Topic: Reading Death

March and April see not only the return of spring but death: Chinese people during the Ching Ming
Festival commemorate our ancestors who have departed, while during Easter, Western people celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to continue his mission to save mankind.

Literary works concerning death abound, and poetic depiction of death is ever popular. People, however, avoid the mentioning of death in daily life, for example, there are different colloquialisms in Cantonese expressions conveying the end of life, but we seldom use the word ‘die’ directly. It is the custom for patients to enter hospitals through its main entrance, but hearses leave from the backdoor.

We see all types of catastrophes featured in news broadcasts but choose to believe that death is distant
from us.

Life and death education has been prevalent in the Western world, Japan and Taiwan, but is still in its
infancy in Macao and Hong Kong. We look squarely at death without pessimism: it prepares us for the
unescapable fate of life. Confucius’ claim that ‘life even unknown, how about afterlife.’ is not necessarily true: those who understand death will learn to enjoy the present.

In this issue we will introduce books about death.

Not only should this book, written by Leila Chan, an independent journalist from Hong Kong, be read at least once, but purchased and collected as part of our home library. It is like a user’s manual comprising much information about confronting death, for instance: cancer patients are not bound for the torment of chemotherapy; our funeral can be prepared when one is still alive, and that asking one to restrain his/ her grief might harm the bereaved. Even the Taoist sermon in the ceremony for death
is detailed in the book.

The book consists of two volumes. The first volume Coffins presented news about the death care industry in Hong Kong. Accessible information was elicited from industry insiders, academics and religious leaders by means of interviews. With consideration for the bereaved, the second volume of the book, namely Tears, details interviews with medical staff members, social workers and the bereaved to assess the limitations of the healthcare and social welfare system. Illness and death accompany aging, and this book prepares us for such challenges.

The three authors interviewed casket purveyors, funeral homes and joss paper store owners. They visited mortuaries and cemeteries to accomplish within one year, this pioneering work on life and death education in Hong Kong. Leila Chan hopes that this book can serve as a starting point for the entire campaign, and that Hong Kong people will, eventually, not only live well but die well.

The reform of Macao’s death care service has a long way to go. We hope that life and death education be pushed forward also in Macao one day.

In the prime of his career, the president of a well–known accounting firm was found to have contracted a terminal illness at the age of 53. His health deteriorated, along with hair loss and diminishing eyesight. Even the smartphone that helped him deal with myriads of business affairs became a burden owing to his stiff fingers. He insisted that he would no longer prolong his life with chemotherapy, but welcomed
the approach of death. The book chronicles the last part of his journey of life.

This business magnate, who once administered a sizeable enterprise, decided to manage his remaining 100 days with business wisdom. He made a to–do list: spending time with his beloved wife and daughter, bidding farewell to his relatives, acquaintances and colleagues one by one, orchestrating his own funeral, etc. In the inevitabilty of death, he discovered that he had hardly lived well. It is only when one lives in the present is he/she satisfied with everything he/she has.

The writer recalls that the happiest moment in his life was the evening chase of daylight on the golf course with his wife. The last chapter of the book is the epilogue that his wife writes after his death. She told readers that her husband remained conscious even in the weakest time of his life. His last moment inspires all and lets everyone experience the beauty of life.

The best–selling work(s) written by celebrated Indian–American surgeon Atul Gawande criticizes and provides instances of the lack of humanity in contemporary medical science: the death of an individual with a terminal illness was impeded forcefully by a doctor; the death of another patient who no longer wished to live was delayed by medical equipment. Modern medical training equips doctors with curing
skills, but the same training is unable to allow patients to pass away peacefully.

Gawande was determined to find a new path, where medical science is no longer a hostile discipline.

Gawande has years’ of experience in medical practice. He saw many individuals tortured as patients. His father, also a Western doctor, who was eager to receive no more than palliative care due to Indian tradition, had a peaceful death at home.

Gawande compiled these experiences and interviews in hospitals and aged care homes with respect to patients’ need to reconsider the limitation of modern medical treatment in the face of death.

According to Gawande, patients on their deathbed could get better if revitalized.

With this in mind, senior citizens are organized to wait in line and walk the dogs adopted by the elderly home. A large tree is planted in its garden in the hope that patients hear the birds’ warbling sound when they are awake. Contemporary medical science aims to prolong life when confronted with death – but this has in many instances brought patients even more agony. To Gawande, the doctors’ main
imperative is to maintain patients’ quality of life until their passing.

Edvard Munch’s By the Deathbed captures the last moment of his younger sister’s life, despair pervades the atmosphere. The painting is in the collection of the MunchMuseum (Munchmuseet), Norway (authorised publication).

The Japanese movie Departures is an adaptation of a true–life story that tells of Shinmon Aoki who, after a failed career as a poet, made a living as a funeral director (essentially a mortician) and stayed in the profession for three decades. He developed a distinctive perception of life and death, having managed countless funeral rites for the deceased and witnessing moments of joy and sorrow upon parting and reunion.

This touching biography is built on Aoki’s previous diaries and many other references.

Funeral directors are keenly aware of how people avoid everything about death–––alienated by relatives and friends; Aoki was faced with his wife’s complaints and social discrimination. His colleagues felt inferior and thus avoided eye contact with others. However, he saw it as an opportunity to confront death, committing himself to his work in seeing off the departed and reading a myriad of religious and
philosophical books on death. To him, death is the beginning rather than the end of light, with life and death in juxtaposition.

As a poet, Shinmon Aoki wrote with natural elegance and smoothness (possibly the merit of the translator), and the book contains many expressive poems composed either at the verge of death
or on the departure of the loved one. The work, which became a best seller following
its publication, was turned into an award– winning film. In the last chapter, the author shares his feelings after achieving fame without much enthusiasm. After all, a man who sees through life and death invariably possesses unusual wisdom.

Subsequent to the passing of Chu His–ning, a famous Taiwanese writer, his second daughter, Chu Tien–hsin, wrote in memory of him, stating in the preface that this is ‘a book of mourning’, which is an embodiment of her anguish for his presence and her atonement for contradicting him over 40 years. His passing made her feel like an empty and rootless wanderer in the world.

Chu Tien–hsin writes in a profound style with shrewd observation. She is able to delineate death in vivid detail. She wrote from her dream of her father’s journey across Roman ruins and adventure to Pharaoh’s tomb. She also penned the imagined separation of the soul from the body and its random travels in the universe. In her writing, the greatness of civilization is used to promote the smallness of life. The book is a memoir of a father–daughter relationship, and in part resembles a travel account.

People feel a loss and are even unable to describe their feelings when their loved ones die. Chu Tien–hsin depicted the road of death from her imagination in the tone of a literatus, alluding to an unmanned train entering into a dark tunnel that shuts out the calls from relatives and friends. Poetry is probably the only literary work that is able to portray grief over death in such a melancholy manner. The six excellent
essays by Chu have inherited these characteristics.

Bunpei Yorifui uses intriguing pictures to record information about dying in the hope of providing
a guide for readers to prepare for death. ( provided by the publisher )

The book is illuminating. A young illustrator who has never encountered death aspires to explore this social taboo. In the book, he presents death through illustrations based on information he garnered over two years. The work is so rich in content that it could amount to an encyclopedia of death of human beings.

In a chapter addressing the notions of death in different ethnic cultures for example, are pictures of reincarnation in Buddhism, heaven and hell in Christianity as well as posthumous transformations into birds and butterflies in other ethnic beliefs. There are also illustrations with data in regards to people’s average life span in different countries and analyses of the causes of death in Japan. What’s more, the
book records the legendary death of historic celebrities. Among others are Adolf Hitler’s suicide, Yukio Mishima’s hara–kiri and Joan of Arc’s (Jeanne d’Arc) death by burning at the stake.

Humorous and witty as it is, the book was never created for self–entertainment.

With sincerity the author wrote in the book, that only when people realize that death can happen anytime would they make due adjustments to their lifestyle, instead of panicking at the last moment. Data in the book also proves that as always, the specter of death could come anytime and be anywhere. Now that death is inevitable, it’s better to brace yourself for it.

When adults may not have a clear idea of the truth about death, it is even more difficult for children to face unexpected death. As a result, a number of picture books on the topic have emerged for children to understand what it is like to lose a loved one. In this story, a child grieves over his grandfather’s death because of heart failure. In order to cheer him up, his father told him that grandfather would return to the earth, while his mother said he would become an angel, yet the child saw nothing but the ghost of his grandfather.

Determined to honor his grandfather’s unaccomplished wishes, the child searches for them with his grandfather’s ghost every night. It was not until the end did he find that his grandpa only wished to say goodbye to him. The two hugged each other hard before the ghost left. It actually serves as a message for the child to let go of his sadness.

Adults should teach children about life and death rather than comfort them with make–believe stories. Explaining death to them honestly will help them learn to cherish life and their relationships with others. Let us all learn to live in the present until the advent of death.