It will sound absurd to many, but in China even a dead bachelor stands a pretty good chance of getting hitched. This is what the bizarre Chinese custom of 'ghost marriage' aims for: marrying off female corpses to men who die single.

The century-old bizarre ritual steadily lost relevance in the past few decades, but fresh evidence from a remote Chinese village suggests that the ritual has made a surprising come back.

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According to state media agency Xinhua, at least three dozens female corpses have been stolen in the past three years from southern Shanxi's Hongtong County, indicating that ritual of 'ghost marriage' has again resurfaced.

The practice of 'ghost marriage' is rooted in the belief that if a burial partner is not found for a man who died unmarried, bad luck will hunt relatives of the man.

Historians trace back the history of ghost marriages to the Song dynasty of the 10^th century. The practice is believed to have become especially popular during that time.

Ghost marriages pushed up prices of corpses in the past     

Interestingly, not too long ago, the practice of ghost marriage pushed up the price of corpses in China, with prices of a single corpse reaching as high as 100,000 Yuan. Matchmaking agents and companies allegedly even existed in the past to pair up the bachelors.

There does exist a law in China for putting a curb on stealing of corpses, with accused getting 3 years of imprisonment. However, the law has failed in putting a complete curb on stealing of corpses across China.

Ghost marriages even inspired novels and movies  

Ghost marriage is so popular in China it has inspired many novels, including the famous 'The Ghost Bride' by Yangsze Choo.

Even Hollywood movies have taken inspiration from the concept of ghost marriages. Tim Burton's 2005 hit animation movie 'Corpse Bride' was an adventurous story of a shy young man, who accidently ends up marrying a corpse.       

TagsGhost Marriages, china