"No matter who we are, the last thing we can do is respect the deceased and show humanity." Cai Guangqiang, a 28-year-old undertaker in Chengdu funeral parlor who has been in the industry for 6 years, personally delivers thousands of deceased persons every year. Death cannot be without regrets, but preserving the dignity of the deceased and comforting the living may be the meaning of an embalmer.
Converging emotions
Is the first step for an encoffiant
In Chenghua District, Chengdu City, walk uphill along Shuling Road, and at the end is the Chengdu Funeral Home.
Deep in the farewell hall, in a small courtyard next to the cremation room, is the body plastic surgery room. The deceased who was transported overnight lay in a burial bag with their age and name written on it.
In one morning, Cai Guangqiang had to open dozens of burial bags and do embalming and makeup. He works 10 days a month, sometimes as long as 24 hours. He wiped the deceased's face with alcohol cotton from top to bottom, applied a layer of foundation, evenly applied light red oil paint, and put on a little lipstick.
Some old people were so skinny that their faces were distorted after death. After Cai Guangqiang used a hot towel to soften it, he massaged the deceased's face to restore it to a peaceful state, and then stuffed cotton into his mouth to fill his cheeks. When encountering intubation wounds, he would sew them up with thin threads.
In this 40-square-meter room, Cai Guangqiang saw all kinds of human things.
He recalled his first internship in his sophomore year. Late at night, he received a call from a 17-year-old girl who had been in a car accident. She sat in the back seat of her mother's battery car and went home, but they were both buried under the slag truck. He was already familiar with the practical techniques, but when he touched the girl's still warm body, he felt powerless. He carefully washed the sand out of the girl's hair and applied bright lip gloss.
Converging emotions is the first step for students in the funeral industry to mature. If you allow your emotions to be exposed, not only will your operations be affected, "your colleagues will also think you are unprofessional, and the family members of the deceased will not be able to concentrate." In this way, the young embalmer grew up little by little.
Take care of the deceased gently
Give the living a home
In the funeral parlor at night, the relatives of the deceased sitting in the single mortuary keeping vigil silently.
Cai Guangqiang visits the single mortuary every day when he is at work. The moment he opened the door, the family members raised their heads and met his eyes. "I'm a makeup artist and I'm here to see the state of the body." The family members nodded and let him in.
After he opened the crystal coffin, family members gathered around and asked, "Can we come with you?" After receiving permission, the family members walked to the front row, caressing the folds of the satin sheets, adjusting the silk longevity hats, or Hold your loved one’s hands and rub them gently. The dead are silent and the living are speechless.
Most of the time, Cai Guangqiang did not have much communication with his family. He knew that he had a special job and was destined to be silent more than grateful. He understood that no matter what form of farewell, what the living longed for was comfort. What he could do was to take care of the deceased gently, just like what was said in the movie "The Embalmer": "Reviving the cold people, giving life to them." Her eternal beauty must be calm, accurate, and full of tender emotions."
He once received a call from a deceased person whose face was sallow due to liver disease and asked his family if he wanted to paint his face whiter. The family members said, no need, he is fine just like that. “What many family members want is not to be ‘beautiful’, but to return to their original appearance.” In this way, at the funeral, people can focus on saying goodbye.
The more he watched, Cai Guangqiang gradually felt relieved. "At the funeral, some people frequently show up, and some people never show up, which is understandable. If it is difficult to face it, then there is no need to come. I hope everyone can follow their inner thoughts."
Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News reporter Du Yuquan Zhang Zhiyi
(Source: Red Star News)
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