A Chinese student named Zeng Jia decided to hold her funeral before her actual death, much to the surprise of her family and friends. Zeng claimed that the reason that she did planned her own funeral was so that she could enjoy the spectacle. She planned and paid for a full funeral service that included flowers and a photographer. She also had a number of “mourners” attend her funeral. To make the funeral seem realistic, she laid within her own coffin with a “Hello Kitty” doll on her chest for an hour while her mourners paid their respects to her. She even went so far as to hire a number of make-up artists to make her body feel more dead-like.
In the end, Zeng explained that part of her reasoning was that she could not understand why so people spend so much money on a funeral when they are unable to enjoy it.
See Dion Dassanayake, Chinese Student Holds Her Own Funeral While She Is Still Alive So She ‘Could Enjoy It’, Express, Apr. 2, 2013.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
