As a Chinese society, Hong Kong is heavily influenced by Confucian culture which emphasizes filial piety. Since Hong Kong was colonized by Britain for more than a century, a distinct style of burial rites can be found in the city. While preserving the Chinese tradition, it is also influenced by the population structure, political, economic and the cultural context under colonial rule. The burial rites in Hong Kong can thus be described as a mixture of Chinese tradition and Western culture.
Our project objective is to investigate the industries related to Hong Kong』s burial rites: the funeral service industry and the paper offerings industry. The coffin shops provide traditional Chinese funeral services to customers. The paper offerings industry, on the other hand, is an example of traditional Chinese handicraft. Through manually producing paper offerings, this industry used to support the livelihood of many handicraft workers. These two industries helped us preserve traditional Chinese culture. But in this ever-changing world, how can these industries adapt so that Chinese traditional culture can be preserved?