What is a sea burial?

1On April 26th, 987, the first "sea burial" ceremony was held in Guangzhou. A big ship carrying 420 boxes of ancestors' ashes sailed to the sea near the Pearl River Estuary with the March of Sorrow, and 500 family members evacuated their relatives' ashes to the rippling sea.

It is a great progress to change the disposal method of bodies from burial to cremation. But after cremation, there are still ashes to be stored. At present, the crematoriums in Guangzhou, Shanghai and other cities are in a state of "bursting". According to the traditional view of "burying in the ground", the urn should be buried underground from the urn building for a period of time. Therefore, before and after Tomb-Sweeping Day every year, it is a series of expenses and troubles to build graves, erect tombs, erect monuments and visit graves. After cremation, it was supplemented by sea burial, which was thoroughly handled.

After advocating "sea burial", many people supported it. Some leading cadres of party and government organs and some professors and experts have made wills, demanding that the remains be cremated and buried at sea.