What Are Funeral Strippers? China To Crackdown On Adult Entertainment For Mourners

Families in rural China would often hire strippers for entertaining mourners during funerals — a practice that the Chinese government is trying to prevent from happening.

It is not uncommon to find scantily clad women in China dancing in front of an electronic screen, which shows the image of the deceased in black and white. The text "We offer profound condolences for the death of this man" would be reflected below the photograph of the dead as the crowd fills with jeers and whistles to the strippers’ performance, Global Times reported.

The adult performers would also often dive into the crowd of mourners, moving in a provocative manner. Meanwhile, the audience is repeatedly reminded not to take pictures during these performances.

It is traditional for Chinese villagers to hire strippers and other entertainers such as actors, singers and comedians during funerals in a bid to ensure maximum turnout for the event, which, according to them, shows “filial piety” and honors the dead.

Previously, the villagers would hire local opera singers to keep the mourners entertained. However, the market for funeral opera singers began to wane after an increasing number of Chinese merchants started hiring young and beautiful girls to entertain the crowds at funeral events.

People then became fascinated by striptease and “shibamo” (meaning 18 touches), a traditional Chinese folk song that is flirtatious and erotic in nature.

Although the story of erotic funerals in China was first broke by a journalist in 2006 after he observed obscene event attractions being hired in eastern Anhui Province, this practice can be traced back to 1990s and was linked to fertility worship.

"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, professor of Fujian Normal University Sociology and History Department, told the Global Times.

Kuang Haiyan, a media expert, 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.”

"From the perspective of folklore, festivals and rituals such as the Chinese New Year are the critical time for people to lay down their life and embrace the death. That's the moment for them to release their passion at the funeral," Kuang added.

Professor Wei at Central University of Finance and Economics Culture and Media department, however, attributed the inclination of Chinese villagers to hire funeral strippers to economic imbalance and the lack of education.

“Entertainment facilities provided by the public sector are not fairly adaptive for rural residents. Such deficiency leave farmers' spiritual life hollow and give rise to porn and striptease,” the professor said.

So far, the Chinese Ministry of Culture has announced it will be targeting the Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Hebei provinces in China in its new campaign to abolish the practice of hiring obscene and vulgar performances at weddings, funerals and temple fairs.

A hotline will also be set for the public to report any “funeral misdeeds” and earn monetary rewards.