China

In Rural China, Racy Parties for the Dead

By Austin Ramzy | @austinramzy | December 31, 2008 | +

Some corners of the world—Ireland and New Orleans come to mind—know how to turn a funeral into a celebration of the life of the deceased. To that list we should also add rural China, as Lin Yang reports:

I took a road trip last weekend to the ancient town of Fenghuang in Hunan province, a village that has existed since the 17th century. It was nice to visit while free of the summer tourist crush, but what really made a lasting impression was a “stripper show” I came across on my way there.

The temperature was hovering around freezing when I saw a couple dancing and singing on a makeshift stage by the state highway. The girl was bouncing up and down, shaking off her jacket until she was clad only in a short pink satin dress. I could not make out what she was singing, but the tune was lively.

The audience was small, and they were dressed in white cloth robes and white headbands, the traditional garb of mourners here. In China, it is not unusual for funerals to be considered a happy occasion, especially if the deceased enjoyed a long life and died peacefully.

The prudes at state-run China Central Television have investigated the topic and concluded that funerals should not be bachelor parties. But why can’t they be a good time?

Related Topics: China

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  • michaelturton

    This is old hat in Taiwan — I once had the good luck to fall into a funeral line of vehicles on a highway, two cars down from where a stripper was hard at work. I have also seen strippers at temple festivities and weddings.

    Before the prudish period in the 19th century Chinese sexuality was a lot more celebrated, and there is a long tradition of the erotic in offerings to temples, gods, and at public ceremonies in China. Polytheism is more sensible about being human than monotheism, after all.

    Michael

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