Museum Demystifies Funeral Rites

2008-05-09 11:21:11 [ Big Normal Small ]    　Comment

Visitors check out a model, showing ancient Chinese are carrying a coffin to a cemetery, at the funeral industry museum, which opened on Wednesday, May 7, 2008. [Photo: Shanghai Daily]

The country's first funeral industry museum opened to the public for free on Wednesday at Longhua Funeral Parlor in Shanghai.

"The museum tries to help visitors explore Shanghai's unique funeral history," director Xin Bingyong said. Xin said local traditional funeral culture and burial customs gradually faded after the city was opened up to Westerners.

Established by the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau and the Shanghai Funeral Trade Association, the museum covers an area of 1,500 square meters.

It displays pictures, archives and cultural relics dating back to before the People's Republic of China was established in 1949.

Shanghai had the country's first commercial cemetery, which was established on Shandong Road by British in 1844, a year after Shanghai was opened up as a treaty port, according to bureau officials.

Relics on show include a Chrysler car, which was used as a hearse for the popular singer Zhou Xuan and the writer Lu Xun, and a 100-year-old pair of stone lions from the Baoxing Funeral Parlor.

Officials believe funeral customs are worth studying.

Related: