From the Yellow Spring to the Family Altar Death and transformation are a key element of the Chinese culture and psyche. Along with marriage, death is the most important event in the life of the family and individual.
Death marks the transition from life to another world.
It allows the family to express its strength and solidarity by coming together to share in the funerary rites of passage. Death requires that the attention of the living be focused upon the larger meaning of life and family. For the Chinese, family identity is primary to individual identity. The clan name comes first, followed by the individual's name. The position of birth, i.e. elder son, elder daughter, has an identity of its own that transcends the individual's hopes, wishes, and desires.