Chinese funeral practices are an example of the implication of the three teachings in Chinese culture; Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. In regards to everyday social behaviors and ethics, Confucianism plays a significant role in funerals. Taoism and Buddhism elements in funerals focus on philosophy. There are two common funeral traditions: The funeral ceremony, traditionally lasting […]
My final project for Gods, Ghosts, and Ancestors was a research paper about Chinese Death rituals and customs. I started to focus on Chinese Buddhism death rituals but my research discovered striking similarities between all three traditional Chinese religions. Traditional Chinese culture is comprised of three main teachings: Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. These three main […]
Deeply rooted in Chinese culture and ideology is the belief that taking care of your ancestors and other deities who have passed on to the afterlife is important. There are many traditions that worship and honor the dead in China, and one tradition is the act of burning spirit money and other paper goods. By […]
Chinese Ghost Marriages For my final project, I researched the fascinating and somewhat jarring topic of Chinese ghost marriages and wrote my paper on the research that I gathered. “Till death do us part” does not apply for everyone. An ancient Chinese tradition that dates back as far as 221 B.C. involves the marrying […]
Can you imagine what it’d be like if you were an herbalist who had to expel an evil spirit from someone’s body? For my topic, I’ve chosen Chinese supernatural beliefs embedded in Chinese medicine (qi, yin/yang, etc.). I will share what I’ve learned through a non-fictional story titled: The Pig, The Spearman, & the Zhōngyī. […]