Speaking of funerals in rural areas, they are actually quite complicated, especially in that era. Rich families were all about being thick, what does it mean to be thick? The coffin board must be thick, the longevity clothes must be thick, and the quilt covering the deceased must be thick.

  Here is the translation:

  In this place, its often said that poor people are buried in a thin wooden coffin or just wrapped in a mat. This is a symbol of a familys poverty. But rich people, like this old ladys family, who are considered wealthy locals, naturally have more elaborate coffins: The coffin is made of cedar wood and the materials used are also very particular: 12 pieces, with 3 for the bottom, lid, and sides, and 3 for the front and back. Five bottoms, 20 cedar boards, each with five; this symbolizes a wealthy family.

  Clothing, wealthy people have a saying of five tops and three bottoms made of silk to the bottom, that is, the top has 5 pieces, the bottom has 3 pieces, all made of silk. The other day I attended a funeral and also sent a quilt with a note on it: National uniform price, 88.8 yuan...

  Shouyi is generally worn by ordinary people as Ming dynasty clothing, with a round collar, square scarf, and thick-soled boots. This is what is meant by "living in the present" (wearing modern clothes while alive) and "dying without changing" (still wearing Ming dynasty clothing after death, as the last Han Chinese dynasty was the Ming).

  When someone dies, a rich persons face is covered with silk cloth, while ordinary people use a large piece of yellow paper, also known as the paper money burned for the dead.

  The deceaseds two fists should be slightly clenched, holding 7 pancakes, also called "beating dog cakes", which means that when the deceased goes to the underworld and encounters vicious dogs, they will throw a big cake over, and then there is one silver coin in the mouth of the deceased, and one in each hand.

  After death, a lamp is lit in front of the bed, incense sticks are burned, and a bowl of rice with two eggs is placed. All family members must kneel down. If there is a daughter in the deceaseds household, she must burn 9 catties and 4 taels of big white paper as spirit money. Then, relatives and friends are informed, and someone is found to report the death. Reporting the death was still a laborious task, requiring sending a pair of new Liberation shoes to others, letting villagers wear them to walk around and shout to inform relatives. If there were distant relatives, the person reporting the death would be exhausted. Before the funeral, clothes are put on the deceased, which is called "small burial".

  We were informed of the death by a person from our village, and when we arrived, it happened to be the time for the small mourning ritual. How was it done? We had to invite women from the village, who first used river water to wipe their bodies with new towels, three times each on the front and back, then combed their hair, also three times.

  The changed longevity clothes, a Dou should be prepared, inside the Dou there is an aromatic oil lamp, 7 lamp wicks, on top of the Dou there is a bamboo sieve, only then can the longevity clothes be placed on it. The longevity clothes are draped over the body of the filial son, that is, the son of the aunt, only then can she change into the longevity clothes, and then cut off the collar of the filial sons undergarment, stuff it into the aunts collar; hands and feet are all wrapped with silk pads, then just wait for the arrival of the geomancer or Taoist.

  This old ladys family also naturally invited a Taoist priest, this Taoist priest was an old Taoist priest from the neighboring village, who usually relied on fortune-telling for others and doing some white magic to pass the days. At that time, someone from the old ladys family had to go to invite him, bringing a red envelope with money, a pack of cigarettes, a pair of bottles of white wine, two kilograms of white sugar, a raw pig head, and several pieces of cloth. Only then would the Taoist priest agree to come, his pretensions were very great.

  The Taoist I went to was already there, holding a bell in one hand and a vegetable knife in the other. On the knife was placed a bowl, then he chanted an incantation called "Po Xi", after which he scattered tea leaves mixed with rice from the bowl into the coffin, then shouted loudly: "Rise!" Several helpers then lifted the old lady into the coffin.

  Others should immediately take the straw mat under the bed and the clothes and shoes worn before death, put them outside the door and burn them immediately, commonly known as burning the bedding. The deceased is placed in a coffin, which is considered a grand funeral.

  Then immediately put the kitchen knife and bowl under the coffin, light the long sleep lamp, the children start crying loudly, we kids have to start going up to kowtow.

  At night, after dinner, my brother took me to hide in a corner, in order to occupy this position and watch the fairy bridge up close. It was really not easy, because at that time it was forbidden for children to appear, so we also hid under the stairs.

  The Taoist brought a back chair, tied up with clothes on it, then tied a persons head on the top of the chair with cotton wool, and covered it with a black towel. The edge of the chair was wrapped around with an apron to represent the deceased aunt.

  Six square tables were arranged in a long shape, and bamboo was used to build a bridge-like structure on top. At the time of the child, the filial son held the memorial tablet and knelt down to welcome the spirit, the Taoist priest recited scriptures, and everyone helped the spirit cross the bridge with that chair. The atmosphere was eerily deadly

  The eldest son of my aunt, also my elder male cousin, carried the spirit tablet in front, while my younger male and female cousins supported the sedan chair behind. The Taoist priest led the way in front, walking with his eyes closed and shaking a bell. The bridge was arched in shape.

  The Taoist has passed, and the elder uncle has also gone past. Just as everyone was waiting for the younger uncle to pass, he tripped at the highest point of the bridge. At first, it was thought that the bamboo was slippery. The Taoist saw this and could only say that the auntie didnt want to leave, missing everyone, so she called on the younger uncle to walk again.

  Everyone walked with a mindset of watching the excitement, and this time they still walked to the same position, and fell again; This time, the Taoist priest couldnt bear it anymore, and let my cousin, her husband, and little cousin hold the chair and walk. The third time, as expected, they fell down in the same position again...

  The immortal bridge cannot be crossed, which means that the persons soul cannot enter reincarnation. This made everyone present anxious, we children were still watching the excitement, but many adults had already thought of leaving this place, this situation meant there was a problem.

  This scene was also the first time the old Taoist had seen it, and he was panicked, found a hemp rope, and directly tied the chair to Xiao Biaos body. At this time, it was not possible to change people, changing someone would mean that this person is not a filial son, which would be very embarrassing, and also called several relatives over to support him.

  The fourth time over the Fairy Bridge, in the same position, when the chair reached that position again, the entire bridge collapsed with a loud crash, and everyone on the bridge, including the Taoist priest, fell to the ground, and the chair also broke into four pieces.

  The people present quickly went over to help the others, except for the chair, everyone else was fine, only that Taoist priest, his forehead hit the corner of the table and saw red directly... Everyone found a towel to cover him, asking what to do, at this time the old Taoist priest was already unable to speak, his mouth kept shouting: "I wont do it anymore, I wont do it anymore, there are ghosts here!" When speaking, he was already choked with sobs, then covered his head, and didnt even have time to clean up the mess, and ran out directly...

  He said that the Taoist priest led everyone to say that the ghost had run out, and the remaining people suddenly exploded in an instant. Who else dared to stay? Except for his family members, all the others, including me, ran out instantly.

  That night we were staying at my grandmothers house, and before dawn, the front door of my grandmothers house was knocked violently. It was opened by my grandfather, and as soon as he opened it, it was my eldest uncle who came in, his legs trembling with fear. He grabbed my grandfather and shouted: "Uncle, hurry up and go with me, I dont dare to stay at home, Im so scared, or else well be done for by tomorrow morning, this white banner is not going to work anymore."

  My grandfather also saw that scene on the same day, although it was said that the next morning, the old lady was taken away to be buried without any trouble. Firstly, it was not in line with the rules, and secondly, the Taoist priests were all scared away. After this incident, our family probably didnt dare to have anyone live there anymore. He then thought of Cha Wenbin and asked my uncle to go call my father to get up quickly and hurry over to Cha Wenbins place to take a look.

  In those years, our family didnt have much contact with Cha Wenbin. He came to my house a few times, each time just turning around at Jiangjun Temple and then leaving. Its said that he wasnt even home for long, nobody knew what he was doing.

  Rushed to the Zha family overnight, the one who opened the door was his youngest son Zha Liang. I asked Zha Liang where his father was, and he said he was sleeping. He had just returned from a trip and had only just fallen asleep. I hurried over to ask Zha Wenbin to get out of bed. My dad also showed great respect for him, and if it werent for the urgency of the matter, he probably wouldnt have dared to disturb him either.

  After a while, Cha Wenbin came out, wearing his clothes and asking my dad what was going on. It had been several years since they last met, but Cha Wenbin still looked spirited. After hearing the situation, he grabbed his bag and set off with my dad to Grandmas house, telling his son to take care of things at home.

  Arrived at grandmas house, the sky was already bright. Cha Wenbin first went to his aunts house for a look and then left directly to the old Taoist priests house, knocked on the door, made a bow, and after understanding the situation of the day with the old Taoist priest, he went back to grandmas house.

  After arriving at grandmas house, he said that he wanted to take a nap and would be called again when it got dark. He also informed Aunties house that everything was as usual, just dont seal the coffin tightly, he will go over there when it gets dark.

  Cha Wenbin never liked to explain things, so everyone just followed his words. Now there are only a few people left in the village, and no one dares to go there. We children were also warned not to run around outside.

  When it got dark, my grandma carefully went to wake him up. After dinner, my father couldnt help but ask him what was going on. Cha Wenbin smiled and said that the old Taoist priest would probably never take this job again. Someone who had followed a coffin maker for a few years and learned how to bury people also dared to call himself a Taoist?

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