臺灣文化「譯」起讀

Death is inevitable in a person’s lifetime. After a person’s death, his/her family will hold a funeral. The purpose of the funeral is to show our respect for the dead person. Different countries have different types of funerals. This text will introduce procedures, taboos and traditions of funerals in Taiwan, as follows.

1. Procedures of funerals

In the first 10 hours after a person dies, the members of family gather together and chant the scripture. The purpose is to help the soul of the dead person move to a happy place. Afterwards, the company of funeral will place the body of the dead person in a coffin or in a freezer. During the period of seven-day-mourning, the family will prepare a room or a partition, so other relatives and friends can come to mourn the dead person. After the funeral, the members of the family will transport the body of the dead person to the local crematorium to cremate it. The ashes will be stored in an urn. The members of the family can choose a day to bury the urn or store the urn in a tower.

2. Taboos

There are many taboos about the funeral of Taiwan. Therefore, we should follow some rules. If we violate the taboo, bad things will happen.

1) Do not talk or play during a funeral. This action is impolite.

2) Do not say “goodbye” after the funeral. This means that another person will die soon.

3) People should wear black clothes during the funeral. Black color means the respect for the dead person.

3. Customs of Culture

In Taiwan, the most important custom is to burn paper money to the ghost. According to the tradition of Taiwanese, before people are born, they borrow money from the bank of the hell. After they die, they need to return the money. Thus, the family of the dead person will burn paper money and the dead person can return money.