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 Mortician Zhang Yang prepares his makeup brushes.[China Daily] |
It is a job that faces death every day, a job of creepiness, a job without much pay. But some young people treat the job of mortician as a life-long career and have discovered the meaning of death and life.
6 am: early departure
Zhang Yang leaves home in the cold winter morning. Donning earphones from an mp3 player, Zhang hops on a bus at 6:30 am. His work begins from 7 am to 2 pm or a nightshift from 12 am till next morning, dealing with at least 20 bodies from hospitals a day.
Zhang has worked in the Babaoshan Funeral Home in Beijing for two years.
7 am: careful makeup
Sunlight pierces through the white curtain into his "office", a 60-sq-m room with white walls. A changing closet, two chairs, a basin and two white gowns hang on the wall. A coffin is staked in the center.
Zhang's colleague Zhang Qi steps into the room. They wash their hands while chatting about a football game last night. They put on their masks and gowns, and take out a plate of cosmetic tools from a locker.
An old man in the coffin looks peaceful. Zhang cleans his face with cotton tips and shaves his beard. He puts foundation on his face and combs his hair meticulously. With some added lipstick, the old man looks like he's just sleeping. "I'm not scared," Zhang said. "This old man left peacefully, I feel happy for him."
7:30 am: no smile
The old man's son and daughter come to receive the coffin. They are satisfied with Zhang's work, giving many thanks to him. Zhang nods back. A mortician should never smile and say "see you" or "thanks" to the family, he said.
He recalled the first time he touched a body. There was a feeling similar to an electric shock. He is still single. "Don't touch me, you just touched a corpse today," were the last words his former girlfriend said to him.
Zhang finishes one makeup job in 15 minutes. Some relatives of the deceased complain about the makeup. But he knows how a mortician should behave.
8:30 am: sadness
For Zhang, the most painful part for him involves children.
Another body was sent at 8:30 am. The death report indicated a 9-year-old girl who died from cancer. He does the makeup carefully and tenderly. After he finishes, Zhang sits in silence.
Zhang said he thinks about the day that he would have to do the makeup for his friends, relatives or even parents. Since taking this job, he understands that love and family is more important than anything else.
10 am: best moment
After finishing 10 makeup jobs in the morning, Zhang takes a short break. It is the best moment of his day: talking with his best friend Zhang Qi in the room.
They talk about an online game they have been playing and the popular online "stealing vegetable" game.
Both said that they don't have many friends. They like watching films at home and their favorite is a Japanese film titled Departures, which is about the life of a former cellist who becomes a mortician.
Zhang Yang feels happy for Zhang Qi, who had a girlfriend before this job. He said he looks forward to having his own family.
11 am: sorry, I did my best
An angry man who lost his mother comes in and points at Zhang: "How you did your job? It's not my mom!"
Zhang did the makeup for an old woman who died from a serious disease that deformed her face. Things like this happen. "Sorry, I did my best already," Zhang replied in a low voice.
The crying man finally leaves with his wife. Zhang said he really feels sorry for the man.
The job of a mortician is dangerous at times since they need to do makeup jobs for people with various causes of death.
1 pm: sadness
When Zhang is doing a makeup for an old woman, he hears a quarrel outside.
The old woman's son and daughter are quarreling about who should pay for the funeral fees. The son says that he knows his mother has left a big sum of money to his sister. The daughter denies it and fights back that her brother has inherited the house from his mother.
Zhang frowns and stops. He goes out and tells them to "keep silent and respect the dead".
"I feel sad for their mother, for her children," he said.
2 pm: go home
After taking a shower, Zhang leaves for home. He will take a nightshift the next day. This evening, he is meeting a girl. It's a date arranged by his parents.
He puts on his earphones and listens to a soft love song. He was once a fan of heavy metal rock 'n' roll, but the job changed his taste.
"Having experienced so many separations between life and death, I prefer to live in a peaceful life," he said.
