Kafan

Kafan is a term that primarily refers to a burial shroud in several languages of the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Derived from Persian and Arabic roots, kafan denotes the cloth used to wrap a corpse for burial. The spelling and pronunciation vary by language, but the meaning remains close to the final rite of passage in many cultures.

In literature, Kafan is also the title of a 20th-century Chinese short story by Lu Xun. The work is widely studied in the canon of Modern Chinese literature and is noted for its satirical critique of poverty, superstition, and social norms in early Republican China. The English-language title Kafan is a transliteration of the original Chinese title and the Arabic-Persian term, and translations exist in several languages.

Cultural usage of the term persists in contexts referencing burial customs, ritual purity, and death-related practices in regions where kafan is used as a loanword or native term. The concept is often discussed in anthropology and religious studies as part of funeral rites. The Lu Xun story remains the best-known literary use of the term in the West, though the word itself predates it and continues to be used in everyday language in various languages.

See also: Burial shroud, Lu Xun, Modern Chinese literature.