Rituals for the Dead

[Girl]

After reading the Local Ghost Story Thread, I've noticed that there were a few members that talked about rituals done after somebody has died. I know the Chinese has a shit load of them and they differ from region to region.

What are some rituals your family does or that you know of after someone has passed on?


I know that if somebody in your immediate family dies, you're not allowed to go or have any weddings or visit anybody for 100 days because it's the "mourning" period. My Indian friend whose Grandfather just passed on a month ago told me they can't even celebrate any holidays for the remainder of the year.

Earlier in the year I went back to Hong Kong for my Uncle's funeral (my first official Chinese funeral), the night before he was buried the whole family had to spend 24 hours with the corpse at the funeral home talking to him and doing all these cool rituals. The immediate family were dressed in white and they give you these hat things to wear. Family and friends come in and they bow 3x to a picture of the dead and then turn and bow to the immediate family. My Aunt made me be part of the immediate family ritual just so I can experience the whole thing. At the end of the night we burned paper houses and stuff for my Uncle and we had to scream his name outloud and tell him to take them.

Oh and when they were closing the casket, children, pregnant people and people that were born in certain years had to look away because you'd get bad luck or something.

[flagella]

bad luck.... right...

[PuYang]

taiwanese has some similarities with your rituals. alot of bowing etc. we also spent alot of time with a monk dancing around etc.

certain relatives had to "feed" food to the corpse. (not actually putting food in the mouth, but right up to it).

there was a bunch more, but it also depends if you're the eldest BOY or not in the family etc. in my case, it was kinda a grandparent who passed away. and my brother, as the eldest grand son, had a bunch of responsibilities and stuff.

on a car related note: im not sure if this is chinese or taiwanese tradition, but when you drive the coffin to the grave area, people in the car had to "narrate" the drive, like: "we are crossing the bridge now~~~, we are turning into the city~~~" etc etc, to guide the ghost or something?

[guddagudd]

I remember when I was a little boy in Taiwan, my parents would burn these special yellow paper that represented bills for the member of the family who passed away to use in his/her afterlife.

[Grandmaster TSE]

my sister was in macau for my grandma's funeral and she said she had to pick up coins that was put on her
also the other stuff that girl mention

i remember i was one of the guys that had to carry the coffin in vancouver for one of the deaths in the family. gloves and tie that i was wearing that day had to be burned along with the folded up "money" for her

[triplexcel]

Whenever we move to a new house, my dad would have to cover my grandpa's spiritual resting spot (not sure of the name, but you would see that wooden template-thing at a lot of chinese houses and restaurants) with a red cloth and then before we move all the furniture and stuff into the house, the template would have to go into the house first, covered up. As my dad carries the template into the house he speaks out loud the location of the house and how it looks like. Then he would set into a special place in the house.
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[twitchyzero]

I find traditional tombs in Taiwan to be pretty scary..a picture of the dead engraved. I'm sure it's almost identical in China too.

I'd like to hear more from other cultures...I've heard in Mongolia some tribes would bring the dead to the mountain top and let the vultures devour them and if they weren't devoured...it's considered bad luck.

[RRxtar]

We gather everyone in the family and friends and people that knew the person for the funeral then everyone goes over to a family members house and gets drunk and talks about good times. Because we are white people.


When my good friend killed himself a couple years ago, we had a bush party with all the old friends and we all poured out a little liquor for a dead homie. Because we all wanted to be black when we were younger.

[neggo]

Not a ritual in my culture but I suggest you guys look up Tibetan sky burials. Not sure if it's for those who have weak stomachs but it is definitely an intriguing ritual. There is much literature on the matter available if any of you are interested!

[threezero]

Originally Posted by RRxtar

We gather everyone in the family and friends and people that knew the person for the funeral then everyone goes over to a family members house and gets drunk and talks about good times. Because we are white people.


When my good friend killed himself a couple years ago, we had a bush party with all the old friends and we all poured out a little liquor for a dead homie. Because we all wanted to be black when we were younger.

sweet


only been to traditional chinese funeral and it went sumthing like GIRL describe that i was in charge of buying our family's share of the paper offering (family frd's funeral)

I brought him a paper bently, few ferrari and range rover, ciggarrette, macbook, ipad, iphone 4(paper version came out before the real ones ) stereo system. The guys must be having a blast right now in heaven or where ever he is

[Greenstoner]

on a side note, funeral service in Taiwan makes tons of money simply because there are so many rituals to follow. It's a tradition and good to see most of the people still carry that tradition.

[wasabisashimi]

what about cats, you ever seen cats gather outside the garage of the house where the corpse lie (there were like 6-8 cats when my great grandma passed away)

Bonus question:
What if a cat jumps over the corpse.... What will the corpse become?...

[Greenstoner]

Originally Posted by wasabisashimi

what about cats, you ever seen cats gather outside the garage of the house where the corpse lie (there were like 6-8 cats when my great grandma passed away)

Bonus question:
What if a cat jumps over the corpse.... What will the corpse become?...

according to the elders they became zombies

[ilvtofu]

I like the traditional torajan funeral

Link

To Make a Dead Man Walk

In times past, when the villages of Tana Toraja were still extremely isolated and difficult to visit, it is said that certain people had the power to make a dead man walk to his village in order to be present at his own funeral. In this way, relatives of the deceased were spared the necessity of having to carry his corpse. One particular area, Mamasa ? West Toraja, was particularly well-known for this practice. The people of this area are not strictly speaking of the same ethnic group as the people of Tana Toraja. However, outsiders often refer to them as Toraja Mamasa. In many ways, the cultures of the two groups are similar, although they each have their own distingushing characteristics. In particular, the style of wood carving of the two groups is different.

According to the belief system of the people of Mamasa, the spirit of a dead person must return to his village of origin. It is essential that he meet with his relatives, so that they can guide him on his journey into the after-life after the ceremonies have been completed. In the past, people of this area were frightened to journey far, in case they died while they were away and were unable to return to their village. If someone died while on a journey, and unless he has a strong magic power, it would be necessary to procure the services of an expert, to guide the dead person back to the village.

This is not intended metaphorically-the dead person would be made to walk from wherever he had journeyed back home, no matter how far away that was. The corpse would walk stiffly, without any expression on his face, in the manner of a robot. If anyone addressed the dead man directly, he would fall down senseless, unable to continue his journey. Therefore, those accompanying the deceased on the macabre procession had to warn people they met on their path not to talk directly to the dead man. The attendants usually sought out quiet paths where the procession was less likely to meet with strangers. These days, the practice of walking the dead back to their place of origin has fallen out of currency.

Good roads now connect the villages of Tana Toraja, and people tend to rely on more conventional means of transportation for bringing bodies back home. The ability to bring the dead back to life has not been entirely forgotten, however. Sometimes, even now, the deceased is made to continue breathing and seems alive until all his relatives are gathered around him.More commonly, the skill is practiced on animals. At a funeral ceremony, when a buffalo has been sacrificed and its head separated from its body, the body is made to get up and walk for as long as ten minutes. A demonstration of this sort proves to the audience that the ability to bring the dead back to life has not entirely passed from the community.

[SumAznGuy]

I've been unfortunate enough to attend a good friend's dad's funeral and his funeral.
Both times were not full blown chinese style funerals but there was a few chinese things we did. My parents told me to give them money in an odd number amount in a whilte envelope.
After the funeral, a family member gives you a white envelope with money and a piece of candy. I can't remember if we were allowed to eat the candy.

[ilvtofu]

Yeah you're supposed to eat the candy and I think spend that money the same day or smth.