The Differences in Funeral Culture between Ancient China and India
Introduction
A funeral is a ceremony related to the final disposal of a dead body, and the customs associated with it are complex beliefs and practises. There have been various funeral cultures for the deceased since the creation of humankind. The funeral culture was adopted to respect the deceased and may include interment, cremation, rituals, prayers and monuments created to honour the dead. Various cultures have approved different perspectives about death, and death has become a central issue in all superstitions and religions. People have possessed an ultimate feeling towards death such as wonder, mystery, and fear that have led to the creation of death-related fantasies such as soul, Karma, heaven, hell, rebirth, and eternity. The ancient Chinese and Indians had adopted various practices regarding burial rites and funeral customs. The funeral customs such as the mourning and burial practises in India and China have been primarily affected by the religion adopted in these nations. China buried the dead in tombs and graves, whereas in India, people were cremated. In China, people believed that there is life after death, and the deceased would lead the experience as that of the earth. In India, however, the dead were believed to be reincarnated into different beings depending on Karma, i.e. the fate depended on the actions taken while alive. In ancient China, the social and political status of the deceased was crucial in determining the type of burial an individual would receive. They would hold extravagant and funerals for the emperors. However, in India, the socio-economic status of the parted body was a non-issue in the preparation of the body and the cremation process. In China, the funeral practices were mainly guided by the customs of Confucius, whereas in India they were guided by Hinduism. In China, the dead were buried with their belongings to use in their afterlife, whereas, in India, they believed the deceased were reincarnated into new bodies; thus, no personal belongings were not necessary.
Burial Practises
Chinese practised burial in the earth where the deceased was believed to find peace by being place in graves/tombs into the earth. The culture is still present is some of the Chinese areas of Han and some Eastern Asia countries such as Korea and Japan. The funeral process was guided through the belief of Confucianism and its customs. The ritual ceremonies mainly included the burial process to include personal properties of the deceased into the tomb. The specific items that the dead were buried with changed over the dynasties and time passage. The Chinese believed that life after death was similar to that of the earth, and thus the deceased would need their belongings and valuable things in the next world. The burial practices of the Chinese had two major components, i.e. the grave and the contents of the deceased belongings, and the ceremonies were held in temples to honour the dead.
However, in India, the most prevalent burial practice was through fire which was accompanied by the Hinduism worships. The vital belief in the burial by fire was that they had to provide a sacrifice to fire. According to the four Vedas, ancient religious texts written in India, among the three earliest gods, was the god of fire known as Agni. Agni ran through the duties of the three gods Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. Vishnu was the protector of all goodness, Shiva was the god who destroyed all evil, and Brahma was the god who created everything. According to Hinduism beliefs, the soul would obtain complete transmigration only if the body was incinerated by fire. The Indians would perfume the body and adorn it with flowers before they burnt it. The Hindu believed that the soul would take up many bodies the lifetimes until it was eventually free of the cycle of death and rebirth.
India also practiced burial by water where they believed that the holy water would clean them up into the afterlife. Hinduism belief was bound that the spread of the ashes of the burned bodies into Holy River enabled the cleaning of their souls relieving then and enhancing transmigration. The waters in Ganges were believed to be holy and a source of all life and most people preferred being strewn in the river after their cremation. The elderly people in the ancient India often preferred rowing themselves into the centre of Ganges River where they would jump into the sacred water and be swept away to the next life.
Qin Shi Huangdi was the first Chinese emperor, and his tomb is famous for being an example of the burial practices in the ancient world in China. Qin’s grave was designed to symbolize the realm that he ruled during his earthly life, and thus, all he needed in the next world was included in his tomb. His tomb contained the terracotta army of above 8,000 soldiers, weapons, armour chariots, horses. The rites observed during his funeral were precise to those practised throughout China. The regiment was to act as the tomb guardians and would serve the ruler in the next life. Taking an example of the Neolithic Banpo village, individuals were buried in personal tombs with their tools and possessions. In China, the preparation of proper burials for the deceased was very crucial and ensured that the dead would rest in peace and wouldn’t return as angry ghosts to haunt the living. Later in the centuries, the ancestors of an individual played a crucial role in influencing the afterlife of an individual. Thus, the living offered prayers to the ancestors to ensure that there is divine harmony, and after a person died, he would transition comfortably from the earthly life to the next. In ancient China, the burial arrangements such as the coffin material the size of the grave, the title were given to the deceased, and the funeral ceremony was primarily dependent on the social class of the dead. Beng, Hong, Zu, Bulu, and Si were the deaths of an emperor, a princess, high ranking officials, the educated people, and the common people, respectively. The Chinese believed in the achievement of immortality and would live even after death.
Religious beliefs and the Concept of Death
In India, the most prominent manifestation was Hinduism, whereas in China it was the Confucian. Hinduism believed that the entire universe was run behind an ultimate reality referred to as Brahman. Brahman presented itself in an extreme realm and was the highest rule of the universe yet had no beginning nor end, no shape, no time and space. In the ancient Hindu religious custom, Suttee, a widow would help her soul and that of her husband’ into the next world by allowing herself burn to death in the pyre of her husband’s funeral. Hinduism stipulated the belief that life and death are part of samsara, i.e. rebirth. The ultimate goal n Hindu is to escape samsara and achieve transcendent salvation, i.e. moksha. Attainment of moksha would lead to the absorption of the soul into Brahman the ultimate divine force. The individual body is believed to pass to another through reincarnation depending on the consequences of an individual during their lifetime.
After death, the preparation for the funeral start immediately and in ancient times, the funeral is held in the soonest time possible. Depending on the time of death, the funeral would be held before the next dawn or dusk.
Unnecessarily touching the deceased is considered impure as soon as the death occurs. The body would be washed by close friends or family members, which was very crucial in preparing the body. The bath is considered holy, abhisegam, and the deceased is washed with a mixture of milk, honey, and ghee. The body could also be washed with purified water, especially from Ganges River, and those washing the body should do so reciting the mantras. The priest presided over the cremation of the body which was burnt in a pyre in a sacred place, ideally in the Ganges river bank. The ashes would be collected and spread into Ganges River on the third day after cremation. The family would then begin a mourning period that would last for about 12 days. The mourning period was characterized by the preta-karma rite, which enables the spirit of the deceased to achieve a new body during reincarnation. After the mourning period, the family would host a feast t commemorate the dead. A memorial event known as sraddha is held one year after the death.
According to the Chinese Confucian, however, they believed that people should live with the virtue to perfect continuously and would later unite with the highest spiritual force in heaven. Confucius allowed suicide since ordinary people might have weak mental ability and could face the reality of the physical world. Confucian believed that people should concentrate more on life and not death and avoid the questions of the next life and soul.
According to Confucians, the rite of burial was significant for all people, including the emperors and the ordinary people and the steps were conducted systematically. They included more than twenty different actions such as shower, obituaries, soul recall, filial meals, funeral lamps, and final valediction. In ancient China, they emphasized that after children lost their parents; they would go into mourning for up to three years. The sacrificial ceremony in three years would be divided into small styles that would take one year and big styles that would be performed in two years. It was believed that the children had a duty to their parents, and the dead had an influence on the living. There were funeral rules and regulations for the funeral activities. The coffin was the final resting place for the deceased and was protected with an outer coffin. In ancient times, the dead were interred in the wild but later changed to using coffins. The rank of the deceased determined the class of the material used to make the coffin. The deceased were buried in tombs, but the use of graves was gradually adopted during the reign of Zhou dynasty. The family members of the dead would plant trees and create a tombstone and memorial gateways. They would burn paper currency that belonged to the dead to show respect and ensure that they lived comfortably in the next world.
Other Funeral Practices in China and India
In ancient China, there were other less common funeral practises such as the burial in the wild. There was also the celestial/sky burial which was fundamentally through the belief of raising souls into heaven. In India, the other practises involved disposing of the body by leaving t in an open-air structure at the top of a hill. The place was referred to as the tower of silence, and the body was left to be eaten by the carrion predators.
Modern Practices Embedded in Traditional Funeral Culture
Today, India still practices some traditional funeral customs such as cremation. However, the cremation can be done through the manual bamboo pyres or electric cremation. Some Indians prefer to witness electric cremation to show respect for the dead. The cremated ashes are collected and can be consecrated into any water body such as the river or the sea and not necessarily the Ganges River. Hymns and prayers still characterize the funerals. The cremation of modern Indians still takes place within 24 hours. The preparatory rituals for the dead are still present, such as washing the body and applying Chandan on the body of the deceased.
In China, there are still traces of the traditional funeral culture, such as the use of graves to bury the dead. However, they are smaller than those in ancient times and don’t depend on the status of the deceased. The graves in the olden times led to land wastage and thus the reduction in the size of the cemetery. The burning of joss papers during funerals with latest trends such as designer clothes and smartphones. The souls of ancestors are still believed to protect the descendants, and China holds the Qingming Festival to worship the ancestors and pray for their protection. During these festivals, the Chinese visit graveyards to clean the tombs, sacrifice food, bring flowers, and burn some joss papers and sticks to show respect to their ancestors.
Conclusion
The common motivation to the occurrence of funeral practises include a celebration of life, mourning the dead, and holding rituals to held the soul of the dead to achieve reincarnation or afterlife. The funerals involve the final disposition of the corpse, which is carried out depending on the religion and culture of the people. The different beliefs are reflected in the funeral practices. There is the development of funerary art in connection to burials such as flowers and tombstones. The funeral customs across ancient India and China are characterized by gathered community, ritual performance, significant symbols, transition of the deceased body, and cultural heritage.
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