You may have seen the black coffin-carrying dance circulated on the Internet recently. I thought it was a prank at first, but after many researches, I found that this dance is not a prank, and it is legitimate. The death culture of Ghana, Africa. The coffin-carrying dance is very popular in Ghana, Africa. Their death culture at that time was like this. They did not think death was sad, but regarded death as life, so this coffin-carrying dance was completely able to It reflects their death and funeral culture, so does this fire dance mean that the ethnic group belongs to the world? Let’s take a look at the death culture of Ghana, Africa!

The recent movement of black coffins There are endless pictures and memes, but it seems that too few people really understand it.

I hope this popular science can be understood by everyone, and that after laughing, it can broaden your horizons and increase your knowledge.

The most important thing is not to discriminate against this culture, treat it rationally and remain respectful.

Some netizens made an Animal Crossing version, which is quite cute. 1. The beginning of all stories

Have you seen this video of dancing with a coffin?

/video/BV1NZ4y1j7nw?zw

Choose for everyone I got one, you can take a look.

In fact, this is a report from the BBC, which introduces a local coffin-carrying dance in Ghana. People will hire a professional coffin-carrying team to bid farewell to their loved ones in this cheerful way. 2. Introduction (divided into two parts: cultural environment and origin of coffin dance)

1. Ghana’s special cultural background

The reason why coffin dance appeared in Ghana is related to the local Unique death and funerary culture are associated.

There are two things that Ghanaians cannot avoid, one is going to church and the other is funeral.

In Ghana, 80% of the population believe in religion, and in the eyes of Ghanaians, funerals are a very important ceremony. After death, people must leave this world with dignity.

"Human death is not the end of life, but a new beginning, so it should also be glorious."

The Akan people, who make up the majority of Ghana's population, even I spent all my money on a funeral, just to have it be wonderful.

Ghanaian people are also more open-minded towards death. They believe that death is a process for their loved ones to go to the world of their ancestors. Therefore, people will make beautiful coffins to send their families on their last journey, and they also believe that their loved ones will be moved by these. They lived happily with coffins made of their favorite things during their lives and continued to enjoy a good life.

Because of their open attitude, these coffins have various appearances. Some are animal-themed, some look like cars and airplanes, and some are even packaged to look like mobile phones, cameras, and Coca-Cola. Anyone who has died likes it. Or anything you want can be a coffin.

This is actually the same as when we burn paper during memorial ceremonies. Paper-wrapped luxury cars and villa banknotes are also a kind of wish.

The tip of the iceberg (you can see fish, crabs, eagles, chickens, cows, tigers and other animals, as well as cars and rowing boats)

Have you ever imagined that your coffin is a Camera?

Openness to death makes Ghanaian funerals have everything except sadness and tears.

Ghanaian funerals are generally divided into three stages: the death day, the preparation period, and the burial.

Once someone in the family dies, relatives will rush to tell each other and publish obituaries in newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. Fees for obituaries have even become a major source of income for Ghanaian media.

After the obituary is published, relatives will hang large photos of their loved ones on the street, with words such as "Although you are gone! You still live in our hearts."

There are many aspects of preparing for a funeral in Ghana, including not only a banquet for guests, but also entertainment programs such as fashion shows. Therefore, a lot of preparation time is required, and many family members and relatives will even take time off specifically to prepare for the funeral.

First of all, you need to distribute invitations to relatives, friends, and neighbors to invite them to attend the funeral. Those who receive the invitations usually need to pay a share, which ranges from ten U.S. dollars to fifty U.S. dollars.

In order to ensure the beauty, the funeral preparations are relatively luxurious. The host needs to arrange music for guests to dance, a buffet lunch, drinks and desserts, and also hires professional sound engineers and announcers to host the funeral. At the same time, a location must be selected to build a cemetery and a funeral manual recording the life of the deceased must be compiled.

Once an 84-year-old entrepreneur passed away, and the funeral manual was 226 pages long.

Although funeral preparations are meticulous, due to the lengthy process, the deceased cannot be buried. On average, they have to wait three to six weeks in the morgue.

When attending a funeral, attendees generally wear traditional ethnic costumes. First, bid farewell to the body, and the priest prays for the deceased. After the burial, people will hold a festive banquet that lasts for several hours at the owner's home. The hired dancers will start performing along with the music, and the prepared food and drinks will be served on the table one after another.

While mourning, people will hand over their portion of money to the owner, and the climax of the entire funeral is when the announcer reads the names of the guests and the amount of the donation one by one through the loudspeaker.

Every weekend, carnival funerals are held in towns large and small in Ghana. Many people have nothing to do on weekends and even call their friends to ask, "Is there a funeral that I can attend?"

Funerals have also become an important occasion for many Ghanaians to make friends. A special social occasion cannot be overstated.

2. The origin of the coffin-carrying dance

Speaking of the coffin-carrying dance in the video, we must introduce Benjamin Aidoo.

He is the founder and captain of the coffin-carrying team in the video, and he is also the inventor of the coffin-carrying dance.

He started working as a pallbearer ten years ago, and was inspired by a client's request for a "dance-style funeral."

Later, he opened his own funeral company, intending to innovate on the traditional process.

Therefore, the traditional all-black clothing was abandoned and the coffin-carrying team was allowed to wear more fancy clothes, and the color could also be selected by the customer.

In order to be diversified and more targeted, they will provide different types of funeral services according to the needs of customers.

Some people like solemnity, so the ceremony will be more serious. Everyone in suits and leather shoes will move forward slowly while carrying the coffin.

Some people want to be more relaxed, so they dress more lively, and dance will be included in the coffin-carrying ceremony.

Unexpectedly, this has a good effect, so over the years, more and more customers have chosen this way to bid farewell to their loved ones.

Later, other companies saw the popularity of coffin-carrying dance and began to copy this model, but Benjamin's team is still the most professional and has the highest standards.

The team of seven people was nicknamed by netizens as "Death in the Shichibukai"

And this special ceremony was naturally welcomed by many locals. 3. Let’s talk about something else

1. The reason why black coffin bearers can take root in the domestic soil and grow rapidly is thanks to the secondary creations of the vast number of netizens. I don't know who combined them with memes such as "When the music starts, parents raise money for nothing", and a new spark was created.

Now I can learn a lot of new things every day.

2. A very important reason why black people carrying coffins spread so quickly is also because of the current severe epidemic situation.

Because many people can only stay at home and watch mobile phones, computers and TV, how to kill boredom has become a very important thing.

For many people, black people carrying coffins is a kind of self-relief.

Yes, this epidemic has claimed the lives of countless people, not to mention that more people may die from it in the future, and death surrounds people.

In this environment, death begins to turn into data. People living between fear, grief and numbness naturally hope to find some way to temporarily forget these.

To put it simply, 2020 has been very sad, and I also want to get a little pure happiness.

3. Of course, not everyone can understand the laughter of black people carrying coffins. Some people may think it is a bit cruel to laugh while watching other people's funerals.

But the great thing about memes is that you don’t need to explain why it’s funny to someone who doesn’t understand it—you just need to find a group of people who find it funny.

Because while laughing, you have a moment of tacit understanding with someone on the other end of the network. This feeling of "you understand" is very wonderful.

4. Everyone has their own understanding, and there is nothing wrong with that.

The video of black people carrying coffins reflects too much: the conflict between life and death, attitudes towards death, and how to view the death of loved ones.

Of course, many people will also have their own opinions and feel that it is not respectful enough.

This is no problem because it is normal to have different views on the same thing due to different cultural environments.

But I still hope to look at it rationally and respect this special custom and culture.

Attached here is the original video from station B: BV1u5411t7zQ.

There is a normal soundtrack inside, you can feel it.

In the original video, the soundtrack is not that exaggerated, and the people around are not laughing from beginning to end. Everyone respects and accepts it. This open-minded spirit and attitude are still Very unique.

Let me say something last and make a summary (a bad habit of liberal arts students, haha).

I know that many people watch this video, like it, repost it and save it, and even have emoticons and avatars arranged. Maybe they just hope to take a breath and smile under the pressure of life. After all, life is so difficult now, and it’s not easy to just settle down. I have a friend who always says that I just need to make a living and don’t dare to think about anything else.

But I also hope that if I can get to know this culture of "surprise at first sight, but actually hidden stories" after having fun, it will be good to gain long-term insights. It would be better if you can have your own new insights and ideas about life and death.

"Life and death are equally important."

Thank you for reading this.

Attached is the source of the reference material:

From Zhihu

Needless to say, the first search result for "black people carrying coffins" on site b The video has more than 10 million views

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