Today, we are going to take a look at Chinese Funeral mourning clothing from the past, which is dangerously disappearing fast. These photos were shared with me by my uncle, which took place in 1989 during my grandfather’s funeral.
My grandfather is Teochew clan. His direct descendants (children, daughters-in-law and grandchildren that have the same surname as him, and so on) would have to wear the traditional hemp mourning clothing (丧服 Sangfu). My aunties and uncles all looked very uncomfortable in this clothing. I still remember they were very rough and it looked like they made the clothing out of a sack of bags. If I remember correctly, the humble-looking clothing is supposed to demonstrate the deepest sadness. Under the hemp clothing, they have to dress in all white and wear sandals made from hemp too.
In this photo, the men (my uncles, his godson and my male cousin) wore different headgear that looked like a paper bag, whilst the women (my mum, aunties and his daughters-in-law) wore hoods.
As for his daughters’ children (my sister, myself and cousins), we all had to dress in dark blue. This photo was taken in front of his grand-looking altar and coffin.
For his 100 days of death, we all had to wear mourning pins on our arms, which I will come back to. We were not allowed to celebrate big festivals, like Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, Dongzhi Festival/Winter Solstice Festival and many more for three years. Also, there won’t be a wedding as we all need to demonstrate our sorrow. In the modern-day, many and many Chinese people do not follow this tradition.
Now, let me bring you back to the present time, when my grandmother passed away 11 years ago (2013), they no longer needed to dress in hemp clothing. Her children wore white t-shirts and black trousers for her funeral. It was so much easier and comfortable to wear especially since they all had to do the Chinese rituals for a few days along with the monks.
As for the mourning pin, it is always male on the left and female on the right like the Yin and Yang. If the deceased is male, the pin will be on your left. If the deceased is female, the pin will be on your right.
What is a mourning pin? It also means filial piety. It is a small piece of coloured cloth pinned on shirt sleeves from the first day of the funeral and worn for a period of either 49 or 100 days. These small pieces of coloured cloth are all coloured coded. This coloured cloth will indicate to others (family, friends or passers-by) who has passed away in your family, by looking at which side the pin is, and also how close you were with the deceased. Please check this link by Ang Chin Moh Funeral Directors to check the meaning of the different coloured cloths.
As I mentioned earlier, this traditional hemp clothing is dangerously disappearing, as in our current time, no ones like to follow this kind of impractical ways in Singapore. There are more and more people who are more opened-minded and they opt for more simpler and happiers funeral than before.
Would you opt for a simpler and eco-friendly funeral? Let me know in the comments.