ExplainerDiverse China burial customs see cliff, sky, water, mummy, ancestral altar send offs
Bidding farewell to the dead in China takes many forms, the Post explains the centuries of tradition that surround passage to the afterlife
Deeply rooted in Chinese culture, burial customs stress the importance of dying peacefully and returning to nature.
However, unconventional burials such as making use of cliffs, the sky, water and mummification all contribute to a rich tradition.
The Post takes a look at China’s unusual rituals for laying the dead to rest.
Cliff burials
One of the most well-known forms is the xuanguan, or hanging coffin, where the body is placed in a wooden casket suspended on wooden stakes driven into cliffs or placed in caves.
Commonly practised among the Miao people, who traditionally reside in remote mountainous areas, this practice holds that the higher the coffin is placed, the greater the respect for the deceased.
In addition, they believed that high-altitude burials allowed the dead to “watch over their ancestral homeland” in central China.
Also, given the harsh local environment, where farmland was scarce and predatory animals were prevalent, burying the dead in the cliffs not only saved farmland but also protected the bodies from wildlife.