I want to know some funeral customs. The scarier the better. I’m looking for material for novels.

1. Jianghan Plain: Gongs and drums are played equally for weddings and weddings

In Jianghan Plain, people usually blow trumpets and gongs when they get married, and only gongs and drums are played when burying the dead, but in Haokou Town, Qianjiang There is a special custom in this area. Whether it is a wedding or a funeral, only gongs and drums are played, but no trumpets are played.

Legend has it that once upon a time there was a county magistrate in Qianjiang who was a famous pervert. When he heard the wedding trumpet, he ordered his men to drag the bride into the county government office to spend the night. Many young men and women fought against him and lost their lives. life.

A poor scholar had an idea before marrying his wife, and he used funeral drum music to welcome his bride. That is, only those who played gongs and drums and set off firecrackers, but not those who blew trumpets, were invited to the wedding. Sure enough, the poor scholar got his wife back safely, but the county magistrate had no idea about it.

Later, people imitated poor scholars to marry, and over time it gradually became a custom that has been passed down to this day. Nowadays, people in Qianjiang area still do not blow the trumpet when getting married.

2. Jingzhou: The King of Hell invites you to drink the Forgettable Soup

“If you go out for three to five miles, you will find the same local customs everywhere.” The funeral customs in various counties in Jingzhou are not consistent and have their own characteristics. It is said that the Lord of Hell sent the underworld "Wuchang" to specifically capture those people who have been written off in the book of life and death. Therefore, there is a custom in Songzi County: when a patient is dying, his relatives will ask strong men to hold swords and sit around the hospital bed. They also cover the bed with fishing nets, saying that this can prevent "impermanence" from approaching the patient. Once a person leaves and goes to the west, his family will burn "gas paper" outside the door. This is the straw sandal fee given to the ghost messenger, so that he should not be too rough when escorting the ghost; people also ask monks to "clear the way" and burn paper Palanquins and paper horses are used for the deceased to travel; the purpose of "opening the throat" is to allow the deceased to eat in the underworld.

There is also a custom in Xiantao area that after death, a few pieces of tea leaves are placed in the mouth of the deceased. Legend has it that people do not forget their loved ones after death, crying every day and refusing to see the King of Hell. The King of Hell made a kind of "soul-forgetting soup", put a few pieces of tea leaves in the soup, and sent Yaksha to bring it to the deceased to persuade him to drink it. The deceased had finished crying. He thought what was brought to him was tea, so he took it and drank it. However, he forgot everything after drinking it and went to see the King of Hell obediently.

Somehow this incident got known to the family of the deceased. They did not want the deceased to forget their relatives, so they tried to fool Yaksha. A few pieces of tea leaves were put in the mouth of the deceased in advance. When Yaksha came to persuade him to drink the "soul-forgetting soup", he saw tea residue in the deceased's mouth and thought that he had drunk the "soul-forgetting soup". In this way, the deceased will not forget their relatives.

3. Huanggang, Northeastern Hubei: When a husband dies and his wife mourns, sisters cry.

There is a peculiar custom in Huanggang, Northeastern Hubei. Whether the husband dies or the wife loses her husband, he ( When they complain and cry, they always say "my sisters!" Why don't they call them husband and wife but sisters? It is said that this is a custom passed down from ancient times.

It is said that when Pangu opened the sky and split the earth, there was no one in the world. Pangu was thinking about how to create humans. When he looked up and saw the sun and the moon, he wanted them to get married and have children.

Sister Yue Yue was a well-behaved girl. After hearing what Pangu said, she turned pale with fright and hurriedly hid in the woods. Brother Taiyang's face turned red and he said to Pangu: "We are brothers and sisters, how can we get married?" Pangu said: "No one in the world wants you, Sun and Moon, to do anything? Let's do this. I have a stone mill here, and you are alone. Take a grindstone and roll it from heaven to earth. If they grind together, you will become husband and wife; if they don't grind together, you will remain brothers and sisters." Taiyang then nodded in agreement.

Pangu handed the grinding wheel to the sun and the moon. They lifted it and rolled it down. Pangu secretly moved his hand, and the rolling grinding wheel just fit together. Pangu said: "This is God's will, you have no choice but to do this." Taiyang was still hesitant, fearing that future generations would laugh at him, so Pangu gave him a needle and said: "If anyone dares to look at you and laugh, you can prick his eyes with a needle. ”

Brother Sun and Sister Moon got married. From then on, couples in the world were called brother and sister. Later generations did not dare to look at the sun, and their eyes felt like needles pricking them when they looked at them.

, Manmei: tie the deceased to a chair

There is a peculiar custom in Manmei, that is, after death, the body must be placed on a chair to sit on, and Tie it up with a rope and place a small square table in front of the deceased. Why is there such a custom?

It is said that there was a daughter-in-law who often abused her mother-in-law, and she had no choice but to swallow her anger when she got old.

Soon, my mother-in-law died, and her body was placed on a chair and sat on it. Relatives and friends came to pay their respects, and my daughter-in-law also came to the chair and cried a few times to commemorate the occasion. Unexpectedly, the mother-in-law was still haunted. She jumped up from the chair and hugged the daughter-in-law tightly. No one could break her away.

The daughter-in-law remembered her unfilial piety after her mother-in-law died, so she had no choice but to tell the story of how she abused her mother-in-law in front of many villagers. Everyone knelt down to plead for their daughter-in-law, and then the mother-in-law slowly released her hands and sat on the chair.

Later, people were afraid that something like this would happen again, so they tied the dead man to a chair and put a table in front of him to block it, so that the dead man could not jump up.

5. Tujia people: joyfully dance to mourn the deceased

Jiaojia people are a unique funeral custom of the Tujia people, also known as "dispersing worries and misfortunes" and "sarhuo". This custom of dancing in front of the dead for a night is said to have been passed down by the Ba people.

In the Tujia village, no matter which family has an old man who died, the villagers will come from each house regardless of their tiredness to dance "Sa'erhuo" for the deceased all night long. There is a song like this in Changyang: "When you hear the funeral drums ringing in the middle of the night, no matter whether it is the south or the north, if you are from the south, I will go, if you are from the north, I will go. If you can't afford to beat the tofu, you can't give away the favor, but play the funeral drum all night to give away the favor." "The family of the deceased also prepared the wedding wine early, made room for the funeral, parked the deceased's coffin in the middle of the hall, and placed a large homemade cowhide drum in front of the left side of the coffin.

With the sound of three cannons "Boom, Boom, Boom" outside the door, groups of men, women and children poured into the main room. They invited each other in the open space in front of the coffin, singing and dancing to the beat of the drums. . Their heads, hands, shoulders, waists, arms, and feet coordinate their movements up and down, dancing in varied dance steps. Sometimes they high-fived each other; sometimes they crossed their elbows; sometimes they rubbed shoulders; sometimes their lips touched the ground and held objects, saying "swallows hold mud"; sometimes they squatted down and swirled on tiptoes; sometimes they played with each other; sometimes they were silent; sometimes they roared and sang in harmony. Whether it is joy or sorrow, it is difficult to tell. However, the Tujia people have such a habit: they accompany the deceased in a lively manner and hold funerals happily.

6. Wuhan: The spectacle of tomb-sweeping during the Qingming Festival

Whenever before and after the Qingming Festival, the usually deserted and quiet cemetery areas such as Shimen Peak, Biandan Mountain, and Jiufeng suddenly become lively. The sound of cars, firecrackers, cries, laughter, and the shouts of vendors selling incense, paper thread, and food can be heard everywhere. The mountain was filled with smoke, dots of fire, and crowds of people from the foot of the mountain to the top, forming a unique custom of worship and sweeping in Wuhan.

The most important things for Wuhan people are temple sacrifices and mountain sacrifices. In the past, wealthy people had to burn 91 kilograms of paper money to show their support for the deceased's "narrow escape". They also had to light 9 sticks of incense and 9 red candles. The food they offered must include meat buns and fragrant cakes, so that the deceased could reincarnate and walk out of the underworld. Always avoid being bitten by vicious dogs.

Of course, most of these old rules no longer exist, but Wuhan people still retain some traditional customs, but they have been modified in form. For example, when sweeping the tomb, you take your family and friends for an outing. After the memorial ceremony, people sit around and eat a basket of wine, food, or bread and cold drinks. Then they go on an outing in the spring, chatting and digging for wild vegetables. It is said that eating such wild vegetables can help people avoid evil and prevent diseases. Some families do not have graves for their family members, but they follow the flow of grave sweepers to the suburbs. They choose an elegant place, use branches to draw a circle on the spot, burn paper and incense as their ancestors' tombs, then sit on the ground for a picnic, and finally go for a walk in the countryside. For such families, the second priority is to perform sacrifices and sweeps, and the main priority is to go on outings.