Parents of a Malaysian couple who died in a car accident recently held a ''ghost marriage'' to fulfil their children's wish to get married. Yang Jingshan, 31 and Lee Xueying, 32 were together for 3 years and about to marry when they died in a car accident.
Notably, Mr Jingshan was planning to celebrate his birthday in Bangkok on June 2 and propose to his girlfriend during the trip. However, on May 24, the couple's car overturned on a road in Perak in northwestern Malaysia and neither survived, according to the South China Morning Post.
After the tragedy, their families got together to conduct a ''ghost marriage'' in their honour and unite them as husband and wife in the afterlife. As the name suggests, ''ghost marriage'' typically refers to a ritual that unites two unmarried dead spirits.
On Monday, a wedding was conducted for the couple at a funeral hall. Their family members also created a wedding photo for them, and Mr Jingshan's family listed Lee as their daughter-in-law in their obituary.
See the pictures here:
According to traditional Chinese belief, if people die without fulfilling their wishes, they will not find peace in the afterlife and may return to haunt the living.
''Influenced by Chinese culture, ghost marriages also exist in many East Asian countries such as North Korea and Japan,'' Huang Jingchun, a Chinese folklore expert, told digital media outlet The Paper.
He said the practice helps meet the emotional needs of relatives who are missing their dead loved ones.
''Whether it is out of longing and compensation for the deceased or for their own interests, the ones who truly seek comfort and relief from anxiety are the living,'' said Mr Huang.
