What are the peculiar funeral ways in ancient China?

In China's ancient funeral tradition, the most common burial method should be earth burial, which is what we now call graves. In fact, in ancient China, there were many burial methods that you might not even have heard of, such as cremation, water burial, hanging coffin burial, sky burial, tower burial and so on.

1. Cremation Cremation originated from some ethnic minorities except the Central Plains in the Shang Dynasty and mainly spread in northern China. Later, southerners gradually began to join the ranks of cremation, and cremation tombs belonging to the Song Dynasty were discovered in Yunnan, Fujian, Sichuan and other places. By the Qing Dynasty, cremation, as an ancient Manchu way, had a certain development. It is not only widely used by ordinary people, but also adopted by many dignitaries after their death.

With the entry of the Qing Dynasty, cremation, like an ancient custom, became popular everywhere. But after all, because cremation was anti-Confucian at that time, it was forbidden by the rulers and even considered immoral. However, the convenience and low cost of cremation have kept it in a state of repeated prohibition.

2. Water burial Water burial originated in ancient India. Devout Buddhists hope to wash the filth in front of them with the water of Ganges River, and then enter the cycle of life and death with a completely clean body. Water burial is actually very simple, that is, loading the body with special instruments and then throwing it into rivers, lakes and seas. In China, water burial is only popular in Tibet. People will carry their dead relatives to the river, put their bodies on decorated bamboo rafts and throw them into the rushing river. It is said that in this way, the soul can wander in the source of life forever.

Third, ancient tree burial is different from the present method of burying ashes under a tree. In ancient times, the body was hung on a tree and allowed to dry naturally. Tree burial is generally common among ethnic minorities in border areas. In China, some ethnic minority areas in Northeast China will also adopt tree burial. The method is to put the coffin with the body on the tree for two to three years, during which there is no interference whether it is windy or rainy. After the body naturally decays, the family members of the deceased will recycle the bones and then bury them in the ground with leather burial tools.

4. Hanging Coffin Burial Hanging Coffin Burial is popular in minority areas in southern China. This is a kind of cliff burial. The main method is to nail a number of stakes on a very steep cliff, and then put the coffin with the body on the stakes, or put the coffin in a hole on the cliff with one end suspended. If you look from the bottom up, it's just like hanging there, hence the name. Hanging coffin burial has been found in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan, Fujian and Guangxi, among which Fujian, Sichuan and Yunnan have many borders.

There were many funeral ways in ancient times. In fact, it is not difficult for us to see from the above that although there were many simple and rude behaviors in ancient funeral activities, many of them were actually of great wisdom.