Bwa3-bui 跋杯 (III) (Custom)

In traditional Taiwanese beliefs, a deceased won’t realize the fact that he himself has passed away until the sixth or seventh day. His soul will return home on the seventh day of his demise. We call the day 頭七(tou2 qi), the first seventh day. The family will have a ceremony for him that night, which is called 做頭七(zhuo4 tou2 qi)

Before the funeral, the ceremony of做七(zhou4 qi), literally meaning “doing the seven,” will repeat seven times every seven day. To adapt to the busy modern life, the seven ceremonies have often been simplified by putting several together as one within a shorter span. But the first and the last “seven” are the most important.

The ceremony of 做七 basically consists of two parts. The family prepares food for the deceased to enjoy. And 道士(dao4 shi4), one or several Taoist priests are invited to do the chanting, which is believed to be able to help the deceased’s soul go to heaven. If the deceased died in an accident outside, there will be a ceremony of 招魂(zhao hun2)¸ soul calling at the site of the accident, which is done to guide the soul of the dead to return home.

                

 (from ent.qq.com)                      (from1941.cn)

Before the Taoist priest starts to do the chanting, he has to make sure that the deceased has been “present.” So here comes the ritual of Bwa3-bui , where two coins are used to serve as bui . The oldest son of the family is usually asked to do it. He has to call the deceased’s name and ask if he’s present, the way people do when asking the deity at the temple. He throws the coins to the ground. If it’s a head plus a tail, the ceremony goes on. If not, he repeats the asking.

Some people may take this procedure as probability. With my experiences, I really don’t know if you should take this so “scientifically.”

When my dad passed away, for example, I went to one of the “seven” ceremonies, 女兒七(nu3 er2 ji).女兒 means daughter. It is called so because this particular ceremony falls to the daughters’ responsibility. That was why I had to do the Bwa3-bui . I tried several times but couldn’t get a “yes.” Then I remember my kids, who weren’t present because that was a school day. Silently I told my dad in my mind that his grandchildren weren’t there because they had to go to school that day. Then I got a shing bui, a yes, so the ceremony could proceed.

Same thing happened at my grandmom’s “seven.” My mom told me they got stuck when they failed to get a “yes” even though they had tried many times. Then someone among the crowd found out that one of my uncles was missing. After he was summoned and came back, they finally got a shing bui and got to start.

The latest examples would be my mom-in-law’s. To keep my dad-in-law, who was suffering from bad coughing, from the smoke caused by the burning of the incense, we asked him to stay outside. We couldn’t start even though several people took turns doing the Bwa3-bui , her sons, her daughter, her grandson. The problem was solved until the one doing the asking remembered the absent widower and told the deceased about his whereabouts.

Such experiences are abundant and often heard. Believe it or not, it’s a common way for us to communicate with the deceased. You may ask him about his opinions on such things as how to arrange his funeral, where to keep his coffin or ashes. . . , so the ones left behind will feel comfortable and relaxed because the deceased has been arranged as he wishes.

My coworker and good friend Mary, an extremely charming woman, told me that she was once bugged by a man she just met at a temple, who kept asking her out. To get rid of him, she told him she would let the deity to decide. If he could get a shing bui, she would go out with him. She got rid of the man because he just couldn’t get the green light from the deity. I forgot to ask her if she had bribed the deity; otherwise, what made her so sure about the result of this Bwa3-bui?

頭七=头七



P.S. I read on the paper that on April 29 Dalai Lama visited Japan to pray for the dead killed by the 311 Quake. He did this that day because it was the 49th day after the disaster. The news reminded me of the fact that I forgot to mention in my writing that we call the last “seven” 滿七(man3 qi). It is important because people believe that the sousl of the deceased will be wandering between the heaven and the earth for 49 days. After that, they may go on with their journey to heaven or 投胎 (tou2 tai), to their next life.