RP379 Tears for Hire

 RP379 Tears for Hire

There's nothing harder than losing a loved one. Between the shock and the sadness, it can be hard to focus on anything else. But what about the funeral? How can you give a proper send-off to the deceased when you still feel so stunned? Well, if you live in China, it might be time to hire a professional mourner.
Professional mourners attend funerals to grieve on behalf of the family of the deceased. Dressed in white robes, they will kneel and wail in agony over someone they never met. Their performance serves two purposes. First, it shows that the deceased was a wonderful person who will be greatly missed. Second, it spares the family from having to "perform" while they' re still dealing with their loss.
Mourning can be big money here. A family can pay over $6,000 for a funeral parade that includes professional mourners. You might be thinking: "That's a lot of money! Professional mourners really have it made!" But the job is actually much harder than it looks. You must be able to change your emotional state instantly, shifting from happy to sad. You also need to know how to read a crowd. Professional mourners need to strike a perfect balance in their grieving. They must show sadness and agony, but not have it appear too exaggerated or humorous. Going too far risks insulting the family and their lost loved one in the afterlife.
The idea of professional mourners may seem strange to some cultures. It's not unusual for mourners here to show up in zany news articles. However, this is not a joke or some money-making trick. The practice is thousands of years old, and rooted in ancient Chinese culture. Parents used to marry off their daughters to distant lands. When a parent died, it wasn't easy for the daughters to come home and mourn them. Therefore, someone was hired nearby to mourn in her place. The practice wasn't just limited to China. There are examples of professional mourners in ancient Greece, India, and some African countries as well.