In my exploration of how traditional Chinese funeral practices can evolve to incorporate more personalized options, I analyzed two key figures whose work intersects with my research: Gao Guqi, the founder of the funeral brand Gui Cong, and Tang Mutanze, a young funeral director and social media influencer. Their unique perspectives provide valuable insights into how innovation can transform perceptions of funerals and death.
1. Gao Guqi – Founder of Gui Cong（归从品牌）
Gao Guqi is the creator of Gui Cong（归从）, a brand that combines contemporary design with traditional Chinese funeral practices. His journey into the funeral industry began with personal loss, which drove him to rethink the aesthetic and emotional aspects of traditional funeral products. Gui Cong’s offerings focus on personalization and modern aesthetics, blending materials like wood, ceramics, and natural stones to create items that resonate with today’s sensibilities.
Key note from Gao’s approach:
- Respect for Tradition: While rooted in Chinese funeral customs, his designs reinterpret traditional forms to fit into modern households, such as creating spirit tablets inspired by ancient architecture.
- Focus on Emotional Healing: Gao emphasizes that funeral products are not merely functional but serve as a way for families to commemorate and process their loss.
- Environmental Awareness: His development of eco-friendly alternatives for burning paper offerings highlights the potential for sustainable innovation in this space.
Gao’s work demonstrates that design can bridge the gap between tradition and modern needs, creating funeral products that honor the past while embracing contemporary lifestyles.
2. Tang Mutanze（Account name） – Funeral Director and Social Media Influencer
Tang Mutanze(Wang Nan), a young funeral director, has gained significant attention as a social media influencer. By sharing her daily work experiences on platforms like RED, she has brought funeral culture to a broader audience. Her relatable and approachable communication style has made the traditionally taboo topic of death more accessible, especially to younger generations.
Key aspects of Tang’s influence:
- Connecting Through Social Media: By leveraging her youth and familiarity with digital platforms, Tang uses storytelling to demystify funeral culture and encourage open conversations about death.
- Personalized and Simplified Practices: She observes a growing trend among young people toward personalized, less rigid funeral practices. Tang incorporates individual stories and preferences into ceremonies, creating meaningful, unique rituals.
- Encouraging Dialogue: Her content often sparks discussions about death planning and memorialization, fostering a shift in societal attitudes toward accepting and preparing for end-of-life matters.
Tang’s work highlights the power of communication and education in reshaping perceptions of the funeral industry, especially among younger audiences.
Reflection
The practices of Gao Guqi and Tang Mutanze have deepened my understanding of the feasibility of innovation within traditional funeral culture and highlighted key breakthroughs for my project. Their experiences show that funeral culture innovation can stem from multiple angles: redesigning forms and changing public perceptions. These insights are invaluable for my research.
From Gao Guqi’s practice, I see the powerful role of design as a tool.
For example, his spirit tablets, inspired by traditional Chinese architecture, preserve a sense of ritual while adapting to modern aesthetics. This demonstrates that the essence of innovation lies in using design to carry cultural memory while aligning it with contemporary needs. His concept of eco-friendly paper offerings is particularly inspiring—it not only continues the spiritual core of traditional rituals but also addresses modern concerns about sustainability. This encourages me to consider how to incorporate modern values into my project, such as designing more environmentally friendly and personalized offerings that respect tradition while addressing current realities.
Tang Mutanze provides new ideas for outreach and education.
Her use of social media to share her daily work not only raises awareness about the significance of funeral culture but also breaks public taboos around death. For instance, her content encourages audiences to rethink the meaning of funeral rituals, while her personalized ceremony designs for the deceased showcase how traditional structures can integrate more emotional expressions. This prompts me to reconsider the importance of public education: rather than directly changing traditions, fostering dialogue and participation can help people rediscover them.
Together, their approaches highlight that breakthroughs in funeral culture lie not only in product or form innovation but also in deep cultural and emotional exploration.
These cases remind me that advancing funeral culture requires more than a single-dimensional approach—it calls for multidimensional, integrated innovation. Moving forward, I aim to combine cultural exploration with public engagement, seeking innovative approaches that can genuinely resonate with people and contribute to the evolution of funeral traditions.