This article is from WeChat official account:Arrow Factory (ID: arrowfactory), author: Wen Tun, the original title:” I do funeral at sea, seen the purest white ashes “from head Figure: vision China

Thousands of ashes are thrown into the sea each year. Captain Chen Qi and his family have played the role of “ferrymen” on the sea for decades. Captain Chen said that sea burials with government subsidies are always regarded as “poor people’s funerals”, but they are often the first choice for white-haired people to send black-haired people or people who have a passion for the sea.

The stories of countless strangers in a ship are condensed here. For the 64-year-old Captain Chen, the initial surprise and sorrow brought to him by sea burial turned into an understanding of “life”.

1. Degradation tank, flowers and seagulls

“Remind everyone again, check if you have brought the ashes of your loved ones.”

The ship sailed out of Dalian Port, and the collective sea burial ceremony was about to begin.

Flowers and the name boards of the deceased were arranged on the bow, and family members sat in the cabin. They followed the guidance of the funeral master to stand and observe in silence.

As the captain Chen Qi pressed the whistle three times, the degradation tank containing the ashes was slowly put into the water. The tank was in the shape of a snow-white lotus flower—it means “step on the lotus flower and drive the crane to the west” in Buddhism.

The degradable tank made of sea mud and clay is environmentally friendly, and it makes the funeral look more solemn and will not scatter the ashes on the deck.

The family members threw petals, paper cranes and grains into the sea. Seagulls hovered low around the ship, seeming to accompany the dead relatives.

Old Chen took the helm and asked the ship to circle around the waters where the ashes were dropped. The family members bowed towards the sea and said their final farewell to the dead.

This is the first collective sea funeral held by Dalian Sea Burial Service Center since the outbreak of the epidemic this year.

Second, “The wedding can be done again, but the funeral can’t be repeated”

Chen Qi is 64 years old this year. He has been a captain for 40 years, fishing, carrying passengers, and traveling. It was 1997 when he started to engage in funerals at sea.

At that time, the government advocated sea burials, and the Dalian Civil Affairs Bureau mobilized some household family members to find Lao Chen. The tourism business is not very prosperous, and he thought that it would not be a big problem to do one or two orders.

In the past, it was most taboo to say “death” and “turn over” on board. During the sea burial, Lao Chen didn’t encounter any unlucky things, that is, tourists did not want to come again, and felt that the boat was so dark that he could not go back to his old profession.

Nowadays, in the funeral and interment industry dubbed “extraordinary profits”, sea burials are still not a profitable business.

In order to promote ecological burial and deepen the reform of funeral and burial, local civil affairs bureaus have subsidies that benefit the people. The ship’s cost for collective funerals is generally less than 1,000 yuan per household. The local government is responsible for almost all expenses for funerals, transportation, food, and accommodation. Some low-income families with conservative ideas will also choose sea burial for subsidies.

Therefore, in addition to the belief that “to enter the soil for peace”, people often understand sea burials as “the funeral of the poor.”

For Lao Chen, who has watched tens of thousands of funerals, it doesn’t make sense to stick to a single standard. If you have money, be decent, and if you don’t have money, it’s simple. The deceased has nothing to do, thisEverything is a matter of the concept of the living.

Of course, sea burials can be done decently. He emphasized that in addition to collective burials, there are also private orders. The Dalian Sea Burial Service Center has four ships of different specifications, which can operate simple and luxurious; they can be operated near the sea from home, or go to distant waters, as well as decoration, photography, video, Memorial speech, memorial book and other services are available for family members to choose.

In short, the family members try their best to satisfy what they want.

“Sense of ritual”, “dignity” and “dignity” are words that Old Chen often talks about. He said: “We can do it again, but the funeral can’t be done again, right?”

III. Young people’s funeral

There is a natural geographical advantage to do sea burials in Dalian. This is the northernmost ice-free port in China and can be held all year round. In winter, family members from Jilin, Heilongjiang and even Inner Mongolia often braved the wind and snow and took the train to Dalian for sea funerals.

However, as the largest marine burial organization in Liaoning Province and even in China, the Dalian Marine Burial Service Center handles approximately 7,000 or 8,000 ashes a year. This year, due to the epidemic, there are only less than 1,000. Earth burial and cremation are still the mainstream funeral ceremonies. Even though the number of people who choose sea burial has greatly increased in recent years, it only accounts for about 1% of the total number of cremation.

Who would prefer sea burial? Lao Chen introduced generally three categories, those with poor economic conditions, those with sea burial feelings, and those with accidental deaths. Among them, “white-haired people send black-haired people” are more common.

Most of the ashes that Lao Chen had seen were gray, and the elderly were still a little black, but the ashes of a funeral were so white that he was shocked, as white as ivory.

The flowers surrounded by flowers that day were colorful photos of two girls, in their twenties, in the mood for love. They were in a car accident on the way to the wedding of their classmates. The parents of the two families were crying and unable to act independently. In the end, it was Lao Chen who helped them put the ashes into the degradation tank.

On another occasion, a boy who had just finished the college entrance examination was the first college student in the village. He had never traveled far since he was a child. After the exam, he asked his uncle to take him to the beach. It was a happy thing, but the boy drowned. At the funeral that day, the child’s mother did not cry, and the uncle was hoarse.

Old Chen can’t say how many times he has hosted young funerals. On those occasions, they always have to play the role of psychological counseling, patiently comforting every family member who has lost a loved one.

Recalling the sad moments, Old Chen said flatly, life still has to go forward, life can’t always be so smooth, right?

But Old Chen doesn’t care, he has seen wind and waves.

He said that “life” and “death” are completely two concepts on land and sea. In the sea of ​​anger, people are like a grain of rice tumbling in a big dustpan, “Life is too short and too fragile, don’t be afraid, just live in the moment.”

“People who work at sea are very open-minded.” They don’t care about “death”, they care about “life”.

Reference materials:

News Dalian:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/GtkStTXPY6zNVn7lcPEBEw

China Marine Burial: http://www.zhongguohaizang.com/%E6%B5%B7%E8%91%AC%E6%9C%8D%E5%8A%A1 /

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