In fact, earlier, I had the idea of becoming a part-time mortuary. On the one hand, I want to experience different experiences, and on the other hand, I hope to answer many of my own doubts about death.
I have heard that in some places, it is very rude to arrange the remains of the deceased behind the back of their family members. Hook the back with a large hook and hang it up for washing. When I heard this, I was terrified. I thought in my heart that I was getting old, so I must escape to the deep mountains and old forests, jump into the deep cliffs when I was about to die, and never put the body in the funeral home. Otherwise, just jump into the stove, and everyone will save trouble. To be so dignified to die.
Attending funerals twice was a bad experience. Chinese-style funerals have a big feature. Many times, they are very noisy and complicated. Seeing a large group of people walking by howling, thirty or forty people with no tears on their faces, covering their faces and shouting loudly, I was amazed at the time. There are also some people who are expressionless before saying goodbye, weeping loudly when they surround the deceased, and then turn around and come back with a pool of stagnant water on their faces. You don't know how sad they are. Or see the band playing sad music and pass by, or let the family members set off firecrackers after cremation. The deceased's face was smeared very white and looked strange. When I said goodbye, I couldn't bear it or dared to look at it. Not to mention seeing people being pushed into the furnace and turned into a pile of ashes when they come out. The family also used pliers and brooms to move the ashes into stainless steel plates. When picking up the broken bones and ashes, they felt as if they had turned into ashes. For me, these are very uncomfortable things.
But "The Undertaker" made me see the other side of goodbye. It turns out that it can be so calm, forbearance, solemn and beautiful, even sad. The deepest impression is that after the deceased was placed in the coffin, the mother, daughter and granddaughter bid farewell to the deceased, each with a lip print on his face. Everyone laughed at first, then couldn't help crying, thanking him for everything he had done during his lifetime. I always thought that this is how the farewell ceremony should be. Only close relatives, loved ones and close friends are around, and they are sincerely sad for your passing, not a large group of colleagues leading a mess of people into a large room, like attending a rally. We have done too many superfluous things during our lifetime, and we don't need to add them after death.
The work done by the undertaker is not so much for the dead, but for the comfort of the living. Whether we like it or not, we have no way of choosing when, how, or how we die. Death is a mess, left to the living to suffer the consequences. The mortuary masters toned down the bruising, rigidity and ugliness brought by death, and let them die as beautifully and solemnly as possible. This is a respect for life and a calmness to death, which is awe-inspiring.
As the old man who operated the incinerator said, death is a door. It makes us fall into thinking about our own state of existence, see the core of prosperity and grandness, and distinguish what is the most important thing in our life. Just like at the end of the film, the stone that Kobayashi's father held tightly in his hand. Thirty years later, it shows a father's unstoppable longing and love in his lonely years. And he finally saw clearly the face of his father, whose memory was blurred, and burst into tears. Forgiveness and love evoked by death is always too late. Human beings have survived for such a long time. In fact, many things are still the same: they don't cherish when they have them, and they feel sad when they lose them. There is nothing new under the sun, why not take pity on the people in front of you before it's too late.
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