In the past, religious activities were conducted by professional clergy from the respective faiths--Buddhism, Christianity and Confucianism. However, these days more and more duties of the clergy in the areas of grief counseling and using laity for services.
It might be natural that the concerns and interests of young people in religion have declined because they are educated with the churches thinking, which values subjectivity toward the people in general. However, traditional funeral customs are not likely to disappear in a short period of time. When someone dies, a very respectful funeral is held in the local community or in the people's commune.
The funeral ritual functions to break up the deceased into spirit, material body, and cultural artifacts and serves as a vehicle for transforming and reconstructing these elements into their future, eternal condition. The funeral ritual can be divided into several rites: 1. the early preparations of the body after death, 2. visitations of the survivors in the home, 3. the embalming and display of the corpse, 4. placing the deceased in his/her final resting place, and 5. the gatherings of the family and close friends after burial (Thomas J. Reese, S.J, 1996, 87).
A hundred years ago, and in the memory of many older funeral participants, only a close male friend or relative would deal with the business world in arranging for a funeral.
A relative or close friend of the deceased (such as a brother-in-law, a business partner, or an adult sister of the deceased) should offer to serve as 'director of funeral events.' As such he or she will be responsible for the overall smooth coordination of the funeral and interment, and also for helping the surviving family in every possible way.
If this person is selected by the family is female, she should......
