Appearance
Some traditions avoid cutting hair or shaving until after the funeral, reflecting a period in which grief takes priority over appearance.
Remembrance
Afterlife Worshipping
The meaning of offerings, prayers and acts of remembrance observed after the funeral and throughout the family’s continuing traditions.
← Back to After Life祭祀與追思
Remembering them,
as part of the family.
From the day a loved one passes, many families begin a period of mourning and create a shrine at home. Offerings are made with the same care and hospitality that would have been shown while they were physically present.
Practices vary by family, region and teaching. Hinzen’s ministers can explain the traditional arrangement and help you decide how fully you wish to observe it.
The home shrine
A place for
incense and remembrance.
The shrine offers a dedicated place for the family to remember their loved one and carry out the daily and weekly observances.
Fill the incense burner with sand
- Fill the incense burner with sand and light the incense
- Centre the photograph behind it
- Prepare the head rice with an egg and two upright chopsticks
- Place one tea cup, followed by three wine cups
- Place and light one candle on the right-hand side
The head rice · 頭飯
An offering for
the journey.
The domed bowl of glutinous rice and egg is traditionally understood as an offering to the underworld officers, 鬼差, asking that they treat the spirit kindly. It remains at the shrine until the funeral and may then accompany the coffin.
Families may also place a portion of each meal at the shrine during the initial mourning period, commonly for 49 days and sometimes through 100 days.
Traditional mourning customs
Observed according to
family preference.
Celebrations
Weddings, birthdays and other celebrations may be avoided or postponed during the mourning period as a sign of respect.
Visiting homes
Some families refrain from visiting other households during mourning because of traditional beliefs surrounding misfortune.
The weekly return
Preparing for
each seventh day.
The day of passing is counted as day one when it occurs before 11pm. The offering begins on the sixth night, ready for the spirit’s traditional return after midnight.
- Light incense and candles
- Clean the shrine and refresh the tea and wine
- Place the food offering
- Light a pair of candles outside the door
- Offer joss paper while calling the spirit home
- Leave the food until after midnight or the following morning
The remembrance schedule
Offerings through
the mourning period.
This is a traditional guide. Your minister may adapt it according to your family, ceremony and regional customs.
First return
Three bowls of rice with ginger and salt. The offering is intentionally simple for the first weekly return.
Second week
Three bowls of rice and three bowls of meat, traditionally sliced pork or a prepared chicken.
Third week
The same food offering as the second week. A family may also discuss a traditional paper house with the minister.
Hungry Ghost night
No food offering is made. Fresh tea and wine are placed at the shrine and joss paper may still be offered.
Fifth week
The second-week food offering is repeated. A paper house may be considered if one has not already been arranged.
Sixth week
Traditionally associated with the filial contribution of daughters. Modern families may share these duties in whichever way feels appropriate.
Final seventh week
Three bowls of rice, three bowls of glutinous rice-ball dessert and three bowls of meat.
Hundred-day remembrance
Three bowls of rice and the three meats: a whole chicken, pork belly and fish. The offering may take place in the late afternoon or at the family’s usual dinner time.
First anniversary
The hundred-day food offering is repeated as part of the family’s anniversary remembrance.
Third-year observance
The same offering is made. Traditional counting includes the year of passing as the first year.
Completing the mourning period
Joining the
ancestor altar.
After the funeral, simple incense and shrine care may continue through 49 days, 100 days or the first anniversary. A later ritual can formally complete the mourning period and guide the spirit’s accession to the ancestor altar.
If the full funeral ceremony was not possible earlier, speak with a Hinzen minister. Some formalities may be completed during the hundred-day or anniversary ceremony.
Practical funeral arrangements
Religious guidance,
connected with funeral care.
Hinzen has come together with Everlay through the same people and shared leadership. Hinzen provides the religious teachings, ministers and traditional ceremonies, while Everlay provides complete funeral director services. This close partnership allows the ceremonial and practical arrangements to be considered together from the very beginning.
Explore Chinese funeral arrangements with EverlayWant to learn more?
Speak with a
Hinzen minister.
We can explain the teachings in more detail and help your family understand the traditions relevant to you.
Contact us