Funeral Rituals Life and death are important events in life, especially "death" is the end of life. As the saying goes, "Death is the most important thing, mourning should be done with etiquette." This shows the importance of funeral etiquette. Taiwanese people's concept of death is the immortality of the soul, and they believe that human beings are the combination of body and soul. After death, the body returns to dust, but the soul leaves the body and exists in the universe. At the same time, the soul will protect its descendants. Therefore, these descendants must fulfill their filial piety, and after death, their descendants must offer sacrifices. Generally speaking, funeral ceremonies in Taiwan can be roughly divided into the following parts:
1. Deathbed
(1) "Moving": When the illness is serious and critical, the patient is moved from the bed room to the bed room. The temporary plank bed in the main hall is called a moving bunk or a sleeping bunk. When a man or a woman is older than middle age and has a spouse or an heir who dies, it is said to be "end of life." According to ancient rituals, men sleep in the open bed and women sleep in the inner room. However, men moved the bunk to the front (right side) of the main hall, and women moved to the side. If so, I just moved to the main hall, thinking that the deceased could die peacefully in the best place at home. According to the custom, if the deceased is sleeping on the bed, the dead soul will be trapped in the hammock and cannot be transcended. Therefore, if a minor dies young, although he does not move to the main hall, he will also move to the ground in front of the bed. If there are elders in the family, they will not move to the main hall but to the side room. When someone is moved, it is known that he will pass away from this world, and his family members are called to leave a last word and distribute his belongings. This is called the "breakup money" and he instructs his family members to prepare for the funeral.
(2) "Soul Silk": After death, the deceased is covered with a "water quilt" (white cloth with red silk sewn in the center), with silver paper or stone as a pillow. They also offer "Jiwei rice" (a bowl of rice with a duck egg on top and a pair of chopsticks) at the feet of the deceased, burn silver paper, and light incense and candles to provide for his food and travel expenses, and to light his way. In addition, the name of the deceased and the date of death are written on thick paper or white cloth as a temporary memorial tablet for "soul silk", which is placed in the corner of the main hall. Candles and incense are burned, which is called "soul silk". He also removed the Tiangong stove in the hall and covered the spiritual tablets of gods and ancestors with cloth (this was restored to its original state after the coffin was placed). Other items include breaking one of the bowls, pasting a white paper diagonally on the door couplet, and burning paper to make a small sedan chair. Announcement of death to heaven, placing an incense burner in front of the door, etc. are all signs of bereavement.
(3) "Opening the Path to the Soul": When you are in a dying state or after death, ask a Taoist monk to recite the sutra "Opening the Path to the Soul", and the Taoist monk will make a "flag" "Zai", the male is green, the female is yellow, three or four feet long white cloth, write the name of the deceased, the date of birth and death, and hang it on a leafy bamboo branch. The flag is held by the bereaved eldest son during the funeral as a symbol of leadership and is burned when the deceased is buried.
(4) "Begging for Water": After death, family members wear mourning clothes and go to the river to "beg for water." That is to say, throwing a chopper and throwing copper coins into the water means buying water. After the water is returned from begging, a white cloth is dipped in it with a bamboo end, and the "lucky person" who has both parents wipes the deceased, or imitates it as a ritual.
(5) "Shaving the Head": A haircut on a male corpse is called "head shaving". Asking a barber to do it is also called "shaving a dead head". The price is ten times higher than that of a living person. Above, you must use red envelopes to ask for good luck. When a female corpse is dressed, the eldest daughter-in-law must kneel down and cry and comb it respectfully, but it is forbidden to drop tears on the dead body.
(6) "Changing Shrouds": Then the deceased is washed and changed into shrouds, called "pullovers". They are broken off using a pick, one piece is thrown on the road, and the other is placed on the road. Inside the coffin. The shroud for the deceased is the "Zhang Lao shirt and jeans" donated by his children on the deceased's birthday. The girl's shroud is the "white cloth shirt and white cloth skirt" worn during the wedding. There should be at least five shrouds and up to thirteen shrouds, but the number must be odd and not even. Because funerals can only be carried out singly and not in pairs to avoid inauspiciousness, the burden must be borne by the filial daughter.
(7) "Pumping the longevity": After changing the shroud, there is also the custom of "drawing the longevity". The bereaved family eats noodles cooked with brown sugar (also known as brown sugar). Glycogen is used for auspicious events, but sugar is used for funerals. This is a pretext to turn bad luck into good luck, so it is commonly known as longevity. It is said that the age of the deceased can be added to the life span of his descendants, which is a good omen.
(8) "Crying on the Road": When someone dies in the family, family members should be gathered to mourn loudly beside the deceased. However, before death, no matter what, you cannot cry in front of the patient to avoid accidents. Stimulate. When crying, you should take off your hat and shoes. Women should take off their hair ornaments and remove the wooden blocks under the soles of their shoes. Men should also take off their shoe leather and jewelry. Close relatives should also remove all jewelry. Wear plain clothes. The man is numbered to the east of the deceased's bed, and the woman is to the west of the bed. A married daughter, after hearing the obituary, immediately runs back to her parents' home in plain clothes. As she approaches her home, she hears people wailing along the way. The married daughter, after hearing the obituary, immediately dressed in plain clothes. At this time, everyone was filled with sadness, and the whole room was filled with wailing. Most of the wailing content was complaining about why the deceased did not live long.
(9) "Scared Cat": When the body temperature has not completely cooled down, you must position your limbs and body, and avoid being approached by cats. Because cats are tigers, if a cat jumps over the body, it will The corpse will stand up and carry away other things, so the room where the corpse is placed must be guarded by someone. If unfortunately a cat jumps over the corpse, the corpse will stand up. At this time, throw a scale stick or a hand to hold it and let the dead person hold it. If you stay, the dead person will return to his original downward posture.
(10) "Reporting to the Grandfather": The maternal grandfather is the great-grandfather on the mother's side. After the mother dies, the children will take the half-turned white cloth to their parents' home to report the death to the grandfather. This is commonly known as "Reporting to the Grandfather" ”.
After the grandfather learned the news, he immediately took the dove to the deceased's house. The tablecloth in front of the door was turned over. The children of the deceased greeted the grandfather outside the door. This was called "reporting to the grandfather." The grandfather wanted to ask about the cause of death. If If there is anything suspicious or if care is not taken well enough to lead to death, the descendants can be whipped with hand canes. This shows that the maternal grandfather has great power. If the maternal grandfather cannot come, other relatives can take his place. The grandpa can only be buried after he has entered the funeral home.
(11) "Shou Pu": From the time after the death to the time when the coffin is placed, the funeral director and others serve on the side of the deceased's pavilion and are called "Shou Pu" to show their filial piety. In addition, after the coffin is placed, the bereaved family also sleeps next to the coffin, which is commonly known as "Wood in the Trapped Coffin"
(12) "Sending Gifts and Respecting": Before a person dies, relatives and relatives pay homage to him, which is commonly known as "Sending Gifts and Respecting". That is to say, burn incense in front of the deceased. During the funeral, only two incense sticks can be burned. Relatives and friends should use elegiac couplets, elegiac curtains, large silver candles, and cakes as gifts (white candles, silver paper, cakes, incense sticks, etc., should be wrapped in white paper). ) leads to mourning.
(13) "Buy a birthday plate": When buying a coffin, avoid saying "buy a coffin" and instead say "buy a big house" or "buy a birthday plate" for good luck. On the way to transport the coffin, silver paper and small red cloth strips need to be left at bridges and crossroads, which is called "paper placement". Paper should also be placed during funeral ceremonies. The coffin was brought back, gold-burned paper was used to "receive the coffin" and it was brought into the hall.
(14) "Qian for Besieging the Treasury": After receiving the coffin, perform the ritual of "Money for Besieging the Treasury". The treasury money or "portable treasury", that is, the ghost coin, is burned by the bereaved family and made of paper by the treasury officials and treasury officials. The money from the treasury was burned, and the ashes were later buried beside the tomb. When encircling the treasury, more money must be burned. This is to entrust the deceased to other families who have left early. This is commonly known as "sending the treasury".
(15) "Hanging Miao": The bereaved family uses white paper to "hang filial piety" on the doorpost, with the deceased father posting it diagonally on the left, the deceased mother posting it diagonally on the right, and an "obituary white" posted outside the door, indicating the deceased. Name, date of birth and death.
2. Encoffining
Encoffining means "putting the body into the coffin". The body is placed in the main hall for a day or two. Ask the Taoist priest to choose a time to put the body into the coffin. The time is very important. The order of the coffin is as follows:
(1) "Farewell to Life": Inside the coffin, twelve kinds of vegetable bowls are prepared for offering sacrifices to the deceased, which is called "Farewell to Life". This is a ritual to express farewell to the deceased. In the ritual, the Taoist priest takes various kinds of food as if giving food and recites auspicious words.
(2) "Let go of the remaining money": There is a custom of "letting go of the remaining money" (leaving the money after death) before burial. It is commonly known as "Let go of the remaining money, and you will be rich for thousands of years." It is considered a good sign that the deceased will leave money for his descendants after his death. Then before placing the coffin, a certain amount of money should be deposited in the god of the deceased, poured into a vessel, and then taken out to distribute among the descendants. The meaning of "breaking up money" or (breaking up things) before death has the same meaning. The relics such as gold ornaments, clothing, money, etc. are distributed, and the descendants cherish them very much.
(3) "Cut": In the funeral custom of "cutting", one end of a long hemp is tied to the deceased, and the other end is held by each survivor, and the Taoist priest reads auspicious verses, and then The silk is cut off one by one, and then each person wraps the linen silk in his hand into silver paper and burns it. In this way, he can cut off contact with the dead soul and avoid being disturbed from now on.
(4) "Wash": Also during funerals, Taoist priests put black sesame oil in a basin of water, and each bereaved family dips their fingers into the water under the eyebrows. This is commonly known as "washing", which means clean. This custom is used when carrying coffins, leaving funerals, and doing meritorious deeds.
(5) "Collecting Crows": Putting the coffin in and asking Taoist priests to offer sacrifices is called "Collecting Crows". The procedure is as follows:
(1): Grass should be placed at the bottom of the coffin. The silk is used to absorb moisture from the corpse.
(2): Burnt ashes are also placed on top of the grass shreds to absorb the moisture from the corpse.
(3): Put silver paper on the ashes to pay for travel expenses. On the silver paper, there is money from the treasury in heaven, which is also the money used to go to the underworld.
(4): Put "Qixing Fang", which is a thin board with seven stars written on it. The seven stars represent Tai Chi.
(5): Put peach branches, because the souls of the dead have a long journey to the underworld and may encounter evil dogs, and peach branches can be used to drive away evil.
(6): Putting a stone in the coffin means that people will be resurrected after death, but ghosts are not people. Out of fear, they put a stone in the coffin, which means that they must wait until the stone rots. Resurrection, of course, is impossible.
(7): Put a hard-boiled egg, the same principle as above, wait until the soy sauce koji sprouts and revives.
(8): Put a bowl of soy sauce koji, the same principle as above, wait until the soy sauce koji sprouts and then revive.
(9): Put "trailer pants", which are pants worn when climbing. Cut a shape out of white cloth, and one side must be sewn right and the other side must be sewn wrong. This is because the souls of the dead are heading to the underworld. On the way to mountain climbing, if you encounter a devil, just take out your pants and throw them on the road. When the devil finds the pants, he will definitely put them on, but because one side is sewn wrong, it will take a lot of time for the devil to put them on, and the ghost will wear them. Will not be caught by the devil.
(10): Place a "chicken pillow", which is a pillow made of red and white cloth with silver paper in the middle.
(11): Place gold vessels and precious stones next to the corpse to encourage descendants to wash the bones of the deceased in the future.
(12): Put a "water quilt", that is, a quilt, to cover the deceased.
(13): Put the "covering flag", which is a white cloth made by Taoist priests. The length is the same as the coffin wood. If the deceased has several children, they tear it into several strips and put the remaining parts on In the coffin.
(14): Put silver paper.
(6) "Coffin Laying": Because the burial must be carried out on an auspicious day and in an auspicious place, the coffin is left standing for a long time, which is called "coffin laying" or "coffin holding". After the burial, the servants painted the coffin many times to prevent moisture and leakage, which is commonly known as "bucketing". Later, this kind of oil painting was repeated during the ten-day sacrifice.
3. Living in mourning
The bereaved family begins mourning when the deceased died, which is called "living in mourning". The deceased’s humble members must take off their hats and shoes, with their hair disheveled and barefoot. Women must take off their body ornaments and colorful clothes. Men should not wear leather shoes or fancy clothes. Men and women should wear mourning clothes according to their seniority. Wear a hemp crown.
A filial son who is in mourning is not allowed to have a haircut, couples are not allowed to have sex, they are not allowed to visit friends, attend wedding banquets and visit temples, etc. Such mourning customs are especially strict before the burial, and continue until the "department of the spirit". Observe it to show filial piety.
(1) "Wearing Filial Piety": The filial piety clothes for mourning are as follows: "hemp" - linen cloth. Children, daughters-in-law, and eldest grandchildren use it. " Ramie "── Ramie cloth. Grandchildren, nephews and nephews use it. "Shallow" - shallow cloth. Used by great-grandchildren and their peers. "Yellow" - yellow cloth. Great-great-grandson and his contemporaries. "Red" - red cloth. The son of Zhixuan Sun used it. (The color red used in funerals comes from the fact that the deceased has five generations of descendants, which means it is used as an honor.) "White" - white cloth. It is used by the deceased’s peers and relatives. For filial piety hats, adults carry a "straw hoop" (a mourning cloth wrapped with a rope), and children wear a "libao" (a mourning cloth folded into a hat shape). Filial piety shoes, men wear straw sandals, and women wear mourning cloths sewn on cloth shoes. Because of the importance of filial piety, men wear it in four colors: white, blue, green and yellow. They wear it with a small ball sewn with wool. Men wear it on their left wrist, and women tie it in their hair. After "removing the spirit", the colors are changed one by one, from "coarse filial piety" to "young filial piety", which is called "changing filial piety". When mourning one's parents, one must wear linen clothes for up to a hundred days without beheading or shaving one's head. After a hundred days, he began to shave his hair. Use linen strips to bind your wrists, replace them with white cloth strips at the age of seventy, and "take off your filial piety" at the age of 100 days. When a daughter gets married, the way to pay filial piety is usually to send "money at the end of the hand" on the family's memorial table, and only bring it when she returns to offer sacrifices.
(2) "Lamp": Funeral lamps are collectively referred to as "Lamp". Including "gate lamp", "orange lamp", "filial piety lamp", "red lamp" and "wealth lamp".
4. Funeral
Funeral burial (commonly known as "out of the mountain"). Since ancient times, Taiwanese people have mostly used "burial" and rarely used cremation. This is because people believe that the deceased can "lay in peace". Later, the government once It is stipulated that people who died of infectious diseases must be cremated. This is to avoid the spread of infectious diseases. As a result, many people secretly bury those who died of infectious diseases. Originally, not many people cremated them in their last wishes, because it was stipulated that all people with infectious diseases should be cremated. Cremation, and some poor families changed burial to cremation due to money problems, so cremation gradually became more common. This is because people who disappeared or drowned died and their bodies could not be found. The relics are used to attract the soul for burial.
The burial is usually presided over by a monk or a Taoist priest, and the date is determined by the date master.
(1) "Coffin Turning": The coffin is moved to a place outside the door for the farewell ceremony, which is called "turning the coffin." If it is midnight, the coffin has to be moved slightly and then moved out after dawn.
(2 ) "Qi Chai Tou": or "Qi Chai Tou", it is to offer "five animals" to the coffin. The five animals are presented by the descendants of the deceased. If the spouse of the deceased is deceased, the sacrifices must be in pairs. If the spouse is still alive, the sacrifice ceremony only needs to be completed in order. There should be several tables in front of the coffin, and the five sacrifices given by the bereaved and the gifts from relatives should be arranged. Candles and incense should be lit on the front table. At this time, the filial man will kneel down three times and bow down nine times, and other bereaved family members will also kneel down and bow down. After the worship, the mourner will kneel under the table and bow down to the grandfather, son-in-law, and grandson-in-law. "Sheng" (master of ceremonies) should stand at the offering table and preside over the ceremony. Those who kneel should also obey his orders, and direct the grandfather, son-in-law, and grandson-in-law to kneel down three times and pray nine times. When they kneel down for the second time, put the rice koji in the bow. Adding wine to the washbasin is a "libation". Next, the ceremonial ceremony should be for the grandfather, son-in-law, and grandson-in-law. They should kneel down three times and pray nine times and cry. The shape is commonly known as "spraying powder", which means these people's Crying is ironic, so some people jokingly call it "spraying". After the dusting, the mourner will pray behind the kneelers and finally bow to the mourner.
(3) "Sealing Nails": After chanting sutras, the monk or Taoist will put the lid on the coffin and nail a long nail on each end, which is called "Sealing Nails". If the deceased is the mother, it will be done by a relative. When nailing, the person in the temple who is not able to speak will be asked to say good things. If the person who "sealed the nails" is the father, he or she will have a good person or peer to say the good words. Like nailing, there is also a red envelope. The last nail to be nailed is called the "child nail". It needs to be nailed down gently, and then the bereaved person bites it off, and cuts off a little bit of the coffin, and puts it together on the coffin table. Keep it in the incense stove and wait for two days before throwing it away. When sealing the nail, the Taoist recited the following auspicious words: ??
A little bit of Eastern Jiayi wood, the descendants will live in blessings for generations.
Two points. Bing and Ding fire in the south, descendants will be given away from generation to generation. ??
Rengui River in the north at four o'clock, the descendants will be rich and powerful from generation to generation. ??
Wuji soil is in the center of the five o'clock, and the longevity of descendants is like Peng Zu.
(4) "Turning the Coffin": After the nails are set, the Taoist priest will sound the bells and cymbals as a guide to guide the dutiful man and the dutiful woman to circle the coffin three times, which is called "Twisting the Coffin". Whether the dutiful woman is turning the coffin or When the coffin is being rotated, everyone leans on the coffin to cry, while the dutiful man kneels on the ground.
(5) "Hanged Coffin": After the coffin is rotated, wooden sticks are taken and placed on the coffin, tied with hemp rope, which is called "Hanged Coffin". After hanging the coffin, the "coffin cover" is made, which is to cover the coffin with something, usually embroidery of flowers and characters, plus five-color "cloth balls", which looks quite beautiful. Nowadays, felt is used as the coffin cover. Mostly.
(6) "Weeping Coffin with Firewood": Before the funeral, the mourning woman in mourning clothes leans on the coffin and cries, which is called "Weeping with Firewood in Coffin".
(7) "Hanging Sacrifice": When raising firewood, the maternal grandfather's son-in-law and others offered sacrifices and "hanging sacrifices". In this regard, the bereaved family will consider the cost and respond with a gift in excess of the amount.
(8) "Fa Yin": Fa Yin is to carry the coffin to the cemetery. After the hanging ceremony, the funeral procession began. Generally, four or eight people carry the coffin. If the coffin is very large, it will take ten or twenty-four people to carry it. There are also coffins that can be carried by thirty-six people.
(9) "Burial": It means burial. When burying, the coffin is first placed in front of the tomb, with the man on the right side and the woman on the left side of the coffin. They mourn and say goodbye. Then the monks chanted sutras, and then drilled a hole in the coffin to allow air to flow in, so that the corpse in the coffin could communicate with the earth and earth in the ground. This is called "releasing the bolt".
(10) "Jian Ling": "An Ling" means to bring the soul of the deceased home after the burial and temporarily place it on the funeral table. At this time, Offerings must be prepared, Taoist monks chant sutras, and perform rituals to calm the spirit. The bereaved family members must also burn incense, worship, and cry. Until the spirit is removed, they must burn incense, worship, and cry twice a day, morning and evening.
5. Do Xun
After the burial, in addition to "filial piety rice" every morning and evening, a ten-day drink offering is held every seven days, which is called "Do Xun". The conditions of each ten-day sacrifice are as follows:
(1) "Tou Xun": The seventh day is called "Tou Xun": Legend has it that people only know that they are dead on the seventh day after death, and the soul of the dead will return. Weeping at home, the bereaved family began to cry at midnight, and at noon the next day they made offerings, burned gold paper and cried. During the first ten days, the son of the deceased offered sacrifices and invited monks and Taoists to chant sutras in front of the spirit. To "open the way to the soul", Taoist monks hold Dharma confessions and usually set up altars at the funeral home (the first, second, fourth and sixth ten days are small days, so drink offerings are omitted.
(2) "Hundred Days" 》: The sacrifices made one hundred days after death are called "making a hundred days". The Qianzao people invited monks and Taoist priests to hold grand offerings. The poor just placed offerings in front of the soul, and their descendants worshiped and cried. On this day, they should From "coarse filial piety" to "young filial piety"
(3) "The Year of Doing": The sacrifice one year after death is called "The Year of Doing". On this day, the married daughter will come back to pay tribute. Sacrifices are made, but Taoist priests are not invited. After dawn, everyone takes off their mourning clothes together.
(4) "Removing Spirits": In the last ten days of the year, or "doing a hundred days" or "doing the right year". It is an ancient custom that on the day after the funeral, the bereaved women change into plain clothes and go to the temple to pay incense before going home to pay respects to their relatives. /p>
(5) "Hezao": After the funeral, part of the deceased's incense burner is placed in the ancestor's incense burner, and part of the deceased's incense burner is placed in the ancestor's incense burner, and is worshiped together with the ancestor's tablet. Some people also burn the memorial tablets of newly deceased people and write the words on the big plaques. The time of Hezao is in June in the first half of the year or in October in the second half of the year. Since "Hezao" is a funeral, most people don't do it. I wish to do it during the Chinese New Year. In some places, it takes three years to remove the spirit and combine the soul.
(6) "Scavenging Bones": Picking up bones means "washing bones". After burial, a certain process is carried out. When the time comes, the bones should be dug out, dried and exposed to the sun, and then placed in the "golden bucket". Bone washing is a folk custom in Taiwan. It is also necessary to choose an auspicious day and ask the local man to pick up the bones and place them in the "golden bucket". At this time, the skull should be facing up and wrapped in cotton, and the thin bones should be wrapped in red paper. If the meat on the bones is completely rotten, it means auspiciousness. On the contrary, if it is a mummy or there is uncorrupted meat, it means It is not good for future generations. There are certain regulations on the time for bone washing. Minors under the age of 16 should not do it; those under 30 should do it five years after the burial; around the age of 40, it should be done six years after the burial; Those who are older than six, eight, or twelve years after burial are proportional to their age. However, people with "broken bones" (people with bad birth dates) did not pick up bones. In ancient agricultural societies, the pace of life was slow. , so many life rituals and customs are done one by one. However, in today's industrial and commercial society, everything is timely, so the above customs are much simpler. The so-called "simple and solemn" is enough. Avoiding complexity and luxury is the way to live in today's world.