Quick Answer: What Flowers Suit a Chinese Funeral?
A funeral wreath (花圈, huāquān) with white chrysanthemums is a familiar choice for a Chinese wake that welcomes flowers. Yellow chrysanthemums also appear in some traditions, including formal wreaths in Taiwan.[1][2][3]
- Colour. White flowers are a conventional option. Choose an arrangement made for condolences.[1][2]
- Form. A standing wreath or basket can be displayed with other tributes at the wake.[1][3]
- Delivery. Use the venue and delivery window given by the family or funeral organizer.
Follow any request to decline flowers. A message or another form of condolence may be more welcome.
A standing wreath at a funeral hall carries a public message. In Taiwan, a workplace or association may put its name on a wreath sent for the farewell. Its message has a different audience from a card you write directly to the bereaved.[2]
Choosing Flowers and Reading the Ribbon
In a condolence arrangement, chrysanthemums can supply the main flower and white lilies can add height. The arrangement’s scale matters if several tributes will share a narrow hall. Choose flowers arranged for the occasion and check the family’s wishes about colour. In Chinese funeral colour customs, clothing can distinguish mourners by their relationship to the deceased.[1][2][3]
Condolence couplets (挽联, wǎnlián) are paired lines of tribute. A modern ribbon or card may give a shorter message with the names of the deceased and sender. A group can use its name on one shared arrangement. If you do not know the family’s preferred spelling or Chinese characters, ask the organizer before having the card printed.[2][4]
How Wreaths Became Part of Funeral Reform
In 1905, Li Shutong announced that his mother’s funeral would accept wreaths and written tributes and decline certain costly cloth gifts and money. Mourners who wished to pay their respects could bow. The notice was one example of early twentieth-century efforts to simplify a funeral while leaving room for visible tributes.[5]
The medium continued to change. A cultural record of a florist in Erlin, Changhua, describes paper wreaths giving way to fresh-flower designs. Changes in the support made the flowers easier to assemble and transport.[6]
How Family and Local Practice Change the Gift
Taiwan’s folk-object record describes wreaths from institutions and organizations at the public farewell and notes different expectations for relatives and friends. In Singapore, guidance for visitors includes sending a wreath or giving money toward funeral expenses. When the notice is silent, a friend or colleague can ask whether the family accepts an individual wreath or prefers a shared tribute.[2][7]
If the family welcomes cash instead, see Chinese funeral money envelopes for the convention. At the wake, flowers may stand near a memorial portrait. Flowers left during a later cemetery visit belong to a different occasion. Read about tomb-sweeping offerings when the family is preparing for a grave visit.
FAQs About Chinese Funeral Flowers
Are yellow chrysanthemums appropriate?
They can be. A documented Taiwanese wreath style uses yellow chrysanthemums around its rim. If the family asks for a particular colour, follow that request.[2]
Should I send the wreath to the family’s home?
Use the location specified in the funeral notice. A standing tribute needs display space, so ask the organizer to confirm the delivery point when the notice gives none.[1][2]
Sumber
[1] Wah On Funeral Home. Flowers and Gifts for a Chinese Funeral
[2] Taiwan Historica. Funeral Wreath, Taiwan Folk-Object Dictionary
[3] Hibye. Chinese Funeral Flowers and Wreaths
[4] Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations. Culture and Rituals
[5] Taiwan Ministry of Education. Simplification of Weddings and Funerals
[6] Taiwan National Cultural Memory Bank. Funeral Wreaths from a Florist in Erlin
[7] Singapore National Heritage Board. Who’s Your Neighbour?