The Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, is a day of remembrance for lost ones. It is a day to show respect to the dead, which has been part of Chinese culture since ancient times.

For workers at crematoria, who are the last people to bid farewell to the dead, understanding and due respect are of utmost importance.

This year is the 11th year that Wei Tong, deputy director of the crematorium at Babaoshan Funeral Parlor, has worked in the funeral industry, and he still remembers what his mother said when he first entered the industry – “I’d rather you become a farmer after graduation.”

Wei considers his job as ordinary as any other job, and hopes that fellow workers in the funeral industry could receive more understanding and respect.

Wei Tong said he usually arrives at the funeral parlor before 6:00 a.m. in the morning, to check the facilities and review the work of the previous day. For him, families rely upon him and other staff to cremate their lost ones, and that trust requires extra dedication.

At the Babaoshan Funeral Parlor, Wei Tong and his colleagues cremated around 23,000 bodies in 2016, and each day, they cremate on average 70 corpses.

39-year-old Wang Yuanyuan, a colleague of Wei Tong who has been working at the crematorium for 17 years, said cremation is far more complicated than just “burning the body”. Staff have to control the fire and air flow, to ensure full combustion while also keeping the ashes clean and white.

“Sometimes the families hope they could keep a piece of bone, and we will usually satisfy them,” added Wei Tong.

Potential dangers also exist in the crematorium. Wei Tong said technical problems sometimes occur, and they have to be prepared for all situations.

“For us, an accident occurs probably once out of tens of thousands of times, but it would be 100 percent for the families of the dead. They would find it hard to accept if accidents occur,” said Tong. He added that the way to avoid accidents is by checking the machines and going over their daily work every day.

Objects placed with the bodies of the dead can pose dangers as well. Crematorium staff usually remind the families of the dead that objects such as lighters and batteries are not allowed during cremation, but sometimes it is hard to persuade mourning relatives to take them out.

They have to keep the situation under control during the cremation process, said Wang Yuanyuan.

Wang remembered that in one of the most dangerous situations, a heart pacemaker inside a body exploded during the cremation, and he had to adjust the pressure inside the crematorium in time to avoid more serious consequences.

People who have died of infectious diseases can also be dangerous. Staff have to put on protective clothing during work.

Crematorium staff have a convention of showing respect to the dead equally, despite their jobs and status before death. However, these workers themselves do not receive respect for the jobs they do.

Wei Tong said many people are reluctant to come into contact with them due to their occupation, some even fear to drink water that they offer. They also avoid talking about their jobs to their families and friends, for fear of causing worry and upset. 

For Wei, he has got used to the misunderstandings and even “discrimination” during the past ten years, and after watching too many people depart this world, he now has a better understanding of the importance of cherishing the present and “seizing the day”.

But still, “a little less bias and a bit more respect and understanding” is his expectation for the job, a feeling that never weakens.

(Based on a story by Beijing News)