Placing the Corpse in the Grave.

In a funeral ritual in I participated, I noticed that before the corpse in the grave, they lit pinewood and swang it at the bottom of the grave to eliminate damp and other bad things believed to be in the grave. Then they paved the bottom of the grave with bark. While lowering the corpse into the grave, they placed a bamboo trunk. with another end shaped into several thin pieces and cur in circles equivalent to the number of those who come to the funeral ritual, to support the dead and living persons and to give a way out for the souls of the funeral participants so as not to be trapped in captivity in the grave. Then, they dropped fresh twigs on the dead body symbolizing forgiveness to the dead and covered the grave with soil. At this moment, I noticed that men and women teased one another in fun and some couples chased and embraced around the burial area.
Before they returned home, all participants stood at the edge of the grave and jumped across it. Then they walked through a wooden arch with a small bonfire underneath. Next to the wooden arch was aperson carrying a fresh twig to wipe the back of each villager in order to prevent bad things from following them to the village. After the last person passed, he used the twig to wipe his own back and followed the others back to the village. When they were in the village, they walked directly to the house of the dead person, soaked a twig in the basin and splashed the water on their bodies. This was to expel all the bad things from their bodies.

Choosing the Area for the Grave.

The Red Lahu have their own method of choosing the area to dig a grave by tossing a prophecy egg. Wherever the egg drops and breaks, it means that the dead person is satisfied to be buried there, and that area will be chosen as the burial ground. Sometimes, if they cannot find an egg for tossing, they will throw the mowing knife of the dead person up in the air until the knife stabs in the soil. That are will then be chosen as the burial ground.
By and large, the Red Lahu will not dig a very big burial ground. The grave is normally a little bit bigger than the body of the dead person. I recorded a grave of an elderly man in 1991, with the following dimensions.
Depth : 135 centimeters
Length : 175 centimeters
Width : 43 centimeters

Funeral Procedure.

When someone in the family passes away, relatives and friends express their sorrow and mourning. According to the Red Lahu custom, if the dead person is a young child, the corpse can be buried within the same day. If the dead person is an adult, the corpse will be kept for one day, and the next dayit can be buried. There is no coffin. Instead , the relatives will cover the corpse with cloth or a reedmat.
Based on their belief, a chicken will be slaughtered and cooked as food for the dead person. They will cut a chicken wing with feathers and a chicken leg, sandwich them with a piece of bamboo strip ,and put them on the chest of the dead body. It is believed that the wing would become a fan to use to cool down with when feeling tired after along journey: The leg would become a digging tool for the dead person to dig for drinking water. Relatives have to find a handful of grass or pick up some leaves in the housing area that can be used as thatch, tie it and put it on the chest of the dead body. It is believed that the person can use it as a broom for cleaning. They alsq put some tin, the kind that they use to make a bullet, in the mouth of the corpse believing that this would be money for the dead to spend. A pot of rice will be cooked for the dead, putting in it charcoal or ash to make the rice look black and not suitable for eating. It is a sing to warn those who are still alive not to follow the dead because they will not have clean rice to eat.
The following day, relatives would tie a bamboo trunk on each side of the dead body and carry it to the village cemetery. The dead body will be carried down the house from the side wall, not down the ladder as they believe that the ladder is the way up and down for the living person. Crrying the dead body down the ladder may cause another member of the family to follow him in death.
In addition, the relatives will put the personal belongings of the dead person, such as pillow, blanket, clothes, and knife on the edge of the grave for the dead touse. A scientific and medical analysis suggests the hygienic usefulness of this treatment, cspecially if the dead person has an infectious disease, this will prevent the family members from infection.