Name of Ritual

Embalming / 买水 、担幡买水

Description of Ritual/Practice

• In the past, the eldest son would carry the funeral stick and a lantern and lead the family to the nearest river to “buy” water from the water guardian 水公, 水母. The water is used to clean the deceased after embalming (if any). This act of filial piety represents a cycle: to take care of one’s parent just as the deceased had taken care of them when they were young.

Who practices it? Who conducts the ritual?

Family Members, ritual specialists such as the nam mo lo 喃呒佬

Is it still practiced now?

• Previously, prepping and embalming the body could be done at home or at the void deck hence children of the deceased used to be able to help dress the deceased, but this practice has since been done away with because of public health regulations since the 2003 SARS outbreak.
• We get the impression that current iterations of the 买水 ritual are symbolic gestures rather than actual performance of the ritual since embalming and prepping of the body can only be done by a licensed embalmer and mortician, in a designated venue.
• Urbanisation has also forced the tirual to be adapted such that the children will “buy” water from the common tap at the void deck of a HDB flat or funeral parlour instead of from the river.

Other interesting information

• The practice of completing most procedures and rituals at home stems from the older generation’s preference to die or lay to rest at home. Funeral parlours were thought to be places for the destitute or ill-fated (poor, unmarried, minor/youth etc) to rest.
• Funerals were shorter in the past when embalming wasn’t available