According to tradition, a person should die seven days after death. If the deceased still has no vital signs within seven days, it proves that he has really died. Therefore, after the death of the old man, children should hold "doing seven" activities in order to bring the deceased back to life.
In order to alleviate the bereavement and the pressure on the families of the deceased, most of the seven times were changed from the original seven times to four times. Namely: 17 (changed to three-day original grave), 37, 57, 77, (now only odd numbers are burned, which is the so-called burning seven).
Etiquette of doing seven
During the Seventh Period, there were many specific manners, which were practiced everywhere. In Guangzhou, the fifth seven days of the old funeral custom must be returned by married women, and the cost of this day is entirely borne by married women. If the deceased has no married woman, it will be done by a married niece or grandniece. The first seven days, the last three or seven days and the last seven or seven days after death are called the atmosphere.
There is a custom of "walking seven times" in this day's memorial service, that is to say, in this day's memorial service, the married daughter and daughter-in-law each carry lanterns and race like kites in the prescribed ceremony to get the first one to run home, commonly known as "fighting for heroes", thinking that the soul of the deceased can protect well-being. Because people think that although people are dead, the soul still has feelings like the living.
Doing seven is usually presided over by a son-in-law. In Zhejiang, there are different ways to hold the Seventh National Congress. In Hangzhou, the son-in-law will hold the "May 7th" and in Lin 'an and Ningbo, the son-in-law will hold the "June 7th". On the night before May 7th, "Home Watch" was popular in many places.