There is an old saying in the countryside that "new graves are flooded by rain, and mules and horses flock together". What does this mean?
The original words in folklore are: "When it rains in the new grave, the nobles will come out!" Or "new graves in the rain, mules and horses in groups!" Wait a minute.
It means: after the new grave is wet by rain, there will be a big man or a group of mules and horses at home, and it will become rich and expensive.
This is an old superstition in China. This is considered to be a good omen for a new grave that has been wet by rain. Either noble or rich. Rain after burial can be considered as touching the gods, thus blessing future generations and bringing good luck.
Extended data
In ancient times, the custom of offering sacrifices to people (mainly close relatives, near ministers and near servants, which remained until the Qing Dynasty) was gradually replaced by pottery figurines, and in modern times, paper figures were buried with them.
After the funeral, there are memorial ceremonies for the seventh, seventh, centenary and anniversary, and the memorial tablet belongs to the ancestral hall, which has changed from a ceremony for people at the funeral to a ceremony for "ghosts" and "ancestors".
In addition, the Han nationality also has the custom of "returning to burial", that is, transporting the bodies that died in other places back to their original places.
During the funeral, the relatives of the deceased should wear mourning clothes and wake in the mourning hall. In the ancient etiquette system of China, filial piety was divided into five grades according to the kinship with the deceased. There is also a word "five clothes" in modern Chinese to express the distance of blood relationship. Filial piety is made of white cloth, which is quite different from the custom of westerners wearing white clothes to make dresses.
In the Qing Dynasty, an Englishman came to China for the first time. When he met the funeral procession, everyone was dressed in white, but his expression was painful, sad and strange. In ancient times, people sang elegies at funerals, and Tao Yuanming, a great poet in Jin Dynasty, wrote three elegies for himself before his death. The elegy of later generations evolved from the elegy of ancient times.
The scale of the funeral ceremony is closely related to the status of the deceased. In feudal society, there were strict regulations on funeral ceremonies for people with different identities and status.
After the death of the elder, children and grandchildren should stay at home for 27 months, during which time they should stop socializing and entertaining. Officials also have to leave their jobs and go home to be filial, which is called "keeping the system."