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 Priest when performing the worship ritual for the deceased. This bowl of duck head rice will be placed on the worship table till the funeral day. And the use of this duck head rice as offering in this worship custom can only be seen at the Cantonese funerals.
Why do the Cantonese customs require duck head and rice for worship?
There are two myths.
First saying was said to be that the poor families used to have nothing but white rice and a few chickens and ducks at home. When a family member died in the family, they had no money to buy offerings. They had to kill the duck at home and use the duck head as an offering. The rest of the meat is used to prepare meals. Why only use duck heads instead of chicken heads or anything else is still unknown.
Second saying was that the duck head can be used to stop evil spirits. It is said that when someone in the family dies, the family’s luck will decrease. When the family’s luck is reduced, it will be easy for the evil spirits to invade and affect the family. The purpose of duck head is to resist the invasion of evil spirits and protect the family from being harmed.
This custom has been passed from then to the present.
鸭头饭拜祭
传统广东丧事习俗里,我们不难发现拜祭桌上会有一碗白饭盛着一只鸭头摆放着。这是道长在为亡者开通冥路时用来拜祭所需的拜祭品。这碗鸭头饭将会摆放在灵堂前到出殡后。而这拜祭习俗也只有在广东丧事里才会出现。
为何广东丧事需要用鸭头和饭来拜祭呢?
传说有两种说法。
第一种说法据说是以前的贫苦人家家里除了白米饭和几只鸡鸭家禽就没别的。而当家里有家人去世时,他们没钱买拜祭品,只有宰杀家里的鸭,把鸭头当拜祭品来拜祭。其余部份就用來备餐。为何只用鸭头而不用鸡头或别的,那就不得而知。
第二种說法是,鸭头是可以用來擋煞。据说当家里有人去世时,那戶人家的家运会隨着降低。而当家运降低时,就会很容易让鬼煞入侵而殃及家人。而鸭头的用意就是用来抵擋外來鬼煞的入侵而保护家人不被傷害。
这习俗就从那开始流传到现在。