Dealing with death: It’s all in the line of duty

It’s something most of us spend all our lives hoping to avoid, but Xu Shenquan faces death stoically every day, with a sense of service and duty.

When death comes, Xu, from Macheng, Hubei province, is there to take care of the body of the deceased and comfort those left behind.

“Birth and death are part of nature, and my job is to do my utmost to take care of the dead, helping them to leave the world with warm care and dignity,” Xu said.

Answering the call of duty is not new to Xu, 50, who was in the military before he became a mortician 16 years ago — a calling chosen for him rather than by him.

When he retired from the military at age 32 in 2001, after 14 years of service, he was assigned to work at a funeral home as a mortician in Macheng. Since then, he said, he has cremated 13,000 bodies.

Xu said he treated each individual with the utmost respect, something he regards as the fundamental duty of anyone who works in the field.

He draws great satisfaction from his work, but that was not always so. In fact, when he first heard about the profession to which he was being channeled, he found it difficult to accept.

“I detested the job at the start,” he said.

Part of it had to do with pride. Morticians had low social standing, Xu thought, and he feared that people would avoid someone in such a job. Some of his friends even tried to persuade him to do something else.

He accepted the job because he had sick and aging parents to take care of and a young daughter to raise. His years of military service had hammered into him a strong sense that it’s wrong to evade one’s duty, and he felt the same principle applied to civilian life.

A soldier needs to take courage onto the battlefield, and working with the dead demands that quality too, Xu said. Early on, the mere idea of working with the dead filled him with horror. When he cremated his first body he had nightmares and could barely eat, he said.

However, he had an awakening when his mother died a year after he became a mortician.

The way his colleagues took care of her greatly moved him, and he realized that his calling was to guard the dignity of life and to do all he could so that the relatives of the deceased could say farewell to their loved one in as peaceful a way as possible.

Peace and dignity do not always go hand in hand with the real-life business of death, Xu said, and people have to handle it as professionally as they can. In a summer with searing heat, for example, it can be almost intolerable working in a cremation area, where bodies are prone to decompose quickly, but Xu said he goes out of his way to ensure that everything is done to satisfy relatives.

As they struggle to cope with their grief, tempers can fray, Xu said, noting that it’s not unusual to be the object of abuse. But he regards it as his duty to maintain dignity and try to explain what’s going on.

“I sometimes come across someone who recalls what I did for their deceased relatives, and they express their gratitude, which gives me a great deal of satisfaction,” he said.

When Xu was in the military in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province, he worked as an optical technician. His service tempered his sense of responsibility and spirit of perseverance, he said, qualities that he believes are crucial for a mortician.

Well aware of how unglamorous his career is, Xu said he seldom talks about his work with his friends, and he isolated himself for about eight years, never attending parties. His only pastimes are playing basketball and badminton with workmates.

In 2015 he began to engage in volunteer activities, in the hope that doing a public service would help his mind adjust and bring more positive energy to his work.

For his perseverance in his work and his dedication to duty he has won several awards, including being recognized last year as one of the Most Beautiful Veterans by the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs.

Xu treats the rewards as a spur to continue to do his duty.

“In this job of mine, I’m just doing what I have to do, and it’s my responsibility to do it well,” he said. “These awards put a lot of pressure on me, encouraging me to do even better.”

In this job of mine, I’m just doing what I have to do, and it’s my responsibility to do it well.” Xu Shenquan, veteran who became a mortician in Macheng, Hubei province