Chinese funerals...‏

Hi:

I see in all my notes from our trip that I never explained to you about Chinese funerals! We saw 3 of them on the trip and the guide explained - in detail.
At a Chinese funeral, all the family members and those attending the funeral, wear white. And they all wear a wide, white head band on their heads too.
They usually hold the funeral at a public place - at a local restaurant where a "funeral feast" is held. But, wherever they have the funeral, there are large white
banners hung to signify there is a funeral. There is also alot of paper money for the dead person to take on his or her "journey" to spend. The
Chinese worry that their loved ones will need money in the next life and on their journey there and that is the reason for the play, paper,money. At one of the
funerals we saw, there was a large, white, life sized paper horse for the departed one to ride on his journey to the next world. Sometimes there
is a paper rabbit to take on the journey also. There are also some of the dead persons favorite clothes or even some new clothes for the departed
to wear on the journey.

All these symbols are gathered and placed beside the casket for everyone to see. As soon as the short viewing is over, EVERYTHING is burned.....
The horse, the play money, the rabbit, the clothes - even the persons body is burned.....
Then the ashes are put in a jar and buried.
A stone tablet is placed over the grave with the persons name carved on it, as well as his family members names.

Every year, on the anniversary of the death, the family visits the grave. They take the dead persons favorite foods and leave the dead person a generous
serving of his favorite food. There are many dishes prepared for the dead person and the family meets after the food is delivered to the grave,and has a
feast.

These customs are the way the older generation of China celebrate death. The younger generation doesn't feel it is necessary to continue the ancient
customs. How sad that this custom is only still practiced in the small ethnic villages. I think the Chinese way of death and burial is interesting and I
was fascinated with the ritual.
The Chinese, interestingly, believe in life after death. This really fascinated me. They believe that the departed one can influence family members and
that he could possibly be "re-born" as something or someone else. They are very superstitious.

This all was so interesting to me and I just wanted to share it with you as well.

Much Love,
Mom