On the wide river, a small boat was moving slowly forward.
Aoyama is still there, How Many Suns.
The white-haired fisherman and woodcutter on the river bank are accustomed to seeing the autumn moon and spring breeze.
"Brother Yang Fan, what is this?" On the boat, Xiaoyan reached into the small jar in Yang Fan's hand and touched a jar of powdery substance inside.
"It's fish feed. Just catch it and scatter it into the river." Yang Fan said with a smile.
"Okay." Grabbing a handful of fish feed, Xiaoyan held the railing firmly with her free hand and scattered the fish feed into the rushing river.
In the sunlight, the powder seemed to be sparkling and falling.
the river is long and tempestuous, it was like a hero.
Unfortunately, Xiaoyan still can’t see, so she hasn’t had the surgery yet and needs to wait for the hospital to arrange a doctor and an operating table.
Seeing the fish feed falling onto the water, Yang Fan felt as if he was seeing it falling into the sea, and a trace of relief and satisfaction appeared on his face.
It's just that the wind on the river was a little strong, and his eyes were blown a little red.
You are buried in the ground with your bones turned into dust, while I am living in the world with my head covered with snow.
When a wild goose passes by, it leaves its voice behind; when a person passes by, he leaves his name behind.
We live in this world for fame and fortune, and also to leave a good reputation, so that people will remember that we have been in this world and that our good name will last forever.
But the vast majority of people live in obscurity and have nothing until their death.
Few people know the loneliness of the deep sea. After Yang Fan sorted out Wang Shenhai’s belongings and burned all the clothes he left behind, it was as if he had never been to this world.
Probably no one else cares about him except his parents and Yang Fan.
Only Yang Fan remembers that he came to this world and made his due contribution to this world, reflecting his life value and social value.
When he was a child, Yang Fan saw villagers cremating clothes for deceased elders. He had an inexplicable feeling while watching, as if the living were bidding farewell to the dead. But he also felt that there was no need for this and was confused.
What is the meaning behind this ancient tradition
As he grew older, he understood a little.
Funerals are an ancient science that our ancestors have been holding since the Stone Age. After thousands of years of evolution, they have not only formed a set of strict funeral rules, but also funeral beliefs of their own.
Taking burial as an example, our ancestors have always believed that after death, some souls will go to heaven and some will go to hell.
Human death is actually a beginning.
They will stand at a new starting line in another world.
Under such influence, ancient people began to pay attention to burial objects, from slaves and living people in the beginning to gold, silver and jewelry later.
Although gold, silver and jewelry can help the dead win at the starting line, the days are long and those living underground also need daily supplies.
Later, it became popular to burn paper money and other things for ancestors.
Under this burial tradition, if one wants to express one's longing for one's ancestors, burning something for them is a common procedure.
This tradition has continued to influence us today. When an old person in the village dies, everyone will hold a large cremation ceremony, burning all of the old person's clothes and giving these things to the old person to live in the underworld.
In the past, kings, princes, generals and ministers paid attention to burial objects after death, while more common people paid attention to funerals. However, they were not as wealthy as kings, princes, generals and ministers, so they abolished the system of lavish burials and began to emphasize the system of simple burials and the remembrance of their ancestors.
This kind of commemoration includes the so-called three-year mourning period and the so-called giving up official position to attend the funeral.
But such strong emotional expression can sometimes be excessive. For example, some officials are unable to continue working, while others even die from excessive grief.
Our ancestors began to adjust this behavior. They wanted to express their feelings for their ancestors while curbing the outburst of strong emotions. So they decided that a short pain is worse than a long one, so they burned everything related to the deceased.
Seeing things reminds us of the dead. When all these things are gone with the dead, it also represents a new beginning. The living will quietly start a new life after commemorating the grief.
In modern times, there have also been some other evolutions.
People's living standards have gradually improved, and basically every household has enough money to live on every year.
With nothing lacking, people began to have a different attitude towards old clothes.
Few people would wear old clothes, let alone the old clothes of a dead person.
When a person dies, his clothes actually have no recycling value. Instead of doing that, it is better to burn them. This not only has the meaning of getting rid of the old and welcoming the new, but also implies getting rid of death and welcoming new life.
Finally, there is another theory about burning the dead’s clothes.
This statement began in modern times, when people learned through medical knowledge that death is not a mythical process, but a scientific medical process.
Although death is like the extinguishing of a light, people still used some things before they died, and these things are inevitably infected with the aura of death or certain germs.
Influenced by this idea, no one wants to touch the clothes of the dead anymore. For the so-called hygiene or science, people are more willing to burn the clothes of the dead.
A temperature of 100°C can kill most germs. In a raging fire, temperatures of over 100°C are enough to destroy all bacteria and infections, and diseases associated with death will not remain.
In an incinerator in the suburbs.
Yang Fan threw Wang Shenhai's last piece of clothing into the incinerator. Then he picked up the crumpled box of cigarettes next to it and took out the last two cigarettes.
After lighting the first one, Yang Fan did not continue to smoke it, but put it aside.
After lighting the second cigarette, Yang Fan kept it for himself and threw the cigarette box into the incinerator.
He did not go to witness with his own eyes the body with no place for the soul being pushed into the crematorium. He imagined that the body was just like the cigarette box in front of him, turning from a human into a pile of ashes.
A once living person has now returned to dust.
After taking two puffs of his cigarette silently, Yang Fan reached into his trouser pocket and took out a piece of paper.
"Thank you for picking up my things."
After reading it again, Yang Fan threw the note into the incinerator.
Cigarettes are not good things. The mist produced by the burning made Yang Fan choke and cry.
After burning everything clean, Yang Fan left the incinerator and drove back to the city.
He didn't want to go back to Shisanxiang yet, so he drove aimlessly.
Finally, he returned to the neighborhood where he had lived for two years.
The car passed a place and he pulled over.
Parking is not allowed here, but he still stopped temporarily and sat in the car.
There is a flower bed over there.
After taking Wang Shenhai to send Xiaoyan home for the first time, Yang Fan and Wang Shenhai sat there smoking, drinking milk tea and eating.
The flowers and plants in the flower bed were as lush as before. A breeze blew by, and Yang Fan seemed to see himself and Wang Shenhai, whose hair was dry and drooping, sitting by the flower bed and chatting.
The wind blew away the past.