Symbols in the Chinese farewell ritual. Modern Oriental

Abstract

Funeral is an important component of culture, and the key details of this ritual are interesting and informative not only in themselves, but also in connection with the symbols that the Chinese people use in farewell rituals and which they use to adorn objects related to such a sad event. This topic has been thoroughly studied in Chinese scientific and cultural literature, as well as in a number of online publications, however, this is the first study in Russian that deals with farewell rituals. The purpose of the analysis is to show the results of the author's own field research in the cities and villages of the northeastern, central, southeastern and other regions of modern China, as well as to identify the features of the farewell ritual demonstrating the nature and significance of the traditional symbolism used in this area. Despite the fact that the topic of a person’s death is extremely sad, the Chinese managed to put a life-affirming meaning into the name of all objects associated with this event in order to avoid traumatic associations and maintain emotional balance. This manifests the ethnic characteristics of the psychology of the Chinese, their values, aesthetic consciousness, as well as religious beliefs.