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© Getty Images
0 / 29 Fotos
Origins
- In China, there is an ancient tradition known as mínghūn. This is a ghost marriage (or spirit marriage), where one or both parties are deceased.
© Shutterstock
1 / 29 Fotos
Origins
- The origins of the tradition are not exactly known. Some sources date it back to 3,000 years ago, while others say it goes back as far as the 17th century BCE.
© Shutterstock
2 / 29 Fotos
Why these posthumous marriages take place
- The reasons vary, spending on whether it's a man or woman. Having an unwed daughter would be considered shameful for parents.
© Getty Images
3 / 29 Fotos
Why these posthumous marriages take place
- As for men, it was a matter of carrying on the family lineage. The wife of a deceased man could then adopt a child for this to occur.
© Getty Images
4 / 29 Fotos
Why these posthumous marriages take place
- Another reason why these weddings would take place was to ensure a younger brother wouldn’t get married before an elder brother.
© Getty Images
5 / 29 Fotos
Superstitions
- "The basic ideology behind ghost weddings is that the deceased continue their lives in the afterlife," says Huang Jingchun, head of the Chinese department at Shanghai University.
© Getty Images
6 / 29 Fotos
Superstitions
- "So if someone didn't get married when they lived, they still need to be wedded after their death," Huang Jingchun added.
© Getty Images
7 / 29 Fotos
Engaged women
- For women who were previously engaged and their fiancé died, they would usually participate in the funeral, become celibate, and move in with their deceased fiancé's family. There are no records indicating that men would do the same.
© Getty Images
8 / 29 Fotos
The ceremony
- In the case where one party is deceased, he/she will be represented by effigies made of bamboo, paper, or cloth. They would then wear traditional wedding clothing, as if they were real people.
© Getty Images
9 / 29 Fotos
The ceremony
- In the case of two deceased people, both would be represented by funeral plaques (spirit tablets), and their bodies would then be buried together.
© Getty Images
10 / 29 Fotos
Religious beliefs
- According to Ping Yao, a history professor at California State University, these marriages are carried out of a "parental duty to a lost child that reflected Confucian values about loyalty to the family."
© Getty Images
11 / 29 Fotos
Ghost marriages are illegal
- The practice of ghost marriages was first banned in Imperial China, and then banned again by the Chinese Communist government in 1949.
© Getty Images
12 / 29 Fotos
Illegal practice
- They are, however, still practiced illegally in some parts of rural China, and indeed are commonly accepted by some communities.
© Getty Images
13 / 29 Fotos
Prayer
- Here is an example of a prayer said in afterlife weddings: "So and so, I hereby inform you: You died at young age and thus did not realize the great principle of marriage. You sleep alone in the dark world and lack the intimacy of man and woman. Just as living people long for companionship, the dead fear loneliness as well. Unexpectedly, so and so's family had a daughter who just passed away like an autumn leaf. We sent a betrothal for you so your souls might meet. We selected this auspicious day for the rite of your union. We also set out an offering next to your shrine tablet, furnished with all kinds of food. Please send your spirit down to the banquet and eat the meal."
© Getty Images
14 / 29 Fotos
Lack of women
- Finding a suitable ghost bride is particularly hard because there are substantially more men than women in China.
© Getty Images
15 / 29 Fotos
Lack of women
- And things get even harder for men who live in rural areas, where many women leave to study, work, and start a new life in the city.
© Getty Images
16 / 29 Fotos
Female cadavers are highly valuable
- In places such as the Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, which primarily lived off coal mining and where women are scarce, female corpses became a sought-after commodity.
© Getty Images
17 / 29 Fotos
Auction
- So much so that when one young woman dies, many families with deceased sons rush to bid for their corpses.
© Getty Images
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Auction
- "Usually when the auction is over and the girl's family promises to deliver her body to the winning parents, the girl is still alive," explains Wang Yong, who works at a Shanxi hospital.
© Getty Images
19 / 29 Fotos
The rise of the matchmaking black market
- Reportedly, around 30 years ago, a female corpse would cost somewhere around 5,000 yuan (approximately US$742), but the price skyrocketed, leading to grave robberies and murders.
© Shutterstock
20 / 29 Fotos
Grieving father
- The South China Morning Post reported that in 2009, a grieving father from Shaanxi paid 33,000 yuan (US$4,896) for grave robbers to find a bride for his deceased son who had perished in a car accident.
© Shutterstock
21 / 29 Fotos
Criminals
- In 2013, four men were arrested for stealing 10 female corpses, which were to be sold on the ghost marriage black market for around US$30,800 total.
© Shutterstock
22 / 29 Fotos
Grave robbery
- In October 2014, 11 people were arrested in eastern China for digging up female corpses from a village in Shandong province.
© Shutterstock
23 / 29 Fotos
Fresh is hot
- “Years-old carcasses are not worth a damn, while the ones that have just died ... are valuable,” said a man named Wang, the lead suspect of the crime.
© Getty Images
24 / 29 Fotos
Grave digging
- In 2015, the bodies of 14 female corpses were stolen in one village in the Shanxi province of China.
© Shutterstock
25 / 29 Fotos
Hefty price
- According to research conducted by Shanghai University, the price paid for a female cadaver back then would be around 30,000 to 50,000 yuan (approximately US$4,451 to $7,418). Though it’s estimated that they could go up to 100,000 yuan (US$14,837).
© Getty Images
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Murder
- In 2016, a man named Ma Chonghua killed two women and sold their bodies for 40,000 yuan (US$5,934) each for ghost marriages.
© Shutterstock
27 / 29 Fotos
Do ghost marriages happen elsewhere?
- While most ghost marriages are performed in rural areas of northern and central China, the ritual has been reported among the Chinese community in other countries across Asia, including Singapore and Taiwan. Sources: (BBC 1 and 2) (The Guardian) (South China Morning Post 1 and 2) (Asian Journal of Criminology) See also: The rituals of an Indian wedding
© Shutterstock
28 / 29 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 29 Fotos
Origins
- In China, there is an ancient tradition known as mínghūn. This is a ghost marriage (or spirit marriage), where one or both parties are deceased.
© Shutterstock
1 / 29 Fotos
Origins
- The origins of the tradition are not exactly known. Some sources date it back to 3,000 years ago, while others say it goes back as far as the 17th century BCE.
© Shutterstock
2 / 29 Fotos
Why these posthumous marriages take place
- The reasons vary, spending on whether it's a man or woman. Having an unwed daughter would be considered shameful for parents.
© Getty Images
3 / 29 Fotos
Why these posthumous marriages take place
- As for men, it was a matter of carrying on the family lineage. The wife of a deceased man could then adopt a child for this to occur.
© Getty Images
4 / 29 Fotos
Why these posthumous marriages take place
- Another reason why these weddings would take place was to ensure a younger brother wouldn’t get married before an elder brother.
© Getty Images
5 / 29 Fotos
Superstitions
- "The basic ideology behind ghost weddings is that the deceased continue their lives in the afterlife," says Huang Jingchun, head of the Chinese department at Shanghai University.
© Getty Images
6 / 29 Fotos
Superstitions
- "So if someone didn't get married when they lived, they still need to be wedded after their death," Huang Jingchun added.
© Getty Images
7 / 29 Fotos
Engaged women
- For women who were previously engaged and their fiancé died, they would usually participate in the funeral, become celibate, and move in with their deceased fiancé's family. There are no records indicating that men would do the same.
© Getty Images
8 / 29 Fotos
The ceremony
- In the case where one party is deceased, he/she will be represented by effigies made of bamboo, paper, or cloth. They would then wear traditional wedding clothing, as if they were real people.
© Getty Images
9 / 29 Fotos
The ceremony
- In the case of two deceased people, both would be represented by funeral plaques (spirit tablets), and their bodies would then be buried together.
© Getty Images
10 / 29 Fotos
Religious beliefs
- According to Ping Yao, a history professor at California State University, these marriages are carried out of a "parental duty to a lost child that reflected Confucian values about loyalty to the family."
© Getty Images
11 / 29 Fotos
Ghost marriages are illegal
- The practice of ghost marriages was first banned in Imperial China, and then banned again by the Chinese Communist government in 1949.
© Getty Images
12 / 29 Fotos
Illegal practice
- They are, however, still practiced illegally in some parts of rural China, and indeed are commonly accepted by some communities.
© Getty Images
13 / 29 Fotos
Prayer
- Here is an example of a prayer said in afterlife weddings: "So and so, I hereby inform you: You died at young age and thus did not realize the great principle of marriage. You sleep alone in the dark world and lack the intimacy of man and woman. Just as living people long for companionship, the dead fear loneliness as well. Unexpectedly, so and so's family had a daughter who just passed away like an autumn leaf. We sent a betrothal for you so your souls might meet. We selected this auspicious day for the rite of your union. We also set out an offering next to your shrine tablet, furnished with all kinds of food. Please send your spirit down to the banquet and eat the meal."
© Getty Images
14 / 29 Fotos
Lack of women
- Finding a suitable ghost bride is particularly hard because there are substantially more men than women in China.
© Getty Images
15 / 29 Fotos
Lack of women
- And things get even harder for men who live in rural areas, where many women leave to study, work, and start a new life in the city.
© Getty Images
16 / 29 Fotos
Female cadavers are highly valuable
- In places such as the Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, which primarily lived off coal mining and where women are scarce, female corpses became a sought-after commodity.
© Getty Images
17 / 29 Fotos
Auction
- So much so that when one young woman dies, many families with deceased sons rush to bid for their corpses.
© Getty Images
18 / 29 Fotos
Auction
- "Usually when the auction is over and the girl's family promises to deliver her body to the winning parents, the girl is still alive," explains Wang Yong, who works at a Shanxi hospital.
© Getty Images
19 / 29 Fotos
The rise of the matchmaking black market
- Reportedly, around 30 years ago, a female corpse would cost somewhere around 5,000 yuan (approximately US$742), but the price skyrocketed, leading to grave robberies and murders.
© Shutterstock
20 / 29 Fotos
Grieving father
- The South China Morning Post reported that in 2009, a grieving father from Shaanxi paid 33,000 yuan (US$4,896) for grave robbers to find a bride for his deceased son who had perished in a car accident.
© Shutterstock
21 / 29 Fotos
Criminals
- In 2013, four men were arrested for stealing 10 female corpses, which were to be sold on the ghost marriage black market for around US$30,800 total.
© Shutterstock
22 / 29 Fotos
Grave robbery
- In October 2014, 11 people were arrested in eastern China for digging up female corpses from a village in Shandong province.
© Shutterstock
23 / 29 Fotos
Fresh is hot
- “Years-old carcasses are not worth a damn, while the ones that have just died ... are valuable,” said a man named Wang, the lead suspect of the crime.
© Getty Images
24 / 29 Fotos
Grave digging
- In 2015, the bodies of 14 female corpses were stolen in one village in the Shanxi province of China.
© Shutterstock
25 / 29 Fotos
Hefty price
- According to research conducted by Shanghai University, the price paid for a female cadaver back then would be around 30,000 to 50,000 yuan (approximately US$4,451 to $7,418). Though it’s estimated that they could go up to 100,000 yuan (US$14,837).
© Getty Images
26 / 29 Fotos
Murder
- In 2016, a man named Ma Chonghua killed two women and sold their bodies for 40,000 yuan (US$5,934) each for ghost marriages.
© Shutterstock
27 / 29 Fotos
Do ghost marriages happen elsewhere?
- While most ghost marriages are performed in rural areas of northern and central China, the ritual has been reported among the Chinese community in other countries across Asia, including Singapore and Taiwan. Sources: (BBC 1 and 2) (The Guardian) (South China Morning Post 1 and 2) (Asian Journal of Criminology) See also: The rituals of an Indian wedding
© Shutterstock
28 / 29 Fotos
Marrying a corpse? The dark history of China's ghost marriages
How an ancient tradition led to the illegal trade of cadavers
© Getty Images
An ancient Chinese practice, known as mínghūn, or ghost marriage, has been around for centuries. Though unlike conventional marriage traditions, this one requires at least one of the parties to be dead!
Despite having been banned for many years, the ritual continues to take place in some parts of China, and with it the black market of criminal matchmakers who sell cadavers for this purpose continues to thrive.
Intrigued? Click through the following gallery to learn all about China's ghost marriages.
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