Folk coffin burial custom

Burial was a common form in ancient China. Not only the Han nationality, but also the ancient Huns, Turks, Uighurs and other ethnic groups were mainly tombs. The method is to put the body in a coffin, dig a burial pit, bury the coffin in the soil and mark it with a mound. Buried graves have various shapes. The most common ones are rectangular pits, and there are also "Asian-shaped" pits. Martyrs and funerary objects are placed in waist pits. Underground tombs are mostly used by palaces and nobles, and coffins are placed in the tombs. Tombs are related to the development of agriculture. The progress of agricultural land and the related consciousness of loving soil, loving soil and burying soil supported and promoted the development of burial, which became a representative burial method of Han nationality. In ancient China, there was a myth that Nu Wa made people out of loess. It is generally believed that people are made of soil and will return to it after death. The underworld in folklore is also consistent with burial. Miao people have used the method of "reburial" many times, that is, after a burial, a new coffin will be prepared after the coffin decays, and the bones will be reburied, commonly known as "turning over the corpse" until the bones can't be found. Hui people still use burial in accordance with religious customs. Foreigners who travel to Meixian, where Hakkas live, are often attracted by strange-shaped cemeteries built on hillsides or fields. Among the Han nationality, the funeral customs and cemetery construction of Hakkas are very distinctive, and the second boneless burial is carried out. Hakkas have a tradition of honoring their ancestors. They pay special attention to the funeral custom. Old people over 60 years old are still healthy. The younger generation should prepare shroud, utensils and coffins for them to wear after death. The old man looked at the coffin made of Chinese fir and was glad that he had bedding and a home after his death. When they are happy, their spirits become more vigorous and their bodies become more tenacious. However, it is an irresistible natural law after all. When the old man is dying, his children and grandchildren will carry him to class according to the custom, put him on a temporary wooden bed, spread mats and pillows, and guard him day and night. When the old man died (commonly known as "death" by Hakka people), the survivors immediately knelt down and wept bitterly, and brought back fresh water from the river to wash their faces, wipe their bodies and put on shroud. With the help of the people, the survivors set up a mourning hall in the mourning hall and went out to express their condolences to their relatives and friends. Relatives and friends immediately came to offer their condolences, and the survivors held a grand family sacrifice. Finally, choose an auspicious day, in the drummer's sad music and bright and quiet fluttering, holding the shoulder, the funeral. Four strong men carried the coffin and sent it to a pre-dug grave on a nearby mountain for burial. Because most Hakkas live in mountainous areas and the dead are buried in the mountains, it is commonly known as "returning to the mountains" to bury the dead. Different from burying the dead in other places, it is necessary to build a grave and erect a monument. For the first time, Hakkas only buried the dead hastily. They were unable to bury them or erect tombstones. Instead, they held a grand reburial ceremony three, five or more years later. This is what folklore experts call the "second deboning burial" or "second burial" in Japan. After being sent to the geomantic treasure house for reburial, it is convenient to invite the burial master on the first day of the eighth lunar month (in some parts of Fujian, before and after the great cold), and then dig the grave and open the coffin after burning incense and offering sacrifices. If the soil is dark and wet, the remains will be destroyed, that is, under the cover of an oil-paper umbrella, the bones will be picked up one by one and wiped clean with camellia oil. This is called "lifting up" ancestors who have been buried underground. Subsequently, according to the structure of the human body, the body was put into a cylindrical pottery urn commonly known as "Jin 'ang". This is called "picking up gold". Finally, the basin-shaped round cover engraved with the name, date of birth and death of the deceased was buckled on the golden angel, and a permanent cemetery was built with brick and concrete, which Hakka people called "land-building". Most Hakkas' graves are built on the hillside, with the back high and the front low, surrounded by the back and forth, and shaped like a round armchair. In this regard, some people think that burying the deceased in it is like sitting the ancestors in an easy chair facing the sun, which is very peaceful and safe. Some people think that the construction of Hakka tombs is similar to the Longwei of Hakka dwellings: the dome-shaped tomb of "Golden Wrath" and the "Shangtang" of Longwei are buried behind the stone tablet; The candle temples built in front of the monument and on the left and right sides of the monument are like the left and right "horizontal houses" in Longwei; The altar where offerings are placed in front of the monument is like the "Sun Ping" in front of the dragon farm; The semi-circular tomb pool dug in front of the grave is like the pond in front of the dragon house; The semi-circular tomb built behind the tomb, just like the "Houlongshan" behind the Dragon House, is a symbol of inheriting the "Long Mai". It can be seen that the Hakka people inherited the old idea that "when a person dies, the soul exists, and things die like things happen", so they took pains to bury their ancestors underground and designed a tomb that resembled the dragon enclosure where they lived before. It is also worth mentioning that there is another name for the stone tablet. According to custom, male grave owners are called "Gong" and female grave owners are honored as "Confucians". Confucian scholars are ancient appellations for the mother or wife of doctors or officials, while Hakka women are called Confucian scholars after their death, regardless of their wealth or status. According to legend, at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, when Yuan soldiers pursued the young emperor, they were lucky enough to meet a group of Hakka women who were saved by firewood wit. In recognition of this "achievement", certified Hakka women are called "children" after their death. As for the origin of the second deboning burial of Hakkas, some people think that it is related to the fact that Hakkas, who were originally residents of the Central Plains, moved southward to avoid the war. No matter where they move, men will put their ancestors' bones in clay pots and go with them. After they settle down, they will be buried in another place, lest they move too far and can't go back to their hometown to worship the grave. In fact, the second evisceration burial is one of the ancient burial customs of the Chinese nation. Liezi, Sui Shu and other historical books in the Warring States Period recorded some secondary burials in ancient Jingchu area. Since modern times, some hunters of Ewenki, Daur, Hezhe and other ethnic groups in Northeast China often wrap their bodies with birch bark or reed mats and put them on wooden frames or high branches after shaman's death. After two or three years, the body rotted, and then the body was picked up and buried in the coffin. In the south, Zhuang nationality in Guangxi, Yao nationality in Guangdong and Guangxi, Miao nationality in Yunnan and She nationality in Fujian and Zhejiang all have the custom of picking up bones and burying them twice. First, bury the dead in a coffin. After three, five or even more years, dig graves and open coffins. First, pick up the bones on the foot bones, put them in the pottery urn in turn, cover them with a round cover, and then repair the permanent grave for burial. As for burying the dead in clay pots and jars, it has a longer history. Archaeological excavation data show that more than 6000 years ago, people in Anbanpo, Xi 'an used clay pots to bury underage dead. Hakkas were originally residents of the Central Plains, and they have been inheriting the ancient burial customs 6000 years ago. During the second burial, Hakkas also paid attention to whether they could find a treasure trove of geomantic omen for their ancestral graves, believing that this had a lot to do with the prosperity of future generations. The so-called land of feng shui is said to have three main points: first, there should be dragons, that is, the veins of mountains, with majestic hair veins, handsome and flexible neck bones and rich and spacious bases. Dragons are the masters of prosperity. Second, there should be a bureau to list the peaks and bays in Luo Jing and send them back to the base, or flag or drum, or seal or file. The fame of a master. Third, there must be water, that is, there is a river in front of the base, but this river does not go straight to the base, but the water is recycled at the mouth. Water is the main source of wealth. For this reason, from the second burial, the first bone will be put into the golden angel. If there is no auspicious place, the golden angel will be buried in a cave in the mountain or in a ridge in the field. The temporary storage of this kind of "golden angel" is commonly known as "sending stones". The second burial of Hakkas has long been criticized by social sages and people of insight. Nowadays, Hakkas who live and work in peace and contentment are no longer displaced. Therefore, it is very important to get rid of old habits and carry out funeral reforms such as cremation.

Cremation means burying the body, burning it with fire and preserving the ashes. This burial method precedes ethnic minorities. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty said, "Qiang people died and burned their bodies." . The Biography of Nan Shi Lin Yi records: "The deceased burned in Nakata, which is called cremation". Sui Shu's Biography of Songka and Biography of Shiguo recorded the custom of burning corpses. After Buddhism was introduced into China, it moved to cremation, which had an impact on the Han nationality. The Han nationality had the custom of cremation in the Song Dynasty, which was recorded in the Book of Rites. In some places in the south of the Yangtze River, there are "human pavilions" dedicated to cremation. In Yuan Dynasty, cremation was more popular. According to The Travels of Marco Polo's records, there is a custom of "burning dead bodies" in Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Bashu. Because cremation does not conform to Confucian ethics, there are decrees prohibiting cremation of Han nationality in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Fire prohibition is relatively rare in the Han nationality, but it is followed by ethnic minorities. Today, although the government advocates cremation, people are still not used to it and always think that burial is safe. The custom of burial in cities has been completely changed, and cremation is mostly practiced. There are not only the effectiveness of government decrees, environmental restrictions, but also factors that people's beliefs and customs have changed. In rural areas, especially in economically backward areas, there is still a process to fully implement cremation. 1956 On April 27th, the Central Committee held a meeting in Huairentang, Zhongnanhai. During the break of the meeting, the secretary handed President Mao Zedong a passbook, the content of which was to promote cremation. The proposal says: "Cremation doesn't occupy cultivated land, it doesn't need coffins, and it can save the cost of decoration and burial ..." The proposal suggests that national staff can sign at the back if they agree to cremation. After reading the passbook, Mao Zedong even claimed that it was very good and was the first to sign it. When attending the meeting, 15 people signed their names. 1958 In February, after the death of jing wong, Minister of the First Ministry of Machinery Industry, he started a spark according to his own wishes. He was the first senior cadre to be cremated. 1On June 6th, 960, China leader Lin (member the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice chairman of the National People's Congress) was the first to be cremated. Party and state leaders and senior cadres took the lead in cremation, so that cremation was carried out in the city.

Water burial is not common in China, but it is practiced in Kangzang area. Lama chanting after death, and then thrown into the river, some in wooden boxes, broken in the rapids of the river, drowned in the river. In coastal areas, coffins are placed on the beach and washed into the sea by high tide for water burial. Water burial is also used to deal with special deaths, such as the Han nationality along the Dadu River in Sichuan. In the past, people who died of infectious diseases were buried in water. The Dai people in Yunnan carry out water burial for sudden death, dystocia death and sudden death. Because water burial polluted the waters, all previous dynasties tried to remove it. Great changes have taken place in people's ideas since the reform and opening up. 1On April 26th, 988, Guangdong took the lead in holding a sea burial ceremony. A large ship carrying 420 boxes of ancestors' ashes, guided by the navigation wheel and escorted by naval warships, sailed to the sea outside the Pearl River Estuary. The family scattered the ashes into the sea in a sad voice. The whole ceremony was solemn. New sea burial has been gradually popularized in cities, especially coastal cities, because of its economy, sanitation, convenience and academic significance.

Celestial burial, also known as open-air burial, bird burial and wind burial. This kind of burial method is the most among ethnic minorities. "Biography of Sui Shu Khitan" said: "Parents died, and the body was placed on a small tree. Three years later, the bones were taken away and burned." "Biography of Sushen in Tang Dynasty" records that "the dead in autumn and winter, or catching mink with corpses, eat their meat, much more". Most Tibetans practice celestial burial. After death, the lamas were invited to recite the scriptures and choose the funeral date. At the funeral, after the body was carried to the celestial burial place by cattle, it was first placed on the burial platform, and then pine and cypress incense piles were burned near the burial platform, and smoke was raised to inform the condor to come. Vultures are used to seeing smoke flying around looking for food. At this point, the celestial burial master cut open the body from behind. If the deceased is a monk, draw a religious pattern on the back meat before cutting the knife. Then disembowel, eviscerate, cut the meat, scalp, cut the head, cut the meat into small pieces, pile it aside, then mash the bones, be stopped by Zanba and knead them into a ball. Then feed the bones to the vulture first, and then feed its meat. Bones are not given to the family, but they have to be picked up one by one, burned to ashes and scattered in all directions. In short, we should fundamentally get rid of the dead, so that the vultures on the mountains around the cemetery will not harm any young animals except the dead bodies. They are called "god birds" and are protected by Tibetans. Hunters must never kill them. Tibetans feed the bones to the god birds, who eat them and fly to the top of the mountain, so that the dead can be reincarnated into noble families.

Tree burial is also called wind burial. The Ewenki people in the northeast carry out tree burial. After death, they wrapped up the body and hung it on a tree or a wooden frame, leaving it to the wind and the sun, and then picked up the bones and buried them after the flesh rotted.

Cliff burial, also known as stone burial, is popular among ethnic minorities in southwest China. This way of burial is to put the coffin in a ventilated cave, some on a wooden frame in the cave, and the hole is covered with vegetation. Hanging coffin burial is the use of natural cliff holes or platforms on the cliff. Some people make holes in the cliff to pile piles and put the coffin on it. County coffin burial is very popular among ethnic minorities in Fujian, Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou. It is called "hanging rock" locally. Hanging coffin burial is the burial custom of some ethnic groups in southern China in ancient times, among which the hanging coffin burial in Fujian is the oldest, about 3000 years ago in Xia Dynasty. Because the hanging coffins left over from a long time are rare, only one Hongqiao board can be seen on the steep cliff of Wuyishan. The most remains of hanging coffins are Matangba in Gongxian County, Sichuan Province. The emergence and formation of this funeral ritual system is inseparable from the soul belief and ancestor worship of the local people. The purpose of burying the dead by hanging coffins is to protect the dead from infringement. Hanging the dead on the cliff by the river can enable the dead to continue to protect and supervise his descendants and subjects with his wisdom and authority.

Compound burial is a variety of funeral services. The biography of North History Gao Dong records that the lower body of the deceased was buried underground, but the upper body was not covered, which was a combination of wind burial and soil burial. The Biography of Northern History Lin Yi records the funeral ceremony of cremation first and then water burial. Some ethnic groups and regions adopt cremation, and most of them are cremated first and then buried. For example, the Turks and Tibetans often use this kind of compound burial method.

In addition, there are abdominal burials of relatives, naked burials of the dead without clothes, and drug preservation of the bodies. It should be said that drug storage of corpses is not a method of burial, but an ancient method of handling corpses. Egyptian mummies, that is, Tibetan monks in China often use this method, that is, they are coated with special spices and stored in urns, commonly known as flesh lamas.