What is sent away in the “sending off meat dumplings” ritual, and why to the sea?

“Sending off meat dumplings” is a local ritual for objects associated with a death by hanging. The name evokes an object suspended by rope. In folk faith, deities are asked to send away resentment and harmful influences believed attached to the objects, taking them toward the sea. It is not about ordinary dumplings.

I understand connections with water’s purity, purification, and passage to another world. Water lanterns use light on water to guide departed souls toward the other shore of suffering’s sea. The Naihe Bridge story illustrates leaving the living world, releasing worldly attachments, and accepting passage between yin and yang. These show related meanings of water in folk custom.

I also mentioned old customs of hanging dead cats or dogs in trees or setting them adrift, discussing past understandings of water rather than teaching present imitation. This ritual’s intention is likewise an introduction, not instructions for performing it yourself.