Chinese Views on Death and Dying Burial Techniques, Rituals and Beliefs of the Common Man

At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people.

The body will now be covered and stuffed with natron to dry it out. All of the rags and fluids that were used in the process are buried with the body. After forty more days, the body is then washed again and covered in oils to keep the skin elastic. The organs that are dehydrated are wrapped in linen then returned to

The two cultures that I decided to compare and contrast is the Mexican culture and ancient Egyptians. Mexicans have embraced death as a part of life. The Mayan and Aztecs practiced human sacrifices which gave and example of acceptance of death. In Mexico when a loved one passed on to a better life the viewing traditional takes place at the family’s home. A catholic priest comes to the family’s home and leads a mass in honor of the recently departed. The coffin in placed on a table along with candles on the side. After the funeral the family members get together and pray for nine days to guide the deceased into haven and ask forgiveness for their sins.On the other hand Egyptians were buried in pyramids directly in the ground. Often bodies were

Different cultures, countries, religions, and community with various behaviors and rituals that guides their belief and action when a loved one pass away. Religious and spiritual belief, type of life after death, superstitious beliefs after death and beliefs towards the meaning of life are all based on tradition and death ritual.

Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece both believed in life after death, though the process in which they follow that belief differ greatly. The Greeks believed that at the moment of death the spirit leaves the body in the form of a little gust of wind or a puff of breath. The Greeks believed in proper burial rights that were performed in three parts, and the relatives mostly women are the ones that conduct these rituals for the deceased. Much like the modern world these rituals consist of the first step; laying out the body to be dressed, the second funeral procession, and the third step was the cremation of the body. Unlike the Greeks the Egyptians developed a process in which they prepared and preserved the dead for the afterlife, known as mummification. This process is believed to have been the purpose of the Egyptians famous pyramids, believed to be the stairs that would lead the Pharaohs to their kingdom in the afterlife. Artifacts are buried in their tombs such as gold, wine, and sculptures to accompany the dead in life after death.

Instead, they believe the body must be cremated quickly after death. As Lama (2004, p. 1) maintains, “The belief that once it sheds its body, the soul prepares to depart immediately on its karmic journey, and as such, it’s very important to cremate the body as soon as practical so as not to provide any allurement for the soul to linger on this side of the world.” In such cultures there is little relating to the bargaining or depression stages of Kubler-Ross’ theory, but acceptance certainly applies to both Hindus and Buddhists. In fact, for the gerontologist, increased cultural understanding of the death and dying process aids overall quality of care. As Barker (1999, p. 161) reports on one study conducted on Hindus in a British community, “…poor communication due to linguistic and cultural distance between relatives and hospital staff, as well as lack of sensitivity involving the latter, may be most distressful to the dying and their relatives.”

In Egyptian culture, they often buried personal belongs and food for the afterlife. However, in ancient China instead of reading spells they would read out messages about the importance of the family member. The burial had two main features; the tomb and the offerings. The people of ancient China made offerings of food and personal belongs, to the deceased person so they would be happy in the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians and Ancient Chinese people had very precise funerary practices.

This paper explores the many ways cultures deal with death, both before and after. Most cultures have different practices when it comes to rituals before and after death, but some rituals and beliefs are surprisingly similar. When it comes to health care, nurses need to be aware of any cultural needs of a client in this emotional time. Asking questions about what the patient and family want to happen is very important. For example, Muslims would like the same sex washing their loved one, and they would like the family to do it themselves. The nurse needs to know this to provide culturally competent care.

The body is cleansed, washed thoroughly from head to toe (Taharah). The faces of the deceased are not allowed to face down out of respect for the deceased. The body is then dried, everything is done by the members of the Burial Society and they also dress the deceased in a

Funeral ceremonies were extremely elaborate, especially for upper class citizens. Funerals had five parts in Ancient Rome; the procession, the cremation and burial, the eulogy, the feast, and the commemoration. Ceremonies began closely after death, as soon as all necessary preparations were made. At the home, the deceased’s body would be washed with warm water and then anointed. If the deceased person had held office, a wax impression of his features would be taken. Next, the body would be dressed in in a toga with all the regalia of the rank he was allowed to wear. Incense would be burned and pine woul dbe places outside the door to signify death in the house. In early and late times, when burial was more popular than cremation, a coing would be placed in between the teeth of the deceased, as payment for Charon, the ferryman of the underworld. These rites were simplified in poorer funerals, as well as done by a family member. However, for the rich, an undertaker, or designator, would do so().

In Mongolia they chop up the body and lay it out in a grassy area and let wildlife eat it. Another way that they are different is because Mongolians keep the body for so long depending on the class that the family is in. Low classes keep the embalmed corpse for weeks, the middle keeps it for months, high classes keep it for a couple of years! After so long of the corpse being in the tomb Mongolians take it out of the casket changes its clothes and takes a picture with it. This is why different because in america once the body is buried it never comes back out. These are some of the ways that Mongolia and the United States are very

Funerals and burials during the Roman empire were a sacred and noble ritual depending on your hierarchical level in their society. In the lower class, the bodies of the citizens were expedited out of the city because they felt that, "death brought pollution in need of expiation and purification"(Gagarin 241). These bodies were then either cremated or inhumed depending on the family's preference. Although the bodies of the poor were not shown as much respect as the upper class, they still were buried

Once the body was prepared, a spiritual ceremony where death rites are made by priests over a dead body began. People of higher social status could have a their death rites read for a week while most working class people had a fairly quick funeral. The body would then be buried near their family home. They were buried as it makes the journey to the underworld easier for them. The grave of the dead was near the family

In Ancient China a heavy emphasis was placed on the proper treatment of the dead and there are several detailed burial practices that define the death culture. In Ancient China people believed that life did not end in death, and that the dead would go into the afterlife doing the same things they did while alive. Because of this belief, tombs were outfitted in all the necessities that the dead would need for the afterlife. Objects placed in the tombs could range from personal objects to weapons. Flutes and other instruments were placed in tombs for the dead to play music as a form of entertainment. Weapons were exquisitely decorated and served more of a symbolic display of power rather than for function. Another part of ancient Chinese death

Today the society is looking for ways to ease life and to find solutions for problems which oppress our lives and make it hard to live through. Because of many reasons, the traditional burials in this century are becoming a problem. (Prothero,2001). The fact that they cover a lot of land to build cemeteries and other things that are attached to these traditional burials is enough for us to search for a practical solution. About a century ago the term "cremation" was unknown to many people. It is believed that it began to be practiced during the early Stone Age and still exists today. Since that time cremations have been made all