More people are hiring someone to clean the graveyards of their ancestors and pay respects on their behalf during the Tomb Sweeping holiday due to an increasingly aging population and lifestyle changes.
Kuaibangpai (快幫派), a service platform that was created in October last year to run errands for people, said they received calls from about 10 people asking to help them clean the tombs of their ancestors, with the clients being aged between 25 and 45. They did not accept any of the cases this year.
The clients listed very specific demands, according to the platform’s founder, surnamed Hsieh (謝).
Photo: EPA
“Some asked to say prayers in Hoklo [also known as Taiwanese], as their ancestors did not speak mandarin, with the content of the prayers being about blessing the family with peace and health. They also asked that fruit and spirit money be placed at the table for offerings. As proof, a picture must be taken after the rite is complete,” she said.
Others asked to remove the weeds around tombstones as their older relatives would inspect them, she added.
The platform has also received requests from users wishing to pay tribute to their deceased pets, such as printing a photograph of a dog and its owner and bringing it, along with canned food and toys, to the pet’s burial site, Hsieh said.
They requested that the person sent by platform to honor the dog be there for at least 30 minutes and convey that they miss the furry friend, but that work has kept them away, she said.
The demand for the service has emerged due to lifestyle changes such as the low fertility rate, with younger generations focusing more on flexibility and efficiency, Hsieh said.
Outsourcing tomb-cleaning tasks to professionals is simply a different way of conveying heartfelt feelings, but the value of honoring ancestors has not changed, he she added.
Good Service, a personalized queuing service provider, said they had received a request in which children were tasked with finding the graveyard of their ancestors to pay their respects.
Another request was made to prepare 16 offerings, which were used to perform individual rites at all 16 family memorial niches, the company’s publicist surnamed Wu (吳) said.
There have even been clients who asked to scatter golden sand in the cemetery, she said.
Wu said their clients were still able to convey their remembrance of ancestors through video conferencing.
Mucao (牧草草), founded in 2020, has also seen rising demand during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, handling about 100 assignments this year alone.
Chief executive officer Lee Yi-en (李宜恩) said most clients are aged between 50 and 70, balancing work and physical limitations with tradition.
Lee said that the service encourages personal visits where possible and that outsourced memorials cannot replace traditional participation, adding that some families opt for other ways to honor ancestors, such as showing respect in thought rather than physical presence.
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