07-004 My family relics

07-004
My family relics

After talking about Christian relics, I would like to move the topic further to talk about family relics.

To general public, relic simply means remaining of the deceased. I guess most of us have at least some relics at home, the wall clock of your granddad, the sweater passed down from your grandma, etc. etc.

We love relics. They are not necessary expensive items but we treasure them. Relics remind us the memory of our beloved. We are living in different world now but relics connect our hearts together. It is a common belief shared between different cultures.

However, in my culture, some relics may look creepy. It happens that I got 2 of these creepy relics at home. I am going to talk about them.

Note: China is a big country. This post only reflects the culture of Hongkong and the surrounding areas. People from other areas of China may not have the same practice.

 

Grave goods

Grave goods are items buried along with a body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Despite the differences between religions, burying with grave goods seems to be a global practice. Grave goods are usually a type of votive deposit, which means once buried, they are not supposed to be taken out.

My family relics

Not so here. In a city with very limited land supply, most deceased was not buried but cremated. The government does give us an option for burying. But we need to move the coffin away to somewhere else seven years after burial.

My grandma passed away when I was 10. Like many old people, she was superstitious. Long before her death, she has requested us not to have her body cremated. She scared of fire. My dad followed her will and applied a piece of government land for burial.

It is not a permanent cemetery. After 7 years, her coffin was taken out and her body was cremated. Chinese believes 7 years as a cycle. So most likely, her soul has reincarnated and should feel nothing, according to my dad.

Being know that the grave goods can be retrieved some years later, my father placed a piece of jade into her coffin. Jade is a wonderous stone. Its colour changes when being worn by a human. And the longer it is worn, the more greenish it becomes. And the chemistry works even better with dead body.

So, my grandma’s funeral was a rare opportunity to “enhance” our jade objects! All my uncles and aunties dumped lots of jade objects into her coffin. Now, that piece of jade is in my hand. It has absorbed all the essence of my good old grandma. Creepy!

The other side of the jade piece

We believe grave goods have magical powers. The jade from the grave is a protection charm to the descendants. Believe it or not!

 

Coffin nail bracelet

With a similar concept of grave goods, coffin nails also bear the same magical power. When a coffin was removed from the ground for cremation, the nails were usually preserved. Coffin nails are either made by copper or brass. Some will have them hammered into bracelets, to be worn by the descendants. They are again a sort of protection charm.

A bracelet made from a coffin nail

This coffin nail bracelet is from my wife. It is made from her grandma’s coffin nails. She keeps it in the drawer but never wears it. 

This is how it opens

The opening looks like this

I am getting blessing from my wife's grandma

Jade grave goods or coffin nails are nothing precious. But because of superstition, many people are willing to spend a lot to acquire them from the second hand market, even though this is greatly discouraged. The reasons are simple. First, there is no way to guarantee authenticity. There is no scientific way to prove whether a jade piece is from a grave or the nail has actually been used on a coffin. Second, believing of any grave goods or coffin nails to have magical powers is only a folk religion. There is no such doctrine in neither Buddhism or Taoism. Finally, even though my grandma is really protecting me through the jade piece, it does not mean that, if I give the piece of jade to you, she will also protect you!

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