For the small cubicle apartment that originated in Hong Kong, see Bedspace apartment.
A coffin home (simplified Chinese: 义庄; traditional Chinese: 義莊; pinyin: yìzhuāng; Cantonese Yale: yih-jōng; Japanese: gisō (義荘)) is a temporary coffin depository where the coffins containing the cadavers of recently deceased people are temporarily stored while awaiting transport to the place of burial. The term is also loosely used to refer to bedspace apartments.
Yih-jong (義莊) literally means "mansion of righteousness" and originally referred to any charitable organization. These charities were typically established by prominent families to promote their standing in the community. The designation yih-jong was first used by Fan's Yih-Jong (范氏義莊), established by Song Dynasty imperial chancellor Fan Zhongyan in his hometown Suzhou. Emulating Fan's model, many prominent families founded yih-jongs between the Song and Qing dynasties to support their clansmen and local communities, offering charitable services such as orphanages, free schools, disaster relief, and mortuaries.[1][2]
The name yih-jong eventually became a euphemism for "coffin home" or "morgue" by the late 19th century. This is because they were the de facto undertakers of dead people whose next of kin could not be found or were too poor to afford funeral services, and provided temporary storage and transport of the coffins and bodies of emigrants who desired burial in their place of origin. The establishment of Tung Wah Coffin Home in Hong Kong in 1875, named "Tung Wah Yih Jong" (東華義莊) in Cantonese Chinese, firmly entrenched this euphemistic use.[3]
Coffin homes are primarily found in Greater China and places with substantial overseas Chinese populations. Most coffins that pass through the care of a coffin home are those of migrant workers who die in their place of work but who desired burial in their home villages. Coffin homes also provide temporary storage for deceased persons who are unable to afford a funeral or whose relatives cannot be located.[3][4]
^"清代民间慈善事业-史海摘萃". 江苏省财政厅. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
^"家族·慈善 | 北宋范仲淹创立的"范氏义庄"为何持续了800多年？–历史频道–手机搜狐". m.sohu.com (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2017-12-03.
^ ab呂嘉麗 (3 March 2017). "大口環曾是靈魂中轉站：助數以萬計華人死後「回家」的東華義莊". 香港01. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
^"解放前，專門寄放棺柩屍體的義莊是什麼樣子的" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Coffins are sometimes referred to as a casket, particularly...
called Coffin the "President of the Underground Railroad," estimating that three thousand fugitive slaves passed through his care. The Coffinhome in Fountain...
bedspace apartment (Chinese: 牀位寓所), also called cage home (籠屋), coffin cubicle, or coffinhome (棺材房), is a type of residence that is only large enough...
Tung Wah CoffinHome is a coffinhome located upon the hill above Sandy Bay on Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. The history of Tung Wah CoffinHome began...
The Coffin of Andy and Leyley is a psychological horror adventure game developed by Nemlei and published by Kit9 Studio for Microsoft Windows. The game...
Indiana. The two-story, eight room, brick home was constructed circa 1838–39 in the Federal style. The Coffinhome became known as the "Grand Central Station"...
abolitionist and the wife of Levi Coffin, the unofficial "President of the Underground Railroad". The Coffinhome in Fountain City, Wayne County, Indiana...
known by a variety of names, including Dancing Coffin, Coffin Dancers, Coffin Dance Meme, or simply Coffin Dance, is the informal name given to a group...
residences in London. He is most powerful when he is within his Earth-Home, Coffin-Home, Hell-Home, or any place unhallowed. Further, if Dracula or any vampire...
recording labels), Coffin has also recorded four solo albums: Flight of Time, Nantucket Sleighride, Safe in the Harbour, and Last Trip Home which he recorded...
Pierre-Louis Padang Coffin (born 16 March 1967) is a French film director, voice actor, and animator best known for co-directing four films in the Despicable...
1980s Western Australia was home to four outlaw motorcycle clubs, Club Deroes, Gypsy Jokers, Gods Garbage and the Coffin Cheaters. All bar the Gypsy Jokers...
A coffin ship (Irish: long cónra) is a popular idiom used to describe the ships that carried Irish migrants escaping the Great Irish Famine and Highlanders...
Zé do Caixão [ˈzɛ du kajˈʃɐ̃w], known in English-speaking countries as Coffin Joe, is a character created and nominally played by Brazilian writer, director...
"church truck" to move the coffin to and from the church or funeral home for services. Biers are generally smaller than the coffin or casket they support...
Frog coffins are burials of frogs in miniature coffins in Finland for the purposes of folk magic. These coffins are known from finds secreted in churches...
Coffin races or coffin racing is a humorous sport in which the contestants compete in delivering a coffin from start to finish; rules may vary. The town...
and died at Waltham–Weston Hospital near his home in Belmont. A descendant of Tristram's son Stephen Coffin, he was a 1928 graduate of Harvard and 1931...
Frederick D. Coffin (January 16, 1943 – July 31, 2003) was an American film actor, singer, songwriter, and musician. Coffin was born in Detroit, Michigan...
the Coffin family legally divided the house into two separate dwelling areas. The last Coffin-surnamed resident of the home was Lucy Coffin. Coffin House...
Funeral Parlour, 8 Cheong Hang Road, Hung Hom - since 1980 Tung Wah CoffinHome, Cemeteries and Colombarium, 9 Sandy Bay Road - since 1899 Temples and...
in 'coffinhomes'". CNN.com. Retrieved 2013-02-13. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help) Michael Adorjan (2011-12-21). "Cage homes in Hong...
A treetrunk coffin is a coffin hollowed out of a single massive log. Such coffins have been used for burials since prehistoric times over a wide geographic...
The Coffin Train is the eighth studio album by British heavy metal band Diamond Head, released on May 24, 2019. Music videos were filmed and produced for...
William Sloane Coffin Jr. (June 1, 1924 – April 12, 2006) was an American Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. He was ordained in the Presbyterian...
Global Information