Not a gmdzsthot, but. You mentioned that chinese funerals need to be at auspicious times, and I've been looking up other traditions... Is there anything they do like light a memorial flame, or specific incense? In my culture a memorial lamp will be lit constantly for 27 days at the deceased person's hous, and no one else in the extended family will light a lamp anywhere until those days are up, we have a memorial ceremony. Do you know any specifics like that for mdzs?
Disclaimer! I am not of Asian descent, I am Mexican. Take this with a grain of salt, I've done my best to get accurate info. All my information is based on my own research. I'd see a custom/tradition/superstition portrayed in a book or show and I use that as my springboard for research to see what was true or not.
I'm not going to do a deep dive into actual religion because I wouldn't be able to explain it right. I'm sure you guy already know traditions can vary and can change or become forgotten as time changes. But here are a few posts & articles talking more about it. Oh man I found a good reference on Twitter but it got deleted. Link 1 | Link 2 | Link 3
Clothing needs to be white, women may wear a white pointed hood, while men wear a white headband. During mourning period you can't wear bright colors just pale tones or dark shades of blue, brown or green. If the deceased has kids (and grandkids) they can't cut their hair for 49 days (this part has mostly died off in recent years)
Funeral can be a week long while the mourning period is 49 days, there specific days for priests to give prayers, after it's all over the people can cleanse, pray and return to their usual life.
Cremation was more taboo in the past because they consider your body a gift from your parents, it's best to return to the earth as whole as possible. Scars, missing limbs, even cutting your hair (more than trimming) was frowned upon. (Though that depends on the dynasty)
So filial piety plays a big role in funerals too. An older person can't show respect to a younger, an unmarried man won't be offered prayers since he has no kids to do his rites nor can his parents/grandparents do them. If a baby or child dies no funeral rites are performed, they're buried in silence. For an older person how grand it'll be depends on the person’s status, age etc. even if the family of the dead falls into debt to pay for it.
people would bury some funeral objects for the dead, such as gold, silver, bronze wares, pottery, and other precious things (remember the grave robbing at Dafan Mt)
Tomb sweeping day (April 4th or 5th) sweep the tomb, clean the incense pot, light incense, leave offerings and pray. Go to Temple to ask for ancestors blessings.
Playing loud music to keep ghosts away & loud crying as a sign of respect, the louder the better...unless it's a child
Burning incense (the more you burn the more prosperous)
Spirit money (joss paper) is burned to ensure the ghost has good things in the after life. Don't burn real money it's considered unlucky. Typically people burn Joss paper on the death anniversary, their birthday, specific festivals; there are other acceptable time but those are the most common.
Ghost marriages are a thing btw, parents worry if their son died unmarried he'll be resentful for being alone, so they'll arrange a good match. There are other reasons including "continuing" the line. Most times it's with another dead person, sometimes there's a living person who would marry in as their widow. Its still done to this day. There aren't enough women, so grave robbing happens or worse.
Ghost festival (Yulan Festival, Hungry Ghost Festival, etc) it's held during the 7th month on the Chinese calendar. It's believed the gates of hell are open so ghosts can receive offerings, visit the living. The living show filial piety by preparing food & drink, lighting incense, burning joss paper and other paper goods (like clothes, gold), priests perform rituals, there's a feast for the dead. Two weeks after the festival, they use paper lanterns or boats to guide the spirit back to the afterlife.
(God this is already very long even after multiple rounds of edits, I'm sorry for this info dump)
So yeah in the grand scheme of things, Wei Wuxian's cultivation method of using corpses & spirits as his tools is one of the most offensive thing he could ever do.
