Bao di tou, reporting to the earth god
The son takes wine or a censer to the shrine of the local earth god, kneels and reports the death — who has died, when the coffin is sealed, when it goes out — and asks leave to proceed.
Pronunciation bào dì tóu｜Rites of life｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
When someone in the house has stopped breathing, the son goes first to the earth god. He takes a pot of wine, or a censer, to the small shrine at the mouth of the lane or the god of the soil at the edge of the village, kneels, and reports who in the house has died, when they were born, when the body will be coffined and when the funeral goes out, asking leave to proceed. A stack of paper is burnt, and he gets up and goes home without looking back and without speaking to anyone on the way.
Di tou is the god who holds a piece of ground, not the family’s own ancestors. Reporting to him is reporting the matter to whoever governs that patch — in the old understanding, when a person died indoors, the earth god was the first who had to know.
When you see it
After the death and before the buying of water, all within the one day. Some places buy the water first and report afterwards; the order differs slightly from county to county.
Words easily confused
Reporting to the earth god is not the same as sending word of the death. One goes to a god, alone; the other goes to relatives and friends, and requires messengers to run to each house with a notice, and the messenger may not step inside.
Custom in Chaoshan funerals; this page describes only, and neither endorses superstition nor urges anyone to follow it.
Read next: Funeral custom: from reporting the death to the raising of the tablet.
See also: Rites of life: the five thresholds side by side.
Same group: the lamp at the feet, buying water, the paper gift.
Home › Glossary › Rites of life › Reporting to the earth god
Text on this site is CC BY-SA 4.0; copyright in images is reserved and commercial use requires a separate licence.
Last revised: 4 November 2026