What do you mean by washing bones?

Bone washing refers to the second burial of the deceased in ancient times, also known as "bone drilling".

Bone washing burial is the second kind of burial. Generally speaking, after death, people are temporarily buried for the first time, or the coffin is temporarily parked, after a period of time.

When the muscles are rotten, put away the bones and hold a bone burial ceremony, and bury the chromium of the dead bones in the rattan hole. Because it is necessary to clean up the bones of the deceased according to the coffin mouth and bury them in urn or wooden box, it is commonly called bone washing burial or deboning burial.

The appearance of the custom of bone washing and burial is closely related to the concept of immortality of the soul, which is a universal concept after the death of the ancients.

Bone washing and burial process

Before picking up bones, prepare a pottery urn (called Jintan and Jin 'ang) for holding bones. This urn is about 2 feet high and has a diameter of 1 foot. The upper and lower ends are slightly smaller, in the shape of a pestle, with a cover on it. When picking up bones, please choose a new treasure and auspicious day, mostly in March of the lunar calendar. At that time, relatives and friends of the deceased will invite an experienced old man from the villagers to pick up bones together. When picking up bones, you should build a shed on the graveyard, not in the open air, then dig up the coffin, take out the skull first, and then pick up the other bones piece by piece.

Wash bones with white wine, toilet paper, rag, etc. Burn incense and dry it. According to the skeleton structure of human body, the skeleton is placed in Jintan from bottom to top, and the whole skeleton is like a squat pit. There are no other funerary objects on the altar except bones. The name and date of birth and death of the deceased were written on the altar cover with a brush. After sealing, they will be taken to a newly selected place for burial. This reburial is permanent. Every year, we shovel grass and go to the grave on time in Qingming Festival, July 30th and Ming Shou.