104
CHINESE FUNERALS: A CASE STUDY
DAN WATERS
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth ever gave
Awaits alike the inevitable hour;
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in Country Churchyard.
Introduction
This paper examines an actual, fairly typical, present-day Chinese death in urban Hong Kong and the funeral services and mourning that follow. Comparisons are made with past customs in Hong Kong, with traditional Hong Kong New Territories funerals and European funerals. Because this paper is largely about Hong Kong, Cantonese terms and Romanisations are mainly used rather than pinyin. Currency quoted is in Hong Kong dollars.
The author is grateful to Mr Gerald C.S. Siu, manager of the Hong Kong Funeral Home, Doctor James Hayes, the Reverend Carl T. Smith, Mrs Judy Kant Young and other persons and organisations named in this paper. Help varied from recommending source material to providing information.
The Case Study
One November night in 1988, a couple received a call saying the wife's mother had been taken to hospital. Shortly after midnight the couple, together with the wife's two younger sisters and two granddaughters, gathered around the corpse.
Traditionally, Chinese hope for a peaceful death in old age with family mustered around the deathbed. In this case the end came suddenly. As Chuang Tzu, sometimes named as the first important Taoist writer, phrased it:
We are born as from a quiet sleep,
We die to a calm awakening.
104
CHINESE FUNERALS: A CASE STUDY
DAN WATERS
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth ever gave Awaits alike the inevitable hour;
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in Country Churchyard.
Introduction
This papar examines an actual, fairly typical, present-day Chinese death in urban Hong Kong and the funeral services and mourning that follow.' Comparisons are made with past customs in Hong Kong, with traditional Hong Kong New Territories funerals and European funerals. Because this paper is largely about Hong Kong, Cantonese terms and Romanisations are mainly used rather than pinyin. Currency quoted is in Hong Kong dollars.
The author is grateful to Mr Gerald C.S. Siu, manger of the Hong Kong Funeral Home, Doctor James Hayes, the Reverend Carl T. Smith, Mrs Judy Kant Young and other persons and organisations named in this paper. Help varied from recommending source material to providing information.
The Case Study
One November night in 1988, a couple received a call saying the wife's mother had been taken to hospital. Shortly after midnight the couple, together with the wife's two younger sisters and two granddaughters, gathered around the corpse.
Traditionally, Chinese hope for a peaceful death in old age with family mustered around the deathbed. In this case the end came suddenly. As Chuang Tzu, sometimes named as the first important Taoist writer, phrased it:
We are born as from a quiet sleep,
We die to a calm awakening.
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