The country’s Ministry of Culture announced that it will be targeting a slew of rural provinces “for their obscene and vulgar performances at weddings, funerals and temple fairs,” China’s state-run newspaper reported. China officials have launched its latest crackdown on funeral strippers.
A special “hotline” was set up for the public to report any “funeral misdeeds” in exchange for a monetary reward.
In rural China, it has been a longtime tradition for residents to hire strippers to perform at funerals in order to attract a large crowd of mourners.
A large turnout at funerals is a sign of honor for the dead.
“Scantily clad women in sexy lingerie and revealing clothes showing off their bodies in front an electronic screen displaying a black-and-white headshot of the deceased with text reading, ‘We offer profound condolences for the death of this man’ are now a modern part of funerals in some rural areas of China.”
In describing a typical scene with strippers at a funeral: “The crowd of pushed to climax, roaring with laughter, whistling, applauding and cursing. As the performers saunter into the audience to giggle their breasts and rub men’s crotches, a reminder of ‘no photographs allowed’ can occasionally be heard.”
Chinese officials have waged war against the bizarre practice.
The Ministry of Culture announced its plan to rid the “bizarre and increasingly popular” striptease performances for “corrupting the social atmosphere.”
A performer on stage at a funeral in ChinaThe bizarre practice dates back to the 1990s, while experts attribute the stripper performances as a way to worship fertility.
“In some local cultures, dancing with erotic elements can be used to convey the deceased’s wishes of being blessed with many children,” Huang Jianxing, a professor at the Fujian Normal University Sociology and History Department, told the Global Times.
Kuang Haiyan, a media professor, said: “According to the interpretation of cultural anthropology, the fete is originated from the worship of reproduction. Therefore the erotic performance at the funeral is just a cultural atavism.”
Haiyan continued: “From the perspective of folklore, festivals and rituals such as the Chinese New Year are the critical time for people to lay down their lives and embrace the death. That’s the moment for them to release their passion at the funeral.”
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