The meaning of the proverb "Seven does not bury the father, eight does not bury the mother"
(1) The meaning of "Seven does not bury the father, eight does not bury the mother" is actually very simple, and can be understood from the surface."Seven" and "eight" refer to time, as in the past, time was calculated according to the lunar calendar,
so on the 7th, 17th, and 27th days of each lunar month, it is not allowed to bury the father's body, while on the 8th, 18th, and 28th days, it is not allowed to bury the mother's body.
(2) Another explanation is related to homophones. The father is male, and if you bury the father on the seventh day, it sounds like "burying seven (wife)", while the mother is the one who gave birth, and burying her on the eighth day sounds like "eight (a turtle)".
It sounds bad to bury someone on these days, and because of superstition, ancient people were sensitive to the homophones of Chinese characters, so there came the saying of "seven does not bury the father, eight does not bury the mother".
(3) Another explanation is that seven and eight were the days when the royal family and nobles used to be buried, and common people were not allowed to be buried on these days, as they could not be the same as the imperial family.
Later, this gradually evolved into the current "seven does not go out, eight does not bury". According to the logic, seven and eight should have been good days.
What are the customs?
The above explanations indicate that delaying the burial as much as possible is considered more filial.However, now it is generally believed that it is better to have the deceased laid to rest as soon as possible for the benefit of both the elderly and their children.
In some regions, there is also a saying: "Zi does not bury the father, Bing does not bury the mother".
Do not choose such days to bury your parents, and also try to maintain balance in yin and yang and the five elements.
Of course, this has no scientific basis, and whether to believe it is up to the individual.
