1. Funeral & Burial Services

- Traditional Earth Burial  

  - Wooden/casket burials in family plots or public cemeteries  

  - Graveside ceremonies with religious or cultural rites  

- Cremation Services  

  - Direct cremation (no ceremony)  

  - Traditional cremation with viewing and funeral rites  

  - Columbarium niche placement (urn storage)  

- Ancestral Tomb Burials (Common in Chinese culture)  

  - Feng shui-selected burial sites  

  - Multi-generational family tombs  

2. Mourning & Memorial Rituals

- Wake / Viewing

  - Open-casket visitation (Western traditions)  

  - 3-7 day mourning periods (e.g., Chinese *shou ling*)  

- Memorial Ceremonies

  - 49th-day Buddhist prayers ("7x7" rituals)  

  - 100-day / annual death anniversaries  

- Mourning Attire  

  - Black clothing (Western)  

  - White hemp garments (Chinese *xiaodai*)  

  - Head coverings or armbands  

3. Prayer & Afterlife Offerings  

- Joss Paper / Hell Money 

  - Traditional folded gold/silver ingots  

  - Modern "luxury item" replicas (houses, cars, phones)  

- Food Offerings

  - Ancestral altar meals (e.g., rice, tea, whole chicken)  

  - Grave-sweeping festival foods (Qingming Festival)  

- Incense & Candles  

  - 3-stick incense rituals (Buddhist/Taoist)  

  - Eternal flames (Christian/Catholic traditions)  

4. Commemorative Items  

- Obituaries & Memorial Books  

  - Newspaper death notices  

  - Handwritten condolence books  

- Grave Markers & Urns  

  - Granite headstones with epitaphs  

  - Hand-carved ancestral tablets  

- Memorial Portraits 

  - Framed photos draped in black cloth  

  - Painted ancestor scrolls  

5. Post-Funeral Traditions  

- Feasts for Mourners  

  - Chinese "white banquet" (白事酒席)  

- Charitable Donations

  - Almsgiving in the deceased’s name (Buddhist merit-making)  

  - Endowed memorial funds  

- Family Heirlooms 

  - Distribution of personal effects  

  - Legacy letters or recordings  

6. Regional & Religious Customs 

- Sky Burial (Tibetan Buddhism)  

- Tower of Silence (Zoroastrian dakhma)  

- Islamic Janazah Prayer & Same-Day Burial