China Cracks Down on Funeral Strippers

Now, even before you knew the custom existed, the Chinese government is cracking down on what are called “funeral strippers.” Yes, indeed, families in rural China have made a practice of hiring trippers to entertain at the funerals of loved ones.

The purpose: to increase attendance and to make it seem that the deceased had a many offspring. One will be forbidden for asking how anyone in a nation that has had a one-child policy can end up with many offspring. Let's call it inscrutable.

You can’t make this stuff up.

Naturally, the Daily Mail has the story:

Families in China have been told not to hire strip dancers to give erotic shows at their relative's funerals.

The unusual trend, mostly seen in rural villages, has come into being because many families hope scantily-clad showgirls could help make the ceremony more successful - by drawing more mourners.

Now the Chinese government is hoping to give a send-off to the 'obscene, pornographic, and vulgar' phenomenon after trying to stop it for over a decade.

It continues:

China has had the tradition of entertaining mourners at funerals for more than 100 years, but funeral striptease only emerged in the 1990s, according to Chinese newspaper Global Times.

One expert said the phenomenon could be attributed, to some degrees, to Chinese people's worship to reproduction. 

Huang Jianxing, professor of Fujian Normal University Sociology and History Department, told the Global Times: 'In some local cultures, dancing with erotic elements can be used to convey the deceased's wishes of being blessed with many children.'

By staging a funeral striptease, a family would be able to attract more attendees to the funeral, which could give the appearance that the deceased had many offspring.

For your further edification, here's a scene from a rural Chinese funeral: