This is a very old Chinese Grave found next the Sarawak Museum in Kuching. You don't find many of these big graves today especially in land scarce Singapore and Hongkong. In these two countries, the dead are exhumed to make way for the living.
These graves are called armchairs, It looks like a sofa seat. It is a very important official of the king's court. It is commonly believed that when a man is alive, he may be lowly peasant, but when he dies he can still be an official of the king. Therefore, no expense is spared to build the grave.
The other reason is the Chinese used to ( they still do) worship their ancestors, and pray to them to look after them and bless them. My Grandfather used to tell us, when a disaster had been avoided, it is because our ancestors have been seated high up, so he could see afar and take care of us. The dead doesn't sleep, or he is not allowed to. So he is seated, awake 24/7 in the arm chair. If he was sleeping, he could not be taking care of us. A good grave site is high up the slopes of the hills.
This is a very old Chinese Grave found next the Sarawak Museum in Kuching. You don't find many of these big graves today especially in land scarce Singapore and Hongkong. In these two countries, the dead are exhumed to make way for the living.
These graves are called armchairs, It looks like a sofa seat. It is a very important official of the king's court. It is commonly believed that when a man is alive, he may be lowly peasant, but when he dies he can still be an official of the king. Therefore, no expense is spared to build the grave.
The other reason is the Chinese used to ( they still do) worship their ancestors, and pray to them to look after them and bless them. My Grandfather used to tell us, when a disaster had been avoided, it is because our ancestors have been seated high up, so he could see afar and take care of us. The dead doesn't sleep, or he is not allowed to. So he is seated, awake 24/7 in the arm chair. If he was sleeping, he could not be taking care of us. A good grave site is high up the slopes of the hills.
6 comments:
Interesting post.
That's an impressive grave.
Interesting post!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
Very unique, I have not seen anything like this before.
I really enjoyed reading your post. It was something new that I had never come across before.
I've seen the omega-shaped graves in Fujian and the fireworks lighting. I guess this tradition will stop in the future because it used a lot of space, which is very expensive these days.
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