In traditional Chinese funeral culture, there is a special cultural phenomenon, that is, joyful funeral. As the name suggests, a happy funeral means that when a funeral is held for the deceased, the relatives are very happy.
This phenomenon is more common in rural areas, and when some elderly people die, if their families are in a good mood, they will choose to hold a funeral for the elderly. However, this phenomenon is not absolute, because there are many places in traditional Chinese culture where the traditional Xi of joy and mourning is not applicable.
So today, let's take a look at what is a happy funeral, what are the criteria, and how old is a happy funeral according to tradition?
What is joy and mourning
In the traditional culture of the mainland, funeral culture occupies a very important position, it represents a cultural phenomenon, but also represents a traditional Xi. Funeral is a special phenomenon in funeral culture, and its main manifestation is that when a funeral is held for the deceased, relatives are very happy.
In traditional Chinese funeral culture, it is believed that if the relatives are happy after the death of a person, then they will bless the deceased with peace and security in the other world. Therefore, people are full of hope and longing for the funeral that will be held after the death of the elderly. However, this does not mean that all relatives have to attend the funeral after the death of the elderly.
There is a very important theory in traditional Chinese culture, that is, people die like lights go out. This means that when a person dies, if his family and friends are very sad, then they will think that the person has left this world and will never come back.
Therefore, we can see from here that the phenomenon of joy and mourning is also a traditional cultural phenomenon. However, due to cultural differences and different customs and Xi, some places do not follow this theory for funerals. As a result, funerals are not so popular in some areas.
So why does this phenomenon occur? In fact, the main reason is that people do not want to make their relatives sad when they attend the funeral held after the death of the elderly. However, if the old man has passed away, there is no need to perform any more ceremonies.
After all, the person has passed away, and everything he has is in the past tense, and there is no point in holding another ritual at this time. Therefore, some places will not follow the Xi of happy funeral to do funeral, but will follow the normal funeral to do funeral.
This has led to the emergence of a cultural phenomenon of joy and mourning in some places. However, the phenomenon of joy and mourning is not absolute, if the family members are sad and sad after the death of the elderly, then they will choose to hold a normal funeral for the elderly.
However, there are also some places that believe that after the death of the elderly, if the relatives are very happy and happy, then they will think that the old man has ascended to heaven. Therefore, this phenomenon is also called "ascension burial". Therefore, relatives will hold a very solemn funeral ceremony for the deceased to express their sorrow and longing.
However, this is not the case everywhere. In the northern part of the mainland, few people will hold funerals according to normal funerals, but will choose to conduct funerals according to the cultural phenomenon of happy funerals.
Therefore, people in the northern region pay more attention to keeping warm and maintaining health. Because in the northern region, it is generally believed that if a person dies and is exposed to wind and cold, the length of life will be affected. Therefore, in order to avoid being exposed to the cold, northerners will choose to hold a funeral ceremony for the elderly to express their grief and longing.
Because the weather in the southern region is relatively humid and humid, if the old man does not perform sacrifices after death, then he may fall ill or even die because of the dampness.
Traditional standards for joy and bereavement
In traditional Chinese funeral culture, it is generally divided into two types, one is "happy funeral" and the other is "mourning". The so-called "happy funeral" means that the relatives of the deceased are very happy, and it can be said that they are very happy. This phenomenon is more common in rural areas, and many people in cities will choose to hold a funeral for the elderly.
Generally speaking, "happy mourning" is not based on the age of the deceased, but according to the age of the deceased at the time of death. Since everyone has different physical qualities, the age at which everyone dies is also different.
However, some people think that it is wrong to divide the elderly according to their age at the time of death, because there are still many places in traditional Chinese culture that do not apply this standard. In addition, some of these places believe that the older the elderly are when they die, the better, and if they are divided according to their age at the time of death, there will be many people who are very distressed when holding a funeral for the elderly.
These places have strict rules in life, and if there are some people who do not follow them, it is considered unlucky. Therefore, people generally do not choose to hold a funeral for the elderly in their lives.
First of all, we need to clarify what is called joy and mourning. The so-called joyful funeral means that the relatives are very happy when the funeral is held for the deceased, and this phenomenon generally appears in the deceased at the time of death when the deceased is young or newly-born children.
Therefore, in traditional Chinese culture, the phenomenon of joy and mourning generally occurs only in children. Because children are younger, they don't particularly understand the phenomenon of death. If you give them a funeral, they will be very happy and will even show off to other children.
Therefore, many rural areas do not hold funerals for children because they think that children are still young and ignorant. Although this phenomenon exists in many places, it is unlucky for the elderly.
In addition to age, there is another criterion that can also be used as a criterion for joy and bereavement. That is, whether it is correct to divide the joy and mourning according to the age of the deceased at the time of death. There is a saying in traditional Chinese culture that "men are yang and women are yin", so in traditional Chinese culture, men and women cannot be the same age when the elderly die.
If we divide the funeral according to this statement, then the death of a man is a happy mourning, and the death of a woman cannot be a happy mourning. However, this is not absolute. In some places, it is still possible to divide the joy and mourning according to this statement.
Different places have different requirements for joy and mourning
Although mourning is common in rural areas, this does not mean that mourning can be celebrated everywhere. Due to the different customs and Xi in each place, the requirements for joy and mourning are also different.
For example, in the northern region, because the northerners attach more importance to the concept of family, they generally choose a relatively large room for the funeral of the deceased.
Traditionally, a funeral would only take place when three or more men in a family died. Of course, this traditional rule is not absolute.