In the old days, hiring professional mourners was a recognized trade.
Tips
usage
Most modern uses are the figurative 哭丧着脸 (kūsāng zhe liǎn) — 'with a face like at a funeral', i.e. looking miserable. The literal funeral-wailing sense is now mostly historical.
register
Note the tone shift: 丧 reads sāng (1st tone) for 'funeral/mourning' here, but sàng (4th tone) in 沮丧 (jǔsàng, 'dejected') or 丧失 (sàngshī, 'to lose').
