How did Guangxi people get the custom of being buried twice after death?

After death, the first burial is to put the body in a wooden coffin, "lie" in the soil, and pile it into a long tomb, which is called "long tomb" or "new tomb", indicating that people are still "sleeping" and not "dead"; It also means that a person's soul has not yet reached the "underworld", or a "new ghost", and there is no reincarnation. So the family gave him a coffin, and he didn't have the share to worship his ancestors, so he was sacrificed in front of his coffin. The second burial is three years after the first burial, that is, after the rotting corpse is "washed", the "clean bones" are picked up and put in clay pots (called "golden pots" in Zhuang language, also called "admiralty"), and the "treasure graves" are selected for reburial and piled into round graves called "round graves" or "ancestral graves". As the name implies, the deceased in the "ancestral grave" should have descendants (including collateral relatives), so young people are generally not buried twice after death. Before liberation, people under the age of 36 (and pregnant women [called "wet body death" in Zhuang language) were not allowed to be buried twice. But after liberation, people's minds were liberated and they were less superstitious. Adults (/kloc-over 0/6 years old) and women who died wet were also buried again.

Generally, a cemetery is more casual, which can be on the edge of a field or on the barren slope of Maoshan Mountain. It doesn't pay attention to "Feng Shui", but it still needs a "geographer (Mr. Feng Shui)" to determine the "grave direction" and the time of burial. Besides attaching great importance to funerals, funerals are very simple. But in the old society, or before the Republic of China, some "rich" people gave a grand burial to show their identity, and the cemetery was extremely magnificent. Following the emperor's practice, they didn't have a second burial, which was called "big burial". However, in the people's minds, most people scoff at this kind of funeral and don't pay attention to it; Even some abandoned "long tombs" are ridiculed as "ownerless" or "childless", and sometimes they are used to curse people they hate for "burying long tombs when they die", meaning to die young.

The cemetery of the second burial is very particular about "Feng Shui". If you can't find a suitable cemetery at the moment, you'd rather bury the "Jintan" (a clean pottery jar after picking up bones) in a temporarily selected place. Generally, it is necessary to find a sunny and dry slope to split the cliff and dig an arched cave that can accommodate the Jintan. After the "Jintan" is placed, it is generally open and can be seen by passers-by, and it is also a useful turf soil. For this kind of funeral, it is also very simple to sweep the grave in Qingming. Just cut off the weeds and light a few incense. However, the burial time should not be too long, usually one year, at most three years. Of course, there are people who have been buried for many years due to economic problems or other reasons.

The geomantic omen of the second burial cemetery is generally discovered by geographers or confirmed by geographers themselves. It is generally believed that geomantic omen in cemeteries will bring good luck to future generations, otherwise it will be unlucky. Anyone who knows a little about "geography" knows that a cemetery should be backed by mountains and rivers or mountains and plains, just like a village where the living live. There is a story in the ancestral genealogy of the Li family in Shanglin (according to genealogy records, it has been circulated for more than 30 generations and now has a population of more than 200,000), which is enough to show that people attach importance to the geomantic omen of the cemetery. The original story is:

A brief history of thousands of children and grandchildren

Legend has it that 500 years ago, there lived a Feng Shui gentleman in the home of my great-grandfather's ancestor Jing. His name is Huang Shengdong, from Jiangxi. This person has a wide knowledge of ancient and modern times, especially Feng Shui. He wandered among the mountains all day and lived in the name of mountains everywhere. The so-called golden rooster spreads its wings, the phoenix dawns, the white crane drinks water, and the dragon plays with pearls. Every mountain is named after its shape. ..... Jingsheng was appointed magistrate of Fenghua (now Shanglin) and married Huang. Huang is generous, and visitors from all corners of the country are treated as a family. The above-mentioned Mr. Huang Shengdong travels in Phoenix, lives at home and treats him like a brother. Mr. Huang was moved to give her a treasure trove of geomantic omen. Before sending the land, I tried to test Huang's heart again and again: I said that when Mr. Wang went home every day, he soaked his feet in the water tank to wash. Instead of being annoyed, Huang sympathized with Mr. Wang and cleaned the water tank without complaint, then filled it with water, every time; Second, Miss Huang always goes out on rainy days and takes an umbrella with him. When Mr. Huang comes home, he always waits for him at the door. When I arrived at the door, Mr. Huang was in front, deliberately breaking the umbrella on the door frame. Huang not only didn't blame him, but also praised Mr. Huang for breaking many umbrellas despite the wind and rain. Thirdly, on one occasion, Mr. Wang invited an old friend, so he borrowed Jingsheng's official clothes, and Huang Dafang gave him more money. After the banquet, Mr. Wang wrapped the remaining pork in official clothes and got the official clothes dirty, and Huang didn't blame him. ..... Because of Mr. Huang's hospitality, he gave Huang a cemetery, which is located behind Xu Village in the west of Paradise Ridge, and said that there are three burial methods in this auspicious place: one is the ninth generation champion, the other is the wealth of generations, and the third is the descendants of thousands of generations. Jingsheng is willing to be buried with the ninth generation champion, and Huang is the only son of five generations before Jingsheng, thus preventing him from saying that the ninth generation champion is expensive, but it does not grow old, while thousands of generations of children grow rich. Mr. Wang praised Huang's opinions more than a person's beard, and it is a blessing to be buried in a blessed land. As a result, Huang was buried a hundred years later, and Mr. Wang personally presided over the funeral, which was later fulfilled, leaving behind the legend of "Chengjiang Giant", which was praised by thousands of grandchildren in Qian Qian. ...

For the second burial, bones are picked up first (also called "gold picking"), usually three years after the first burial. Therefore, it is set to three years, one is to wait for the remains to rot clean, and the other is to "mourn for three years" according to the "five clothes". When picking up bones, all the immediate family members of Wufu should be present. First, they burn incense to worship, then dig up the soil and open the coffin. When opening coffins, they should use tarpaulins or umbrellas to keep out the sun. When they see the bones, their relatives will cry, and then they will form a circle. Take out the bones one by one and wipe them clean. If the bone is wet, it should be dried with charcoal fire. Finally, put it in the "Jintan" from head to toe and take a "sitting" posture, which means that he sits naturally and calmly, facing the world and his descendants, and when he worships, it is like "meeting" with the descendants intimately and covering the altar. In another burial, a cylindrical well hole was dug in the cemetery in advance to accommodate Jintan, which was put in at that time. A round slate was firmly covered on the wellhead, and then soil was piled up to form a grave. Then a grand worship ceremony was held, and the second funeral ended.

After the second burial, between one and three years, we will "explore gold" once or twice. The so-called "gold exploration" is to dig out the grave soil, open the slate and see if the bones in the "Jintan" are good: dry golden yellow is good, and soaking in water is not good. Well, don't worry, you will be "buried"; If it is not good, it is necessary to take out the "Jintan" and bury it, and then find a "land of feng shui" for a second burial; If the remains are neither bad nor bad (although they are not soaked in water, they are already wet and the color is gray), they can be temporarily put back into the grave, and then "explore for gold" the next year to see which is better or worse to decide the choice of the cemetery. The "gold exploration" is also scheduled and presided over by "geographers", and worship is required before and after, but the ceremony is simple. After the "fixed burial", this tomb is the "ancestral grave" and generally does not move.