(Ephemeral: This is a real but transient world. Where are we going to after the end?)
A year has almost slipped by, and we are nearing Christmas. Love through the birth of a saviour in the Christian belief is the religious theme of Christmas. I like this theme. This makes me think of not birth but, I don't know why, death. Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being immediately springs to mind, in which a sentence goes like this, "From the first day of our birth, we are all moving one-day nearer to death each day." What a pessimism! Death is a matter of importance in the Chinese society. The funeral of the Chinese is also known as "Ba Si" , literally White Ritual, as opposed to "Hung Si", literally Red Ritual which is wedding. The Chinese wedding ceremony is themed on the auspicious red colour while the funeral on white and yellow.
Paper Offerings
(Coffins, Chinese style)
When I was young, some old people would prepare a set of paper clothes to be worn on their dead body at their own funeral. I actually met an old lady who showed the paper clothes to her family for comments. Some would also make it clear what paper offerings to be burnt to them. There are a whole array of different paper offerings. I published some photos of a paper house for offering in a previous post.
Buddism and Taoism are somehow interweaved with the folk version of the religions, which gave rise to some interesting rituals in a funeral. Take for example, leather is forbidden to be used for the attire dressed on the dead body. It is believed that, otherwise, the deceased will morphed into an animal in the next life.
When I was young, some old people would prepare a set of paper clothes to be worn on their dead body at their own funeral. I actually met an old lady who showed the paper clothes to her family for comments. Some would also make it clear what paper offerings to be burnt to them. There are a whole array of different paper offerings. I published some photos of a paper house for offering in a previous post. Buddism and Taoism are somehow interweaved with the folk version of the religions, which gave rise to some interesting rituals in a funeral. Take for example, leather is forbidden to be used for the attire dressed on the dead body. It is believed that, otherwise, the deceased will morphed into an animal in the next life.
The Funeral Ritual (Waiting for Her Turn: But time
doesn't wait for us)
The funeral starts in a funeral parlour for a night. The other day, when the coffin is to be moved to the graveyard, the eldest son of the deceased breaks a clay pot to start the procession. Holding a mugshot of the deceased, the eldest son lead the procession flanked by a funeral band playing some Chinese tunes. Paper money is flown into the air on both sides and, sometimes, a Feng Shui master is called into the graveyard to instruct the conduct of the burial.
doesn't wait for us)
The funeral starts in a funeral parlour for a night. The other day, when the coffin is to be moved to the graveyard, the eldest son of the deceased breaks a clay pot to start the procession. Holding a mugshot of the deceased, the eldest son lead the procession flanked by a funeral band playing some Chinese tunes. Paper money is flown into the air on both sides and, sometimes, a Feng Shui master is called into the graveyard to instruct the conduct of the burial.
(Snatch a Sleep: When we all get very old, we will not be able to sleep like this. We will sleep straight, very straight in a coffin. Then, do we just decay six feet under?)
The immediate family and the closer relatives of the deceased are required to wear some insignias (a while or blue cotton flower or a black swatch) on 
the chest to mark their mourning for 49 days during which they should refrain from taking part in any celebration. The funeral is officially ended on the seventh day after the burial when some more paper offerings are burnt.
(Passers-by Passing by: Life is an interesting phe-nomenon. Where is this phenomeno leading us?)
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