ABSTRACT
Today funeral observances in Wutai County retain many of the traditional elements lacking in modern urban funerals, such as offerings of elaborate paper furnishings for the afterlife and extensive Buddhist chanting. Buddhist funerary rituals are intended primarily to assist the deceased in gaining rebirth in a high plane of existence, either as a human or as a denizen of a paradise, rather than as an animal, demon, hungry ghost, or denizen of a hell. Buddhist monks and nuns transfer the positive karma accumulated by spreading Buddhist teachings to the living and dead and relieving the suffering of hungry ghosts to their donors' ancestors, thereby securing for the ancestors a better after life. Fang Yankou both a donor-sponsored ritual and a calendrical rite. This ritual might be performed at any time of year as part of funeral observances, but traditionally it must be performed during the Ghost Festival. Monks at Shuxiang si perform Fang yankou both inside and outside of the monastery.
