Mortuary Customs and Ritual of Han People in China

Traditionally speaking, the funeral of Han people in China is mostly the elaborate funeral. And of course, there are many superstitious customs. Since in the ancient times, it was popular for Han people to use the wooden coffin and burry in the ground. Since people attach much importance to it, foreigners who study Chinese in China should know there are three main stages, laying the body in a coffin, laying a coffin in a memorial hall and burry in the ground.

Before people lay the body into the coffin, they need to call back the spirit of the dead and help the dead take a bath. There are actually two steps, the first one is to wear the clothes and cover it with cloth. In the rich family, they often use the silk. The second step is to put the body into the coffin. Sometimes, people also put the rice or silver coin into the mouth of the dead. During the period when foreigners study in Chinese courses in China, they may hear that the duration of keeping the coffin in memorial hall varies, from three days to one month, which depend on the relatives who hasten home for the funeral.

In Chinese tradition, the children should go back for the funeral if the parents or grandparents pass away, or they will be regarded as the ones who do not in accordance with filial. Of course, the relatives and friends should also mourn for the loss. Before the body is buried, people should select the bury place with good Fengshui. In ancient times, it had the custom of burry the people alive with the dead, mostly the relatives or servants. Then, it gradually replaced by the pottery figurine. Nowadays, we use the paper men as a replacement.

During the period of the funeral arrangement, the relatives of the dead should wear the mourning dress and keep vigil beside the coffin in the mourning hall. According to the ancient ritual, the mourning dress was divided into five levels according to the genetic connection. One thing you should know when you study Mandarin in China is that the scale of the funeral depends on the status and identity of the dead. And there were strictly standards for the funeral of different levels of people in ancient China, thus indicating the status and identity of the dead.