本文乃透過對於喪葬儀式的解讀，說明儀式背後深具人文精神，值得人們正視與發揚。文章將分五大部分進行：1、社會性功能－－喪葬儀式具有聚眾、凝聚群體力量的支援性功能；2、撫慰功能－－喪葬儀式的進行，提供了喪親者一個表達傷痛、整合未來生命的機會，對於其心靈具有撫慰的積極性功能；3、教育性功能－－藉由參與儀式者的虔敬表現、與儀式背後的宗教或哲學內容，傳達出人類對於生命的尊重，是一種生命教育的表現；4、調整身心的功能－－透過儀式的強制性，人們得以逐步調整心理狀態，為投入未來生活預做準備；5、轉化經驗的功能－－喪葬儀式的宗教性內涵、與儀式所提供的確切保證，能轉化悲傷者的經驗，提昇其靈性層面的成長。

In this essay, the human spirit which behind funerals and burial rites are discussed through the interpritation of the rituals of death. It includes: Part Ⅰ: the Social Function ---- The rituals of death which make people get thogether, provides the bereaved with a supporting system. Part Ⅱ: the Consoling Function ---- The rituals of death offer a chance to the bereaved to cope with the grief. Part Ⅲ: the Educational Function ---- The attitude of the people who join the rituals shows real respect to life, that is just a kind of life education. Part Ⅳ: the Function of Adjusting physical and Mental Situations ---- The bereaved can adjust through the proceeding of the rituals to an environment in which the deceased is missing. Part Ⅴ: the Function of Transfering Human Experiences ---- The bereaved can experience their grieving as life enhancing in yielding inriched perspectives of reality and the human condition.