In death, the meaning of life becomes clear

XINING-"Li Mingjun" (not his real name) requested anonymity because his son has no idea what he really does for a living.

"He thinks I work in a factory," Li said.

"I don't want him to learn about weighty matters like life and death too early, and I'm also afraid his classmates might shun him because of what I do."

The 41-year-old head of the cremation department at the municipal funeral home in Xining, capital of Qinghai province, has been working in the industry for half his life.

Being a mortician may be an attractive job elsewhere, but even talking about death is taboo in Chinese tradition, and people believe that jobs or topics related to death bring bad luck.

Li described being a mortician as a job where "you can't smile". There are no handshakes or saying goodbye either, something to which he and his colleagues have long become accustomed.

"Working in the funeral industry was relatively unpopular when I graduated from high school, which made it easy to find a job," he said, adding that he studied funeral technology and management at a civil affairs college to become a mortician. "Back then, I never thought I would spend every day in the company of death and, in the process, find the true meaning of life."

Li said he takes his job seriously and stressed the importance of maintaining the dignity of the dead.

"After we dress and put makeup on the deceased, they look really peaceful, as if they are asleep. Sometimes, we have to sew up the wounds of those who have died in accidents, to give them dignity at the end of their lives," Li said. "Giving the dead dignity and their loved ones comfort is what makes my job worthwhile."

Liu Xuanhong, director of the Xining municipal funeral home, agreed.

"Whether we're dealing with a corpse or a handful of ashes, our work is sacred," Liu said.

To encourage people to overcome their prejudices and take an objective view of life and death, the home holds open days for the public to come to learn about what morticians do.

For the last eight years, "Zhang Xiaojing" (also a pseudonym), the 41-year-old director of the home's etiquette department, has been arranging ceremonies tailored to the requests of bereaved families.

"In line with local customs, many cremations are conducted early in the morning, so our work mostly happens in the middle of the night," Zhang said, adding that she also had her own concerns about the job at first.

"My work has taught me the impermanence of life. It's only by understanding death that we can better live. All we can do is to cherish what we have and live a life we love."

Xinhua