Funeral Customs

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

Funeral customs differ in time and location. There are different customs in different regions of China, among which inhumation is very common. Usually for this kind of funeral, the family members of the dead shall wear mourning dresses, which shall be made in five different materials according to how close the relationship is with the dead. This is called "five-rank sable". A funeral hall shall be 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. Usually the memorial ceremony will last for over seven days. 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 of funeral procession, Taoists are invited to chant scriptures for one to seven days so as to release the soul from purgatory. After the burial, the offspring of the deceased shall guard in the funeral hall day and night or in front of the tomb for some time, which is called "to observe mourning". 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.