In rural areas of Henan, it usually takes three days to do business. The day before a loved one dies, no matter sooner or later, counts as one day. Even if you die after 11 o'clock in the evening, as long as it does not exceed 12 o'clock, it will be counted as one day. Well, the next day was very stressful. When a loved one dies, a "funeral committee" is immediately established. The so-called "funeral committee", which we call lawyers in rural areas, is often composed of respected elders in the village or brigade leaders. First, the funeral is announced, which is often carried out by juniors or neighbors. The women began to buy various mourning cloths, and the carpenters began to draw ropes and ink, use axes and chisels, and make coffins. On the night of the first day, relatives from all families began to visit the deceased and cried loudly to express their grief and condolences.
If you prepare well on the first day, the next morning will be basically fine. The ringer team came the next evening. They usually start eating with a few clicks of ticking before dinner. After the meal, the performance of the ringer officially began. Generally, two classes of ringer classes are hired. In the previous rural areas, there were no entertainment programs at night. Almost all the men, women, and children in the village went into battle and surrounded two groups of ringers on three floors inside and three floors outside. It was so lively. But not anymore. After the ringer starts, there are usually only a few people in twos and threes, which is sparse and boring. One winter, one of my cousins ??watched the trumpet by himself and lit a fire until half past nine in the evening. Because he was angry with the loudspeaker class, they could earn seven to eight hundred yuan just by playing casually for half an hour at night. It’s so easy to make money! Did the owner's money come from the strong wind? The host who holds the funeral often places a chair not far from the ringer, and a pair of shoes worn by the deceased in front of the chair, which is meant to let the deceased watch the show. Relatives from each family should pay their respects in the memorial shed in the courtyard of the main house.
The third day is the most stressful. Before twelve o'clock in the morning, relatives and friends who wanted to express their condolences arrived one after another. Those who deserved a gift were given a gift, and those who deserved a "Jilier" were given a "Jilier". The so-called "Ji Lier" is a small piece of white cloth used by mourners to wipe their tears. Most of them become rags afterwards. If you are a man, no matter your age, you can still get a pack of cigarettes. Relatives and relatives need to be greeted by filial sons in person. This is a great test of whether children are filial. Under normal circumstances, when filial sons cry, the maternal family will choose to forgive or praise them. However, if the children are too unfilial, their parents' family will scold them and make them look embarrassed in public. Therefore, no filial son dares to neglect when welcoming his mother's family. After seeing their mother's family, each one cried more sadly than the other. As soon as the maternal family arrives, the memorial ceremony officially begins. There are those who offer sacrifices to Qin Jiu Kowtow, those who offer sacrifices to Lan Jiu Kowtow, and those who bow three times. If they are important relatives, there are sacrifices worth twenty-four bucks. After twenty-four kowtows, it takes more than 40 minutes for one person. Therefore, at this time, the lawyer will often come forward and announce that anyone who offers twenty-four kowtows must first pay a gift ranging from one to two hundred yuan. It can usually scare off some eager worshippers.
The memorial ceremony usually takes one or two hours, followed by a meal. Eating is done quickly and quickly, not as steadily and unhurriedly as when eating at a red event. In less than an hour, the meal was over. The spirit worship ceremony officially began. After some playing, the spirit began to change. Nowadays, some even hire people with crying spirits. Finally, the filial sons perform a memorial ceremony, usually the eldest son breaks the basin. Then went to the cemetery. There is still a simple memorial ceremony at the cemetery, followed by burial.
On the fourth day, filial sons will go to their parents’ home to express their gratitude. After that, there are the first seven, five and seven, etc.
This is what we do here in rural Shanghai
1-If the body is not found in the hospital, it will be taken directly to the funeral parlor. If the body is not found at home, the body will be placed at home and a mourning hall will be set up. .
2-Family members and friends from the village kept a vigil for three nights.
3-On the funeral day, relatives and villagers go to the crematorium together. The funeral parlor will host the funeral procession and the relatives will attend the funeral procession and lay the coffin in the coffin. And hosted a memorial meeting. The body was cremated.
5-Family members take the urn.
6-After returning from the funeral home, take the urn home and place it in the mourning hall, or directly put it into the purchased cemetery. If there is a seventh day, choose a certain seventh day and let the relatives organize the placement.
7-Burning bed utensils. After returning to the funeral home, relatives and friends come to the countryside to burn symbolic beds, household appliances, and daily utensils for the deceased. And evacuated the mourning hall.
8-Do seven, every week, do "seven" as a commemoration. Seventy-seven forty-nine days. The placement of the urn and the evacuation hall can also be adjusted in "Seven".
9-100 days. The 100th day is also a commemoration day, and the placement of the urn and the evacuation of the mourning hall can also be scheduled on this day.
10-Winter Solstice, anniversary, eat whatever you have, and freeze overnight if you don’t have anything.
11-Qingming Festival.
12-Weeping in mourning, showing filial piety, etc., will not be repeated one by one.
There has always been a tradition of elaborate burials in the surrounding areas of Chengdu. The funerals of the elderly are often more grand than the weddings of the young. Although cremation is now practiced, funeral rituals are becoming more and more simplified, and the religious color is getting lighter and lighter. However, funerals for older people are generally called "happy funerals", and the lively atmosphere has not been diluted much. Relatives, neighbors The tradition of cooperative funerals has been carried on. Although there are similar differences, generally the following procedures are indispensable:
1. Crying in mourning.
As soon as an old man passes away, the relatives around him will cry, burn paper money, and set off firecrackers, which means to send his soul and notify nearby villagers to come to express condolences and help with the funeral.
2. Please be honest. On the day of the death of an old man, the bereaved family should send someone to send the birth date and death time of the deceased to Duan Gong (Mr. Yin and Yang) to calculate the cremation time and burial time.
4. Cremation. After an old person dies, he is usually cremated the next day and buried in about a week. During this period, neighbors, relatives and friends came to express their condolences, and the bereaved family was provided with banquets every day.
5. Do a dojo. Funeral arrangements for the elderly generally depend on the wealth of the family. Rich people will invite monks and Taoist priests to chant sutras and create "dojos" to transcend the souls of the dead and ascend to the Paradise of Paradise early. Most families also invite bands to perform or perform singing, dancing, and folk arts.
6. Burial. The funeral and burial are the climax of the whole funeral. When the funeral time comes, the salutes are fired, the band leads the way, colorful flags and wreaths, the memorial tablets and portraits, followed by the funeral procession, the scene is very heavy and spectacular.
7. Festival. After the elderly are buried, worship activities such as "May 7th", "Hundred Days", and "Anniversary" must be held.
Different locales and customs, and there are various customs for doing white things in different places. Take Ankang, Shaanxi Province as an example. The emphasis on doing business is similar to that in Hubei and Chongqing, but different from northern Shaanxi and Guanzhong. 1. It is necessary to play "night drumming", which is a kind of local opera sung by folk bands. The mourning process lasts all night, with all relatives accompanying the mourner, and many procedures must be done according to the rules. . 2. A filial son wears a filial piety cloth on his head, but generally does not wear filial piety clothes. 3. Ask an elder or a person who understands etiquette in the village to be the "host", that is, the master of ceremonies. 4. When hosting a banquet, the banquet usually consists of eight cold dishes, eight hot dishes, five meat dishes, four vegetarian dishes, and eight large items. 5. Ask a Feng Shui master to help you choose auspicious places. 6. The traditional grave head is made of local materials and stones, shaped like a nose. It is a standard "nose grave", which is different from the "chair grave" in the south.
Folk funeral customs include the following:
1. Mortuary ceremony: He was moved to the funeral bed in the bright room of the main room and spent the last days of his life under the protection of relatives. At this time, this is called "quite sad".
2. The funeral ceremony: The funeral ceremony can be said to be the first ceremony after death. It uses signaling to inform relatives, friends and villagers of the death.
3. Soul-calling and soul-sending rituals: The soul that dies in a foreign country cannot find its way back. Unless his family "calls the soul" for him and makes him hear the voice that is looking forward to him, he can Follow the sound back.
4. Doing the 'Seven' ceremony: People believe that people do not know that they are dead until seven days after death, so they have to hold a "Doing the Seven" ceremony. There is a sacrifice every seven days, and "Seven Seven" is forty-nine. Genius over. This is mainly influenced by Buddhism and Taoism.
5. Condolence ceremony: Generally, mourners carry clothes and quilts given to the deceased, and use pins to hang a note with the words "To so-and-so" written in a brush on it
6. Ceremony of burial: There are "big lantern" and "small lantern". Xiaolian refers to dressing the deceased, and "big coffin" refers to collecting the corpse into the coffin. It is commonly known as "gui big house" among the Han people.
7. Mourning ceremony: In the funeral ceremony, the younger generation wears mourning clothes for the elders mainly to express filial piety and condolences. This originally came from Zhou Rites and was a Confucian etiquette system. Later, it was extended to mean "exoneration" for the deceased.
8. Funeral day ceremony: According to superstition, if a person dies on a strong day, he should be buried on a soft day; if a person dies on a soft day, he should be buried on a strong day. The strong and soft days should match. Only good ones
9. Crying ceremony: Crying is a major feature of Chinese funeral customs. The mourning ceremony runs throughout the funeral ceremony, and there are as many as several large scenes. The crying ceremony during the funeral is the most important, so in some places there is a custom of asking people to help cry.
10. Burial ceremony: This is the last moment of the deceased's stay in the world, and it is usually very solemn.
Funeral customs are an integral part of culture and Chinese culture! There are many kinds of funeral customs adapted to local conditions, but one of them remains the same. Our ancestors believed that death is the beginning of another existence, so they tried their best to meet the conditions of life to meet another better beginning!
Wuhan: The spectacle of tomb-sweeping during the Qingming Festival
Whenever before and after the Qingming Festival, the usually deserted and quiet cemetery areas such as Shimen Peak, Biandan Mountain, and Jiufeng suddenly become lively. The sound of cars, firecrackers, cries, laughter, and the shouts of vendors selling incense, paper thread, and food can be heard everywhere. The mountain was filled with smoke, dots of fire, and crowds of people from the foot of the mountain to the top, forming a unique custom of worship and sweeping in Wuhan.