Five people organizing striptease performances for funerals in east China have been taken into custody, reported Wednesday's Beijing News.

Two troupes were invited to give obscene performances at the funeral of a villager surnamed Liang in Donghai County, east China's Jiangsu Province, on August 16.

The performances were revealed by a China Central Television(CCTV) program on August 21, which prompted the arrest of five troupe bosses, including the two serving Liang's funeral, the same day.

About 200 villagers, including some children, were attracted to the funeral, said the report.

Striptease used to be a common practice at funerals in Donghai's rural areas to allure viewers, as local villagers believe that the more people who attend the funeral, the more the dead person is honored.

Relatively rich families in villages usually employ two troupes at the same time, hoping to make a funeral more bustling.

The CCTV program criticized local officials, urging them to rebuild a social order that conforms to laws and traditional ethics.

Local police immediately detained the five strippers and the county government soon issued notices concerning funeral management.

The notices said all obscene performances at funerals should be stopped and demanded that village committees report details of each funeral plan within 12 hours of the death.

The notices also gave a hotline number for people to report on funeral misdeeds, with information rewards of 300 yuan (US$37.5).

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2006)