The practice of traditional shroud

Shroud refers to the clothes of the deceased. At present, there are ancient costumes, modern costumes and some regional styles on the market. Cloth is usually made of clay, printed cloth, silk, etc. Exquisite production is an indispensable part of China's cultural customs. There is a custom in China that after death, people must wash themselves and put on new clean clothes, that is, shroud. In southern Fujian, relatives of the elderly must symbolically try on clothes before dressing the deceased. After trying it on, weigh it with a weightless scale and say in front of people, "The child bought it with money." Show filial piety to children.

Why do old people wear so many clothes after death? This is because, in the past, people were always put in coffins after death, and coffins usually stayed at home for a while. Generally speaking, the older the deceased, the longer his stay. Some of them can't be buried for the time being, because the burial place has not been chosen, and they have all stayed at home for several years. This will inevitably lead to a problem. The body in the coffin will rot if left for a long time, and there will be liquid flowing out, which may leak out of the coffin. In order to prevent leakage, besides putting absorbent materials such as plant ash and toilet paper in the coffin village, we should wear more clothes and absorb more water.

People's internal organs are in the upper body, and when they rot, there is more water than the lower body, so the upper body wears more than the lower body. People who die young are usually buried soon after death, so they can wear less clothes. Later generations followed suit and have been in use ever since.

Wearing shroud, commonly known as "old clothes", after a person dies, their children will wear shroud for them. The deceased is male and usually handled by his children, while the deceased is female and handled by his daughter and daughter-in-law. Shrouds are generally not made of fur or satin, for fear of becoming an animal or a childless person in the next life. It is made of silk and cotton, which means "attachment" and "cherish memory". The number of clothes, avoid double happiness. Boshan residents generally need "five collars and three waists", that is, five coats and three culottes to make shroud for the dead. Whenever you die, you should give priority to wearing cotton-padded clothes.