It was reported last week that two dead people were married in China. “‘Til death, then you wed” was part of the catch phrase they used in the article.

But in China, ghost weddings, as they call them, is a common occurrence. Tradition has it that if a single man dies before he is wed, his family will be cursed. And if a woman remains unmarried, she cannot be properly buried. So in essence, a “ghost marriage” is a marriage made in heaven.

In the case of this recent marriage so widely publicized, the groom died three years earlier, and the family paid a dowry of $28,000 to the girl’s family, which was considered a discount. Even at that “paltry” amount, the family accepted because their daughter could now be properly buried.

The deceased bride and groom are now married in heaven, and both families are happy. I wonder what a honeymoon in heaven is like?

Ghost marriages in China are arranged most often by a third party – a marriage broker. The marriage broker consults the deceased person’s horoscope and that of a living or deceased partner. The marriage broker turns over his findings to the family that has hired him, and the two families negotiate the dowry. Once a price has been agreed upon, the marriage is performed.

Typical marriage rituals are followed. The deceased bride or groom, or bride and groom if both are deceased, are represented by effigies during the ceremony. The effigies can be made of paper, wood, cloth or bamboo. Gifts made of the same materials are also presented to the bride and groom during the ceremony. The gifts and the effigies are burned at the end of the ceremony to ensure they are happy and wealthy in their afterlife.

An engagement ties the couple together forever, both in heaven and on Earth. Even though the Communist Party has dictated that all citizens are equal despite gender, tradition is still a part of family life. Women are not considered part of their birth family. They are considered a burden instead. When they marry, they become a permanent member of the family they have married into.

Ghost marriages provide single women with respect, lineage, inheritance and a family name. In turn, the daughter-in-law would provide care for her aging in-laws. An unmarried spinster living at home with her birth family is not an accepted arrangement in China.

A living woman who marries a single dead man has all of the advantages listed above, and she may adopt a child to carry on the family’s name. A man (living or dead) who marries a single woman who died before marriage, brings that woman into his family who care for her in the spirit world.

The Chinese are highly superstitious. If a young man has died unwed, his ghost will be unsatisfied, and he will return to haunt his family by causing mischief and raising havoc. If a young man or woman in the family has died, and subsequently other family members become ill, they believe the deceased relative is reaching out to them to ask that he or she be married to a ghost bride or groom. They scramble to arrange a marriage for the deceased in order to insure the health of the remaining members of the family. A medium is usually called in to confirm their suspicions.

There are many myths and legends in China of ghosts returning to their families in dreams requesting marriages, even to the extent of giving their families the names and other information about their intended bride or groom.

Some of the unfortunate side effects of this practice are grave robbers who look for young, unmarried women to dig up and sell on the black market. Recently four Chinese men were sentenced to two years in prison for digging up 10 corpses and selling them for $39,000. Women have also been murdered and sold as ghost brides.

Often when a bride or groom is married to someone who has previously died, the relatives will dig up the body of the first decedent and bury the two recently married corpses together. I wonder what the laws are about all of this in the United States?

Ghost marriage was outlawed in China in 1949, yet it persists today. It is a practice that began in 221 B.C., and tradition runs deep in the family structure in China.

Ghost marriage is primarily practiced in India, Indonesia, Africa and China; however, these celebrations have been known to occur in France, the U.S., Korea and Germany. One woman petitioned the president of France to marry her deceased fiancé. Her petition was granted.

Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel is executive director of the Community Hiking Club and president of the Santa Clara River Watershed Conservancy. Contact Dianne through communityhikingclub.org or at zuliebear@aol.com.