What are the funeral customs in Shuyang County, Suqian?

Usually, a small piece of white cloth is torn off to make a hat shape and worn on the head to express remembrance and love for the deceased. But children usually wear a long strip of white cloth draped over their heads, which is always dragged on the ground. In addition, the shape and color are also different depending on the generation. There will be some differences in different towns in Shuyang County.

When people in Shuyang express that a person has died, they will say "go away", "old man", "gone", etc. That is to say, they are more taboo about the word "death" and avoid mentioning unlucky words. But today's young people don't believe in those superstitions, and many people directly say "die".

Blowing suona

The custom of blowing suona exists in many areas. From the time I can remember when I was a child to now, the custom of blowing suona has been included in funerals in Shuyang. But since the 1990s, the funeral customs in Shuyang have been very different from before.

The biggest difference is: the night before the funeral, the "Suona Art Troupe" (this is its current name, it used to be called "The Drummer") will hold a grand performance event, and the program is really rich. Colorful, including singing, dancing, rapping, etc. When it comes to "rap", it is similar to the Errenzhuan in Northeast China. The content is vulgar and difficult to be refined. But this just caters to the tastes of some local people, and the scene is still lively.