Professional Mourning

Here's an excerpt from the Chinese tradition. It is wild.

In the eyes of the average modern professional mourner, they are performers. A common ritual in China involves the family paying the mourners in advance and bringing them in lavish style to the place the funeral will take place. The mourners are trained in the art of singing and bring a band with them.[7] The first step is for the mourners to line up outside and crawl.[3] While crawling, the mourner says with anguish the name of the person.[7] This is symbolic of daughters running home from their families in an effort to see the body. Next, a eulogy is performed in loud, sobbing, fashion and backed up by dramatic instrumental tunes, driving the attendees to tears. One of the common lines used during these eulogies are:

"Why did you leave us so soon? The earth is covered in a black veil for you. The rivers and streams are crying to tell your story – that of an honest man,’ Hu sings.

‘I shed tears for your children and grandchildren. We’re so sorry we could not keep you here,’ she croons between sobs" (Lim,2013).

Then the family is told to bow in front of the casket three times, and suddenly a belly dancer takes the so called "stage" and the song picks up, lights start flashing, and everyone is upbeat again. Since the funeral is usually a couple of days after the actual death, the goal of the professional mourner is to remind everyone attending the funeral about the sadness and pain that is associated with when someone passes away. They also have the job of bringing the mood right back up with lighting and fun songs after the wailing and mourning is done.