Taoist Funeral

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Last week I participated in a funeral in the Taoist tradition in Hong Kong. While funerals are not most peoples' preferred activity the older you get the more of them you witness.

The Chinese experience is so different I thought I'd share it. Firstly, Taoism is the traditional religion of China with multiple gods and "saints". The terms don't translate exactly, so I'll approximate.

This funeral was for the 92-year-old matriarch of a family that I have been associated with for over 25 years, and took place in a six storey funeral parlour, which the locals call "dai jau dim" meaning "big hotel". The building contains dozens of chapel-like rooms capable of seating perhaps 200 people, except that most don't sit.

At one end is a large photo of the deceased. Behind to the right is a room with the body lying "in state" which everyone enters at some stage to view the departed. To the left is a sort of withdrawing room for the family to rest in at any time during the proceedings (toilet facilities too).

In front of mother's picture is a bowl to contain incense sticks placed by the mourners, although mourners is not the right word. the whole ceremony is quite cheerful. The hall is decked in red and white. In front and to the sides are all manner of brightly coloured paper "gifts" to accompany the soul of the departed to the other side, including paper servants and bags of rice (facsimiles). In front of that a space where family go to pay their respects, bowing three times to mum's picture and planting three incense sticks in the sand-filled bowl.

In front of this space is a table piled with fruit and pastries (real this time) and ranks of red and white wreaths, with good wishes attached on ribbons.

Now we get to the public space. On the left side of the hall are the family, dressed in white thigh-length robes over their street clothes and a sort of hessian waistcoat over those; around the head awhite cloth band with a red spot in front (think Japanese Banzai) and pinned to the tunic a black piece of cloth about two inches square. This garb stays on to the end of the "ceremony".

On the right side of the hall, six priests in yellow robes and a chief priest in cyan edged in electric blue chant, ring small bells, beat drums and cymbals and walk around a sort of altar incessantly throughout the show.

Friends and relatives wander in and out at will, chat to the family and each other, pay tribute to the deceased by bowing three times, which the family acknowledges by bowing to them. Everyone drinks tea, has the occasional snack and shake hands before wandering off.

After about an hour the "funeral director" dressed in a long white robe claps his hands and organizes a team of helpers who grab all the gifts and go up to the roof together with the family, where there is a huge furnace and all the gifts are burned. Back down to the chapel and another hour of receiving guests and chatting.

It's now 10 p.m. and everybody packs up for the night, the family being careful to identify their respective robes for next day.

The following morning the family goes back to the parlour, don their robes and bow to mum's picture again, walk round the room three times and sit and relax while a team comes in with the coffin and put mum in, leaving the lid open. Everyone then has to have a look at her before the coffin is closed. The box is then taken to the hearse, which is light blue and white. It takes her to the crematorium, followed in a bus by the family, who are carrying mum's photo and a selection of the fruit and cakes.

On arriving at the crematorium the body is taken to a chapel. All the family yell mum's name to say goodbye and she is wheeled into the furnace room. Then all the fruit and food is thrown into a fire at the side and mum's picture is also thrown in. Out into a small garden where everyone jumps over a small fire and then trails a hand through a bowl of water and wets their head, and that's it folks.

Comments

Quite Interesting

Thanks for the fine description and chronology. Definitely sounds more entertaining than the funerals I've been to.

How do you have time to go?

Angharad's picture

I understand the principles, but three days! My kids won't take that long to spend any money I leave.

Angharad

Angharad

We Won't Worry

joannebarbarella's picture

Angharad,
When it's our turn I don't think we'll be concerned :-)
Chuckles'
Joanne

Seems a bit long winded.

Is this the usual ceremony or is it confined to the wealthy or the very religious?

As you say, the older you get the more funerals you attend. I suppose there's at least twice as many as weddings. I've recently attended the funerals of 2 cycling friend who succumbed to cancer but the worst was that of a 10 year old cystic fibrosis victim. That was truly tragic. If you can have a 'good' funeral the best I've attended was a humanist one which obviously avoided all the usual religious platitudes and was a great farewell to a friend that seemed to mean something.

Geoff

Economy Size

joannebarbarella's picture

Geoff,
This was just normal.I think we would call this family middle-class, certainly not rich. In Taoist tradition religiosity is usually confined to making offerings on feast days. The rich have even more elaborate turn-outs with emphasis on the food and drinks supplied. Weddings are also opportunities to show off in the Cantonese culture. If you have it, flaunt it! Although I guess that's not too different from what we do in the West, is it?
Joanne