Zhang Qi holds a lipstick and dabs it, first across the lower lip, then the upper lip. Moments later, the lips of the deceased female judge looked fuller and rosy; almost life like.
With their lipsticks, the embalmers bring some color to the dead before their final journey.
"To keep the lip line natural and prevent it from bleeding, finding a quality lipstick is the key," explained Zhang Qi, who works as a professional embalmer in Babaoshan Funeral Home. "Unlike living people, the mouth is the window to the dead soul. Once the lips are perfectly outlined, the whole face looks solemn and yet peaceful," added Zhang Yang, Qi's co-worker.
Facing a new corpse, the first reaction of the two post-80s generation embalmers is to rack their brains to create full and curvy lips. Even on the subway, on the bus or in the street, staring at people's lips and observing the shape and color are things they do unconsciously. Zhang Qi calls such behavior an "occupational hazard".
Regardless of how cramped the job market gets, few graduates are flocking to become embalmers.
But if it hadn't been for the job ads for embalmer positions, Zhang Qi and Zhang Yang would still be computer salesmen in Zhong Guan Cun. And Zhang Shaoping may be still dreaming of literary success in a gleaming magazine office.
Instead, a lot of their work time is now spent in a chilly room often with one or two coffins. Their job is to wash, clothe and apply make-up to the dead before the funeral. But if they didn't enjoy and believe in the work they were doing, the long working days would seem oppressive.
Departure
Starting at 4:30 am, ending at 3:45 pm, shuttling from home to funeral home, most of the time their work is smooth. If people are killed in a car crash or murder, the two embalmers know they will have some challenges.
"Technically, wounds are required to be stitched first, and then collapsed, exploded or damaged facial muscles are stuffed with cotton wool. The whole process comes with elaborate of preparation, great precision and skillful grace. Sometimes knowledge of anatomy is necessary," said Zhang Yang.
Last July, after the riot in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Zhang Qi and Zhang Yang were appointed to Xinjiang to work on the bodies of victims. "We were in shock watching a 19-year-old middle school student who was severely disremembered and sent to hospital in an unrecognizable condition," Yang recalled.
"It took us a few hours to make-up the boy because his head had been beaten as flat as a pie. A huge pile of cotton wool was put into his head to make it look normal." After stumbling into a job as an embalmer, Qi and Yang think they have become accustomed to death, and their feelings toward death have been numbed. However, since that day the deceased boy lingered potently in their memory, which cannot be easily forgotten. "Anyway we found it comforting that we were able to personally care for the boy to send him onto the next world peacefully," said Zhang Qi.
Growing
Departures, the popular Japanese film that profiles an embalmer who eventually realized his role in sending the dead person's soul on a journey to heaven, is Zhang Shaoping's favorite movie. Bursting onto the literary scene with a novel or play like Departures is her dream.
The 21-year-old girl began this special career not only to make a living, but also to further her literary ambitions. "Art imitates life," she said, "I hope to take inspiration from my job and to turn it back as something that entertains and reflects the real embalmer's world to the reader." Therefore, the room filled with death, corpses and coffins is a source of inspiration rather than a workplace.
"It is through the death that I encounter daily that I understand what life is about, which in turn enhances my ability to depict human nature when writing," Zhang Shaop-ing said.
Arriving at Dongjiao Funeral Home 10 months ago, she is not as seasoned as Zhang Qi and Zhang Yang. Up-close make-up a middle-aged man who committed suicide was her most unforgettable experience. "The man actually killed himself by hanging. His family couldn't stop crying. Their mournful feelings were stronger than those of families coping with natural death."
"I am not afraid of committing suicide. In facing of misfortunes I am also occasionally intrigued by the idea to end my life. Nevertheless, committing suicide could not resolve anything. In contrast, it causes pain to people who you loved and love you."
As with many lovers of literature, Zhang likes to record her inner world through a blog.
"The job gradually opens my heart, and makes me believe life is limited. Since we cannot prolong it, what we can do is to get more useful meaning in it," she wrote.
"These records keep my writing creativity flowing," said Zhang Shaoping.
Threat
The story of an embalmer is always also about the death of others. But it does not mean they themselves can bypass the threat of death.
In the summer of 2008, as the Olympic Games neared, Zhang Qi was assigned to service an African corpse. He prepared to handle the body with the usual reverence and care. Then, something happened unexpectedly at the moment he injected antiseptic into the body. "His blood directly flew into a wound in my finger," he said.
Zhang Qi did not care about this until the embassy reported that the dead man was HIV positive. "I was immediately sent to Youan Hospital to take a blood test. And then it was my turn to wait. Three days later, test results showed I am not HIV positive."
After the sudden threat, Zhang Qi continued his work calmly but with more caution. But he never considers giving up the job. "Any job has its dangers, embalming is not exceptional. So it's the risk that I have to take," he said.
Zhang Qi is right. But it is still a profession most disdain and shun because of people's innate fear of death. Zhang Shaoping is despised by people around her for the job she is undertaking.
Her friends tried to persuade her to quit, reasoning that it will be difficult for her to find a boyfriend if people know she is an embalmer. "Why?" Shaoping asked. "All my colleagues have their happy families. It's job discrimination."
"The content and meaning of the job are beyond most people's understanding. People's misunderstanding originates from their unfamiliarity. I attempt to demystify the job through my proper work as well as my pen."
Therefore, Zhang Shaoping's latest project is a novel about an embalmer. Without a concrete idea, Zhang believes her novel will reinvent the world of embalmer in all its breathing, fighting, whining, joyous life.
"As a gatekeeper between life and death, we are working with hope, with life instead of dead," she said.
