This is Bill Tsutsui with another Postcard from Asia from the Center for East Asian Studies.

Single Dead Man seeks wife. Must like dirt. No, this is not the exact text of a personal ad in the China Daily, but it might as well be. Here among the canyons near the Yellow River, the folk tradition of finding wives for dead bachelor sons is still practiced. It is known as minghun or afterlife marriage. Wishing to ensure their son’s comfort in the afterlife, a bereaved mother and father will search for a dead woman to be his bride, sometimes even hiring a well-connected fixer to locate families that have recently lost a daughter. The “dowry” is then paid, the body delivered, and the corpses buried as a married couple. Instead of “’til death to us part,” for these couples it's “’til death do us start.”

With thanks to Randi Hacker for this text, from the Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Bill Tsutsui. Wish you were here.