Funerals were held to honour the dead and to give them offering to use in the second world.
An emperor’s or nobles’ funeral is different from an average person’s funeral, but they both have some similar areas. Chinese people always wear white, the colour of mourning, at a funeral.
An emperor’s grave is usually just a pit shaped like a cross, with the long ends facing north and south. These ends are usually used as ramps to carry down sacrificed animals and people into the grave. The middle will be where the king will be, with food and drinks around it and the sacrificed animals such as dogs and horses and people such as his officials and prisoners of war on the outer edge. The emperor is usually buried with his chariot and the horses pulling it. Many other treasures, such as bronze cauldrons and weapons, carved jade ornaments, bone carvings, pottery and stone sculptures. The grave is covered and a raised platform was usually made with a temple in the middle. A ceremony would be held by the next emperor, usually a brother or son.
A noble’s grave is just a big pit with some treasures to enjoy in the next world. They were buried with silk robes, painted bowls and boxes, wooden models of their servants and sometimes cosmetics.
An average person’s grave is just a pit containing a person’s body, some small wooden and clay models ranging in size from small ornaments to boats, food and water to enjoy in the next world. Their children will wear thick clothing to show respect for their parents.
A tomb from around 100 B.C. was found to contain the remains of a prince and his wife wearing suits of jade. Each suit was made of 2000 pieces of jade, sewn together with gold and silk-covered iron wire. Jade was believed to have magical body preserving powers, but all that was found inside was dust.
Funerals were believed to be important, since they believed that ancestors controlled the world, and without a funeral, their ancestors cannot enter the second world.