What would someone spend ten years of their entire family’s income on?

Funeral custom: Someone spent ten years of his family’s income to buy a whole truck of firecrackers

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A funeral, a three-day banquet that cost 160,000 yuan Yuan; some funeral businesses have cleverly created names, and even sell "paper mistresses" and "paper brand skin care products"; some "Mr. Baishi" provide one-stop funeral services, "you can do whatever you want, with satisfaction guaranteed"... In some places, The situation of extravagant funeral comparisons is serious, and some funeral practitioners take the opportunity to incite and fan the flames, promoting the evil trend and taking the opportunity to make money, resulting in many families becoming poor due to funerals. This is what reporters learned from interviews in many places across the country in recent days.

A funeral costs ten years of the family’s income

Ms. Zeng from Shaoyang, Hunan Province was shocked by the accounts after her father’s funeral: 400,000 yuan was spent before and after, and she still didn’t pay. Count the money to buy a cemetery. The annual income of the couple is only 40,000. From this calculation, it is equivalent to a family's income for ten years.

“We are five sisters with many children, so we just wanted to organize a decent funeral for my father. The neighbors are all acquaintances, so it would be difficult to save face even if it was simple.” Ms. Zeng said.

In order to "save face", the funeral was arranged in an unexpected manner: three days of running tables, three meals a day, and 25 tables per meal. They all came, and I couldn’t tell who was an acquaintance of whom. The banquet alone cost 160,000 yuan in three days.”

The funeral must also be of a “high standard”, with Taoist priests, a band, and mourning. Not a single member of the team is missing, and they even invited an entertainment team to perform after the memorial service. On the day of the funeral, three rented buses were led by more than a dozen small cars. There were a large lineup of classical and Western bands on board, and there was also a car specifically for "extras". Each "actor" was given a pack of cigarettes, 50 yuan in cash. Ms. Zeng said that she traveled dozens of kilometers from her home to the funeral home for cremation and then to the cemetery. “I bought a whole truckload of firecrackers, and there were two people in the car who set off firecrackers, and the firecrackers kept going all the way.”

This "magnificent" funeral was praised by the neighbors, but it made it difficult for Ms. Zeng and her sisters to feel "comfortable". "My family had to go without food and drink for two years to save so much money." The funeral was far beyond what she could bear, which made Ms. Zeng regretful, "There was no need to spend a lot of money."

At present, this kind of spectacular funeral scene does not only happen in Hunan.

Reporters recently saw a huge funeral procession stretching hundreds of meters along the street in Yongchun County, Quanzhou, Fujian Province. A Western band of dozens of people played funeral music, followed by music troupes, wreath troupes, car and drum troupes in various uniforms. The family members knelt at the door of a hotel to thank them, and it took more than half an hour to see the team off. Some mourners told reporters that they were invited to "parade". "A few people get together and charge 2,000 yuan for a tour. When business is good, they can receive 3 orders a day."

"Here in southern Fujian Face-saving and etiquette are important, and the funeral procession is two to three kilometers long, and sometimes firecrackers are set off all the way. Basically, ordinary people spend at least one or two hundred thousand on weddings and funerals. "An onlooker said: "Although the government now promotes marriage. Funerals and celebrations are simple, but the custom is such that ordinary people cannot bear it and there is nothing they can do about it."

In some rural areas of Nanyang, Henan, extravagant funerals often occur. A man surnamed Liu told reporters that some people regard funerals as a form of comparison. They hold banquets with extravagance and extravagance. Village cadres also turn a blind eye, "Have a funeral...family members "They are all poor."

"White care" and other unhealthy trends that fuel extravagant comparisons in funerals

In some places, the unhealthy trend of extravagant comparisons in funerals is serious, and it is not just due to old customs. .

Near the funeral parlor in Zhengzhou City, a "Mr. Baishi" who claimed to be the third-ranked person in Henan Province, peddled to customers who came to consult: "Feng shui in the cemetery is very important. It is guaranteed to choose a good cemetery to protect you." Descendants. I can do whatever I want, and I’m satisfied. I don’t need to be cremated. I can find a place to bury him.”

The reporter learned that the so-called “Mr. Baishi” has been wandering for a long time. A group of people between the funeral director and the funeral service industry. Because of the lack of supervision, some profit-seeking "Mr. Baishi" have become "white stooges".

They "sit down" and "reconnaissance" near the hospital all year round to collect information about the deceased, and their funeral services are "all-inclusive". Some bereaved persons are in pain and helpless and do not know how to handle the funeral, so "white care" takes the opportunity to deceive them and try their best to induce them and make profits from it.

In addition, some businesses also rely on customs and habits to take advantage of the "filial piety" and "vanity" of the bereaved family members, create clever names to induce consumption, and fan the flames of extravagant waste and blind comparisons in funerals.

Ma Jian, deputy section chief of the Cemetery Management Section of the Changsha Funeral and Burial Management Office, said that the custom of “burning paper houses and paper money for the deceased” has now been seriously alienated by some businesses, “such as dividing paper houses into For one-square-meter, two-story houses, bungalows, and villas, the prices of different quality are gradually rising; various brands of paper cars, air conditioners, color TVs, mobile phones, etc. are also being burned, and even "paper mistresses" are being burned. There are also paper skin care products imitating a well-known brand, which look similar to the real ones and cost 600 yuan a set.”

At funeral ceremonies in some places, some businesses even make money in the name of “traditional customs.” . Li Ning, the director of the Mingyangshan Funeral Home in Changsha City, told reporters that some funeral businesses have created a so-called "filial son archery" ceremony, which involves "tying up some small bridges and paper figures with paper, and asking filial sons and grandsons to shoot them with bows and arrows. The more money an arrow shoots, the more prosperous and prosperous the descendants will be. Sometimes, the bereaved family members have to spend thousands of dollars just for this."

A Mr. Wang who had just had a funeral told reporters that he had originally done so. We advocate high maintenance and low burial, but because the elders in the family are concerned about face and are afraid of being gossiped by people around them, "the procedures for organizing a funeral are very cumbersome... I don't know how the money was spent, and it's all a mess."

"Death" means saving face and suffering, who can get rid of the "fever" of funerals

In recent years, our country has vigorously advocated changing funeral customs, frugally organizing funerals, and paying more for food than burial, reflecting civilized trends. At the same time, it has also introduced a series of norms Funeral services embody policies and measures that benefit the people, promote green funerals, and eliminate regulations and practices. However, in some areas with strong traditional concepts, grand funeral arrangements are still quite serious.

Zhu Jianbo, deputy director of the Changsha Funeral Industry Management Office, said that in some rural and remote areas, traditional customs are paid more attention to and there are more taboos. Many villagers are accustomed to blind obedience and comparison. "For example, in Liuyang, Hunan, In rural areas, when an elderly person passes away, he must first ask a priest to calculate the auspicious day for burial; and in order to choose an auspicious day for burial, some family members have to set up a mourning hall at home for up to 20 days, which wastes people and money. "It can be seen that there is still a long way to go to promote the change of funeral customs.

Many people in the industry suggest that the civil affairs, industry and commerce, price, religion, public security and other departments should form a joint force to establish a high-quality and high-level funeral law enforcement team, and strengthen the supervision of private funeral practitioners and the funeral supplies market. Supervision, timely rectification of extravagant, feudal and superstitious funeral behaviors that disturb the people, and curb bad funeral behaviors.

The reporter learned that Changsha, Hunan is currently formulating local industry standards and will further improve the funeral process, including facilities and equipment, site layout, and funeral management system, based on local customs and economic development conditions. and standardize information settings and other aspects.

Wu Pingtong, deputy researcher of Fujian Putian Civil Affairs Bureau, said that the local government has continued to promote funeral reform and change customs for many years, and has focused on comprehensive rectification in response to feudal superstitions, renovation of old tombs, and construction of luxurious tombs. Get rid of bad funeral habits.

According to the work arrangements of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 2017, this year will promote the revision of the "Funeral Management Regulations" and strengthen the standardization and informatization construction of funeral service agencies. This will further promote civilized and standardized funerals from the perspective of system design and policy guidance, and gradually put an end to the unhealthy trend of extravagant comparisons in funerals.