The funeral rituals of the Han people (1)
The funeral rituals of the Han people in Taiwan follow the traditions of ancient mainland China, based on the etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty, and mixed with Taoism and Buddhism , Yin Yang Jia, Feng Shui master and other sayings are self-contained and unique. The whole process of a funeral is quite cumbersome.
Moving. When a patient is seriously ill and on the verge of death, the patient must be moved to a temporary bed in the main hall, commonly known as "moving the bed." If the patient dies in the bedroom, it is said that the "ghost" will hang on the bed and cannot be "transferred." Taiwanese people believe that the main hall is the best place in the home. If you can spend the day here, it can be said to be glorious and happy. Men should move to the side (right side) of the main hall, and women should move to the side (left side) of the main hall.
Burning silver paper. The silver paper is used for the travel expenses of the deceased souls in the underworld, which is called "foot money"; an incense burner is also placed to burn incense and light candles to light the way to the underworld for the deceased.
After a person dies, there is a custom of "crying on the road", that is, when a parent dies, the daughter must return home immediately after hearing the news, crying and telling her parents about their upbringing and her own grief, etc. Wait, she can't stop crying until someone brings her tea or a towel to wipe her face. However, when the family members cry and howl, they are not allowed to drop their tears on the corpse, otherwise it is said that the person will go crazy. When the clan members came to the deceased's side, the men were on the east side of the deceased's bed and the women were on the west side of the bed. They all took off their accessories, wore plain clothes, and cried together.
Open the soul path. Invite Taoist priests (commonly known as "Wutou Sigong") or monks to chant sutras. To save the dead souls, open the way and guide them to the underworld.
Begging for water to bathe in. After relatives put on mourning clothes, they line up at the river to get water, which is called "begging for water." After returning, ask the "good luck person" to soak a white cloth in water to wipe the body of the deceased, and at the same time say something like: "You have become a god now and can meet your ancestors", etc. This is "bathing".
Jumper. There are as many as five or seven pieces of clothes (shrouds) prepared for the deceased, and up to eleven pieces (but it must be an odd number). The dutiful man first puts it on and tries it on, which is called a "pullover". After the filial man puts on the shroud, he takes a scale as if to weigh the clothes. This is to tell the deceased that the shroud was bought by his descendants and to wear it to meet his ancestors.
Draw longevity. After "pullover", relatives will eat food made of noodles and brown sugar. Because the noodles are very long, which symbolizes longevity, it is called "drawing longevity". After the "longevity drawing" is completed, the hat and hoop should be thrown on the roof, which means that the age of the deceased has been added to the life span of the descendants to extend the life of the descendants.
Zhang Chuan. After the dutiful man puts on the shroud, he asks the "lucky person" to put on the shroud for the deceased. The shrouds are prepared before the elderly are born, some are even given by others when they get married, and some are birthday gifts given by others on their 61st birthday, commonly known as "old shirts and jeans". In addition, the white shirt and skirt that a woman wears when she gets married can also be used as a shroud in the future.
Resign. Before the body is placed in the coffin, the deceased has to eat his last meal in the mortal world, which represents saying goodbye to the world. Just like the "Eating and Wine Wedding Table", there are 12 kinds of dishes, and the "lucky person" still makes the movements of picking up the dishes and says some auspicious words. Enter the coffin (coffin). Encoffining is an important moment in the entire funeral, and a fortune teller must be invited to choose a good and auspicious day. The order after that is also very strict: put grass shreds at the bottom of the coffin; burnt ashes on top of the grass shreds; put silver coins on the ashes; put treasury money on the silver coins; put a thin plate with seven stars written on it, which means "Seven Stars Fang". The seven stars represent Tai Chi; a peach skill is placed to drive away evil dogs from the underworld; a stone, a hard-boiled egg, and a bowl of soy sauce koji are placed to indicate that the person cannot be resurrected after death; "cross-country pants" are placed; and a red cloth is placed A pillow sewn with white cloth and silver paper is called a "chicken pillow"; gold objects and precious stones are placed next to the corpse to encourage future generations to pick up the bones of the deceased and bury them; a "water quilt" is placed to cover the body. On the corpse, put a "covering flag", which is a white cloth made by Taoist priests, the same length as the coffin. If the deceased has several children, tear it into several strips and put the remaining parts in the coffin. Finally, put some money . These rituals are collectively called "harvesting the blacks".
After the coffin is placed, the unmarried descendants will take turns sleeping next to the coffin, which is called "trapped coffin feet" until the burial.
Chushan (burial). The burial is usually presided over by monks and Taoist priests, and the date is determined by the date planner.
The funeral procession was also spectacular.
During the funeral, relatives escort the coffin to the mountain for burial, and line up according to traditional customs. In the procession, there are whole pigs, sheep, road gods, money paper, inscription flags, filial piety lanterns, auspicious lanterns, drum teams, colorful flags, Feng shui master, parasol, wreath, singing troupe, twenty-four filial piety float, coffin bearer, Taoist priest, monk, golden boy and beautiful girl, paper flag, coffin, male bereaved team, female bereaved team, funeral relatives and friends, etc., there are about 50 types .
Mourning clothes are also very particular. Relatives of the bereaved family must wear mourning clothes. Men wear straw sandals, and women wear mourning cloths sewn on their shoes. They cry while walking along the funeral procession. Generally, relatives and friends who come to the funeral will follow the funeral procession for a while and then find a suitable place to stop. The coffin also stops, and the mourner kneels down to answer the ceremony, say goodbye to the relatives and friends attending the funeral, and express his gratitude, so it is called the "step of thanks". Therefore, the relatives and friends attending the funeral said goodbye to the coffin, while the descendants and close relatives took it until the burial.
Burial is still popular among Taiwanese people (except in big cities). Choosing a cemetery pays great attention to "Feng Shui", and they spend a lot of money to hire Feng Shui masters to find "auspicious places". Taiwan has a lot of rain, so the shape of the tombs is similar to that in Fujian and Guangdong. They are often made of bricks and stones into a "chair shape" and covered with cement or lime.
Buried (buried). This is the final level. The graves in the cemetery are dug in advance by entrusting "Tu Gong" (people who are engaged in burial and bone washing). When the coffin arrives, the covering on the coffin is removed. Men kneel on the left side of the coffin, and women kneel on the right side of the coffin. Cry loudly to say goodbye. After the monks and Taoist priests finished reciting the sutra, they began to "put the plug", which is to drill a hole in a certain part of the coffin and then insert the water plug. The purpose is to allow air to circulate inside the coffin for early death. Finally, Tugong and others put the coffin into the tomb, and the mourner first buried it on the coffin to show his filial piety.
Finally, gold paper is burned on the land and silver paper is burned on the tomb, and all the sacrifices are taken back. At this point, the funeral is completed.
After the funeral, the eldest grandson will put the tablet in the "soul sedan" and take it home to worship, which is called "returning to the Lord". The funeral is originally a mourning event, but returning to the deceased is auspicious, so the eldest grandson should take off his mourning clothes and put on a long light yellow dress. Help mourners back home with a treat of prepared dishes. At the same time, the tablet of the god is placed in the main hall, the monks and Taoists burn incense, paper, and read scriptures, and the family members also burn incense, worship, and cry, which is called "An Ling."
Three to seven days after the funeral, the dutiful man and his close relatives will prepare sacrifices and go to the cemetery to worship, which is called "patrolling the mountain" to "collect the ashes" and "give up the soil". In the future, an auspicious day will be chosen to hold the grave ceremony. After that, there are many rituals, such as "making ten days", "making merit" and other sacrifices.
Doing ten days is an offering made every seven days after the death of the deceased. During these days, "filial piety rice" is cooked morning and evening and offered to the mourning table, the bereaved family burns incense and silver paper, and the women kneel down and cry. If it is a wealthy family, monks and Taoist priests will be invited to "do meritorious deeds".
The last ten days are called "last ten days", which depends on the number of clothes worn in the "pullover" during the funeral. If you wear 7 layers, do "seven ten days", which lasts forty-nine days; if you wear 11 layers, do "eleven ten days", which lasts for 77 days.
After that, there will be a hundred days, that is, a hundred days of sacrifice after death. Rich families would invite monks or Taoist priests to their homes to hold a grand offering ceremony. But most people only need to make offerings on the spiritual table and let their descendants pay their respects.
One year after the death of the deceased, it is necessary to "do the right year". At this time, the married daughters of the deceased must come back to offer sacrifices. After the ceremony of this day is completed, the daughter and distant relatives can "take off their filial piety".
After that, choose an auspicious day to remove the "soul silk" and the incense burner. This is called "pushing out the spirit".
Close the furnace. When the mourning period of the deceased expires, part of the ashes of the incense burner is put into the incense burner of the ancestor's tablet. Only then can the deceased's tablet be placed together with the ancestor's tablet. Some people also cremate the deceased in a new tablet, and only write the name of the deceased on the big tablet of the ancestors of the past generations.
New taboo. The first death anniversary after Helu is called "making a new death". From then on, ancestor worship will be held on this day every year.
Sweeping graves. Also called tomb building and tomb worship, it usually takes place within ten days before and after Qingming Festival. When sweeping the tomb, the weeds on the tomb should be eradicated, the words on the tombstone should be washed clearly, and then red turtle barley, hair cake, and sweet wine should be offered in front of the tomb in worship. After worshiping, rectangular colored paper called "tomb paper" should be placed on and around the grave.
Han Chinese funeral rituals (2)
There is also a custom of "picking up bones" among Taiwanese people. Collecting bones, commonly known as "picking up Feng Shui", is also called "secondary burial", that is, the first burial after a person's death is relatively simple and shallow. The tomb is not covered with cement and lime, and no formal tombstone is erected; Years later, when the body has decomposed, the cemetery is dug up on an auspicious day, the bones are picked up, washed, exposed to the sun, and then put into a bone altar and buried in an auspicious place. The bone altar, also known as the "golden urn", is a special round pottery urn about two feet high and one foot in diameter. The styles vary according to gender: the pattern for men is "Double Dragons Worshiping the Tower", the pattern for women is "Two Phoenixes Grabbing Pearls", and the altar lids are all "Longevity in the Front and Blessing in the Back". Along the southwestern coast of Taiwan, "bone picking" is a specialized industry. Bone pickers who specialize in this industry are commonly known as "Tu Doong", and they contract work and materials.
The custom of "picking bones" was originally passed down from the ancestral homelands of Fujian and Guangdong, and this custom is still preserved in the Hakka settlements in eastern Guangdong. This is related to the wandering immigrant life of the Hakka ancestors in the early years. Since the bones are placed in pottery urns, it is easier to move with the family, and it is easier to return them to their hometown for burial. This is a manifestation of the Hakka people's nostalgia for their ancestors and their homeland. . However, after being introduced to Taiwan, this custom changed again and became the custom of re-burial. That is, after the deceased is buried, the family will encounter bad luck and strange things happen one after another. If you have no family, no money, business failure, etc., you must blame it on the bad feng shui of the cemetery, so you should immediately choose another place to bury. There is a saying among the people that "nine burials and nine relocations, ten burials for ten thousand years" mean that the more reburials, the better.