Funeral of Han nationality

Traditional funerals are full of lively scenes and ceremonies, which means that the deceased "goes on the road" to another world and can also be understood as starting a new life journey. The main purpose of relatives is to try their best to let the deceased go all the way.

After waking up, the funeral procession should put all kinds of paper fires neatly on the car, and the eldest son's daughter-in-law should hold a "rich jar" with the words "for?" On the top of the jar. Make a cover. The eldest daughter is holding a "rice jar" covered with a big cake. Every dutiful son attending the funeral should have a "confession?" , male dutiful son chuai light for, female dutiful son chuai flowers for? , commonly known as "rich". The eldest son or grandson, with the help of his son-in-law, walks ahead with a coffin on his shoulder. On the soft branch of the "soul guide", the banner cut by the Yin and Yang master was picked, and the lower part of the banner was folded into a long spike. If the banner is tied with red paper, it will be carried by the grandchildren. If there is no red paper, it will be carried by the son. If there is a soul-inducing companion in the spirit or car, it means that the deceased has no descendants. Yin and Yang used vermilion charms to guide the dead to follow. Before the funeral, the dutiful son should tear off the pillow used by the deceased before his death and burn the buckwheat husk and pillowcase inside, indicating that the deceased has gone to heaven and reached the Elysium. Folklore says, "He doesn't care if he pulls a pillow or hits a bowl." .

Before the hearse starts, the paper car should be burned. When burning paper cars, dutiful sons should call the title of the deceased and recite auspicious words such as "Go all the way", indicating that the deceased left in a car. Now, a paper burning car is a must. Then, the eldest son will throw out the basin, which is called "playing casserole" locally, that is, breaking the pottery basin or casserole used for burning paper before the spirit. This basin is called "Yin and Yang basin", commonly known as "funeral basin" and "auspicious basin". It must be the eldest son of the deceased who broke the basin. If the deceased has no children, someone else (usually a son-in-law or nephew) will throw the basin. Pot throwers and coffin bearers have the right to inherit the deceased's estate. Pay attention to breaking the basin once, the more broken the better. As the saying goes, this pot is the new pot of the deceased, and it can be taken to the underworld after being smashed. Before throwing the basin, all the dutiful sons knelt in front of the hearse. The eldest son dropped the casserole on his head. With a cry of "wow" and a broken sound of "bang", all the dutiful sons howled together, and there was a cry. After the dutiful sons kowtowed, the male dutiful son pulled up a long white ribbon, and the female dutiful son got on their hearses while howling.

When a crock falls, it sounds like a call to arms. With the sound of broken earthen pots and the cries of filial sons, Mr. Dai Dong shouted "Get up", so the coffin bearers lifted the pole, and the drummer made a masterpiece. The heavy coffin covered by the coffin lid was lifted up in the "Get up" song of many coffin bearers, and the funeral procession continued.

Walking in front is the drummer class. Drummer classes are generally composed of 5 ~ 7 people. There are 1 people drumming on the back, 1 people playing cymbals, 1 ~ 2 people blowing tips, 1 ~ people sucking sheng. Rich people have to hire two or three classes of drummers. Behind the drummer is the rower. "Rowers" are mostly hired beggars or "whippers". It is necessary to collect the offerings placed in front of the coffin, the funeral couplets on the coffin shed, all burnt paper ashes, the remaining paper money, incense offerings, Tian Tong paper outside the door, signboards, long money, new bricks, new tiles, town affairs, etc., and throw "money for buying roads" along the way. It means to get rid of ghosts in the way.

Then there is a long paper fire team, which is mostly borne by nephews and village children. Paper fire teams are also orderly, with banners in front, children and men, houses, cash cows, Jinshan Yinshan and so on behind. Children and boys should put cakes on their mouths and write the names of their predecessors, such as "Chang Chang" and "Answer". The doors, windows and chimneys of the house should be opened, and all paper fires should be marked "XXX only". Other papers are on fire.

Behind the paper fire team are Lalin's dutiful son and grandson. In front of them are the eldest grandson carrying the guide coffin and the descendants holding the spirit tablet, and the son-in-law helps to protect them. The dutiful son should also get the support of the son-in-law to prevent accidents due to excessive grief. Other dutiful sons are holding funeral sticks in their hands and carrying long white ribbons on their shoulders. The ribbon is divided into two lines, one is the dutiful son and the other is the dutiful grandson, commonly known as "pulling the bell". There are many filial sons, which can be divided into three departments and four departments, namely, the son department, the nephew department, the grandson department, the nephew department and the great-grandson department. After that, it's the coffin. A coffin bearer is called a coffin bearer. Porters can be hired from drum workshops or asked for help from relatives in the village. There are 12 people, 16 people, 24 people. If the road is far, you have to change people halfway. Behind the coffin is a long funeral car. Funeral cars are generally hired by relatives, one for each person, and the mothers (in-laws) of the daughters-in-law also take one, secretly competing with each other. Daughter, daughter-in-law, etc. Everyone cried with a long "big cover". Daughters, in particular, beat their chests and feet, suffering. Most daughters-in-law cry for nothing, and they will be laughed at if they don't cry. The local joke said: "If a girl cries, she will cry. My wife cried like a donkey. "

In the past, coffins were generally not allowed to stop after they were lifted. On both sides of the streets and lanes where the coffin passes, every household should burn a lot of fires at the gate to drive away the suffocation of the dead and avoid disaster. In some places, shops have to pay drummers to stop and play when crossing the main street. If there are two classes of drums, they will struggle to stop and go, commonly known as "putting on the street", but the coffin can't land. When the coffin is carried out of the village, the coffin cover should be removed and the drummer will not be sent to the cemetery again. Paper fire, etc. It was also loaded into the carriage. Some wives are not suitable for burial and can only be sent so far. After the coffin lid was lowered, the coffin bearer moved on and quickly carried the coffin to the cemetery for burial. With the development of the times, the carefully decorated coffin gradually replaced the bearer, and the coffin was pulled from the hearse to the cemetery.