Chinese American death rituals
Subtitle: respecting the ancestors
By: edited by Sue Fawn Chung and Priscilla Wegars.
Contributors: Chung, Sue Fawn, 1944-; Wegars, Priscilla.
Publisher: AltaMira Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Walnut Creek, CA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 368
Subjects: Chinese Americans -- Funeral rites and ceremonies
Description: "Death is a topic that has fascinated people for centuries. However, the rituals associated with the death and remembrance of a loved one can be very different from culture to culture. Chinese American Death Rituals examines Chinese American funerary rituals and cemeteries from the late nineteenth century to the present in order to understand the importance of Chinese funerary rites and their transformation through time. The authors in this multidisciplinary volume discuss the meaning of funerary rituals and their normative dimension as well as social practices that have been influenced by tradition. Chinese Americans have had to resolve the tension between assimilation into the American mainstream culture and their strong Chinese heritage.

They have looked to individual beliefs, customs, religion, and environment for this resolution. This volume expertly describes and analyzes cultural retention and transformation in the after-death rituals of Chinese American communities."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p.   ) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction / Sue Fawn Chung and Priscilla Wegars; title: A history of Chinese death ritual in China and California / Wendy L. Rouse; title: Cantonese rites for death and ghost-spirits / Paul G. Chace; title: Virginiatown's Chinese cemeteries / Melissa Farncomb and Wendy L. Rouse; title: Chinese American funerary and burial practices in Elko County, Nevada / Sue Fawn Chung, Fred P. Frampton, and Timothy W. Murphy; title: Chinese cemeteries and burial practices in the interior Pacific Northwest / Terry Abraham and Priscilla Wegars; title: Remembering ancestors in Hawai'i / George C.K. Young, Reiko Neizman, and Sue Fawn Chung; title: The Chinese mortuary tradition in San Francisco Chinatown / Linda Sun Crowder; title: Bringing the ancestors to America / Roberta S. Greenwood.