Death culture in Taiwan

                            

In Taiwan, when the family member pass away, we usually have this tent near their home and do the several ceremony for at least 7 days.

The pink cloth is given by the family or the closer friend. The sentences are like proverbs and mean that the person who pass away is nice.

Those paper foldings symbolize money and can be sending to the deceased by burn. People believe that can give the deceased better life in the other world.

                                  

The clothes is traditional clothes for bereavement. It usually made by linen.

After bereavement, the deceased is buried in the place which they chose before. Every year, tomb-sweeping festival, their family will bring a lot of food to offer sacrifice.  

The yellow paper is very important for tomb-sweeping festival. Because we have a filial piety story which is a girl want to find the her father's grave and the god help her. So the yellow paper stop on his father's grave. According to this story, every one when they go to see their dead family member, they do the same thing to show they are the same as the filial piety girl.

Interview with grandparents

What are your feelings towards dying?
Grandad- I am resigned to the fact we are going to die.
Nan- It is inevitable. We are all going to die eventually. It is frightening sometimes and I obviously don't want to die.

Would you rather be cremated or buried? Why?
Grandad- Cremated because we are running out of land.
Nan- Cremated as I don't like insects.

You have obviously lost family close to you. How does this make you feel?
Grandad- Very sad
Nan- Empty, like a part of you has dissappeared.

What do you believe happens when you die?
Grandad-Our spirit goes to heaven
Nan- I would like to believe in reincarnation, but who knows.

Does the thought of death scare you?
Grandad- No
Nan- Yes

How would you like to die?
Grandad- Old age.
Nan- In my sleep

Do you believe in spirits?
Grandad- Yes
Nan- No

How would you like to be remembered when you die?
Grandad- As a LEGEND! :)
Nan- I would like people to laugh at the joyful , old times we had.

I also interviewed my parents on the same subject and they both find death a scary, inevitable event. Coming from a non-religious background, we all believe when you die that is the end and there is no afterlife. Perhaps we would not be so scared if we believed in life after death. They have both lost close members of family and they agreed when you lose someone close that you regret not spending enough time with them. This whole experience has made me appreciate life and my family. The thought of them leaving me or vice versa kills me. Family are friends, friends are family. Life is too short for arguments. You just do not know when your time is up. That is the scary part I cannot deal with!

INTERVIEW WITH MY NANS BESTFRIEND.....MEET IRENE!

What are your thoughts towards dying?
Got to live with it. It is FACT!

Would you rather be buried or cremated?
Buried, back into the ground.

Have you lost someone close to you and how did it make you feel?
Yes my parents. But I also lost my brother at 16. He was 26. It was very moving at the time.  Me and my sister woke up one night  and we both saw him at the end of our bed. Very strange.

What do you believe happens when we die?
I don't believe in anything or else we would have known about it. I think it is the same as when we have operations and we are under local anaesthetic. We dont remember what happened.

Are you scared of dying?
No I am just scared of who I am leaving behind and how they deal with it. I would like to know if we know we are dead.

How would you like to die?
I would like to die of old age of course. I am frightened of losing my brain. I want my brain in full working order.

Do you believe in spirits?
Yes

How would you like to be remembered?
Loving, caring. As a 'GOOD OLD GAL'!!!! :)
Posted by Jaime Russon

Interview with Alan Greenwood & Sons Funeral Director

Valerie, Alan Greenwood & Sons Funeral Director had a really comforting vibe about her. Just listening to her voice made me extremely relaxed which is obviously important when dealing with recently bereaved families.
Even funeral directors find it hard at times to deal with the inevitable, especially bodies that have been taken away from this life at such an early stage or the bodies unfortunately unrecognisable through huge impact accidents. When accidents happen this way, families are left to come and identify the body and can be extremely difficult when their body cannot be recognised. Tattoos, scars, peircings can be the only way of disguinguishing the body.
Valerie stated that the cause of death and what they do with the body after death can make it more difficult for her, emotionally and physically. She has once had to deal with an unfortunate man who had a rare brain disorder and his brain was then removed for research. When organs are removed from the bodies they have to be taken within hours to the next port of call and kept preserved until needed. When hearing ambulances with loud sirens these are quite often carrying organs to the next station in order for them to be re-used.
When removing organs from the body the doctors cut from the throat down to the vagina/penis area. This is also applyed to unexpected deaths to establish the cause of the deceased.
When someone dies unexpectedly a coroner gets involved which then the poilce are needed to investigate.  When a body is being flown home rom abroad the coroners are also informed. This is called a 'Repatreation'.
Posted by Jaime Russon

ARRANGING YOUR OWN FUNERAL

Having just interviewed my grandmothers bestfriend Irene, we got onto the subject of arranging her own funeral. This did not phase her in the slightest and the reason she did this was for the burden to not be put on her family when her time up. She mentioned this was a huge weight off her shoulders. 

Irene has booked her own coffin and plot of land which she goes to visit. She has decided her funeral will skip out the church ceremony and go straight to her graveside as she feels having never been religious it would be a mockery on the church.

Deadly interviews.

Interview1

Interviewer: Yi Fan Chen   (Taiwan, 24)
Interviewee: Abigial Yang (Taiwan, 24)
              Harris liu (Taiwan, 23)

Firstly, we discussed about what the feeling toward death. Harris think death is like go back home and Abigail think death is a feeling that take of whole body's skin, something like evaporation of soul. Then, what they would like to treat for their body after they pass away, Harris said that he want be used his body for experiments and we talked about the culture in Taiwan which is unpolite to do that. However, he still think he might do it, he will happy about reusing his body toward his life. Abigail would like to be burned because she thought that is like go back to origination of earth, and it would be peaceful for her. Thirdly, the near death experience, Harris had that, he said when he had car accident, he could hear and feel wind through his face but the time pass slowly, besides his brain is like a documentary of his life, started from he was young. Although Abigail have not have this experience but she said she have once time feel the soul come out her body, at that time she was sleeping and suddenly the soul started press her body and go out from her forehead then she went to a place is like the Space.
There has strong light with many colour, main colour is white and yellow, that make her could not open her eyes. Finally, have they lost someone close to them and how they feel. For me, I feel really sad when I lost my grandfather but I think it is not about his death, just feel unbelievable and after that I have not really feel I loose him, I just feel he is living a far place that I can not see him regularly yet I can meet him one day. For Harris, when his grandfather passing away, he feel his grandfather come back for a moment, his breath become relax and his face looks serenity. Even he feel better now but when he was talking about this, he still had emotion.

Interview2

Interviewer: Yi Fan Chen   (Taiwan, 24)

Interviewee: Abigial Yang (Taiwan, 24)

              Harris liu (Taiwan, 23)

Abigail had an experience of her grandmother's mother death, she pass away naturally so she feel less sad. Abigail said she was crying and feel her grandmother's mother's body is like unreal. After her grandmother's mother pass away few weeks, once she feel she come back to see her, she could see clearly about her dress. It was not real see but it was like a kind of feeling. Somebody in Taiwan can see the soul or ghost who called "the third eye", Abigail have not see any others, just had this experience which she feel meet her grandmother's mother again. In addition, both of believe that after death, there would be the other life exist, maybe the new life would not on earth or renew in the other form. Otherwise they do not afraid of death, Abigail said she might worry about her family and feel more stronger for reluctant to leave but if she is alone, she will not feel fear about death.  

Interview with the barely deceased.

The 'DEADLY' experience

To gain an improved  understanding of the unknown life, we as a group felt it was highly important if we experienced ourselves in the same position the deceased are in. This is not a requirement to do in normal everyday life so to gain first hand experience in a coffin we felt was necessary.

19 Oct 2010

Interview

1.     What are your feelings towards the thought of death?

2.     Would you rather be burnt or cremated? Why?

3.     Have you ever had a near death experience and what happened?

4.     Have you ever lost someone close to you and how does death makes you feel?

5.     What do you believe happens when you die?

6.     Does the thought of death scare you?

7.     How do you think you will die? Why?

8.     How would you like to die?

9.     Do you believe in sprits?

10. How would you like to be remembered? 

THE GROUP.

LINA SOLANO   INOLE CROCKART   YI FAN CHEN   JAIME RUSSON

Death image

The dead person with make up.  

People usually reflect the death to a death personified and contrast with a little girl which give much conflict. Moreover the umbrella is usually symbolized resistant arms.

The two pictures above show that death is used in art by many different ways. The first one give more fear than the second one, not only for colour but also expressing.   

Deadly interviews.

 

Project research, deadly beginnings.

The war veterans buried under ground at Brompton Cemetery. Do these heros deserve to be buried under ground where they can not be visited by their family?The coffins were extremely neglected and the majority of the tombs we saw were broken and surrounded by contaminated rubbish. Very disrespectful.

The only way to see the unfortunate war victims was by peering through the tiny slots of the padlocked door.

Alan Greenwood & Sons

Independent Funeral Directors

On 11th October I witnessed an anonymous victim to death, laid in a coffin ready to make his way to the unknownable entrance of what we know simply as heaven.

Posted by Jaime Russon

At the beginning of our research, we strode upon a small heap of raised soil in Brompton Cemetery.

We began to ask ourselves various questions such as:

*Do the deceased turn into earth?

*If so, is there a such thing as reincarnation?

*Do we turn to earth- eaten by insects- become part of a food chain?

Posted by Jaime Russon

Hmmmm...If this is what my home will look like when I die....I would rather be cremated.

A sign from the dead???

Various coffins are now available in willow (see above), wool swaledale, mahogany oak (see above), cardboard,

seagrass and natural woven products for those woodland buriels. I personally would find it exrtremely hard to decide what 'Home' I would like to rest in for that never ending, dark future.

Posted by Jaime Russon

The District Community Manager of Alan Greenwood & Sons agreed to let us borrow a coffin for us to gain first-hand experience of what it is like to be lying unaccompanied in a coffin. An experience not even the DEAD can explain!!The Manager took my height details and agreed I would a need a 5"10 coffin.

I was told the above coffin would be PERFECT.......(not a phrase I would of used myself)

Posted by Jaime Russon

Coffins in order of size.

Before the body is escorted to the funeral, they have a minor makeover. Large contact lenses with slits cover the eyeballs to keep their eyes shut and their bottom teeth are wired to their top teeth to prevent their jaw from dropping.

Posted by Jaime Russon

Inside a very clinical, motionless coffin.

For every deceaved body the above form is filled out by the funeral directors to record whether the body is an organ donor, when and where the funeral will take place, the name and address of body, grave number, flower requirements etc.

An interesting magazine for bereaved familys to help deal with loss and expert advice on financial matters 

Whether you intending on planning your own funeral or arranging one for someone else, the above magazine is a good reference as it provides choices of coffins,orns and financial help.