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No more tears in heaven, but at funerals
(Beijing Today)
Updated: 2004-04-21 10:33
It's traditional for sons and daughters to cry at their parents' funerals.
Society sees this as showing their filial piety for their parents. In Wuhan,
capital of Hubei Province, a somewhat less traditional activity is becoming
common.
Gao uses a
microphone to express her grief for her clients.
| Families are hiring people to cry at their
parents'funerals. Ms. Gao Xiumei, 46, is well-known locally for her professional
funeral crying services. Perhaps her gift for acting cring comes from her
parents who were opera performers.
Guo can cry
whenever she has to. | She thinks there's nothing
strange of the job. Anyway, she needs to make some money for her poor
family. Gao cries along with the funeral music.
As China opens up, many new careers and industries are
emerging, candling both praise and criticism. Now you can find professional
exam takers, companies that apologize on behalf of their clients, even companies
whose staff are paid to be beaten. People say some of these new careers are
challenging China's tradition. Others say it's nothing more than social
development.
Mr. Wang, 47, a retired worker in Beijing
There's nothing strange in a money-dominated society allowing people to buy
anything they want. It's the same with prostitution. But I find it unacceptable
to hire someone to cry during a funeral. I would not want to attend such
funerals. I would like to express my own mourning and love in the
traditional way. If the sons and daughters do not love their parents when they
are alive, any kind of funeral is no other than phony.
Mr. Wang Zhiqiang, 32, a member of China Funerals Association
I can't accept the idea of professional criers. It shows the lack of love and
sincerity between people. It is sure to be a social setback. Anyway, it is not
only through loud crying that people can express their love for the dead. And I
think the professional apology companies allow people to avoid being sincere.
Mr. Wu, 41, a manager in a Beijing IT company
It is quite normal for society to produce different services and companies,
and I can understand things like crying at other's funerals because some people
need the service. It was the same for house moving companies a few years ago;
people just come to accept it.
Chinese traditional concepts force people to perform a grand funeral, and the
loud crying shows the splendor of the funeral and the deep love for the
deceased. I think such big funerals are a big waste of money, and have nothing
to do with paying respect to the dead. This new service will be accepted by
society after a while, but I am sure it won't become widespread in China.
Ms. Li, 32, a doctor with Beijing Chaoyang Hospital
I have to admit, it takes a lot of courage for Ms. Gao to cry at others'
funerals, and it is quite understandable regarding her need to make money. But I
think it is unacceptable in a moral way. It is insincere to exhibit such
so-called grief. I would never hire someone to cry, and I would strongly
discourage any of my friends from such a thing. It is normal for a capitalist
society to develop through different phases, but such immoral acts will be
flushed out eventually.
Li Heng, 28, an editor with China Science and Technology Publishing House
Hiring a person to cry at a funeral is hard to imagine. I cannot understand
how people can tolerate such a performance. Treating a funeral as a performance
is disrespectful to the dead because this kind of behavior is like acting in a
play. It's hypocritical.
Secondly, it's disrespectful to the mourners, like buying someone's sympathy
with money. Some false acts can be accepted in life, such as magic arts, or
science fiction films. But I cannot accept the act of hiring some to cry at a
funeral.
Mr. Li Xinliang, a postgraduate student majoring in management in Beijing
I don't have a problem with asking somebody to take part in exams for me. In
fact I want to find such a person to beat the various exams arranged by my
department, especially the English test, the most difficult one for me. It is a
tiresome job for a student to deal with numerous tests. And some of the tests
cannot judge a student's learning. A faulty examination system is of course
accompanied by some malpractices. But otherwise how can I get a good mark in the
exams? What can I do if I still want the scholarship?
Lin Guozhang, a psychology professor with Beijing Normal University
This phenomenon is part of society's development, and people should think of
it from its positive side. It could work to make up the deficiencies of the
current labor division. We cannot deny it, but we should not allow it to
overdevelop either. Some professional apology makers are clogging the channels
for person-to-person contact and genuine exchange.
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