Chengdu Funeral Customs

Traditional Chinese funeral customs, generally a mixture of primitive and feudal concepts, has been passed down in the folk for thousands of years, forming the local customs and folklore.

1.1 Jianghan Plain: the same gongs and drums for red and white ceremonies

People on the Jianghan Plain generally blow the trumpet and play the gongs and drums to marry, and only play the gongs and drums for the dead to be buried without blowing the trumpet, but the custom around the town of Haokou in Qianjiang is special, no matter whether it's to marry or to be buried, only the gongs and drums and not blowing the trumpet.

Legend has it that once upon a time there was a county magistrate in Qianjiang who was known as a lecher, and as soon as he heard the trumpet sounding, he ordered his men to drag the bride into the magistrate's office for the night, and many young men and women lost their lives fighting against it.

There is a poor scholar marrying a daughter-in-law before the bright idea, with the funeral drums and music to welcome the bride, that is, when marrying only invited to play the gongs and drums, firecrackers, do not invite the trumpet blowing. As a result, the poor scholar got his daughter-in-law back safely, but the county magistrate did not know anything about it.

Afterwards, people learnt to marry in the way of the poor scholar, which gradually became a custom over time and has been passed down to the present day. Now the Qianjiang area is still not blowing the trumpet when marrying.

1.2 Jingzhou: King of Hell, please drink the soup of forgetfulness

"Going out three or five miles, everywhere a countryside wind. Jingzhou counties are not consistent funeral customs have their own characteristics. It is said that the King of Hell sent the "changeless" specializing in ingesting those who have been written off in the book of life and death. Therefore, there is a custom in Songzi County: when a patient is dying, his relatives should ask strong men to hold swords and knives and sit in front of the bed, but also on the bed covered with fishing nets, saying that this can prevent the "impermanent" close to the patient. Once the person left his hand to the west, but the family carved in the door burning "drop gas paper", which is sent to the Yin Shi Shi grass shoes fee, so that he is escorting the souls do not be too rough; people also want to ask the monks and Taoists to "open up the road", burning paper sedan chair, paper horse for the dead to walk with; The purpose of the "open throat" is to allow the dead to eat in the netherworld.

Xiantao area there is such a custom, after the death of the dead, in the mouth of the dead put a few pieces of tea. Legend has it that people do not forget their loved ones even after death, and they cry every day and refuse to see the King of Hell. The king of hell made a kind of "forget soul soup", and put a few tea leaves in the soup, sent the night fork to persuade the dead to drink. The dead cried dry, thought the end of the tea, took it to drink, the results of this drink to forget everything, good to go to see the king of hell.

This incident somehow let the deceased's family know, they do not want the deceased to forget their loved ones, they try to fool the night fork. Beforehand in the mouth of the dead put a few pieces of tea, to be persuaded to drink the night fork "forget the soul soup", see the dead mouth tea crumbs, thought they had drunk "forget the soul soup". This way, the dead will not forget their loved ones.

1.3 Huanggang, Northeast Hubei: husband dead wife crying sisters

Huanggang, Northeast Hubei, has a peculiar custom, whether it is the husband died wife, or wife lost her husband, he (she) they are in the mourning cry, always a mouthful of "my sister ah! Why do they call themselves sisters instead of husbands and wives? It is said to be a custom handed down from ancient times.

Legend has it that when Pangu opened the sky and split the earth, there was no one in the world. Pangu pondered how to create people, a look up to see the sun and the moon brother and sister, want them to be married and have children.

The Moon's sister was a good girl, and when she heard Pangu's words, she turned white with fear and hid in the woods. The sun brother face scarlet, rushed to Pangu said, "We are brother and sister, how can we be married?" Pangu said, "There is no one in the world who wants you Sun and Moon to do anything? Let's do it this way, I have a stone mill here, one of you take a piece of the mill and roll it from the sky to the ground, if it grinds together, you'll be husband and wife; if it doesn't grind together, you'll still be brother and sister." The sun then nodded in agreement.

Pangu handed the mill to the sun and the moon, and they lifted it up and rolled it down, and Pangu secretly used his hand to point it out, and the mill rolled down just right to fit together. Pangu said, "This is the will of heaven, you have to do this." The sun is still hesitant, afraid of posterity laugh, Pangu gave him a handful of needles and said, "If anyone dares to look at you and laugh, you will stab him in the eye with a needle."

Brother Sun and Sister Moon were married. Thereafter, couples in the world were called brother and sister. The descendants also dared not look at the sun, a look at the eyes will be needle-like pain.

1.4 Manmei: Binding the Dead to a Chair

There is a strange custom in Manmei, that is, after the death of a person, the body should be helped to sit on a chair, but also tied up with a rope, and the dead in front of a small square table. Why is there such a custom?

It is said that once upon a time there was a daughter-in-law often abused her mother-in-law, who was old enough to tolerate.

Soon, the mother-in-law died, the body was placed on the chair sitting, relatives and friends came to mourn, the daughter-in-law also went to the chair in front of the cry a few times to respond to the scene. But the mother-in-law's spirit was still alive, and she jumped up from the chair and held her daughter-in-law in her arms, and people couldn't break her off.

The daughter-in-law knew that her mother-in-law died remembering her own unfiliality, so she had to face the face of many townspeople, how she abused her mother-in-law and told the story. Everyone knelt down and begged for mercy for the daughter-in-law, and only then did the mother-in-law slowly release her hand and sit down on the chair.

Afterwards, people feared that this would happen again, so they tied the dead man to the chair and put a table in front of him to block it, so that the dead man could not jump up.

1.5 Tujia people: joyful funeral jumping to send the dead

Funeral jumping is the Tujia people's unique funeral customs, also known as the "scattered worry", "live". This custom of dancing a night of funeral drumming in front of the dead is said to have been passed down from the Ba people.

In the Tujia mountain villages, no matter which family died of old people, the neighbors rushed from their homes, despite the tiredness, for the deceased to dance a night of "Sarwu". Changyang has such a song: "In the middle of the night to hear the funeral drums, regardless of the south is the north, you are the south I want to go, you are the north I want to line, can not afford tofu to send up love, playing a night of funeral drums to send love." The deceased's family members also prepared in-law wine early, vacated the field of the funeral dance, the deceased's coffin parked in the middle of the hall, in front of the left side of the coffin to put a large homemade cowhide drum.

With "tom-tom, tom-tom, tom-tom" three cannons sounded outside the door, a class of men, women and children flocked into the hall, they invited each other in front of the coffin on the open space, stepping on the drums while singing and dancing. Their heads, hands, shoulders, waists, arms, and feet moved in a coordinated manner, dancing in a variety of steps. They sometimes high-fived each other; sometimes around the back and through the elbow; sometimes twisted shoulders and rubbed back; sometimes lips touch the ground to hold things, said "swallow with mud"; sometimes squatting on tiptoes and spinning; sometimes playing with each other; sometimes silent; sometimes whistling and singing. It is difficult to tell whether it is joyful or sad. However, the Tujia people have such a habit: lively with the dead, happy to do the funeral.

1.6 Wuhan: Qingming Tomb Sweeping Spectacle

Whenever the Qingming around, has always been cold and quiet Shimenfeng, Biantan Mountain, nine peaks and other cemeteries suddenly lively. The sound of cars, firecrackers, crying, laughter and vendors selling joss sticks, paper threads, food yells all over the field. Just see the mountain smoke, fire, from the foot of the mountain to the top of the crowd, forming a unique customary landscape of the Wuhan region.

Wuhan people attach the greatest importance to the temple festival and the hilltop festival. Once upon a time, wealthy people had to burn 91 pounds of paper money to express their hopes for the dead "nine deaths and a life", and also light nine incense, nine red candles, and offerings of food by the must have meat buns and incense cakes, so that the dead in the life of the reincarnation of the step out of the netherworld free from the evil dog's pestering.

Of course, most of these old rules no longer exist, but Wuhaners have retained some of the traditional customs, only in the form of variations. Such as tomb sweeping with family and friends trekking, after the sacrifice, people sit together to eat a cage of wine or bread and cold drinks, and then spring trekking, chatting while digging wild vegetables, it is said that this wild vegetables can be eaten to protect people from evil spirits and prevent disease. Some people do not have family graves, but also with the flow of grave sweepers to the countryside, choose an elegant environment, with tree branches on the ground to draw a circle, right as the tomb of the ancestors burn paper and incense, and then sit on the ground and have a picnic, and finally trekking in the countryside. Such a family is to sweep for the second, the main excursion.