When we hold a funeral in Jingzhou, the relatives of the deceased have to leave the next night, especially their sons.

1. Chinese customs

Traditional Chinese funeral customs are generally a mixture of primitive concepts and feudal concepts. They have been spread among the people for thousands of years, forming customs and sentiments in various places.

1.1 Jianghan Plain: Gongs and drums are played equally for weddings and weddings

In Jianghan Plain, people usually play gongs and drums when they get married, and only gongs and drums are played for funerals of the dead. However, the custom in Haokou Town, Qianjiang is special. , whether it is a wedding or a funeral, only gongs and drums 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 were invited to the wedding, but not those who set off firecrackers. 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. There are still marriages happening in Qianjiang area.

1.2 Jingzhou: The King of Hell invites you to drink the Forgetful Soul Soup

"If you go out for three or 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 deceased’s family. They didn’t 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.

1.3 Huanggang in Northeast Hubei: Husbands die, wives cry and sisters cry

There is a peculiar custom in Huanggang in Northeast Hubei. Whether the husband dies or the wife loses her husband, he (she) ) When they complain and cry, they always say "my sister!" 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 the sky split and the earth split, there was no one in the world. Thinking about how to create a human being, when he looked up and saw the sun and the moon, he asked them to get married and have children.

Sister Yue Yue has a well-behaved nature. After hearing what she said, she turned pale with fright and hurriedly hid in the woods. Brother Taiyang's face turned red and he said, "We are brothers and sisters, how can we get married?" He said, "No one in the world wants you, Sun and Moon, to do anything. Let's do this. I have a stone mill here. Each of you can take one piece." Grinding, rolling down from the sky to the earth, if they run together, you will become husband and wife; if you don't run together, you will still be brothers and sisters." Taiyang then nodded in agreement.

Give the grinding wheel to the sun and the moon. They lift it and roll it down. They use their hands secretly, and the rolling grinding wheel just fits together. He 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 he gave him a needle and said: "If anyone dares to look at you and smile, you will prick his eyes with a needle." < /p>

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.

1.4 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 and sat on it. 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 once was a daughter-in-law who often abused her mother-in-law, and the mother-in-law had 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.

1.5 Tujia people: Happy to dance in funerals to see the deceased

Dance dancing is 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 such a rumor in Changyang: "When you hear the sound of funeral drums 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 tofu, you can't give away favors, but you can play funeral drums all night to give away favors." "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 cowhide drum in front of the left side of the coffin.

As three cannon blasts of "Boom, Boom, Boom" sounded 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 and danced to the beat of the drum. 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.

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

Every time 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 calling for incense, paper thread, and food can be heard everywhere. The mountain was filled with smoke and dots of fire, and people were packed from the foot of the mountain to the top, forming a unique custom of worship and sweeping in Wuhan.

What Wu values ????most is the temple sacrifice and the mountain sacrifice. 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 Wu still retains some traditional customs, but they are 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.

Funeral customs: the burial period

The burial period refers to the period after death until the person is placed in the coffin. Filial piety occupies a very important position in traditional Chinese culture and is regarded as the foundation of virtue. As early as 2,000 years ago, Confucius said to his disciple Zengzi, who was famous for his filial piety: "Filial piety to a husband begins with serving relatives, ends with serving the king, and finally establishes oneself." However, since ancient times, the universal standard for measuring "filial piety" has mainly been It depends on the person’s attitude towards his parents’ “life, care, death and burial”. Therefore, from the beginning of the funeral ceremony, the characteristics of filial piety are very obvious.

It is customary for anyone who is 50 years old or of the "father (grandfather) and mother (grandmother) generation" to be critically ill and dying, and they should "go to the hall", that is, let them lie down next to their family members or ancestors. On a makeshift bed made of four bed boards next to the hall of the house, his children, grandchildren, and daughter-in-law were waiting beside him to bid him farewell. When the deceased is about to die, the family members should change the shroud and put on shoes and socks while crying. They should do so quickly. If the deceased is late to die, there will be a suspicion that the deceased will not be received.

After the deceased dies, his body and face are immediately covered with a sheet, and his family members surround the body to mourn, and the funeral process begins.

The filial man goes out and retrieves a piece of soil from the pond, the edge of the bank or the intersection. He takes it back with a tile, puts incense on the soil, and places it on the ground at the feet of the corpse to show that "people die in the soil." "For peace", put a bowl of rice and a pair of bamboo chopsticks on it, which is called "Jiwei rice" or "Cisheng rice". Relatives should constantly refill incense, burn paper money (said to be paper money used in the underworld), and prepare enough "transportation" for the deceased to go to the underworld. In order for the deceased to move towards the light in the darkness, it is necessary to light a white candle or an oil lamp, and be careful not to extinguish it, which is called "lighting the foot and tail candle". For example, if we add in the "shengshou" (commonly known as "the big house") that was "erected" before the deceased was alive to prepare for the "hundred years" after the death, and the paper big house that was burned to "do merit" after the death of the person ( There are various daily necessities made of paper inside, and even servants, cars, etc.). It can be said that the deceased's clothing, food, housing, transportation and other aspects have been taken into consideration, and similar practices are used throughout the entire funeral ceremony. , will continue to appear.

The funeral home should hang a piece of white cloth on the door, or cover the place where the red couplet was originally posted with white paper to let people around know about it, and report the funeral to cousins ??and in-laws, and give gifts to relatives in other places or overseas. The news was sent, and the children went to the funeral after hearing the news. Among them, you should be especially cautious when reporting funerals to your in-laws. In ancient my country, exogamy was common among ethnic groups, and people with the same surname did not marry. Therefore, joint marriage became an extremely important emotional bond to strengthen the relationship between tribes, clans, families, and surnames. Therefore, when "Book of Rites. Hunyi" describes the function of marriage, the first thing it emphasizes is "the good combination of two surnames." However, the results of a joint marriage often suffer setbacks due to the unfortunate death of one party. In Quanzhou, some mothers-in-law gathered people to go to their in-laws' homes to "eat human lives" because they suspected that their daughters had died due to abuse at their husband's home (some of them were true). Therefore, when people hold funerals for female elders, they pay great attention to the in-law relationship and form some corresponding customs. This is recorded in more detail in the newly compiled "Anxi County Chronicles. Customs Chronicles".

Before the burial, the filial elders should carry a small bucket and lead the whole family to a nearby public well to beg for water. When they return to the door, they will take a bowl of water and wash the body in the house. The remaining water will be poured outside the door, and then the deceased will be buried. "Farewell sacrifice" can be used for burial. During the burial, any five elements that are in conflict with the deceased should be avoided to avoid "confronting evil spirits". After the burial, filial men and filial women need to send the daily necessities used by the deceased to the suburbs or outside the village for incineration, commonly known as "sending grass". , or called "sending the tail of the foot". After the event, the Taoist priests will perform some rituals to ward off evil spirits indoors and outdoors, commonly known as "collecting the blackbirds" (or performed at the end of the wake).