Man spends about N500,000 to stage own funeral

Sixty-six-year-old Zheng Deyang poses with his two afterlife wives and house, all made of paper, at a funeral for himself in a village in Rizhao in east China's Shandong province Saturday Feb. 6, 2016. Zhang, who had no children, held a funeral for himself to see whether his relatives and villagers will pay tribute to his death in the future. Zhang is only 1.4-meter tall and did not marry and is not sure whether others remember his good deeds to the village. Photo via Newscom — Sixty-six-year-old Zheng Deyang poses with his two afterlife wives and house, all made of paper, at a funeral for himself in a village in Rizhao in east China’s Shandong province Saturday Feb. 6, 2016. Photo via Newscom

He said he wanted to see how many people would turn up.

Zhang Deyang organised a mock funeral ceremony for himself. – and invited his friends and family – in the city of Rizhao early February, The Telegraph reports.

Zhang had done many good deeds that “didn’t grab much attention in the community,” leading him to spend 16,0000 yuan, about N500,000 on a mock funeral, a report on Netease portal said.

Zhang who never married and has no kids is said to be worried that no one would take care of him in death.

The unusual ceremony reportedly included a mock wedding to a dead woman because it is seen as unlucky to go into the afterlife without a spouse.

Few years ago, he erected his own tombstone in preparation for his death.

“I organised this ceremony because I wanted to separate which people in my life truly cared about me and which ones were fake,” Mr Zhang said in an interview with website Qilu.

Sadly though, up to 20 of Zhang’s relatives and friends confirmed his fears by failing to honour his invitation.

“I can’t believe so many relatives and friends don’t care about me. It still weighs heavy on my heart,” he told the Qilu reporter.

Other residents of the Northern Shandong province of China where he resides are divided over Zhang’s mock funeral.

“This type of ceremony wasn’t worth the price, and that money could have been donated instead,” said a man who was at the mock funeral.

Another villager did not completely agree:

“After working hard for a lifetime, Mr Zhang is alone, and has an empty nest. For these reasons its hard to avoid carrying some bitterness in the heart.”

What do you think?.