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| Chinese Tomb Guardian (Photo by Fordmadoxfraud) |
those who prey upon the dead - but now there are also those who prey upon both.
With the revival of ghost marriages (i.e., "the ancient
Chinese tradition of marrying two corpses and placing
them to live with each other underground"), also comes the macabre practice of ghost matchmaking. Because some believe that dead unmarried corpses are lonely, and that lonely corpses will seek living spouses if left too long without dead ones, families can be vulnerable to criminals posing as matchmakers for the deceased.
MSN News reports that because of restitution from mining accidents, "many rural superstitious Chinese have become able to not only afford expensive dowries and elaborate ceremonies, but also the most desirable corpses." For example, "a recently deceased young, attractive woman can fetch $30,000 on the black market…" Therefore, an enterprising ghost matchmaker with few scruples can come up with all-too-many ways to make a quick yuan.
Four men were recently imprisoned "for stealing 10 female corpses, falsifying their medical records and selling them for roughly $38,000." Black-marketers have also been known to utilize post-mortem plastic
surgery in order to up the asking price. What's even worse is that some matchmakers have not only "cut deals with grieving families," but also murdered women in order to sell their bodies for ghost marriages.
Resources
http://news.msn.com/world/ghost-marriages-unite-lonely-deceased-in-rural-china
Copyright April 13, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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