Learning to live with death: Ji Cien organises workshops that tackle Chinese taboo

Ji Cien says death is an experience the living can learn from. The 29-year-old works in an orphanage in Dali, Yunnan province, but also runs workshops to teach ordinary people about death. She explains to Laura Zhou how she became so passionate about death, traditionally a taboo subject in Chinese society.

How did you come to the idea to do something about death?

It all began when I was 19 years old. It was nearly 10 years ago and my best friend was diagnosed with liver cancer and she required me to sign a euthanasia agreement for her in the Netherlands. I did what she wanted but it pushed me into a dark corner of my life, with many people accusing me of a murder at that time. They said I was the one who killed her. I was almost destroyed by that experience about death.

I suffered a lot and even underwent psychotherapy for a year and a half. But it’s probably a part of my nature that I grew stronger in a tough situation, and I told myself that I needed to figure out what death was, and why it almost defeated me.

I became a volunteer in a hospice in Beijing in 2009, serving patients at death’s door, one on one. During that time I met more than 100 people who were terminally ill. I saw their suffering and believed they could have departed in peace and dignity. I wanted to make some changes and I thought the first step was to change the mindset of their families.