#yicity

You'd know just what to give

What comes after this

Momentary bliss

The consequence

Of what you do to me

Help me to name it

Help me to name it

Chapter 33! Before I start, this chapter is a quick starter guide to Chinese funerary practices, of which many are being in use today. I’ll be explaining coffin houses, paper money, paper effigies, and the chinese version of hell.   Before I proceed further, please note that many of these practices that are listed below are still being practiced even till today.  In fact, they’re mostly widely practiced during the Ghost Festival in many countries.  So if you’re writing a fic and if you’re unfamiliar with this practice, please get someone who’s familiar to vet through it.  Or do a hell lot of research before going anywhere near this. 

1. 义庄 (yì zhuāng) Coffin Houses.  Upon seeing the stone tablet, wwx comments to lwj that the "Yi" stands for "Coffin houses." But what were they? Coffin Houses were an establishment where the deceased are prepared for burial or cremation.  They are sometimes described as "coffin homes” and “funeral houses”.  Here's a video which outlines a "coffin house" in Hong Kong. The next two items fall under the same category of 纸扎 Zhizha.  This is the traditional practice of creating paper craft which are then used in Taoist celebrations and funerals. 2. 纸钱 (zhǐ qián) – Literally translated as “paper money”, joss papers are a type of funerary item burned for the deceased. There are a different types of “paper money” used for various purposes. An assortment of these are burned for the deceased so that they can have safe passage and a comfortable life in the netherworld.  This video explains the usage of paper money.

3. 纸人 (zhǐ rén) – This is another type of funerary items burned for the deceased. These effigies are meant to help the deceased live comfortably in the netherworld, taking on roles such as servants or chauffeurs.  SCMP has a really good article detailing the art of making paper effigies.

4. In the chapter, Wei Wuxian describes the usage of the effigies.  We've described it as such in our own chapter. 

 "Even though it was covered in exaggerated make-up, its features were extremely intricate. Yi City specialised in crafting funerary and yin worshipping items. Naturally, they would be skilled at making paper effigies. A particular type of paper effigy was a substitute effigy. The common folk believed that burning such effigies for the deceased would allow the effigies to take the place of their ancestors’ suffering in hell, be it to ascend a mountain of knives, to be dropped into a cauldron of boiling oil"

Speedpaint (coloring) : https://youtu.be/s65xv_Xq3mU 😗

 Xue Yang doesn't give a f*$!. That's the video.