The rules of village funeral

After the funeral, it is necessary to set a time for the funeral. Funerals in all parts of Shanxi are generally not "buried when they die", otherwise they will be considered unfilial and disrespectful to the deceased. As for the time of funeral, it often depends on the preparation, season, whether the next of kin arrives and whether the tomb is complete. The time can be long or short, the shortest is about three days, followed by five days, seven days, nine days ... The elderly can reach more than 100 days, all of which must be singular. In the old days, Yin and Yang teachers also paid attention to choosing an auspicious day, and set the tomb as "empty", that is, when the cemetery could enter and leave.

After the funeral time is determined, you should inform your relatives and friends. Wuzhai area is called "sending filial piety". Take a piece of filial piety cloth with you when you go to see the relationship. The older one wears mourning clothes, and the younger one wears mourning towels. Jinzhong Qixian and other places, on the day of the funeral, banners cut into patterns with white hemp paper should be hung in front of the door; The connection between paper and paper does not need paste bonding, but the paper is folded with iron or stone tools and tamped together, which is called "tamping paper", which is similar to the "chronological paper" mentioned above, but the hanging time is different. When the deceased gets the "New Year's Paper" of the octogenarian, the locals sometimes tear one for their children to wear, which is said to prolong life. Tear it home and stick it on the urn, so there are no bugs. In the old days, some places set up "taboo signs" outside the gate, with men left and women right, indicating not only the date of birth and death, the date of funeral, but also the taboo items.

In addition to the custom of cliff burial in Ningwu area, "earth burial" is very common in all parts of Shanxi. That is, "tombs", some tombs were built in advance, and some were temporarily opened after death. In the old days, teachers of Yin and Yang should be invited to sit and watch Feng Shui and set points. Then sprinkle five pills and use a silver needle to open a "ten" on the set acupuncture point, which is called "breaking ground" or "breaking ground". After "digging", you can dig the grave. Those who are buried together only need to open another hole next to the old burial place. If the deceased entered the ancestral grave, his grave was at the foot of the previous generation. Row to the grave in turn, and you can't open it again. Then ask the Yin and Yang teachers to see the geomantic omen and choose a new place to build a new grave.

Before the funeral in the old days, there were ceremonies of "ordering the Lord" in all parts of Shanxi, such as Qin County and Qi County. That is, ask someone to add a little to the original word "Wang" written on the tablet with a cinnabar pen, so that the word "Wang" becomes the word "Lord". Commonly known as "master", that is, becoming a god. The person who points to the Lord is called the "point-in-charge official", and it is necessary to invite local respected celebrities, scholars or local governors to serve. This kind of ceremony is generally limited to middle-aged and elderly people who die normally, and no young dead are held.

On the day of the funeral, relatives, friends and neighbors gathered to mourn and offered a glass of wine to express their condolences. A libation usually includes a sacrificial mat, a steamed bun, a spoon and a paper tie. The closest relatives send sacrifices. Commonly known as "sacrifice", it is mainly dishes, and each pair should be inserted with paper flowers of different sizes, followed by steamed bread, which is a kind of pasta steamed in a bowl. Most relatives and friends asked them to pull their arms and tie couplets, which later became a piece of cloth. Ordinary neighborhoods give four-color paper gifts, including candles, incense, tin foil, paper, or just a piece of paper. After 1950s, most paper gifts were replaced by wreaths.

After the mourners offered public drinks, the eldest son of the deceased bowed down to pay tribute, that is, carrying the big head of the coffin on his back and moving it out of the coffin shed with the help of everyone, commonly known as the "coffin." Throughout Shanxi, there is a custom of breaking the rice bowl used by the deceased before his death behind the coffin. Wuzhai area is called "disaster mitigation", which means disaster mitigation and disaster elimination. In some places, the medicine cans used by the deceased were smashed, indicating that no one in the family will be sick in the future, and there is no need to boil medicine. Before waking up, the sons of the deceased will hold a ceremony of "pressing the bowl with food" in Qixian County, Jinzhong. They put all kinds of vegetables and food in a porcelain jar, and then press them in turn until they are full. Cover it with a steamed bread, erect a hole with a pair of chopsticks and put some red vermicelli on it. This can of food, together with "steamed bread" and "ever-burning lamp", will be buried with the coffin at the funeral.

After the coffin is carried out of the mourning hall, it is placed on a pre-tied shelf, which has several forms, such as tofu rack, two dragon bars and one-stop bars. In Wuzhai area, there will be a table and an offering in front of the coffin, and the family members will carry the coffin and turn left and right three times around the coffin to show their affection for the dead. Pour a glass every time you turn around. After the coffin was finished, it was raised to the spirit, which was called "mourning around the spirit" locally.

Funeral covers are popular in all parts of Shanxi. They are shaped like a long sedan chair, with a tin gourd head and a golden top. The four corners of the coffin cover are used by the male deceased and the female crested phoenix. They are decorated with red, blue and yellow curtains and painted with auspicious patterns. This kind of utensils is specially rented in shops.

Heavy coffins, plus huge coffins, are more difficult without people. Therefore, the number of loads increased from 8 to 16, 24 or even 32, commonly known as 16, 24 and 32 bars. Some places in Shanxi pay attention to the fact that after the funeral, the coffin should be sent to the cemetery all the way (except the road sacrifice). There are many people carrying coffins, which is not only convenient but also imposing.

Before the coffin was lifted, the eldest son of the deceased knelt down. Holding a clay pot for burning paper money, crying, and then throwing the playing pot on the ground. Xinzhou and Dingxiang areas are called "basins that have lost their children". Folk believe that if the burial basin is broken, the deceased can take all the burnt paper money to the underworld for use.

After falling on the "funeral basin", the funeral officially began. In some places in the south of Shanxi, pay attention to the big head in front when the coffin is unloaded; Out of the door, everyone will turn their heads and carry them to the cemetery. It turns out that people think that the deceased lying in the coffin is just like standing alone, and going out with his head forward is equivalent to looking back at his home and expressing his attachment to the world; When you go out, you turn your head back, just don't look back and go straight to the paradise in the west.

If there is an open road in front of the funeral procession, a "road flag"-a small pennant made of five-color paper or white paper will be inserted along the way to guide the deceased; Throw paper money to lead the way to show that you can buy off ghosts along the way. Then there are ceremonial ceremonies, all kinds of paper (called "paper writing" in Xingxian area), music lessons in rough and fine, soul-drawing banners and stools carried by nephews or grandchildren, followed by dutiful sons holding ropes and funeral sticks, followed by coffins, followed by wives sitting in sedan chairs and relatives and friends walking around.

The funeral procession will go to many places or intersections, and there will be spiritual sacrifices and drum music stops. In ancient times, relatives and friends usually set up sacrifices in the neighborhood. Later, most of them set up sacrifices for the bereaved themselves, just to show the pomp and circumstance of the funeral.

After arriving outside the village, relatives and friends attending the funeral stopped, and the son of the deceased was called "Xiao Xie". Then, the coffin lid was removed, and the memorial ceremony was stopped. Only family members and close relatives were buried with the coffin with paper sticks and sacrifices. We'll bury it right away. After the coffin enters the tomb, the master of Yin and Yang will put down the compass and move it left and right until he thinks it is ok. Generally speaking, the direction is southeast-northwest (dry loss position), and there is a saying in the local area that "Purple Mountain is overhead, which is almost equal to Yanmenguan". In Qinxian County, southeast of Shanxi Province, Yin and Yang teachers will also arrange town objects, such as peach bows, willow arrows, mulberry branches, cotton and grains. The son of the deceased came to visit the grave, and then the family threw "rich" and "rich buns" into the grave. In Fushan area, new bricks and tiles painted by Yin and Yang teachers should be placed in the tombs. People think these are the locks and keys of the underworld. People are required to stop shoveling coffins when burying coffins in Wuzhai and other places. Family members will call the deceased "hiding soil". After the mound is finished, the "crying stick" and "soul-inducing coffin" held by the children and grandchildren of the deceased should be inserted in front of the grave (the soul-inducing coffin is also placed on the top of the coffin), and then all the papers should be burned (the heads or feet of the "boys and girls" should be turned back and placed next to the coffin), so that everyone can pay a memorial service again, cry bitterly, and then quietly quit, so that the deceased can be forever.