In the present study, we used the phenomenological approach to rediscover the ontological meaning of relationships with the deceased in Taiwanese widows/widowers. We first revised the original Western definitions of grief, bereavement, and mourning to fit Taiwanese culture. We used the word bei dao to indicate the mixed nature of grief and mourning in the Taiwanese bereavement process. Then we reanalyzed data from a previous study, which was conducted in 2006. In the previous qualitative research, each subject was interviewed 3 to 4 times in the mourning state over an 18-month interval that began at the point of the spouse’s death. Results showed that two main themes emerged in the present analysis: (a) a blurred boundary of life and death and (b) a transformation of ethical bonds. The present study reveals the culturally unique aspects of the Taiwanese bei dao process. Limitations of the present study and future directions are discussed and reflected.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
2.
ChanC. L. W.ChowA. Y. M. (2006). Death, dying and bereavement: A Hong Kong Chinese experience. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
3.
FieldN. P. (2006). Unresolved grief and continuing bonds: An attachment perspective. Death Studies, 30, 739–756.
4.
FieldN. P.FilanoskyC. (2010). Continuing bonds, risk factors for complicated grief, and adjustment to bereavement. Death Studies, 34, 1–29.
5.
FieldN. P.WogrinC. (2011). The changing bond in therapy for unresolved loss: An attachment theory perspective. In NeimeyerR. A.HarrisD. L.WinokuerH. R.ThorntonG. F. (Eds.), Grief and bereavement in contemporary society: Bridging research and practice (pp. 37–46). New York: Routledge.
6.
FrankA. (1995). The wounded storyteller. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
7.
FranklV. E. (1955). The doctor and the soul: An introduction to logotherapy. New York: Bantam Books.
8.
HaltonE. (1992). The cultic roots of culture. In MunchR.SmelserN. (Eds.), Theory of culture(pp. 29–63). Berkeley: University of California Press.
HouY. C. (2006). The plurality and diversity of the bereavement process: Exploring the psychological reaction experiences to the cancer death events of the new widows/widowers (Unpublished master’s thesis). Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.
11.
HsuH. P. (2012). The operation and coping process of Yuanfen in Chinese Guanxi Interaction. Indigenous Psychological Research in Chinese Societies, 37, 57–97.
12.
HsuM. T.YeeD. H.LeeW. L. (2005). Relocating grieving resolution: From reconnection to healing. Indigenous Psychological Research in Chinese Societies, 24, 49–84.
13.
KlassD.SilvermanP. R.NickmanS. (1996). Continuing bonds: New understandings of grief. New York: Taylor & Francis.
14.
LalandeK. M.BonannoG. A. (2006). Culture and continuing bonds: A prospective comparison of bereavement in the United States and the People’s Republic of China. Death Studies, 30, 303–324.
15.
LeeB. L.HuangK. K.ShiahY. J. (2015). To construct a grief healing theory in Confucian societies: A Confucian harmonious relationships approach of grief healing theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology & Rehabilitation Counseling, 28, 7–33.
16.
LeeP. Y. (2014). Exploring the phenomenon of dream of the deceased and healing of bereavement. Taiwan Journal of Hospice Palliative Care, 44, 47–66.
17.
LinY. S. (2005). The truth is beyond words: Reflection on the mourning processes of earthquake survivors from the perspective of ethical turn healing. Indigenous Psychological Research in Chinese Societies, 23, 259–317.
18.
LinY. S. (2008). Non-known as the knowledge: Exploring the ethical healing of the psychoses from the becoming and haecceity perspectives. In An-BangY. (Ed.), Indigenous psychology and cultural healing: Inquiries into a new role for ethics (pp. 257–299). Academia Sinica: Publications of the Institute of Ethnology, Taipei.
19.
MayR. (1994). The discovery of being: Writings in existential psychology. New York: Norton.
20.
MoustakasC. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
21.
NeimeyerR. A.HoganN. S. (2001). Quantitative or qualitative? Measurement issues in the study of grief. In StroebeM. S.HanssonR. O.StroebeW.SchutH. (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care (pp. 89–118). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
22.
ShenX. (2004). The interpretation of Chinese character (XianX., Trans.). Beijing, China: Chung Hwa Book.
23.
StroebeM. S. (2001). Bereavement research and theory: Retrospective and prospective. The American Behavioral Scientist, 44, 854–865.
24.
StroebeM. S.SchutH. (1999). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies, 23, 197–224.
25.
StroebeM. S.SchutH. (2005). To continue or relinquish bonds: A review of consequences for the bereaved. Death Studies, 29, 477–494.
26.
StroebeM. S.SchutH.BoernerK. (2010). Continuing bonds in adaptation to bereavement: Toward theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 259–268.
27.
ThorneS. (1994). Secondary analysis in qualitative research: Issues and implications. In MorseJ. M. (Ed.), Critical issues in qualitative research methods (pp. 263–279). London: Sage.
28.
YeeD. H.LeeW. L.PengR. B.ShihS. M. (2007). An inquiry into the cultus of living and dying of Chinese people. Tzu-Chi University Journal of the Humanities and Social Science, 6, 1–34.
29.
ZoellnerL. A.FeenyN. C. (2013). Facilitating resilience and recovery following trauma. New York: Guilford Press.
