Research

Mourning Well in China

I am finishing a book on grave sweeping that builds on my exploration of how people in China define happiness. From 2013–2019, I collected interview, ethnographic, and survey data.

The Washington Post featured two videos from my fieldwork in an article (“What people around the world mean when they say they’re happy,” February 3, 2016). One video I had taken when an 86-year-old woman in Fujian showed a group of friends (including me) her burial clothes. It was a jovial, cheerful atmosphere as everyone admired her selections. She had had a good life; she was proud of it, and she knew she was going to be seen at her funeral one day and visited as an ancestor. So, even though she was still healthy, she was prepared. We in the small group reciprocated her emotions and could be happy, too, as we admired the items she had chosen. 

In the other video, I participated in one family’s visit to graves during the Grave Sweeping Festival in a suburb of Chengdu, Sichuan. The family joked and laughed with each other, as they burned paper offerings to their deceased grandfather. This included a paper version of a modern Western suit with leather shoes, and a Samsung cell phone.