The Honoring of the Dead and Other Cultural Traditions

The Honoring of the Dead

The monks in their humble brown robes chanted prayers and offered incense. They led family members in Buddhist sutra (scripture) readings and reverent ceremonies which lasted several days. 

Our senior sister missionary's family at the home of her mother

Here is one of the most sacred and revered moments in a family’s existence. It is the honoring of the deceased. Our senior missionary sister lost her father one year ago, and recently returned to her home in central Taiwan to join her Buddhist mother, siblings and other family members in a reverent ceremony that seems to bring the spiritual realm and the physical world together even if just for a short while.

On this occasion, the one-year anniversary of the elderly father’s death, family members gathered at their widow-mother’s home. According to tradition, sons and all their children must be in attendance. Daughters are expected to be there as well, but their children’s attendance is optional. It is basically considered a mandatory family reunion. Family members will travel across the world to participate in this most sacred event. If a family member, especially a son, cannot attend in person, they can hire a person to attend in their stead. 

The family continues with the reading of sutras

The family prepared food for the gathering group as well as for lavish offerings for the deceased. The soft clanging of bells and clunking of sticks ring through the house with semi-monotone monk-chanting ceremonies which lasted for hours. The hiring of companies to perform these ceremonies has become a very lucrative business which vacillates between gang-controlled funeral organizations and cherished cultural traditions that span generations.

Regardless of the challenges and great expense these practices raise, filial piety brings out the best in feelings of love and adoration to loved ones who have passed away.

All this is done to help the deceased have a successful journey in the afterlife and bring blessings to the living. 

The passing away of an elderly person is typically considered a celebration of a life well-lived, and the one-year anniversary is a continuation of that celebration, although tears always flow as a sign of respect and gratitude. The one-year anniversary is considered one of the most important and filial-required duties of family members. 

Buddhist monks lead the family in the ceremonial rites.

Courtesy of flickr - Yuxuan Wang

When our senior sister missionary's father passed away, his name was printed on a wooden ancestral memorial tablet, called a 祖先牌位, or Zǔxiān páiwèi.  At this one-year death anniversary event, his name was then written on paper and added to an ancestral box, containing the names of all the ancestors as far back on the family line as possible. Only after a year of waiting can his name be added to the rest of the ancestors'. 

While we honor our dead in different ways in the Church, some traditions ring a bell of familiarity.  

Which brings us to the temple.

Why Does the Taipei Temple Have a Blue Roof?

Many people have noticed the bright blue roof of the Taiwan Taipei temple. It's penetrating, glazed tiles reflect the sunlight and stand as a beautiful focal point with the soft gray tiled walls and white spires. 

But why the blue, I asked?  The answer lies just a few kilometers away at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. The dominating Memorial Hall and the beautiful striking "Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness" accentuate the blue tiles representing heaven, or the sky.  The whole Memorial Hall is designed to symbolize the "unification of Man and Heaven." 

In 2010, we visited China with one of our daughters, and fell in love with the three-tiered blue-roofed Temple of Heaven. There is so much beautiful symbolism in this structure - including the three tiers of heaven and the heaven-represented blue tiles. 

We have found the blue theme running throughout several of our Taiwan chapels as well. 

Once we understood the "man and heaven" unification symbolism, the blue roof of the temple seems very fitting. The temple is a House of God - a place where we can feel peace and where we can, with no distractions from the outside world, focus on the things of eternity and provide blessings for our loved ones who have passed away as well. Truly a bringing together of man and heaven.

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    Do Some Chinese Characters Really Teach Gospel Principles?

Chinese culture continues to surprise us with Gospel-related messages. The Chinese written language is an absolute treasure trove of hidden gems. Another "packet of light" was brought to my attention recently, this time hidden in the Chinese character for the word - "repent".

悔改

These are the two characters which make up the word "repent".  The first character on the left is "hui" and the one on the right is "gai". Putting them together you get "huigai", which means repent. 

But you can often break characters down further to get a richer meaning - a meaning behind the meaning. 

The character on the left,悔has two parts, or radicals. The radical on the left is one of the depictions of "ren" - or man, person. You can see a vertical line with two "arms" extending out - showing one of the very simplest pictures of a person. The radical on the right, 每, is the word for "mei" - meaning each. "ren" + "mei" = Each person.

The whole word by itself, 悔,"hui", means regret. So every person has regrets or makes mistakes.

Back to 悔改- the character on the right,改, is "gai" or change.

Now put them all together in pieces and you will have:

ren + mei + gai = each person change = repent.  Every person has regrets and needs to change, or repent. 

The President of our Church, whom we consider to be a prophet just like Moses or Isaiah or Peter, recently explained: "When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. We choose to grow spiritually and receive joy—the joy of redemption in Him. When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus Christ!" (President Russell M. Nelson, April 2019 General Conference)

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Just think of all the discoveries we could make in Chinese culture if we had time enough to study them all. There are volumes written about these similarities. So much to learn. So little time! We finish our mission in just 3-1/2 weeks!