China ‘Goddess of Mercy’ drone send-off reveals modern shift in funeral services

Videos showing a glowing Guanyin, or Goddess of Mercy, carried by a drone and another similar device disguised as a crane have attracted significant attention on Chinese social media.

Together, the two devices recreate the traditional funeral send-off in which the deceased is said to “ascend to heaven.” In China, a common euphemism for someone who has died is that they have “ridden a crane to the Western Paradise,” or simply “gone west.” In the viral clips, released in early November, dozens of...