By the way, my father died around 20 12, 10. When is a good time to cremate? How to deal with the aftermath? Ask people who understand customs for advice!

First of all, I want to express my condolences to your father. The modern funeral is not that he is too particular about it. It is usually cremated one to three days after death, so that family members can see each other for the last time before cremation. There may be some specific customs in the countryside;

Xiao Di: Wash the body and put on the shroud. This step should be done as soon as possible, even sometimes before the end of life. Because in a few hours, due to the death of muscle cells, there will be a phenomenon of limb stiffness called rigor mortis, which will affect the wearing of the shroud. Shrouds can't be made of leather, because it is traditionally believed that the dead will be reincarnated as animals.

Funeral service: formally inform relatives and friends near and far about the time, circumstances and funeral arrangements of death. There are often strict conditions and order regulations.

Funeral: relatives and friends come from other places to attend the funeral, bringing gifts, presents, elegiac couplets, wreaths, etc.

Stop the spirit: also known as temporary mourning, the body is parked in the mourning hall for several days, waiting for relatives and friends who come to mourn; At the same time, it helps to determine death instead of coma and suspended animation. The mourning hall can be a room at home, a temporary shed, or a special room for a funeral home. There are mourning banners, portraits of the dead, food (offerings), incense, candles and paper money in the mourning hall. In addition, it cannot be officially installed for the time being.

In the case of burying the dead, leaving the coffin in temples and other places for future burial can also be called stopping the spirit.

Wake: During the wake, relatives and friends present, especially the younger generation of the deceased, take turns to guard the deceased in the mourning hall and accept condolences from mourners. During the whole funeral, the younger generation (called dutiful son/daughter) close to the deceased wore white seamless coarse clothes or jackets, tied with straw ropes or hemp ropes at the waist and sandals at the feet, which was called mourning.

Coat: In front of family members, move the deceased into the coffin with a mattress, cover it with a quilt, and nail it to seal the coffin. Wealthy families may use an inner coffin and an outer coffin to place funerary objects.

Funeral: Send the coffin to the cemetery for burial. The sign of the beginning of the funeral is that the dutiful son will break a clay basin, which is called "throwing the basin". Led by a dutiful son holding a "talisman", a band played and distributed paper money to the cemetery along the way. The burial ceremony was assisted by Feng Shui master.

Burning Seven: After burial, relatives and friends go to the cemetery once every seven days to burn paper money, seven times a day for forty-nine days. There are also similar activities such as evoking souls and burning paper money, which are called "doing seven". The ceremony on the 49th day was called "Breaking Seven", which was the end of the official funeral.

Filial piety: According to the Confucian tradition, the dutiful son should stay in front of his parents' grave for three years, during which he should avoid socializing, drinking and eating meat, and the husband and wife should share the same room.

Memorial tablet: Family members offer incense to a memorial tablet with the name of the deceased written on it.

Grave-sweeping: During their stay in Tomb-Sweeping Day, relatives and friends repair and clean the cemetery.