ABSTRACT
Studying rites (or rituals) in the life cycle facilitates our understanding of a society. Different societies have developed distinctive rituals to demarcate, regulate, and commemorate the different stages of life. In this chapter, I consider rites as social behaviour that is determined by society and where individuals have little choice about their definitions and execution. I do not seek the root(s) of a popular rite or rites in China. Nor do I try to explain why some traditional rites have faded away whereas others are still being practised. Rather, I introduce readers to some major rituals that are related to some key milestones in the life cycle among Han Chinese, who represent roughly 91 per cent of the total population in the People’s Republic of China (see Chapter 9): birth and childhood, entry into adulthood, marriage, retirement and old age, and death and memorial ceremonies.
