What are the rules for the first seven days? What should be prepared for the first seven days?

Our country has many customs and habits regarding weddings and funerals, especially in rural areas, where many customs have been passed down for thousands of years. So what are the rules for the first seven days? What should we prepare for the seventh day?

What are the rules for the first seven days?

1. In order to alleviate the grief of losing a loved one and the pressure on the family members of the deceased, the number of times the seven-day ritual is now mostly reduced from seven to four. That is: the first seven (replaced by the three-day original grave), the third seven, the fifth seven, the seventh seven (now only odd numbers are burned, which is the so-called big seven)
2. According to traditional funeral customs, the deceased's son should be the main person in charge of the first and seventh seven-day cremation ceremonies. That is, all the necessities for the seventh seven-day cremation should be purchased by the sons. Because the son is the heir of the family, the seven-day memorial ceremony must have a complete beginning and an end, so in most places the first seven days and the seventh seven days are hosted by the son of the deceased.
3. The fifth seven days of the seventh month is commonly referred to as the fifth seven. According to old customs, memorial activities on the 57th day must be organized by the married daughter who returns, and all expenses on the 57th day must be borne by the married daughter. If the deceased has no married daughter, the marriage will be done by a married niece or great-niece.
4. When holding the 37th day memorial service for the deceased, the deceased's daughter-in-law is usually the main person involved, and nephews and nieces may also participate. All expenses on the 37th day are also borne by the daughter-in-law.

What to prepare for the seventh day

Time: Every seven-day memorial ceremony starts at midnight and ends at noon. Generally, the offerings will be more grand during the first seven days, third seven days, fifth seven days, and seventh seven days.
Offerings: When preparing the seven offerings, first prepare three animals to offer to the God of Land, such as pork, rooster, fish, and wine. When paying respect to the deceased, there are five or twelve bowls of food, such as rice, rice noodles, spring onion (symbolizing abundance), leeks (eternity), dried tofu (to become a high-ranking official), celery (hard work), fish balls, meat balls (to win the imperial examination or become a member of parliament), meat slices, turnips (good luck), pig intestines (to give birth to a boy), chicken wings (easy to make a living), etc.; as well as other fruits, red balls, fa gao (symbolizing the reunion and prosperity of descendants), and noodle mountain (also known as descendants mountain or daughter mountain).
Gold and silver paper: worship the God of Land and use lucky money. Worship the dead with silver paper.