Burial is the most traditional way of funeral in China, and most people in China don't want to change it. It was not until the founding of New China that people gradually changed their ideas and began to accept other forms of funerals, such as cremation and tree burial.
Cremation is a very traditional way of burial, that is, the body is burned with fire and the ashes are stored in boxes. The earliest cremation in China is said to be a frontier strongman during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty recorded that "Qiang people burned their bodies when they died". Tibetans are cremated only by living buddhas, monks and nobles. Cremation is more common in Hedong area, second only to burial.
Hanging coffin burial means that after death, relatives bury the body in the coffin and insert the wooden coffin into the stake on the cliff, or in the cliff hole, or in the cliff seam, or semi-hanging outside the cliff. It is often steep and risky, and it is difficult to climb under a deep stream. Its customs are very popular in southern minority areas. They think that the higher they hang, the more they respect the dead.
Celestial burial is to feed the dead body to animals. Tibetans believe that the deceased ascended to heaven smoothly. There is a special celestial burial place. People will die for several days after death. Ask the Lama to chant Buddhist scripture, and then choose the right day for the funeral.
Ice burial is to dispose of the body in liquid nitrogen. At the extremely low temperature of-196 degrees Celsius, nitrogen will quickly dehydrate organic tissues, and then the remains will be turned into ashes by ultrasonic technology. There is no pollution in the whole process. In this case, the ash produced is easy to decompose in the natural environment. Finally return to nature and realize the desire of the deceased to return to their roots.
Water burial is a way of burying the dead in rivers, lakes and seas. The way of water burial is mainly popular in Tibet and its nearby areas in China, and the Han nationality mainly adopts the wishes of coastal fishermen or individuals.
Sand burial is the most popular in Xinjiang desert. First put the dead in a sack and throw it into quicksand, and let it sink into the sand slowly. Due to the drought and lack of rain in Xinjiang, many corpses will be dehydrated quickly after entering the sand, so that they will not rot for a long time, and some can be preserved naturally for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Tree burial means burying ashes under a big tree or scattering them in the soil. Tree burial generally has no graves, only signs. Put a stone under the tree, nail a copper coin on the stone, and write down the name, date of birth and date of death of the deceased.