Chapter Thirty-Two The Day of the Funeral Procession
After setting up the Ling Pavilion, it's time to make the coffin. The coffin also has its own rules. The coffin is composed of three parts: bottom, side and top. The material and specifications are determined by the economic conditions of the deceased. High-quality materials use cypress or nanmu wood, ordinary ones use pine, and inferior ones use willow. Different materials have different specifications. In terms of thickness, there are "four-five-six" (top 6 inches, side 5 inches, bottom 4 inches), "three-two-two-five" (top 2 inches, side 2.5 inches, bottom 2 inches), and "pure two-five" (top 2.5 inches, side 2 inches, bottom and headboard each 1 inch). There is also the " rough two-five" type, where the top and sides are cut to 2.5 inches or 2 inches below the rough board, and the rough board is pushed clean to less than 2.5 inches or 2 inches, hence the name "rough two-five". Those that do not meet the above standards will be made with smaller materials, collectively referred to as thin coffin boards.
I naturally wouldn't save money for Li Hongjun, so I bought the red pine wood he had prepared to make a coffin from my third uncle at a high price, which was more than twice the market price. Additionally, I hired workers at 100 yuan per day, although most of the time it was villagers who helped out. Although it's just one coffin, it's made with great care and requires a dozen or so people to make, with some responsible for cutting boards, others for applying glue, and some for drilling holes. It took almost half a day to complete. Although the time was tight, the style of the coffin was originally only available to wealthy families. The surface is painted with black matte varnish, and a gold painter must be hired to paint various patterns in the form of fine brushwork using gold varnish. On the top of the lid, the three stars Fu, Lu, and Shou are painted; on the two sides of the head, the left side paints Jin Tong holding a banner, and the right side paints Yu Nu holding a stove; on the bottom of the support, Qilin sends children; in the center of the coffin, a round longevity character is painted, surrounded by five bats, known as Wu Fu Song Shou. The two sides of the coffin are painted with Ba Xian Qing Shou or Er Shi Si Xiao; the tail of the coffin is painted with lotus flowers and leaves, known as Jiao Tiao Lian Hua. Inside the coffin, it is coated with red silver varnish, becoming black on the outside and red on the inside.
Because Li Hongjun didn't let his relatives stay here, he also had to hire a filial son, commonly known as a mourning person. Although there are fewer now, he still has to walk more than 20 miles down the mountain village to hire someone. Fortunately, the trumpeter is also in Xiashan Village, but it's not easy to find someone to recite scriptures. We can only ask villagers to temporarily play a role, and the number of tunes played by the trumpeter and the number of Buddhist scriptures recited depend on how much money the host family spends. However, I don't plan to save money.
All that's left is to choose a burial site, but choosing a burial site isn't something just anyone can do. In the surrounding villages, only my second uncle was capable of doing it. Unfortunately, he's currently recovering in the hospital, and since I couldn't find anyone else, I had no choice but to take on the task myself. Armed with my second uncle's notes on geomancy, as well as a compass, red thread, and willow pegs, I set off towards the burial site on the mountain.
Our village's burial ground is on the mountain, in a large area of wilderness. However, Li Hongjun was an outsider, and according to the village rules, he couldn't be buried there. So I found a place outside the village, which turned out to be an excellent location. When choosing a burial site, one must first choose the soil quality: hard with natural luster, moist; this type of soil is suitable for a prosperous and thriving home. Not loose or dry, moist; this land is suitable for human habitation, with strong vital energy. Moist and solid; this is the most auspicious land, which will produce noble people, long-lived like a mountain. Blue-black with luster; this will bring good fortune and prosperity.
But the grave land avoids an inch of grass not growing: a great calamity, no vitality at all, with the worry of extinction; blue black and dark brown but not moist: a place of calamity, not suitable for human habitation, a life of poverty and hardship. Sandy soil, loose and dry texture, not moist: diseases abound, people and wealth decline; many stones and little soil: a place of calamity, no vitality, no vitality, unfavorable to the prosperity of the family.
Note that graves located on mountain tops or ridges are prone to being shaded by corpses and water, causing the family's assets to decline and the heirs to experience great misfortunes. Graves under large trees or in dense forests, due to the tree shadows blocking sunlight from reaching the tombstones, will cause moss to grow on the tombstones, leading to a gloomy and cold atmosphere, which will gradually lead to the decline of the family's fortunes, resulting in the birth of people with epilepsy, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses. Some trees, such as pines, spruces, and maples, have roots that can extend and grow, if these roots invade the grave and entwine the bones, it will affect the descendants' headaches, muscle and bone pain, blindness, and even lead to soft bone disease and intellectual disabilities in their children. A gloomy and cold atmosphere will also affect the descendants' susceptibility to rheumatism, and other unexplained events such as ghostly apparitions. Graves located under high-voltage power lines, even if they have a good geomantic shape, will still cause the family's fortunes to decline after ten years, leading to poverty.
In addition, the grave also has a saying of "birth and restraint". The front is straight and blocked, the outer wrapping is large grass root, and the inner entering is small grass root. It mainly restrains women, eye diseases, and dizziness. If there are mountains or buildings in front of the grave that oppress and block the entrance to the earth, it will lead to many foot diseases and lower body diseases for wives and daughters. Or if sand enters from behind the coffin or urn, it will lead to more water vapor entering and gradually rotting, which mainly affects the whole family with dizziness, swelling diseases, women's uterine tumors, and full-body acid pain diseases. If the front is blocked by the surrounding wall of another grave or shot at an angle, it will lead to skin peeling, foot injuries, and eye diseases. If the burial site is located in a volcanic area or fault zone, due to the changing terrain, landslides or ground subsidence may occur, causing the coffin or golden urn to tilt or move away, commonly known as "swallowing the coffin", "swallowing gold", "moving coffins", and "moving gold". Burial on a broken mountain, that is, the last section of the dragon entering the head, about 30 feet away, if it is broken due to excavation or collapse, will mostly affect the dead.
Entering the mountain to find the water outlet, climbing the cave to see the famous hall, wanting to find a good burial site must first find the water outlet, and see where the water comes from and where it flows; at the same time, also pay more attention to what kind of situation the water is in front of the hole. Therefore, the selection of the tomb site is closely related to water. The mountain governs people's life and the water governs wealth, the good or bad water around the tomb site dominates the financial fortune of future generations, while the good or bad sand and soil around the tomb site affects whether the descendants' population will prosper. The choice of a tomb site is also the choice of water and soil.
The five major principles of cemetery feng shui. Including the principle of relying on mountains and rivers, which is the basic principle of a good cemetery; The principle of fronting and leaning left and right, this is the positioning of the left Qinglong, right Baihu, front Zhuque, and back Xuanwu, simply put, it means being surrounded by mountains on all sides; The principle of openness and vastness, which is conducive to nurturing talent and developing one's career, requiring a broad and flat area in front of the tomb; The principle of returning to nature, emphasizing natural harmony and unity between heaven and humanity; The principle of winding and twisting, aimed at blocking the direct collision of evil spirits.
Based on these principles, the place I chose is a superior location, with mountains and water nearby, embracing left and right. In front of it is an open area. After roughly deciding on it, I called Li Hongqi to use willow pegs to mark it down and tie it up with red strings. This is just the initial selection. To truly select a good spot, we need to come again at night. When looking for a good feng shui spot or a good vein of energy in a yin dwelling, midnight is the best time to observe. There's a saying: "Looking at the forest at midnight, can't find the edge anywhere." This means that if you don't have high experience and skill, once you enter the center of the forest, you'll get lost because the whole area is foggy, and you can't see your fingers in front of you. This is yin energy. If there's no fog, then this place has no earth energy.
At night, you must do protective measures to watch. It's best to go to the forest at midnight with an odd number of people, such as three, five or seven. An even number is unlucky and it's easy to get stuck and not come out. The weather was very clear, with a starry sky at night, but there was no fog anywhere else. As soon as you arrive at the forest, the fog will definitely make you unable to see people, even if you are familiar with the place, without experience and magical powers, you won't be able to get out.
When I got back, the three fat boys had almost finished preparing everything. The mourning hall was set up, and the filial sons and grandsons were all present. The musicians and the scripture reciters were in position, and as soon as the coffin was placed there, the funeral clothes and hats were put on, and even the female relatives were waiting inside. It looked just like someone had died. The white silk, white satin, incense, and offerings were all very luxurious. The only thing that made people feel helpless was that there were too many onlookers around, after all, it had been a long time since they'd had this kind of traditional funeral.
It doesn't matter, when I went back, I only knew that Huang Daxian had also returned and invited the local land god, San Guniang. Of course, they couldn't meet in broad daylight, and there were still some arrangements to be made, which required attendants. Generally, three sets of attendants are used at home, with twelve people dressed in mourning attire, a sedan chair with a canopy, an eight-person pallbearer team, a soul carriage, a golden gourd, a golden axe, a pair of golden stirrups, and a pair of green fans. The second set includes triple-blade knives, elephant-nose knives, green dragon knives, horse-cutting knives, golden thread guns, golden wheel guns, golden cover guns, and golden umbrella guns, each in pairs, as well as twelve pieces of banner umbrellas. The third set includes flying tiger flags, flying dragon flags, flying phoenix flags, and clear road flags, each in pairs; solemn plaques and avoidance plaques, each in pairs; two pairs of urgent pressure gongs; and twelve pieces of banner umbrellas.
After finishing all these, I still need to find someone in charge, otherwise I will be too busy to handle it myself. It's been like this until midnight, no wonder every time the second master is exhausted. Even if I'm young, I can't bear it, and I'm almost dead from exhaustion. Fortunately, it didn't take long for me to arrange all these things, and then I can relax a bit later.
It wasn't until evening that I had time to take Li Hongqi and Pang Dogzi to choose a burial site, of course, actually I wanted to meet San Guniang, after all, the past two days were spent in the mourning hall, too many people, not suitable for San Guniang to appear, only by choosing a burial site can we meet.
That night, the stars were shining brightly, and we three went to the tomb with flashlights. Fortunately, all three of us were brave, so it wasn't boring on the way. The three of us chatted as we walked until we arrived at the tomb. From a distance, I could see that our village's old tomb was indeed shrouded in thick fog. Our ancestors had invited people with expertise to select the site for the tomb. As for the place I chose, it also borrowed from the old tomb's aura, with a thin layer of fog flowing through it, which made me feel a bit more at ease. Although I was reluctant to do things for Li Hongjun, since I promised, I had to do my best. That's my principle.
After confirming, I saw Huang Daxian standing on a tree not far away, just staring at me. I hesitated for a moment: "Red Flag, Fat Dog Brother, wait for me, I'll go over there to pee."
"It's better to go back and solve it, this place is not good, in case you bump into someone, you might have to go back and bother with it, it's also a troublesome thing." Fat dog child has been with second master for a long time, naturally knows some things, according to the rules, in the tomb area, you can't urinate or spit, just afraid of bumping into the spirit of the dead, at that time, people will be bothered to death.
