Interpretation of Mongolian Funeral Customs in Shou with Nouns

After Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the funeral etiquette of Mongolians has undergone many changes in more than 700 years. In addition, the natural, economic and cultural conditions in different places are different, and the funeral etiquette is also different. Funeral customs mainly include secret burial, wild burial, cremation and burial.

Secret burial is also called deep burial. With regard to the dense burial of Mongols in Yuan Dynasty, Ye wrote in "Caomuzi" in Ming Dynasty: "A country can't afford a grave ridge. After burial, build a flat horse, kill camels on it, and guard it with thousands of horses. Next year, when the spring grass is born, move away. Looking at it in parallel, people don't know. When you want to sacrifice, take the mother of the camel you killed as a guide, and look at the place where it mourns and know where it is buried. "

After Genghis Khan's death, according to the custom at that time, the nobles were buried in secret and in the place designated by him. "History of Yuan Dynasty, Taizu Ji" contains: "Buried in the valley." "A Study on the Origin of Mongolia" says: "It started in Tiao Valley, and it is a place of entrepreneurship in Mobei ... Starting from Chariot Valley, I am also afraid of the harmony of Green Company." Due to the secret burial of Genghis Khan, no clues about the real burial place were found.

Wild burial is a common burial style in pastoral areas after the introduction of Lamaism and before liberation, also known as celestial burial. After death, people put on new clothes and new boots, wrap themselves in white cloth, put the bodies in A Le cars (some don't have to ride in cars, but carry them on horses or camels), whip the livestock, drive the cars to a fixed field burial place, and let them run around without control. Nobody cared where the body fell, so foxes, wolves, eagles, dogs, birds and animals came to peck at it, and it was not until the third day that they searched for the body along the rut. After finding the body, if the body has been eaten by wild birds and animals, a banquet will be held to celebrate family and friends, thinking that the soul has ascended to heaven, which is also a good omen for future generations. If the animals don't eat, they think that the deceased was guilty before his death, and the crime has not disappeared. Ask the Lama to recite the scriptures, make him repent and atone, butter the dead, and be eaten by birds and animals one day earlier. After the wild burial, the descendants did not shave their heads, drink or play for 49 days and 100 days to show their condolences. This field burial method will not leave traces of graves.

Some wild burials are slightly different. It is the car with the body that needs someone to control. When you get to the wild burial site, let the car bump at will Where the body falls to the ground, there is an auspicious burial place. Immediately surround the body with clods and stones. On the third day, I went to see the body in the same way as above. If it was eaten by animals, I would be happy to bury the bones and relics. If it is not eaten, please ask the Lama to recite the scriptures. The burial method of wild burial is characterized by "finding the sky and laying the ground" and is very popular.

Cremation is a way of burying a corpse by burning it with fire. Cremation is mainly used for pregnant women and unmarried girls who die of serious illness. Pregnant women should be caesarean section, stillbirth should be taken out and incinerated together, and firewood for burning corpses should be asked from door to door. After burning for three or seven days, I picked out the ashes with chopsticks, put them in wooden boxes, buried them underground, and piled soil on them to mark the graves.

Cremation is also the main burial method of princes and nobles. After death, wash the body, wrap the bones in cloth, spread butter, burn the body with fire, send the ashes to the Lama Temple, mash the bones, make cakes with wheat flour, and store them in Lingta or Wutai Mountain Lingcheng to protect Buddhism. Cremation is closely related to the introduction of Buddhism, which advocates cremation and Mongolians believe in Buddhism.

Cremation was also a kind of burial in pastoral areas before liberation. This kind of burial method is mostly used by wealthy families such as princes and nobles. In places influenced by Shamanism and Lamaism, cremation customs are common, but cremation is not common. Poor herders also use this burial method, and only lonely old people, unmarried young people, patients with infectious diseases and women who died of illness or dystocia will be cremated; Others have wills before their lives and should be cremated according to the instructions. The burial method is: wrap the body with white cloth and butter, and ask the Lama to recite the scriptures and turn over. After the funeral, the remains will be cremated with coffins, and some ashes scattered on mountains and rivers will be thrown into flowing water. Mongolians believe that running water will eventually flow into the sea.

Rich families such as princes, nobles and shepherds. The burnt ashes of the deceased are often picked up, made into human figures with wheat flour, stored in the stupa of the Lama Temple, or sent to the spiritual world of Wutai Mountain for burial to show that the deceased has become a Buddha. Funeral ceremonies in poor families are much simpler. They just took the body out of the yurt and burned it, and then burned branches or cattle and sheep to smoke the yurt, meaning to send away the "plague god." Cremation, except ashes scattered on mountains and rivers, leaves traces of graves; When cremation, you can't use your own wood and firewood. You should collect hundreds of pieces of wood and firewood as cremation fuel.

Since the Qing Dynasty, Mongolians were mainly buried in the earth. During this period, the Mongols also appeared in the cemetery. When the patient dies, the family members should put on new clothes for the deceased, or wrap the body with white cloth, and then put the body with clothes, hats, snuff bottles, Mongolian knives, wooden bowls, etc. Into coffins or coffins buried underground.

The way of burial is to dig a pit after choosing a cemetery, and people above average level still lay bricks or stones in the pit. 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 three or seven years, which is called stopping the coffin. During this period, it is necessary to build houses with stones, hide coffins and call them tombs, and set up grave keepers to live next to the tombs. According to the tastes of princes and nobles, there are regulations on the number of tomb guards, such as ten princes and nobles; There are eight county kings, and Princess Gulen is the same as 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 the level of assistant in lord protector and people without merit are not allowed to have tomb guards. Lord Golroth and his assistants called the cemetery "yamen", and slaves, herders and passers-by strayed into the "yamen" and were severely punished if they were caught.

After the funeral, lamas should be invited to chant Buddhist scriptures, which usually lasts for three to five days. The extended family read July 7th for 49 days, even 100 days.

When choosing a tomb site, it is generally to choose a high place with a mountain facing the river. Dig a square pit on the south wall of the tomb and light Jura (oil lamp), which means to disperse the darkness. After the grave is dug, shovel it with a spade and don't leave footprints. Before putting the coffin, put an axe and sickle in the grave to prevent ghosts from occupying the grave. When burying, if the coffin is erected, the rich will make it with a sharp template, and the body will be wrapped in white cloth, sitting inside and building a brick grave. The poor people use wicker as coffins, and the bodies are wrapped in white cloth, sitting in a corpse basket and buried with soil; If you lie on the coffin, the coffin surface is flush with the tomb surface to show that you don't press your head. If his head is placed under the surface of the grave, his children will be bullied forever and never look up.

Sprinkle raw rice and white rice in front of the grave, and borrow soil from the east and west when piling the grave. Borrowing soil from the south means that the way in and out of the deceased has been dug, and borrowing soil from the north means that the pillars of the deceased's house have been dug, which is not good for the living. After the funeral, some sacrifices were burned to the dead and the rest were given to the undertaker. A banner made of white cloth tied with branches was buried on the top of the grave.

In semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas, there are both wild burials, cremation and burial. After liberation, with the popularization of scientific and cultural knowledge, people realized that wild burial was unsanitary and easy to infect diseases, so this kind of burial method was rare. Nowadays, both agricultural and pastoral areas are dominated by burial. Cremation is practiced in most cities, but it is not the kind before liberation, but the bodies are sent to crematoriums for cremation. Most of the feudal superstitious activities in the funeral also disappeared. Generally, a memorial service is held to mourn the dead and mourn.