In folk, there are many customs passed down from ancient times but are not explained by present people. And because they cannot explain, they think that it is habit and customary, but cannot understand the deep meaning of the ancients.

For example, why should we cover the dead person's face with white cloth? And why do relatives have to watch over the dead person's death overnight?

Someone said that the above practice originated from a historical story about 2500 years ago. In 494 B.C.E., Ngo Vuong Phu Sai led an army to destroy the Vietnamese nation, and captured Cau Tien, the Vietnamese monarch. Goujian was sent back to the country of Wu to be a slave slave of Phu Sai.

After coming to Ngo Quoc, Viet King Goujian's will did not dissipate, on the contrary, he was extremely patient, although he himself had to kneel down, endure countless humiliation. Viet Vuong Cau Tien never stopped tribute beauty and money and treasures to Phu Sai, but in his heart still secretly planned revenge.

Later, Phu Sai thought that Cau Tien was completely in awe and immediately let him return to Vietnam. At that time, Ngu Tu Tu, a loyal death of Phu Sai, said disrespectfully:  "The story in his heart is full of malice, in front of His Majesty he appeared to be pitiful, but in fact, his heart carried great will. Your Majesty absolutely should not release him back to the Vietnam Country, but need to eliminate the aftermath ".

 
Cau Tien endured but bowed, after returning home to raise lice. (Photo: Youtube)

After hearing that, Phu Sai immediately got angry:  "You dare to doubt my eye-looking people, so you don't need to go to court anymore" . After that, Phu Sai showed no confidence in great god Ngu Tu Tu anymore. Later when Ngu Tu Tu returned from his mission, Ngo Vuong Phu Sai threw down a sword that forced him to commit suicide.

About ten years after Ngu Tu Tu passed away, Goujian in Vietnam was able to revive his spirit, develop the country, and make the country stronger and stronger. When he saw the force was strong enough, Cau Tien led his troops to destroy the Ngo country, and captured Phu Sai.

Phu Sai could not accept this humiliation, so decided to end his life. He held the sword in his hand, feeling all over the world, hating that he did not listen to the advice of the princess Ngu Tu Tu before. So before he died he said:

"After I die, please cover my face with white cloth, because I don't have any face left to see Ngu Tu Tu."

Someone said that the above story had started the use of white cloth to cover the face of the deceased. Later, this practice gradually circulated and became a folk custom.

Besides, there is also an opinion that using white cloth to cover the dead person's face is to prevent the phenomenon of "fake death". Previously, when a person closed his eyes and slid his hands, relatives thought that this person was dead, so they were buried.

Several years after recovering the skeleton, they found to their surprise that the person in the coffin had been resurrected, because the skeleton was not in a supine position, but lying on his stomach.

The phenomenon of "false death" is when the air is weak, the heart is beating unclear, the body appears dead but not really dead. As long as the body fluids dissipate or for some reason, the person will come back to life. The purpose of putting a white towel on your face is to make it easier to spot the fake dead person's breath.

 
Hoping the dead have a chance to come back to life, the white cloth signals weak breathing when the dead regains consciousness. 

So, in addition to assuming that a person dies after three days his soul will return to the place where his or her body is located, relatives also need to stay by their side. While watching over the dead, family members can observe the white cloth on the dead person's face.

Because the fabric is thin and white, just having the breath will easily shake, helping relatives to judge whether the person lying there is capable of resurrection or not.

In other words, after the human died, the blood color on the face disappeared, the flesh began to change. In order to avoid causing fear to others, at the same time because they did not see them, they were more upset, so they covered their faces with a towel.

There is also a cause. That is, after their death, their souls belonged to the underworld, so they were afraid of the light on earth. Therefore, using a towel to cover the body will help them avoid the daytime sun, so the soul is preserved until reincarnation.

Covering the face of the dead is just one of many traditions that are still passed down to this day. Behind each custom, each of those rituals contains profound meanings, only regret that modern people cannot explain, so they refer to "old fashion", "feudalism", "stray. only "back".

But whatever the reason, those are the fragile remaining cultural strings, so that we can keep this ever-growing traditional culture ..END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.4/9/2020.