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 the chair of 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, so he is seated in the arm chair. if he was sleeping, he couldn't be taking care of us. A good grave site is high up the slopes of the hills where he could see far far away.
1 comment:
Interesting to learn about the tradition of another culture. Thanks.
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