Why do people cover their faces when they die? Do you know why? After grandpa died, when I hurried back to my hometown, the first thing I saw was grandpa with white towel on his face lying on the doorplate. I could not help other relatives to stop me. I opened the towel on Grandpa's face. Grandpa's face was peaceful, just like sleeping. At that moment, sadness hit me like a mountain falling into the sea. I knew what was real life and death only when I first faced the death of my close relatives Farewell.
In my impression, except Grandpa, all the other dead I saw were covered with a white towel before burial. It is said that some places were covered with yellow paper.
When did this custom come down? There is no way to prove it up to now.
According to the relevant materials, the earliest person covered after death in the historical records is Fu Chai, the king of Wu in the spring and Autumn period. Because he was destroyed by Gou Jian, the king of Yue, and carried the humiliation of losing his country on his back, he told his subordinates before dying: please cover my face with white cloth after I die, because I dare not face Wu Zixu when I come to the hell.
Another cover record is written by Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty before his death: I die, I see my ancestors in the ground without face, and I will crown myself to cover them. Let the thief divide my body and do not hurt the people.
It can be seen from the above historical data that the custom of covering people after death has a long history, so why do we do this? What is the scientific basis? Personal understanding may have the following reasons:
1. Avoid excessive grief or fear
It must be a very sad thing for a family member to die. In the face of the face of the deceased, this feeling of sadness is particularly strong. I have a deep understanding of this. When I lift the white towel on Grandpa's face, tears will flow down uncontrollably.
Relatives are sad, while some relatives, friends and children who are not closely related to the deceased will have a fear when they see the remains of the deceased, especially after a painful struggle and distorted face before death. So, to avoid these situations, cover the face of the deceased.
2. Keep the dead face clean
After the death of ordinary people, the bodies should be kept at home for a few days. Winter is better. If the temperature is too high in spring, summer and autumn, especially in summer, flies and mosquitoes are flying around. If they do not cover the face, these flying insects will bite on the face of the deceased.
In addition, dust will also fall on the face of the deceased, so in order to keep the deceased's face clean, cover the face.
3. Prevent the appearance of false death
In ancient times, the level of medicine was underdeveloped. Sometimes people just suffered from syncope for a long time, which seemed to stop breathing. Because there was no professional medical identification, they were wrongly judged as dead. This kind of plot is often seen in ancient costume plays.
In order to avoid this kind of situation, the corpse is generally parked for several days, and the face is covered with light yellow paper or white paper. If there is breath, the breath will wet the paper. After later evolution, it will become a white cloth covered with air permeability.
Of course, this phenomenon of "pseudo death" can be basically ruled out in today's advanced medicine.
The explanation of modern medicine is that, after death, due to the lack of nutrition, the human body's parasitic pathogens lose their host, will fly out of the mouth, cover the face, and can prevent the gastrointestinal pathogens from flying out, which always feels that this statement is somewhat unreliable.
In addition, there is also a popular saying that the white cloth on the face is to prevent the dead from seeing the sky, because TA has belonged to the underworld, can't see the sky in the sun, and is not contaminated with dust.
Of all these statements, I prefer 1 and 2, because this is the last respect and mourning for the dead who are still in the world.