Jiaonan funeral process
1. Encoffinment
After a person dies, the immediate family members dress the deceased in old clothes. Tie the ankle with a hemp rope and put a piece of jade or a coin in the mouth. Then put it into the coffin. The coffin is covered with a yellow mattress and the deceased is covered with a white quilt, which means: covered with gold and covered with silver. The dead person's head rests on a mountain-shaped pillow and a river-shaped object is placed under his feet, which means: his head rests on the mountain and his feet step on the river. There are 7 coins and 7 buds of cotton under the dead body, which means: leaving wealth for the next generation. After the burial, a lamp is lit in front of the coffin. The lamp will not go out until the deceased is buried. The meaning is: the lamp will always be on, hoping that the deceased can be resurrected. After the everlasting lantern is lit, the deceased's daughter (if there are several daughters, the eldest daughter) burns 9 pounds and 9 taels of papyrus in front of the coffin (9 pounds and 9 taels means: a lot) of papyrus (the papyrus means the money the deceased spent in the underworld). . The burned paper ashes are packed in the trousers worn by the deceased and carried to the cemetery when the deceased is buried.
Note: If one of the couple dies, the gift of old clothes will be three pieces, and if both husband and wife die, the gift will be four pieces (the gift of old clothes does not include pants).
2. Funeral Announcement
On the day after the death of a person, the direct or collateral members of the family will notify relatives (relatives) with a funeral notice (also called an obituary notice). Relatives who were notified came to express their condolences the next morning. When the funeral personnel announce the funeral, you are not allowed to enter the guest's house. You stand at the door and call out the guest, briefly describe the situation to the guest and hand the funeral notice to the guest. Nowadays, there are simple cases where only verbal notification is given without a funeral notice. However, it was not grand enough and lacked etiquette.
3. The mourning shed
On the day after the death of a person, after the burial is completed, a mourning shed is set up at the door of the house where the coffin is located. The memorial shed is generally 3-4 meters wide and a little over 2 meters high. There is a curtain hanging in the middle of the shed. There is a word "Dian" in the middle of the curtain and a couplet on the left and right. There is a table in front of the curtain with photos of the deceased and some tributes and incense candles. There is also a large couplet on the left and right sides of the memorial shed. After setting up the mourning shed, the male filial son sat on both sides of the table in the mourning shed, and the female filial son sat on both sides of the coffin in the room behind the mourning shed, which means: keeping watch.
4. Guests’ condolences
After receiving the funeral notice, the guests came to express their condolences the next morning. When guests come, women have to cry. They start crying when they enter the village and continue crying until they reach the coffin. The female guests do not pay tribute in front of the coffin, but go directly into the house and sit around the coffin. Male guests do not need to cry and go directly to the mourning shed to pay their respects. Close male guests such as sons-in-law and nephews will cry for a while in front of the mourning shed. After being dissuaded by the deacons, they will face the four photos of the deceased in the mourning shed. Kowtow. Visitors who come to express their condolences make mourning clothes according to the five kinds of mourning clothes according to their relationship.
When guests come to express condolences, they should bring firecrackers, tissue paper and other items. Before entering the courtyard where the funeral shed is located, the family members of the deceased (12-16 years old) and younger members of the family will kneel down to receive the deceased.
When guests express condolences, there will usually be three male deacons in front of the mourning shed (standing on the right side). When the guests come to the mourning shed, they shout: Burn paper in front of the mourning, pay tribute to family members, and pay tribute to filial sons. sorrow. After the guests have finished paying their respects, they shout: "A filial son, thank you." The filial son should cry with the guests when they are paying their respects. After the guests have finished paying homage, when they hear the filial son's call to kowtow, they should kowtow to the guests to show their gratitude.
The general procedure for guests to pay homage is to stand in front of the coffin, first bow to the deacon in front of the coffin (the deacons return the bow at the same time), and then bow to the deceased in the coffin. Ceremony, and then kowtow four times. After kowtowing, stand up, stand still, and then bow to the deceased. Turn around and bow to the deacon (the deacon returns the bow at the same time).
5. Ci Ling
In the afternoon of the day before the deceased’s funeral, relatives and friends will come to express condolences again, bringing tributes, paper foils, etc. when they come. This time the condolences are called Ci Ling, The tribute is called Linggong. The condolence process remains the same as before.
6. Funeral (the process of carrying the deceased into the ancestral grave)
On the night before the funeral of the deceased, the filial son will invite a drum band to perform in front of the courtyard where the funeral is held. . This is a simplified form of doing things in the old days.
Before the funeral, there was a coffin sealing ceremony. The content of the ceremony is: after the guests have arrived, the guests are asked to see the deceased's face. Before paying homage to the deceased, the filial son must look at the deceased quietly (that is, wash the deceased's face with water, which is usually a formality). If the deceased is a woman, the woman’s immediate family members (commonly known as natal family members, also known as maternal relatives) should see the deceased first. If the deceased is a man, the man's uncles and brothers (called relatives) should see it first. After the relatives have seen it, the coffin will be sealed by people from Ganghui (note separately), which is also called nailing the coffin.
Before sealing the coffin, the filial son walked around the coffin and touched the inside of the coffin. The objects he touched were the cotton and coins put in during the coffin. No matter whether they could be touched or not, they were touched. The implication is: leaving children and wealth.
After the coffin is sealed, before the coffin is lifted by the gang members, the Nagato elder sister-in-law takes a broom to sweep some of the grains that have been placed on the coffin into a container (the meaning is: leave it for future generations) food).
After the above is completed, the coffin will be lifted by the Ganghui personnel (when the Ganghui personnel lift the coffin and go out, filial men and filial women should let go of their voices and cry bitterly to show their nostalgia for the deceased.) Lift it from the house On the shelf prepared in advance before arriving in the courtyard (the shelf is called a ceremonial pole in the common saying), the top of the coffin is covered with a paper cover or a glass cover. The ritual bar is divided into large bar and small bar. There are 4 people in one corner of the big bar, 16 people in the middle bar, 2 people in each corner of the small bar, and 8 people in the middle bar. When placing the coffin on the shelf, the big end of the coffin should be facing the way to the cemetery, with the head in front and feet behind.
After the coffin is placed on the ceremonial pole, the filial male son stands in front of the ceremonial pole and the filial female son stands behind the ceremonial pole. Before the funeral, the eldest son of the deceased (if the eldest son is not replaced by the eldest grandson) throws a basin in front of the ceremonial pole. The basin he throws is a basin for burning paper in front of the soul. When he throws it, a few steamed buns are placed in it (the common saying is called the old basin). ). Usually it has to be smashed. If it is not smashed, the members of the Gang Club will smash it with sticks.
On the way to the cemetery, the dutiful male son walked in front of the coffin, and the dutiful female son walked behind the coffin. There is also a main building between the filial son and the coffin. The main building is made of wood and has space inside (no door in front) with photos of the deceased and several tributes placed in front. The main coffin is usually placed on a large table, and four people carry it in front of the coffin. Sometimes on the road there will be virtuous people in the village (now there are people who are professional in offering memorial services) to pay homage to the deceased. The pay homage is done facing the main building. When someone is paying homage, the filial man walking in front should turn around, kneel down or lie down facing the coffin and cry. The filial daughter is behind the coffin, and the deceased's daughter and daughter-in-law walk in front. The daughter-in-law will pull the coffin with her hands (commonly known as fishing for the soul). The people behind are arranged in order according to their closeness.
During the funeral, dutiful men and women wear various filial piety clothes that are made in advance according to their closeness. The first three kinds of filial piety clothes are called filial piety. Not only must they wear filial piety clothes, but they must also tie a hemp rope around their waists. Both male and female filial sons hold mourning sticks in their hands (cut with white paper into rough edges and glue them onto the stick in circles).
The nephew of the deceased should resist the banner. The width of the flag is about 3 inches, the length is 4-5 feet, and it is made of white paper. Hanging on a willow branch (now also replaced by sorghum pole). The banner above reads: Dongji Taiyi Zhenren ordered the golden boy and beautiful girl to lead the exam (concubine) and ascend to the fairy world early.
7. Burial
On the morning of the funeral, people from the Ganghui went to the deceased's cemetery to dig a grave (also called a grave pit). The grave pit was 5 feet wide. 7 feet long. Before digging a grave pit, the eldest son of the deceased should use a shovel to dig at each of the four corners of the place where the grave pit is to be dug, which means that the grave pit was dug by the heirs of the deceased himself.
When you go to the cemetery to dig a grave, you should bring incense, paper foil, firecrackers, etc. When you arrive at the cemetery, you should light incense, paper foil, etc. on each of the original graves (also called ancestral graves) in the cemetery. , which means to inform the ancestors that a new person has entered the grave and hopes to accept it.
If one of the couple has died early, the grave of the later deceased should be next to the former. When digging the grave, the wooden boards on the left or right side of the former's coffin should be dug out. This situation is called joint burial.
After the coffin reaches the cemetery, people from the Ganghui place the coffin into the grave pit. The direction of the coffin is generally with the head facing northwest and the feet facing southeast. The specific direction is determined by Feng Shui practitioners based on the conditions of the deceased's cemetery. After placing the coffin, the deacon will call the filial son to see if the position of the coffin is appropriate. If the filial son has no objection, the filial son will bury the coffin four times around the four corners of the pit. This means that the filial son buried it with his own hands. . The eldest daughter-in-law is also asked to grab a handful of soil at each of the four corners, wrap it in the mourning clothes she is wearing, and then go home without even thinking about it and put it behind the gate (there is no need to go to the cemetery again after putting the soil away). After these were completed, the people from Banghui quickly buried the coffin. After the burial, the shape of the tomb was square. When the people of Banghui are buried, filial men and filial women will cry bitterly in front of the grave to show their nostalgia and sadness.
After the tomb is arranged, the nephew's flag is inserted at the position of the deceased's feet (called in front of the tomb). Then place a wreath on the grave. The burial ceremony is completed.
Note: The party will find some young and strong people from the village to help the family members of the deceased with funeral arrangements. Usually there are 20-30 people.