How do prairie people bury themselves? Why can't the grassland see the grave?

Celestial burial is a traditional Mongolian burial method, also called Ming burial. Wild burial. Celestial burial is mostly used for poor herders or lower lamas. This burial method originated from Tubo. In ancient times, after the death of a Tibetan, his body was mashed and placed in a stone tablet, mixed with green trees, and then scattered in all directions for vultures to eat, and naturally accompanied by lamas chanting. If you can't afford a Lama, you can only unload five pieces of the body and throw them to the birds and animals. The celestial burial of Mongols is similar to that of Tibetans. Originated from Tibetan Buddhism, this burial method means: Mongolians are carnivorous people, eating meat before death and returning it to animals after death. Buddhism pays attention to altruism and saves all sentient beings. It can be said that celestial burial vividly expressed this idea. People live to do good, and their souls will leave their bodies after death, so they will take this useless body as their final dedication to benefit birds and animals.

The general process is as follows: after seven hours, if it is determined that the deceased has no chance to turn over, relatives or neighborhood elders will deal with it, cut off the hair, put it in a big white cloth bag behind the net, put it in a specific place, choose an auspicious day of the zodiac, put it on an ox cart by relatives (camel carts are often used in western Mongolia or directly carried on camels), send it to a specific place in a remote wilderness, unload the body, and enclose it with stones, with head facing north and feet facing north. Get home; Turn the car over and stand still for three days. Three days later, relatives went to see if the body was eaten by birds. Mongols treat animals as corpses, and the dead have ascended to heaven. If the body of the deceased is eaten up, it is considered that the deceased has ascended to heaven, which indicates that future generations will be lucky and happy; If the body is eaten by wild animals, it is considered that the deceased did bad things before his death and killed too many animals, and will repay the wild animals with his own body after his death; If the body is intact; It is believed that the sins of the deceased have not been eliminated. Then sprinkle with butter, wine and so on. Then wait for the birds to peck. Mongols believe that the sooner the dead ascend to heaven, the better, and the more they can find a place to be reincarnated. For them, this celestial burial is a charitable act of giving the corpse to animals, and both the deceased and their families are willing.

The deceased did not catch up with his last relatives when he died, so he had to go to a burial place on a specific day. During the visit, if the body is eaten up by wild animals, they think that the deceased has ascended to heaven and are happy for the deceased. If the body is intact, please ask the Lama to hold a chanting ceremony or move the body elsewhere.

Another way is to take off the old clothes of the deceased, put on new clothes or wrap the whole body in white cloth, put the body on the Lele car and get on the bus. Where is the best burial place for the deceased? For example, the burial method in Xilin Gol area is similar, but the requirements for models are not strict. No matter what kind of car, it is not necessarily a Lele car. The custom of burying Mongolian bodies in the west is mostly celestial burial. The body of the deceased was sent to a specific place, with its head in the direction of sunrise (some places face northwest or due north). If it is a male, let it lean on his right hand and land on his right. If it is a female, let it rest on its left hand and fall on its left. Then wait for wild animals to share their blessings.

Another way is that the celestial burial is carried out under the guidance of the Lama. First, the Lama indicated a suitable burial place, then covered the body, covered his face, and carried it on horses and cattle, giving up the direction pointed by the Lama. Where the cattle and horses ran, the bodies were buried. It is also useful to use dice for divination or to see where the horse urine of the undertaker is, and then draw a big circle around it, take off the white cloth here, carry the deceased into the circle and put it there naked, with both men and women lying with their heads facing northwest. Some places bend the dead into the shape of a baby, thinking that the dead will be reincarnated.

In Mongolia, there are cemeteries for burying bodies in many places. For example, the Mongols in Ordos originally buried their bodies in five large sand dunes in the tomb area called Taben Ulan. In particular, the bodies of lamas in temples are all buried in cemeteries, and the collective burial area of Dahuangzhao Temple in Ordos is located in the northwest of Sumud. Mongolians also pay special attention to the choice of cemetery. Generally choose the hills or highlands in the northwest and the vast grasslands in the south. They think that such a place can bury ancestors and benefit future generations.

2. Cremation:

Cremation is a way of burial after Lamaism was introduced into Mongolia. There is also a saying that Mongolians entered Mongolia with Tibetan Buddhism when they accepted Buddhism. Cremation means burning the body with fire. It should be noted that this burial method is not suitable for everyone. Generally, it is used by princes, nobles, lamas, officials and others after death. Mongols believe that after cremation, the dead will go straight to heaven. Most people can't be cremated after death. Only after suffering from infectious diseases or maternal death can they be cremated, which will drive away their unlucky or dirty factors.

Cremation is generally in accordance with the wishes of the deceased, and firewood for cremation must be begged everywhere. In the second month of cremation, the family members of the deceased picked up the ashes of the deceased, some of which drifted in mountains, rivers and other places, and some were buried in jars to express their eternal condolences.

The general process of cremation is: clean the body with clear water first, and then wrap the body with white cloth. If you are a Lama, you will wear robes and costumes, and generally cover the face of the deceased with red cloth. He will bury the coffin, park it under the eaves on the west side of the main house, put sacrificial food in front of the coffin, light Buddha lanterns and incense, and ask the Lama to chant Buddhist scriptures. Generally, the body will be parked for three to five days, and the younger generation will wake up regularly. If the deceased is an upper-level Lama, put the body on a special iron grate in a cauldron, burn it with oil, pick out the ashes with silver chopsticks, bury it in a wooden box, and build a scripture-storing building below. In some places, after cremation, the ashes of the dead lamas are picked up, made into powder, mixed with soil and molded into sculptures. Some people put a layer of gold or silver on the outside and put it in temples for people to worship. If the deceased is a famous Lama or living Buddha, after burning his body, pick up his bones, bury them underground and build a temple on them. Or after burning the body, scatter its ashes in the mountains, rivers or oceans of my hometown. Ordinary people completely burn the body, collect its ashes after 37 days, put them into bottles or boxes, dig and bury them on the spot, restore the original appearance of the surface, and leave no graves. So until after the Qing dynasty, there were still many tombs of royal nobles that were not found. Others threw the ashes into the river. It is said that when the dead flow into the sea, they can enter the paradise of the Crystal Palace. The cremation of ancient Mongols has its own characteristics. After death, the relatives and friends of the deceased got together, helped the descendants of the deceased drive a car with the horse that the deceased liked before his death, and then put the deceased on it and drove the car to the wild. Choose a dog and Mahan to a wooded place, make a wooden house with branches, put the body inside, and enclose it with two or three grass fences to prevent wild animals from attacking. Next, it is also a kind of sacrifice to kill and drive a horse beside the wooden house to pay homage to the dead. Then all the relatives and family members went home separately. When spring comes, the snow melts, the river begins to flow, and relatives and friends gather in the forest again. The family brought the clothes that the deceased loved before his death and burned them with the wooden house. When cremation, they not only use their own firewood, but also raise hundreds of sticks of wood and firewood as cremation fuel. Three days after the body was burned, the family members visited the burning site again. If the wind blows away, they think the deceased has ascended to heaven. If the body is still there, they think that the deceased was extremely abused in the underworld. So ask the Lama to cross over, or distribute the money of the deceased to alleviate the crime of the deceased. Some are dedicated to "sitting"; On his deathbed, he would sit cross-legged with his hands folded; Die peacefully. Blood flowed from the nostrils of the Lama who was about to sit down, condensed into a Achnatherum splendens, and then put it in a coffin for burial. The Lama Temple in Zuo Qi, Smet, Hohhot is said to be dedicated to James I, a living Buddha who meditates. According to historical records, Anda Khan was cremated.

3. Bury:

When the Mongols are buried, they need to dig a pit at the selected address, and the pit should be in the direction of the rising sun. Burial is a kind of burial style widely practiced by Mongolians in agricultural areas and semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas, which is similar to that of Han people. Although it is a funeral custom formed under the condition of long-term communication and mixed residence, it still has its own uniqueness. The shape of Mongolian tombs is different from that of Han nationality, generally conical, while Mongolian tombs are tower-shaped. Burials use coffins to hold bodies, which can be divided into lying coffins and sitting coffins. Ancient Mongols also used round coffins. If you use a coffin, black and white are in harmony. Since modern times, Mongolians have generally used lying coffins. In the lying coffin, the body of the deceased was placed face up. The coffin is rectangular and made of wood. In some places, the bodies were wrapped in white cloth and placed in coffins. In other places, the deceased wore new clothes, including brand-new shoes and socks. Put the body in, nail the coffin lid with wooden nails, and do not use nails.

The coffin is shaped like a temple, where people can sit. Some of them are like yurts. In the past, Mongolian palaces used to sit on coffins, build yurts with stones, and put coffins in them for closed burial. The area around Weilate and Alashan is called Samudeg, with high back and short front and inclined appearance. After dressing the deceased in new clothes, put the body in the coffin, sit cross-legged and pray. The remaining gaps in the coffin are filled with cotton and rue to stabilize the body. Under normal circumstances, lying coffins are mostly used for lamas. Use a lying coffin with the coffin side parallel to the pit side. Mongolians believe that it is unlucky for children if the head of the deceased is lower than the pit. When buried, the clothes and hats, snuff bottles, Mongolian knives, hip jars, tea bowls and long stemmed Chinese pipe bags used by the deceased should be buried together in the coffin. After the body is buried, some mounds are piled up at the burial site, which are called graves.

In the western agricultural area of Inner Mongolia, before or after death, the family put on new clothes for the deceased, put the body on a board, covered it with Hada, and waited for burial. When buried, the body can't see the sun. Usually at dusk, the body is carried out of the window, put into a coffin and parked in the hospital. A funeral usually takes three to seven days. Generally, Mongolians in the eastern region hold funerals on the same day. At the funeral, the eldest son of the deceased carried the big head of the coffin, and the rest of the descendants carried the small head, some on the hearse, and some carried it all the way to the cemetery. After arriving at the cemetery, put the coffin into the grave with a sling. During the burial, the descendants and close relatives of the deceased walked around the grave three times, grabbed the soil with their hands and scattered it in front of the grave. Then everyone shoveled the soil together and buried the coffin. When the old man dies, the young people in the village usually come to mourn and attend the funeral.

Since the Qing Dynasty, the Mongolians in agricultural areas and semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas are still burial ceremonies. During this period, there were also tombs in Mongolia. The way of burial is to dig a pit after choosing a cemetery, and people of medium or above are still laying bricks or stones in the pit. From the ancient tombs excavated by Guoerluos, we can see that some tombs are all brick cracks, and there are corpse beds in caves. When the Mongolian Crown Prince Huang Taiji died, the burial method was very particular. The deceased should wrap the body tightly in a coffin with cloth and put it in the palace for 37 years, which is called stopping the coffin. During the period, houses were built with stones, coffins were hidden, which were called tombs, and grave keepers were set up next to the tombs to live. According to the tastes of princes and nobles, there are regulations on the number of tomb guards, such as ten princes and nobles; County king eight households; Princess Gulen is like the county king; Baylor and Beizi are six households, and Princess Heshuo is the same as Baylor and Beizi; There are four households: Zhen Guogong and Fu Guogong; General officers below lord protector's assistant rank and people without merit are not allowed to have mausoleum guards; Lord Golroth and his assistants call the cemetery "yamen". Slaves, herders and passers-by mistakenly enter the "yamen" and will be severely punished once they are caught. Mongols also have the habit of being buried together and in groups. This kind of ancestral English is called "Houde" by Mongols. Once the clan is confirmed to be "rich", no other ethnic groups will be buried within 100 steps. People who die abnormally should be buried in another auspicious place. There are some customs in funeral as follows:

(1) Turn on the gas. When a person is dying, wrap a handful of rice in a red cloth, and then send the last breath of the dead person to the rice cupboard.

(2) The export contains silver. Put a silver thing in the mouth of the deceased after death/usually put a silver button.

(3) Sending expired rice, also known as "falling rice". Beat half a bowl of water with a rice bowl, put a handful of rice and send it to the intersection outside the village to dump it.

(4) take a shower and change clothes. After death, the deceased should be bathed and dressed immediately, otherwise the body can't be dressed after it hardens. Change clothes and shoes after washing. Men should shave their hair when they die, and women should comb their hair when they die. The clothes worn by the deceased are generally two sets, and the shoes of the deceased coffin are cloth shoes.

(5) Wrap the tin foil pillow and the name bag. After death, tin foil paper money is put in the pillow of the deceased for his "enjoyment after death". When a woman dies, she will hang a "name bag" on the button on her chest. "Mingbao" is a small bag made of green cloth and embroidered with lace. It was often used when the deceased attended temple fairs before his death. The name contains the paper ash of "name bag"

(6) Use peach branches and willow branches to make a coffin. After all the above work is completed; Hit the coffin three times with a peach branch wicker. Mouth to mouth chanting: "the living soul comes out, the dead soul goes in." After the coffin is finished, you can bury it and cover it. When the funeral coffin leaves the village, it should pass in front of the children kneeling on the ground in Dai Xiao. At the deathbed and funeral, middle-aged and elderly women in a village sang all kinds of songs about life. For example, singing comforting words when I am dying; When entering the coffin, sing the "People's Coffin Sutra"; The night before the funeral, before the funeral, when you carry the coffin to the village, you must sing "Scattered Flowers". Its content is to comfort and cherish the memory of the dead while praising the life in the world. On the night after the funeral, young people carrying coffins will drink, guess fists, laugh and play, and hold traditional songs and dances to encourage the families of the deceased to start businesses on the basis of their predecessors' achievements. Before the funeral, a string of straw sandals should be hung at the intersection in the center of the village. When the young man saw this message, he automatically carried the coffin and buried it the next day. Now don't hang straw sandals, send two packs of cigarettes.