Funeral Custom in China

2009-2-12 16:55:00

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Funeral procession

"Funeral" is a ritual for lamenting the deceased and the way to treat the remains. Funeral customs are very important to the Chinese.

Funeral custom differs by time and location. Inhumation is very common. Usually the family members of the dead shall wear mourning dresses, which shall be made in different materials according to how close the relationship is with the dead. A funeral hall is arranged in the house, with scrolls of cloth hung up and elegiac couplets pasted. Then relatives, friends and neighbors may condole in front of the coffin in the funeral hall. For the part of encoffinment, funeral procession and burial, geomancer is often invited to choose the "lucky day and hour" and the ideal place for burial. At the very night ahead of funeral procession, Taoists are invited to chant scriptures so as to release the soul from purgatory. Other than inhumation mentioned above, cremation, "water burial", "open burial" and "hanging-coffin burial" were also practiced in ancient China.

The funeral rites in China are originated from the concept of undying spirit and the worship for ancestors. The Confucian School regards funeral rites as embodiment of ethics. Buddhism, which is popular in China, even takes death as the start of reincarnation. Because of this, corresponding elements are added into funeral.