Corpse Bride: Chinese Ghost Marriage Traditions

 

Culture expectations are often inescapable as the pressure to conform can be too great to handle.  This causes individuals to fall in line with what they are demanded to do, and when those cultural norms cannot be met there are consequences, ranging from the benign to the devastating.  In cases where the consequences are particularly severe often cultural systems are put in place to bring the offending individual back into compliance.  This is certainly the case for a 3000-year-old Chinese cultural tradition: yinhun, or ghost marriages (Figure 1).  This blog post will address what this tradition is, why it began and continues to be practiced today, as well as how specifically it is completed.

 

Yinhun (ghost marriage from here on out) began during the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE) as a reflection of changing cultural norms and continued on in popularity until the 1950s when the practice was largely outlawed by the Chinese government.  Even though it is illegal there are portions of Chinese society that hold onto traditions and continue to practice ghost marriage today.  Ghost marriage traditionally involves the union of two unmarried and deceased individuals, although it can sometimes involve a living individual marrying a deceased individual. 

 

The reasons for ghost marriages are varied and complex, particularly depending on if both parties are deceased or if one is living.  There are several reasons why ghost marriages take place.  Most often it is to ensure a happy and fulfilling afterlife for an unmarried deceased individual.  The Chinese believe that life continues on after death much like it did during life, so individuals take with them the relationships and material possessions they had during life.  If someone is unmarried they will be lonely in death.  Also, because marriage is so strongly tied to an individual’s ability to be acknowledged as part of a family in death being both dead and unmarried is taboo, warranting a correction of this offense.  Another reason why ghost marriages take place is because of the traditions surrounding marriage.  Eldest sons must marry before their younger brothers, so if an elder brother passes away before he married the younger brothers cannot marry.  In part to appease the deceased brother’s soul in the afterlife and ensure a proper marriage of living younger brothers a ghost marriage is undertaken.  Ghost marriages are also used as a political tool wherein families are united through the marriage of their deceased family members.

 

Ghost marriages involving a living spouse, however, are typically undertaken for different reasons.  A wealthy family whose son passes away before he married may entice a woman to marry him for her family’s financial gain.  The family, in turn, ensures their dead son is happy in the afterlife as he awaits a reunion with his wife after she passes away, and they gain an additional individual to help with domestic duties within the household.  Living brides are expected to immediately take on the role of widow and remain celibate for the remainder of their lives, living in honor for making such a great sacrifice.  Men may marry a deceased woman if he was previously engaged/betrothed to her.  He does have the option to remarry later, but his deceased wife/ghost bride will be honored as the primary wife and the living bride will be treated as the secondary wife.

 

Ghost marriages are not easy endeavors to pursue.  Ultimately, as the purpose is to assuage a family’s grief there are special actions that must be taken.  First, a medium match-maker is consulted to ensure the deceased bride and groom are a compatible match.  Match-making is a serious business in Chinese culture, and ensuring that individuals are spiritually compatible is important, both among the living and the dead.  Upon the identification of an appropriate bride the groom’s family will propose the idea of the ghost marriage to the bride’s family, and if they agree a marriage contract will be drawn up.  The marriage contract will outline the terms of the bride price and dowry, as well.  This is followed up with a ritual wherein the deceased bride and groom are consulted and provide their consent to be married.  The wedding follows.

 

A wedding ceremony for a ghost marriage is an elaborate affair that often combines the wedding and the funeral if and as available.  The bride’s and groom’s corpses are used if available, but if not they are symbolized by memorial plaques, effigies, or chickens.  All of the goods they will need to sustain their marriage (e.g. clothing, furniture, money, etc.) are provided in the form of bamboo and paper items that are symbolic but not real items.  The wedding and reception are celebrated by the living family members and guests, and the following morning all of the goods are burned in order to join the deceased bride and groom.  Later, the bride and groom are buried together to ensure they are forever united in matrimony in death.

 

 

Works Cited

Chris K. K. Tan, Xin Wang & Shasha Chen. "Corpse Brides: Yinhun and the Macabre Agency of Cadavers in Contemporary Chinese Ghost Marriages." Asian Studies Review (2019): 148-163. Print.

Schwartze, Lucas J. "Grave Grave Vows: A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Varying forms of Ghost Marriage among Five Societies." Nebraska Anthropologist (2010): 1-15. Print.

Tsoi, Grace. "China's ghost weddings and why they can be deadly." BBC 24 August 2016. Electronic.