Chinese culture full of customs, rituals, and superstitions. Most of these traditions are associated with ancient Chinese people and folk tales. The Chinese rites are different according to the age of the deceased, status of the deceased, and cause of death. The funeral rituals are different in different regions on the chine. These customs can also be found in some other countries and vary a bit from one another. There are some Chinese traditions that cannot be found in whole chine but are only being followed by deep traditional people. The mourning and rituals are performed up to 100 days after the day of the death. It is believed that the soul of the deceased visits his house on the 7th day after his death. On the 7th day, it is necessary that all the family members should be at home in their rooms and there should be powder at the entrance of the room. To end the mourning period a prayer ceremony is held after the 100 days of the death. The mourning is prayers are kept for 100 days as it is considered that in this time the soul of the deceased is reborn as another human.
Rituals and Rites:
In Chinese societies, the rites and rituals at the funeral are taken very seriously and these customs have an important value in Chinese culture. It is believed that if the customs are not followed or the arrangements were not according to the standards of Chinese traditions than this may lead to inviting bad luck for the family members of the deceased. The incomplete arrangement can bring disaster to the deceased house where his family members are living. In Chinese, it is considered that the elder person should not show respect to the younger person and because of this believe if a young person has died than his parents will not offer his rituals and his body will not be brought home and will be left in the funeral parlor and if the person was unmarried than he is unblessed because he has no child to do rites. If a newborn baby dies, then there are no funerals rites are performed because of this custom that elder should not respect the younger.
If an elder person of the family dies, then it is essential to arrange the funeral according to the customs and traditions and best should be tried to show respect to his in his last rites. The rites of the elder should be performed in a well-arranged manner even if the family cannot afford it or even, they go into debt to pay for them.
It is believed that the person will have a death in his family in a short time if he or she sees a reflection of the coffin in the mirror or something. Because of this superstition, all the mirrors are removed from the place where the coffin is present. It is considered bad to expose the dead bodies or coffin to the deities and because of this belief, all the statues of deities are covered by a red cloth till the dead body or coffin is in the home. If the deceased is a female then a white cloth is hung at the right side of the entrance of the doorway and is hung on the left side, if the deceased is a woman.
Superstitions About the Clothes:
The clothes of the deceased are burned and are not reused by any other family member as this is considered as bad luck and it is believed that the person who will wear the clothes of the deceased may die in a short period of time. The body is deceased will not be dressed in a red dress as according to Chinese superstition this will cause the dead person to become a ghost and it will a disaster for the house and for the family members. The most used dresses for a dead body are white, black, brown, or blue in color. The coffin is kept open in the time of wake and during the time of the food firstly the food is placed near the coffin as presenting or offering the food to the deceased person and it is believed that if food is not offered to the deceased than this will bring ill fortune for the house and for the family members. Family members of the deceased should visit the graves every year and it is necessary to place some food, fruits, or flowers on the grave as a sign of showing respect, care, and grief.
Tradition about clothes colors:
Some older generations of Chinese culture follow the customs in which the family members are not allowed to wear red clothes for 100 days and the women are prohibited from wearing any jewelry. The grandchildren of the deceased are not allowed to have a haircut for almost 49 days. The guests are expected to wear black dress as black is considered as the color of sorrow in Chinese culture. The dress with some designing or patterns is prohibited because they can make the spirits angry the dress should be plain and simple. Some people talk to the graves or the dead bodies and share their life works, jokes, important events of his house because they believe that the dead bodies can hear them.
The family member of the deceased should not get married for a minimum of 100 days after his death as it will be bad for the relation and for the life of the groom and the bride and this condition for the children of the deceased is of 6 months or more. An envelope is given to the family members of the deceased and it is necessary that the money in the envelope should be in odd numbers and the amount should not be less than 101 Chinese yuan. A joss paper is burned by the family of the deceased to show blessing and ensure the ease for the soul. The joss paper is burned to present this as money to the soul of the deceased.