China

Arrangements and organising services linked to funerals are generally left in charge of undertakers, who are also known as funeral directors. To be successful in this profession the undertaker carrying out these duties should possess certain essential and unique skills and attributes.

Since an undertaker may be required at any time of the day, the person entering this profession must be willing to be on call for 24 hours. This is essentially an outdoors task, which will require him to be away from office for long hours.

To be an undertaker, a person must be able to interact well and be open to the opinions of others. People from different cultures, religions and ethnicities as well as those of different ages will have to be managed by him with equal ease. Understanding and sympathy will be of much importance in the course of his job. But he will have to offer support to the grieving family and should stay strong and emotionally detached so that he can perform his functions well.

Undertakers must be serious and dignified by nature, but must not look sad or morose, as this may heighten the grief of the family members of the deceased person.

Knowledge of different religious customs, rituals and beliefs and profound respect for these helps undertakers in succeeding in their profession. They must be aware of different customs and practices followed by different sects during the funeral service.

Excellent management and the power to organise are important skills for an undertaker. He must also have leadership abilities and should be able to interact with a large number of people – from the clergy members to the flower seller.

As the undertaker will be in charge of obtaining all clearances and adhering to all regulations with respect to the ceremony, he will have to be well versed in such procedures and legal matters. He will need to be fully conscious of rules to be followed with respect to collecting death certificates or claims for insurance.

Lastly, an undertaker must ensure that his driver’s licence is updated and that he can drive the funeral vehicle during the service.

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Funerals are family or State ceremonies held after the death of a person, in his memory. It involves many customs and rites that are specific to the religion of the deceased.

A majority of Christian funerals have rituals that are divided into three essential parts – visitation, funeral and finally, the burial. The first two ceremonies, which are the most important ones as far as ritualistic aspects are concerned, are discussed below.

The first ceremony is the visitation, when the deceased is laid in a coffin for public viewing by friends and relatives. The body is dressed in the finest clothes and adorned with jewellery. Anointing of the deceased for this ceremony is not a compulsory ritual in every community.

Visitation usually includes a display of pictures of the deceased by the family members or a display of articles that were valued by the departed during his lifetime. Some relatives also like to do a video or slideshow from the deceased’s lifetime.

This service is followed by a memorial service, also known as a funeral, which takes place generally inside a church. The casket with the body in it is carried in a vehicle to the church, accompanied by a funeral cortege of mourners. The casket is laid inside the church with an elegant floral arrangement on it.

The service generally entails reciting lines from the Holy Scriptures or the Bible and offering prayers for the departed. Devotional songs are also sung in chorus by the attendees. The priest presiding over the service gives a comforting speech, and it is followed by eulogies or tributes given by family and friends of the deceased, who speak of the latter’s merits and accomplishments. Though this is not a custom, but in some cultures, people are allowed a final glimpse of the body before leaving the church for burial. Church bells are also sometimes rung after the service.

The completion of second part, which is the funeral, marks the commencement of the third stage of the ceremony, which is burial, and the deceased’s body is taken through a funeral cortege.

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