ARTICLES

The reason why the Cantonese worship during the Ghost Festival (also known as Zhongyuan Festival) on the 14th day of the 7th lunar month is mainly due to historical traditions [...]

Offering food and burning paper offerings and joss money for the “good brothers” (wandering spirits) is one of the traditional customs of the Chinese community. When burning joss paper and [...]

During the “Da Zhai” ritual for a departed loved one, the Pǔshī Gūyōu (Shàng Lián Tái) prayer is performed to recite sutras for “wandering souls,” offer them food, and burn [...]

The Netherworld Travel Pass, also known as the “Spirit Road Pass”, is a symbolic "document" used in traditional funerals and Taoist rituals. Its main purpose is to serve as [...]

Continuing from the previous discussion, in this instalment, we will be sharing the common practices and taboos of the "Nail Sealing Ceremony” in modern day funerals. Sequence of the [...]

In Cantonese funeral customs, if a second relative passes away during the mourning period or within a hundred days of a funeral, people often do not see this as a [...]

In traditional Cantonese funeral customs, during the mourning period, family members would not only wear mourning clothes, such as hemp cloth and mourning accessories (known as "xiao"), but also white [...]

There is a saying in Cantonese funeral customs of "Clashes the seven periods". If the soul of the deceased has to pass through the “ghost path” and it happens [...]

At Cantonese Taoist funeral you will often see a ‘yellow notice’ (黄榜) pasted somewhere near the coffin area during the wake. This is a notice that contains information of the [...]

In Cantonese Taoist funerals you can often see two large white lanterns hanging on both sides of the funeral. These two large white lanterns are written with the last [...]

During the ghost festival in the Lunar seventh month, believers will generally offer food and burn paper items/paper money to these "good brothers". This is so as not to [...]

In Cantonese funeral customs, pregnant woman, beside wearing Ma and filial piety arm wear, they also have to tie a red rope around their waist with a pair of red [...]

With the rapid development of modern society, traditional funeral customs have adapted to the changing times. The execution of these customs is no longer limited to the forms themselves [...]

“KaiCin” (Cantonese pronunciation kai1 cin3) is a kind of paper money, which is said to be a common currency in the Netherworld. There is a saying that a piece [...]

In the Taoist funeral custom, if there are idols of deities in the home and mirrors in the room or living room, the Taoist priest will ask the family [...]

Before the Lunar New Year, it is common to see many new red lanterns hanging in some temples. It has names of believers written on them. Red [...]

What is the coffin-raising ceremony? When the Chinese hold funeral wake, the wake usually last for a few days on odd number like one, three or seven days before the [...]

In Cantonese funeral customs, when it reached 100 days, is the time to place the “soul” of the deceased on the ancestral tablet. This means the deceased's mourning period is [...]

The “descendant nail” is a coffin nail attached with a small red cloth and is only used at funerals where there is family member to “Dan Fan” (担幡买水) for the [...]

What is a son-in-law banner? “Son-in-law” banner is a banner used in a ritual at the Cantonese funeral ceremony in which the son-in-law pays the last respect to the deceased [...]

"Celebrating the Lunar Chinese New Year" - Worshipping the Deities and Ancestors "Lunar Chinese New Year" is the most important festival for the Chinese. Traditionally, believers who have deities [...]

What is DingKouQian? Why do you want to put DingKouQian? Is this a Taoism practice?This does not originate from Taoism. DingKouQian or KouHan is one of the ancient customs of [...]

“Shou Wei Qian” is the money held in the hands of the deceased. It symbolizes the last wealth left by the deceased for the family members. This has been a [...]

Flowers and coins are two necessities in the scattered flower rituals. The coins will be placed together with the flowers on the tray during the prayers. After the chanting, [...]

In the past, many Cantonese speaking elderly would stay behind at the funeral wake to wait for Taoist priest to perform the last ritual – Scattered Flowers. In this [...]

Chinese funeral customs in the 1950s and 1960s, family members usually chose to perform cremation or burial ceremonies for the dead. Believers usually choose the burial ceremony because the [...]

In life, when we make a promise to somebody, we have to honour our promises no matter what or how. Only when a promise is honour then we can [...]

In the Cantonese Taoist Dazhai customary rituals, there are also shift-in rituals for the deceased to enter into their house in the netherworld. Believers believe that [...]

Giving instruction to the “helper” or “worker” is part of the Cantonese “Da Zhai” ritual. The Taoist priest will do chanting and blessing to the paper artefact “helper” followed [...]

Buying water or asking for water is one of the rituals at the Chinese funeral, and is responsible by the deceased’s eldest son or grandson. In Cantonese funeral customs, [...]

“Splitting the comb“ is one of the Chinese traditional funeral customs. It means that if either one of the couple passed away, before the funeral, a “split comb" ceremony is [...]

Traditional Chinese etiquette filial Piety dressing and filial Piety arm wear are generally the same except for some different rural custom requirements. There are also some basic requirements for [...]

The so-called "seven periods" in the traditional cantonese funeral custom refers to a person who has just passed away, counts from the day of the deceased’s death, and every seven [...]

In the traditional Cantonese funeral customs, a bowl of rice with a duck head is usually seen on the worship table. This is an offering required by the Taoist [...]

When a person passes on, the family member must decide whether to cremate or bury the deceased. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Chinese usually preferred burial ceremony over [...]

Under what circumstances do you need to perform Spiritualism? There is this saying, except for death at home or at hospital due to illness, the following will need to [...]

One of the prayer rituals conducted during the Da Zhai ceremony is the touring of the Ten Hall of Justice in hell. (Please don’t be mistaken, we are not [...]

Why do the older generation of Cantonese attached great importance to this ‘Dǎotóu jīng’ In the traditional thinking of Cantonese, when a person passed on, their world will enter [...]

Ever wonder what’s the purpose of the ‘Deceased Information Notice’ is about? Most of us do not notice there is such a yellow piece of ‘Notice’ pasted somewhere near [...]

The seventh month in the lunar calendar is also known as the Hungry Ghost month. It was said that on the first day of the hungry ghost month, the [...]

In ‘Da Zhai” ritual, crossing the “Gold and Silver Bridges” is usually the last ritual before burning the paper artefact. The ritual will be lead by a Taoist priest, [...]

In Cantonese Taoism, when one passed on, ‘Da Zhai’ is one ritual that most family member would request Taoist priest to perform for the deceased. The purpose is to [...]

There is saying of dead souls will return home to visit their family between 11pm to 3am, on the 7th day after they passed on. As these are spread [...]

In Cantonese Taoism, when one passed on, the dead souls of the deceased will be escorted by the “law enforcer, bull head and horse face” (牛头马面) to face judgement from [...]

In Singapore, Chinatown is a landmark that everybody knows. The most commonly used dialect in Chinatown between 1940 and 1990 is said to be Cantonese. Therefore, Chinatown is like Guangzhou [...]