Malaysian Chinese Funeral Rituals: A Study of Special Rituals for Unnatural Death

Abstract

Despite being located in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is home to the second-largest community of Overseas Chinese in the world. Unlike its neighbors, Malaysian Chinese can retain their cultures, identities, and languages, and also escape assimilation. Owing to various historical reasons, different Chinese subgroups can be found in the country and this diversifies the Chinese culture in Malaysia. In Chinese culture, rites associated with the life cycle are important and that includes the funeral ritual. With different Chinese subgroups present in Malaysia, the funeral rituals are never the same due to the various subgroups' cultures. This paper will study the funeral rituals of various Chinese subgroups in Malaysia with a focus on the different special rituals that aim to set souls free from the sufferings of Hell. Through this, the funeral rituals of different Chinese subgroups in Malaysia can be recorded in English and used for future research.