowingbehindwiththeirheadstouchingthehearse.Iftherearemanyrelatives,awhitepieceofclothisusedtolinkthehearsetofamilymembersbehind.Theorderofthefuneralprocessionfollowsthestatusofthefamilymembers.Awhitepieceofclothistiedtovehiclesaccompanyingthehearse,orawhitepieceofpapercanbepastedontheirwindshields.Theeldestsonusuallysitsnexttothecoffin.Along,litjossstickisheldthroughoutthejourney,symbolizingthesoulofthedeceased;itisrelitimmediatelyifitgoesout.Occasionally,papermodelsofsuchobjectsascars,statues,ships,etc.,arecarriedduringtheprocessiontosymbolizethewealthofthedeceased'sfamily.Iftheprocessionmustcrossabodyofwater,thedeceasedmustbeinformedofthissinceitisbelievedthatanuninformedsoulwillnotbeabletocrosswater.

 TheBurial

ChinesecemeteriesaregenerallylocatedonhillsidessincethisisthoughttoimproveFengshui（geomanticomen）.Thehigheragraveislocated,thebetter.Atthegraveside,whenthecoffinistakendownfromthehearseandloweredintotheground,allpresentmustturnaway.Familymembersandotherrelativesthrowahandfulofearthintothegravebeforeitisfilled.Afterthefuneral,allofclotheswornbythemournersareburnedtoavoidbadluckassociatedwithdeath.Afterthecoffinisburied,thekeeperofthecemeterywillalsoofferprayerstothedeceased.Familymembersandrelativesarepresentedwitharedpacket（asignofgratitudefromthedeceased'sfamily,andthemoneyinitmustbespent）.Awhitetowelisalsoasignofgratitudealthoughitisalsousedbyfuneralgueststowipeawayperspiration.

Theeldestso