The Characteristics of the Funeral Rites and Customs in the Song Dynasty

Funeral has been one of the most important ceremonies in china since ancient times and the Song Dynasty is no exception. The existing materials show that the Song's scholar-officials advocated and made every effort to practise the standard funeral rites. They not only inherited and summarized the Confucian system and ideas on funeral since the Pre-Qin period, but also improved the rites according to the Song's social situation. As a result, they formulated a systematic set of funeral rites, which, to a great extent, won the rulers' approval. Some of the rites even were issued as a policy or regulation. However, for some reasons the rites may not be totally suitable to the Song's social reality. The folk customs related to funeral were more popular among common people. Therefore ritual and custom formed two aspects of funeral in the Song Dynasty. Although there were contradictions between them, they harmonized with each other. This is general characteristic of funeral in the Song Dynasty.