Do you dare to come into close contact with a corpse? If you don’t dare, then this thin layer of white cloth can reduce your fear of corpses by 90%! Without this thin layer of white cloth, most funerals would not be possible!
And the white cloth covering the face of the body not only reduces people's fear of "death"! There is a more important role!
Logically speaking, when a person is asleep, there is no difference from death. You dare to sleep in the same bed with a living person, but do you dare to sleep next to a dead person?
We usually believe that after a person dies, the soul will exist forever and enter another world; we also think that the "life" in the unknown world will become a lonely ghost to harm us.
So we are born with a fear of the dead. Are we afraid of cows, sheep, pigs and dogs when they are also the remains of animals? Obviously not!
This is the spiritual realm we as human beings pursue!
Let's get back to the subject. As someone who has experienced the death of many relatives and often buries (coffins) the deceased, let me tell you about the question "Why do people have to cover their faces with white cloth when they die?" I would like to share with you from the perspective of medicine and science , explain it from several aspects of superstition and customs.
My first close contact with a dead body!
Perhaps, many people have experienced funerals, but very few people have had close contact with the remains. On the one hand, it is fear, and on the other hand, our parents tell us that young people should not be exposed to these things, because the dead are yin and the living are yang . The dead will take away the yang energy of the living people and then get sick.
Of course, these are all superstitions and have no scientific basis.
What I mean by close contact is to purify the body, which is similar to how a funeral parlor puts makeup on the body and restores it. To be more vivid, it is similar to an autopsy.
More than ten years ago, my grandfather chose to hang himself because he could not bear the pain.
Because he was afraid that his family would stop him, he separated them all. When I learned the news, I rushed home. Grandpa was hanging on the beam outside the house, his face was purple, and half of his tongue was exposed.
If you can't imagine the fear in the picture, then recall the plots of ghost movies in TV series. The situation is similar.
To be honest, when I saw this scene, I was scared and at a loss. Even though he is his own grandfather, he is still full of fear in his heart.
I contacted other people at home. At this time, a neighbor came over and told me to take down the body and cleanse it.
But apart from my mother and my second aunt, there are no other relatives at home, but I really don’t dare. And hanging from the rafters, there's nothing I can do about it alone.
At this time, the neighbor said, you stand on the ladder, put your grandfather on your shoulders, and I will cut the rope.
I refused in my heart, but I couldn't let my mother and second aunt do this. So I had to bite the bullet.
I carefully placed my grandfather's body on my shoulder, trying to avoid contact with his skin.
After everything was ready, the neighbor cut off the rope. Who would have thought that when grandpa was hanging on it, the rope still bore a little weight. When the rope loosened, my body slipped and the body pressed on me. His tongue stuck out. , put it directly on my face, and now I get chills down my back just thinking about it.
I quickly pushed the body away. To be honest, I was so scared that my legs were weak.
Fortunately, several neighbors helped carry grandpa’s body into the house.
After a person dies, he must immediately purify himself and wear a shroud, otherwise the body will harden quickly and it will be difficult to wear clothes.
So the next step is to cleanse Grandpa. As the saying goes, it means taking a bath.
After experiencing the contact with the corpse just now, my courage was broken.
So, under the guidance of the old man in the village, I gave my grandfather a haircut, cleansed his body, put on his shroud, used a door panel, placed his body on the door panel, covered his face with yellow paper, and placed tributes in front of his soul. When my father and uncles rushed back, we had already parked the body properly.
Since then, I have no fear of the remains of the dead. Later, my grandma passed away, my wife’s grandparents passed away, including the death of my father-in-law, and I took care of everything personally.
It is true that fear comes from the unknown.
So, why do we cover the body’s face with a layer of white cloth or yellow paper?
mainly has the following reasons!
First and main purpose is to reduce everyone’s fear of corpses.
Even though I have the experience and courage to touch corpses, I will still be afraid if it is not my relatives.
1. Fear of "death".
If someone dies, we will inevitably feel sad; firstly, because family and friendship will no longer exist; secondly, seeing things and thinking about love, watching others die, will inevitably think of our own day.
When the body is parked, except for the face, the rest is covered by the shroud, so the exposed face will make people feel uncomfortable.
As the saying goes, "Out of sight is out of mind." As long as the deceased's skin and appearance cannot be seen, the discomfort will be reduced.
2. Cover the face.
Especially people who are sick and die will struggle internally before they die, which will eventually be reflected on their faces.
Just like when we are in pain, it is normal to grimace; but after the pain passes, our nervous system will return to normal and our face will return to normal.
For people who are dying, the nervous system stops working and the blood stops flowing. In many cases, the face will not return to its original shape due to the pain, such as the mouth is wide open and the eyes cannot be closed.
My grandfather hanged himself with his tongue protruding. I still get chills down my back when I think about that scene.
Especially if there is no timely manual intervention after death, the body cannot recover at all after rigor mortis. Even the disrespect for the deceased can also make those who come to attend the funeral feel scared.
Of course, there are also some injuries, such as traffic accidents, falls, cuts, etc. These facial expressions will aggravate people's fear.
3. Cover up filth.
After a person dies, as the nerves lose control within a certain period of time, the excreta in the body will be excreted from the eyes, nose, mouth, and even from the ears of the body.
In addition to staining the face and releasing unpleasant gases, excrement can also make people feel uncomfortable.
Therefore, in some places, objects will be used to block the anus of the corpse, but only the face cannot be blocked. This is to respect the deceased as much as possible.
Therefore, covering the face with yellow paper or white cloth can reduce everyone's fear of facing the body directly, and it is also a sign of respect for those who come to attend the funeral.
Second, prevent suspended animation!
I saw a piece of news a few days ago. A 92-year-old old lady was resurrected after her body had been kept for two days. This is "suspended death" in medicine
In fact, such "suspended death" phenomena were very common in the past.
Before, medical technology was very backward. When we judged a person's death, we often relied on the experience of doctors, family members, or the elderly. Of course, this is also the case in many rural areas now.
This simple and crude diagnosis method will inevitably lead to errors in judgment. Once you make a mistake in judgment, it will be a waste of human life.
often feigns death for several days.
What should we do?
We know that breathing and heart beating are the most direct and effective ways to judge a person's death.
As ordinary people, we lack professional knowledge about the beating of the heart, but breathing cannot fool people.
Therefore, when a person dies, he will not be buried immediately, but will be kept for a few days. The most important meaning is to see whether the "person" is faking his death.
Of course, we can't always check the breath of the deceased. One is for fear, and the other is to prevent excessive contact with the body and bacterial infection.
Therefore, cover it with a thin layer of cloth or yellow paper. As long as the person breathes, the cloth or paper will move, and we can judge whether they are suspended animation.
Therefore, we have to admire the wisdom of the ancients.
Third, in order to prevent the remains from being destroyed
let me tell you something true.
There is an old man in our village. Because he liked to gamble when he was young, he also had a bad temper. He would either beat or scold his children. Many people in the village would inevitably have problems with him.
After his children got married, he ignored him and the old man lived alone in an abandoned school in the village.
This year, the old man fell ill and died. It is estimated that he died at least 5 days ago. Because it was winter, the body had not started to rot.
When the children were preparing for the funeral, people in the village naturally went to help. Generally speaking, children are required to keep vigil at night, but none of them are willing to do so.
Everyone went back to their homes to sleep, and the body was laid in the main room of the old house.
The next morning, the second son came over and found that the tributes placed in front of the tomb had fallen all over the floor, and seemed to be chewed to pieces by something. Looking at the old man's body again, the paper covering his face was gone. The old man's face was so bloody that it was impossible to tell that it was a face.
Everyone was shocked, thinking that the old man must have offended someone, and that someone was deliberately causing harm. Just as everyone was talking about it, someone in the backyard saw blood stains on the cat's paws and mouth, and then realized that the cat was causing trouble.
Especially in rural areas, in addition to cats and dogs, there are also mice and other animals. If the body is not covered with a layer of things, the body may be damaged. There is no complete body after death. For future generations, Say, it's all unlucky.
Secondly, rural sacrificial activities still inherit many feudal things; for example, relatives and friends who come to worship will come to burn paper to express their condolences. The burning paper ash will fall on the face. If the body is parked for a long time, a large amount of dust will be generated and fall on the body, which will contaminate the body and make it difficult to clean.
Summary:
The above is the reason why the face of the corpse is covered with a layer of white cloth or yellow paper.
When a loved one passes away, we are deeply saddened by the inseparable family ties. Therefore, we try our best to do the duty our children should do before they go to their graves.
Keeping beautiful thoughts and a complete and clean body, allowing the deceased to leave with dignity, is also our blessing. Of course, there is a tradition of uninvited in rural areas, and we also need to leave a good memorial environment for them.
May everyone in the world be healthy and live a long life!
