Zuo gong de, merit-making
The stretch of sutra chanting by monks or priests in a funeral, as long or as short as the family can afford, and finished before the coffin leaves.
Pronunciation zuò gōng dé｜Rites of passage｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
Monks or Daoist priests are called in to chant for the dead; the number of services and days runs from a single night to several, according to means and local custom. The prefectural gazetteer records that in Chaozhou “capping, marriage, funerals and sacrifices mostly follow the Zhu family rites”; the chanting of monks and priests is another line again, and the two run side by side in the same funeral.
Merit-making and the seven-week rites are not the same thing: merit-making is one concentrated stretch of service, the seven-week rites are a sacrifice every seventh day from the first week to the seventh.
When you see it
Before the coffin leaves, in the mourning hall or under a shed put up for the purpose. The service interleaves with the family sacrifices and with friends coming to pay respects, and the coffin is only lifted when it is done.
Words easily confused
Merit-making belongs to a family funeral; the Yulan assembly and the feeding of the dead belong to the seventh month and to those with no one to sacrifice to them. Both call in clergy and both chant, but the object and the occasion differ, and the two should not be spoken of as one.
Custom in Chaoshan funerals; this page describes only, and neither endorses superstition nor urges anyone to follow it.
Read next: Funeral custom: from merit-making to the coffin leaving.
See also: Rites of life: the five thresholds side by side.
Same group: calling back the soul, the bathing, crossing the bridge, the release, carrying the scriptures.
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Last revised: 3 November 2026