The Ritual Logic of Gendered Rules for Solitary Burial: Ghost Marriage in North China
The Ritual Logic of Gendered Rules for Solitary Burial: Ghost Marriage in North China

Summary/Abstract: Ghost marriage is a critical ritual practice addressing the exclusion of unmarried deceased women from ancestor worship in traditional Chinese society. Based on fifteen ghost marriage cases collected during ethnographic fieldwork in Zhangjiakou, this article examines the ritual logic and social mechanisms underlying the practice of ghost marriage in rural North China. It argues that the primary function of ghost marriage is to restore the social and cosmic order disrupted by ‘unnatural death’, defined here as death before marriage. Through the integration of wedding and funeral rites, ghost marriage transforms an unmarried deceased woman from the liminal status of a ‘wandering ghost’ into a recognized ‘ancestor’. By integrating her into her posthumous husband’s lineage, she is structurally qualified to receive ancestor worship rituals and offerings from his descendants. By analyzing the asymmetrical, gendered rule of solitary burial captured in the local idiom ‘solitary men, not solitary women’ (meaning that males may be buried alone, but females may not), this article explores how ghost marriage reproduces patriarchal kinship relations and gender order. Furthermore, it contends that the social function of contemporary ghost marriage has shifted from establishing affinal ties between families to providing pure consolation for both the living and the dead. The logic of this ritual deeply reflects rural communities’ persistence and the transformation of traditional concepts like ‘family’ and ‘filial piety’ under the impact of modernization. As ghost marriage increasingly becomes the subject of critical reflection in contemporary society, this article highlights the need to identify alternative practices that fulfill the custom’s emotional and settling functions while aligning with modern values.

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