My grandma (Mother's side) died 2 weeks ago. I have to attend her funeral next weekend. To be honest, I am not sad; everyone has his/ her end time.The fact is, I don't like attending funerals, particularly the Chinese ones. The first Chinese funeral, I attended, was about 10 years ago, to pay the final respect to my step-mom's father. It ended up a very unhappy event. Both my brother and I, were scolded for not being respectful, by not performing certain funeral rituals. I don't want to describe the details here, to avoid arousing discomfort of related persons.
The matter is, I don't worship ancestors nor do I burn incense to please the dead. Since then, I smell trouble everytime when someone dies and I have to attend his/ her Chinese funeral, which involve Chinese funeral rituals.
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Sidenote
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A couple years back, when one of my relatives died, her sons forked out under HKD10k to finish the final expense. The ceremony was done in a Christian church. She had come to believe in God weeks before she died.
It easily costs ten times more if it's done in a Chinese way. Chinese funeral service providers (even for the entry level practitioners) can earn USD10,000 per month. I've seen many of them driving Benz or BMW! If you are thinking of starting a business in China, consider final services. This is a multi-billion dollar business.
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The only interesting part of the Chinese funeral ritual was when those "dancers" performed a procedure called "Break-The-Hell". Words of outer space were uttered during the dance. Compared to the money received, those services were really no big deal.
Sometimes, I really wonder how Chinese brought up spooky rituals. As a Chinese, I even despise the practice. It's just jokes!
To quote a saying I've seen on the web:
"Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense!"
Well said.
Although I hate attending funerals, I will surely go next week. No choice.
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