Fang Yun went to the mourning hall without eating.
The Cloud Family members were busy, as were their relatives and friends. Fang Yun changed into mourning clothes.
The funeral rites of the human race had always been changing, and many practices in the Rites of Zhou had evolved over time. As a guest, Fang Yun said little. He stood quietly to one side, observing the details of the funeral and experiencing the differences in ritual between the Bloodmang Ancient Land and the Saint Origin Continent.
Fang Yun found the funeral rites of the Bloodmang Ancient Land very simple. He had already sensed this two days earlier, when the family head told him to sleep in Yun Jie's room. According to the Rites of Zhou, Yun Jie's body should have been placed in his bedroom, but it had actually been laid in the main hall.
As a Metropolitan Graduate, Yun Jie would have belonged to the scholar-gentry in the Zhou Dynasty. According to the Rites of Zhou, his funeral would have been exceedingly elaborate: summoning the soul, making offerings, receiving condolences, collecting burial clothes and quilts, preparing an inscribed banner, raising the flag, digging a pit, laying out clothes, preparing three vessels, washing the body, laying out clothes again, dressing the body, lowering it into the pit, and so on. All this was only for the first day; the entire funeral would last three days.
On the Saint Origin Continent, only the funerals of sovereigns, Great Scholars, or even Half-Sages lasted several days. Other funerals were simplified. The Mohist School, for example, advocated "moderation in funerals," and some people held no funeral at all.
On the first day, the Cloud Family had summoned the soul and made offerings, but people here did not bring burial clothes or quilts for the deceased.