China has added strippers at funerals to its burgeoning list of proscribed activities, the BBC reports.

Bare-assed ladies are apparently deployed at rural send-offs to boost mourner numbers, since "large crowds are seen as a mark of honour".

To show they mean business, the authorities have arrested the leaders of five striptease troupes, including two involved in a farmer's funeral in Donghai county, Jiangsu province on 16 August, which was exposed by a Chinese TV station.

Local officials subsequently ordered an end to the traditional practice - which they dubbed "obscene performances" - and declared that "funeral plans have to be submitted in advance", according to Xinhua news agency.

And just to make sure the ban sticks, the powers that be have set up a hotline where concerned citizens can earn cash rewards for reporting "funeral misdeeds".

For the record, the attendance at the farmer's farewell was estimated at 200. He can consider himself duly honoured. ®

Bootnote

We gather that strippers are commonly seen at Taiwanese funerals, where explicit displays are accompanied by hard-core commentary on the deceased's virility. Taiwanese lottery winners also hire strippers to disrobe in temples as a mark of gratitude for their good fortune. The C of E might like to consider this practice as a way of boosting congregations.