The dead need a guide to attract souls on the long road to death. Filial piety chose a chicken, so the deceased must have a chicken to attract the soul, commonly known as chicken. In the past, people regarded birds as the burden of human spirit, and even thought that birds were the souls of the dead, which could lead the souls of the dead on the ground to fly to heaven.
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Funeral customs include round graves, burning for seven days, burning for a hundred days, burning for the anniversary, burning for the third anniversary and so on.
1, circular tomb
Since ancient times, the funeral custom in China has had the custom of going to the original grave three days after the funeral, that is, people buried in the cemetery need to go to the cemetery to beam, place offerings, burn incense, step on the yard, burn paper and other procedures. The urn is stored in the funeral home, where only offerings, incense and burning paper are placed.
2, burn seven
From the date of death, people burn paper once every seven days, seven times, seven classes, and forty-nine days, which is called burning seven. Today, people often change from seven to four, namely: 17, 37, 57, 77.
According to the funeral custom, it was burned on July 17, 1977, mainly by the son of the deceased, and it was called: a head and a tail; Sanqi, mainly the daughter-in-law of the deceased; Five or seven, mainly the daughters of the deceased. (Burn five pots of paper flowers). According to the funeral custom, burn seven (do seven).
3, burn one hundred days, burn anniversary, burn the third anniversary.
100 After the death of the deceased, the dutiful son will go to the grave to burn paper money, or invite the deceased to go home to pay homage. This is also a small sacrifice, also called "Hundred Days Sacrifice".
The anniversary is divided into the first, second and third anniversaries. The first and second anniversary are small sacrifices, and the third anniversary is the most grand. It's usually a big deal. Set up a sacrificial shed, invite drum music and Yin and Yang teams to recite scriptures, and offer paper products and wreaths.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-soul chicken